Revisiting the Academy Awards, 1996

 


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.

1996:

Best Picture:
* The English Patient
* Fargo
* Jerry Maguire
* Shine
* Secrets and Lies

About: This was the year The English Patient won, and I'm going to be honest that I didn't think it was a great film. To me, there are two obvious choices, Jerry Maguire and Fargo. I'm going with Fargo here.

Best Director:
* Joel Coen
* Anthony Minghella
* Milos Forman
* Mike Leigh
* Scott Hicks

About: Minghella won for The English Patient. I'm going with Coen here for Fargo.

Best Actor:
* Geoffrey Rush
* Tom Cruise
* Ralph Fiennes
* Woody Harrelson
* Billy Bob Thornton

About: Rush got the win here, but this is a pretty good field. I'm tempted to go with Cruise, but I think I'll stick with Rush.

Best Actress:
* Frances McDorand
* Brenda Blethyn
* Diane Keaton
* Kristin Scott Thomas
* Emily Watson

About: McDormand was the rightful winner here and I'm sticking with her.

Best Supporting Actor:
* Cuba Gooding, Jr.
* Armin Muller-Stahl
* William H. Macy
* Edward Norton
* James Woods

About: Gooding got the win here for an iconic part. Norton is quite good, and I loved Macy. This is a tough choice, but I'm sticking with Gooding.

Best Supporting Actress:
* Juliette Binoche
* Joan Allen
* Lauren Bacall
* Barbara Hershey
* Marianne Jean-Baptiste

About: Binoche earned the win here. This is an interesting field with some solid choices. At the end of the day, I'm sticking with Binoche.

That's a wrap for 1996, check back next week for 1997.

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