The 90's in Film Review Rolls On: Best Acting Awards

Before we get started, you'll notice the dirth of females. I decided against doing a category for the ladies as I began researching the matter to discover that almost no actress has sustained success. Don't blame me, blame Hollywood. Don't believe me? I looked up a poll of the top actresses of the 90's on the-movie-times.com. The results:
1. Julia Roberts (Notable 90's Films: Pretty Woman, a few middling romcoms, Hook, Notting Hill)
2. Meryl Streep (Notable 90's Films: Postcards from the Edge, The River Wild, Death Becomes Her, The Bridges of Madison County)
3. Jodie Foster (Notable 90's Films: The Silence of the Lambs, Maverick, Nell, Contact, Anna & the King)
4. Sharon Stone (Notable 90's Films: Total Recall, Basic Instinct, Sliver, Last Action Hero, The Specialist, The Quick and the Dead, Casino, Sphere, The Muse)
5. Meg Ryan (Notable 90's Films: Joe Versus the Volcano, The Doors, Sleepless in Seattle, IQ, French Kiss, Courage Under Fire, City of Angels)

Now, that's a fair top 5. But the disparity between those filmographies and those of the best actors is cavernous. If I had to pick, I like Sharon Stone for talent and Meg Ryan for movie quality. And I might substitute Michelle Pfeiffer for Julia Roberts. Anyhow, I just wanted it clear...one of America's most liberal institutions is also one of its most sexist.

On with the show...

Best Supporting Actor of the Decade (CRITERIA: In Everything, Good, Never Used as Much as He Should Be As A Leading Man):
NOMINEES:
- Morgan Freeman (The Bonfire of the Vanities, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Unforgiven, Shawshank Redemption, Outbreak, Se7en, Amistad, Deep Impact)
- Gary Oldman (State of Grace, JFK, Dracula, True Romance, Immortal Beloved, The Fifth Element, Air Force One, Lost in Space)
- Bill Paxton (Predator 2, Tombstone, True Lies, Apollo 13, Twister, Titanic)
- Kevin Spacey (Glengarry Glenn Ross, The Ref, Swimming with Sharks, The Usual Suspects, Outbreak, Se7en, A Time To Kill, LA Confidential, A Bug’s Life, American Beauty)
- Christopher Walken (King of New York, Batman Returns, True Romance, Pulp Fiction, Suicide Kings, Sleepy Hollow)
WINNER: A narrow victory for Kevin Spacey over Morgan Freeman. Please note that I wanted to nominate Samuel L., but he's not acting. He’s in everything, and he’s always the same character - bad-ass brotha'.

Best Comedic Actor of the Decade:
NOMINEES:
- Steve Martin – Highs (L.A. Story, Father of the Bride, Leap of Faith, Prince of Egypt, Bowfinger) Lows (Grand Canyon, Sgt Bilko, Father of the Bride 2)
- Bill Murray – Highs (What About Bob, Groundhog Day, Ed Wood, Kingpin, Wild Things, Rushmore) Lows (The Man Who Knew Too Little)
- Jim Carrey – Highs (Ace Ventura, The Mask, Dumb & Dumber, Ace Ventura 2, Liar, Liar, Truman Show, Man on the Moon) Lows: (Batman Forever, Cable Guy)
- Adam Sandler - Highs (Billy Madison, Happy Gilmore, The Wedding Singer, Dirty Work, Water Boy, Big Daddy), Lows (Coneheads, Airheads, Bulletproof)
- Mike Myers – Highs (Wayne’s World, Austin Powers 1 & 2, Mystery, Alaska) Lows (So I Married an Axe Murderer, Wayne’s World 2, 4-year hiatus between films, messy fight with Dana Carvey)
WINNER: Jim Carrey. I don't think it's close, even with his late decade quest for meaning - he only really got unbearable in the next decade, though he beat Bill Murray there. Oh how we could have used a Fire Marshall Bill movie while the iron was still hot, if only to remind us of the irony that the only successful actors from In Living Color were the white guy (Carey) and the fly girl (Jennifer Lopez)...until Jamie Fox came along and ruined that useful parable on race. (I still heart you Damon Wayans. Homey D. Clown 4-Life). Interestingly, Adam Sandler (a strong candidate) would use the otts to feel out a quest for meaning much like Carey and Murray, only to settle instead for a much more successful quest for mediocrity. Mike Myers' resume is too thin. In the end, I guess we could only really count on Steve Martin to just be funny for the next 10 years as well.

Best Actor of the Decade:
NOMINEES:
- Nicholas Cage – HIGHS (Leaving Las Vegas, The Rock, Con Air, Face/Off), LOWS (Guarding Tess, Innumerable small movies, City of Angels, Snake Eyes, 8MM). Another guy who dilutes his case with tons of bad films. A nice run in the mid-90’s lands him here.
- Tom Cruise – HIGHS (A Few Good Men, Interview with the Vampire, Jerry Maguire, Mission Impossible, Eyes Wide Shut, Magnolia) LOWS (Days of Thunder, The Firm). I think what stands out about Cruise is that he does very few movies comparatively. That list there...that's pretty much it. He does not work for a paycheck.
- Robert DeNiro – HIGHS (Backdraft, Goodfellas, Cape Fear, Casino, Heat, Wag the Dog, Jackie Brown, Ronin, Analyze This) LOWS (Frankenstein, Lots of bad small movies, The Fan, Great Expectations). A great decade, marred by what must be some debilitating addiction that needs feeding through constant roles in bad movies.
- Tom Hanks – HIGHS (The Bonfire of the Vanities, A League of Their Own, Sleepless in Seattle, Philadelphia, Forrest Gump, Apollo 13, Toy Story, Saving Private Ryan, Toy Story 2, The Green Mile), LOWS (Joe Versus the Volcano, Radio Flyer, That Thing You Do). A strong resume…a lot of breadth there.
- Anthony Hopkins – HIGHS (The Silence of the Lambs, Howards End, Dracula, Chaplin, Remains of the Dday, Legends of the Fall, Nixon, Amistad, The Mask of Zorro, Meet Joe Black) LOWS (Numerous small movie tripe) Too much tripe, not enough movies I actually like.
- Brad Pitt – HIGHS (Thelma & Louise, A River Runs Through It, Kalifornia, True Romance, Interview with the Vampire, Legends of the Fall, Se7en, Twelve Monkeys, The Devil’s Own, Seven Years in Tibet, Meet Joe Black, Fight Club) LOWS (Cool World). A strong resume. People pretend he’s not a great actor, but that’s pretty impressive.
- Keanu Reeves – HIGHS (Point Break, Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey, Dracula, Much Ado About Nothing, Speed, The Devil’s Advocate, The Matrix) LOWS (Johnny Mnemonic, A Walk in the Clouds) A surprisingly strong run. But those lows were low…and it’s Keanu after all, not Laurence Olivier.
- Arnold Schwarzenegger – HIGHS (Total Recall, Kindergarten Cop, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Last Action Hero, True Lies) LOWS (Junior, Eraser, Jingle All the Way, Batman & Robin, End of Days). Great early decade, but awful last half does him in.
- John Travolta – HIGHS (Pulp Fiction, Get Shorty, Broken Arrow, Face/Off, The Thin Red Line, A Civil Action), LOWS (Look Who’s Talking movies, White Man’s Burden, Phenomenon, Michael, Primary Colors). Nice to have you back…but tone down the social activism.
- Denzel Washington – HIGHS (Mississippi Masala, Malcolm X, Much Ado About Nothing, The Pelican Brief, Philadelphia, Crimson Tide, Courage Under Fire, He Got Game, The Hurricane) LOWS (Devil in a Blue Dress, Virtuosity, The Siege, The Bone Collector)
WINNER: Tom Hanks.
COMMENT: First of all, I included 10 actors just to show you how much deeper their resumes go than the actresses. Secondly, I can't earnestly say that in terms of sheer talent, it's Tom Hanks. Frankly, if Daniel Day-Lewis hadn't spent the decade cobbling shoes somewhere in rural New England, who knows what movies we'd have had? But Hanks carried all of those films, he's a different person in many of them, he's my boy from Sacramento, and ultimately, that is an astoundingly productive decade of Beatles'-esque dimensions. What interests me is that supposed pretty boy Brad Pitt is my number 2. If he's dumb, he sure has a good agent. That said, Keanu really is dumb, and he still put up a strong decade. Perhaps the most interesting thing is that a lot of the real talent, the bright guys like Johnny Depp and Robert Downey Jr., forfeited this decade to a drug-related problems or, at least in Depp's case, playing somebody with drug-related problems in most of his films. I suppose all's well that ends well...if only the same were true of music, we'd still have Biggie and Kurt Kobain to make us music. Instead, they died, we got Creed, Britney, and Sean John, and now a generation is left adrift without knowing what it's like to have music worth loving.