Revisiting the 1988 Oscars -- What They Got Wrong, and What Should Win Best Picture

Substack -- please subscribe to support this channel: learningaboutmovies.substack....
Please follow me on Twitter for video releases and reviews: / drjoshmatthews
Letterboxd: letterboxd.com/joshmatthews/
Join this channel to get access to perks:
/ @learningaboutmovies
Understanding Movies 101 Course: joshmatthews.org/learn-more-a...
The Great Movies Series: joshmatthews.org/what-makes-t...
Comprehensive List of the Great Movies Series: joshmatthews.org/what-makes-t...
Movie Cliches Series -- Video Playlist: • Why Pianos Transform C...
The Great Directors Series -- Playlist: • Werner Herzog's 10 Gre...
Shot for Shot Analyses: • Understanding Movies 1...
Great Science-Fiction Movie List: joshmatthews.org/great-scienc...
Other Movie Lists: joshmatthews.org/topics/movie...
Disclaimer: All reasonable comments are welcome, including reasoned disagreements. You will be banned for foolish talk, harassment, and hate speech on sight; it's a tremendous waste of life. I believe in freedom of association and, by extension, freedom of dissociation from you.

[@kitkatzyy]

“Does the younger generation like The Princess Bride?” Yes, the younger generation does in fact like The Princess Bride (or at least my friends do).

[@davidcote5637]

You certainly cost me a lot of money, Josh! Every time I watch one of your videos praising a movie I don't have (I've been collecting physical discs for years), I go and buy it. I have bought dozens of discs these past few years because of your recommendations. My wife keeps saying, when did you get that? And I say, after I went to my movie class. You have certainly enriched my collection! Thank you.

[@davidcote5637]

I would add Roxanne and The Untouchables to your Worth Mentioning List.

[@adrianhough5059]

What a great year for movies….that was the most difficult to decide a winner so far

[@IMACKS31]

I think my top 5 of 1987, at this moment, would be: Au Revoir Les Enfants, Full Metal Jacket, Cobra Verde, Wings Of Desire, and Good Morning Vietnam.

[@r4h4al]

Yeah Good Morning Vietnam deserved a mention.

[@krosewall]

Oscar eligibility is based on when you get a theatrical release in the US. Come and See only received a theatrical release in the US in 1987. You can see the original reviews from NY Times and Washington Post are dated 1987, not 1985. A more recent example is The Hurt Locker. It is listed as a 2008 film online because that is when it premiered in film festivals. But it didn't receive a theatrical release until 2009, so that is when it became eligible for Oscars.

[@pelarinbacosiii448]

I love the adaptation of Marcel Pagnol's pair of novels by director, Claude Berri. The tragedy revealed by the blind woman, Delphine, at the ending of Manon is heartbreaking. If you don't already know them, check out another pair of movies based on a pair of memoirs of childhood by Marcel Pagnol: My Father's Glory (La gloire de mon père) and My Mother's Castle (La château de ma mère), directed by Yves Robert in 1990. They're much lighter remembrances of summers spent in the French countryside (Provence).

[@benjamindover4337]

It would be pretty funny if Predator won best picture. Of course its a huge crowd pleaser, as pulp as it is. Its also interesting to think about Predator as being nearly a silent film. The little dialog it has isn't even necessary. The sound effects add a lot though.

[@Wolfman1491]

I would say the dialogue is a good case of less is more, they don't have throw away lines, everything is meant for maximum impact and much of the dialogue is endlessly quotable. I've been yelling "GET TO DA CHOPPA!!" And "come on kill me, I'm here" at my friends and family for over 2 decades.

[@krosewall]

Babette's Feast is an interesting case re Oscar eligibility. It didn't get at theatrical release until 1988, so that was the year it was eligible for Best Picture. But in 1987 it was eligible for Best Foreign Language(which it won) since rules for that category are different - the Academy can only nominate films submitted by that particular country. Denmark submitted Babette's Feast. It's likely that Academy members were the only people in the country who saw Babette's Feast in 1987, since it wasn't in theaters yet. There have been many foreign films that got nominated for best foreign film over the years that hadn't yet gotten a release in the US.

[@drdavid1963]

Not being aware that Where is My Friend's House? was a 1987 movie, I would put that above Matewan but, of course, the Oscar eligibility is different which calls for a different list. Draft of Nominees Where is My Friend's House (not eligible) Babette's Feast (not eligible) Pelle The Conqueror (not eligible) Wings of Desire (not eligible) The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On (not eligible) Matewan Evil Dead 2 Withnail and I Come and See Jean de Florette/Manon des Sources The Last Emperor (best of nominees - Hope and Glory, solid, Fatal Attraction overwrought, Moonstruck, unremarkable) My Life As A Dog Broadcast News Worth Mentioning Angel Heart Bad Taste Full Metal Jacket House of Games Made in Heaven No Way Out Raising Arizona Final nominations Come and See Jean de Florette/Manon des Sources* The Last Emperor Matewan My Life As A Dog WINNER: COME AND SEE (* if this was counted as an individual film it would be my winner)

[@ageofmich]

i had manon of the spring on my criterion watchlist, while browsing trough catalogue. This bumps it way up in my planned to watch. I have seen suprisingly few 88' movies, but Robocop would be up there for sure. with full metal jacket, Opera and the untouchables.

[@r4h4al]

I think I'd give it to Withnail & I.

[@lbbotpn5429]

Looking at your list of nominees / mentionables makes me weep for the present.

[@frankieholmes1565]

Wait why did you start this series in 81'? Please do the 70s oscars too!!!

[@LearningaboutMovies]

I will get there, eventually!

[@beyondz55]

Last Emperor as cinema is top notch but my personal issue with it now is how much influence did the CCP have over the production? It mirrors today where they have massive influence now over the industry. Not good.

[@KrisVickers-wn6dd]

Have you saw Perfect days yet?

[@BadClamsVideos]

Bagdad Cafe is the easy winner for me!