Big Magilla wrote:I thought Olivier's performance was pure ham, but tasty, enjoyable ham nonetheless...
Olivier's last mildly enjoyable role if a somewhat salty and fatty ham.
By this time in his career Olivier decided he needed to make money. His financial situation was somewhat precarious and by staying in England he was hammered by the Labour government's confiscatory tax rates. He also wanted to leave some money to his children who were having their own difficulties. Thus, he took everything that was thrown his way and milked his prestige for maximum payment.
I agree with most of the posters. It was a race between Busey and Voight. I really liked Coming Home very much. I remember those days when the movie was released it was told that Ashby´s film represented the radical version of Vietnan problem while The Deer Hunter expressed the most conservative one. Voight was astonishing in his performance. He gets my vote.
I'm a bit behind now, but I'll try to get these quicky...
It's telling, and a bit sad, that Laurence Olivier's Oscar career went from Wuthering Heights and Henry V to Marathon Man and Boys from Brazil. Marathon Man is at least effective - not a great movie, but still watchable and reasonably entertaining today. Boys from Brazil is mess though - but it must have been a successful one, at least at the box-office. Otherwise the Best Editing nomination that this movie - which looks as if it was cut with a hatchet - got would be impossible to explain.
Beatty and Busey are both good - but this is clearly between De Niro and Voight. De Niro is good in a very good movie - but we have all voted for him before and will do it again soon. Voight's isn't his best nominated performance - it may even not be his second-best nominated performance (I liked him in Runaway Train) - and we all agree that Coming Home, so praised when it came out, is today deservedly forgotten by most. Still, he's the best thing about his movie - if Coming Home sounds true, at at times it strangely does, it's because of him. I'm voting for Voight so.
This is the weakest of Beatty's four acting nods. The Academy gave Olivier the Honorary award this year and placed him on the best actor list for a performance which was basically borderline supporting.
My picks for 1978:
Jon Voight, Coming Home
Gary Busey, The Buddy Holly Story
Brad Davis, Midnight Express
Nick Nolte, Who'll Stop the Rain?
Robert De Niro, The Deer Hunter
You have to understand that the era fondly remembered as the 70s didn't really extend beyond 1976. Or, if you want to truly pinpoint it, it ended sometime between the last day of April 1977 -- when Annie Hall opened-- and a few weeks later in May, when Star Wars came along and remade the US film industry forever (to date, anyway). There was a not insignificant last gasp ofthe era in 1979, and of course there were occasional masterpiece spottings over other years post-'76. But the general sense that there was a mainstream film art movement was gone by 1978; certainly by 1980.
For most of this year, many of us had no idea what could win best picture -- nothing seemed remotely big deal-ish enough. The Deer Hunter of course famously came along at the last minute, and won NY, but even then it seemed less than a sure thing. When Midnight Express won the Globe, I thought its more direct narrative line might give it a shot at the Oscars. Deer Hunter was, by me, the least objectionable of the nominees, and I'm glad it won, but even I had serious reservations about the film.
Heaven Can Wait was in there because it was the only really strong commercial hit among the year's well-reviewed movies -- and, as I've said previously, that was a fcator in the 70s. The Deer Hunter ended up quite successful as well, but some of that was in the wake of the Oscar triumph. The other nominees were all middling-range earners -- they made enough to be nominated, but not to truly contend.
I heard a few people suggesting Beatty/Henry could win, along with the film, simply from being the year's least objectionable nominee. The Deer Hunter was pretty divisive at the time; probably still is.
As for the other nominees -- Interiors wasn't actually a flop, as I recall. There was enough Annie Hall carry-over that the film did decent numbers, at least in the big cities. It definitely out-earned Days of Heaven, which simply never caught on, despite obvious critical support. I think Malick was only a lone-director possibility, not probabilty, in most predictions.
The surprise was that Mazursky failed to be nominated. But Unmarried Woman had stirred up a real backlash: there was a good deal of "Who cares about the problems of someone who can make herself fell better by meeting the girls for lunch at 21?"
Haven't seen The Buddy Holly Story so I'm not gonna vote.
No reason for Olivier's nomination. By all accounts, Robert De Niro silently directed much of The Deer Hunter and the film is rather dully structured around his everyman's man performance. It's a good movie, but he does not deserve a win or a nomination for this performance. It's Jon Voight, easily the best of the nominees that I've seen, but I will abstain.
I can understand Warren Beatty's performance but was his Best Director nomination alongside Buck Henry predicted in any way? Did anybody think the anonymous directing team had any chance at all? Especially alongside four directors who were fairly exciting at that time. By the same token, I can't imagine Woody Allen's was any kind of predicted for a film that was by my understanding a split-reviewed flop. Were the predicted nominees Hal Ashby, Michael Cimino, Terrence Malick, Paul Mazursky, and Alan Parker? Anyway, Warren Beatty's nominated performance is basically the same thing as the film. Not bad but far too bland to merit consideration, let alone eight (!) nominations.
[quote="ksrymy"]I'd have added Michel Serrault and Ugo Tognazzi from La Cage Aux Folles in place of Beatty and Olivier though (although I'm not sure when it became Oscar eligible).[/quote]
It was eligible the following year when it was nominated for three Oscars: Direction; Adapted Screenplay and Costume Design.
I'll agree with all of you: '78s Heaven Can Wait was entirely unnecessary; however, I can see why the Academy drooled over it. The Academy is so quick to hand out nominations to movies where the writer, producer, actor, and director are the same person. I feel that the only case Beatty excelled in all of these was in Reds. I would have replaced him with Michel Serrault from La Cage Aux Folles who I think gives the best performance of 1978.
I can never ignore an Olivier nomination but I feel like this nomination was given to him not only because, as Magilla put it, it was tasty, tasty ham but because he would be in the likes of Katharine Hepburn and Bette Davis as the only actor with double digit acting nominations. As much as I enjoyed this performance, I can't give an award to it.
Gary Busey was, surprisingly, believable as Buddy Holly but I say that having seen big teethed, Godknowswhat Gary Busey before serious actor Gary Busey. I love Buddy Holly and I feel like he nailed this role.
I would have no problem awarding Robert De Niro here. His Russian roulette scenes were magnetic. The lack of fear he shows when he pulls the trigger each time is truly awesome. But, alas, I cannot think of another scene that he had which made such an impact on me. I feel like John Savage deserved this nomination instead.
As much as Coming Home upset me with its blatant, boring, in-your-face, anti-Vietnam message, I cannot overlook Jon Voight's wonderful performance. His role, I feel, was much harder than De Niro's. He steals every scene he's in even when it tries to focus only on Fonda (who did not deserve her Oscar at all). Solid acting all throughout and I'll agree with Cannes and give Jon Voight the vote here.
I'd have added Michel Serrault and Ugo Tognazzi from La Cage Aux Folles in place of Beatty and Olivier though (although I'm not sure when it became Oscar eligible).
"Men get to be a mixture of the charming mannerisms of the women they have known." - F. Scott Fitzgerald
I thought 1978 was a decent year for actors with Voight's performance head and shoulders above everyone else except maybe Gary Busey's. Brad Davis in Midnight Express; Nick Nolte in Who'll Stop the Rain and Anthony Hopkins in Magic were the non-nominated performances that were at least as good as the remaining nominees.
I agree with Tee on Coming Home's sophomoric approach and really disliked the A Star Is Born ending for Bruce Dern's character. but I liked the film well enough to consider it an also-ran for Best Picture along with Midnight Express and Days of Heaven. I thought The Deer Hunter was the year's Best Picture, although I had problems with that as well, including Cimino's long intro and the nonsense about Russian roulette. It may not have been a great year for movies in general, but it was decent enough as far as acting is concerned.
I was a big fan of Levin's novel and found the film version of The Boys from Brazil more akin to the film version of his Rosemary's Baby than The Stepford Wives. I thought Olivier's performance was pure ham, but tasty, enjoyable ham nonetheless, although I would have been just as happy if Nolte or Hopkins had been nominated instead. Davis, I felt, should have gotten the slot accorded Beatty in what I agree was a totally unnecessary remake.
De Niro was fine, but Walken, Savage, Cazale and Streep all had meatier roles. The nomination was more than enough.
The waning of the 70s continues. This year's best actor slate was marginally superior to 1977's -- and a bit more representative of the era -- but, except for a few solid contests ahead (1979, 1982), the Golden Age of best actor contests was over.
Laurence Olivier was the surprise nominee. The Boys from Brazil was no more highly rated as a film than Levin's Stepford Wives had been a few years earlier. But Olivier was by then beyond criticism in certain circles -- despite the fact that he mostly appeared in crud like this and The Betsy, he always got indulgent, "he makes it fun to watch this swill" reviews.
Expected in his place was probably Brad Davis in the high-profile Midnight Express, but I didn't care for that work, either (I liked Davis when I first saw him, in Sybil, but I don't think even once after). My substitution would be one Uri would label a place-filler: Nino Manfredi, in the actually somewhat successful Italian film Bread and Chocolate.
Of the other actual nominees: I consider this the weakest of DeNiro's 70s nominations, not so much because of any lack on his part, but because Cimino didn't write him much of a role. Plenty of other actors in The Deer Hunter had full-bodied characters (John Savage easily merited a nomination here), but DeNiro is stuck with "authorial mouthpiece", and, though he holds the film together reasonably well, I don't find him hugely memorable.
Heaven Can Wait was an utterly unncessary movie for those of us with perfectly good memories of Here Comes Mr. Jordan. But it was amusing enough, and filled with solid performances by good actors, not least of them Warren Beatty. I especially enjoyed Beatty's speech in the boardroom (perhaps because it was the scene that least seemed lifted from the earlier film); it seemed to me some of the best comic acting of Warren's career. But not, of course, worthy of win consideration.
At the time, I chose Gary Busey as the year's best, probably at least partly from young adult contrarianism -- it was obvious from early on Voight was a shoo-in, and I hadn't been a huge fan of Coming Home, so I was looking elsewhere. Busey is an even more extreme version of Travolta '77: a guy who had a breakout film, then watched his career and even life become mostly a train-wreck. But his Buddy Holly is pretty close to perfect: without ever seeming to be doing an impression (a la '04 Jamie Foxx), he captured everything I recollected about Buddy Holly -- even while doing his own singing! He's at worst the runner-up.
My problem with Coming Home I guess amounts to this: unlike many, I'm uncomfortable with art that seems to only stroke my own prejudices. I was very much in sympathy with the anti-war part of America in the 70s, but I didn't flatter myself that everyone on my side was pure of heart and all those on the other side of flawed character. Coming Home seemed to argue that liberals weren't only on god's side, they also provided the best sex imaginable -- Jane Fonda, by converting from one camp to the other, found salvation, while Bruce Dern, by not, doomed himself to James Mason-like death. To me it was an adolescent, self-congratulatory film that gave me little insight into the American of the time.
But...Jon Voight's performance was very impressive, and, by career points, I suppose he deserves to win (especially since I didn't vote for him for Midnight Cowboy). He shows a skeptical, humorous side that prevents his Luke from sliding too far into the sanctimony with which the part is written. Voight, too, has gone off the deep end a bit (bringing to mind the old Robert Frost quote, "I never dared be radical when young, for fear I'd turn reactionary when old"). But at this moment in his career he was a fine actor, and I'll make him my pick in a close vote.
Last edited by Mister Tee on Thu Jul 21, 2011 4:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Another dismal year – and unlike the previous one, in both actor and actress races, by the way. But apart from Olivier, who's quite dreadful as Simon Vizental, I tend to keep the list as it is, though three of the other nominees are perfectly fine as seat fillers only. Beatty, as far as I can remember, was finely suitable for his part. Busey looked the part and in retrospect, was surprisingly gentle as Holly. I was never a big fan of Coming Home, I always found it to be too simplistic take on what was a far more complex issue, and it's stars, though good, didn't really rise above the material they were given.
That leaves me with De Nero who was extremely good as the quite, solid center of this superb film. My only reservation – I'm voting for him for all of his first four nominations, and in the context of them, certainly as lead, this is, unbelievably, his most minor one. Still, a great turn. He gets my vote.
After last year's weak lineup, this is actually a group that for the most part I really like.
Warren Beatty is the first actor I would throw out here...he is good, but this is one of his lesser performances in one of his weakest films.
Robert DeNiro is certainly very strong in The Deer Hunter, and granted I haven't seen the film in a while and don't remember his character as clearly as the other performers, but there will be better places to vote for him (and even better non-nominated work coming up).
The Boys from Brazil is a personal favorite film, one of those immensly watchable, slightly hammy but smartly made political thrillers that don't get made too much anymore. Laurence Olivier is solid, and I don't argue his nomination at all, but this is not winning material.
For me, it is down between Gary Busey and Jon Voight. Busey is surprisingly strong, but I went with Voight. I actually like The Buddy Holly Story as a movie more than Coming Home, but Voight is the strongest aspect of his film and hits every note perfectly.
"Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good."
- Minor Myers, Jr.
