1982 Oscars: Who should have won in the major categories Part III

It's been a slow period for movies -- odd for the summer season.

Ma was not the low key great movie I was hoping it was going to be (according to critics) and I couldn't be less interested in the latest Godzilla reboot.

I'll probably go see The Dead Don't Die, even though the reviews have been mediocre. In fact the only must-see movie coming out in the next few weeks (as far as I'm concerned) is Midsommar.

So in the meantime, I will continue to play make believe with Oscar ceremonies past because nothing seems to matter anymore and the president has said that the moon is a part of Mars and it's just another story.

I've already discussed the lead actors and supporting actors who won and were nominated for 1982 films. Now let's look at the final two major categories.

Best Director 

Winner 
Richard Attenborough – Gandhi 

Other nominees 
Wolfgang Petersen – Das Boot
Steven Spielberg – E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
Sydney Pollack – Tootsie 
Sidney Lumet – The Verdict 

Attenborough winning for his epic Gandhi isn't a surprise, although many would argue that the strength of that movie lies in the Kingsley performance. Still, it's impressive feat of a movie to pull off -- it's never boring. The Wolfgang Peterson nomination is a cool one even though his influential submarine thriller Das Boot never reached a wide American audience. It's insane that Lumet never won the Oscar, this film is as worthy as many of his others, although I wish he'd won for Network, which might be his strongest film of this era. The other Sydney, Sydney Pollack shows off his remarkable versatility with the blockbuster comedy Tootsie (he'd win three years later for the problematic romantic drama Out of Africa). Still, my winner for this year would be...

My winner:
Steven Spielberg – E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial

E.T. wasn't expected to be the phenomenon it was. It's a really personal movie for Spielberg and it shows. He handles the domestic tension of young Elliot (a remarkable Henry Thomas) and his fractured family very delicately and the relationship that grows between the boy is truly magical. Sure, some people may find this movie a tad to sentimental and manipulative but not me. About two years ago I watched this movie with two of my nieces and it not only holds up but it transports you all over again. It's a really special achievement for the most famous filmmaker of all time.


Best Picture 

Winner 
Gandhi – Richard Attenborough, producer

Other nominees
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial – Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy, producers
Missing – Edward Lewis and Mildred Lewis, producers
Tootsie – Sydney Pollack and Dick Richards, producers
The Verdict – David Brown and Richard D. Zanuck, producers

These are all strong, worthy movies -- although with 20/20 hindsight a movie like Blade Runner would and should be there and a threat to win. But alas that film was far to unconventional and tepidly received to ever have a shot at this. I am also a bit of a completionist when it comes to Director and Picture. I hate when they split and think it makes no particular sense when they don't. Steve McQueen should have won for 12 Years a Slave, Barry Jenkins should have won for Moonlight, etc etc. I just think ET is the most remarkable and game-changing of these nominees and one of the major movies of the decade -- it remains the highest grosser of the 80s, period.