Your Favourite Performances from 1929 to present are...

[Bogie56]

[TomJH]

Here are my choices of the 170 films I've seen from 1988 for…

 

Best Actor of 1988

 

 

4.  ROBERT DE NIRO (Jack Walsh/”F.B.I. Agent Alonzo Mosely”), Midnight Run

 

Glad to see the high ranking you gave to Robert De Niro's performance in the marvelous Midnight Run, Bogie.

 

I had already seen many of the actor's most hailed dark portrayals and certainly appreciated his great skill as an actor, but it was this film and performance that first made me really sit up and start to become a fan. De Niro's remarkably nuanced portrayal is a key reason to watch this terrific action comedy drama, which benefits from an extremely clever screenplay under Martin Brest's socko direction.

 

Midnight Run is a film that works well on so many levels, part comedy, part drama, part action thriller, with some delicious tension and suspense thrown in. But at its heart it's a film that succeeds because of its characterizations. You care about the people involved. De Niro brings genuine sensitivity to his portrayal. The tough guy with a heart of gold may be a cliche, but the actor makes you believe in his character as a real being. This is not another mindless action film. It is graced by the performance of a great actor bringing the peak of his craft to his role.

 

The scene in which De Niro stops by the home of his estranged wife for the first time in a couple of years and sees his young daughter is genuinely moving. The silent awkwardness between them as they look at one another, De Niro grappling for the right words, the look of vulnerability and yearning on the little girl's face that could break anyone's heart, it's a beautifully real human moment captured in the midst of a fast moving film that its both unexpected and welcomed.

 

And I haven't even touched upon the other strong performances in this film, particularly that of Charles Grodin.

 

Not enough people, I suspect, have seen Midnight Run because I don't hear many talking about it. I can't recommend this immensely satisfactory film enough. I rank this film as one of the very best of De Niro's career.

 

[Bogie56]

 

Best Actor of 1988

 

1.  JEREMY IRONS (Beverly "Bev" Mantle/Eliott "Elly" Mantle), Dead Ringers

 

 

When Jeremy Irons won the Oscar for Reversal of Fortune (1990) he thanked David Cronenberg which was a nod to the performances he gave in that director's Dead Ringers two years earlier.  Irons plays identical twin gynecologists Bev and Elly Mantle.  He also plays the brothers when they impersonate one another.  If that is not complex enough he had to maintain both character arcs as they descend into madness because of drugs.  And on a purely technical level the movie was shot using the old method of matting off half of the frame then rewinding the film and going again having the actor play the scene as the other character.  Make a mistake and it is back to the top.  Dead Ringers is another instance of Irons playing characters that may not be endearing but they certainly push the envelope.

[Bogie56]

The Boston Society of Film Critics Awards for 1988 were…

 

Best Actor

Daniel Day-Lewis, The Unbearable Lightness of Being*

 

Best Actress

Melanie Griffith, Working Girl*

 

Best Supporting Actor

Dean Stockwell, Married to the Mob and Tucker: The Man and His Dream*

 

Best Supporting Actress

Joan Cusack, Married to the Mob and Stars and Bars and Working Girl*

 

——————————————————————————————

 

The National Board of Review Awards for 1988 were…

 

Best Actor

Gene Hackman, Mississippi Burning*

 

Best Actress

Jodie Foster, The Accused*

 

Best Supporting Actor

River Phoenix, Running on Empty*

 

Best Supporting Actress

Frances McDormand, Mississippi Burning*

[Bogie56]

The National Society of Film Critics Awards for 1988 were …

 

Best Actor

Michael Keaton, Beetlejuice and Clean and Sober*

Gene Hackman, Mississippi Burning

Dustin Hoffman, Rain Man

Max von Sydow, Pelle the Conqueror (87)

 

Best Actress

Judy Davis, High Tide* (87)

Carmen Maura, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown

Melanie Griffith, Working Girl

Barbara Hershey, A World Apart

 

Best Supporting Actor

Dean Stockwell, Married to the Mob and Tucker: The Man and His Dream*

Alec Guinness, Little Dorrit (87)

Tim Robbins, Bull Durham

 

Best Supporting Actresses

Mercedes Ruehl, Married to the Mob*

Lena Olin, The Unbearable Lightness of Being

Michelle Pfeiffer, Dangerous Liaisons

[skimpole]

Actor

John Cleese, A Fish Called Wanda
Bernard-Pierre Donadieu, The Vanishing
Jeremy Irons, Dead Ringers
Robert De Niro, Midnight Run
Daniel Day-Lewis, The Unbearable Lightness of Being

Runner-ups:  John Malkovich (Dangerous Liaisons), Charles Grodin (Midnight Run), Miroslaw Baka (A Short Film about Killing), Gene Bervoets (The Vanishing), Davour Dujomic (Time of the Gypsies), Pelle Hvenegaard (Pelle the Conqueror), John Neville (The Adventures of Baron Munchausen), Forest Whitaker (Bird), Tsutomu Tatsumi (Grave of the Fireflies), Michael Keaton (Beetlejuice), Tom Hanks (Big), Kevin Costner (Bull Durham), Christian Slater (Heathers), Bernard Hill (Drowning by Numbers), Harrison Ford (Frantic), Gene Hackman (Mississippi Burning), Leslie Nielsen (The Naked Gun:  From the Files of Police Squad!), Willem Dafoe (The Last Temptation of Christ), Bob Hoskins (Who Framed Roger Rabbit), Charles Fleischer (Who Framed Roger Rabbit), John Cusack (Eight Men Out), Olaf Lubaszenko (A Short film About Love), Derek Jacobi (Little Dorrit), Michalis Zeke (Landscape in the Mist), Ken Gruz (Talking to Strangers), Philippe Noiret (Cinema Paradiso),

Actress

Isabelle Huppert, Story of Women
Jamie Lee Curtis, A Fish Called Wanda
Glenn Close, Dangerous Liaisons
Susan Sarandon, Bull Durham
Juliette Binoche, The Unbearable Lightness of Being

Runner-ups:   Genevieve Bujold (Dead Ringers), Barbara Hershey (A World Apart), Tania Palaiologou* (Landscape in the Mist), Winona Ryder (Heathers), Noriko Hidaka (My Neighbor Totoro), Chika Sakamoto (My Neighbor Totoro),  Grazyna Szapolowska (A Short Film About Love), Kristyna Kohoutova (Alice), Sarah Polley (The Adventures of Baron Munchausen), Ayano Shiraishi (Grave of the Fireflies), Jodhi May (A World Apart), Lily Tomlin (Big Business), Joan Plowright (Drowning by Numbers), Carmen Maura (Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown), Meryl Streep (A Cry in the Dark),

*Juvenile Performance of the Year

Supporting Actor

Kevin Kline, A Fish Called Wanda
Pete Postelthwaite, Distant Voices, Still Lives
Michael Palin, A Fish Called Wanda
1987 film nominated in 1988 Max von Sydow, Pelle the Conqueror
Alan Rickman, Die Hard

Substitute for von Sydow

Krzysztof Globisz, A Short Film About Killing

Runner-ups:  Harvey Keitel (The Last Temptation of Christ), Yaphet Kotto (Midnight Run), Eric Idle (The Adventures of Baron Munchausen), Dennis Farina (Midnight Run), Robin Williams (The Adventures of Baron Munchausen), Jan Tesarz (A Short Film About Killing), Francois Cluzet (Story of Women), Christopher Lloyd (Who Framed Roger Rabbit), John Ashton (Midnight Run), Stratos Tzortzoglou (Landscape in the Mist), Alec Guinness (Little Dorrit), Dean Williams (Distant Voices, Still Lives), Jason Edwards (Drowning by Numbers),

Supporting Actress

Lena Olin, The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Michelle Pfeiffer, Dangerous Liaisons
Freda Dowie, Distant Voices, Still Lives
Lorraine Ashbourne, Distant Voices, Still Lives
Barbara Hershey, The Last Temptation of Christ

Runner-ups:  Winona Ryder (Beetlejuice), Angela Walsh (Distant Voices, Still Lives), Johanna ter Steege (The Vanishing), Sinolicka Trpkova (Time of the Gypsies), Kathleen Turner (Who Framed Roger Rabbit), Uma Thurman (Dangerous Liaisons), Emanuelle Seigner (Frantic), Geena Davis (The Accidental Tourist), Caron Tate (Talking to Strangers), Joan Greenwood (Little Dorrit), Uma Thurman (The Adventures of Baron Munchausen), Natalie Morse (Drowning by Numbers),


Not seen:  Stand and Deliver, The Accused, Gorillas in the Mist, Tucker:  the Man and His Dream, Running on Empty, Married to the Mob

 

--------Rather striking that this years include two 1987 movies nominated for 1988 Oscars and three movies which I though were released in 1989 but actually premiered in 1989.

 

--------My top 5 consists of a documentary and two animated movies, so my nominees are a little lower of my list for this year.

[skimpole]

Here are my choices of the 170 films I've seen from 1988 for…

 

Best Supporting Actor of 1988

 

 

5.  BILLY ZANE (Hughie Warriner), Dead Calm

 

 

Why is Dead Calm a 1988 release?  IMDB gives it a 1989 release in both the US and its native Australia.

[KilgoreTrout]

Best Actor: Eric Bogosian –Talk Radio

Best Actress: Gena Rowlands –Another Woman

Best Supporting Actor: Kevin Kline –A Fish Called Wanda

Best Supporting Actress: Lena Olin –The Unbearable Lightness of Being

[Bogie56]

Why is Dead Calm a 1988 release?  IMDB gives it a 1989 release in both the US and its native Australia.

 

It looks like you are right.  Many of my list notations predate the imdb and wikipedia when the best source of release information was Leonard Maltin or better still Ephraim Katz.  But they often did not have the information available to us today and sometimes just went by the copyright date.  If you go back to those types of sources Dead Calm was always (erroneously) listed as a 1988 film.  I've only just noticed that Heathers is a 1988 and not a 1989 film so I am going to go back and make a few changes.  Thanks for letting me know.

[Bogie56]

The BAFTA Awards for 1988 were ….

 

Best Actor

John Cleese, A Fish Called Wanda*

Michael Douglas, Fatal Attraction (87)

Kevin Kline, A Fish Called Wanda

Robin Williams, Good Morning Vietnam (87)

 

Best Actress

Maggie Smith, The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne* (87)

Stephane Audran, Babette’s Feast (87)

Jamie Lee Curtis, A Fish Called Wanda

Cher, Moonstruck (87)

 

Best Supporting Actor

Michael Palin, A Fish Called Wanda* 

Peter O’Toole, The Last Emperor (87)

Joss Ackland, White Mischief (87)

David Suchet, A World Apart

 

Best Supporting Actress

Judi Dench, A Handful of Dust*

Maria Aitken, A Fish Called Wanda

Anne Archer, Fatal Attraction (87)

Olympia Dukakis, Moonstruck (87)

[Bogie56]

 

Best Actress of 1988

 

1.  JODIE FOSTER (Sarah Tobias), The Accused

 

I thought Jodie Foster was utterly convincing as a the young blonde lower class party girl who is gang raped in a bar then pursues her attackers through the courts.  It is based on a true case that occurred in New Bedford, Mass.   The Accused is a brilliant title because in this instance it probably best describes the victim and not those on trial.  Foster's anger at the sexual assault turns to alarming frustration when she is "assaulted" yet again in court and her loose past is used against her in an equally brutal character assassination.  But she is a fighter.  The Accused may not have been the greatest film but it featured an amazing performance by Jodie Foster.  Here she is dolled up for court.  Remember that look?

[Bogie56]

The Independent Spirit Awards for 1988 were …

 

Best Actor

Edward James Olmos, Stand and Deliver*  

Eric Bognosian, Talk Radio

Harvey Fierstein, Torch Song Trilogy

Chris Mulkey, Patti Rocks

James Woods, The Boost

 

Best Actress

Jodie Foster, Five Corners* (87)

Ricki Lake, Hairspray

Nobu McCarthy, The Wash

Julia Roberts, Mystic Pizza

Meg Ryan, Promised Land (87)

 

Best Supporting Actor

Lou Diamond Phillips, Stand and Deliver*

Ernest Borgnine, Spike of Bensonhurst

Divine, Hairspray

John Lone, The Moderns

John Turturro, Five Corners (87)

 

Best Supporting Actress

Rosanna DeSoto, Stand and Deliver*

Bonnie Bedelia, The Prince of Pennsylvania

Debbie Harry, Hairspray

Amy Madigan, The Prince of Pennsylvania

Patti Yasutake, The Wash

[Bogie56]

Here are Danny Peary’s Alternate Oscar choices for 1988.  Winners in bold.  

 

Best Actor

Tom Hulce, Dominick and Eugene*

Kevin Costner, Bull Durham

Tom Cruise, Rain Man

Tom Hanks, Big

Dustin Hoffman, Rain Man

William Hurt, The Accidental Tourist

Jeremy Irons, Dead Ringers

John Malkovich, Dangerous Liaisons

 

Best Actress

Jodie Foster, The Accused*

Glenn Close, Dangerous Liaisons

Melanie Griffith, Working Girl

Gena Rowlands, Another Woman

Susan Sarandon, Bull Durham

Meryl Streep, A Cry In the Dark

Sigourney Weaver, Gorillas In the Mist

 

 

And here are Michael Gerbert’s Golden Armchair choices for 1988:

 

Best Actor

Tom Hanks, Big*

 

Best Actress

Glenn Close, Dangerous Liaisons*

[JamesStewartFan95]

Is Heathers​ a 1988 or 1989 release?

[LawrenceA]

Is Heathers​ a 1988 or 1989 release?

 

1988

[Bogie56]

The Golden Globe Awards for 1988 were …

 

Best Actor in a Drama

Dustin Hoffman, Rain Man*

Gene Hackman, Mississippi Burning

Tom Hulce, Dominick and Eugene

Edward James Olmos, Stand and Deliver

Forest Whitaker, Bird

 

Best Actresses in a Drama

Jodie Foster, The Accused*

Shirley MacLaine, Madame Sousatzka*

Sigourney Weaver, Gorillas In the Mist* 

Christine Lahti, Running on Empty

Meryl Streep, A Cry In the Dark

 

Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical

Tom Hanks, Big*

Michael Caine, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

John Cleese, A Fish Called Wanda

Robert De Niro, Midnight Run

Bob Hoskins, Who Framed Roger Rabbit

 

Best Actresses in a Comedy or Musical

Melanie Griffith, Working Girl*

Jamie Lee Curtis, A Fish Called Wanda

Amy Irving, Crossing Delancey

Michelle Pfeiffer, Married to the Mob

Susan Sarandon, Bull Durham

 

Best Supporting Actor

Martin Landau, Tucker: The Man and His Dream*

Alec Guinness, Little Dorrit (87)

Neil Patrick Harris, Clara’s Heart

Raul Julia, Moon Over Parador

Lou Diamond Phillips, Stand and Delvier

River Phoenix, Running on Empty

 

Best Supporting Actress

Sigourney Weaver, Working Girl*

Sonia Braga, Moon Over Parador

Barbara Hershey, The Last Temptation of Christ

Lena Olin, The Unbearable Lightness of Being

Diane Venora, Bird

[Bogie56]

The 1988 Berlin International Film Festival winners were…

 

Best Actors

Jorg Pose and Manfred Mock, Bear Ye One Another’s Burden*

 

Best Actress

Holly Hunter, Broadcast News* (87)

 

——————————————————————————————

 

The 1988 Cannes Film Festival winners were…

 

Best Actor

Forest Whitaker, Bird*

 

Best Actresses

Barbara Hershey, Jodhi May and Linda Mvusi, A World Apart*

[Bogie56]

Poltergeist II: The Other Side isn't nearly as good as the first film, but it does have its merits. Appearances from Geraldine Fitzgerald and Will Sampson help, as does one very memorable scene with Craig T. Nelson vomiting up a tequila worm that turns into a guy. Really!!! I nominated Julian Beck for Supporting Actor, and he's very creepy in the movie. He plays a weird preacher that may have some ties to the spirits haunting the family from the first movie. Beck, who was a real one-of-a-kind in real life (he worked primarily in avant-garde theater in NY), was dying of stomach cancer when he made the film, and had in fact died 9 months before the film's release.

 

I would like to flashback to 1986 if I may as I watched Poltergeist II: The Other Side last night.  Thanks to Lawrence's tip I enjoyed Julian Beck's turn as the Reverend Henry Kane all the more.  His creepy performance was the highlight of an otherwise preposterously silly movie.  It just shows that actors can do good work in average or even bad movies.  I have to say that I enjoyed the film as well.  It got worse as it went along which only made it more fun.  To make some sense of the mumbo-jumo they had Will Sampson as the mystical Indian, a flying dead Granny and Craig Nelson somehow came to the conclusion that to defeat the evil he had to climb down into the subterranean graveyard with family in tow to find out what was what.  And what happened to the older daughter between the closing credits of the last film and the opening credits of this one?  It almost ranks up there with Xanadu and Sextette in terms of wacky, possibly drug influenced screenwriting.

[CoraSmith]

Rewatching Rain Man made me wonder about a few things. Is it possible that part of Raymond's condition was caused by his poor diet? He ate pancakes with maple leaf syrup, pizza pepperoni, tapioca pudding and fish stick. That's not the kind of nutrition one would expect in a medical institution. Is it possible that his brother Charlie (Tom Cruise) was also slightly autistic? He was good in business contacts, but showed a lack of empathy in personal contacts.

 

Dustin Hoffman's portrayal of an autistic person with the savant syndrome is based on his observation of real persons, mostly Kim Peek. The only unrealistic scene is when he can see the exact number of toothpicks. The British savant Daniel Tammet has visited Kim Peek, who said to him, "One day you're gonna be just as good as I am!"

[Bogie56]

Best Supporting Actor of 1988

 

4.  ALAN RICKMAN (Hans Gruber), Die Hard

I would like to shine a little spotlight on Alan Rickman (1946-2016) and his performance in Die Hard.  I'm assuming that there may be a history of Englishmen playing villains in American films but Rickman seemed to take this to a new level which ushered in a whole slew of imitations.  Perhaps it is no accident that his 'Hans Gruber' is Nazi-like in his cold, clinical, sociopathic brilliance.  But in an evolving PC world having the villain played by an Englishman seemed to avoid a lot of cultural stereotypes and trappings.  That is until it was overdone.

[JamesStewartFan95]

My Best Actor choice (a last-minute switch from a stellar Gene Hackman in Mississippi Burning) is River Phoenix in only his sixth film, Running on Empty. An all-around well acted movie with a cast that includes Judd Hirsch, Christine Lahti, and Martha Plimpton, Running On Empty is River Phoenix's film. His turn as Danny Pope, the son of a couple on the run for a bombing in the 1960's, played by Judd Hirsch and Christine Lahti, is one where he steps into the realm of true leading actor quality. Danny is emotional, shattered by his love for his parents, while attempting to lead a life of his own away from association with his parents' crime. He is truly the best actor in the movie and this performance partnered with his turn as Chris Chambers in Stand by Me is the reason why I like Phoenix so much as an actor.

 

 

[LawrenceA]

I would like to flashback to 1986 if I may as I watched Poltergeist II: The Other Side last night.  Thanks to Lawrence's tip I enjoyed Julian Beck's turn as the Reverend Henry Kane all the more.  His creepy performance was the highlight of an otherwise preposterously silly movie.  It just shows that actors can do good work in average or even bad movies.  I have to say that I enjoyed the film as well.  It got worse as it went along which only made it more fun.  To make some sense of the mumbo-jumo they had Will Sampson as the mystical Indian, a flying dead Granny and Craig Nelson somehow came to the conclusion that to defeat the evil he had to climb down into the subterranean graveyard with family in tow to find out what was what.  And what happened to the older daughter between the closing credits of the last film and the opening credits of this one?  It almost ranks up there with Xanadu and Sextette in terms of wacky, possibly drug influenced screenwriting.

 

Lol...I'm glad you enjoyed it. Did you like the tequila worm monster that Nelson regurgitated? Truly fun for the whole family (and this movie was marketed for families!).

 

As for the older daughter, I didn't recall if they commented on her or not. The actress from the first first, Dominique Dunne, was murdered after she was in the first film, so they may have felt that instead of recasting they'd leave her character out.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominique_Dunne

[LawrenceA]

 

I would like to shine a little spotlight on Alan Rickman (1946-2016) and his performance in Die Hard.  I'm assuming that there may be a history of Englishmen playing villains in American films but Rickman seemed to take this to a new level which ushered in a whole slew of imitations.  Perhaps it is no accident that his 'Hans Gruber' is Nazi-like in his cold, clinical, sociopathic brilliance.  But in an evolving PC world having the villain played by an Englishman seemed to avoid a lot of cultural stereotypes and trappings.  That is until it was overdone.

 

The European terrorist/bad guy in American action movies became so prevalent that by the time Jeremy Irons showed up in 1995's Die Hard with a Vengeance (as the brother of Rickman's character, no less) he played it almost as a parody of the cliche.

[Bogie56]

The 1988 Venice Film Festival winners were:

 

Best Actors

Don Ameche and Joe Mantegna, Things Change*

Klaus Maria Brandauer, Burning Secret*

 

Best Actresses

Shirley MacLaine, Madame Sousatzka*

Isabelle Huppert, Story of Women*

Carmen Maura, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown*

Ornelia Muti, Codice Privato*

 

—————————————————————————————————

 

The 1988 San Sebastian Film Festival winners were…

 

Best Actor

Fernando Rey, Winter Diary and Scent of a Crime*

 

Best Actresses

Cipe Lincovsky and Liv Ullmann, The Girlfriend*

[JamesStewartFan95]

I would like to shine a little spotlight on Alan Rickman (1946-2016) and his performance in Die Hard.  I'm assuming that there may be a history of Englishmen playing villains in American films but Rickman seemed to take this to a new level which ushered in a whole slew of imitations.  Perhaps it is no accident that his 'Hans Gruber' is Nazi-like in his cold, clinical, sociopathic brilliance.  But in an evolving PC world having the villain played by an Englishman seemed to avoid a lot of cultural stereotypes and trappings.  That is until it was overdone.

 

Not to mention all of the wonderful supporting players that I felt bad for leaving off my list such as Alexander Godunov as Karl, Devoreaux White as Argyle, Clarence Gilyard Jr. as Theo, Reginald VelJohnson as Al, Hart Bochner as Harry Ellis, William Atherton as Richard Thornburg, and Bonnie Bedelia as Holly Venero-McClane.