1992

Best Picture Nominees:

The Crying Game
A Few Good Men
Howards End
Scent of a Woman
Unforgiven *

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The Crying Game - When I saw this picture with my sisters, about half the theater walked out when the twist was revealed (pretty tame by today's standards).  I was so impressed by the film that I thought Jaye Davidson should be nominated for Best Supporting Actress.  (Despite the "reveal," I still thought Jaye was a female; he was pretty convincing.)

A Few Good Men - A tour de force for both Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson... especially the line, "You can't handle the truth!"

Howards End - A really nice period piece with Emma Thompson (who won Best Actress) and last year's Best Actor, Anthony Hopkins.

Scent of a Woman - A giant "ham" vehicle for Al Pacino as a blind former military man with Chris O'Donnell as the college student "helping" him.

Unforgiven  - The movie I didn't want to see and didn't enjoy.  People called film noir; I agree because it was hard to see the action.

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I felt Crying Game should win because of the unusual story and excellent acting, or A Few Good Men or Howards End could win because they both were the type of film that appeal to the Academy.

From the get-go, though, it was decided that Clint Eastwood needed to be rewarded for an "amazing" film.  Maybe I will revisit this film because in terms of a western, it didn't appeal to me more than, say, Dances with Wolves.

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My ranking of the Best Picture nominees:

1.  The Crying Game
2.  Howards End
3.  A Few Good Men
4.  Scent of a Woman
5.  Unforgiven