Oscar turns into a serious guy

January 26, 2007 With 79 years of Oscar nominations behind us, there certainly are differences between the kind of films that get nominated now versus those that made the grade way back in Hollywood's Golden Age. [...] what about compared to the more recent past -- say the last 30 years? A look back at how Academy members have been voting since 1977 shows some similarities with how they're voting today, but also displays some interesting differences in taste when it comes to what kind of films they think are best. The other nominees were Neil Simon's romantic comedy "The Goodbye Girl," directed by Herbert Ross and starring Richard Dreyfuss and Marsha Mason; the period piece drama "Julia," directed by Fred Zinneman and starring Jane Fonda, Vanessa Redgrave and Jason Robards; George Lucas' blockbuster sci-fi epic "Star Wars;" and the romantic drama "The Turning Point," directed by Herbert Ross and starring Shirley MacLaine, Anne Bancroft and Mikhail Baryshnikov.

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