by Heath Lynch, Contributing Writer
Welcome back to another Oscars: What If, our retrospective look at the Oscars!
It’s that time of year again. The time of year when spooky season is winding down, and we are transitioning into awards season, anticipating all the emotional, gut-wrenching dramas that are going to rock us to our core. Although the WGA strike has been resolved, SAG-AFTRA is still striking, leading to a lot of films being delayed to 2024. What does this mean for us? Well, it’s going to be an interesting awards season, that’s for sure. But before we get too excited about this upcoming awards season, let’s go look back at another one long gone by. As a reminder, with this series we look at categories the Academy should be honoring, but, for one reason or another, they aren’t. Hopefully someday the Academy will do right by these creative talents, but until then we must do the Academy’s job for them. Let’s look back at the year Kurt Cobain passed away, the Buffalo Bills infamously lost the Super Bowl for the fourth year in a row, figure skater Nancy Kerrigan was attacked by an accomplice of Tonya Harding’s ex-husband, and 95 million people watched O.J. Simpson’s highway chase after failing to turn himself in for the murder of his ex-wife Nicole Brown. It is time to examine the films of 1994, celebrated at the Oscars in 1995. Let’s see what could have been!
Best Stunts and Choreography
Given to the best achievement in dance, stunts, related performances, and overall choreography.
And the nominees are… Clear and Present Danger, Drunken Master II: The Legend of the Drunken Master, Leon: The Professional, Speed, True Lies
And the winner is… True Lies!
Jackie Chan, I’m sorry! I feel like I’m letting you down in a big way here. But as much as you are one of the masters of martial arts, intricate propwork, and ridiculous close quarters choreography, in this instance, bigger is definitely better. That’s because True Lies hits us with that massive ‘90s blockbuster action that stays with you long after the viewing experience. Motorcycles ramping off rooftops? Arnold Schwarzenegger hanging on the side of a skyscraper and being pulled to safety by the reins of a horse? A literal bridge exploding?! A car driving over the edge of the collapsed bridge and pulling Jamie Lee Curtis out of said car via helicopter as the car plummets into the sea? She continues to dangle hundreds of feet over the water? Harrier jets flying between large towers in downtown Miami? Are you for real?! What’s really crazy is this isn’t even all the crazy stunts, just some of the biggest ones. And sure, some of these are enhanced by visual effects, green screen, and the like, but a surprising amount of this is done via legitimate stunt professionals and pilots. You can’t help but respect it. So, for going big, and pulling it off, we give this one to True Lies.
Best Performance by Voiceover or Motion Capture
Given to the best off screen voice performance, or on screen motion captured performance.
And the nominees are… Rowan Atkinson as Zazu in The Lion King, Jeremy Irons as Scar in The Lion King, James Earl Jones as Mufasa in The Lion King, Nathan Lane as Timon in The Lion King, Christopher Lloyd as the Pagemaster in Pagemaster
And the winner is… Jeremy Irons as Scar in The Lion King!
You know, I could’ve easily thrown Whoopi Goldberg, Robert Guillaume, Cheech Marin, or Ernie Sabella in here to make it all the nominees from The Lion King, but I had to spread a little love to Christopher Lloyd. But that doesn’t stop The Lion King train. One way or another, it was taking home the gold. In this case, I’m once again giving it to the villain. Frankly, if we’re being honest with ourselves, the villains often have more to work with in these animated Disney movies. Irons gets to ham it up and chew scenery, while also instilling true emotional drama. He’s cunning, menacing, fearful, vindictive, and a coward all at once, and you believe it all. What’s more, Irons gets to belt out some vocals in one of the greatest Disney villain anthems of all time, “Be Prepared,” and he absolutely crushes it. While everyone else certainly has their moments, Irons has the most to do throughout this entire movie, and the movie’s success largely rides on how great he is in his voiceover. I’m happy to award Irons the Oscar, here.
Best Performance by an Ensemble Cast
Given to the best overall ensemble cast performance.
And the nominees are… Ed Wood, Forrest Gump, The Hudsucker Proxy, Pulp Fiction, The Shawshank Redemption
And the winner is… The Shawshank Redemption!
All of these incredible ensemble casts and I still didn’t even have room for other greats like Little Women, Quiz Show, Bullets Over Broadway, and Four Weddings and a Funeral. This was another stacked year for ensemble performances, with no clear chalk pick for the winner either. Contemporary viewpoints from the era suggest this would’ve gone to Forrest Gump, with Tom Hanks already winning Best Actor, Gary Sinise being nominated for Supporting Actor, the film being a critical darling (winning Best Picture, amongst many more awards), and the overall praise the cast received at the time. But a more contemporary assessment would lead me to think the Academy would go another way, to Pulp Fiction or The Shawshank Redemption. I’m going to go against the grain of consensus wisdom and give it to Shawshank. While Pulp certainly has great performances, three of which did receive Oscar nominations, I feel like much of the fun and flashiness of that cast’s performance is in the leads. Whereas Shawshank succeeds in the leads, but also greatly succeeds in its supporting components. Morgan Freeman is phenomenal, and was rightfully nominated. Tim Robbins and Bob Gunton are also undoubtedly terrific. But it’s Clancy Brown as Byron Hadley, Gil Bellows as Tommy Williams, Mark Rolston as Bogs Diamond, William Sadler as Heywood, and the legendary James Whitmore as Brooks Hatlen that seal the deal here. Seriously, Whitmore’s turn as Brooks, at his character’s end, is crushing; it’s so damn powerful. It was close, but I have to give The Shawshank Redemption Best Ensemble.
Best Directorial Debut
Given to the best achievement in direction by a debut directing talent.
And the nominees are… Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff for The Lion King, Danny Boyle for Shallow Grave, Frank Darabont for The Shawshank Redemption, Steve James for Hoop Dreams, Kevin Smith for Clerks
And the winner is… Frank Darabont for The Shawshank Redemption!
I wanted to give this to Steve James; I really did. But I have to go with Frank Darabont. The fact is, getting a Best Director nomination for your feature directorial debut is a big damn deal. Being in competition with the likes of Robert Zemeckis, Quentin Tarantino, and Woody Allen (for as much as I don’t like the guy), is a big damn deal. And when you direct what is considered by a hell of a lot of people to be possibly the greatest film in the history of motion pictures, it’s a big damn deal. Seriously, can we all acknowledge that Shawshank has held the number one spot on IMDb’s Top 250 list since August of ’08, and hasn’t relinquished the title once since then? Since that site’s inception in April of ’96, the film has never ranked lower than fifth! A lot of that emotional catharsis, the core of why people love this film, is due to Darabont’s subtle approach to complex emotional themes, compelling framing and ability to linger in important scenes, and ability to work with this great cast to pull out impeccable performances to create deeply rich characters is fantastic. I’m honored to give the gold for Best Directorial Debut to Frank Darabont.
Best Popular Film
Given to the best audience supported motion picture that earned a spot as one of the top 25 box office films of the year.
And the nominees are… Dumb and Dumber, Forrest Gump, The Lion King, Pulp Fiction, True Lies
And the winner is… Forrest Gump!
I would’ve genuinely loved to consider other films here for this honor. I mean, you have debatably one of the greatest animated features of all time, which audiences loved; A revolutionary crime comedy that has since changed cinema; A beloved action comedy as well as a beloved absurdist comedy that have been appreciated for decades. But really, this was no contest. Forrest Gump is the winner, hands down. It led all Oscar nominations this year with 13, while the next closest had seven. It won the gold on six of those nominations, including Adapted Screenplay, Best Actor for Tom Hanks, Best Director for Robert Zemeckis, and the coveted Best Picture. The next closest behind Gump’s six wins? Two wins, which three different films achieved. On an awards front, this isn’t close. Although there has been pushback in recent years about whether or not Forrest Gump should’ve won so much, that recent critical reappraisal doesn’t change the fact that it won big contemporarily.
When it comes to box office this does get a little closer. The Lion King smoked everyone and everything at the worldwide box office, bringing $763.4 million, a staggering amount of money that still stands to this day as the highest grossing hand-drawn animated movie ever made. It’s still in the top 15 when considering computer animated animation. By comparison, Gump brought in $677.9 million. By all means a very respectable number, but still notably below The Lion King. But it’s the domestic market that helps Gump’s case, as it made $329.6 million there, making it the number one movie of the year, edging out The Lion King, which came in second at $312.8 million. These were the two most popular films that year, and it’s not close. True Lies, in third place, wasn’t even in striking distance, as it was over $150 million off the pace. While you could go either way on popularity due to the close box office race, once you account for awards credentials this race becomes clear. Forrest Gump is your winner for Best Popular film from this year!
Thanks for joining me on another trip down memory lane to see what could’ve been! We got a Best Picture winner that provided nostalgic memories for Baby Boomers across the U.S., witnessed the emergence of a generational comedic talent in Jim Carrey, and saw two movies, one pulpy and one full of redemption, that are consistently in the conversation by many for the greatest motion picture of all time. In hindsight, this really was one of the greatest years in film. Be sure to come back next month when we look at films like Se7en, Heat, and The Usual Suspects. Next time we’ll return for the Oscars of 1996, celebrating the films of 1995!
You can read more from Heath Lynch, and follow him on Letterboxd