Take a look at the announcement of the nominees for the 63rd Academy Awards. Particularly, 2:52 onward. Listen, you'll hear murmurs, stunned surprise, as the third Best Picture nominee is named: Ghost.
Well, why not Ghost? A supernatural romance about a murdered man's ghost trying to save his living girlfriend from being the killer's next victim, it's a film with something for everyone: hot protagonists (Patrick Swayze! Demi Moore! Tony Goldwyn!), Whoopi Goldberg providing comic relief, heartfelt conversations about faith and the afterlife, about love and the expression of it, and the kind of ending guaranteed to wring tears. Critics, from what I can tell, were generally, "Eh," on it, with the main criticisms being its various tones and the "sentimental" finale.
Audiences, on the other hand, loved it. In its first weekend following its July 22nd release, Ghost settled for the #2 slot while Die Hard 2 took #1. The week after, it was #1; by the end of the year, it was the top-grossing movie of 1990 - not just in the USA, in the world. It brought the Righteous Brothers' recording of "Unchained Melody" back to the Billboard charts. In the leadup to the Oscar nominations, it was acknowledged as among the best of the year by the American Society of Cinematographers, the American Cinema Editors, the Writers Guild of America, and the Golden Globes. Before its Best Picture nomination, it had already, that very morning, captured nominations for Best Supporting Actress (Whoopi Goldberg - who won), Best Original Screenplay (which it won), Best Film Editing, and Best Score. The critics were shocked and appalled, but people liked the movie!
I'll get more into my own feelings on Ghost when I discuss the Best Picture nominees. I've also already given my thoughts on The Two Jakes (August 10) and The Exorcist III (August 17). So here are other releases comprising Summer 1990...
