Field of Dreams (1989)
Nominated producer(s): Lawrence Gordon, Charles Gordon
Director: Phil Alden Robinson
Starring: Kevin Costner, Amy Madigan, James Earl Jones, Ray Liotta, Burt Lancaster
Studio: Universal Pictures
Other Oscar noms/wins:
adapted screenplay (Phil Alden Robinson), original score (James Horner)
“If you build it, he will come.”
This movie line rippled throughout history, especially for a film that was released decades ago.
Phil Alden Robinson’s classic baseball movie had star Costner in his prime, playing Ray Kinsella, a man who hears a voice in his head telling him to build a baseball field.
What follows is a whimsical tale that leads to one of the biggest tearjerker scenes in a Dad movie of all time – when Ray reunites with his father and asks him, “You wanna have a catch?”
Alongside a lineup of masterful best picture nominees — “Born on the Fourth of July,” “Dead Poets Society” and “My Left Foot” — the lot lost out to the forgettable comedy “Driving Miss Daisy.”
3
Moneyball (2011)
Nominated producer(s): Michael De Luca, Rachael Horovitz, Brad Pitt
Director: Bennett Miller
Starring: Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Robin Wright, Chris Pratt, Stephen Bishop, Jack McGee
Studio: Sony Pictures
Other Oscar noms/wins: best actor (Brad Pitt), supporting actor (Jonah Hill), adapted screenplay (Steven Zaillian, Aaron Sorkin, Stan Chervin), film editing (Christopher Tellefsen), sound mixing (Deb Adair, Ron Bochar, David Giammarco, Ed Novick)
Math is hard, but Bennett Miller’s vivacious look into the Oakland Athletics’ attempt to redefine baseball is a story with fine performances from the Oscar-nominated Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill (who showed how good of an actor he can be) and the always reliable P. S. Hoffman.
With a clever script by Steven Zaillian, Aaron Sorkin and Stan Chervin, the Sony movie keeps the dialogue in laymen’s terms.
It almost plays out like a documentary feature, with some incredibly handsome subjects.
The drama went home empty-handed, losing the final award to the French silent movie, The Artist.
