Oscars Playback: When 'Terms of Endearment' and Shirley MacLaine deserved this

[@Linus308]

the cyborg in Superman III traumatized me as well. You're not alone, Chris.

[@dar_sky]

Sandra Bernhard was snubbed as a BSA nominee. 💋 Truly ahead of its time.

[@timgriffin3368]

Chris, siskel and ebert both wanted The Right Stuff as Best Film for their Oscar pick.

[@drdavid1963]

The Right Stuff is by far the best movie of the year. The only one that is cinematic. The others are all talky melodramas (though The Big Chill is good). Terms of Endearment had mixed reviews at the time and was a predictable winner - one in a long line of schmaltzy melodramas that won best picture - Kramer v Kramer, Ordinary People and this and later Out of Africa and Driving Miss Daisy. I have never understood the appeal and plaudits for Terms of Endearment. It seemed to me like a TV movie of the week. Nicholson and MacLaine are so over the top. Winger is a class actress but is given quite a thankless role. To be honest, when the main character dies at the end of the movie, I kind of felt relieved. The Right Stuff, on the other hand, is a well-written, authentic and exciting movie, some memorable sequences and an all-time great character (and performance) in Chuck Yeager.

[@kidwithaphonecamera]

Out of all the films you mentioned, leave out Kramer vs Kramer, which is legitimately a great movie, and influenced Marriage Story a lot.

[@drdavid1963]

@@kidwithaphonecamera - Yes. I would rate both Kramer vs Kramer AND Ordinary People as legitimately good films. Some are better than others but I just meant it was the kind of film that started to get awarded.

[@drdavid1963]

@@kidwithaphonecamera - Once again, like The Right Stuff over Terms of Endearment, good as it is, I would rate Apocalypse Now (1979) as a better film than Kramer vs Kramer

[@DavidN369]

Delightful entry. Best moment in the show was Johnny Carson weaving the titles of all 5 BP nominees into his latest divorce -- "My personal life has been exactly like this year's Academy Awards. It started off with Terms of Endearment, I thought I had The Right Stuff, it cost a lot to Dresser, then came The Big Chill and for the last month I've been begging for Tender Mercies." -- immortal. "Terms of Endearment" won because, as Pauline Kael pointedly said, Brooks directed with one eye firmly trained on the audience. It's certainly an improvement on McMurtry's novel. "The Right Stuff" is the most Oscar-ey of them all, though unwieldy, it's epic and human-scaled at once. Anyone who followed London/Broadway was not surprised at "The Dresser" -- it's a very serviceable opening up of a populist-specialized and commercially successful theatre piece, with two arresting central performances. "The Big Chill" encapsulated a generation, and would be great if only Kasdan had taken the filmed then cut epilogue flashback with Kevin Costner and made it a prologue, so we'd understand why they're all showing up to Alex's funeral. "Tender Mercies" is all about Duvall, Barkin, Buckley, and post-Altman pseudo-meaningful tone. "Yentl" would have fared better had Babs either shared the wealth songwise w/Patinkin & Irving or scotched the bulk of the music and focused on Singer's central narrative. The acting winners are pretty much unshakable, "Dangerously" yellow face not withstanding, though either Winger or Streep were as deserving as MacLaine, De Niro ought to have been up for "King of Comedy," ditto Sandra Bernhard, and of all the year's films, "Fanny and Alexander" is the one that was already timeless at the time of its release. "The Outsiders" musical is not just a Tony nominee, it's a Tony winner. Chris, we love you, but your Michael Caine needs work, just saying, just kidding. As ever, youse twose are the berries. More, please, thank you.❤❤

[@slc2466]

Love these reviews! "Terms" did have it in the bag, and the acting frontrunners all won. Wish Lithgow had gotten nominated for "Twilight Zone" instead of "Terms." As a classic movie buff, would love to see you guys do an early Oscar show from the 1950s at some point.

[@chrisjrosen]

We'll get there eventually, we hope!

[@slc2466]

@@chrisjrosen First telecast from 1953, that's what I'm talking about- ultimate retro show!

[@davedavis8786]

Among the five BP nominees I would rank Terms of Endearment fourth, just above The Dresser and behind Tender Mercies, The Right Stuff and The Big Chill. Shirley MacLaine was very entertaining so I'm glad she won, but overall the movie was nothing special outside of the humorous moments. The Year of Living Dangerously should have received a BP nomination. Robert Duvall's win was wonderful, he was so deserving, as was Linda Hunt. Jack Nicholson was fun to watch and it was a weak category so I guess his win makes sense.

[@braderickson3428]

John Glenn was getting much attention around the release of The Right Stuff when he announced his candidacy for President in 1984. Some think that his bid for the oval office killed the buzz of the movie. Handicapping the Oscars was much different back then. It was mostly product from the major studios, very few indies and obviously no streaming. By the time the noms were announced you had a good idea who the winners were going to be. I was 21 in 1984, and I remember the buzz for Oscar during that period, in fact I would go with friends every year to the Academy the morning of nominations and watch them being announced live. I could tell, you, Linda Hunt was a sure thing to win that night, end of story. Even if Debra Winger was in that category, Linda would have won, there was no contest. Regarding 5 more picture noms to round it out, there is no way Flashdance, Scarface or Return of the Jedi would ever get in the list. They were not considered to be very good films even though they made money. Most likely Testament, Reuben Reuben, Educating Rita, Fanny & Alexander and probably either Cross Creek, Yentl or maybe The Year of Living Dangerously would have rounded it out. The Dresser is a type of film the Academy loved to nominate, it is very theatrical; I predicted the noms it received. There was buzz around Never Cry Wolf for a moment, but Disney was not as big a player like they are now. Star 80 was disliked, and never really had a chance. Aside from that, I cannot think of any buzz worthy films that were not mentioned. Personally, I think Local Hero should have been in the mix.

[@SoulKnightKing]

Hey All Quiet has tied for the most as well with score, prod design, international and Cinematography. Just as much all Crouching Tiger, or Parasite too

[@jonathanvelazquezph.d.2719]

True. Loved All Quiet on the Western Front!

[@KaiOpaka]

Joyce and Chris are absolutely right about A Christmas Story, and I fully support a While You Were Sleeping marathon. Not sure a 'The Lion in Winter' marathon would take off, but talk about another great Christmas movie...

[@timgriffin3368]

They got it mostly right this year. Terms of Endearment was sensational and does hold up. I can see an argument for Winger over MacLaine for harder role to pull of but less showy. MacLaines affair with Jack in movie helped her out. It was her time. I can see an argument for The Right Stuff, great movie, but Terns year. I can also see an argument for Bergman for Fanny but rarely did they split back then. I do have a soft spot for Courtenay in The Dresser. I feel if there was fraud and they did a nowadays Finney would go best and win; Courtenay would go supporting and Maybe, Maybe win. They canceled each other out. GREAT YEAR!!!

[@haroldandmod]

Sam Shepard should’ve won I think

[@haroldandmod]

Videodrome a true classic not mentioned

[@chrisjrosen]

This time, you're right. But I hope you enjoyed the King of Comedy chatter at the beginning.

[@kidwithaphonecamera]

I dont really love Cronenberg so it was just okay imo

[@kidwithaphonecamera]

Ngl, I dont get it. I thought terms of endearment was okay, but nowhere near best film of the year

[@michelehamilton961]

I can’t with Joyce and the “pick me ism”. With only 1 woman nominated up to this point and few nominated after (only since 2020 have we had more than a year in a row) no one is voting for women directors just because they are women. Also the sexism extends to the type of film ( the idea that female oriented films are not artistic/less worthy).