TrekBBS Academy Awards: #3 - Best Picture, 1991

[Star Treks]

Third in a series where you get to vote on what movie really should have won the Best Picture Oscar in years past (of the nominees). Seems that sometimes they got it right, and sometimes they didn't... up next, Best Picture, 1991.

Comments encouraged.

 

[Kira's Mom]

No problem with the 1991 winner.

As much as I loved Beauty and the Beast (it's still my favorite Disney film), it shouldn't have been nominated for Best Picture. I think the remake of Cape Fear should have gotten the nod.

Keep doing these! I can't wait to bitch about 1985 and 1998.

 

[Star Treks]

I voted for Beauty and the Beast, of the nominees.

Think about it: lots of musicals have won Best Picture in years past, although the trend isn't as strong the last couple of decades. Beauty and the Beast worked not only as a great family film and fantasy adventure, but also as a fantastic musical. If Oliver!, My Fair Lady, Chicago, and Gigi can all win best picture, I've got no problem with Beauty and the Beast. It's also my favorite Disney film, and I'm not even a big Disney fan.

That said, I can't complain about Silence of the Lambs... it's a great movie too.

I'm glad you're enjoying these polls. It's an interesting way to revisit movies of the past - not just the winners, but sometimes the smaller or odder or better movies that got nominated alongside them.

 

[DBR]

Bugsy was up? Really?

 

[Neroon]

Beauty and the Beast. Ground-breaking, beautiful animation with characters that had more dimension than many conventional films. A musical score that seems to match emotions extremely well... and I just plain love a story where the protagonist for once is thinking of somebody ELSE.

 

[cardinal biggles]

All these years later, I'd forgotten that Bugsy was nominated. Damn. 1991 must have been a light year.

Of those five, the only ones that deserved the award were Silence and Beauty; I like both films a lot, but had to agree with the Academy on this one.

 

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

For comparison purposes, the top-ranked English language feature films of 1991 on IMDB are:

The Silence of the Lambs (8.7)
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (8.4)
Beauty and the Beast (8.0)
JFK (8.0)
Boyz n the Hood (7.8)
Barton Fink (7.7)
The Fisher King (7.5)

A weak year with so few films scoring well.

Bugsy scores a 6.7 (which seems fair to me) and The Prince of Tides a 6.3 (probably a little low - animus to Streisand is probably a factor; it's an animus I actually share, but putting that aside the film deserves a somewhat higher rating).

I think the Academy got it right with The Silence of the Lambs, although I disagree with some of the nominees.

 

[Smiley]

I have yet to see Silence, though I can't imagine that I will like it more than Beauty. Put down one more vote for Belle!

 

[Neroon]

I have yet to see Silence, though I can't imagine that I will like it more than Beauty. Put down one more vote for Belle!

Silence of the Lambs is a superbly effective and suspenseful film, and for those who enjoy that genre, it's among the best ever I think. Definitely watch it sometime... with the lights on.

 

[Smiley]

It is in my queue, Neroon. I'll see it sometime in the next decade.

 

[Norrin Radd]

For this list, I would say Beauty and the Beast if it weren't the fact that Silence of the Lambs is the most riveting, first class horror thriller I've ever seen.

It really is the ultimate of the genre.

 

[Sakrysta]

These are cool threads, but...

Could you put the original winner in your post, just for the ignorant among us who don't remember? *sheepish grin*

I voted for Beauty and the Beast.

 

[Star Treks]

These are cool threads, but...

Could you put the original winner in your post, just for the ignorant among us who don't remember? *sheepish grin*

I voted for Beauty and the Beast.

I was originally not posting the real winner because I didn't want to have any influence on the vote, but I guess after a day or so it couldn't hurt.

1989 was Driving Miss Daisy, 1990 was Dances With Wolves, and 1991 was The Silence of the Lambs.

 

[ZERO_of_ZERO]

Silence of the lambs.

Now ... put the f*****g lotion in the basket!

 

[MyCylon]

JFK - IMHO a fantastic movie even if it's not factual (or so I've heard). Very engaging, great performances all around, beautifully filmed and edited, great music.

I personally found Silence of the Lambs rather dull. I never got what all the fuss was about in that case.

 

[Roshi]

Silence of the Lamb, as is. Regarding Beauty and the Beast's "groundbreaking animation", I like to think that Akira came out three years earlier

 

[Hermiod]

JFK for me.

 

[Piper]

A strong list, but I went for the winner Silence of the Lambs.

 

[stj]

This one's tough. Silence of the Lambs set the highwater mark for thriller that Martin Scorsese thought he would in the Cape Fear remake. Technically JFK is a stunning accomplishment. But the historical reconstruction was just too problematic. But I confess to really appreciating Fisher King, which I would have picked if it had been nominated.

Silence, then.

 

[Sakrysta]

These are cool threads, but...

Could you put the original winner in your post, just for the ignorant among us who don't remember? *sheepish grin*

I voted for Beauty and the Beast.

I was originally not posting the real winner because I didn't want to have any influence on the vote, but I guess after a day or so it couldn't hurt.

1989 was Driving Miss Daisy, 1990 was Dances With Wolves, and 1991 was The Silence of the Lambs.

Maybe you could put it in spoiler code?