On the last day of class last week, one student brightly suggested that we should award our own Oscars to the various films we screened over the course of the semester. "Hell, yes," said I.
Forthwith, the big winners and some excellent also-rans.
Best Picture: [tie] Goodfellas, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Best Director: Alfred Hitchcock, Rear Window
Best Actor: Jack Nicholson as Jake Gittes, Chinatown
Best Actress: Ingrid Bergman as Ilsa, Casablanca
Best Supporting Actor: [four-way tie]
Robert Redford as Butch, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Joe Pesci as Tommy, Goodfellas
Robert De Niro as Jimmy, Goodfellas
Brandon Ratliff as Robby, Me and You and Everyone We Know
Best Supporting Actress: Thelma Ritter as Stella, Rear Window
Best Screenplay: [three-way tie]
Me and You and Everyone We Know
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Purple Rose of Cairo
Best Song/Soundtrack: [tie] Singin' in the Rain, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Best Cinematography: Goodfellas
Best Set Design: [three-way tie]
Casablanca
Rear Window
Singin' in the Rain
Best Costume: All About Eve
Best Sound: [tie] Battle of Algiers, Singin' in the Rain
Best Villain: John Huston as Noah Cross, Chinatown
Best Fight: Goodfellas
Best Kiss: Humprey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman as Rick and Ilsa, Casablanca
All well and good, but the also-rans are pretty fine, too.
Best Fight: knife fight in Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid
Jeff vs. Mr. Thorvald, Rear Window
Tom Baxter vs. Monk (Jeff Daniels/Danny Aiello),
Purple Rose of Cairo
Butch and Sundance versus Bolivia
Best Villain: Addison DeWitt (George Sanders)
Eve!!!
tie between Major Strasser (Casablanca) and the entire
French Army and police force (Battle of Algiers)Best Kiss: Robby and gallery lady in
Me and You and Everyone We Know