by Allan Fish
Best Picture Raging Bull, US (12 votes)
Best Director Martin Scorsese, Raging Bull (12 votes)
Best Actor Robert De Niro, Raging Bull (18 votes)
Best Actress Mary Tyler Moore, Ordinary People (7 votes)
Best Supp Actor Joe Pesci, Raging Bull (11 votes)
Best Supp Actress Mary Steenburgen, Melvin and Howard (7 votes)
Best Cinematography Freddie Francis, The Elephant Man (11 votes)
Best Score John Williams, The Empire Strikes Back (8 votes)
Best Short Larisa, USSR, Elem Klimov (3 votes)
—
1981
—
Best Picture/Director
—
American Pop (US…Ralph Bakshi)
An American Werewolf in London (US/UK…John Landis)
And Then There Was Jazz (Poland…Feliks Falk)
Arthur (US…Steve Gordon)
Beau Père (France…Bertrand Blier)
Betrayal (Norway…Vibeke Lokkeberg)
Blow Out (US…Brian de Palma)
Body Heat (US…Lawrence Kasdan)
Das Boot: TV version (West Germany…Wolfgang Petersen)
The Borgias (UK…Brian Farnham)
Brideshead Revisited (UK…Charles Sturridge, Michael Lindsay-Hogg)
Celeste (West Germany…Percy Adlon)
La Cenerentola (West Germany…Jean-Pierre Ponnelle)
Chariots of Fire (UK…Hugh Hudson)
The Chosen (US…Jeremy Kagan)
Christiane F (West Germany…Uli Edel)
Circle of Deceit (West Germany…Volker Schlöndorff)
Coup de Torchon (France…Bertrand Tavernier)
Cutter’s Way (US…Ivan Passer)
The Decline of Western Civilization (US…Penelope Spheeris)
Deprisa, Deprisa (Spain…Carlos Saura)
Diva (France…Jean-Jacques Beineix)
Do You Remember Dolly Bell? (Yugoslavia…Emir Kusturica)
Docteur Jeckyll et les Femmes (France…Walerian Borowczyk)
Edo Porn (Japan…Kaneto Shindo)
Escape from New York (US…John Carpenter)
The Evil Dead (US…Sam Raimi)
Excalibur (UK…John Boorman)
Francisca (Portugal…Manoel de Oliveira)
Freak Orlando (West Germany…Ulrike Ottinger)
The French Lieutenant’s Woman (UK…Karel Reisz)
Gallipoli (Australia…Peter Weir)
Garde a Vue (France…Claude Miller)
The Gate of Youth (Japan…Kinji Fukusaku, Koreyoshi Kurahara)
The German Sisters (West Germany…Margarethe von Trotta)
Going Gently (UK…Stephen Frears)
Gregory’s Girl (Scotland…Bill Forsyth)
The History Man (UK…Robert Knights)
In Search of Famine (India…Mrinal Sen)
Lili Marleen (West Germany…Rainer Werner Fassbinder)
Lola (West Germany…Rainer Werner Fassbinder)
Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (Australia…George Miller)
Man of Iron (Poland…Andrzej Wajda)
Mandala (South Korea…Im Kwon-Taek)
Mephisto (Hungary…Istvan Szabo)
Merry Go-Round (France…Jacques Rivette)
Modern Romance (US…Albert Brooks)
Mommie Dearest (US…Frank Perry)
Muddy River (Japan…Kohei Oguri)
My Dinner With André (US…Louis Malle)
No Mercy No Future (West Germany…Helma Sanders-Brahms)
On Golden Pond (US…Mark Rydell)
Orderly or Disorderly (Iran…Abbas Kiarostami)
Passione d’Amour (Italy…Ettore Scola)
Pennies from Heaven (US…Herbert Ross)
Pixote (Brazil…Hector Babenco)
Le Pont du Nord (France…Jacques Rivette)
The Postman Always Rings Twice (US…Bob Rafelson)
Prince of the City (US…Sidney Lumet)
Quest for Fire (France/Canada/US…Jean-Jacques Annaud)
Raggedy Man (US…Jack Fisk)
Ragtime (US…Milos Forman)
Raiders of the Lost Ark (US…Steven Spielberg)
Rat Trap (India…Adoor Gopalakrishnan)
Reds (US…Warren Beatty)
Reisender Krieger (Switzerland…Christian Schocher)
S.O.B. (US…Blake Edwards)
Scanners (Canada…David Cronenberg)
Shivers (Poland…Wojciech Marczewski)
Smash Palace (New Zealand…Roger Donaldson)
Southern Comfort (US…Walter Hill)
They All Laughed (US…Peter Bogdanovich)
They Don’t Wear Black Tie (Brazil…Leon Hirszman)
Thief (US…Michael Mann)
Three Brothers (Italy…Francesco Rosi)
Ticket to Heaven (Canada…Ralph L. Thomas)
Time Bandits (UK…Terry Gilliam)
Too Early, Too Late (West Germany/France…Jean-Marie Straub, Danièle Huillet)
The Tragedy of a Ridiculous Man (Italy…Bernardo Bertolucci)
True Confessions (US…Ulu Grosbard)
Vernon, Florida (US…Erroll Morris)
The Vulture (Japan…Yaki Yosha)
Whose Life Is It, Anyway? (US/Canada…John Badham)
The Woman Next Door (France…François Truffaut)
You Only Love Once (Yugoslavia…Rajko Grlic)
—
Best Actor
—
Jürgen Arndt Celeste
Warren Beatty Reds
Klaus Maria Brandauer Mephisto
Jeff Bridges Cutter’s Way
Albert Brooks Modern Romance
Bryan Brown Winter of Our Dreams
Ian Charleson Chariots of Fire
Ben Cross Chariots of Fire
Fernando Ramos da Silva Pixote
Patrick Dewaere Beau Père
Richard Dreyfuss Whose Life Is It, Anyway?
Henry Fonda On Golden Pond
Harrison Ford Raiders of the Lost Ark
Andre Gregory My Dinner with Andre
John Heard Cutter’s Way
William Hurt Body Heat
Jeremy Irons Brideshead Revisited TV
Bruno Lawrence Smash Palace
Nick Mancuso Ticket to Heaven
Dudley Moore Arthur
Paul Newman Absence of Malice
Ken Ogata Edo Porn
Jurgen Prochnow Das Boot TV
Wallace Shawn My Dinner with Andre
Antony Sher The History Man TV
John Gordon Sinclair Gregory’s Girl
Anatoli Solonitsin 26 Days in the Life of Dostoyevsky
Ugo Tognazzi The Tragedy of a Ridiculous Man
John Travolta Blow Out
Lino Ventura Garde a Vue
Treat Williams Prince of the City
Norman Wisdom Going Gently TV
—
Best Actress
—
Karen Allen Raiders of the Lost Ark
Nancy Allen Blow Out
Natja Brunckhorst Christiane F.
Judy Davis Winter of Our Dreams
Faye Dunaway Mommie Dearest
Katharine Hepburn On Golden Pond
Isabelle Huppert Coup De Torchon
Jennifer Kendal 36 Chowringhee Lane
Jutte Lampe The German Sisters
Jessica Lange The Postman Always Rings Twice
Zoe Lund Ms. 45
Marsha Mason Only When I Laugh
Teresa Menezes Francisca
Eva Mattes Celeste
Kate Nelligan Eye of the Needle
Bulle Ogier Le Pont du Nord
Hanna Schygulla Circle of Deceit
Sissy Spacek Raggedy Man
Meryl Streep The French Lieutenant’s Woman
Barbara Sukowa Lola
Kathleen Turner Body Heat
—
Best Supp Actor
—
Mario Adorf Lola
Anthony Andrews Brideshead Revisited TV
Vernel Bagneris Pennies from Heaven
Powers Boothe Southern Comfort
James Cagney Ragtime
James Coco Only When I Laugh
Griffin Dunne An American Werewolf in London
Charles Durning True Confessions
John Gielgud Arthur
John Gielgud Brideshead Revisited TV
Ian Holm Chariots of Fire
Michael Hordern The History Man TV
John Lithgow Blow Out
Kenneth McMillan Whose Life Is It, Anyway?
Armin Mueller-Stahl Lola
Richard Mulligan S.O.B.
Willie Nelson Thief
Jack Nicholson Reds
Warren Oates Stripes
Marian Opania Man of Iron
Robert Preston S.O.B.
Ralph Richardson Dragonslayer
Eric Roberts Raggedy Man
Howard E.Rollins Jr. Ragtime
Saul Rubinek Ticket to Heaven
Bruce Spence Mad Max 2
Christopher Walken Pennies from Heaven
Nicol Williamson Excalibur
—
Best Supp Actress
—
Ariel Basse Beau Père
Melinda Dillon Absence of Malice
Lisa Eichhorn Cutter’s Way
Jane Fonda On Golden Pond
Joan Hackett Only When I Laugh
Jessica Harper Pennies From Heaven
Kathryn Harrold Modern Romance
Hanako Higuchi Edo Porn
Anna Jemison Smash Palace
Elizabeth McGovern Ragtime
Helen Mirren Excalibur
Cathy Moriarty Neighbors
Pascale Ogier Le Pont du Nord
Maureen Stapleton Reds
Mary Steenburgen Ragtime
Barbara Sukowa The German Sisters
Yuko Tanaka Edo Porn
Tuesday Weld Thief
—
Best Cinematography
—
Claude Agostini Quest for Fire
Russell Boyd Gallipoli
Jordan Cronenweth Cutter’s Way
Freddie Francis The French Lieutenant’s Woman
Lajos Koltai Mephisto
Andrew Laszlo Southern Comfort
Keiji Maruyama Edo Porn
Sven Nykvist The Postman Always Rings Twice
Miroslav Ondricek Ragtime
Phillippe Rousselot Diva
Xavier Scharzenberger Lola
Dean Semler Mad Max 2
Douglas Slocombe Raiders of the Lost Ark
Vittorio Storaro Reds
Alex Thomson Excalibur
Donald Thorin Thief
Jost Vacano Das Boot TV
Sacha Vierny Beau Père
David Watkin Chariots of Fire
Billy Williams On Golden Pond
Gordon Willis Pennies from Heaven
Vilmos Zsigmond Blow Out
—
Best Score
—
John Barry Body Heat
Geoffrey Burgon Brideshead Revisited TV
John Carpenter Escape from New York
Ry Cooder Southern Comfort
Carl Davis The French Lieutenant’s Woman
Georges Delarue True Confessions
Pino Donaggio Blow Out
Jerry Goldsmith Raggedy Man
Dave Grusin On Golden Pond
Hikaru Hayashi Edo Porn
Brian May Mad Max 2
Randy Newman Ragtime
Jack Nitzsche Cutter’s Way
Alex North Dragonslayer
Ennio Morricone The Tragedy of a Ridiculous Man
Philippe Sarde Beau Père
Colin Tully Gregory’s Girl
Vangelis Chariots of Fire
John Williams Raiders of the Lost Ark
—
Best Short
—
L’avant Dernier (France…Luc Besson)
Beauty and the Beast (US…Sam Weiss)
The Bunker of the Last Gunshots (France…Marc Caro, Jean-Pierre Jeunet)
“E” (USSR…Bretislav Pojar)
Faeries (US…Brian Froud)
The Garden of Earthly Delights (US…Stan Brakhage)
Crac (Canada…Frederic Back)
Holy Snappers (US…Nathaniel Hornblower)
Pikoor Diary (India…Satyajit Ray)
Projekt (Czechoslovakia…Jiri Barta)
Tango (Poland…Zbigniew Rybczynski)
The Tender Tale of Cinderella Penguin (Canada…Janet Perlman)
Yay for Robert de Niro and Joe Pesci, as well as for the cinematography nod for “The Elephant Man”
Best Picture: The Evil Dead… this is just one of the best movies ever made, in my opinion, I’m guessing its omission is rather biased, dismissal or something else, but no hard feelings, I know this will be the single vote this movie gets.
Best Director: Sam Raimi – The Evil Dead… as is for this one.
Best Actor: Paul Newman – Absence of Malice
Best Actress: Catriona MacColl – The Beyond
Best Supporting Actor: Griffin Dunne – An American Werewolf in London
Best Supporting Actress: Helen Mirren – Excalibur
Best Cinematography: TIE, Double Write In: Blow Out and The Beyond
Best Score: Raiders of the Lost Ark
My Top 5 of 1981:
1. The Evil Dead
2. The Beyond
3. Blow Out
4. Raiders of the Lost Ark
5. An American Werewolf in London
Best Short: Crac – Frédérick Back
CRAC is a tremendous short Jaimie, and I may also vote for it, but I’ll wait to see what shorts Joel posts.
Best Picture: Coup de Torchon
Best Director: Bertrand Tavanier (Coup de Torchon)
Best Actor: Klaus Maria Brandauer (Mephisto)
Best Actress: Barbara Sukowa (Lola)
Best Supporting Actor: John Gielgud (Arthur)
Best Supporting Actress: Ariel Basse (Beau Pere)
Best Cinematography: Lajos Koltai (Mephisto)
Best Score: John Barry (Body Heat)
The 1981 Hall of Fame: Coup de Torchon; Mephisto; Chariots of Fire; Diva; Lola; Beau Pere; La Cenerentola; Rat Trap; Pixote; Man of Iron; Gallipoli; The Evil Dead; Blow Out; Excalibur; Body Heat; Reds; Arthur; La Pont du Nord; On Golden Pond; Mommie Dearest
Note: Unlike last year’s ‘Berlin Alexanderplatz’, the stupendous BBC mini-series ‘Brideshead Revisited’ was never seen in movie theaters. It is a television work through and through. If this had not been the case, it would seriously challenge for the top spot and for the male acting categories.
Remember, Sam, not everything British made is BBC. Brideshead Revisited was made by Granada, not the BBC.
Yes I did err on that, as it is indeed Grenada.
Short–CRAC.
Picture – Cutter’s Way
Director – Manoel de Oliveira (Francisca)
Actor – James Caan (Thief)
Actress – Bulle Ogier (Le Pont du Nord)
Supporting Actor – Powers Boothe (Southern Comfort)
Supporting Actress – Pascale Ogier (Le Pont du Nord)
Cinematography – Vilmos Z. (Blow Out)
Best Picture: Blow Out
Top Five: 1. Blow Out 2. Cutter’s Way 3. Body Heat 4. Coup De Torchon 5. Gallipoli
Need to see Das Boot and Prince And The City again. Haven’t seen either in a while.
Best Picture: Blow Out
Best director: Brian De Palma- Blow Out
Best Actor: Henry Fonda- On Golden Pond
Best Actress: Diane Keaton- Reds
Best Supporting Actor: Jack Nicholson- Reds
Best Supporting Actress: Helen Mirren – Excalibur
Best Cinematography: Blow Out
Well, I was going to vote but I’m going to have to postpone it. Like last year but even more so, I’m realizing how the 80s, particularly the early 80s, is a big cinematic blind spot for me. As before, this is most glaringly obvious in the acting categories. So many supposedly great titles I haven’t seen, so I will try to catch Body Heat and Cutter’s Way at least before the week’s up. Frustrating to reach this point, but I feel so far from qualified to make selections for ’81.
Also, I finished the book Brideshead Revisited recently and have the miniseries in my possession. A friend has written a review of it, and I have my own piece in mind for it; plus I know it’s coming up in Allan’s British TV series. All the stars are aligned, so I will definitely watch at least some of that this week, and vote it in where necessary regardless of whether I’ve finished it.
Pic – Lili Marleen (West Germany…Rainer Werner Fassbinder)
Director – Lili Marleen (West Germany…Rainer Werner Fassbinder)
Actor – Henry Fonda On Golden Pond
Actress – Katharine Hepburn On Golden Pond
Supp Actor – John Heard Cutter’s Way
Supp Actress – Pascale Ogier Le Pont du Nord
Score – Vangelis Chariots of Fire
Difficult year to choose. Not the greatest for volume, so few to talk about. However, what there is to talk about, I can talk about for days on end.
So…
PICTURE: CHARIOTS OF FIRE
Top 5: 1. Chariots of Fire 2. Raiders of the Lost Ark 3. Das Boot 4. Coup De Torchon 5. Mephisto
Some will jeer at the choice. Some think it’s the worst winner for BEST PICTURE the Academy ever pulled out of the envelope.
CHARIOTS OF FIRE spoke to me in a way so few films ever speak to a viewer. Combining themes on spiritual and moral strength, the screenplay perfectly balances the head-strong will of two diametrically opposed men and shows how their beliefs fuel their abilities. Ping-ponging between Abrahams fight for equality and Liddels desperate attempts to show all that God is the victor and himself nothing more than his vessel, CHARIOTS is that rare film about sport that digs into the driving force behind those that amaze and victor on the field. A spiritually uplifting movie that makes feel-good vehicles like ROCKY, PRIDE OF THE YANKEES and HOOSIERS seem redundant. High scores all around for also recreating, in every minute detail, the early part of the 20th century.
In my opinion, Oscar got this one absolutely right.
DIRECTOR: Steven SPIELBERG (Raiders of the Lost Ark)
Runners Up: Wolfgang Reitherman (Das Boot), Hugh Hudson (Chariots of Fire), John Boorman (Excalibur), Micheal Mann (Thief)
Say what you want…
However, this is Spielberg’s year, by leaps and bounds, as director. Re-imagining the role of director for action film-making, he basically re-writes the book on how to make a muscle and brawn flick and it overflows with testosterone. Like a rubber-band pulled as tight as it can, for as long as it can before snapping, he brings the audience to look over the precipice while holding them from the fall with nothing more than dental floss. Once the film starts Spielberg has you by the throat and never lets up. It’s a big, violent, often times creative and visceral ride that the director holds the reigns on and he plays us like tinny piano. With this, the director not only proved he could handle intricate and ballsy action sequences, but became the model that all action-film directors ever after model themselves by. To be short, he’s THE action film director of all time and his RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK is the greatest actioner ever made. He’d have had this category in the bag next year (1982) also, for his hauntingly emotional E. T. The Extra-Terrestrial, but Mr. Bergman came a-knocking.
LEAD ACTOR: Claus Maria BRANDAUER (Mephisto)
Runners Up: Ben Cross (Chariots of Fire), Dudley Moore (Arthur), James Caan (Thief), Henry Fonda (On Golden Pond)
There’s a kind of soulful loss in Dudley Moore’s laugh-a-minute turn in ARTHUR that almost had me. I find the performance far more touching than most have seen it and I have often wondered if the sarcasm and witty delivery of the one-liners were pontificated deliberately to make you wonder about the deep hurt and betrayal the character is trying to mask. For me, it’s not just a comic turn in as much as a great turn of complex characterization.
Ben Cross gets high marks with his smarmy but earnest debut turn.
However, Sam and Allan both reminded me that the true great was wedged in the listings and that, had I glanced too fast, may have missed the work of Brandauer, brilliant in his turn for MEPHISTO. As the actor who would sell his soul to the Devil for convenience and ease, BRANDAUER is absolutely fascinating in his multi-faceted turn that sees fear merge with opportunism and results in an individual you marvel at all the while jeering his way. Complex, torn by emotion and greed, and all around bizarre in the physical manifestations, Brandauer rises to the top of the list for 1981 and delivers one of the top 10 performances by a lead actor in the 1980’s. It amazes me that we haven’t seen more from this truly remarkable performer (aside from his wooden supporting turn in Pollack’s OUT OF AFRICA-a waste of a great actor).
LEAD ACTRESS: Kathleen TURNER (Body Heat)
Runners Up: Katharine Hepburn (On Golden Pond), Meryl Streep (The French Lieutenants Woman), Diane Keaton (Reds), Judy Davis (Winter of Our Dreams)
Like Spielberg in the directing category, my winner for Lead Actress grabs the prize for playing the audience like a piano. Turner’s off-the-rails smoldering sexuality is white-hot as she diverts our attention from the nastiness that courses through Matty Walkers veins like ice-water. Stimulating the sexual desires of not only William Hurt, she’s the dangerous, desirable dream of every man that ever thought of cheating on his wife with HER best friend. From that whispy, deep voice that moans with every rub of an ice cube down the insides of her long legs, she’s a predator with a poisonous bite that doesn’t sink in till our brains have become delirious from the heat she emits. It’s a smart, physically breath-taking turn that pays allegiance to the late, great Barbara Stanwyck’s performance in DOUBLE INDEMNITY. I remember seeing BODY HEAT in a theatre when it was released in 1981 and recall that every man in the audience was squirming from desirable pain. You can measure the brilliance of Turner’s work in BODY HEAT by the amount of erections she caused. Makes Sharon Stone’s work in BASIC INSTINCT look like baby shit.
SUPP. ACTOR: John GIELGUD (Arthur)
Runners Up: Nicol Williamson (Excalibur), Ian Holm (Chariots of Fire), Robert Prosky (Thief), Jack Nicholson (Reds)
Yes, there were deeper, more dramatically resonant turns this year…
BUT…
It’s the sardonically witty, dry antagonisms of Gielgud as Dudley Moore’s faithful man-servant, Hobson, in ARTHUR, that is unforgettable. Not an easy task, but the famed Shakespearean stands toe-to-toe with the formidably off-the-wall Moore and comes out the victor. Rolling his acidic one-liners off his tongue like a fire breathing dragon, Gielgud goes along for the joke and delivers a comic performance of quiet grace and humble perversity. His sharp quips to Moore, as he berates the social standing of Liza Minelli is hysterically punctuated by his good manners and stabbing verbal dichotomy. I defy anyone to watch that scene without losing their breath from aching giggles.
SUPP. ACTRESS: Lisa EICHHORN (Cutters Way)
Runners Up: Jane Fonda (On Golden Pond), Alice Krige (Chariots of Fire), Tuesday Weld (Thief), Helen Mirren (Excalibur)
While I love the performance of Eichhorn, as John Heard’s severely alchololic wife, Mo, in CUTTERS WAY, this really was one of the weakest years for female supporting turns. Honestly, I had to look over the list again and again for 5 ladies that didn’t make me cringe too much.
PHOTO: Vittorio STORARO (Reds)
Runners Up: David Watkin (Chariots of Fire), Douglas Slocombe (Raiders of the Lost Ark), Lajos Koltai (Mephisto), Alex Thompson (Excalibur)
Thompson comes close, if for only his remarkable moment that sees Arthur’s brigade ride through the cherry-blossom orchard in EXCALIBUR. Watkin has the misty mornings on the beach as the runners forge ahead in their practice and the sunlight bouncing off the stained glass windows of the college courtyard as the clock strikes mid-day in CHARIOTS. Slocombe should not be underestimated for his moody shadows in RAIDERS and his work is the text-book example on how to shoot a great action flick.
However, its former winner Storaro that pulls the stops out with his diversity all over Beatty’s REDS. Not so much for his scenic landscapes that define the film as an epic in the same vein as Leans LAWRENCE OF ARABIA and DOCTOR ZHIVAGO, but more for the quiet moments that find the camera moving across a shadow field as he films the testimonies of the eye-witnesses to Jack Reeds adventures. It’s the intimacy of Storaro’s camera that draws you into the complicated world of the intellectuals that moves REDS from a hum-drum and preachy exercise in forgotten history to a visually stunning yarn about a man not remembered as much as fondly recalled.
MUSIC: VANGELIS (Chariots of Fire)
Runners Up: John Williams (Raiders of the Lost Ark), Tangerine Dream (Thief), John Barry (Body Heat), Stephen Sondheim/Dave Grusin (Reds)
All in the field are good. One is a legend.
Barry’s jazzy and sexy saxophone themes from BODY HEAT almost had me as did Williams triumphantly heroic and death-defying leaps with action scoring. But, Vangelis takes it with me with the modernistic vistas that tap directly into the minds of the head-strong thinking of the two main protagonists of CHARIOTS. At once vibrantly strong (Abrahams theme), then almost spiritual (Liddels theme), Vangelis’ musical landscape is a combination of power fused with dreams. Succinctly, one of the greatest scores of the past 35 years.
Shorts have been added. Sorry for the delay.
Looks like there are some really good ones this year, though – so worth the wait hopefully.
Film: Coup de Torchon
Director: Tavernier
Actor: (tie) Andre Gregory & Wallace Shawn (My Dinner With Andre)
Actress: Liv Ullmann (Richard’s Things)
S. Actor: Jack Nicholson (Reds)
S. Actress: Marilia Pera (Pixote)
Photography: Philippe Rousselot (Diva)
Best Picture: Francisca (Manoel de Oliveira)
RU: Raiders of the Lost Ark, Blow Out, Body Heat, Pixote
Best Director: Manoel de Oliveira (Francisca)
Best Actor: Paul Newman (Absence of Malice)
Best Actress: Kathleen Turner (Body Heat)
Best Supporting Actor: Jack Nicholson (Reds)
Best Supporting Actress: Helen Mirren (Excalibur)
Best Cinematography: Vittorio Storaro (Reds)
Best Score: Vangelis (Chariots of Fire)
PICTURE: Blind Chance, Kieslowski
DIRECTOR: Manoel de Oliveira, Francisca
LEAD ACTOR: Andre Gregory, My Dinner With Andre
LEAD ACTRESS: Barbara Sukowa, Lola
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Armin Mueller-Stahl, Lola
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: why is this one so hard? I suspect it would be easier if I could track down Pont du Nord. It played here a few years ago, I saw a dozen or so Rivettes at the time, but skipped this one. I don’t know why…
SHORT: alas…
SCORE: Williams, Raiders
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Shinsaku Himeda, Eijanaika
Plus bonus picks:
Script: Blind Chance
Music/Sound: This is a Sound one – Das Boot, which gets as much from the sound as the visuals, really thrilling.
I’m nominating 1981 for the “worst year in the history of movies” category.
I’ll nominate 1989 myself. 1981 has a dozen great or near great movies that suggest the opposite.
My top 5, Das Boot, Prince Of The City, Diva, Reds, Possession, Thief, Man Of Iron…
1989 is in my opinion the BEST year of the entire decade.
Several films disappoint me this year….Reds, Diva, Mephisto, Arthur, Blow Out…..Even stuff like Gallipoli, On Golden Pond, Chariots of Fire, My Dinner with Andre are all sort of eh. So many of these films are VERY uneven.
Actually 1985, 1988, and 1992 are also in the running for worst years.
With you Maurizio, 1989 is the worst of the decade and probably of all time. Dreadful.
I will make my case for 1989 as an excellent year-and my favorite of this decade when we get to it, but promise to remain silent until then.
’89 has some strong entries. My pick for best of ’84. I think difference between 80s and previous decade is that the best films tend more and more to be outliers: documentaries, independents, shorts, animation, independents, TV miniseries or specials, foreign films that didn’t get screened much in U.S. ’84 for example you hve Stranger than Paradise, Heimat, Stop Making Sense, Quay brothers short, amon others leading the pack. Although the best of the mainstream Hollywood blockbusters of the decade (and early 90s) were more original & interesting than what followed. (Again in ’84 you have funny & creative Ghostbusters and maybe Cameron’s best film in Terminator, though at the time I suppose that was more of a cult genre hit than a bona fide blockbuster.)
Anyway, at least as far as Western narrative cinema goes, I’d take the 90s over the 80s or the 00s, which had one strong year (2007) and a virtual desert on either side, though it might trump the 80s overall in virtue of Asian & Latin American cinema, and documentaries internationally. We’ll see what the 10s has in store…
@wonders/Allan, isn’t same true of the last decade? Even the youngest, newest filmmakers (again, talking western) actually got their start in the 90s. Few new major talents made their presence felt.
2001 and 2005 were also great years for American cinema Joel.
IMO, the American cinema didn’t really plunge until ’03 (although, ironically, my favorite American film of the decade – Lost in Translation – came out that year). So ’01, maybe, though the greats don’t exactly leap to mind (other than AI).
But ’05? Munich has certainly grown on me but what else has its stature?
2005 is very strong: The New World, Grizzly Man, Munich, A History Of Violence, Good Night And Good Luck, The Three Burials Of Melquiades Estrada, Brokeback Mountain, Capote, Syriana, No Direction Home, Match Point, The Devil And Daniel Johnston, Kingdom Of Heaven (director’s cut), and Enron The Smartest Guys In The Room.
Three or four masterpieces and a bunch of very good to near great films.
Haven’t seen 3 Burials. Forgot about New World, which is definitely up there. The rest are very good but not masterpieces (Syriana), way overrated (History of Violence), or documentaries – and I agree it was a great decade for docs, just not for Western narrative cinema. Style improved, got more sophisticated, but mainstream cinema lost its soul; there’s something shell-like about many of the decade’s most acclaimed films. Some of the great ones tend to use this quality to their advantage, like No Country which is in some ways (probably only partly intentional) a meditation on the alienating coldness and loss of direction that had overtaken American cinema.
Gee, I think many movies of the eighties are quite good — you’ve got Bresson’s final masterpiece ‘L’Argent’, Varda’s ‘Vagabond’, also ‘Do the Right Thing’, ‘Stranger Than Paradise’, ‘Down By Law’, David Lean’s swan song ‘A Passage to India’, Lumet’s ‘The Verdict’, ‘Fanny & Alexander’, ‘Ran’, Fellini’s last film shown in the U.S., the extraordinarily moving ‘Intervista’, arguably Woody’s best, ‘Crimes and Misdemeanors’. All in all a pretty respectable decade.
Mark no one is saying there aren’t great films from the 1980s. A few years in fact have several great films. I just think there are a few very lean years as far as depth goes.
The 1980s is the worst decade by a mile. Some great films, but many of them are valedictory works from matsers of earlier decades (Kurosawa, Bergman, Leone, etc).
I don’t think the 90′s is that amazing overall either when compared to the 70′s, 60′s, 50′s, etc. Sure great movies come out almost every year, but those two decades in particular seem leaner than the rest IMO. And I’m not the typical “curse the new to praise the old” malcontent type either since I think the 2000′s was distinctly better than both its preceding examples.
Yeah I don’t think the 90′s hold up to previous decades either. I agree with Maurizio.
Pic- Lola
Dir- Fassbinder- Lola
Actor- William Hurt – Body Heat
Actress- Barbara Sukowa – Lola (But why isn’t Huppert nominated for Coup de Torchon?)
Supp. Actor – Nicholson – Reds
Supp. Actress – Stephane Audran – Coup de Torchon
Cinematography – Scharzenberger – Lola
Score – Vangelis – Chariots of Fire
Thank you for getting Huppert in there. She’s tremendous and a close second for me.
Best Picture: Raiders of the Lost Ark
Best Director: Steven Spielberg (Raiders of the Lost Ark)
Best Actor: Ian Charleston (Chariots of Fire)
Best Actress: Kathleen Turner (Body Heat)
Best Supporting Actor: John Gielgud (Arthur)
Best Supporting Actress: Maureen Stapleton (Reds)
Best Cinematography: Douglas Slocombe (Raiders of the Lost Ark)
Best Score: John Barry (Body Heat)
1981 still feels like the Seventies to me, though there are some obvious “Eighties” films in the mix. It’s a pretty good year, especially after I caught up with more of its films this past week.
Best Picture: Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior
(Runners-up: Man of Iron, Raiders, Coup de Torchon, Lola)
Best Director: George Miller
Best Actor: T. Williams, Prince of the City
Best Actress: Sukowa, Lola
Supporting Actor: Opania, Man of Iron
Supporting Actress: Eichhorn, Cutter’s Way
Cinematography: another very strong year in this category, and Blow Out, Diva and Thief don’t even make Allan’s short list. My vote’s for Scharzenberger.
Score: J. Williams, but this is probably the last time.
Never mind on my cinematography comment: I see all three “missing” candidates there now.
Film: Coup de Torchon
Director: Tavenier, Coup de Torchon
Actor: Newman, Absence of Malice
Actress: Dunaway, Mommie Dearest
Supporting Actor: Holm, Chariots of Fire
Supporting Actress: Mirren, Excalibur
Cinematography: Storararo – Reds
Score: Barry – Body Heat
Short: Crac
Picture: Body Heat
Director: Lawrence Kasden (Body Heat)
Actor: Paul Newman (Absence of Malice)
Actress: Kathleen Turner (Body Heat)
Sam, sorry to say I have not seen Coup de Torchon, nor Mephisto…
Best Picture: Pixote
Best Director: Peter Weir (Gallippoli)
Best Actor: Wiiliam Hurt (Body Heat)
Best Actress: Kathleen Turner (Body Heat)
Best Supporting Actor: John Gielgud (Arthur)
Best Supporting Actress: Tuesday Weld (Thief)
Best Cinematography: Russell Boyd (Gallippoli)
Best Score: John Barry (Body Heat)
Best Short: Crac
Film: La Pont du Nord
Director: Rivette
Actor: Andre Gregory (My Dinner with Andre)
Actress: Kathleen Turner (Body Heat)
Sup. Actor: Nicol Williamson (Excalibur)
Sup. Actress: Stephane Audran (Coup de Torchon)
Cinematography: Mephisto
Score: Body Heat
Best Film: Blind Chance
Best Director: Krzysztof Kieslowski (Blind Chance)
Best Actor: Om Puri (Sadgati) & Wenceslaus Ulewicz (Short Working Day)
Best Actress: Jennifer Kendel (36 Chowringhee Lane)
Best Supporting Actor: Mohan Agashe (Sadgati)
Best Supporting Actress: Debashree Roy (36 Chowringhee Lane)
Best Cinematography: Krzysztof Pakulski (Blind Chance)
Best Music: Wojciech Kilar (Blind Chance)
Top 5:
1. Blind Chance (dir. Krzysztof Kieslowski) – even though this was released in ’87, it was made in ’81 – so I’ve considered it as one, even though I didn’t find this brilliant film, which I consider among Kieslowski’s best works, in the list above
2. 36 Chowringhee Lane (dir. Aparna Sen)
3. Chalchitra/Kaleidoscope (dir. Mrinal Sen)
4. Short Working Day (dir. Kieslowski)
5. The Aviator’s Wife (dir. Eric Rohmer)
Runners-Up: Sadgati (dir. Satyajit Ray), Evil Dead
Another great year, despite what others may contend. Again, the top 30 films listed here are absolutely essential viewing (and proof that the 70s are still going on, really). My top winner has been a favorite of mine since 1981, so I cannot abandon its sweeping romanticism and epic politics (plus its remarkable blending of the documentary and narrative styles of filmmaking). But the German film comes REAL close to besting it with its crushing suspense and atmosphere. Then, Lumet’s film, with its 200 speaking parts and its own oppressive tension, also hits big. Ahh, I love so many movies from this year! As always, the choices I have in all caps are those titles left off Allan’s list!
PICTURE: REDS (followed by, in descending order): Das Boot, Prince of the City, Pennies from Heaven, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Blow Out, Cutter’s Way, Modern Romance, Gregory’s Girl, Pixote, Gallipoli, Ragtime, My Dinner With Andre, Vernon Florida, An American Werewolf in London, SMASH PALACE, Arthur, Coup De Torchon, Chariots of Fire, Excalibur, Mephisto, The Road Warrior, Southern Comfort, Time Bandits, The Evil Dead, Thief, Body Heat, Ticket to Heaven, They All Laughed, Christiane F., On Golden Pond, DRAGONSLAYER, Man of Iron, The Four Seasons, Whose Life Is It Anyway?, American Pop, S.O.B., THE CHOSEN, The Decline of the Western Civilization, BROOKLYN BRIDGE, Quest for Fire, Raggedy Man, SHARKY’S MACHINE, Escape from New York, Diva, THE DAY AFTER TRINITY, ALL NIGHT LONG, SOLDIER GIRLS, CONTINENTAL DIVIDE, NIGHTHAWKS, Scanners, STRIPES, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN THE FABULOUS STAINS, NEIGHBORS, Beau Pare, THE HOWLING, EYE OF THE NEEDLE, The French Lieutenant’s Woman, True Confessions, The Postman Always Rings Twice, SHOCK TREATMENT, FIRST MONDAY IN OCTOBER, TAPS, ABSENCE OF MALICE, STRANGE BEHAVIOR, ROAD GAMES, FOR YOUR EYES ONLY, OUTLAND, MS. 45, Mommie Dearest, DEAD AND BURIED
DIRECTOR: Warren Beatty, REDS (2nd: Sidney Lumet, Prince of the City, followed by: Wolfgang Petersen, Das Boot; Steven Spielberg, Raiders of the Lost Ark; Brian De Palma, Blow Out; Albert Brooks, Modern Romance)
ACTOR: Treat Williams, PRINCE OF THE CITY (2nd: John Heard, Cutter’s Way, followed by: Dudley Moore, Arthur; Albert Brooks, Modern Romance; Henry Fonda, On Golden Pond; Bruno Lawrence, Smash Palace; Warren Beatty, Reds; Nick Mancuso, Ticket to Heaven)
ACTRESS: Diane Keaton, REDS (2nd: Sissy Spacek, Raggedy Man, followed by: Kathleen Turner, Body Heat; Isabelle Huppert, Coup De Torchon; Katherine Hepburn, On Golden Pond; Meryl Streep, The French Lieutenant’s Woman)
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Christopher Walken, PENNIES FROM HEAVEN (2nd: Jack Nicholson, Reds, followed by: John Gielgud, Arthur; Nicol Williamson, Excalibur; Griffin Dunne, An American Werewolf in London; Howard E. Rollins Jr., Ragtime; Robert Preston, S.O.B)
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Maureen Stapleton, REDS (2nd: Lisa Eichorn, Cutter’s Way, followed by: Jessica Harper, Pennies from Heaven; Elizabeth McGovern, Ragtime; Melinda Dillon, Absence of Malice; Kathryn Harrold, Modern Romance)
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Vittorio Storaro, REDS (2nd: Alex Thomson, Excalibur; Jost Vacano, Das Boot; Vilmos Zsigmond, Blow Out; Gordon Willis, Pennies From Heaven; Russell Boyd, Gallipoli; Billy Williams, On Golden Pond)
ORIGINAL SCORE: Ry Cooder, SOUTHERN COMFORT (2nd: John Williams, Raiders of the Lost Ark, followed by: Vangelis, Chariots of Fire; John Barry, Body Heat; Pino Donaggio, Blow Out; Randy Newman, Ragtime; Dave Grusin, On Golden Pond)
SHORT FILM: TANGO (Zbigniew Rybczynski) (2nd: Projekt (Jiri Barta); Crac (Frederic Back); The Garden of Earthly Delights (Stan Brakhage); The Tender Tale of Cinderella Penguin (Janet Perlman))
FURTHER:
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Steve Gordon, ARTHUR (2nd: Albert Brooks and Monica Johnson, Modern Romance, followed by Lawrence Kasdan, Body Heat; Bill Forsyth, Gregory’s Girl; Andre Gregory and Wallace Shawn, My Dinner with Andre; Warren Beatty and Trevor Griffiths, Reds; Lawrence Kasdan, George Lucas and Philip Kaufman, Raiders of the Lost Ark)
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Jay Presson Allen and Sidney Lumet, PRINCE OF THE CITY (2nd: Jeffery Alan Fiskin, Cutter’s Way, followed by: Wolfgang Petersen, Das Boot; Dennis Potter, Pennies From Heaven; Michael Mann, Thief; Ernest Thompson, On Golden Pond; Michael Weller, Ragtime)
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: VERNON FLORIDA (Errol Morris) (2nd: The Decline of the Western Civilization (Penelope Spheeris), followed by: Brooklyn Bridge (Ken Burns); The Day After Trinity (Jon Else); Soldier Girls (Nick Broomfield and Joan Churchill))
NON-ENGLISH LANGUAGE FILM: DAS BOOT (Wolfgang Petersen, Germany) (2nd: Pixote (Hector Babenco, Brazil), followed by Coup De Torchon (Bertrand Tavernier, France); Mephisto (Istvan Szabo, Germany/Hungary/Austria); Christiane F. (Uli Edel, Germany); Man of Iron (Andrzej Wadja, Poland)
ART DIRECTION: DAS BOOT, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Pennies from Heaven, Ragtime, Reds, Excalibur
COSTUME DESIGN: PENNIES FROM HEAVEN, Excalibur, Reds, Ragtime, Chariots of Fire, Time Bandits
FILM EDITING: REDS, Das Boot, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Prince of the City, The Road Warrior, Blow Out
SOUND: DAS BOOT, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Reds, The Road Warrior, Dragonslayer, An American Werewolf in London
ORIGINAL SONG: “Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do)” from ARTHUR (music and lyrics by Carole Bayer Sager, Burt Bacharach, Christopher Cross and Peter Allen) (2nd: “In My Own Way” from Shock Treatment (music and lyrics by Richard O‘Brien) followed by: “One More Hour” from Ragtime (music and lyrics by Randy Newman); “Dream Away” from Time Bandits (music and lyrics by George Harrison); “Never Say Goodbye” from Continental Divide (music by Michael Small, lyrics by Carole Bayer Sager); “For Your Eyes Only” from For Your Eyes Only (music by Bill Conti, lyrics by Mick Leeson)
ADAPTATION SCORE/SCORING OF A MUSICAL: EXCALIBUR (Trevor Jones) (2nd: Shock Treatment (Richard O’Brien))
SPECIAL EFFECTS: RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (2nd: Dragonslayer, followed by: Clash of the Titans, Outland)
MAKEUP: AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON (2nd: Quest for Fire, followed by: Heartbeeps, The Howling)
ANIMATED FEATURE: AMERICAN POP (Ralph Bakshi)
Picture: Pixote
Director: Hector Babenco, Pixote
Actor: Philippe Noiret, Coup de Torchon (he really should be listed too–it just wouldn’t be the same film with someone else in this role)
Actress: Meryl Streep, The French Lieutenant’s Woman
Sup. Actor: Jack Nicholson, Reds
Sup. Actress: Maureen Stapleton, Reds
Cinematography: Alex Thomson, Excalibur
Top five for 1981:
1. Le Pont du Nord – Jacques Rivette
2. Possession – Andrzej Zulawski
3. Blow Out – Brian De Palma
4. The Aviator’s Wife – Eric Rohmer
5. They All Laughed – Peter Bogdanovich
Best Picture: Le Pont du Nord
Best Director: Jacques Rivette
Best Actor: Ben Gazzara – They All Laughed or Tales of Ordinary Madness (take your pick)
Best Actress: Isabelle Adjani – Possession (more like a natural disaster than a woman)
Best supporting actor: John Ritter – They All Laughed
Best supporting actress: Lisa Eichhorn – Cutter’s Way
Best Cinematography: Vilmos Zsigmond – Blow Out
Best Score: John Barry – Body Heat
I am in agreement with the previous voter, at least in the top two categories.
Best Picture: Le Pont du Nord
Best Director: Manoel de Oliveira (Francisca)
Best Actor: Phillipe Noiret (Coup de Torchon)
Best Actress: Barbara Sukowa (Lola)
Best Supporting Actor: Armin Mueller-Stahl (Lola)
Best Supporting Actress: Stepane Audren (Coup de Torchon)
Best Cinematography: Alex Thomson (Excalibur)
Best Score: John Barry (Body Heat)
Best Short: Pikore Diary (Ray)
Supporting actor is a dead heat between Nicholson and Gielgud. Ironically, I’m leaning towards Gielgud for… Brideshead Revisited! His scenes are brief but he steals entire episodes. Haven’t seen Arthur. Maybe I’ll have to watch it now tonight to break the tie though time is running out before I can safely submit my ballot…
Not on instant so that’s a no-go. BR it is, which puts Supp. Actor as a tie, unless someone casts another vote very soon. But we’ll all know Gielgud won it for his body of work in ’81…
I am only voting in official categories + editing & screenplay this week.
Feature: My Dinner with Andre
2. Raiders of the Lost Ark
3. Brideshead Revisited
4. Blow Out
5. Body Heat
Short: Crac
Director: Jean-Jacques Beineix, Diva
Actor: John Heard, Cutter’s Way
Actress: Kathleen Turner, Body Heat
Supp. Actor: John Gielgud, Brideshead Revisited
Supp. Actress: Maureen Stapleton, Reds
Cinematography: Phillippe Rousselot, Diva
Score: Vangelis, Chariots of Fire – I’ve actually never seen this movie. I think I may have heard the music once or twice though…
Screenplay: My Dinner with Andre
Editing: Blow Out
honorable mention: Raiders of the Lost Ark, gotta mention somewhere…
Can I just ask who addsed in all the nominations without checking with me. There are some good ones, but some really dreadful ones, as well as at least one (JGS for Gregory’s Girl) that was 1980.