Alex – 1989: Driving Miss Daisy
So we all know that the best part of the Oscars is getting to whine about which film was snubbed out of a nomination for Best Picture and it’s even better when some totally undeserving film wins because then we have a reason to swear vengeance against the Academy for an entire year.
Let me first clarify that I have no problem with Driving Miss Daisy. It’s an excellent film, but at best it was only the third best film of 1989. Third you say? How can that be? It won the Oscar after all! Well there’s two ways it can be – Field Of Dreams and Dead Poet’s Society. Both films were far more deserving of a win than Miss Daisy.
“If you build it they will come.” That’s only one of the most iconic lines in cinematic history. The “they” obviously referred to hugely devoted fans, critical acclaim, and respect as one of the greatest sports movies of all time. Basically everything except a tiny golden statue.
Field Of Dreams is basically the standard I use to see if a girl is awesome. If she doesn’t like Field of Dreams, then there’s obviously something wrong with her, and there’s no reason to have a second date (sorry Caitlin, at least now you know the truth.)
Equally as deserving of the win is Dead Poet’s Society. It is literally one of the greatest movies of all time. It’s the sort of timeless tale that I intend to show my kids, my grand-kids, my great-grand-kids, and the next 5 generations of Lowe offspring. (Come on modern medicine.)
Confession – I’m not a Walt Whitman fan. Sure, he’s a good enough writer, I’ve just never been that into his stuff. However, everytime I watch Dead Poet’s Society I’ll spend the next three weeks reading Whitman non-stop.
It’s one of Robin Williams most beautifully powerful performances. That fact that he wasn’t honoured for his performance leaves me with very little faith in the academy.
Sorry Daisy, you were great, but Field Of Dreams and Dead Poet’s Society were simply on another level.