Robin Williams totally deserved that Oscar win. It was a long time coming. And this was arguably Robins greatest role and performance.

I haven’t seen Boogie Nights but Robin’s performance on Good Will Hunting was unbeatable. That park bench monologue is one of the finest moments in all of cinema history.

Pam Grier was absolutely robbed of a nomination. She even deserved to swept all the way to winning and nobody would have any complaints. I have Forster third in my lineup, i love Williams so much so i have to give him the win and Reynolds the runner up. Though Reynolds would have been an excellent winner (maybe if Boogie Nights was made in 96 or 98 he probably could've won)

What stands out the most for me is not just your (correct) analysis of the race, but also the quality of your script. I think I keep coming back to your channel primarily because of how beautifully you organize and express your arguments. Top drawer, every single time.

Williams won the Oscar because he delivered an astounding, low key performance showing he was truly capable of handling and mastering any type of material. I’m so sad he’s gone now but am so glad we have performances like this that will keep him alive within his films forever. Robin is eternal ❤ Reynolds was also great but he went out of his way to trash the film during that press tour, and before his death.

Burt Reynolds was the big favorite because he won the Golden Globe and every other critic award that year for "Boogie Nights" but he did some mistakes. He fired his agent and everybody knew that he didn't like "Boogie Nights". He didn't understand the movie. He even badmouthed the movie 6 months before he died on Conan O'Brien´s Late Night Show(video is here on youtube). Moreover, the members of the Academy are quite old. A film about the porn industry is not what they prefer as a movie topic. That also was a reason why Reynolds didn't won the Oscar. When Mira Sorvino announced Robin Williams as the winner, for some inexplicable reason Burt Reynolds saluted him but Williams claimed he flipped him the bird. But Burt didn´t do it. Hilarious. Even some years later Robin Williams told everybody that Burt Reynolds did that to him.

I think Robin Williams deserved the Oscar. Burt Reynolds was truly excellent in Boogie Nights for sure, but Williams truly showcased how incredible of an actor he was. It’s very cliche to talk about comedic actors doing dramatic work that ultimately earns them a lot of acclaim and awards, but I think this truly worked with Williams in Good Will Hunting. He’s playing another father like figure, which we had seen previously to an extent in Dead Poet’s Society, but he brought his own comedy to the role of Sean Maguire where it was needed and didn’t go too overboard with it. Had his ad-libs here and there, and while they had worked before in other films, they work extremely well here. I also think Sean is Williams’s career best performance, but that’s just me. Good Will Hunting is also a favorite film of mine, so I’m not going to pretend I have no bias here, but Robin Williams gave a career best and the chemistry he had with Matt Damon was amazing. Truly deserving of the two Academy Awards it received and I think it should have won another Oscar or two. Specifically, I think Matt Damon should have won Best Actor. Jack Nicholson was great in As Good As It Gets, but I just think Damon gave the better performance that year with the other Best Actor nominees. Sorry for the little rambling at the end, but 1997 had a lot of great films and performances that we could probably talk a lot about them when it comes to the films in general as well as the award season. Thank you for the video Brian, keep up the great work!

Really nice take here. Never thought about the Weinstein power at that time. I actually think that was the main reason. It was ridiculous that “Shakespeare in Love” won best picture. “The English Patient”… There are too many awards for Miramax in that time period. Williams was excellent so it’s hard to say Burt got screwed, but I think if it was close, Miramax and Weinstein did a better job promoting GWH than any other studio did for their films. Really great stuff here. Thanks for the effort. I’m working on a Burt Reynolds series for my channel, currently in its 6th chapter. This research will help me when I get to Chapter 9. Cheers! Gator 🐊

I loved Robin Williams' performance in "The World According To Garp!" It's too bad he didn't receive an Oscar nomination for this role.

Great insight! This was a truly great line-up with 5 worthy performances!

Another great take. And love the admiration for Jackie Brown, although I actually liked Cop and a Half, too lol!

Oof! What a tough category stacked with great performances. Choosing between Williams, Reynolds and Forster. I remember feeling genuine suspense that night. In the end, I’ve always stood loyal to Williams winning this award. Such a masterful and beautiful performance. I love the film too, Miramax machine or not. Greg Kinnear was terrific too and I would’ve subbed out Anthony Hopkins for Billy Connolly in Mrs. Brown. But overall a great group. I also feel Jackie Brown is criminally underrated. Like a fine wine, it ages so masterfully. Tarantino did wonders with an adaptation! Pam Grier was so robbed too. Actually, I was fortunate enough to get to meet and take a picture with Robert Forster. Jackie Brown screened in my town of Santa Rosa for a 20th anniversary screening and he did an audience talkback. Such a gentleman. Love Burt in Boogie Nights too, but this was definitely the one Robin deserved to win for!

Love Robin and am glad he won an Oscar, but damn was I disappointed for Burt, who absolutely nailed his performance in "Boogie Nights," and you knew this was probably going to be his only shot at Oscar.

Amazing video and amazing channel 👏🏼 happy to have found it

Thanks again, Brian, for a brilliant commentary. This was indeed one of your best,, although they are all Roger Ebert-worthy. Yes, Robin definitely deserved the Best Supporting Actor award. He was long overdue.

love these insights! Please keep on! Greetings from Italy, Filippo.

This might be my all-time favorite best supporting actor lineup. 1961, 1987, 1995, and 2014 are also some of my favorite years for best supporting actor, but each has at least one nominee I’d sub out for someone else. 1997, however, is a practically perfect 5. Each nominee has something unique and special about their performance, and a win for any of them being well deserved. I agree Robin should’ve won, but in my own personal Oscars ceremony for 1998, the nominations list would be exactly the same.

Interesting that only the white performer from both amistad and Jackie brown (two movies about brown people) were nominated. 🤔 I wonder why...

A very well-deserved win for Robin Williams. Sad for Burt though.

Love Robert Forester! Jackie Brown is one of most underrated films ever

A very good video. Good job.

Great video, Brian! Would’ve voted for Forster myself

I havent seen Boogie Nights, I really should one of these days. Do love Good Will Hunting and think Robin deserved his Oscar

Excellent job!

do you have plans on doing any videos about what you would’ve picked for awards during certain years? ex. Good Time for Best Picture or something

Robin Williams is excellent in one hour photo

Haven’t seen Boogie Nights, but Good Will Hunting is actually one of the movies I actually watch every year. I think that the two Oscars that it won that night were actually very well deserved, not because of Harvey Weinstein, but because of the quality of the script and Robin Williams’s performance. He was a great comedy actor and also a big star, who por es to be a very good dramatic actor when he was given the chance to show his dramatic skills. But this performance was just perfect for him and I am so glad he won an Oscar for it.

this is a great segment - the voice over and clips keep one interested and don't favor any over the other in description and history. #BESTof #johnnyWHITElikes #OSCARexpert

I would have picked Anthony Hopkins for “Amistad,” actually. I liked the film better than many at the time. Like you, and critic Gene Siskel said, an actor shouldn’t be punished or taken for granted for consistently being good.

Pam Greer and Sam Jackson being served as an example of the old-school academy racism

Ok since I was 15 I never ever saw Boogie Nights until I was 17 and even then I was too embarrassed to watch it all and I cannot remember any other role he did. Maybe it's cus he wasn't from my generation? I don't know how I can feel so much for a person I never met in life but I love Robin Williams. The saddness and pain in my heart is very acute when I think of Robin William's death. I feel so lucky to have kids and to share my favourite childhood movies with them Aladdin, Hook, and Mrs Doubtfire (always sob at the end). Robin Williams is such a great actor in Awakening, What Dreams May Come and Patch Adams. He was superb in Good Will Hunting. My friends whenever we want to cut the tension during a serious conversation we start saying "It's not your fault, it's not your fault..." I think saying Weinstein was responsible for the win is kinda a slap in the face for all the other amazing performances he's done. Again I don't know any of Reynolds films but I think Williams deserved if only for his work in Good Will Hunting.

I just don't understand. Unless you started your channel yesterday at 10pm, there is NO REASON for you to only have 524 subs. Seriously. I am DEVOURING this, and recommending you to all cinephiles.

Burt Reynolds deserved the Oscar for Deliverance & Boogie Nights & Robin Williams for Insomnia.

thank god, samuel l. jackson finally received an (honorary) Oscar this year!!

Everyone in the industry loved Robin. Burt Reynolds was a jerk. He reportedly punched PT Anderson on set. Robin was due and he deserved the win.

1:28 - K this statement is just wrong. Judi Dench was considered a heavy favorite for Best Actress until Helen Hunt's SAG victory made it a legit two-way contest. Hunt's momentum, like Lily Gladstone's, built up in the final month before Oscar night. Supporting Actress didn't have a clear frontrunner. Stuart was considered a sentimental favorite with the age factor to her advantage, Basinger was a popular gal around town and had the Golden Globe, while the SAG (improbably) tied with both women winning. Predictions in 1998 went both ways in each category, and honestly, Williams vs. Reynolds looked easy by comparison. It pitted a multi-nominated beloved Hollywood star with proven range vs. a burnout bro with a mixed reputation whose career had been in the shitter since the early 80s. Certainly a hyped competition, but it shouldn't have been tough to call when assessed soberly.

A nice analysis, but I would disagree with two things. I think it was pretty well acknowledged that Reynolds could be considered for an Oscar even though it had not come to fruition. His performance in Deliverance was definitely taken seriously, but he was also widely acclaimed for his performance in Starting Over, which snagged nods for co-stars Jill Clayburgh and Candace Bergen. I have never quite understood why Reynolds did not get a nomination in that year. And, although I do not disagree with Williams's win here, Oscars always love it when predominantly comedic actors go serious. Williams's role in Good Will Hunting was nothing if not serious. I have always thought it an obnoxious facet of Oscars that they refuse to honor actors in the genre in which they excel (see also Ginger Roger in the aging badly Kitty Foyle) unless they genre hop to do drama. Comedy is infinitely harder than drama as most actors will tell you - and I am pretty sure anything Rogers did in her musical career was harder than Kitty Foyle.

Robert Forster was a surprise nominee for me because he did not pop up at the Golden Globe or SAG awards.

PTA thinks he should have cast another actor in the Reynolds role and he's probably right. It wasn't written multi-dimensional, none of non-Wahlberg male parts were, but Burt slogs through it as though he'd been tranquilized. He could do breezy charm in other movies, which ain't easy, but he couldn't convincingly underplay anything without seeming like he was barely giving half a shit.

The Oscar for Best Actress should have gone to Helena Bonham Carter for Wings Of The Dove.

If I would have given Robin an Oscar for any of his nominated movies, it would have been for “Good Morning, Vietnam”.

Speak fir yourself ! I really like Flubber.

Kim Basinger vs Gloria Stuart

hey do you have a letterboxd account?

I still think L.A. Confidential should've won Best Picture that year.

Back when Oscars actually meant something.

I will never understand how Titanic won those awards over L.A. Confidential and Boogie Nights two far superior movies.

I know a lot of people are going to hate me for this, but I think Titanic is one of the most overrated moves ever. The script is appalling. People did not speak like that in the 1910s. But as for Robin Williams, so richly deserved. I adore that man. ❤❤❤❤❤

Burt Reynolds great? ALL of the other four nominees were better.

I did not like Titanic. There, I said it!

Could you do a video about Mark Rylance beating Sylvester Stallone for Best Supporting Actor?

Billy Zane was robbed.

Definitely think Burt should have won. And Boogie Nights will stand the test of time.

Robert forster would've been an awesome win, but Samuel Jackson was robbed of a nomination that year.