Misery (1990) - IMDb IMDb There was an error trying to load your rating for this title. Some parts of this page won't work property. Please reload or try later. X Beta I'm Watching This! Keep track of everything you watch; tell your friends. Error After a famous author is rescued from a car crash by a fan of his novels, he comes to realize that the care he is receiving is only the beginning of a nightmare of captivity and abuse. Director: a list of 45 titles created 26 Jun 2013 a list of 46 titles created 08 Dec 2013 a list of 46 titles created 21 May 2014 a list of 22 titles created 07 Jan 2015 a list of 38 titles created 3 months ago Search for " Misery " on Amazon.com Connect with IMDb Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below. You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. Won 1 Oscar. Another 3 wins & 8 nominations.

See more awards » Photos Carrie White, a shy, friendless teenage girl who is sheltered by her domineering, religious mother, unleashes her telekinetic powers after being humiliated by her classmates at her senior prom. Director: Brian De Palma Behind a young family's home in Maine is a terrible secret that holds the power of life after death. When tragedy strikes, the threat of that power soon becomes undeniable. Director: Mary Lambert In 1960, seven pre-teen outcasts fight an evil demon who poses as a child-killing clown. Thirty years later, they reunite to stop the demon once and for all when it returns to their hometown. Stars: Richard Thomas, Tim Reid, Annette O'Toole A big-city reporter travels to the small town where her mother has been arrested for the murder of an elderly woman that she works for as a maid. Director: Taylor Hackford Cujo, a friendly St. Bernard, contracts rabies and conducts a reign of terror on a small American town. Director: Lewis Teague Edit Storyline Best-selling novelist Paul Sheldon is on his way home from his Colorado hideaway after completing his latest book, when he crashes his car in a freak blizzard.

Paul is critically injured, but is rescued by former nurse Annie Wilkes, Paul's "number one fan", who takes Paul back to her remote house in the mountains (without bothering to tell anybody). Unfortunately for Paul, Annie is also a headcase. When she discovers that Paul has killed off the heroine in her favorite novels, her reaction leaves Paul shattered (literally)... Written by Andrew Backhouse (andback74) Paul Sheldon used to write for a living. Now, he's writing to stay alive. See more » Genres: 30 November 1990 (USA) See more » Also Known As: Did You Know? Trivia In 2015, "Misery" was adapted into a play starring Bruce Willis and Laurie Metcalf. Sixteen years before, in 1999, Ramón Langa, famous for being the Spanish Bruce Willis official dubber, starred on a theater adaptation alongside Beatriz Carvajal. See more » Goofs Annie's weight fluctuates from scene to scene. It is especially noticeable when Annie is setting up Paul's writing desk. She is much heavier here than in previous scenes.

See more » Quotes Waitress : I just wanted to tell you I'm your number one fan. Paul Sheldon : That's... very sweet of you... Misery the Pig - Herself See more » Connections (L.A. CA) – See all my reviews Misery has to be the best adaptation of a Stephen King novel. A close runner up is Stand By Me, but for suspense and tension that just gets tighter and tighter, watch Misery. Kathy Bates can go from nice and cheerful to downright crazy like someone turning on a light switch. While watching James Caan suffer through the torture that Bates puts him through, you can't help but sympathize with the guy. Rob Reiner presents us with the problem, and he slowly escalates the tension and the dread that creeps over the movie. Even though the book was different in the "hobbling" process, Annie Wilkes' method of hobbling still gives me the chills whenever I watch it. 66 of 76 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes Misery Reviews & Ratings - IMDb IMDb 128 out of 137 people found the following review useful: Gripping...

from Roy, Utah 5 July 2002 Misery is a dark, but witty venture into Stephen King territory. It's about a popular novelist who crashes his car on a snowy mountain road and is rescued by a nurse who claims she is his number one fan. As the time goes by, he realizes she has no intention of letting him leave. The film moves with a brisk, taut pace thanks to director Rob Reiner, who helmed another excellent Stephen King film, Stand By Me. Tension is kept mostly throughout (there are some predictable moments...but who cares?) And the performances are also a major plus. James Caan is very easy to empathize with, and he manages to keep his cynical sense of humor. Richard Farnsworth, as a grizzled sheriff was a nice addition to the film since his character didn't exist in the book. He also has a nice sense of humor, and he's the kind of guy who you want to root for. But the most amazing performance is from Kathy Bates, who treads a fine line alternating between sweet and lovable to amazingly evil. She won an Oscar for this movie, and whole-heartedly deserved it.

Side note: This is one of the few films which took an Oscar, that you can actually say the Academy had the guts to give out. Can anyone name another horror film which won such a notable prize? ANyway...by the end, the novelist and the viewer or put through some torturous activity. We sometimes feel his pain, and it is so much fun to hate this woman................the book is excellent.....the movie is just as good in about 1/6th of the time it would take to read. Either way, enjoy! Was the above review useful to you? 119 out of 141 people found the following review useful: When a fan crosses the line between admiration into obsession 14 November 2003 *** This review may contain spoilers *** Misery is without a doubt one of the best films of the 90's, and in my opinion, Stephen King's best adaptation into a movie. This is TRUE horror, there's no monsters, no mega special effects, just Kathy Bates who is truly made the big time on one of the scariest villains in horror movie history.

It's about a man named Paul Sheldon, he's an author, made incredibly famous by his popular books, specially his series called "Misery", the books are apparently about a woman in the old days who goes through heavy times in her life and he shares her pain and strength with the readers. When he finishes his last Misery book, he decides to celebrate and is heading back for his daughter's birthday, but he gets caught in a horrible blizzard and gets into a nasty and fatal car accident, but is saved by Kathy Bates, or as we know her Annie. He wakes up in a bedroom with his legs badly broken, bruised up, and cut up, but hears a light and charming voice saying "You're going to be just fine. I'm your number one fan!". Annie nurses Paul back to health and says she'll get an ambulance once the storm clears up. She's so lovely and charming, you would never have any clue that she'd even just harm a fly. But when she gets ahold of Paul's last Misery book, she gets infuriated when she finds out that he's killing off Misery and continuing onto more dramatic and dark stories.

She makes him write a new Misery where she is resurrected, Paul used to write for a living, now he's writing to stay alive. Discovering slowly how crazy Annie is, he tries to escape more and more, but Annie is so convinced she's in love with him, she'll never let him go! Kathy Bates truly is the amazing star of the film, she is so disturbing to watch. Especially during the "hobbing" scene, she breaks Paul's legs again, she makes it seem so innocent, but it's HORRIFYING to watch! Both her and James worked so well together and were just incredible. The movie is so awesome, I would highly recommend this movie for anyone! It's a movie not to be missed. 10/10 from The Hague, Netherlands 7 May 2003 Based on the novel by him, 'Misery' is a real Stephen King film. It is a drama film, but also a thriller and sometimes even a horror. In one scene the horror is very clear, you will know what scene I mean. Writer Paul Sheldon (James Caan) gets in a car accident.

He is helped by Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates) who claims she is his number one fan. In his latest novel Sheldon has killed the favorite character of Annie making her a little mad. She keeps Sheldon in her home; he has to bring the character back to life in his next novel. Bates, who won an Oscar, is terrific as Annie, one of her finest performances. James Caan who is in bed or a wheelchair most of the film is very convincing. The room he is living in is one of those spaces in the movies you will not forget very soon. Directed by Rob Reiner this is a great film, although it could be a bit slow for some from time to time. Was the above review useful to you? 71 out of 82 people found the following review useful: The best horror film ever adapted from a Stephen King book from Baltimore, MD 11 February 2007 "Misery" accomplishes something which Hitchcock achieved in "Psycho" but which very few modern horror films achieve: it entertains without seeming exploitative.

Even the movie's most gruesome scene, which ranks up there as one of the more memorably horrifying moments in all of cinema, ends with a laugh that somehow doesn't cheapen the material--maybe because it arises so naturally from the basic situation which the movie takes very seriously. We're not being urged to find the violence itself entertaining, as is the case for so many horror films these days. Rather, the humor is a way of breaking the tension of a desperate, nightmarish scenario. It is, we suspect, what helps the protagonist survive the ordeal. Like many of the greatest thrillers, "Misery" begins with a bizarre set of coincidences. A bestselling romance novelist named Paul Sheldon (James Caan) is on his way to the countryside to work on his next book when a blizzard causes his car to crash, leaving him severely injured and unable to walk. Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates), a retired nurse and obsessive fan who was following him, takes care of him in her house without letting him leave or contact anyone. She is upset that he has recently killed off a central character in his series, and she forces him to write the new book more to her liking, though in total isolation from the outside world.

His family and friends fear him dead, but the local sheriff (Richard Farnsworth) is investigating a little more closely. "Misery" belongs to a unique genre in which a single character is trapped in a small area and spends the entire story attempting to escape. I've been fascinated by this type of story ever since I first read Edgar Allan Poe's "The Pit and the Pendulum." With his fine attention to detail, Stephen King has made two notable contributions to the genre: "Misery," and the unfilmable "Gerald's Game" (where a woman spends the entire novel handcuffed to a bed in the middle of nowhere). Everything is topsy-turvy in a story like this. The protagonist must adapt to a weird new set of rules that put a diabolical twist on normal routines. To most people, a house is a mundane setting where you wake up every day and leave without blinking an eye. For a house to become a prison seems almost unthinkable. Stories like "Misery" have the urgency of a nightmare, where the thing you fear most is always on the verge of happening.

In particular, this movie has much in common with the 1962 suspense drama "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?" (which I recommend). The basic structure of the story is the same, involving a disabled person in the house of an insane woman, who subjects her captive to physical and psychological tortures while almost everyone on the outside doesn't even know the victim exists. But in the older film, the motives were simpler, rooted in sibling jealousy and old wounds. "Misery" brings the conceit to a new level by making the captive a famous writer and the kidnapper a crazed fan. The movie makes much of the irony that she's a pretty good editor. She's not really sadistic or vengeful, as was the case with the Bette Davis character in "Baby Jane." The tortures she inflicts on Paul are the natural result of her trying to fit him into her bizarre little world. Kathy Bates won an Oscar for her performance, one of only three horror performances ever to receive that award. (The other two are Fredric March for "Dr. Jekyll and Mr.

Hyde" and Anthony Hopkins for "Silence of the Lambs.") One of the best actresses working today, she's fortunate not to have been typecast in this sort of role. She later proved herself quite adept at playing vulnerable women, like the battered wife in "Dolores Claiborne." She brings to the role of Annie a certain earthiness that you don't expect in this kind of role. She plays the character as a woman who doesn't perceive herself as insane, who acts bubbly and cheerful most of the time and seems to view her sudden mood shifts as merely a personal weakness. At times, the movie almost comes off as a demented parody of a normal relationship between a man and woman living together. The very best of the Stephen King horror movies, "Misery" is a film which I count among my favorites even though it is so intense I sometimes have trouble sitting through the whole thing. With a screenplay by William Goldman, who has a knack for developing bizarre torture scenes (the Nazi dentist torture in "Marathon Man," the Machine in "The Princess Bride"), the movie manages to be scary and classy at the same time--a rare feat for a modern horror picture. Kathy Bates is in my nightmares!

Was the above review useful to you? 66 out of 76 people found the following review useful: Suspenseful! from L.A. CA 4 February 1999 Misery has to be the best adaptation of a Stephen King novel. A close runner up is Stand By Me, but for suspense and tension that just gets tighter and tighter, watch Misery. Kathy Bates can go from nice and cheerful to downright crazy like someone turning on a light switch. While watching James Caan suffer through the torture that Bates puts him through, you can't help but sympathize with the guy. Rob Reiner presents us with the problem, and he slowly escalates the tension and the dread that creeps over the movie. Even though the book was different in the "hobbling" process, Annie Wilkes' method of hobbling still gives me the chills whenever I watch it. Was the above review useful to you? 67 out of 79 people found the following review useful: Shining, shocking dark comedy in the Hitchcock mold from Los Angeles 25 March 2003 Writer William Goldman and director Rob Reiner do Hitchcock proud with this one.

It has all the elements: a seemingly innocent place and situation invaded by a growing sense of sinister dread until a breathtaking climax. The intelligent script is peppered with moments that will either make you cringe or make you laugh, depending on how morbid your sense of humor is. It is a harrowing movie to watch the first time around. The crew has done a good job of making you feel Paul Sheldon's pain. Few films torture the audience like this one. In fact, I venture to say this is the best film of its kind since "Psycho" thirty years earlier. The acting is good all-round. Farnsworth steals every scene he's in with his sardonic and relentless sheriff - he did not get enough accolades for what would have been a routine part in a lesser actor's hands. Caan is solid and underplays beautifully, and the inimitable Kathy Bates carries the film with her alternately hysterical or ridiculously-sappy Annie, the psychotic Sheldon fan. Her performance is a throwback to Hollywood's old days - it's not subtle, not quiet, and borders on over-acting. This is not method acting, this is showing off.

But Bates makes it work, investing Annie with enough pitifulness to make the character complex and, thus, hold the role together. This movie is famous, of course, for making Kathy Bates an overnight sensation as everybody went into the movie wanting to see what Sonny Corleone looked like as an older man, but left with accolades for Kathy Bates on their lips. She is absolutely terrifying and unforgettable in this role and perfect for it. Brilliant performance that elevated a 7-star thriller to 9-10 classic status. Was the above review useful to you? 57 out of 64 people found the following review useful: Don't EVER have a Number 1 fan... from US 7 January 2006 Horror movies generally aren't my cup of tea, but people have always talked about how great Misery is. So I decided to give it a look when it came on TV today. All I can say is that I was definitely not disappointed; this was an amazing movie. Misery is the story of writer Paul Sheldon (James Caan), who is driving through a snowstorm after just having finished his newest novel.

The car crashes, and it seems that Paul will die, trapped in his car in the snow in a deserted forest, when he is rescued by a mysterious stranger. She turns out to be Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates), a former nurse who dresses his wounds and gives him a comfortable bed. In addition, it turns out that Annie is Paul's self-proclaimed Number 1 Fan. Specifically, she is obsessed with the Misery Chastain series, Paul's major claim to fame. Annie keeps Paul in an isolated room for days, then weeks, as the outside world searches for him. Eventually, when Annie objects to the content of Paul's latest manuscript, and when she has a hysterical reaction to the death of Misery in the latest novel, Paul (and the audience) come to see that there may be something wrong with Annie. Caan and Bates were absolutely stunning in their performances. The vast majority of this movie focused on them, so it was crucial that they both be able to convey the sense that something horrific was going on. It was no surprise that Kathy Bates won the Best Actress Oscar for her role. Everything in this movie really worked to show just how trapped Paul was, and how hopeless his situation seemed.

And of course, this movie left a few indelible images in the mind. (One in particular comes to mind, and I really wish that I hadn't seen that scene previously on some other TV show; that almost took away from the impact of seeing it in context.) So, if you are a fan of suspenseful fare, or you just want to see a horror movie (mostly) sans blood and guts, Misery is for you. You will never, ever want to hear anyone say that they're a fan of yours again. Was the above review useful to you? 59 out of 88 people found the following review useful: Stephen King was the author, Paul Sheldon was the hostage, Anne Wilkes was the psycho from Miami, Florida 19 June 2003 Misery is my favorite Stephen King thriller. Misery displays a writer held hostage by his #1 fan. Misery is a spectacular movie because it keeps you wondering what will happen next. Kathy Bates' performance was the best and I'm glad she won an Oscar. Misery is one of King's real-life situation novels. I think that's what he's nest at, writing about real things.

Yet, his horror books are still pretty scary and wild. Reiner impressed me with his direction in this film. Highly recommended, if you have any comments for me, please e-mail me at tylerripen@yahoo.com. Was the above review useful to you? 31 out of 41 people found the following review useful: King Sized adaptation by Goldman; superb Bates & Caan from fairview, nj 11 April 2003 MISERY (1990) *** Kathy Bates, James Caan, William Farnsworth, Frances Sternhagen, Lauren Bacall. Bates, perfectly cast as loony tune Annie Wilkes, won an Oscar for Best Actress as the self-proclaimed `#1 fan' of bodice-ripping novelist Caan, who finds himself in her web of horror after a car crash landing him in the snow engulfed remote home of his sociopathic, homicidal nurse who will not take no for an answer. William Goldman expertly adapts the Stephen King best seller with a few nice nasty turns here and there and Rob Reiner gives just enough gruesomeness (watch the sledgehammer scene a few times; you'll see what I mean) for frightful flavor.

Was the above review useful to you? 46 out of 80 people found the following review useful: Kathy Bates Is a Sight to Behold from United States 21 July 2000 "Misery" is one of those films that over-achieves. The material is not very good, the plot is somewhat thin, and most of the characters are one-dimensional. However, with that said Kathy Bates takes the material and runs with it all the way to the bank. This film made her a household name and provided her with a Best Actress Oscar in 1990. She stars as a crazed fan who cares for author James Caan after he's involved in a near-fatal auto accident in the middle of nowhere. Quickly her mood goes from cheerful to downright frightening when she learns that Caan's fictional heroine "Misery" will die in his newest novel. Caan's character is not very well developed and this somewhat stalls the film, but it really does not matter because of Bates's performance. All in all, "Misery" is one of Stephen King's novels that actually plays well on film. If Bates were taken away, I am not sure how this film would fare.

Thank goodness we do not have to find out. 4 out of 5 stars Was the above review useful to you? Page 1 of 32: 1990 Academy Awards® Winners and History GoodFellas (1990) Actor: JEREMY IRONS in "Reversal of Fortune", Kevin Costner in "Dances With Wolves", Robert De Niro in "Awakenings", Gerard Depardieu in "Cyrano de Bergerac", Richard Harris in "The Field" Actress: KATHY BATES in "Misery", Anjelica Huston in "The Grifters", Julia Roberts in "Pretty Woman", Meryl Streep in "Postcards from the Edge", Joanne Woodward in "Mr. & Mrs.

Bridge" Supporting Actor: JOE PESCI in "GoodFellas" , Bruce Davison in "Longtime Companion", Andy Garcia in " The Godfather, Part III ", Graham Greene in "Dances With Wolves", Al Pacino in "Dick Tracy" Supporting Actress: WHOOPI GOLDBERG in "Ghost", Annette Bening in "The Grifters", Lorraine Bracco in "GoodFellas" , Diane Ladd in "Wild at Heart", Mary McDonnell in "Dances With Wolves" Director: KEVIN COSTNER for "Dances With Wolves", Francis Ford Coppola for " The Godfather, Part III ", Stephen Frears for "The Grifters", Barbet Schroeder for "Reversal of Fortune", Martin Scorsese for "GoodFellas" The Best Picture winner, co-producer/director/actor Kevin Costner's three-hour epic and revisionistic western film Dances With Wolves was an anomaly win in Oscar history - it was only the second time that a western genre film won the Best Picture Oscar.

[The first Best Picture western film was Cimarron (1930-31), sixty years earlier.] However, some argued that Costner's (another actor-turned-director) romantic-epic film shouldn't have been categorized as a Western. Dances With Wolves was honored with twelve nominations and seven Oscar wins - Best Picture (Costner), Best Director (for Costner's directorial debut film), Best Adapted Screenplay (Michael Blake), Best Cinematography (Dean Semler), Best Sound, Best Original Score (John Barry), and Best Film Editing. The pretentious, but visually-impressive film told the saga of a Civil War Union officer, Lt. John W. Dunbar, who became disillusioned, headed west, and eventually found peace away from white civilization with nature and the Lakota Sioux. The film contained long portions of the Sioux-Lakota language and detailed the native American culture.

The other four Best Picture nominees were: director Penny Marshall's psychological drama Awakenings (with three nominations and no wins), a semi-true account of a doctor who 'awakens' catatonic patients with an experimental drug director Jerry Zucker's highly-successful, romantic comedy/fantasy Ghost (with five nominations and two wins - Best Supporting Actress and Best Screenplay), about a murder victim who protects his wife through a psychic director Francis Ford Coppola's long-awaited gangster epic sequel The Godfather, Part III (with seven nominations and snubbed with no wins, although both previous parts of the saga won Best Picture Oscars - and it was the first of only two trilogies to have all three films nominated for Best Picture) - an extension of the Mafia-tale about an older crime kingpin Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) and his temperamental, trigger-happy nephew (Andy Garcia) and daughter (Sofia Coppola) director Martin Scorsese's GoodFellas (with six nominations and one win - Best Supporting Actor), a violent and foul-mouthed adaptation of Nicholas Pileggi's non-fiction book Wiseguy, about thirty years in a contemporary Brooklyn Mafia family and about federally-protected witness Henry Hill Two of the

 directors of Best Picture nominees were not selected as Best Director nominees: Jerry Zucker for Ghost, and female director Penny Marshall for Awakenings.

[Marshall's failure to receive a Best Director nomination was interpreted as sexist. Up to this time in Oscar history, only one women had been nominated for Best Director - Lina Wertmuller for Seven Beauties (1976), and female director Randa Haines had been passed over four years earlier as Best Director for her Best Picture-nominated Children of a Lesser God (1986).] The two directors put into their slots for films without Best Picture nominations were Stephen Frears for The Grifters (with four nominations and no wins), a shocking film-noirish tale of three con artists - a film adaptation of Jim Thompson's hard-boiled novel, and director Barbet Schroeder for the dramatic Reversal of Fortune (with three nominations and one win - Best Actor), the story of Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz's defense appeal of Claus Von Bulow's conviction for attempted murder of his wife. The Best Actor award was presented to Jeremy Irons (with his first nomination) for his performance in Reversal of Fortune as the icy, arrogant, and decadently-aristocratic millionaire Claus Von Bulow who was accused of trying to kill his comatose Newport heiress wife Sunny (Glenn Close).

The other four Best Actor nominees were: Kevin Costner (with his first nomination) as idealistic frontier officer Lt. John W. Dunbar who encounters the Lakota Sioux tribe in Dances With Wolves Robert De Niro (with his fifth nomination) as Leonard Lowe - a comatose patient who was revived in Awakenings Gerard Depardieu (with his first nomination) as the long-nosed swordsman/poet in French director Jean-Paul Rappeneau's film Cyrano de Bergerac (with five nominations and one win - Best Costume Design) Richard Harris (with his second nomination) as stubborn Irish farmer 'Bull' McCabe in director Jim Sheridan's The Field (the film's sole nomination) The Best Actress award was given to Kathy Bates (with her first nomination) as obsessed, psychopathic fan Annie Wilkes for a romance novelist (James Caan) in director Rob Reiner's black thriller Misery (the film's sole nomination), William Goldman's adaptation of Stephen King's novel.

Her competing nominees for Best Actress included: Anjelica Huston (with her third nomination) as racetrack scammer Lilly Dillon in The Grifters Julia Roberts (with her second consecutive nomination) in a star-making role as wheeler-dealer Richard Gere's fantasy Los Angeles prostitute Vivian Ward in director Garry Marshall's Pretty Woman (the film's sole nomination) Meryl Streep (with her ninth nomination, and 7th Best Actress nomination) as drug-addicted film actress Suzanne Vale in director Mike Nichols' Postcards from the Edge (with two nominations and no wins), a disguised semi-autobiography of Carrie Fisher (daughter of Debbie Reynolds) Joanne Woodward (with her fourth nomination) as conservative, mousy, middle-aged Kansas wife India Bridge in director James Ivory's Mr. and Mrs. Bridge (the film's sole nomination) In the Best Supporting Actor category, Joe Pesci (with his second nomination) won his first Oscar award for his ferocious performance as comically psychotic gangster killer Tommy DeVito in GoodFellas (the film's sole Oscar win).

[The same year, Pesci starred as a clumsy burglar in the blockbuster Home Alone starring Macauley Culkin.] The other four Best Supporting Actor nominees were: Bruce Davison (with his first nomination) as David - one of nine gay New Yorkers followed over a nine year period while coping with the killer disease AIDS in director Norman Rene's Longtime Companion (the film's sole nomination) Cuban-born Andy Garcia (with his first nomination) as Vincent Mancini - the illegitimate son and heir apparent of godfather Michael Corleone's brother Sonny in The Godfather, Part III Canadian-born Graham Greene as Native-American Sioux Indian Kicking Bird in Dances With Wolves [Greene was the second Native-American to receive an Oscar nomination] Al Pacino (with his sixth nomination) as over-the-top crime boss Big Boy Caprice in director/producer/actor Warren Beatty's comic-bookish Dick Tracy (with seven nominations and three wins - Best Art/Set Direction, Best Song, and Best Makeup).

[Pacino's nomination for Dick Tracy instead of for The Godfather, Part III was truly unexplainable, except for the fact that Andy Garcia was nominated in his stead, to avoid splitting the vote] In 1990, Whoopi Goldberg became the second black actress to win an acting Oscar. [The first black actress to win an Oscar was Hattie McDaniel's win for Gone With The Wind (1939) .] Favored to win, Goldberg (with her second nomination) won the Best Supporting Actress award for her performance as an imposter clairvoyant - and then genuine psychic medium Oda Mae Brown in Ghost.

[Some interpreted Goldberg's win as a 'consolation' prize for not winning Best Actress five years earlier when she was considered for the award for her performance in The Color Purple (1985), and lost to Geraldine Page's performance in The Trip to Bountiful (1985).] The other four Best Supporting Actress nominees were: Annette Bening (with her first nomination) as provocative con artist Myra Langtry in The Grifters Lorraine Bracco (with her first nomination) as Henry Hill's wife Karen in GoodFellas Diane Ladd (with her second nomination) as Marietta Pace - Nicolas Cage's possessive mother in director David Lynch's erratic and surreal Wild at Heart (the film's sole nomination) Mary McDonnell (with her first nomination) as Sioux Indian Stands with Fist - an emotionally-traumatized white woman captured and raised from childhood by Indians in Dances With Wolves Never-nominated actress Myrna Loy received an Honorary Oscar this year, "in recognition of her extraordinary qualities both on screen and off, with appreciation for a lifetime's worth of indelible performances." She was best known for her appearance opposite William Powell in The Thin Man (1934) series of films.

Sophia Loren was also presented another Honorary Oscar - "one of the genuine treasures of world cinema who, in a career rich with memorable performances, has added permanent luster to our art form." She had been nominated as Best Actress for Marriage-Italian Style (1964), and won her only Best Actress Oscar for Two Women (1960). Oscar Snubs and Omissions: The biggest omission of the year was the Coen Brothers' neglected and fresh gangster film Miller's Crossing (see below for acting omissions) - with no Best Picture, cinematography, or screenplay nominations. In addition, actor/director Jack Nicholson's The Two Jakes, a sequel to Polanski's Chinatown (1974) was completely overlooked: Nicholson's dual roles, screenplay by Robert Towne, Vilmos Zsigmond's cinematography, and Harvey Keitel as the "other" Jake. And female director Penny Marshall was overlooked as a Best Director nominee, even though her film Awakenings was a Best Picture nominee.

There was no recognition for the latex animatronic costumes (by Jim Henson Productions) for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie, for Jim Henson's last-produced film - director Nicolas Roeg's - The Witches with Anjelica Huston, or for Michael Caton-Jones' story about a WWII B-17 bomber and its crew, Memphis Belle. Bruce Joel Rubin won the Best Original Screenplay Oscar for Ghost, but his co-scripted screenplay for Jacob's Ladder (with no nominations) was neglected.

The following were not nominated for their acting performances - note that the first four films listed here were 'quality' gangster films - 1990 was a glutted year for the genre: John Turturro as bookie Bernie Bernbaum, Garbriel Byrne as Tom Reagan, Marcia Gay Harden as Verna, or Albert Finney as Leo in Miller's Crossing Al Pacino as violent Mafia head Michael Corleone in The Godfather, Part III Ray Liotta as 'wiseguy' gangster Henry Hill, Robert DeNiro as mobster/hitman Jimmy Conway, and Paul Sorvino as mob boss Paul Cicero in Martin Scorsese's GoodFellas Gary Oldman as Hell's Kitchen gang member Jackie Flannery in Phil Joanou's first big-budget film State of Grace Richard Gere as sadistic rogue cop Dennis Peck in Mike Figgis' Internal Affairs Michael Gambon as Albert Spica - the Thief in Peter Greenaway's British film The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover Robin Williams as the experimental doctor in Awakenings Sean Connery as defecting Soviet submarine Capt.

Marko Ramius in John McTiernan's political action thriller The Hunt for Red October (with three nominations, Best Editing, Best Sound, and Best Sound Effects (win)) Paul Newman as the other half of the middle-aged midwestern couple in Mr. and Mrs.

Bridge Mia Farrow as the title character in Woody Allen's Alice Debra Winger as a Sahara Desert-dwelling American in a romantic triangle in Bernardo Bertolucci's visually-stunning The Sheltering Sky Uma Thurman as bi-sexual June Miller in writer/director Philip Kaufman's NC-17 rated Henry & June Meg Ryan in a tri-part role as office secretary DeDe, LA debutante/socialite Angelica Graynamore, and Angelica's blonde half-sister Patricia in the romantic comedy fantasy Joe Versus The Volcano Glenn Close as playboy Claus Von Bulow's (Oscar-winning Jeremy Irons) threatened heiress wife Sunny (who narrated her earlier life with him in flashback) in Reversal of Fortune Jennifer Jason Leigh as a prostitute in Miami Blues Tim Robbins as tortured, hallucinating ex-Vietnam vet Jacob Singer, and Elizabeth Pena as Jezzie - his mysterious live-in girlfriend and co-worker, in Adrian Lyne's supernatural horror-thriller Jacob's Ladder (with no nominations BBC News | ENTERTAINMENT | Kathy Bates takes Oscar role Thursday, 8 February, 2001, 11:19 GMT Kathy Bates takes Oscar role Kathy Bates won an Oscar for

 her role in Misery Oscar-winning Misery actress Kathy Bates is to announce the nominations for this year's 73rd Academy Awards.

Bates will join Robert Rehme - president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences - on 13 February for a press conference in Beverly Hills. Together they will unveil the shortlist of potential Oscar winners in nine of the 23 categories. The Oscars ceremony will take place on 25 March. Misery was adapted from Stephen King's novel Bates, 52, won the best actress Oscar in 1990 for her portrayal of Annie Wilkes in the screen adaptation of Stephen King's novel Misery. The role as the obsessive fan who keeps writer Paul Sheldon - played by James Caan - captive remains her best remembered performance. Bates's other notable films include Fried Green Tomatoes, Titanic, Annie and Primary Colours. The Oscar nominations are traditionally announced by the president of the Academy and an invited former statuette winner. Last year, Rehme was joined by Rain Man star Dustin Hoffman. Celebrity line-up The 2000 Oscars ceremony itself was hosted by comic actor Billy Crystal. This year, fellow comedy actor Steve Martin will be master of ceremonies.

Steve Martin will be host on the night Joining Martin to present the individual statuettes will be a host of Hollywood stars, including Annette Bening, Jack Lemmon and Kate Hudson. American Beauty star Bening, 43 - wife of actor Warren Beatty - picked up two Oscars in 2000 as the ambitious estate agent Carolyn Burnham. Legendary actor Lemmon, 76, has been one of Hollywood's leading male stars for more than 40 years. He has won two Oscars for Mister Roberts and Save the Tiger and been nominated for six others including his role in classic 1959 comedy Some Like It Hot. Oscar hopefuls Kate Hudson, 21, is one of Hollywood's brightest upcoming stars since her acclaimed performance in Almost Famous for which she was recently awarded a Golden Globe. Kate Hudson won a Golden Globe Other celebrities to present Oscars in 2001 include actress and singer Jennifer Lopez. Lopez is currently riding high in the US box office chart with her movie The Wedding Planner. It will be her fourth outing as an Oscar presenter - she most recently presented the best original song award at the 71st Oscars.

Amongst the films most fancied for an Oscar nomination are Gladiator, Ridley Scott's film about a Roman general who falls from favour Gladiator has already won a best film award at the Golden Globes and has 14 Bafta nominations. Almost Famous - Cameron Crowe's fictionalised story about his experiences as a teenage rock journalist in the 1970s - is also in the running. Gladiator is building up for a big Oscar presence As well as Hudson's Golden Globe for best supporting actress, the won another for best comedy film. Also tipped is Ang Lee's critically acclaimed Chinese-language film, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, which won the Golden Globe for best foreign language film and has 14 Bafta nominations. The Academy Award ceremony will be held at the Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles.

Search BBC News Online Misery (film) Misery (film) Rob ReinerAndrew Scheinman Jeffrey Stott Steve Nicolaides Screenplay by James CaanKathy BatesRichard FarnsworthFrances SternhagenLauren Bacall Music by Castle Rock Entertainment Nelson Entertainment Distributed by Edit Block Theatrical release poster Misery is a 1990 American thriller film, based on Stephen King's 1987 novel of the same name. Directed by Rob Reiner, the film received critical acclaim for Kathy Bates' performance as the psychopathic Annie Wilkes. The film was ranked #12 on Bravo's 100 Scariest Movie Moments.[citation needed]Kathy Bates won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role as Annie Wilkes in Misery. Plot Edit Block Famed novelist Paul Sheldon (James Caan) is the author of a successful series of novels involving a character called Misery Chastain. But Paul wants to branch out and has just finished the manuscript of a new unrelated novel. He departs from Silver Creek, Colorado to head west but is caught in a blizzard and his car goes off the road.

He is rescued by a nurse Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates) and brought to her remote home. Both of Paul's legs are broken and he has a dislocated shoulder, so he is bedridden and incapacitated. Annie claims she is his 'number one fan' and talks a lot about him and his novels. She is happy when Paul lets her read his new novel, but later admits she disliked the excessive swearing. While feeding him, she is angered and spills soup on him but regains control and apologizes. She buys a copy of Paul's latest book, Misery's Child, but after learning that he has "killed off" Misery, Annie flies into a rage, almost smashing a table on Paul's head. She reveals that nobody knows where he is (contradicting what she had earlier told him). Annie leaves and Paul tries to escape his room, but she has locked the door. The next morning, Annie makes Paul burn his latest manuscript. When he is well enough to get out of bed, she insists he write a new novel entitled Misery's Return in which he brings the character back to life. Paul reluctantly does, believing Annie might kill him otherwise.

However, having found a means of escaping his room, he sneaks out whenever Annie is away and begins to stockpile his painkillers. He tries to kill Annie during a candlelit dinner, but is foiled when she accidentally spills her drugged wine. During another escape attempt, Paul finds a scrapbook of newspaper clippings about his disappearance and Annie's past. He discovers that she was suspected and tried for several infants' deaths. Later, Annie drugs Paul and straps him to the bed. When he wakes, she breaks his ankles with a sledgehammer in an act of "hobbling". Meanwhile, the local Sheriff (Richard Farnsworth) is investigating Paul's disappearance and visits Annie, prompted by discovering a quote she used from a Misery book during her trial years earlier. While there, he finds that Paul has been drugged and hidden in the basement. Annie shoots and kills him. Annie tells Paul that they must die together. He agrees, but says he wants to finish the novel and "give Misery back to the world". When the book is done, he tells Annie it was his habit after ending a novel to have a cigarette and a glass of champagne. Later, he sends her to get a second glass.

When Annie returns, he sets the book on fire. She tries to put out the fire, but Paul hits her head with the typewriter. Annie shoots him in the shoulder and he lunges at her. During the ensuing fight, Paul trips Annie, causing her to land head-first on the typewriter. Annie lunges at him but he strikes her over the head with a small steel pig statue, killing her. Eighteen months later, Paul (now walking with a cane) meets his publishing agent Marsha (Lauren Bacall) in a restaurant and discusses his first non-Misery novel, titled The Higher Education of J. Philip Stone, which has become a success. Marsha asks if he wants to write a non-fiction book about his captivity, but Paul refuses. While at the restaurant, he sees a waitress whom he briefly imagines as Annie. The waitress claims she is his 'number one fan', to which Paul responds, "That's very sweet of you." Cast James Caan as Paul Sheldon Kathy Bates as Annie Wilkes Richard Farnsworth as Buster Lauren Bacall as Marcia Sindell Graham Jarvis as Libby Rob Reiner as Helicopter pilot J. T.

Walsh (uncredited) as State Trooper Sherman Douglas Awards Academy Award (1990): Best Actress in a Leading Role - Kathy Bates Golden Globe (1990): Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama - Kathy Bates CFCA Award (1990): Best Actress - Kathy Bates Reception Edit Block Misery was very well received by audiences and critics alike. On the critic website Rotten Tomatoes, this film currently holds a 90% "fresh" rating. The consensus for the film states, "Elevated by standout performances from James Caan and Kathy Bates, this taut and frightening film is one of the best Stephen King adaptations to date." Roger Ebert liked the film, stating, "It is a good story, a natural, and it grabs us." The genre magazine Bloody Disgusting ranked Misery fourth place in its list of "10 Claustrophobic Horror Films". International Remake The movie was remade in India as a Tamil film called Julie Ganapathi. Music The film's score was composed by Marc Shaiman.

See also 1000+ images about Misery on Pinterest | Stephen kings, James d'arcy and Movies Pinterest • The world’s catalog of ideas Misery Misery is a 1990 American thriller film based on Stephen King's 1987 novel and starring James Caan, Kathy Bates, Lauren Bacall, Richard Farnsworth, and Frances Sternhagen. Directed by Rob Reiner, the film received critical acclaim for Bates' performance as the psychopathic Annie Wilkes, and Bates won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role. This is one of my favorite scary movies of all time. Enjoy photos from the iconic movie and novel. 18 Pins112 Followers The Best TV Appearances by Oscar-Winning Actresses - TV.com The Best TV Appearances by Oscar-Winning Actresses 12comments It's no secret that television is a starting block for many Academy Award hopefuls. Several Oscar-winning actresses, like Hilary Swank and Sissy Spacek , starred in their fair share of made-for-TV-movies and mini-series on their way to the top. Others, like Jodie Foster and Sally Field , started out on mainstream sitcoms and dramas.

Some even return to TV after their wins: Kate Winslet , who won Best Actress last year for The Reader, is set to star in the new HBO mini-series Mildred Pierce. And though it's somewhat rare, we love it when Oscar-winners return to the small screen. Here are nine of the best actresses to sign up for apres-Oscar roles on TV. Liza Minnelli won Best Actress in 1972 for her role as Sally Bowles in Cabaret... and went on to spend 30 years as tabloid-fodder with three divorces, several failed comeback attempts, and countless health problems. In 2003, she poked fun at her own campiness and guest-starred in ten episodes of the short-lived sitcom Arrested Development as the kooky, vertigo-plagued Lucille Austero. Sally Field won Best Actress in 1979 for her role as the title character in Norma Rae, and again in 1984 for her role as Edna Spalding in Places in the Heart.

(She later starred in Forrest Gump (1994) and won an Emmy for her recurring role as Maggie Wyczenski on ER .) Since 2006, Field has played Nora Walker, the stubborn family matriarch on the soap-y ensemble-cast drama Brothers and Sisters . Sissy Spacek won Best Actress in 1980 for her role as Loretta Lynn in Coal-Miner's Daughter. She has since received four additional Oscar nominations—for Missing, The River, Crimes of the Heart, and In the Bedroom. Earlier this year, she guest-starred in five episodes of Big Love , as Marilyn Densham, a fierce anti-polygamy lobbyist in Washington, DC. Kathy Bates won Best Actress in 1990 for her role as Annie Wilkes in Misery. She also received Oscar nominations for her performances in Primary Colors and About Schmidt. In 2003, she played a recurring role as Bettina on Six Feet Under . She's currently guest-starring on The Office as Jo Bennett, the stalwart CEO of the corporation that bought out Dunder-Mifflin.

Holly Hunter won Best Actress in 1993 for her role as Ada McGrath in The Piano. She earned two more Oscar nominations for her performances in The Firm and Thirteen. Since 2007, she has starred as Grace Hanadarko, the title character and over-sexed Oklahoma police officer on Saving Grace . Charlize Theron won Best Actress in 2003 for her intense, transformative role as Aileen Wuornos in Monster. She since received one more Oscar nomination, for her role in North Country. In 2005 she appeared on Arrested Development as Rita, the mentally-challenged love interest of Michael Bluth ( Jason Bateman ). The show occasionally cited Theron's Oscar-winning role, using images of her as Wuornos to show what the beautiful Rita looked like "before reconstructive surgery." Linda Hunt won Best Supporting Actress in 1983 for her cross-gender, cross-cultural role as Billy Kwan in The Year of Living Dangerously.

From 1997 to 2002, she played the recurring role of Judge Zoey Hiller on The Practice ; since 2009, she has starred as Operations Manager Hetty Lange on NCIS: Los Angeles . Helen Hunt won Best Actress in 1997 for her role as Carol Connelly in As Good As It Gets. She had begun playing Jamie Buchman on Mad About You in 1992 and stayed with it after her Oscar win until the show's end in 1999. Since then, she's starred in movies like What Women Want and Pay It Forward. Anna Paquin won Best Supporting Actress in 1993 (and at age 11!) for her first-ever acting role as Flora McGrath in The Piano. She's also known for playing Rogue in the X-Men movies. Since 2008, she has starred as telepathic waitress Sookie Stackhouse in the HBO series True Blood , her first and only television role so far; and considering that she's already picked up a Golden Globe for it, I'm guessing it won't be her last.

Directors Cat Super Reviewer When it comes to adapting a Stephen King horror story, some films tend to miss the mark, and others deliver a tense, terrifying and ultimately bone chilling unforgettable experience. This is the case with the 1990 King adaptation of Misery. The film follows closely the story of the novel, and it's one of those rare screen adaptations that is well adapted from the novel. James Caan is excellent as Paul Sheldon, the imprisoned author held captive by Annie Wilkes played by Kathy Bates. Both are superb in their respective roles, and Kathy Bates is one of the most disturbing and memorable screen villains in horror history, and her performance is one of the standouts of the film. The film is a fine blend of psychological horror and psycho horror. This picture still delivers after all these years and is hard to match in terms of telling a truly chilling story. If you want one of the better Stephen King adaptation's, then give this film a shot. With a great cast, great directing and an engaging plot that will keep you on the edge of your seat from start to finish, Misery remains of the defining genre films.

This film has some truly intense scenes that are not for the faint of heart, and you simply can't turn away from Kathy Bates's performance that earned her a well deserved Oscar win. Like I stated earlier, King adaptations can sometimes be a little sketchy in terms of interesting material and effective plot, but Misery is a strong movie that is a must see for Stephen King fans looking for a well adapted film. Alex roy Super Reviewer Wow, didn't know Kathy Bates had been acting this long....this and Dolores Claiborne are the best films I've seen her in...she's spectacular as the villain! James Caan is good also. Very suspenseful and full of thrills as you wonder if the famous author is ever going to escape. I'm a huge fan of Stephen King movies, and this shot to near the top of the my best-of list the first time I saw it! Jason Owens Super Reviewer ½ Annie Wilkes: Now the time has come. I put two bullets in my gun. One for me, and one for you. Oh darling, it will be so beautiful. "Paul Sheldon used to write for a living.

Now he's writing to stay alive." Every time I watch Misery, I like it more and more. There's just so much talent involved here. First off, there's the source material from Stephen King. Misery is one of his finest stories. Then there's screenwriter William Goldman who does a good job of writing the story for the screen. Barry Sonnenfeld as cinematographer and of course Rob Reiner. Reiner knows how to make great adaptions of King's books; Stand By Me and Misery speak for themselves. And you can't forget about two stunning performances given by James Caan and Kathy Bates(who took home an Oscar for her psycho performance). There's just too much greatness for Misery to not be good. As in many of King's stories, the protagonist is a writer. This time he is actually a successful one to boot. He has a long running franchise of Misery books, and he's just finished his last one. He is deciding to move on from Misery and decides to kill her off. While driving home from his regular writing spot in Colorado; he gets into a blizzard and crashes.

"Luckily" for him, a nice woman, who just happens to be his number one fan, pulls him from the wreckage and takes him home. At first she seems like the nicest woman in the world, but she has an angry side and quite a past as well. The movie works well in many genres. At times it is just a drama, then it's a thriller and it even has moments of pure horror. There are scenes of high tension. My favorite scene is where Annie leaves the house and Paul wheels himself around the house. As he explores, we see Annie getting closer and closer to home. What will happen? Well that is just part of that high tension. Misery is regarded as one of the best King adaptions ever, and that claim is totally justified. Through the picture perfect pacing and the magnificent performances, we are shown the true brilliance of King's story just about as well as it could have been done. Kathy Bates plays a mood swinging psychopath to perfection. Her fits of rage are simply astounding. Caan does a good job in performance, where for the most part, he is either laying on his back or sitting in a wheel chair at a typewriter.

While there's other King films I like more, this is still an all-time classic. Rich in character and in plot, it works like magic; putting in the viewer in the same helpless state that Paul is in. Misery is a must see. Melvin White Misery | Moviepedia | Fandom powered by Wikia Edit Famed novelist Paul Sheldon is the author of a successful series of regency romance novels featuring a character named Misery Chastain. Wanting to focus on more serious stories, he writes a manuscript for a new unrelated novel. While traveling from Silver Creek, Colorado to his home in New York City, he is caught in a blizzard and his car goes off the road, rendering him unconscious. Paul is rescued by a nurse named Annie Wilkes, who brings him to her remote home. When Paul regains consciousness he finds himself bedridden, with both his legs broken as well as a dislocated shoulder. Annie claims she is his "number one fan" and talks a lot about him and his novels. As a reward for saving him, Paul gives Annie his new manuscript which she saved from the wreckage. While feeding him, she is angered and spills soup on him but regains control and apologizes.

She buys a copy of Paul's latest published book, Misery's Child, giving glowing praise to Paul as she progresses through the book. However, when Annie discovers that Misery dies at the end of the book she flies into a rage, almost smashing a table on Paul's head. She reveals that she lied about calling his agent and the authorities; nobody knows where he is. Annie leaves and Paul tries to escape from his room, but she has locked the door. The next morning, Annie makes Paul burn his latest manuscript. When he is well enough to get out of bed, she insists he write a new novel entitled Misery's Return, in which he brings the character back to life. Paul complies, believing Annie might kill him otherwise. He also tells her he will use Annie's name in the book in appreciation of her nursing him back to health. However, having found a way of escaping his room, he sneaks out when Annie is away and begins stockpiling his painkillers. He tries poisoning Annie during a candlelit dinner, but fails when she accidentally spills her drugged wine. During another venture out of his room, Paul finds a scrapbook of newspaper clippings about Annie's past.

He discovers that she was suspected and tried for the deaths of several infants, but the trial crumbled due to lack of evidence. Paul also learns that Annie quoted lines he had written in his Misery novels during her trial. Annie later drugs Paul and straps him to the bed. When he wakes, she tells him that she knows he has been out of his room and breaks his ankles. The local sheriff, Buster, is investigating Paul's disappearance. When a shopkeeper informs the sheriff he has sold Annie considerable quantities of typing paper, Buster surmises Paul must be at the Wilkes farm. Buster pays Annie a visit, who permits the sheriff to inspect the residence. When Buster finds Paul drugged and hidden in the basement, Annie fatally shoots Buster and tells Paul that they must die together. He agrees, on the condition that he must finish the novel in order to "give Misery back to the world". While she gets his chair, Paul conceals a can of lighter fluid in his pocket. When the book is done, he reminds Annie it is his practice to have a single cigarette and a glass of champagne after finishing a novel.

When Annie gives these things to Paul, he tells her that this time, he will need a second glass, for her. As Annie gets a second glass, Paul soaks the manuscript in the lighter fluid. When Annie returns with the glass he sets the manuscript on fire. Paul and Annie fight and Annie is killed. Eighteen months later, Paul, now walking with a cane, meets his publishing agent Marcia in a restaurant in New York City. The two discuss his first non-Misery novel. Marcia tells him about the positive early buzz which Paul does not care about, saying he wrote the novel for himself. Marcia asks if he would consider a non-fiction book about his captivity, but Paul declines. While at the restaurant, he imagines the waitress as Annie. The waitress says she is his "number one fan", to which Paul uncomfortably responds "That's very sweet of you". Cast James Caan as Paul Sheldon Kathy Bates as Annie Wilkes Richard Farnsworth as Buster Lauren Bacall as Marcia Sindell Graham Jarvis as Libby Rob Reiner as Helicopter pilot J.T.

Walsh (uncredited) as State Trooper Sherman Douglas Production Edit Producer Andrew Scheinman read Stephen King's novel Misery on an airplane, and later recommended it to his director partner at Castle Rock Entertainment, Rob Reiner. Reiner eventually invited famed writer William Goldman to write the film's screenplay Given that Reiner was a director with a career of comedies, once he read the novel he identified with the theme of a "a guy who needed a new challenge, who needs to push himself and grow". King had refused to sell the novel's adaptation rights because of how other works of his were mishandled in film translations, but eventually let Reiner do Misery after his 1986 adaptation of Stand by Me. Reiner worked closely with Goldman on the screenplay, with the director explaining that "We got rid of the most gory and horrific parts. I wanted to concentrate on the idea of this chess match between the artist and his fan." In the original novel, Annie Wilkes lops off one of Paul Sheldon's feet with an axe. Goldman loved the scene and argued for it to be included, but Reiner insisted that it be changed to that she only breaks his ankles.

Goldman subsequently wrote this was the correct decision as amputation would have been too severe. The part of Paul Sheldon was originally offered to William Hurt (twice), then Kevin Kline, Michael Douglas, Harrison Ford, Dustin Hoffman, Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Richard Dreyfuss , Gene Hackman and Robert Redford, but they all turned it down. Warren Beatty was interested in the role, wanting to turn him into a less passive character, but eventually had to drop out as post-production of Dick Tracy extended. Eventually someone suggested James Caan, who agreed to play the part. Caan commented that he was attracted by how Sheldon was a role unlike any other of his, and that "being a totally reactionary character is really much tougher.

Accolades 63rd Academy AwardsAcademy Award for Best Actress - Kathy Bates Golden Globe Awards 1990Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama - Kathy Bates American Film Institute ListsAFI's 100 Years...100 Thrills—(Nominated) AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes and Villains—Annie Wilkes—#17 Villain AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes—"I am your number one fan." - (Nominated) Critical reception Edit The film received a reputation as one of the most iconic and most memorable horror movies of all time and has received critical acclaim. on the critic website Rotten Tomatoes, the film currently holds an 88% rating; the consensus reads, "Elevated by standout performances from James Caan and Kathy Bates, this taut and frightening film is one of the best Stephen King adaptations to date." Roger Ebert liked the film, stating, "It is a good story, a natural, and it grabs us." The genre magazine Bloody Disgusting ranked Misery fourth place in its list of "10 Claustrophobic Horror Films".

King himself has stated that Misery is one of his top ten favourite film adaptations, in his collection "Stephen King Goes to the Movies". Best "Best Actress" of the 1990s Follow DL on Best "Best Actress" of the 1990s Who do you think was most deserving of the prize?

The winners:%0D %0D 1990: Kathy Bates in "Misery"%0D %0D 1991: Jodie Foster in "The Silence of the Lambs"%0D %0D 1992: Emma Thompson in "Howards End"%0D %0D 1993: Holly Hunter in "The Piano"%0D %0D 1994: Jessica Lange in "Blue Sky"%0D %0D 1995: Susan Sarandon in "Dead Man Walking"%0D %0D 1996: Frances McDormand in "Fargo"%0D %0D 1997: Helen Hunt in "As Good as it Gets"%0D %0D 1998: Gwyneth Paltrow in "Shakespeare in Love"%0D %0D 1999: Hilary Swank in "Boys Don't Cry" by Anonymous reply 29 01/23/2011 Voted for Bates, though Foster, Thompson, Lange, Sarandon and McDormand are also excellent.%0D %0D Will never understand the praise

 for Swank.

by Anonymous So, what name should NOT be on that list? by Anonymous What a miserable list. Women really do get crap parts. by Anonymous Well, let's just say there's ONE name that stands out, Paul/R2. by Anonymous For me it was a toss-up between Sarandon and Swank by Anonymous Kathy Bates. Annie Wilkes was a revelation. by Anonymous reply 7 01/22/2011 Kathy Bates and Jessica Lange gave the two best performances of the decade, IMO. I do think Swank was a revelation in BDC. by Anonymous reply 9 01/22/2011 Emma Thompson, because I don't think anyone else on that list could have played Margaret in "Howards End". She was just perfect for the part. On the other hand, I can see Thompson in her prime playing in Shakespeare in Love, Misery, Silence of the Lambs, Blue Sky and The Piano and doing a spectacular job. I can't believe Helen Hunt is on that list. At least GOOP has been good in other movies. Hunt is just a big nothing, barely even passable in As Good As It Gets.

by Anonymous reply 10 01/22/2011 Even Hunt kind of acknowledged when she won that she thought Dench should have won for Mrs. Brown. So why did the Academy pick Hunt? by Anonymous reply 12 01/22/2011 R11, AS GOOD AS IT GOOD was inexplicably an extremely popular and buzzed about film in 1997. It was bland to me, but the Academy, other award shows and critics loved it. by Anonymous OOPS, I meant AS GOOD AS IT GETS. by Anonymous when I first saw As Good As It Gets, i thought, at that moment Helen Hunt will win the Oscar. I have now seen the film many times I actually just really like the movie...however, Helen Hunt's performance was not why she won the Oscar. It was the role. I have re-cast the role in my mind with a zillion other actresses who would have been more appropriate. One was Marisa Tomei...I think she would have been more authentic...perhaps a bit too "cute"...but she has proven to be a strong actress for those Working Girl types.

On seeing As Good As It Gets a second, third and numerous times, the other performancers remain strong, it becomes obvious that Helen Hunt was "acting", and her accent sounds fake, and she doesn't even look right for the role...she was lucky. Really, just on performance quality, I'd say Hilary Swank, and I don't really like her, but that was one of those performances that blew me away...very specific to the film. by Anonymous reply 17 01/22/2011 They were all deserving except for 1997 (Hunt) and 1998 (Paltrow).%0D %0D But in Paltrow's defense, there weren't really any deserving performances. It was a weak year. by Anonymous Best Actress of the 1990s? Anjelica Huston in The Grifters. by Anonymous reply 21 01/22/2011 Difficult to chose between Bates, Swank, and Thompson, each of whom was not well known when they were cast in their plum roles. I went with Bates but it was a toss up.

The rest run the gamut from excellent work (Sarandon, Lange, and especially Macdormand) to good to ok; and then there's Paltrow, who gets the are you fucking kidding me prize. But Bates, Swank and Thompson tower over the rest. Macdormand is also unforgettable but her role could almost be called supporting - she doesn't appear to well into the movie. by Anonymous Fernanda Montenegro should SO have beaten Paltrow. by Anonymous reply 23 01/22/2011 Can the webmaster please fix the way percentages are shown in the poll results? Showing the values out to 20 decimals is like telling us how someone's mitochondria voted. by Anonymous reply 24 01/22/2011 I've seen every last one of those performances and Kathy Bates' is the only one that still holds up. Susan Sarandon's honored her career up to that point...she was great in Dead Man Walking, but KB was just awesome.

by Anonymous reply 25 01/22/2011 Again, two actors won consolation prizes for not getting Oscars for their best performances--Jessica Lange was superb in "Music Box" and Susan Sarandon should have been nominated and gone on to win for "Bull Durham" (she was also excellent in "Thelma and Louise", but vote splitting with Geena Davis took its toll). I voted for Thompson, who I thought far and away gave the best performance on that list. I place Jodie Foster second. by Anonymous reply 26 01/22/2011 I voted for Emma.%0D %0D %0D %0D %0D Gwynnie and Helen were the worst Best Actress winners ever by Anonymous

Question: Who won the Best Actress Oscar in 1990 for her role as Annie Wilkes in the film 'Misery'?
Answer: Kathy Bates