[Snowflake]

Originally Posted by innerSpaceman

Oh, and see I thought The Aviator was also a rock-solid film. I didn't like it all that much, but - for the biography genre - it was as rock-solid as just about any (and less than a handful of that genre stand out as fantatastic).

Similarly, in the mob-genre - yeah, The Departed was rock-solid. And only a handful in that genre stand out as fantastic (one of them by Marty himself).

I just don't think rock-solid necessarily qualifies for Best Picture. The Departed was well-crafted. Its awards for editing and screenplay were well-deserved imo. And yeah, before he dies, give the award to Scorcese for any decent thing he's nominated for.

Hmm, okay, I was only referring (by not really referring) to Scorsese's best director nod. I thought The Aviator was okay for what it was, but to me it was not even close to best picture material. Of the nominated films for BP this year, I had not seen all of them, so in all honesty I was unable to make a real personal judgment call on what should win. But, I was very happy that The Queen (fine film that it was) did not score the BP Oscar. Will I think The Departed is still a best picture worthy film 10 years from now, prolly not and not that this matters. I think it's been covered before that the BP Oscar is more often than not awarded to the best picture by someone's standards.

But it rankles that Best Picture went to a remake, just as I bemoan that the best actor and actress nods went to real-person immitators. There was less CREATION in these awarded films and roles, and I think that detracts from their overall greatness.

Well, this has been done before, a lot, meaning actors portraying real-person imitators.

For instance:

Best Actor:
* Yul Brynner -- The King and I {"The King"}
* Alec Guinness -- The Bridge on the River Kwai {"Colonel Nicholson"}
* Paul Scofield -- A Man for All Seasons {"Sir Thomas More"}
* George C. Scott -- Patton {"General George S. Patton, Jr."}
* Gene Hackman -- The French Connection {"Jimmy 'Popeye' Doyle"}
* Robert De Niro -- Raging Bull {"Jake LaMotta"}
* Ben Kingsley -- Gandhi {"Mahatma Gandhi"}
* Daniel Day-Lewis -- My Left Foot {"Christy Brown"}
* Jeremy Irons -- Reversal of Fortune {"Claus Von Bulow"}
* Geoffrey Rush -- Shine {"David Helfgott"}
* Adrien Brody -- The Pianist {"Wladyslaw Szpilman"}
* Jamie Foxx -- Ray {"Ray Charles"}
* Philip Seymour Hoffman -- Capote {"Truman Capote"}

Best Actress:
ACTRESS
* Ingrid Bergman -- Anastasia {"The Woman"}
* Susan Hayward -- I Want To Live! {"Barbara Graham"}
* Anne Bancroft -- The Miracle Worker {"Annie Sullivan"}
* Julie Andrews -- Mary Poppins {"Mary Poppins"} (Yes, she's a real person)
* Katharine Hepburn -- The Lion in Winter {"Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine"}
[NOTE: A tie. The other winner in this category was Barbra Streisand ('Funny Girl').]
* Barbra Streisand -- Funny Girl {"Fanny Brice"}
[NOTE: A tie. The other winner in this category was Katharine Hepburn ('The Lion in Winter').]
* Sissy Spacek -- Coal Miner's Daughter {"Loretta Lynn"}
* Susan Sarandon -- Dead Man Walking {"Sister Helen Prejean"}
* Hilary Swank -- Boys Don't Cry {"Brandon Teena/Teena Brandon"}
* Julia Roberts -- Erin Brockovich {"Erin Brockovich"}
* Nicole Kidman -- The Hours {"Virginia Woolf"}
* Charlize Theron -- Monster {"Aileen Wuornos"}
* Reese Witherspoon -- Walk the Line {"June Carter"}
* Helen Mirren -- The Queen {"The Queen"}

Best Supporting Actress:
* Shelley Winters -- The Diary of Anne Frank {"Mrs. Van Daan"}
* Patty Duke -- The Miracle Worker {"Helen Keller"}
* Estelle Parsons -- Bonnie and Clyde {"Blanche Barrow"}
* Vanessa Redgrave -- Julia {"Julia"}
* Maureen Stapleton -- Reds {"Emma Goldman"}
* Brenda Fricker -- My Left Foot {"Mrs. Brown"}
* Judi Dench -- Shakespeare in Love {"Queen Elizabeth I"}
* Marcia Gay Harden -- Pollock {"Lee Krasner"}
* Jennifer Connelly -- A Beautiful Mind {"Alicia Nash"}
* Cate Blanchett -- The Aviator {"Katharine Hepburn"}

Best Supporting Actor:
* Joseph Schildkraut -- The Life of Emile Zola {"Captain Alfred Dreyfus"}
* Walter Brennan -- The Westerner {"Judge Roy Bean"}
* Edmund Gwenn -- Miracle on 34th Street {"Kris Kringle"} (Yes, I believe)
* Anthony Quinn -- Viva Zapata! {"Eufemio Zapata"}
* Anthony Quinn -- Lust for Life {"Paul Gauguin"}
* Jason Robards -- All the President's Men {"Ben Bradlee"}
* Jason Robards -- Julia {"Dashiell Hammett"}
* Martin Landau -- Ed Wood {"Bela Lugosi"}
* Jim Broadbent -- Iris {"John Bayley"}

Of course, not all of the above may stand the test of time as being Oscar worthy, but playing a real person in screen is not a new thing. There are some stellar performances in this bunch if you ask me (and you didn't).

BTW, the last re-make to win best picture was Ben-Hur in 1959

Another film that, to me, does not deserve a best picture nod (way after the fact). An achievement in film making, yes. The chariot race, psectacular. The film, a crashing bore. And I love Wyler, but this is IMO.