-Compiling this list was perhaps one of the hardest experiences I have had to date during my short time as a blogger. How do you go about selecting just one film from each decade which was absolutely winning in virtually all of its aspects but for some reason didn't connect with the Academy?? I thought long and hard about which films to select for this category. My first impulse of course was to pick films I liked regardless of the topic they were presenting or the way in which they were made. But then I wisened up. The list I compiled in the end in my opinion, not only represents some personal favorites of mine, but also reinforces why people go to the cinema in the first place; to be entertained, enlightened, moved, and inspired. Each of the films in this list received some kind of recognition of acclaim and while not all of them have gone on to become the classics they deserved to be, they all definitley deserve to be rememebred. So without any further ado, here are 7 films from past decades that deserved a Best Picture nomination, but for various reasons, were not given one.
1940s:
-Lifeboat (1944) instead of Wilson
-As with many Hitchcock films made during WWII, the director decided to focus more on the personal than on the political. In this film, which chronicles the survivors of an ocean liner that has gone down after being attacked by a German u-boat, Hitchcock does just that. In full-on experimental mode, the director shot the entire film inside a lifeboat and focused on the passengers within it, which includes a German soldier whose own ship was sunk as a result of the attack. No other film during this era has ever been able to portray various attitudes and beliefs during wartime quite like this one. The cold facts of war combined with human prejudices and behavior were all explored here in a truly riveting way.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLUvLL-QCz4
1950s:
-Executive Suite (1954) instead of The Country Girl
-One of the few motion pictures ever made to not have a musical score attached, Executive Suite explores the various individuals who comprise a successful furniture company including vice presidents, secretaries, shareholders, and wives. This insider look at the many human components who call themselves part of corporate America may seem base, but not when it comes to examining the motivation, drive and commitment required to exist in that world. There isn't a false moment throughout Executive Suite from its sterling performances to its main themes which states that in order for a company to work, its integrity must never falter.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7ONBkmc_pQ&feature=related
(please watch up to 5:10 in order to avoid spoilers)
1960s:
-Divorce American Style (1967) instead of Doctor Dolittle
Its astonishing how so few remember this 60s comedy written by evenlope pusher Norman Lear. In Divorce American Style Dick Van Dyke and Debbie Reynolds play a couple whose trouble marriage prompts a divorce. What follows is a hilarious look at the manaical state of divorce that was taking over in the 1960s. From the couple's meeting with their lawyers to the partners they eventually end up with, each moment of this film is overflowing with a satire that knows no boundaries. While this film may have seemed dated in the conservative 80s, the film which was eerily timely when first released is just as relevant today.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYvZpikpljg
1970s:
-Voyage of the Damned (1976) instead of Bound for Glory
-One of the most overlooked films about Jews during WWII also happens to be one of the most compelling. Voyage of the Damned is about the true-life account of a ship full of Jewish citizens who were fleeing from Nazi Germany to Cuba in hopes of finding safety only to be turned away. The film not only features a variety of storylines; each more fascinating than the other, but it also contains an impressive cast including Faye Dunaway, Orson Welles, James Mason, Katherine Ross, Malcom McDowell, and Lee Grant, who received a Supporting Actress nomination for her role. With some many films made about the history of WWII, its seems almost shameful that this heartwrenching, but beautiful story should be forgotten.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0d4qA0YVssI
1980s:
-Steel Magnolias (1989) instead of My Left Foot
-So often considered a "chick flick," Steel Magnolias is in actuality more than just a weepie woman's picture. The story of a group of female friends who share their lives over the course of yearsout of a beauty parlor in Louisiana, Steel Magnolias is quite honestly one of the great American filmso f the 1980s. The main themes of the film: hope, perseverance, loyalty and laughter have been some of the fundamental elements that have made so many great American films so essential. Anchored by a remarkable cast, Steel Magnolias was one of the decades finest moments in capturing the crux of the human spirit.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zno0xeap0hU
1990s:
-Everyone Says I Love You (1996) instead of Secrets & Lies
-Woody Allen's tribute to the golden age of Hollywood musicals is not only one of the director's most enjoyable films in recent years, but can also be viewed in two distinct ways. One could say that by casting actors not known for their singing abilities (except for Goldie Hawn who proves she CAN sing), some said that he cared more about the acting in the film than the singing. Yet others see the cast, some of which are tone deaf, as Allen's own personal joke toward the genre as a whole. Yet the film which tells the story of a large, extended upper-class New York family and their individual struggles with love is not only free of Allen's trademark cynicism, but also invokes a truly honest sensibility about the many wonders of love.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZkbVM7UAcc
2000s:
-Bobby (2006) instead of Little Miss Sunshine
-Its pretty rare that a film with so much buzz surrounding it is actually able to deliver the goods expected. Yet Bobby, written and directed by Emilio Estevez, which chronicled the lives of various Los Angelites on the day of Robert Kennedy's assassination did just that. With an abundance of actors and plotlines, the film could easily have come off as phony. Yet each element works as a dead-on snapshot of America during the lat 1960s when the war was escilating and the country needed a change. More importantly, Bobby represents a society not toally overtake with cynicism, but who genuinely believed that a politician like Kennedy had the power to make a difference.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_dIhSOyjRs
Next Week...The most overlooked performances and films of 2009!!
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