With only eight categories in play, the chances of a Best Picture nominee from any given year at this point in time receiving zero other CCA nominations isn't especially low, but the chances of it happening in two consecutive years probably is. It happened in 1993 for Clint Eastwood's A Perfect World, and it's happened again in 1994 for Steve James' Hoop Dreams (it'll happen again in 1995 too). Incidentally, Hoop Dreams is also the first documentary to be nominated for Best Picture, and alas it shall also be the last. If you've been paying attention, you'll know that eight categories is the first increase for the CCAs from the seven that I had in place since all the way back in 1969 - we now add Best Cinematography to the mix. The big news for '94, though, might be Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction notching up a record-equalling six nominations, something which even today (with double the categories) remains an impressive feat. Samuel L. Jackson joins John Travolta in Leading Actor, where chez Oscar he was in Supporting, while Morgan Freeman misses out on a nod due to category splitting, though his Leading and Supporting scores combined would only have squeaked him into Leading, where his score was lower anyway. Later today, I'll reveal the 1994 Critics Consensus Award winners, while all the nominations are right here:
Best Picture
Bullets Over Broadway (Woody Allen and Robert Greenhut)
Forrest Gump (Wendy Finerman, Steve Starkey, Steve Tisch and Robert Zemeckis)
Hoop Dreams (Peter Gilbert, Steve James and Frederick Marx)
Pulp Fiction (Lawrence Bender and Quentin Tarantino)
Quiz Show (Michael Jacobs, Julian Krainin, Michael Nozik and Robert Redford)
Best Director
Krzysztof Kieslowski (Three Colours: Red)
Louis Malle (Vanya on 42nd Street)
Robert Redford (Quiz Show)
Quentin Tarantino (Pulp Fiction)
Robert Zemeckis (Forrest Gump)
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
Linda Fiorentino (The Last Seduction)
Jessica Lange (Blue Sky)
Jennifer Jason Leigh (Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle)
Miranda Richardson (Tom & Viv)
Winona Ryder (Little Women)
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
Tom Hanks (Forrest Gump)
Samuel L. Jackson (Pulp Fiction)
Paul Newman (Nobody's Fool)
Wallace Shawn (Vanya on 42nd Street)
John Travolta (Pulp Fiction)
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
Kirsten Dunst (Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles)
Rosemary Harris (Tom & Viv)
Brooke Smith (Vanya on 42nd Street)
Uma Thurman (Pulp Fiction)
Dianne Wiest (Bullets Over Broadway)
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
Martin Landau (Ed Wood)
Chazz Palminteri (Bullets Over Broadway)
Paul Scofield (Quiz Show)
Gary Sinise (Forrest Gump)
John Turturro (Quiz Show)
Best Screenplay
Paul Attanasio (Quiz Show)
Roger Avary and Quentin Tarantino (Pulp Fiction)
Richard Curtis (Four Weddings and a Funeral)
Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption)
Eric Roth (Forrest Gump)
Best Cinematography
Stefan Czapsky (Ed Wood)
Lin Jong (Eat Drink Man Woman)
Philippe Rousselot (Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles)
Piotr Sobocinski (Three Colours: Red)
John Thomas (Barcelona)
Image Credit: MovieStillsDB