How best to describe last week's Oscar nominations? In the words of the immortal Joey Lawrence, "Whoa!" Forrest Gump lived up to industry expectations with 13 nominations, and the year's most talked-about title, Pulp Fiction, came through with seven. But the race was defined by its upsets: The Shawshank Redemption nabbing a Best Actor nod for Morgan Freeman over Tim Robbins; the recognition of Winona Ryder in the quaint Little Women; the stealth bomb attacks by British films The Madness of King George and Tom and Viv; and the reemergence of pariah Woody Allen as an Oscar favorite with Bullets Over Broadway. Most jaw-dropping of all, however, was the full-court slight of Hoop Dreams, which failed to net a Best Documentary nod. But it's nothing new for the documentary committee, which in recent years also snubbed such well-received films as Brother's Keeper (1992), Hearts of Darkness (1991), and Paris Is Burning (1990). In addition to the Hoop Dreams exclusion, there were several other noteworthy oddities:
NOMINATION FOR FAVORITE DRUG: Opiates. John Travolta and Martin Landau, leaders of the pack for Best Actor (Pulp Fiction) and Best Supporting Actor (Ed Wood), respectively, play guys with a nasty habit of shooting up. Runner-Up: Cocaine. Best Supporting Actress contender Uma Thurman plays a snow queen in Pulp Fiction.
STRANGEST NOMINATION: Forrest Gump for Makeup? Did it really take a lot of pancake to make Tom Hanks look like someone with an IQ of 75?
BEST THEME FOR THIS YEAR'S CEREMONY: ''Go Get the Gimp!'' The line from Pulp Fiction perfectly characterizes many of this year's nominees, which -- in the spirit of My Left Foot, Scent of a Woman, and The Piano -- include people who play people with handicaps: Hanks' intellectually challenged Forrest Gump; Gary Sinise's legless Vietnam vet, also from Gump; Hawthorne's porphyria-afflicted King George; Jodie Foster's idioglossic Nell; Miranda Richardson's manic-depressive Viv of Tom and Viv (ditto Jessica Lange in Blue Sky); and Paul Newman's bum-kneed Donald Sullivan in Nobody's Fool.
THE "WHAT ABOUT ME?" AWARD: To Shawshank director Frank Darabont and Four Weddings and a Funeral lenser Mike Newell, whose films received Best Picture nods but who each failed to nab a director citation. Runners-Up: Sally Field and Robin Wright, who missed the Gump Express; and the Quiz Show cast, which, except for Paul Scofield, failed to advance to the bonus round despite Robert Redford's Best Director nom.
NOMINEES LEAST LIKELY TO BECOME HOUSEHOLD NAMES: Red director Krzysztof Kieslowski and his coscreenwriter Krzysztof Piesiewicz.
THE "WHO NEEDS CUSTOMERS?" AWARD: To The Shawshank Redemption for earning seven nominations after being roundly ignored at the box office.
THE "TAKE THAT, NEWT GINGRICH" AWARD: To Helen Mirren and Nigel Hawthorne, who were singled out for The Madness of King George (Best Supporting Actress and Best Actor) but are best known in the U.S. for their PBS shows, Prime Suspect and Yes, Minister.
THE "I'LL BE SKULKING AROUND THE SHRINE" TROPHY: To Hugh Grant, who was robbed of his Best Actor slot. (Chin up, Hugh, they never gave an Oscar to Cary, either.)
THE BARRY MANILOW "THEY WRITE THE SONG" HONORARIUM: To Best Song candidate ''Look What Love Has Done,'' from Junior, which was written by four celebrated tunesmiths (Carole Bayer Sager, James Newton Howard, James Ingram, and Patty Smyth), and still nobody can hum a few bars.
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