(WITHERSPOON PHOTOGRAPH BY SAM EMERSON/MGM PICTURES; KAHN PHOTOGRAPH BY ASSOCIATED PRESS; WILLIAMS PHOTOGRAPH BY MICHAEL J. LUTCH; AFFLECK AND DAMON PHOTOGRAPH BY REED SAXON/ASSOCIATED PRESS; BULGER PHOTOGRAPH BY JOHN TLUMACKI/GLOBE STAFF; DICAPRIO PHOTOGRAPH FROM WARNER BROTHERS; PRUDENTIAL PHOTOGRAPH BY JASON JOHNS; CITGO PHOTOGRAPH BY MICHAEL FEIN/BLOOMBERG NEWS)
Dispatch
Don’t forget us, Oscar
Boston can’t quite be considered best city in a supporting role. But we’ve had our moments.
(WITHERSPOON PHOTOGRAPH BY SAM EMERSON/MGM PICTURES; KAHN PHOTOGRAPH BY ASSOCIATED PRESS; WILLIAMS PHOTOGRAPH BY MICHAEL J. LUTCH; AFFLECK AND DAMON PHOTOGRAPH BY REED SAXON/ASSOCIATED PRESS; BULGER PHOTOGRAPH BY JOHN TLUMACKI/GLOBE STAFF; DICAPRIO PHOTOGRAPH FROM WARNER BROTHERS; PRUDENTIAL PHOTOGRAPH BY JASON JOHNS; CITGO PHOTOGRAPH BY MICHAEL FEIN/BLOOMBERG NEWS)
Going by the nominations for tonight’s Academy Awards, last year wasn’t exactly stellar for local stars or for movies made or set in Greater Boston. Matt Damon got a best supporting actor nod for Invictus. But for some unfathomable reason, Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day and Paul Blart: Mall Cop were both shut out. Maybe it’s the colons. Then again, we’ve always had a checkered history with the Oscars. After studying the nominees and winners over the decades, here are a few things we’ve learned.
We’d Like to Thank Whitey Bulger . . .
Before our notorious mobster went on the lam, streetwise Boston crime films were overlooked. Mystery Street from 1950 got one nomination, but there was nothing for the great The Friends of Eddie Coyle, The Boston Strangler, or The Brink’s Job. Since Bulger split, however, the Southie gangster gestalt has been good to Boston thrillers. The Departed racked up five nominations and four wins, including best picture, while Mystic River won two out of six, and Gone Baby Gone got one nomination. Will The Town be next?
Our Underdogs Usually Stay That Way
There have been few Oscar moments as truly Cinderella-like as then little-known Matt Damon and Ben Affleck winning best original screenplay for 1997’s Good Will Hunting, in which they also starred. But we wish Oscar’s glass slipper had fit Hub native and supporting actress nominee Madeline Kahn for the good will she showed as the licentious Lili Von Shtupp in Blazing Saddles.
Oscar Hates Our Legal System
The Verdict: five nominations, no wins. A Civil Action: two nominations, no wins. The Crucible: two nominations, no wins.
John Williams Must Get a Nomination -- It’s the Law
Boston Pops laureate conductor and film composer Williams has been nominated an astonishing -- possibly disorienting -- 45 times, winning five times. He received multiple nominations for 1969, 1972, 1973, 1977, 1982, 1984, 1987, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1995, 2001, and 2005. Oh wait, were those the years the
Harvard Isn’t Oscar Material
One statuette (best supporting actor) for The Paper Chase. One for the music in Love Story. But not even a nomination for Legally Blonde, Soul Man, Harvard Man, Stealing Harvard, or With Honors? Maybe they’re all too busy over there studying to be good Hollywood fodder.
Our Home-Grown Actors Don’t Appeal to Oscar Like They Used To
We can brag about Lowell native Bette Davis (two Oscars out of 10 nominations), Swampscott’s Walter Brennan (three for four), and Newton’s Jack Lemmon (two for eight). Will Newton’s John Krasinski ever put up numbers like that?
Best Song Isn’t Exactly Our Specialty
The highlights: The original 1968 The Thomas Crown Affair won for “The Windmills of Your Mind,” and Thank God It’s Friday won for “Last Dance,” sung by Boston’s Donna Summer. Unfortunately, now we’ve got “Windmills” stuck in our heads.
Joel Brown is a freelance writer in Newburyport. Send comments to magazine@globe.com.
Correction: Because of a reporting error, this story gave the incorrect number of Oscar nominations for the film "The Brink's Job." It received one, for best art direction.
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