Thursday Triple: Great 80s Oscar Losers

You can't see me but I'm bouncing off the walls. Drinking whole pots of coffee before 8 AM. Planning my Oscar Party. Writing. Trying to push this hellfire and brimstone vision out of my head. But I can't stop ~ It's Oscar Week.

Because I'm so sweet (and over-caffeinated) you get a triple "triple" today. This is Part One. I dedicate this to the people who deserve to win on Sunday night but who will surely lose. Heathcliff, I'm speaking to you! You aren't the first. You won't be the last.

3 Great Oscar Losing Lead Performances of the 80s
(I've excluded Pfeiffer and Turner from the running since we've already discussed both -click their names for a refresher on the discussions, if you will)



Dustin Hoffman's "Tootsie" loses to Ben Kingsley's "Gandhi" in (82)
One of the many times when playing a historical character cinched someone an Oscar that woulda been otherwise hard fought. Sir Kingsley is a superb talent so this isn't a knock against him so much as a "hello, have you seen what Dustin Hoffman does in Tootsie". That's a miracle of a performance in an amazing American comedy. I think it's Hoffman's best performance. All-Time. One of the best comedic performances. All-Time. There's no convincing me otherwise.

Glenn Close's "Fatal Attraction" loses to "Moonstruck" Cher (87)
I was a Cher-aholic in 1987 along with the rest of the known universe. "Baby I Found Someone" rocked that silly portable radio ghetto blaster in my bedroom. She got me babe. I was all about Cherilyn's trifecta that year: Witches of Eastwick, Suspect, and finally the Cher-apotheosis known as Moonstruck. But 20 years later... I can still hear Alex Forrest's threatening voice, can't you? 'She's not going to be ignored.'

Glenn Close's "Liaisons" lose to "The Accused" Jodie Foster (88)
If you are Glenn Close, you are probably still pissed.
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Previous Thursday Triples:
Cross-Eyed Divas
Nature Boys