Revisiting the Academy Awards, 1988


As some of you know, I have been a frequent guest host on the Music City Drive In Movie podcast this summer. We've been looking at movies since 2000, re-nominating the Academy Awards. That got me thinking about the actual fields of the awards themselves. In a new weekly series, I'll be looking back at the last 40 years of Oscars and reviewing the choices at Best Picture, Best Director and the four acting categories.

1988:

Best Picture:
* Rain Man
* Working Girl
* The Accidental Tourist
* Mississippi Burning
* Dangerous Liasons

About: This was the year of "Rain Man," and honestly it's a film that was good at the time and still holds up pretty well. I'm rolling with that here.

Best Director:
* Barry Levinson
* Charles Crichton
* Martin Scorsese
* Alan Parker
* Mike Nichols

About: Levinson got the win here, and that makes some sense. I think Scorsese is an under-rated option here because his film, "The Last Temptation of Christ," was controversial. I'd probably stick with Levinson, but it was a good field.

Best Actor:
* Dustin Hoffman
* Gene Hackman
* Tom Hanks
* Edward James Olmos
* Max von Sydow

About: A pretty solid field here. "Mississippi Burning" is an under-rated film, and Hackman was solid there, and Hanks is GREAT in "Big." Hoffman won for "Rain Man," and I would stick with that.

Best Actress:
* Jodie Foster
* Glenn Close
* Melanie Griffith
* Meryl Streep
* Sigourney Weaver

About: This is a loaded field. It feels like as we've gone through the 1980s Streep is a nominee every year, and that makes sense. Close was great here, too, as was Weaver for "Gorillas in the Mist." Foster won for "The Accused," which is a tough film to watch in large part thanks to her performance. I'm sticking with Foster.

Best Supporting Actor:
* Kevin Kline
* Alec Guiness
* Martin Landau
* River Phoenix
* Dean Stockwell

About: Kline won for "A Fish Called Wanda," and I can't go against that. 

Best Supporting Actress:
* Geena Davis
* Joan Cusack
* Frances McDormand
* Sigourney Weaver
* Michelle Pfeiffer

About: Weaver was a double nominee this year but didn't win either category. Davis took home the award here for the "Accidental Tourist." It's a strong field, and you could make a case for many here. I think I'd got with Pfeiffer for "Dangerous Liaisons" 

That's a wrap for 1988, tune in next week for 1989.

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