Steve Martin Takes the AFI

The American Film Institute has decided to honor Steve Martin, the star of The Jerk, All of Me, Roxanne, Father of the Bride, and Bowfinger, with the American Film Institute's 43rd Lifetime Achievement Award.  This means that Mr. Martin has won the second leg of the Life Achievement Triple Crown, and is probably only a couple of years away from completing the trifecta (the AFI was going to be his most difficult "get").

I will admit, quite frankly, that Mr. Martin isn't who I probably would have gone to first (or at all) for this award, though this is hardly unexpected.  Don't get me wrong-Steve Martin is an absolutely hilarious man, a talented actor, and a comedian of the highest order, but his filmic contributions have never quite felt as significant as the entertainment industry (who clearly worships the guy) has made them out to be.  For starters, he is the first AFI Award winner ever to not be an Academy Award nominee (he did win the Honorary Oscar last year, but I wasn't sold on that one either), and his cinematic contributions are pretty limited.  Aside from the films above, you have Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, LA Story, and a few more hits from the 80's and 90's, but surely nothing particularly significant when you compare him to recent winners like Jane Fonda, Mel Brooks, and Shirley MacLaine, who defined decades of cinema and had an endless list of bonafide classics (while I'd argue that really only The Jerk really has hit that level of importance).

Still though, I don't want to insult Mr. Martin's achievement too badly, but I do think that this is one of those situations where an extremely talented guy is getting awards more out of "we all want to honor him" than anything else.

2013 Honorary Oscar Winners

Rarely is there news from AMPAS that is uniformally good, so this morning’s announcement that the four Honorary Oscars were being handed out had a dose of the exuberant and a dose of the painful.

The best news of the morning was easily that Angela Lansbury, a film actress for nearly 70 years (her film debut was in Gaslight, which debuted May 4, 1944), has finally added the title of Oscar Winner to the front of her name.  Lansbury has received three Oscar nominations in her career, including for Gaslight, as well as The Picture of Dorian Gray and her magnum opus, The Manchurian Candidate.  Younger audiences probably know her best from her work as Mrs. Potts in Beauty and the Beast and Eglantine Price in Bedknobs and Broomsticks.  Lansbury has long been one of my favorite actors, and her weird “always a bridesmaid” status with both Emmy and Oscar has been a thorn in my side for years (though the Globes and Tonys have made up for it, giving her six and five trophies, respectively).  This is a well-deserved honor, and hopefully the Emmys follow suit in the next year.

Piero Tosi was the “winner no one had ever heard of” this morning (notice that no one will feature a picture of him with three publicly known faces amongst the winners already), though he has more Oscar nominations than all of the other people put together.  Tosi’s costuming work has been a staple in Italian cinema for decades (we’ll get to all five of his Oscar nominations someday with the OVP, though his most recent was in 1982, so it’ll be quite a while).  I have to say that this seems fitting-the Academy thought outside the box a little here, and Tosi will be an appropriate winner.

Steve Martin is a genius, and everyone knows it (including him).  What I’ve never quite gotten, and maybe this is because I was an infant when he was at his peak fame, is why everyone falls all over themselves to recognize him.  Martin’s filmography is deeply spotty, and aside from some well-regarded work in the 1980’s (and Bowfinger, which is supposed to be good), his genius seemed to be more in other performing arts.  He obviously has great talent, but it seems like it would be more appropriate to give him a Kennedy Center Honor (which he has), where you can recognize his contributions to multiple mediums, rather than the Oscars, where his films don’t quite seem to warrant his inclusion, and unlike Lansbury, he hasn’t had sustained excellence over a great period of time in the medium.

Speaking of great periods of time, what is up with Angelina Jolie getting the Hersholt?  She’s only 38 (the youngest Hersholt winner ever), and while her work on behalf of the United Nations, relief for developing countries, and helping impoverished children in particular is greatly admirable, she’s only been doing it for 10-12 years.  This pales in comparison to the decades-long work that someone like Jerry Lewis or Martha Raye did in order to win their respective Hersholts.  And Jolie already has an Oscar-I know that this is for something different, but why not kill two birds with one stone and give it to someone like Mia Farrow or Ruby Dee?  We already discussed how Farrow’s insanely overdue for an award, and she’s been working in both the industry and in charitable organizations (ones fairly similar to Jolie) for considerably longer.  Ruby Dee has also been acting for decades, and has been a tireless advocate in the civil rights movement.

If the concern is that Farrow or Dee, both deeply outspoken women, would say something controversial, the Governors Awards aren’t even televised, which is always the worst part of these announcements, no matter who wins.  I may not necessarily agree with Martin’s or Jolie’s wins, but I definitely want to watch them accept their trophies (I’m an Oscaraholic-I need Oscarahol to live).  Film fans of all ilks want to see these people win, and with names as well-known as Jolie’s, Martin’s and Lansbury’s, this is just another example of how the Academy should either incorporate the awards back into the primetime ceremony, or at least air them on a different night (or through live-streaming).  Everyone out there-tweet the Academy today so that we can all get to see this magical night!  And congrats to Angelina, Piero, Steve, and dear Angela on becoming the first Oscar winners of 2013!

Golden Globe Nominations ≠ Oscar Nominations, Part 1

The above statement should be obvious to anyone who follows the awards season with even a hint of regularity.  After all, there are ten lead performances nominated each year at the Golden Globes while there are only five at the Oscars, and at least one supporting performance almost always gets skipped in favor of a different performer at the Oscars.

However, I recently undertook a project (ie I was bored while watching Big Bang Theory reruns) and decided to list out all of the cinematic performances that the Golden Globes have honored through the years that didn't get a subsequent Oscar nomination (for the sake of my sanity, I stuck to the six modern film acting categories, and not to the "Best New Star" awards of yesteryear).

What I found was really interesting.  While it is a frequent occurrence where a performer is favored by the Globes, sometimes getting 6-7 more nominations from the HFPA than the Oscars, it is extremely rare for someone to rack up multiple Golden Globe nominations without also getting at least one Oscar nomination.  In fact, only eight performers have been nominated for four or more Golden Globe awards without winning at least one Oscar citation.

This smelled like a list to me, and so I'll be listing out the ten performers that have received the most film Golden Globe nods without also getting an Oscar nomination.  In order to break ties, I gave three points to a lead-drama, two to a supporting performance, and one for a comedic lead performance (and winning a trophy broke the tie after that).  Later this week, we'll investigate the far more frequent list of performers who have received at least one Oscar nod, but considerably more Globe nominations.

Honorable Mentions: Thanks to my tie-breaking, some three-time nominees got left out, ranging from classic movie stars like Tony Randall and Glenn Ford to modern stars like Jamie Lee Curtis and Hugh Grant.

10. Emily Blunt (Tie)
Golden Globe Nominations:

• Best Supporting Actress-2006 (The Devil Wears Prada)
• Best Actress (Drama)-2009 (The Young Victoria)
• Best Actress (Comedy/Musical)-2012 (Salmon Fishing in the Yemen)

Got the Closest On: This is arguable between Prada and Victoria, but I have to assume considering its awards haul in 2009 that it was The Young Victoria, when her best shot was taking out Helen Mirren.
Reasons She Missed: Yes, this is a good illustrator of how rare this is for a performer to miss on multiple Globe nominations.  Emily Blunt, with only three quick nominations before she turned thirty, is now in the top ten.  While Salmon appears to be a throwaway nomination in a rather weak year for comedies, the other two were at least part of the conversation.  I wasn't super-impressed with Blunt in The Young Victoria, but considering Oscar's preference for younger actresses, it's a bit odd that Helen Mirren got so much traction in 2009 (especially considering her recent win).  Blunt also had a shot with Devil, but she was not well-known then and it was going to be tough to throw out the scene-stealing Abigail Breslin (the performer who missed with the HFPA).

10. Donald Sutherland (Tie)
Golden Globe Nominations:

• Best Actor (Comedy/Musical)-1970 (MASH)
• Best Actor (Drama)-1980 (Ordinary People)
• Best Supporting Actor-1998 (Without Limits)

Got the Closest On: For certain it was Ordinary People, a truly bizarre on-paper snub.
Reasons He Missed: I can explain the Without Limits miss (the Globes have always liked Sutherland, and occasionally throw a star a bone even if their film tanked), and MASH (comedy always has a tough time, even with a film as iconic as Altman's), but the Ordinary People snub is weird.  Yes, he's overshadowed by Hutton and Moore, but this film was universally adored by the Academy, and he's the only major cast member to not pick up a nomination.  Instead, the Oscars went with one of the actors they consistently like better than the Globes, Robert Duvall (in The Great Santini).

9. Raul Julia
Golden Globe Nominations:

• Best Supporting Actor-1982 (Tempest)
• Best Actor (Drama)-1985 (Kiss of the Spider Woman)
• Best Supporting Actor-1988 (Moon Over Parador)

Got the Closest On: My gut is telling me that Tempest might have been the closest.
Reasons He Missed: Julia is now a largely forgotten actor, cut down in his prime, and is known to most movie audiences as Gomez Addams in the big screen versions of The Addams Family series.  Julia, however, had a strong run in the 1980's in cinema.  His 1982 snub was due to a combination of Oscar's love of men in drag (John Lithgow) and Robert Preston moving from lead to supporting from the Golden Globes to the Oscars, therefore securing a nomination for Victor/Victoria.  Kiss of the Spider Woman would have almost certainly marketed Julia as supporting nowadways (category fraud is more prevalent now), and he probably could have taken out William Hickey or Robert Loggia.  His final nomination came in a weird year for the Supporting Actor race, and since I know little of this race, I cannot tell if he was near a nomination or whether this was a Globe-honoring-a-favorite sort of citation.  If one of our awards show aficionados would like to shed some light on that race, I'd appreciate it.

8. Danny Kaye
Golden Globe Nominations:

• Best Actor (Comedy/Musical)-1951 (On the Riviera)-Won the Golden Globe
• Best Actor (Comedy/Musical)-1952 (Hans Christian Andersen)
• Best Actor (Comedy/Musical)-1956 (The Court Jester)
• Best Actor (Comedy/Musical)-1958 (Me and the Colonel)-Won the Golden Globe

Got the Closest On: Not sure...probably none of them.
Reasons He Missed: Kaye is cheating a bit to include, as he did pick up a pair of Honorary Academy Awards, but I did want to acknowledge him, as he's one of the rare performers to have gotten four nominations in the Comedy category without ever getting cited for Drama.  The Court Jester is by far his best-known of these four films, but part of me thinks that he wasn't close for any of these.  Again, I'd love some discussion on this post, so share away in the comments if you have thoughts.

7. Carol Burnett
Golden Globe Nominations:

• Best Actress (Comedy/Musical)-1972 (Pete n Tillie)
• Best Supporting Actress-1978 (A Wedding)
• Best Actress (Comedy/Musical)-1981 (The Four Seasons)
• Best Actress (Comedy/Musical)-1982 (Annie)

Got the Closest On: I'm going with Pete 'n' Tillie over A Wedding.  I'll get to why below.
Reasons She Missed: I kind of wish it was the 1970's again so I could get a gage of how big of a star Carol Burnett was at the time.  She could sell out Broadway, Carnegie Hall, had a top-rated TV series, and was regularly working in motion pictures.  She landed a couple of late-in-the-game nominations at the Globes (including for the ill-fated big-screen version of Annie), but her best shots were her first two nominations.  1972 was a strong and wild year for Best Actress (I love that Joanne Woodward got nominated for a film called The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds), and Burnett, along with Goldie Hawn in Butterflies are Free were probably on the hunt for a nomination against Maggie Smith in Travels with My Aunt.  Smith also potentially cost her a nomination in 1978, when she and Penelope Milford both managed nominations without being first cited by the Globes, but it's hard to feel bad for Burnett that year when you compare her to Mona Washbourne, a woman who has probably more precursors than anyone ever to not also win an Oscar nomination.  Washbourne's performance in Stevie won the NYFCC, LAFCA, National Board of Review, and Boston critics prizes, as well as Globe and BAFTA nominations, but due to a weird release schedule managed to miss at the Oscars.

6. Cameron Diaz

Golden Globe Nominations:

• Best Actress (Comedy/Musical)-1998 (There's Something About Mary)
• Best Supporting Actress-1999 (Being John Malkovich)
• Best Supporting Actress-2001 (Vanilla Sky)
• Best Supporting Actress-2002 (Gangs of New York)

Got the Closest On: My guess is that it was Being John Malkovich, where she was basically guaranteed as the sixth place position.

Reasons She Missed: Some people just have bad luck.  Diaz was surprisingly close in 1998, but the Academy was still smitten with Emily Watson (and felt the need to skip Susan Sarandon after honoring her three years earlier).  1999 was a year with six names in the mix, and hers was the one that got cut (though she did score SAG and BAFTA nominations, so you have to know she was damn close).  In 2001, the field was thrown asunder after the SAG Awards threw names like Judi Dench, Cate Blanchett, and Dakota Fanning into the mix, and then the Oscars went with the Globe nominees almost verbatim (except that they nominated six people, and Diaz was once again cut).  Finally, there was Gangs of New York, which was a throwaway star-loving nomination by the Globes, and it was likely Michelle Pfeiffer who was tousling with Queen Latifah for the final nomination, not Diaz.

5. Richard Gere

Golden Globe Nominations:

• Best Actor (Drama)-1982 (An Officer and a Gentleman)
• Best Actor (Comedy/Musical)-1990 (Pretty Woman)
• Best Actor (Comedy/Musical)-2002 (Chicago)-Won the Golden Globe
• Best Actor (Drama)-2012 (Arbitrage)

Got the Closest On: Most certainly Chicago, where he was definitely the sixth place, and kind of stunningly not the fifth place.

Reasons He Missed: With the exception of Chicago, he likely never had a shot.  Officer was a hit with the Oscars, but the Academy doesn't seem to favor romantic male leads.  Pretty Woman was the sort of easy nomination that happens when you're in a hit romantic comedy.  And Arbitrage is the sort of nomination that happens in the rare year where one of the Comedy/Musical nominees (in this case, two) is certain to be nominated for the Oscar.  Chicago, however, was at first a rather odd fit for Oscar, but after the Globe win and the surprise SAG nomination, it looked like Gere would be able to make it and get the fifth slot, but the Oscars love them some Michael Caine, and so Gere just missed his shot (perhaps his only shot-he seems like the sort of actor who never makes it, doesn't he?).

4. Scarlett Johansson

Golden Globe Nominations:

• Best Actress (Comedy/Musical)-2003 (Lost in Translation)
• Best Actress (Drama)-2003 (Girl with a Pearl Earring)
• Best Actress (Drama)-2004 (A Love Song for Bobby Long)
• Best Supporting Actress-2005 (Match Point)

Got the Closest On: Lost in Translation, though 2003 in general seemed like her best shot.

Reasons She Missed: Yes, ScarJo is technically the fourth most snubbed Globe nominee of all time, which seems weird because she picked up these four nominations over the course of three years.  It's hard to believe that she didn't get a nomination in 2003, and it was mostly because someone (the studio, her publicist, or perhaps ScarJo herself) decided to get greedy and campaign her for both films, and then tried to have it all by committing category fraud that the Academy just couldn't back by going supporting with Lost in Translation.  Considering the randomness of the Best Actress category that year, I suspect a unified front would have gotten her over Samantha Morton or Keisha Castle-Hughes.

3. Steve Martin

Golden Globe Nominations:

• Best Actor (Comedy/Musical)-1981 (Pennies From Heaven)
• Best Actor (Comedy/Musical)-1984 (All of Me)
• Best Actor (Comedy/Musical)-1987 (Roxanne)
• Best Actor (Comedy/Musical)-1989 (Parenthood)
• Best Actor (Comedy/Musical)-1995 (Father of the Bride, Part II)

Got the Closest On: All of Me, where he managed to also win the NYFCC Best Actor trophy, but was one one of only two men in the past thirty years to not win an Oscar nomination after taking the top prize at the NYFCC honors.

Reasons He Missed: Father of the Bride Part II aside, one could make the argument that any of these was within the reach of Oscar, but just couldn't quite make it.  Martin was the rage in the 1980's, hailed as a comedic genius, but unlike some of his high-flying contemporaries (Robin Williams, Eddie Murphy, Whoopi Goldberg), he didn't go dramatic to grab his Oscar nomination.  At this point, I think there's still room for him to do it if he wanted to (he's still well-liked in the film community), but he's lost that edge that his films in the 1980's had, and I doubt he'll be able to make it without going with a sentimental, dramatic supporting turn.  His best shot was besting Albert Finney in Under the Volcano in 1984, but the loss at the Golden Globes coupled with Finney's continued losing streak probably kept him out of the competition.

2. Mia Farrow

Golden Globe Nominations:

• Best Actress (Drama)-1968 (Rosemary's Baby)
• Best Actress (Comedy/Musical)-1969 (John and Mary)
• Best Actress (Comedy/Musical)-1984 (Broadway Danny Rose)
• Best Actress (Comedy/Musical)-1985 (The Purple Rose of Cairo)
• Best Actress (Comedy/Musical)-1990 (Alice)

Got the Closest On: Oddly enough, her first shot was probably the best, and had the Oscars known the legendary Farrow was going to have the career she would have, they probably would have picked her over Vanessa Redgrave in Isadora.

Reasons She Missed: I don't have a clue.  It's hard to believe that Rosemary's Baby, one of the great horror films and one of the few to gain the Academy's favor, didn't garner her a nomination (perhaps she was too known as a tabloid fixture at the time, considering she divorced Frank Sinatra that year).  The weirder thing is that, considering she made thirteen films with Woody Allen through the years, she somehow missed out on being one of the sixteen actors who received nominations for Allen films.  At this point, she rarely acts and doesn't have Woody to push her to a nomination, and so probably will never get nominated, but she had quite a run.

1. Jim Carrey

Golden Globe Nominations:

• Best Actor (Comedy/Musical)-1994 (The Mask)
• Best Actor (Comedy/Musical)-1997 (Liar Liar)
• Best Actor (Drama)-1998 (The Truman Show)-Won the Golden Globe
• Best Actor (Comedy/Musical)-1999 (Man on the Moon)-Won the Golden Globe
• Best Actor (Comedy/Musical)-2000 (How the Grinch Stole Christmas)
• Best Actor (Comedy/Musical)-2004 (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind)

Got the Closest On: The Truman Show, for sure.  Carrey's miss at the Oscars was the first time in 33 years that the winner in the Drama race couldn't parlay that into a nomination (and fifteen years later, it hasn't happened since).

Reasons He Missed: One could make the argument that Farrow deserves the top slot, since she arguably had a shot for all five of her films, but based on sheer numbers, Carrey earns this.  While three of his nominations (The Mask, Liar Liar, and The Grinch) were the sort that randomly show up at the Globes, the other three all garnered Oscar's notice, but not a nomination.  Man on the Moon had to have been darn close, but Matt Damon's Tom Ripley was probably the sixth place trying to take out Sean Penn, not Carrey.  In 2004, there wasn't actually a strong shot that Carrey would win for his Joel Barish, even though he was better than anyone that actually got nominated.  However, 1998 is unforgivable for the Academy.  Somehow The Truman Show managed to score nominations for Director, Screenplay, and Supporting Actor, but Carrey couldn't get in over Edward Norton (I know Carrey blamed Benigni, but it was Norton that was in fifth place).

And those are the Top 10.  Julia and Kaye are obviously never going to have this rectified, but what are your thoughts on which of the remaining nine could actually pull off a nomination (my bet's on Blunt and possibly Johansson, but what's your guess)?