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Whatever your opinion of the Academy Awards, if you care about film, you cant just dismiss them.
If nothing else, the Academys winners double as a history of film.
An imperfect history, sure, but a history nonetheless.
But what if each year produced two winners?
Its not an attempt to pick a winner from the year in its entirety.
(ThoughDanny Pearys 1993 bookAlternate Oscarsproves theres a lot to be learned from doing that.)
(Ahem,Crash.
Ahem,Braveheart.)
Consider it an alternate path through Oscars history.
For one year only, the Oscars selected both an Outstanding Picture and a Best Unique and Artistic Picture.
YetSunriseis a stunning achievement that could just as easily have taken the honor.
Murnau bringing the German Expressionist techniques he pioneered with films likeNosferatuandThe Last Laughto Hollywood.
But Milestones film is no small accomplishment either.
(Ginger Rogers, for instance, plays a heroine nicknamed Anytime Annie.)
This early in the sound era, movies were still figuring out what musicals could be.
The film wouldnt work with a director who couldnt focus intensely on the inner lives of its characters.
Sometimes the Best Picture nominees dont reflect this.
But sometimes they do.Gone With the Wind a giant cultural phenomenon if nothing else beat outDark Victory,Mr.
Such was the uphill battle faced by Westerns even at the height of their popularity.
But even the most snobbish viewer could see that William WellmansThe Ox-Bow Incidentwas no ordinary Western.
But its Wilders film whose influence would seep into the groundwater.
1 in-house director, a stint that includedCasablanca,a long association with Errol Flynn, and more.
Capra focused on making morale-boosting documentaries about the war.
Stewart fought, returning shaken by his experiences as an airman.
They now make a satisfying double feature.
The films a strange but potent mix of irreverence and patriotism.
It has a tattered origin, too.
(Logan, co-writer of the theatrical version, also directed another 1955 Best Picture nominee,Picnic.)
(That Todd was married to Taylor added an extra twist to the tale.)
Kramer didnt always get that balance right, but it works here.
Its a film of high stakes, if little overt drama, highlighted by Peter Ustinovs comic supporting turn.
(That Rossen had once hustled pool probably helped.)
Though shot in Cinemascope, its defined by a sense of claustrophobia.
These are characters who always feel like the walls are about to close in on them.
Its full effect will be lost on even the biggest home screen, however.
Its a good movie, but an even better spectacle.
In filmmaking, there are big risks and small risks.
Instead, he made films that bridged the gap between new and old.
(Even ifThe Stingis, admittedly, much more fun.)
Director Martin Scorsese andscreenwriter Paul Schradertake the film to the sort of dark places few movies dare to go.
But even if its a bad idea, there issomelogic to it.
(Star Warsdidnt exactly fade into obscurity due to the loss, however.)
Thats not really fair toOrdinary People, which is a pretty terrific in its own right.
55th Academy Awards: 1982
Winner:GandhiBest Loser:E.T.
the Extra-Terrestrial
A fairy tale set in the American suburbs and dressed up in science-fiction trappings, Steven SpielbergsE.T.
He made it look easy.
The many imitators that followed proved that wasnt the case.
Field is remarkable in the film, and it wouldnt have been a bad Best Picture choice, either.
The team became a kind of lazy shorthand for tastefully unadventurous filmmaking, and unfairly so.
Their best films burst with intelligence and passion.
Playing a character whos a mix of brains and Staten Islandbred determination, Griffiths at her most charming here.
Could it still feel substantial?
The films of 1995, however, offered just such a chance.
The Academy didnt, but in our alternative universe, we can.
Billy Crystal quipped in the opening monologue of an Oscars ceremony he dubbed Sundance by the Sea.
The award went to the statelyThe English Patient, arguably the nominee most indebted to classic Hollywood filmmaking.
70th Academy Awards: 1997
Winner:TitanicBest Loser:L.A. Curtis Hansons pass at one of his best books cracked the code.
The result was a fresh take on classic noir themes set in a seedy, bygone L.A. And then … it just didnt.
But, hey, in our alternate-universe Oscars, thats easy enough to correct.
Some of these confirmed emerging directors like Spike Jonze and David O. Russell as major talents.
Others, likeThe Matrix, broke new ground with stunning special effects.
Of the nominees,The Sixth Senseprovided the best indication of what was happening elsewhere in the film world.
They went with the one that emphasized the action over the lyricism, however.
Despite its critical acclaim and multiple nominations,In the Bedroomnever really stood a chance.
Hes a mess and he knows it, and his self-loathing ought to make him unbearably unpleasant to watch.
If so, youre not alone.
Both are tough, violent films anchored by frightening, larger-than-life performances by great actors.
And both find darkness at the heart of different chapters of American history.
The award went toNo Country, a fine choice.
But in this alternate universe were creating, lets give it to Paul Thomas Andersons film instead.
(Nothing against the greatToy Story 3, but itsnot even the bestToy Storymovie.)
Cuarons images would have been impossible in any previous year, but the films themes are timeless.
(Dig those iMacs!
RememberHarry Potterrelease parties?)
There had never been a film quite like it, and there probably never will be again.
Its excess with a point, mixing indelible images with powerful emotions.
In reality, the award went to the greatMoonlight.
Not so for our suggested alternative.
Where other nominees went as big as possible, Gerwig proved small could be equally powerful.
As in: Wait, what?Dances with WolvesbeatGoodfellas?
Sometimes it just takes seconds for that feeling to kick in.
WithGreen Book, that feeling kicked in almost immediately.
Wait, what?Green BookbeatBlacKkKlansman / Black Panther / A Star is Born / The Favourite?
For one, a foreign-language film had never before claimed the top prize, making the honor surprising enough.
Can anyone actually remember anything that happened afterthe slap?CODAwon Best Picture?
If you say so.
The answer: It didnt.
And like those films,Killers of the Flower Moonwill not be quickly forgotten.
Though nominated, RaMell RosssNickel Boysnever felt competitive.
