十部错失奥斯卡奖的佳片
(2011-07-17 21:29:50)
As quickly as 2010 came and went,here we find ourselves in the middle of another exciting awardsseason. The Golden Globes have been awarded and the83rd Oscar ceremony isnext.
When it comes to Hollywood’s highesthonors, the Academy’s omissions often provoke moreoutcry and buzz than the actual winners. The AcademyAwards are quite controversial among many film experts and fans.Although the Academy has honored many of the cinema’s masterpieces,numerous other great movies have been entirely overlooked. It seemsthey weren’t even worth the nomination. Other notable films were nominated, butdidn’t win a single Oscar. It’s the caseof DoubleIndemnity (aclassic film noir masterpiece with sevennominations!!!) PrettyWoman, Being JohnMalkovich, Harry Potter andthe Sorcerer’s Stone, The Talented Mr.Ripley, Munich, It’sA Wonderful Life,Singin’ in The Rain, Mangnolia,TheMagnificent Ambersons and many more.
outcry n. 尖叫, 强烈抗议, 倒彩
buzz n. 嗡嗡声, 流言
10. Poltergeist (1982)
The first Poltergeist movie wasreleased during the summer 1982. The very successful thriller ofthe 80s ranks 84th on AFI’s 100 Years 100 Thrills list. The 1986and 1988 sequels didn’t quite measure up to the original.
Special effects can often make orbreak a film. It’s for sure not the case of Poltergeist (1982).Many consider that producer Steven Spielberg and director TobeHooper are the real stars of Poltergeist, both of them famous forcreating awesome special effects. Poltergeist won in 1983 the BAFTAFilm Award for Best Special Visual Effects, but failed to win theOscar. It remains a visually striking movie that harmonicallycombines effective special effects with a human touch, somethingmost horror movies lack these days.
Poltergeist – Oscarnominations
1983, Best Effects, Sound EffectsEditing: Stephen Hunter Flick, Richard L. Anderson
Best Effects, Visual Effects: RichardEdlund, Michael Wood, Bruce Nicholson
Best Music, Original Score: JerryGoldsmith
poltergeist n. 敲击吵闹恶作剧的鬼
measure up to 符合, 达到
9. Ghostbusters (1984)
The1984 Ghostbusters isone of those few greatfilms “where the original, fragilecomic vision has survived a multimillion-dollarproduction”, saidRoger Ebert. The American fantasty-comedy made close to $300millions in the United States, the equivalent of nowadays $596,878,264 and AFIranked it #28 on the ? 100 Greates Comedies of all Time”list.
The plot of the movie is imaginativeand very well written, the special effects were spectacular forit’s time and the cast was well put together, for both leading andsupporting roles. Bill Murray portrayed Dr. Peter Venkman, DanAykroyd – Dr. Raymond Stantz, Sigourney Weaver – Dana Barrett andHarold Ramis – Dr. Egon Spengler.
Times columnist Caitlin Moran sparked quite a bitof controversy with her article titled “Sorry StarWars fans, but Ghostbusters isthe best film ever made!” I didn’t read such a funny, yet thoughtprovoking article for a very long time. Great stuff, well worthreading. What do you think? Is she right?
Ghostbusters – Oscarnominations
1985, Best Effects/ Visual Effects: Richard Edlund, John Bruno, Mark Vargo, ChuckGaspar
Best Music / Original Song: RayParker Jr.
equivalent n. 同等物, 相等物, 等价物
columnist n. 专栏作家
controversy n. 论争; 论战; 辩论
8. Vertigo (1958)
Great story with original plottwists, obsessive passions, astonishingly visceral music,spine-tingling suspense,mystery…in one word: Vertigo! Vertigo’s screenplayis credited to Samuel Taylor and Alec Coppel. It was an adaption ofP. Boileau’s and T. Narcejac’s novel, D’Entre les Morts(BetweenDeaths /The Living and theDead).
AlthoughHitchcock’s Vertigo wasnominated for only two Oscars, and won none, it is widely regardedas a masterpiece. Hitchcock perfectly combined multiple levels tocreate a complex movie. On a literal level,Vertigo tellsthe suspense-filled mystery story of a manmanipulated into acting as an accomplice in a crime. On the otherhand, the film’s psychological level reveals a man’s dark and twisted psychefull of fears and laden with guilt. The storyfollows Scottie’s obsessive fantasies and the desire to end hisexistential vertigo, “desperately searching for anobject on which to concentrate its repressed energy”. (Magill’sSurvey of Cinema) Themovie explores the dangerous link between desire and death, betweenfalling in love and falling. Finally, at a deeper andmetaphorical level, Vertigo retellsthe ancient legend of Orpheus and Eurydice. John “Scottie”Ferguson, just like Orpheus, travels into the terrifying underworldto reclaim his lost love. These multiple levels blur the fine linebetween subjectivity and objectivity.
Vertigo – Oscarnominations
1959, Best Art Direction-SetDecoration / Black-and-White or Color: Hal Pereira, Henry Bumstead,Sam Comer, Frank R. McKelvy
Best Sound: George Dutton
spine-tingling adj. 令人又惊又喜的
laden adj. 装满的; 苦恼的; 负担重的
metaphorical adj. 隐喻性的; 比喻性的
7. Basic Instinct (1992)
Written by Joe Eszterhas and directedby Paul Verhoeven, BasicInstinct features MichaelDouglas, Sharon Stone, Jeanne Tripplehorn and George Dzundza. Thefilm generated major controversy due to itssteamy love scenes, overt sexuality and intense acts ofviolence.
A diabolical killer, a brutal murder,a police detective who can’t resist the temptation of danger, and amysterious femme fatale who promises carnal pleasures, but delivers death. Whatmore can we ask for? BasicInstinct was immenselysuccessful upon release. It was one of the highestgrossing movies of that year.
While Frank J. Urioste got nominatedfor Best Film Editing and Jerry Goldsmith forBest Music, Sharone Stone and Paul Verhoeven were left out. Stillcan’t believe that BasicInstinct didn’t win asingle Oscar.
BasicInstinct – Oscarnominations
1993, Best Film Editing: Frank J.Urioste
Best Music / Original Score: JerryGoldsmith
carnal adj. 肉体的, 肉欲的
gross v. 总共赚得
6. Fatal Attraction(1987)
Can you trust that 26 directorsrejected FatalAttraction because theyconsidered it uncommercial? One thing is forsure: FatalAttraction was notignored upon its release in 1987. It was the year’s most intenselydebated movie, grossing over $320 million at the boxoffice. FatalAttraction was such amassive hit because it gave the audience something different. AsTom Hanks stated in Sleepless in Seattle: “FatalAttraction scared theshit out of every man in America.” All the actors’ performanceswere outstanding. AFI ranked Glenn Close for portaying Alex Forrest#7 on its “100 Years…100 Heroes and Villains” list.
Although popular with sixnominations, FatalAttraction didn’t win anyAcademy Awards.
FatalAttraction – Oscarnomincations
1988, Best Actress in a Leading Role:Glenn Close
Best Actress in a Supporting Role:Anne Archer
Best Director: Adrian Lyne
Best Film Editing: Michael Kahn,Peter E. Berger
Best Picture: Stanley R. Jaffe,Sherry Lansing
Best Writing, Screenplay Based onMaterial from Another Medium: James Dearden
uncommercial adj. 非营利的; 非从事商业的
5. Frost/Nixon (2008)
RonHoward’s Frost/Nixon isa sharp historical drama adapted from a theatre play by PeterMorgan. Certain characters and actions have beenfictionalized, but the plot is based on the famous1977 interviews. The highlights of the movie are Frank Langella asformer US President Richard Nixon and Michael Sheen as Britishjournalist David Frost. The confrontations between these twoambitious men are truly electrifying. While Nixon struggled toregain his reputation by reminding America of his politicalachievements, Frost aspired to be recognized as a prominentjournalist, he wanted to be admired andrespected. Frost/Nixon wasnominated for five Academy Awards, but lost most of the awardsto SlumdogMillionaire. I’ll never understand how this fantasticmovie lost to SlumdogMillionaire…
Frost/Nixon – Oscarnominations
2009, Best Achievement in Directing:Ron Howard
Best Achievement in Editing: MikeHill, Daniel P. Hanley
Best Motion Picture of the Year:Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, Eric Fellner
Best Performance by an Actor in aLeading Role: Frank Langella
Best Writing, Screenplay Based onMaterial Previously Produced or Published: Peter Morgan
fictionalize v. 使小说化; 把...编成小说
4. The Godfather, Part III(1990)
The third partof TheGodfather trilogy is another interesting movie thatfailed to win an Academy Award, despite being nominated seventimes. The American gangster film received mixed reviews. WhileWashington Post columnist Bal Hinson wrote “The man who made thosetwo masterpieces is not the man who has given us this failed finalchapter… you can’t help butsee The Godfather PartIII as his headstone”,Sun-Times critic Roger Ebert considerd it a “beautiful-lookingfilm, a beautiful-feeling film, it’s great to see these peopleagain. It’s interesting the way they dig in to the controversyinvolving the Catholic Church.”
The Godfather, PartIII – Oscarnominations
1991, Best Actor in a SupportingRole: Andy Garcia
Best Art Direction-Set Decoration:Dean Tavoularis, Gary Fettis
Best Cinematography: GordonWillis
Best Director: Francis FordCoppola
Best Film Editing: Barry Malkin, LisaFruchtman, Walter Murch
Best Music / Original Song: CarmineCoppola (music), John Bettis (lyrics) For the song “Promise MeYou’ll Remember”.
Best Picture: Francis FordCoppola
trilogy n. 三部剧, 三部曲
3. Once Upon A Time inAmerica（1984）
One of the last memorable epics tocome out of Hollywood is SergioLeone’s Once Upon a Time inAmerica starring RobertDe Niro and James Woods. And I am talking about the originalversion with a running time of 227 minutes. Once Upon a Time inAmerica was so heavily edited for its U.S. theatrical release, thatthe Italian film director was left inconsolable. He never madeanother film after Once Upon a Time inAmerica. Unfortunately, the movie’s most interestingscenes are missing from the short version and the plot is kind ofhard to understand. The full-length version of the crime dramaexplores the lives of a group of Jewish immigrants,chronicling their childhoods and years of gloryas gangsters in America.
Why Leone’s masterpiece neverreceived an Oscar, let alone a nomination, remains amystery.
chronicle v. 载入编年史，记录
2. The Shawshank Redemption(1994)
The ShawshankRedemption is an inspiring ‘lesson’ on howto unleash our full potential by embracing newchallenges, building on our strengths and having the courage tofight back against life’s injustices and miseries.“Get busyliving…or get busy dying. That’s god damn right.” Justlike Red (Morgan Freeman) said.
Although The ShawshankRedemption depicts thestory of two men who become close friends while serving lifesentences in a maximum security prison, it is not the typicalprison drama. Frank Darabont defied all conventions of the genre(bullying, violence, crime, hopelessness of a life) to reveal newthemes: friendship, determination, survival and faith. The cast isheaded by Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman and Bob Gunton. Yet, despiteall of its greatness and 7 Oscarnominations, The ShawshankRedemption did notsucceed in winning one.
The ShawshankRedemption – Oscarnominations
1995, Best Actor ina Leading Role: Morgan Freeman
Best Cinematography: RogerDeakins
Best Film Editing: RichardFrancis-Bruce
Best Music / Original Score: ThomasNewman
Best Picture: Niki Marvin
Best Sound: Robert J. Litt, ElliotTyson, Michael Herbick, Willie D. Burton
Best Writing, Screenplay Based onMaterial from Another Medium: Frank Darabont
unleash v. 解开...的皮带, 解放, 解除...的束缚
1.Psycho (1960)
Here we are at number one:immortal Psycho! No othermovie had such a great psychological impact on the audience asPsycho had in its time. Hailed as the father of modern suspense,Hitchcock broke all the conventions and created one of the best andscariest movies ever. However, it failed to win an AcademyAward. Psycho influencedmany films that came after it( Silence of theLambs, Portrait of a SerialKiller etc.) and helpedshape the slasher genre. No wonder it tops AFI’s list of 100 mostthrilling American movies.
Psycho connects directly with some of ourmost vivid emotions: terror, despair, fear, and this makes itimmortal. The nightmarish movie’s themes of paranoia caused by isolation,voyeurism, the dual nature of the humanpsyche, the lack of distinction between reality and appearance, thesupremacy of death over life and the way in which madness isrepresented make Psycho standout as one most disturbing and violent films. But…“We all go a little madsometimes. Haven’t you?” – Norman Bates
Psycho – Oscarnominations
1961, Best Actress in a SupportingRole: Janet Leigh
Best Art Direction-Set Decoration,Black-and-White: Joseph Hurley, Robert Clatworthy, GeorgeMilo
Best Cinematography, Black-and-White:John L. Russell
Best Director: AlfredHitchcock
hail v. 招呼; 招呼致意; 向...欢呼; 承认...为; 为...喝彩; 拥立
paranoia n. 偏执狂; 妄想狂
voyeurism n. 窥淫狂症; 窥淫癖
偶看新闻