Five Actors....

[Doc]

I would have like to see win Academy Awards and their roles...

Actors....

Al Pacino - Dog Day Afternoon. I know Nicholson won for Cuckoos Nest but Pacino was incredible in DDA...probably my favorite Pacino movie of all time and considering his body of work, that's saying a lot.

Edward Norton - American History X. He lost out to Roberto Benigni who was a phenomenom in 1998 for his film Life is Beautiful but none of the performances that year were as strong as Nortons.

Burt Lancaster - Atlantic City. The stage was set for a great actor to have one final bow in his twilight years but unfortunately Burt had to contend with an even older hollywood icon who was in very poor health (An equally deserving Henry Fonda in On Golden Pond).

Peter Sellers - Being There. I guess it was Dustin Hoffman's turn but Sellers should have won for the out takes alone in Being There. Tragically, he died not long after this movie was released.

Robert DeNiro - Taxi Driver. Wow...was Travis Bickle a messed up dude, or what? Lost out to Peter Finch of Network who died shortly after he was nominated.

A couple others...

Paul Giamatti for Cinderella Man, Samuel L. Jackson for Pulp Fiction, Stephen Rea for The Crying Game

[Martin]

I largely agree, DDA and Taxi Driver were incredible perfomances and Being There was by far Sellars best work. As you mentioned, many of the the votes those years were influenced by outside forces. I particularly remember Peter Finch being given the Oscar for his last performance was a major Hollywood consideration. Samuel L Jackson voting was split by the controversy over who was the real leading man in Pulp Fiction (he was nominated for supporting actor) etc.

[jeff4bucks]

Lancaster, I believe, lost to De Niro in Raging Bull. can't really argue that one. Fonda was the following year.

[Doc]

If I was on a quiz show and the topic was award winning films, I would never lose...Lancaster and Atlantic City was 1981 along with Reds, Chariots of Fire, On Golden Pond and Raiders of the Lost Ark.

1980 was Ordinary People, Raging Bull, The Elephant Man, Coal Miners Daughter and Tess.

Below are the nominees from those years...

1980...

* Robert De Niro -- Raging Bull {"Jake LaMotta"}
Robert Duvall -- The Great Santini {"Bull Meechum"}
John Hurt -- The Elephant Man {"John Merrick"}
Jack Lemmon -- Tribute {"Scottie Templeton"}
Peter O'Toole -- The Stunt Man {"Eli Cross"}

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Judd Hirsch -- Ordinary People {"Dr. Berger"}
* Timothy Hutton -- Ordinary People {"Conrad Jarrett"}
Michael O'Keefe -- The Great Santini {"Ben Meechum"}
Joe Pesci -- Raging Bull {"Joey LaMotta"}
Jason Robards -- Melvin and Howard {"Howard Hughes"}

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Ellen Burstyn -- Resurrection {"Edna May"}
Goldie Hawn -- Private Benjamin {"Judy Benjamin"}
Mary Tyler Moore -- Ordinary People {"Beth Jarrett"}
Gena Rowlands -- Gloria {"Gloria Swenson"}
* Sissy Spacek -- Coal Miner's Daughter {"Loretta Lynn"}

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Eileen Brennan -- Private Benjamin {"Captain Doreen Lewis"}
Eva Le Gallienne -- Resurrection {"Grandma Pearl"}
Cathy Moriarty -- Raging Bull {"Vicki LaMotta"}
Diana Scarwid -- Inside Moves {"Louise"}
* Mary Steenburgen -- Melvin and Howard {"Lynda Dummar"}


1981 (54th)
ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Warren Beatty -- Reds {"John 'Jack' Reed"}
* Henry Fonda -- On Golden Pond {"Norman Thayer, Jr."}
Burt Lancaster -- Atlantic City {"Lou"}
Dudley Moore -- Arthur {"Arthur Bach"}
Paul Newman -- Absence of Malice {"Michael Gallagher"}

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
James Coco -- Only When I Laugh {"Jimmy Perry"}
* John Gielgud -- Arthur {"Hobson"}
Ian Holm -- Chariots of Fire {"Sam Mussabini"}
Jack Nicholson -- Reds {"Eugene O'Neill"}
Howard E. Rollins, Jr. -- Ragtime {"Coalhouse Walker, Jr."}

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
* Katharine Hepburn -- On Golden Pond {"Ethel Thayer"}
Diane Keaton -- Reds {"Louise Bryant"}
Marsha Mason -- Only When I Laugh {"Georgia"}
Susan Sarandon -- Atlantic City {"Sally"}
Meryl Streep -- The French Lieutenant's Woman {"Sara Woodruff/Anna"}

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Melinda Dillon -- Absence of Malice {"Teresa"}
Jane Fonda -- On Golden Pond {"Chelsea Thayer Wayne"}
Joan Hackett -- Only When I Laugh {"Toby Landau"}
Elizabeth McGovern -- Ragtime {"Evelyn Nesbit"}
* Maureen Stapleton -- Reds {"Emma Goldman"}

[DadeNole]

Edward Norton's role as Derek Vinyard was so convincing, but because of the role he played (a neo nazi skinhead) I am sure many at the Academy didn't feel it would be "Right" that he win. He immerses himself in his roles better than anyone in his generation.

[jeff4bucks]

i stand corrected. However, if you go to IMDB.com and look up Atlantic City, it says it came out in 1980.

[jeff4bucks]

Edward Norton's role as Derek Vinyard was so convincing, but because of the role he played (a neo nazi skinhead) I am sure many at the Academy didn't feel it would be "Right" that he win. He immerses himself in his roles better than anyone in his generation.

agree that it wouldn't have been "right" if he won. They tend to vote more conservatively. Probably why a movie like Forrest Gump won all the awards and Pulp Fiction got little. Russell Crowe is probably the best around right now. Before he made his breakthrough in the states, he did an Australian movie called "Romper Stomper" in which he plays a skin head-which predates American History X.

[Doc]

The award was presented in 1981. Its the same every year, the movies for this year were all released in 2006 but the the Oscars are presented in 2007.

[Doc]

I don't know if I agree that Hollywood didn't vote for Norton because he played a neo-nazi skin head, there have been numerous occassions when they've awarded actors for playing unfavorable characters. But in 1998, roberto Benigni's Life is Beautiful was one of the most talked about films of the year. He was nominated in several categories and I think the academy chose to honor him in the acting category. If you remember, Saving Private Ryan was out that year and Spielberg had to get the Best Director nod given the opening 30 minutes of that movie. Shakespeare in Love took the Best Picture - a foreign language film has never won Best Picture so Life is Beautiful didn't have a shot there...the best way to honor Benigni was with the Best Actor Award.

But bad guys? Hannibal Lector was a murdering cannibal, Vito Corleone was a mafia Don, Jake LaMotta was a pretty pathetic character, I'm sure there are others.

[H.I.]

here are some of my favorite performance. i don't think any of these won an oscar. a majority of them weren't even nominated.

mark wahlberg - boogie nights
chris eigeman - metropolitan (supporting)
ossie davis - do the right thing (supporting)
ed norton - american history x
val kilmer - tombstone (supporting)
julie deply - before sunset
ethan hawke - before sunrise
tom cruise - jerry maguire
eric bana - chopper
colin farrell - tigerland
ruth gordon - harold and maude
charlie sheen - platoon
jack nicholson - a few good men (supporting)
matt damon - rounders
sam jackson - pulp fiction (supporting)
andre gregory - my dinner with andre
sylvester stallone - rocky

and many more...

[Doc]

Eddie Murphy should have been nominated for The Nutty Professor, no actor in the world could have pulled off what he did in that movie.

Do The Right Thing should have received a Best Picture nomination...

I was actually surprised that Russell Crowe didn't get nominated last year for Cinderella Man...didn't get that one.

I watched Half Nelson the other night, Ryan Gosling did a wonderful job but it was a difficult film to watch. I don't think he has a shot at the oscar bbut it was a well deserved nomination.

[H.I.]

Ryan Gosling did a wonderful job but it was a difficult film to watch.

he was also very good in "the believer." another one of neo-nazi roles that hasn't be discussed in this thread. and you're also right about eddie murphy in "the nutty professor." he was also good in "coming to america" playing multiple roles.

I was actually surprised that Russell Crowe didn't get nominated last year for Cinderella Man...didn't get that one.

he was alright. solid but nothing great imo. i still think his best is "l.a. confidential." the first time i ever saw russell crowe was in "virtuosity" at the movie theater. that has to be one of the worst movies of all-time and would've had a hard time convincing me that i was watching one of the best actors working a decade later.

[jeff4bucks]

The award was presented in 1981. Its the same every year, the movies for this year were all released in 2006 but the the Oscars are presented in 2007.

well aware. But, if the movie came out in 1980, it would've been presented the awards in '81, along with the other movies of 1980. Since Atlantic City was in the same yr as Golden Pond, Reds, etc., it probably came out actually in early 1981 and was part of the 1982 ceremony.
http://imdb.com/title/tt0080388/

Anyway...
here are some other great roles:
DeNiro-Cape Fear
Nicholson-The Border
Pacino-and justice for all..
Duvall-Great Santini
William Hurt-Kiss of the spider woman
Jim Carrey-Eternal Sunshine....
Harrison Ford-Star Wars (Han Solo was cool)
Kevin Spacey-Usual Suspects (supporting)
Marlon Brando-On the waterfront
Gene Hackman-Unforgiven
Gregory Peck-To kill a mockingbird (possibly the greatest film charachter ever)

[jeff4bucks]

by the way, my picks for Sundays awards are:

Forrest Whitaker-Last King of Scotland
Helen Mirran-The Queen (I watched Notes on a scandal the other day and Judi Dench was wicked good in that. She could win too)
Eddie Murphy/Alan Arkin
Jennifer Hudson
Scorcese for Director, Babel for Picture

[Doc]

Best Picture...I think Little Miss Sunshine is going to take it. Just a hunch.

But Mirren, Whitaker, Murphy and Hudson have won all the other awards and I'd expect that to continue.

Scorcese will finally get his Oscar and I think Sasha Baron Cohen will win the writing award. Cars wins best animated feature.

[H.I.]

Best Picture...I think Little Miss Sunshine is going to take it. Just a hunch.


i despise little miss sunshine but i hope it wins best picture. maybe the studios will back more independent fare like this. i know movies like rocky balboa aren't independent per se, but films like little miss sunshine and rocky balboa show you can spend 8-25 million on a film and it can rake in 50-80 million at the domestic box office.

what about kelly leak (jackie earle haley) from bad news bear fame being nominated for best supporting actor? reminds me of robert forster in '98 for his role in jackie brown. my personal fav of tarantino's flicks.

[jeff4bucks]

i despise little miss sunshine but i hope it wins best picture. maybe the studios will back more independent fare like this. i know movies like rocky balboa aren't independent per se, but films like little miss sunshine and rocky balboa show you can spend 8-25 million on a film and it can rake in 50-80 million at the domestic box office. .

Little Miss Sunshine could be a sleeper, but I see it being between Babel and The Departed...you could spend a lot less and rake in a lot more, really depends on word of mouth and how good the movie actually is. On the other side, you could spend a fortune on fluff like Godzilla and it can flop. Sometimes, the viewing public actually gets it right!!

what about kelly leak (jackie earle haley) from bad news bear fame being nominated for best supporting actor? reminds me of robert forster in '98 for his role in jackie brown. my personal fav of tarantino's flicks.

Nice to see a comeback from 'Kelly Leak' from Bad News Bears. his other big movie was Breaking Away (one of my favorites). Since then, he's done some B movies and worked as a TV writer. This has to be the comeback of the year. I doubt he'll win, although the voters sometimes throw surprises in supporting categories.
Jackie Brown was good but you liked it better than Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction??

[Doc]

I had a friend who worked at a movie theater when I was in high school and I saw many, many movies for free and multiple times. I used to know just about every line in The Bad News Bears but its been a while since I've seen it...I do have it on DVD. The last I saw Jackie Earle Hayley he was doing a guest appearance on that old show on Fox called Get a Life...he played the stars' cousin (Chris??? from Something About Mary) who was Mr. Everything when he was a kid but turned out to be a total loser as an adult but everyone still idolized him...it was pretty funny but the show didn't last long.

Personally, I think Letters from Iwo Jima has a better shot at winning Best Picture but I think Scorcese is a slam dunk for Best Director - its his turn.

Little Miss Sunshine is one of those movies that has gained momentum throughout the awards season and with the Screen Actors Guild award for Best Ensemble Cast, they have a great shot - you know they'll get the actors vote.

[HellYeahHokie]

The last I saw Jackie Earle Hayley he was doing a guest appearance on that old show on Fox called Get a Life...he played the stars' cousin (Chris??? from Something About Mary) who was Mr. Everything when he was a kid but turned out to be a total loser as an adult but everyone still idolized him...it was pretty funny but the show didn't last long.


Chris Elliot, the son of legendary Bob Elliot (From the Bob and Ray comedy team) was the star of "Get a Life". Bob Elliot played his dad in the show too. Elliot was a writer for the Letterman show in its early years, with many offbeat appearances. I loved Get a Life, but I find Chris Elliot hilarious. Many people don't get, or just don't like, his schtick. So the show was doomed. I wish there had been more.

I didn't recognize the name Jakie Earle Haley when I read about the Oscars nominations. I just remember him as Kelly from BNBs, or Mooch from Breaking away. I always think Steve Nash looks like Kelly from BNBs when he has that long-greasy hair look.