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At the 73rd Oscars, Traffic won every award it was up for except for Best Picture. My question is, do you think it would’ve won Best Picture under a preferential ballot? I personally think yes; it would most likely prove less divisive than Gladiator.
ReplyI suspect Soderbergh’s win was the result of Scott and Lee’s vote splitting.
I highly doubt that because Ang Lee had won the Golden Globe, DGA, and BAFTA for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon leading up to the Oscars while Steven Soderbergh kept splitting his support for Erin Brockovich and Traffic. I remember hearing Chris Beachum talk about this during an Oscars pre-show slugfest two years ago that it was Soderbergh’s people later on in the season that decided to push Traffic more.
ReplyCopy URLThis was certainly a race that was all over the place. Judging by the wins it got, I would think that it was possible that it would win on the preferential ballot…just like I think THE PIANIST would’ve pulled it off two years later.
It would be interesting to go through the last 20-30 years and think about how many of the winners may have changed had they used the preferential ballot.
ReplyCopy URL“The art of making art is putting it together...”
Darling, absolutely not. Gladiator was a classy, beloved film by all kind of audiences. Traffic was a disgusting pretentious bore which was only liked by critics and snobs. The Academy just hates mister Scott so much. They had to give him a nod the following year to try to make up this embarrassing loss. Disgusting.
ReplyCopy URLAs a famous singer said, "ain't nobody gonna Thatcher, Thatcher, Thatcher!"
I think so, because Traffic proved to be much stronger than expected, winning Director for Steven Soderbergh, Supporting Actor for Benicio Del Toro, Adapted Screenplay, and Film Editing. I will also say that looking back 19 years later, I am absolutely thrilled that Steven Soderbergh managed to win the Oscar for Director, and in doing so, proved that even though he was nominated twice in the same category, he didn’t split his votes and still won. Also, it was obviously a great decision for his team and studio to push his Directing nomination for Traffic more than Erin Brockovich or both at the same time.
ReplyCopy URLI don’t think so. BoRhap won all their nominations with the exception of Best Picture. I suspect Soderbergh’s win was the result of Scott and Lee’s vote splitting.
Bohemian Rhaposody wasn’t even nominated, let alone won Director and Screenplay. The fact that Soderbergh was able to overcome vote splitting with himself against sweeping Ang Lee tells me Traffic had a lot of passion.
We had only four instances of this since preferential ballot became a thing but when the film won both Director and Screenplay (The King’s Speech, The Hurt Locker, Parasite and Birdman) they also won Picture, so I’m leaning toward yes.
ReplyCopy URLBohemian Rhaposody wasn’t even nominated, let alone won Director and Screenplay. The fact that Soderbergh was able to overcome vote splitting with himself against sweeping Ang Lee tells me Traffic had a lot of passion. We had only four instances of this since preferential ballot became a thing but when the film won both Director and Screenplay (The King’s Speech, The Hurt Locker, Parasite and Birdman) they also won Picture, so I’m leaning toward yes.
That is not my point. I was only using BoRhap as an example of near-sweeping. I can’t think of any films who has the same cases.
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I am absolutely thrilled that Steven Soderbergh managed to win the Oscar for Director, and in doing so, proved that even though he was nominated twice in the same category, he didn’t split his votes and still won. Also, it was obviously a great decision for his team and studio to push his Directing nomination for Traffic more than Erin Brockovich or both at the same time.
I think the Academy concluded they wanted to reward Soderbergh for his overall achievement that year, and since he was winning the majority of acclaim and critics’ awards for Traffic, they had an obvious answer.
ReplyCopy URLDarling, absolutely not. Gladiator was a classy, beloved film by all kind of audiences. Traffic was a disgusting pretentious bore which was only liked by critics and snobs. The Academy just hates mister Scott so much. They had to give him a nod the following year to try to make up this embarrassing loss. Disgusting.
GLADIATOR didn’t even deserve to be nominated let alone win the damn thing. While my hatred for it has since cooled down a lot, I still think it was an absolutely terrible win.
ALMOST FAMOUS was robbed of a nomination and even though it wouldn’t have happened, I wish IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE and YI YI got recognized.
ReplyCopy URL“The art of making art is putting it together...”
Something that should be noted: Traffic won all of its 5 nominations EXCEPT Best Picture. That’s why I wanted to make a post on it; Because that’s a rarity in and of itself.
It *used* to be rare (and it’s always interesting when it happens), but it’s actually a slightly more common occurrence now than earlier, though the expanded Best Picture slate helps.
Recent films to win every Oscar they were nominated for *except* Best Picture include BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY, SELMA and THE BLIND SIDE. Before that, TRAFFIC was the first film to accomplish this since JAWS, which itself was the first film to accomplish this since THREE COINS IN THE FOUNTAIN.
But from 1947-50, it happened every year! MIRACLE ON 34TH ST, TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE, A LETTER TO THREE WIVES and KING SOLOMON’S MINES all joined that club. Interestingly, until TRAFFIC, the Mankiewicz was the last time a Best Director win was included in these tally of victories.
The previous examples also date back to when the Best Picture slate was expanded the first time: THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD, A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM, THE STORY OF LOUIS PASTEUR, THE PRIVATE LIFE OF HENRY VIII, and BAD GIRL.
So that’s 15 times in 92 years, or once every 6 years. Very few had as many major categories as the Soderbergh had (and yes, I think it would’ve won with the preferential ballot), but that little factoid happens more often than people realize.
ReplyCopy URLRecent films to win every Oscar they were nominated for *except* Best Picture include BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY, SELMA and THE BLIND SIDE. Before that, TRAFFIC was the first film to accomplish this since JAWS, which itself was the first film to accomplish this since THREE COINS IN THE FOUNTAIN.
Selma and The Blind Side did it with only one other nomination though. So that’s not really a fair comparison. I think Bohemian Rhapsody is the only other film this century that you can compare Traffic with, since both had 5 nominations and 4 wins.
ReplyCopy URLJohn's Best of 2020
Best Picture: Soul
Best Director: George Clooney-The Midnight Sky
Best Actor: Chadwick Boseman-Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
Best Actress: Viola Davis-Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
Best Supporting Actor: Delroy Lindo-Da Five Bloods
Best Supporting Actress: Amanda Seyfried-Mank
Best Original Screenplay: Soul
Best Adapted Screenplay: The Midnight Sky -
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