Revisiting the Academy Awards, 1998


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.

1998:

Best Picture:
* Saving Private Ryan
* Shakespeare in Love
* Elizabeth
* The Thin Red Line
* Life is Beautiful

About: This is a year that few will forget, where we had a lot of interesting nominees and Shakespeare in Love won the big prize. At the time, it felt like a miss. In hindsight, it feels like a bigger miss. I am going with Saving Private Ryan here, and I think that should have been the winner at the time.

Best Director:
* Steven Spielberg
* Peter Weir
* Terrance Malick
* John Madden
* Roberto Benigni

About: Spielberg got the win here, and that's probably right. That being said, there are some interesting options. I really love The Truman Show, which is a credit to Weir. But I'm sticking with Spielberg.

Best Actor:
* Roberto Benigni
* Tom Hanks
* Edward Norton
* Ian McKellen
* Nick Nolte

About: Benigni won for Life if Beautiful. It's a fine film, but wasn't my favorite at the time, and in 20 years since I haven't felt the need to revisit it. I'm going with Hanks here.

Best Actress:
* Gwyneth Paltrow
* Cate Blanchett
* Meryl Streep
* Emily Watson
* Fernanda Montenegro 

About: This was the year Paltrow won for Shakespeare in Love. She does a nice job. However, I'm going with Blanchett here.

Best Supporting Actor:
* James Coburn
* Robert Duvall
* Ed Harris
* Billy Bob Thornton
* Geoffrey Rush

About: Coburn was the winner here. Affliction was a fine film, but I'm going with Harris for The Truman Show.

Best Supporting Actress:
* Judi Dench
* Kathy Bates
* Brenda Blethyn
* Rachel Griffiths
* Lynn Redgrave

About: Dench won for little screen time, and yet it was a good and memorable performance. I'm sticking with it. You win this round, Shakespeare in Love!

That's a wrap on 1998, tune in next week for 1999.
 

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