And the winner was...
February 11, 2013 5:30 PM   Subscribe

Check out the official 85 Years of Oscar poster, commemorating every Best Picture winner for the last 85 years.
posted by crossoverman (38 comments total) 12 users marked this as a favorite
 
If this is an official poster, then the most striking thing about it is that someone at the Academy is hip enough to commission Olly Moss to design them a poster. That guy is pretty amazing.
posted by Horace Rumpole at 5:40 PM on February 11, 2013 [1 favorite]


Olly Moss! Hooray.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 5:42 PM on February 11, 2013


Ordinarily I like Olly Moss, but this seems really poorly done, to me.

Can anyone tell me why 2001 isn't there? Because the guy in A Beautiful Mind has an invisible friend?

For Crash the Oscar is... black? Because it's a shitty movie about race?
posted by graventy at 5:48 PM on February 11, 2013 [1 favorite]


According to his tumblr, yes it is official. Should have linked to that, too!
posted by crossoverman at 5:48 PM on February 11, 2013


Here is the cheat sheet.
posted by graventy at 5:48 PM on February 11, 2013 [1 favorite]


For Crash the Oscar is... black? Because it's a shitty movie about race?

Yes.
posted by crossoverman at 5:49 PM on February 11, 2013 [4 favorites]


To get it out of the way, The Oscars are not a measure of what was the best, Acamdey biases are well known, Hitchcock never won, yes some of us like totally overblown nonsense pageantry for the sake of nonsense pageantry. Also, dresses.
posted by The Whelk at 5:57 PM on February 11, 2013 [7 favorites]


Also, dresses.

It would be great to see this done as silhouettes of the best outfit since the red carpet has been going.
posted by shothotbot at 6:03 PM on February 11, 2013


"Forrest Gump" beat "Pulp Fiction." Don't ever forget that.
posted by ColdChef at 6:10 PM on February 11, 2013 [12 favorites]


It's not about who wins.

It's about who gives the most insane, rambling speech.
posted by The Whelk at 6:23 PM on February 11, 2013


All Oscars look the same to me.
posted by brina at 6:24 PM on February 11, 2013


Racist.
posted by The Whelk at 6:25 PM on February 11, 2013 [2 favorites]


Hitchcock never won

To be fair, Rebecca did win Best Picture -- although, being a Selznick production (made the year after Gone with the Wind), its success was probably due to a teensy bit of bias...
posted by cptcutless at 6:29 PM on February 11, 2013


The Oscar for 1941 should show How Green Was My Valley mugging Citizen Kane in an alley.
posted by Horace Rumpole at 6:31 PM on February 11, 2013 [2 favorites]


How Kane Was My Alley?

I got nothin'.
posted by Rustic Etruscan at 6:34 PM on February 11, 2013 [1 favorite]


Racist.

There's something ... different ... about that little one in the red coat. Does that ameliorate the situation?
posted by brina at 6:38 PM on February 11, 2013


For Crash the Oscar is... black? Because it's a shitty movie about race?

Yet again Brokeback Mountain losing is a disappointment. I think.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 6:51 PM on February 11, 2013


The Marty one is terrifying-- especially considering how sweet and good-natured that movie was.
posted by russellterziak at 6:53 PM on February 11, 2013 [1 favorite]


If only Raging Bull had won instead of Ordinary People--that would be a great statue!
posted by Ideefixe at 7:05 PM on February 11, 2013


I think the reason this doesn't work for me, is that a lot of Olly's work relies on utilizing an iconic reference, and that's hard to do when you're constrained by it having to be one figure standing at attention.

And, a lot of these movies just don't have iconic moments.
posted by graventy at 7:06 PM on February 11, 2013


"The brief was one of the hardest I’ve ever had; find a way to reference every single Best Picture winner from the last 85 years."

He did a great job considering the assignment, but what moronic kitchen-sink direction.
posted by roger ackroyd at 7:12 PM on February 11, 2013


Can anyone tell me why 2001 isn't there?

2001: Gladiator. That's the arena. I thought that was hella smart.
posted by yoink at 7:18 PM on February 11, 2013


The one for Deer Hunter is...ballsy?
posted by ShutterBun at 7:20 PM on February 11, 2013



2001: Gladiator. That's the arena. I thought that was hella smart.


erm...Well Gladiator won in 2000. I'm going with the "it was all imaginary" angle. I think maybe having numbers and formulas floating around his head would have maybe been more recognizable.
posted by ShutterBun at 7:22 PM on February 11, 2013


The blank one is for A Beautiful Mind. The statue for Gladiator is the guy one to the left holding the gladius.
posted by Earthtopus at 7:46 PM on February 11, 2013


Given the nature of the assignment, it's not surprising that some of the choices were obvious to the point of cliche, or even offense. It's good for what it is, though.
posted by immlass at 7:56 PM on February 11, 2013


...on the other hand, I just spent fifteen minutes peering at the Academy's advertising, so maybe it's actually brilliant.
posted by roger ackroyd at 7:57 PM on February 11, 2013 [2 favorites]


"Forrest Gump" beat "Pulp Fiction." Don't ever forget that.

And Dances with Wolves beat Goodfellas.
posted by tzikeh at 8:27 PM on February 11, 2013 [2 favorites]


And Titanic beat L.A. Confidential. And....
posted by tzikeh at 8:30 PM on February 11, 2013


That is pretty darn good considering the constraints. The kid ones especially are eerie, though. Child Oscar's dead eyes know what you did.
posted by LobsterMitten at 11:12 PM on February 11, 2013


I like this ... I like this ...
posted by chavenet at 2:00 AM on February 12, 2013


Odd, no boxing gloves for Rocky (1976)?
posted by Vindaloo at 5:05 AM on February 12, 2013


I like is a lot, Olly Moss has done a fantastic job, BUT encapsulating an entire film into the known iconography of the Oscar statuette makes it difficult to decipher what each one is.

It might be just because I'm less of a cinefile than I thought, but without the 'Cheat sheet' posted up-thread I would never have guessed at least 2/3 of those.

The ones that work, really work (like Bravehart), but the West Side Story one was .. I can't put my finger on it, but whenever Oscar's legs were required to move he takes on a penguin like ability on that poster (Pooh Bear tummy-itis).

Good post though :D
posted by Faintdreams at 6:29 AM on February 12, 2013


tzikeh: "And Titanic beat L.A. Confidential. And...."

And Oliver! won for '68 while 2001: A Space Odyssey wasn't even nominated.
posted by octothorpe at 6:34 AM on February 12, 2013


This is why the Oscars piss me off -- all in one handy chart!
posted by mazola at 6:39 AM on February 12, 2013


Odd, no boxing gloves for Rocky (1976)?

Those pose replicates the moment he runs up to the top of the library steps during the training montage. He's not wearing boxing gloves in that scene.
posted by crossoverman at 12:25 PM on February 12, 2013 [1 favorite]


I never realized before how much Oscar's eyes look like those of Close Encounters-style grey aliens. Even after that registered, I kept looking at these and thinking, "OK, so what was the movie about the alien boxer? Which movie was about an alien mom and her kids? What was the movie with an alien who wore a dress and played guitar?"
posted by straight at 12:41 PM on February 12, 2013


For Crash the Oscar is... black? Because it's a shitty movie about race?

Hmm, to me it seems like since the background is also black, the Oscar is supposed to look transparent. Like it doesn't have a color. Because like, we shouldn't see race, man. Or something.

Fuck Crash.
posted by naoko at 5:43 PM on February 12, 2013 [1 favorite]


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