April 2021: Oscar Misses
The Academy doesn’t always know best. Here are our recommendations for nominees that should have won.
Chris’ Rec
1982 Academy Awards Best Original Song
The First Time It Happens
The Great Muppet Caper
Lost to: Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do), Arthur
It may not be Rainbow Connection (which also didn't win!) but this enchanting song has the same earnest whimsy that the Muppets were adored for back in their heyday. Arthur's Theme is fine, but it's just a theme about Arthur.
Stephanie’s Rec
2018 Best Picture
The Favourite
Lost to: Green Book
An amazing group of lead performances, beautiful costume and set design, and a psychedelic rabbit kaleidoscope fade out. Both subtle and outrageous, this film is a unique take on the period piece genre.
Dylan’s Rec
2011 Best Documentary-Feature
Pina
Lost to: Undefeated
Pina lost the Oscar in truly the worst documentary lineup in the past 20 years. For some reason the Academy didn’t want to award an experimental 3D dance fantasia.
Kirk’s Rec
2005 Academy Award Best Actress
Kate Winslet
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Lost to: Hilary Swank, Million Dollar Baby
Instead of giving Hilary Swank a *second* Oscar for her one-note performance in 2004’s Million Dollar Baby, consider Imelda Staunton for her heartbreaking performance in Mike Leigh’s Vera Drake or, my choice, Kate Winslet in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Over the years, Winslet’s Clementine has proven to be one of the more enduring and memorable portraits of a modern, complicated woman in 21st century cinema. (Also, the Academy wouldn’t have given Kate a make-up Oscar for her forgettable performance in The Reader and given it to the more deserving Anne Hathaway in Rachel Getting Married). Academy: just get it right the first time!
Jesse’s Rec
2016 Academy Award Best Animated Short Film
World of Tomorrow
Lost to: Bear Story
A favorite Oscar ritual of mine is attending the nominee showcase for at least one short film category. Ahead of the 88th Academy Awards, a few friends and I checked out the contenders for best animated short, a category often bloated with small projects from large animation studios. While that year had its customary slightly above average Pixar submission, three others offered a surprising breath of fresh air:
Prologue, a stenciled, minimalist depiction of a gruesome fight in Ancient Greece taking place before a young girl.
We Can’t Live Without Cosmos, a wordless Russian story about the joys and struggles of two close friends who happen to be cosmonauts.
And finally one of my favorite films of any length, World of Tomorrow, an apocalyptic, yet amazingly sensitive vision of the world’s digitized and clumsily discarded future. Think lo-fi Wall-E with a gentle, existential realism that hits far closer to home than Disney ever dares. I love it, and few short films have come near the amount it had to say about human nature both now and looking forward during its 17-minute runtime (yes it’s paywalled, and absolutely yes it’s worth a rental).
All these shorts lost to Bear Story, a film so forgettable that is barely bears mentioning.
