Twice a week until the end of the year (every Tuesday and Thursday), ew.com is hosting a game called "Recall the Gold." In it, they'll ask for our opinions in each of the main Oscar categories over the past ten years, in an effort to see if the winners have held up over the years, or maybe to see if the Oscars made a mistake in their choice all those years ago.

First up: 1998's Best Picture contenders. "Shakespeare in Love" was the winner, and also nominated was "Saving Private Ryan," "Elizabeth," "Life is Beautiful," and "The Thin Red Line." Who do you vote for 10 years later?

RUNNING LIST OF POLLS....

#1 -- Best Picture, 1998
http://popwatch.ew.com/popwatch/2008/10/recall-pictu-98.html

#2 -- Best Supporting Actress, 1983
http://popwatch.ew.com/popwatch/2008/10/recall-83supact.html

#3 -- Best Actor, 2003
http://popwatch.ew.com/popwatch/2008/10/recall-03bstact.html

#4 -- Best Actress, 1983
http://popwatch.ew.com/popwatch/2008/10/recall-83actrss.html

#5 -- Best Supporting Actor, 1998
http://popwatch.ew.com/popwatch/2008/10/recall-88supact.html

#6 -- Best Director, 1988
http://popwatch.ew.com/popwatch/2008/10/recall-88direct.html

This message has been edited. Last edited by: marc604,

"Saving Private Ryan" gets my vote. "Billy in Love" was good but to this day I still remember the experience of watching "SPR."

Also, voted for "Saving Private Ryan". As a piece of visual cinema I was astonished when I first saw it... even though I will admit it has obvious structural and screenplay problems. Still, in 1998 I got to see it on the day before it opened officially due to an early screening through PREMIERE magazine. I was so enthralled by it that I saw it again the next day when it opened. I believe I saw it in total four times in the theatre.

quote:

Originally posted by FishBiscuit:
"Saving Private Ryan" gets my vote. "Billy in Love" was good but to this day I still remember the experience of watching "SPR."

I preferred "Saving Ryan's Privates."

Really, though, to be fair, I think all of the five nominees, including Saving Private Ryan, were good films. I did enjoy Judi Dench's performance, as well as Cate Blanchett's, immensely, and I have no problem with Roberto Benigni's win. Some of my personal favorites from that year were not nominated for Best Picture but deserve acknowledgment:

Gods and Monsters
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
Lola Rennt (Run Lola Run
Pi
42 Up
Velvet Goldmine

Pedantic note - 42 Up (and all the UP films) was Oscar ineligible having first been shown on British TV.

quote:

Originally posted by A. DeWitt:
I preferred "Saving Ryan's Privates."

Can't be mad at that one. It was funny.

And your mention of "Run Lola Run" deserves a

This message has been edited. Last edited by: FishBiscuit,

I was then and still am a huge Terrence Malick fan, and I would have opted for "The Thin Red Line," which had the least chance of winning. "Gods & Monsters" was the best picture that year but didn't get nominated, and I still feel Ian McKellan was robbed (and I would have voted for Lynn Redgrave over Judi Dench's cameo appearance).

This message has been edited. Last edited by: CineBear,

As powerful as some of Saving Private Ryan's scenes were, the most fun I had at the movies that year was watching Shakespeare in Love. What a smart screenplay that had, and it was executed beautifully. As to whether or not Paltrow deserved Actress over, say, Blanchett, I'd give that a second thought.

Elizabeth introduced me to Cate Blanchett. That film was flawed, but I preferred it to Shakespeare in Love, which did have a great screenplay, and great comedic timing by Rush.
I agree with CineBear. Malick is one of my favorite directors. Dench is sublime, but that win wasnt deserved.
I was very glad for Steven Spielberg winning for SPR. I'll never forget the sounds in that film; that rolling tank, the tension.
I would have given the score award to Elizabeth. BP to SPR; Best Actress to Cate Blanchett; Best Actor to anyone but Roberto Benigni; I'm ok with Coburn winning BSA, but the supporting actress I would have given to Lynn Redgrave.

I would have picked "Shakespeare in Love", Ian McKellen, Cate Blanchett, James Coburn, Judi Dench, and Terrence Malick.

I would have gone with "Life is Beautiful," Steven Spielberg, Nick Nolte, Fernanda Montenegro, Geoffrey Rush, and Judi Dench.

At the time, I remember preferring "Life is Beautiful" of the five nominees, but I really felt "Saving Private Ryan" deserved the win. (It seems that whenever Harrison Ford presents an Oscar, there's a mild-to-moderate upset...he also handed out Best Director to Roman Polanski when all the pundits had Rob Marshall down to win.) But then again, there were so many upsets in 1998 as it was...the whole ceremony had a slightly acidic quality to it, reaching its height with the Honorary Award for Elia Kazan (which still gets my vote as the single most awkward Oscar moment of the decade).

10 years later, I have to admit: "Ryan" still seems the strongest force of all those movies...I thought Susman summed up my feelings about "Shakespeare" perfectly: an "extremely well-crafted trifle." I still have a strong aesthetic admiration for "Life is Beautiful" (agree with Benigni's Actor win or no, this is probably the closest a filmmaker has ever come to being legitimately Chaplin-esque), but I would vote for "Saving Private Ryan" today.

I would vote:

"The Thin Red Line" - Picture
Steven Spielberg - Director
Edward Norton - Actor
Cate Blanchett - Actress
James Coburn - Supporting Actor
Judi Dench - Supporting Actress

Picture: Shakespeare in Love. Not a big fan of any of the nominees, though.

Director: Hmmm, Malick, I guess.

Actor: Nick Nolte, easily.

Actress: Fernanda Montenegro, but Ally Sheedy should have been nominated and won.

Supporting Actor: Billy Bob Thornton.

Supporting Actress: Kathy Bates of the nominees, but some of the best of the year (Joan Allen, Lisa Kudrow, Patricia Clarkson) weren't even nominated.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: markk,

quote:

Originally posted by markk:
Supporting Actress: Kathy Bates of the nominees, but some of the best of the year (Joan Allen, Lisa Kudrow, Patricia Clarkson) weren't even nominated.

I agree! Joan Allen, Lisa Kudrow & also Renee Zellweger were my favorite supporting actress performances from that year. (Although technically, Zellweger was the lead in "One True Thing".)

Anyhoo, here's how i would've voted:

BEST PICTURE - Shakespeare In Love
BEST DIRECTOR - Spielberg
BEST ACTOR - Norton
BEST ACTRESS - Blanchett
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR - Harris
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS - Dench

This message has been edited. Last edited by: RichterScale,

As this week's poll only concerns the Best Picture contest, and which of the five contenders holds up best:

I'm sticking with:

Shakespeare in Love

My choices:

Picture: The Thin Red Line
Director: Terrence Malick
Actor: Ian McKellen
Actress: Cate Blanchett
Supporting Actor: Billy Bob Thornton
Supporting Actress: Rachel Griffiths

It was a quite strong year, I would've been fine any of the nominees winning but Shakespeare in Love would've been my last choice.

i voted for Shakespear In Love. I liked the idea of a smartly written comedy winning over a gore-fest set in a war. though i suppose that's simplifying things a bit.

quote:

Originally posted by seanflynn:
Pedantic note - 42 Up (and all the UP films) was Oscar ineligible having first been shown on British TV.

Thanks for the clarification.

What have you been up to lately? Please post here more often!

the only one i saw out of the 5 was saving private ryan and only because i was made to watch it in history class. It looked well done but did not feel very engaged. The film that stood out the most to me of 1998 was beloved., that would get my vote.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: frozen_berry_coolaide,