1991 Alternate Oscars

Best Picture of 1991

Beauty and the Beast

Boyz n the Hood

The Double Life of Véronique

The Fisher King

Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse

JFK

★ Raise The Red Lantern

✔ The Silence of the Lambs

Terminator 2: Judgment Day

Thelma & Louise

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Best Actor of 1991 (Poll Closed)

• Danny DeVito (Other People's Money)  1.56%  (1 votes)  
   
• ★ ✔ Anthony Hopkins (The Silence of the Lambs)  84.38%  (54 votes)  
   
• Steve Martin (Grand Canyon, L.A. Story and Father of the Bride)  1.56%  (1 votes)  
   
• John Turturro (Barton Fink)  9.38%  (6 votes)  
   
• Robin Williams (The Fisher King)  3.12%  (2 votes)  
   

 

Total Votes: 64

 

Best Actress of 1991

Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon (Thelma & Louise)

★ ✔ Jodie Foster (The Silence of the Lambs)

Gong Li (Raise the Red Lantern)

Irène Jacob (The Double Life of Véronique)

Lili Taylor (Dogfight)

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Best Director of 1991

✔ Jonathan Demme (The Silence of the Lambs)

Terry Gilliam (The Fisher King)

Ridley Scott (Thelma & Louise)

John Singleton (Boyz n the Hood)

★ Zhang Yimou (Raise The Red Lantern)

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Best Supporting Actor of 1991 (Poll Closed)

• Ice Cube (Boyz n the Hood)  17.24%  (10 votes)  
   
• John Goodman (Barton Fink)  41.38%  (24 votes)  
   
• ✔ Jack Palance (City Slickers)  17.24%  (10 votes)  
   
• ★ Alan Rickman (Truly, Madly, Deeply and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves)  17.24%  (10 votes)  
   
• William Sadler (Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey)  6.9%  (4 votes)  
   

 

Total Votes: 58

 

Best Supporting Actress of 1991

Judy Davis (Naked Lunch and Barton Fink)

He Saifei (Raise The Red Lantern)

Jane Horrocks (Life is Sweet)

Christina Ricci (The Addams Family)

★ ✔ Mercedes Ruehl (The Fisher King)

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Special Award

John Singleton (Boyz n the Hood) (original screenplay)

Zhen Ni, from the novel Wives and Concubines by Su Tong (Raise The Red Lantern) (adapted screenplay)

Alan Menken (music) and Howard Ashman (lyrics) (Beauty and the Beast) (song score)

Dennis Murren, Stan Winston, Gene Warren, Jr. and Robert Skotak (Terminator II: Judgment Day) (visual effects)

Thelma & Louise (worst road trip, Grand Canyon edition)

William Sadler as "the Grim Reaper" (Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey) (best sore loser)

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My choices are noted with a ★. Historical Oscar winners are noted with a ✔.

1990 Alternate Oscars

Best Picture of 1990

An Angel at My Table

✔ Dances with Wolves

Edward Scissorhands

La Femme Nikita

★ Goodfellas

Home Alone

Ju Dou

Miller's Crossing

Misery

Pretty Woman

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Best Actor of 1990

★ Gabriel Byrne (Miller's Crossing)

Kevin Costner (Dances with Wolves)

Gérard Depardieu (Cyrano de Bergerac and Green Card)

✔ Jeremy Irons (Reversal of Fortune)

Ray Liotta (Goodfellas)

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Best Actress of 1990 (Poll Closed)

• ✔ Kathy Bates (Misery)  23.33%  (7 votes)  
   
• Kerry Fox (An Angel at My Table)  0%  (0 votes)  
   
• Anjelica Huston (The Grifters)  36.67%  (11 votes)  
   
• Gong Li (Ju Dou)  0%  (0 votes)  
   
• ★ Julia Roberts (Pretty Woman)  40%  (12 votes)  
   

 

Total Votes: 30

 

Best Director of 1990

Tim Burton (Edward Scissorhands)

Jane Campion (An Angel at My Table)

The Coen Brothers (Miller's Crossing)

✔ Kevin Costner (Dances with Wolves)

★ Martin Scorsese (Goodfellas)

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Best Supporting Actor of 1990 (Poll Closed)

• Robert De Niro (Awakenings and Goodfellas)  8.7%  (8 votes)  
   
• Gary Oldman (State of Grace)  5.43%  (5 votes)  
   
• ★ ✔ Joe Pesci (Goodfellas and Home Alone)  76.09%  (70 votes)  
   
• Jon Polito (Miller's Crossing)  5.43%  (5 votes)  
   
• John Turturro (Miller’s Crossing)  4.35%  (4 votes)  
   

 

Total Votes: 92

 

Best Supporting Actress of 1990

Annette Bening (The Grifters)

★ Lorraine Bracco (Goodfellas)

✔ Whoopi Goldberg (Ghost)

Marcia Gay Harden (Miller's Crossing)

Penelope Ann Miller (The Freshman and Awakenings)

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Special Award

Joel Coen and Ethan Coen (Miller's Crossing) (original screenplay)

Nicholas Pileggi & Martin Scorsese, from Pileggi's book Wiseguy: Life in a Mafia Family (Goodfellas) (adapted screenplay)

Michael Ballhaus (Goodfellas) (cinematography)

Thelma Schoonmaker (Goodfellas) (film editing)

Bo Welch, Tom Duffield and Cheryl Carasik (Edward Scissorhands) (art direction / set decoration)

Quigley Down Under (best Australian western)

Hawaiian tiger fish and smoked turkey (The Freshman) (best Komodo dragon imitation)

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My choices are noted with a ★. Historical Oscar winners are noted with a ✔.

1989 Alternate Oscars

Best Picture of 1989 (Poll Closed)

• Crimes and Misdemeanors  9.09%  (7 votes)  
   
• Dekalog  11.69%  (9 votes)  
   
• ★ Do the Right Thing  45.45%  (35 votes)  
   
• Drugstore Cowboy  2.6%  (2 votes)  
   
• Field of Dreams  9.09%  (7 votes)  
   
• Glory  6.49%  (5 votes)  
   
• Henry V  3.9%  (3 votes)  
   
• The Killer  0%  (0 votes)  
   
• The Little Mermaid  3.9%  (3 votes)  
   
• When Harry Met Sally ...  7.79%  (6 votes)  
   

 

Total Votes: 77

 

Best Actor of 1989 (Poll Closed)

• Kenneth Branagh (Henry V)  12.68%  (9 votes)  
   
• ★ John Cusack (Say Anything)  15.49%  (11 votes)  
   
• ✔ Daniel Day-Lewis (My Left Foot)  64.79%  (46 votes)  
   
• Matt Dillon (Drugstore Cowboy)  1.41%  (1 votes)  
   
• James Spader (sex, lies, and videotape)  5.63%  (4 votes)  
   

 

Total Votes: 71

 

Best Actress of 1989 (Poll Closed)

• Isabelle Adjani (Camille Claudel)  11.11%  (4 votes)  
   
• Michelle Pfeiffer (The Fabulous Baker Boys)  30.56%  (11 votes)  
   
• ★ Meg Ryan (When Harry Met Sally ...)  30.56%  (11 votes)  
   
• Winona Ryder (Heathers)  11.11%  (4 votes)  
   
• ✔ Jessica Tandy (Driving Miss Daisy)  16.66%  (6 votes)  
   

 

Total Votes: 36

 

Best Director of 1989 (Poll Closed)

• Krzysztof Kieslowski (Dekalog)  18.57%  (13 votes)  
   
• ★ Spike Lee (Do the Right Thing)  71.43%  (50 votes)  
   
• Rob Reiner (When Harry Met Sally ...)  5.71%  (4 votes)  
   
• John Woo (The Killer)  0%  (0 votes)  
   
• Ed Zwick (Glory)  4.29%  (3 votes)  
   

 

Total Votes: 70

 

Best Supporting Actor of 1989 (Poll Closed)

• Danny Aiello (Do the Right Thing)  8.54%  (7 votes)  
   
• ★ Sean Connery (Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade)  24.39%  (20 votes)  
   
• James Earl Jones (Field of Dreams)  7.32%  (6 votes)  
   
• Martin Landau (Crimes and Misdemeanors)  24.39%  (20 votes)  
   
• ✔ Denzel Washington (Glory)  35.36%  (29 votes)  
   

 

Total Votes: 82

 

Best Supporting Actress of 1989 (Poll Closed)

• Carrie Fisher (When Harry Met Sally ...)  12%  (9 votes)  
   
• ✔ Brenda Fricker (My Left Foot)  28%  (21 votes)  
   
• ★ Laura San Giacomo (sex, lies and videotape)  36%  (27 votes)  
   
• Anjelica Huston (Crimes and Misdemeanors and Enemies, A Love Story)  21.33%  (16 votes)  
   
• Amy Madigan (Field of Dreams)  2.67%  (2 votes)  
   

 

Total Votes: 75

 

Special Award (Poll Closed)

• "Fight the Power" (Do the Right Thing) music and lyrics by Chuck D (as Carlton Ridenhour), Hank Shocklee, Eric Sadler and Keith Shocklee (song)  38.1%  (24 votes)  
   
• Nora Ephron (When Harry Met Sally ...) (original screenplay)  20.63%  (13 votes)  
   
• The Little Mermaid (animated feature)  19.05%  (12 votes)  
   
• Jack Nicholson (Batman) (fourth best Joker)  11.11%  (7 votes)  
   
• "Carpe Diem" (Dead Poets Society) (best inspiration for an inspirational poster)  11.11%  (7 votes)  
   

 

Total Votes: 63

 

My choices are noted with a ★. Historical Oscar winners are noted with a ✔.

I had to look up the last time I failed to nominate a movie that the Academy chose as the best picture of the year — Around the World in 80 Days back in 1956.

So, no Driving Miss Daisy, but I will leave you with this classic song that first appeared in Spike Lee's anti-Miss Daisy masterpiece, Do the Right Thing:

1988 Alternate Oscars

Best Picture of 1988 (Poll Closed)

• ★ Bull Durham  7.32%  (6 votes)  
   
• ƒ Cinema Paradiso  10.98%  (9 votes)  
   
• Die Hard  24.39%  (20 votes)  
   
• A Fish Called Wanda  7.32%  (6 votes)  
   
• Grave of the Fireflies  6.1%  (5 votes)  
   
• My Neighbor Totoro  2.44%  (2 votes)  
   
• The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!  2.44%  (2 votes)  
   
• ✔ Rain Man  6.1%  (5 votes)  
   
• Who Framed Roger Rabbit  21.95%  (18 votes)  
   
• Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown  10.96%  (9 votes)  
   

 

Total Votes: 82

 

Best Actor of 1988

Kevin Costner (Bull Durham)

★ Tom Hanks (Big)

✔ Dustin Hoffman (Rain Man)

Jeremy Irons (Dead Ringers)

Bruce Willis (Die Hard)

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Best Actress of 1988

Jamie Lee Curtis (A Fish Called Wanda)

✔ Jodie Foster (The Accused)

Christine Lahti (Running on Empty)

Carmen Maura (Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown)

★ Susan Sarandon (Bull Durham)

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Best Director of 1988 (Poll Closed)

• ★ Pedro Almodóvar (Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown)  28.57%  (18 votes)  
   
• Ron Shelton (Bull Durham)  3.17%  (2 votes)  
   
• Isao Takahata (Grave Of The Fireflies)  9.52%  (6 votes)  
   
• Giuseppe Tornatore (Cinema Paradiso)  9.52%  (6 votes)  
   
• Robert Zemeckis (Who Framed Roger Rabbit)  49.21%  (31 votes)  
   

 

Total Votes: 63

 

Best Supporting Actor of 1988 (Poll Closed)

• Michael Keaton (Beetlejuice)  25%  (18 votes)  
   
• ★ ✔ Kevin Kline (A Fish Called Wanda)  48.61%  (35 votes)  
   
• Philippe Noiret (Cinema Paradiso)  9.72%  (7 votes)  
   
• Alan Rickman (Die Hard)  13.89%  (10 votes)  
   
• Tim Robbins (Bull Durham)  2.78%  (2 votes)  
   

 

Total Votes: 72

 

Best Supporting Actress of 1988

Joan Cusack (Working Girl and Married to the Mob)

✔ Geena Davis (The Accidental Tourist)

Frances McDormand (Mississippi Burning)

Lena Olin (The Unbearable Lightness of Being)

★ Michelle Pfeiffer (Dangerous Liaisons)

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Special Award

Ron Shelton (Bull Durham) (original screenplay)

Isao Takahata, from the novel Hotaru no Haka by Akiyuki Nasaka (Grave of the Fireflies) (adapted screenplay)

Ken Ralston, Richard Williams, Edward Jones and George Gibbs (Who Framed Roger Rabbit) (visual effects)

Ve Neill, Steve Laporte and Robert Short (Beetlejuice) (makeup)

Die Hard (worst office Christmas party ever)

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My choices are noted with a ★. Historical Oscar winners are noted with a ✔. Best foreign-language picture winners are noted with an ƒ.

1987 Alternate Oscars

Best Picture of 1987 (Poll Closed)

• Broadcast News  23.38%  (18 votes)  
   
• Empire Of The Sun  1.3%  (1 votes)  
   
• Hope and Glory  5.19%  (4 votes)  
   
• ✔ The Last Emperor  7.79%  (6 votes)  
   
• Moonstruck  3.9%  (3 votes)  
   
• ƒ Pelle the Conqueror  1.3%  (1 votes)  
   
• Planes, Trains and Automobiles  2.6%  (2 votes)  
   
• ★ The Princess Bride  35.06%  (27 votes)  
   
• The Untouchables  9.09%  (7 votes)  
   
• Wings of Desire  10.39%  (8 votes)  
   

 

Total Votes: 77

 

Best Actor of 1987 (Poll Closed)

• John Candy (Planes, Trains and Automobiles)  8.22%  (6 votes)  
   
• ✔ Michael Douglas (Wall Street and Fatal Attraction)  30.14%  (22 votes)  
   
• Steve Martin (Roxanne and Planes, Trains and Automobiles)  10.96%  (8 votes)  
   
• ★ Max Von Sydow (Pelle the Conqueror)  27.4%  (20 votes)  
   
• Robin Williams (Good Morning, Vietnam)  23.28%  (17 votes)  
   

 

Total Votes: 73

 

Best Actress of 1987 (Poll Closed)

• Stéphane Audran (Babette's Feast)  3.13%  (1 votes)  
   
• ✔ Cher (Moonstruck)  15.63%  (5 votes)  
   
• Glenn Close (Fatal Attraction)  12.5%  (4 votes)  
   
• Jennifer Grey (Dirty Dancing)  0%  (0 votes)  
   
• ★ Holly Hunter (Raising Arizona and Broadcast News)  68.74%  (22 votes)  
   

 

Total Votes: 32

 

Best Director of 1987 (Poll Closed)

• ✔ Bernardo Bertolucci (The Last Emperor)  28.79%  (19 votes)  
   
• John Boorman (Hope and Glory)  6.06%  (4 votes)  
   
• ★ Rob Reiner (The Princess Bride)  40.91%  (27 votes)  
   
• Steven Spielberg (Empire of the Sun)  4.55%  (3 votes)  
   
• Wim Wenders (Wings of Desire)  19.69%  (13 votes)  
   

 

Total Votes: 66

 

Best Supporting Actor of 1987 (Poll Closed)

• Albert Brooks (Broadcast News)  22.78%  (18 votes)  
   
• ✔ Sean Connery (The Untouchables)  29.11%  (23 votes)  
   
• Morgan Freeman (Street Smart)  8.86%  (7 votes)  
   
• ★ Mandy Patinkin (The Princess Bride)  37.97%  (30 votes)  
   
• Wallace Shawn (The Princess Bride)  1.27%  (1 votes)  
   

 

Total Votes: 79

 

Best Supporting Actress of 1987 (Poll Closed)

• Joan Chen (The Last Emperor)  11.76%  (6 votes)  
   
• ✔ Olympia Dukakis (Moonstruck)  33.33%  (17 votes)  
   
• ★ Anjelica Huston (The Dead)  35.29%  (18 votes)  
   
• Anne Ramsey (Throw Momma from the Train)  5.88%  (3 votes)  
   
• Robin Wright (The Princess Bride)  13.73%  (7 votes)  
   

 

Total Votes: 51

 

Special Award

Wim Wenders & Peter Handke (Wings of Desire) (original screenplay)

William Goldman, from his novel (The Princess Bride) (adapted screenplay)

Cary Elwes, Robin Wright, Mandy Patinkin, Chris Sarandon, André the Giant, Wallace Shawn, Christopher Guest, Fred Savage, Peter Falk, Billy Crystal, Carol Kane, Peter Cook and Mel Smith (The Princess Bride) (ensemble cast)

"(I've Had) The Time of My Life" (Dirty Dancing) music by Franke Previte, John Denicola and Donald Markowitz; lyrics by Franke Previte (song)

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My choices are noted with a ★. A tie is indicated with a ✪. Historical Oscar winners are noted with a ✔. Best foreign-language picture winners are noted with an ƒ. A historical winner who won in a different category is noted with a ✱.

What a deep year for movies. The movies I didn't nominate — Au Revoir Les Enfants, Babette's Feast, The Dead, Full Metal Jacket, House of Games, Predator, Radio Days, Raising Arizona, RoboCop, Withnail & I, among others — would make a credible top ten in most any other year.

Some years are so thin, it's hard to find a winner, much less ten solid nominees. Other years, one's cup overfloweth. Oh, well. That's the life of an alternate Oscar junkie.