Performances In TV/Cable Releases That Could Have Won Oscars

[Antonio141]

If only they had gone theatrically for at least a week in NYC or L.A. before HBO...

Emma Thompson in WIT
Linda Fiorentino in THE LAST SEDUCTION
Drew Barrymore & Jessica Lange in GREY GARDENS
Kathy Bates in THE LATE SHIFT
Glenn Close in SERVING IN SILENCE
Patricia Arquette in WILDFLOWER

[ilovemovies]

Not on HBO, but rather one of the networks, a few years back there was a made for TV movie called Saving Milly and it starred Madeline Stowe and Bruce Greenwood. I thought both of them gave Emmy worthy performances. And if it had come out in movie theaters then they definitely would be deserving of an Academy Award nomination as well.

[Matchbox225]

The first thing that came to mind is Angels In America.

I'm thinking Jeffrey Wright and Mary-Louis Parker could have taken the supporting awards very easily. Tim Robbins and Renee Zellweger were two of the weakest frontrunners in the supporting categories in a while, so they could have been beaten.

Meryl Streep would have probably lost to Charlize Theron, who was unstoppable that year.

Al Pacino likely would have lost to an overdue Sean Penn.

[gabriel1980]

I think Steve Buscemi would win for Boardwalk Empire, and also Timothy Olyphant for Justified.

[Tkeyjw]

If this year's Game Change had received a theatrical release, I'm pretty positive that Julianne Moore would be nominated for an Oscar later this year rather than being the obvious Emmy frontrunner that she currently is. Ed Harris may have gone on to receive a Supporting Actor nomination as well, though I'm less certain of that.

There are probably several performances from TV movies that would have received Oscar nominations, but I'm not sure if any would have actually won. For instance, Geoffrey Rush would have been a likely nominee for The Life and Death of Peter Sellers had it received a theatrical release, but there's no way he would have won that year over Jamie Foxx in Ray.

If we can extend the conversation to include miniseries (which other responses have already done, despite it being highly unrealistic for anything that long to get a theatrical release), then I agree that at least a few performances from Angels in America would have been nominated, and Mary-Louise Parker may have even won. Paul Giamatti probably would have been nominated for John Adams too. But again, it seems kind of silly to even think that a movie of that length could have gotten a theatrical release.

[PSU80]

Ray Wise-Leland Palmer, Twin Peaks. Definitely would have won.

[hoojib127]

This is what the Golden Globes are for.

[magjournal]

Originally Posted by Tkeyjw

If this year's Game Change had received a theatrical release, I'm pretty positive that Julianne Moore would be nominated for an Oscar later this year rather than being the obvious Emmy frontrunner that she currently is. Ed Harris may have gone on to receive a Supporting Actor nomination as well, though I'm less certain of that.

The makeup would probably also get a nomination. It was really impressive. I agree about the acting; Julianne Moore is overdue for an Oscar and Ed Harris was quite wonderful.

[bonnielaurel]

Good topic. Sometimes I see a good movie on TV, just to find out out that it "doesn't count" because it's only a made-for-TV movie.

1 Mira Sorvino in "Human Trafficking"
2 Halle Berry in "Their Eyes Were Watching God"
3 David Tennant in "Secret Smile"
4 Angelina Jolie in "Gia"
5 Hally Berry in "Introducing Dorothy Dandridge"

[shawn-o]

Damien Lewis -"Band of Brothers"
Nick E. Taraby -"Spartacus: Vengence"
Timothy Olphant- "Justified"


And South Park's Imaginationland would win best animated feature...yep I said it