What Should Have Won Best Picture-1979

 

Happy Birthday My Brother, Baron! I can't believe that you are now a pensioner. I still think we are at home, with mom and dad, playing hide and seek with the Lennoks, after 9pm…gosh, that was so much fun! In honor of my brother's birthday, I asked him which film or actor should have won the Oscar and he, immediately, mentioned Apocalypse Now and I agree with him 150%. So who actually won and which film didn't even get nominated is mentioned below..

1. APOCALYPSE NOW

I can't understand how this film did not win because this is not just a movie, it is a film worthy of being called Art. Like “Citizen Kane,” “It's A Wonderful Life,” “Rear Window,” and “Schindler's List,” this film is one we all know whether we have seen it or not. In fact, it is so famous, not only for the actual film, but for all the behind the scenes mayhem. France's Ford Coppola sank all his money into the making of this film which almost bankrupted him. The star of the film, Martin Sheen suffered a heart attack and then there is the tornado called Marlon Brando…”The Horror…The Horror”. There is a documentary about the making of this film which is just as riveting as the film. We follow Martin Sheen who must, during the Vietnam War, locate and exterminate Kurtz, played by Marlon Brando, a colonel gone rogue. We follow Sheen, with a handful of young soldiers, travel into the heart of darkness (an actual book, that I need to reread since I didn't understand it when I initially read it back in high school) finding out more about the brutality of life and its meaning, if there is any. Robert Duvall should have won Best Supporting actor for his portrayal of a crazy, surf loving, Lieutenant Colonel Kilgore who, “loves the smell of napalm in the morning.” This is a must-see film for its acting, plot, music, scenery and the artistic look of the film. What are your thoughts on this film, Baron?

2. KRAMER VS KRAMER

This is the film that won Best Picture as well as Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress, Director plus Beat Adapted Screenplay and.. while it is a good film, I just don’t understand all the hoopla. It is one of the first films to depict a man dealing with raising his child on his own after his wife leaves to “find herself.” He is trying to balance his work while dealing with his son who misses his mom by acting like a real brat ( the ice cream scene is great). I just watched this film again, not having seen it since I saw it in the theatre back in 1979. I still maintain that this is a good film with Hoffman giving a great performance as the out of touch husband who must be the dad to his son(Justin Henry who  was nominated in the Beat Supporting Actor category) when his crying wife, played by Meryl Streep, needs to find herself and leaves them. When she returns, she wants her son and takes her husband to court while crying most of the time. Yeah, she won the Best Supporting Actress and I just never understood why she won. For me, she is over-rated and I know I am in the minority in this. Regardless, this is a film worth seeing and it does rug at the heart strings.

3. THE CHINA SYNDROME

This film is a very scary film because it is quite realistic. Why? It deals with the possibility of nuclear meltdown which was met with harsh criticism by the execs at the nuclear power stations. Unfortunately, 12 days after the release of the film, there was a nuclear meltdown at Three Mile Island causing radiation to seep out and the surrounding area to leave their homes and not return. This film is about such an accident possibly occurring but it is a film of fiction, so-called. It stars Jack Lemmon as a high level executive who sees how shoddy work is creating a nuclear meltdown, but no one is listening to him. At the same time, a reporter and cameraman, played by Jane Fonda and Michael Douglas, are doing a story on the nuclear power plant when Lemmon, suspecting a nuclear meltdown, takes over the plant in order to bring awareness to the public about the safety concerns of this plant. The higher-ups and money men want Lemmon shut down and will do anything to get this done. It is an intense, well-acted film that is eerily relevant even today and this was not even nominated for Best Picture.

The other films that were nominated were “Breaking Away”, “All That Jazz”, and “Norma Rae”. 

Films not even nominated were “Alien”, “Manhattan” and “And Justice For All”. 

Do you agree with this or do you feel another picture should have won or do you agree with the Academy?