"E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial" wins four Academy Awards, "Das Boot" gets snubbed 1983

E. T. The Extra-Terrestrial was nominated for nine Oscars and won four at the 55th Academy Awards ceremony held April 11, 1983.  

It won Best Original Score for John Williams; Best Sound for Robert Knudson,Robert Glass, Don Digirolamo, and Gene Cantamessa; Best Sound Effects Editing for Charles Campbell and Ben Burtt; and Best Visual Effects for Carlo Ramaldi, Dennis Muren, and Kenneth F. Smith.

It had been nominated for Best Picture, Best Directing for Steven Spielberg, Best Writing (Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen), Best Cinematography, and Best Film Editing.

Das Boot, one of the best films ever, was nominated for six Oscars but did not win any of them.  It wasn't even nominated for Best Foreign Film, although none of the other foreign were nominated for any other awards.  I suppose the German film makers didn't do the wine-and-dine policy 20th Century Fox Studios did for Doctor Doolittle.

Ghandi was the big winner of the night with eight awards out of eleven nominations. Meryl Streep won Best Actress for Sophie's Choice.  Louis Gossett Jr. won Best Supporting Actor for An Officer and a Gentleman. Jessica Lange won Best Supporting Actress for Tootsie.  Teri Garr was also nominated for the award for Tootsie.

Victor/Victoria won Best Music (Original Song Score and its Adaption Score) for Henry Mancini and Leslie Bricusse.

"Jaws 3-D" released 1983

Another bad movie that I enjoy watching Jaws 3-D was released into theaters July 22, 1983.  It had a stellar cast with Dennis Quaid, Bess Armstrong, Simon MacCorkindale, Lea Thompson, and Louis Gossett, Jr.  Roy Scheider absolutely wanted no part of this movie. Quaid plays the grown up son Michael Brody of Scheider's previous role of Police Chief Martin Brody of Amity Island.

Jaws 3-D takes place in SeaWorld Orlando, where a young great white shark manages to enter from the sea and begins attacking and killing park employees. Mike Brody is a chief engineer for SeaWorld with his girl friend Kay Morgan as the senior biologist.  After they capture the shark, they realize that a much larger shark has also infiltrated the park.

Although it fared well at the box office, it did not enjoy the same success as its predecessors.  It was largely criticized, receiving an 11% rating from Rotten Tomatoes.  Jaws 3-D was nominated for five Razzie awards in 1984: Worst Picture, Worst Director, Worst Screenplay, and Worst Supporting Actor Louis Gossett, Jr.  The dolphins were also nominated for Worst New Star which is unfair, considering the material they had to work with.  Also, who said their acting was terrible?

"Roots" premieres 1977

Alex Haley's groundbreaking and controversial mini-series Roots premiered January 23, 1977.  It became one of the most-watched series on television and its finale is still among the highest number of viewers for an episode.  The story is a dramatization of Haley's ancestral heritage from Kunta Kinte's capture and arrival in America as a slave.

It won 9 Primetime Emmys and a Golden Globe for Best TV Series - Drama.  Louis Gossett, Jr. won a Primetime Emmy for Best Actor in a Drama or Comedy Series, Single Appearance and Ed Asner won for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy or Drama Series, Single Appearance.

It received an additional twenty-eight nominations.  Among the nominations for Best Actor/Actress and Best Supporting Actor/Actress were LeVar Burton (Geordi LaForge), John Amos, Ben Vereen, Madge Sinclair, Leslie Uggams, Cicely Tyson and Sandy Duncan.