I'm afraid this is one of the best examples of how Oscars are rigged sometimes. One way you can figure it out is by looking at all those critics association awards that are handed out each year (Boston, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago...). Kim Basinger was hardly mentioned in any of them, and here she is, winning an Oscar and a Golden Globe (not BAFTA, though). Kevin Spacey had much more nominations for his role in L.A. Confidential than her and he didn't even get an Oscar nom.
Let's look how some of the most famous critics association voted that year in the supporting actress category:
Boston Society of Film Critics
Sarah Polley - The Sweet Hereafter (she wasn't even nominated for Academy Award)
Joan Cusack - In & Out
Alison Elliott - The Wings of a Dove
Chicago Film Critics Association
Debbi Morgan - Eve's Bayou (she wasn't even nominated for Academy Award)
Joan Cusack - In & Out
Julianne Moore - Boogie Nights
Joan Allen - The Ice Storm
Sarah Polley - The Sweet Hereafter
Los Angeles Film Critics Association
Julianne Moore - Boogie Nights
Gloria Stuart - Titanic
National Society of Film Critics
Julianne Moore - Boogie Nights
Sarah Polley - The Sweet Hereafter
Nathalie Richard - Irma Vep
New York Film Critics Circle Award
Joan Cusack - In & Out
Online Film & Television Association
Julianne Moore - Boogie Nights
Kim Basinger - L.A. Confidential
Joan Cusack - In & Out
Christina Ricci - The Ice Storm
Gloria Stuart - Titanic
Online Film Critics Society Award
Gloria Stuart - Titanic
Julianne Moore - The Myths of Fingerprints
Joan Cusack - Grosse Pointe Blank
San Diego Film Critics Society Award
Jurnee Smollett-Bell - Eve's Bayou (she wasn't nominated for Academy Award)
Satellite Awards
Julianne Moore - Boogie Nights
Minnie Driver - Good Will Hunting
Sigourney Weaver - The Ice Storm
Ashley Judd - Kiss the Girls
Debbi Morgan - Eve's Bayou
Society of Texas Film Critics
Joan Cusack - In & Out
Kim Basinger - L.A. Confidential
Southeastern Film Critics Association
Kim Basinger - L.A. Confidential
Julianne Moore - Boogie Nights
So, if we are to judge by critics association - Kim Basinger did not deserve to win because that year there were far better supporting actress roles than hers. Although I personally think she's great in it, I would give the Oscar either to Julianne Moore or Gloria Stuart... Hell, even Joan Cusack who was great in "In & Out".
L.A. Confidential is one of my favorite movies of all times and I love every character and every actor and actress in it - but if Kim Basinger didn't won an Oscar, I would've survived.
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