Your Favorite Performances from 1930 to the present

[skimpole]

And what if we had to include at least two of the Academy's choices?

Picture: The Godfather, Part III
Actor: Costner, no change
Actress: no change
S. Actor: Garcia, no change
S. Actress: Bening, no change

[skimpole]

Now it's time for 1991. Here are the Academy's choices:

ACTOR

Warren Beatty – Bugsy
Robert De Niro – Cape Fear
Anthony Hopkins – The Silence of the Lambs
Nick Nolte – The Prince of Tides
Robin Williams – The Fisher King

ACTRESS

Geena Davis – Thelma & Louise
Laura Dern – Rambling Rose
Jodie Foster – The Silence of the Lambs
Bette Midler – For the Boys
Susan Sarandon – Thelma & Louise

SUPPORTING ACTOR

Tommy Lee Jones – JFK
Harvey Keitel – Bugsy
Ben Kingsley – Bugsy
Michael Lerner – Barton Fink
Jack Palance – City Slickers

SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Diane Ladd – Rambling Rose
Juliette Lewis – Cape Fear
Kate Nelligan – The Prince of Tides
Mercedes Ruehl – The Fisher King
Jessica Tandy – Fried Green Tomatoes

And here are my choices:

ACTOR

Michel Piccoli, La Belle Noiseuse
Jacques Dutronc, Van Gogh
Warren Beatty, Bugsy
River Phoenix, My Own Private Idaho
Chang Chen, A Brighter Summer Day

ACTRESS

Jodie Foster, The Silence of the Lambs
Susan Sarandon, Thelma and Louise
Annette Bening, Bugsy
Juliette Binoche, The Lovers on the Bridge
Lisa Yang, A Brighter Summer Day

SUPPORTING ACTOR

Gary Oldman, JFK
Max von Sydow, Europa
Anthony Hopkins, The Silence of the Lambs
Ben Kingsley, Bugsy
Andrew Strong, The Commitments

SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Christina Ricci, The Addams Family
Angela Lansbury, Beauty and the Beast
Alexandra London, Van Gogh
Silvie Laguna, Delicatessen
Cathy Moriarty, Soapdish

And my choices for best picture are:

Delicatassen
Europa/Zentropa
JFK
Shadows and Fog
The Silence of the Lambs

So who would the Academy choose if they had to choose from my nominees. For Actor, Beatty is the obvious choice against three foreign nominees and an independent film. I imagine the Academy would chose an actor playing a murderer over a street hustler. For Actress, there's no reason Foster wouldn't win, and Hopkins would probably win if moved to supporting. As for Supporting actress, the Academy has never chosen an animated performance. But Lansbury is the obvious legacy choice.

[skimpole]

And if we had to include at least two of the Academy's choices?

Picture: no change
Actor: no change
Actress: no change
Supporting Actor: Jones, but no changes
Supporting Actress: Ruehl, Lewis. The academy chose Ruehl in real life, and probably would here, though both suffer from not getting any other nominations.

[skimpole]

Now it's time for 1992. Here are the Academy's choices:

ACTOR

Robert Downey Jr. – Chaplin
Clint Eastwood – Unforgiven
Al Pacino – Scent of a Woman
Stephen Rea – The Crying Game
Denzel Washington – Malcolm X

ACTRESS

Catherine Deneuve – Indochine
Mary McDonnell – Passion Fish
Michelle Pfeiffer – Love Field
Susan Sarandon – Lorenzo’s Oil
Emma Thompson – Howards End

SUPPORTING ACTOR

Jaye Davidson – The Crying Game
Gene Hackman – Unforgiven
Jack Nicholson – A Few Good Men
Al Pacino – Glengarry Glen Ross
David Paymer – Mr. Saturday Night

SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Judy Davis – Husbands and Wives
Joan Plowright – Enchanted April
Vanessa Redgrave – Howards End
Miranda Richardson – Damage
Marisa Tomei – My Cousin Vinny

And here are my choices:

ACTOR

Jack Lemmon, Glengarry Glen Ross
Harvey Keitel, Reservoir Dogs, Bad Lieutenant
Stephen Rea, The Crying Game
Anthony Hopkins, Howard's End
Samuel Froller, The Best Intentions

ACTRESS

Pernilla August, The Best Intentions
Emma Thompson, Howard's End
Tilda Swinton, Orlando
Marisa Tomei, My Cousin Vinny
Winona Ryder, Bram Stoker's Dracula

SUPPORTING ACTOR

Robin Williams, Aladdin
Gene Hackman, Unforgiven
Sidney Poitier, Sneakers
Michael Madsen, Reservoir Dogs
Max Von Sydow, The Best Intentions

SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Miranda Richardson, The Crying Game
Alfre Woodard, Passion Fish
Ghita Norby, The Best Intentions
Vanessa Redgrave, Howard's End
Ayse Owens, The Long Day Closes

And the nominees for Best Picture are:

Aladdin
The Best Intentions
Bram Stoker's Dracula
The Crying Game
Reservoir Dogs

So who would the Academy choose if they had to choose from my nominees? Lemmon and Rea got some critical attention. I suspect Lemmon would get the nod, even though I think I may have given him an award. It's possible that Hopkins might win from an Academy who thought he deserved more than a supporting actor the year before. Thompson was the overwhelming critical choice, the only thing hampering it being the lack of a best picture nomination for Howard's End. But it got plenty of other nominations this year regardless. For supporting actor, Hackman was the Academy choice, and he would be this time. For supporting actress now we wonder whether the Academy really hates Redgrave too much to give her another award. The alternative I think is Richardson, which got some critical attention.

[skimpole]

And if we had to include two of the Academy's nominees?

Picture: Unforgiven, which becomes the front-runner
Actor: Eastwood. Now he would probably win
Actress: McDonnell, the only other one I've seen. No difference
S. Actor: Davidson, no change
S. Actress: no change