Nikki Finke's Deadline Hollywood Daily » Oscars "In Memoriam" Omissions

My commenters and emailers are pointing out whom AMPAS failed to honor this year. (Please let me know if there are more names.) There's outrage over missing Patrick McGoohan, so good in Braveheart. I think my pal Bernie Brillstein wasn't included. Don LaFontaine, THE voiceover artist on most film promotion, was omitted even though he was also the voice of the Oscars. Not included was George Carlin. And it's inexplicable why Irv Brecher, one of the movies' greatest writers and actually nominated for an Oscar (Meet Me in St. Louis) was left off the list.

I really didn't like the way they presented the In Memoriam montage this year. I thought the live song by Queen Latifah was a nice touch, but then when they kept switching the cameras to focus on her and you couldn't even see those being honored that ship quickly sank. I guess it was another experiment. I can't believe they left out George Carlin. Granted, he wasn't in a lot of movies, but he had a huge impact and was one of the hardest working people in the industry. It seems like they miss some big ones every year (Brad Renfro anyone?) and honestly, it's got to be a tough job but you think they'd do a bit more checking when it comes to such a serious thing.