The Best Picture nominees of 1997: As Good As It Gets, L.A. Confidential, The Full Monty, Good Will Hunting, and Titanic What won: Titanic What SHOULD have won: Titanic Ugh....this is tough....I really debated and debated to not choose the 2nd highest grossing film of all time here. Titanic is a mess in many ways....pure fictional story but built out of pure history, one-note characters but extremely well dialogued and acted, sappy romance but earnestly portrayed by the principles.....and then that ending....where a woman who was married for decades to a guy and had kids and grandkids with him goes to heaven/Titanic and who is waiting for her but her one-night stand. I get that he changed her life....but come on....what about her poor departed husband of many years?? Anyway....why am I still choosing this with all these gripes. Well....I forgive Cameron the love story. He set out to do something that, at that time, was unthinkable....recreate the sinking of the Titanic in the most realistic, historically accurate way possible. He wanted to make a story though...and not a documentary...and he wanted to do it in a way that did not add a lot of fictional flourishes to the true passengers of Titanic...so he created Jack and Rose and their associates as our window onto the most tragic event in maritime history. Despite its many flaws (it is NOT the perfect film so many think it to be) it IS an incredible film and a phenomenon unto itself that may never be duplicated. The challenging and raw Good Will Hunting deserved its writing Oscars, and Robin Williams his Best Supporting. Jack Nicholson and Helen Hunt deserved their actor Oscars for the full-of-heart romantic comedy As Good As It Gets. Kim Basinger deserved her Best Supporting Oscar for LA Confidential, the spot-on beautiful 90s style revival of the crime noir film. Those films all lose a lot if they lose their actors. Hate to say it but Titanic could have made it as my Best Picture if someone else replaced Leo and Kate. Oh...and The Full Monty is a charming little everymans British comedy...too bad it is only known as the one with naked old guys. hahaha
Posted on: Fri, 14 Feb 2014 22:00:17 +0000
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