Despite four nominations, including Best Picture, “A Few Good Men” was the only nominee in 1992 to leave the Oscar telecast empty-handed.

“Fatal Attraction” ws nominated for six Oscars, including Best Picture, but lost in each category; the big winner was Bertolucci's “The Last Emperor.”

“A Farewell to Arms” was nominated for four Oscars, including Best Picture, winning two, for Cinematography and Sound Recording.

Over the years very few horror films were nominated for Best Picture, and even fewer won, such as “The Silence of the Lamb,” in 1991. No doubt the Academy voters were impressed by the blockbuster status of “The Exorcist,” which in 1973 competed for the top Oscar with George Lucas' “American Graffiti,” the comedy “Touch of Class,” with Glenda Jackson, Ingmar Bergman's brilliant “Cries and Whispers,” and George Roy Hill's “The Sting,” which won.

This year, the Best Documentary category is expectedly the most political and polemic one. Three nominees out of the five are about the war on terrorism, and their presence alone is reminder of the dark times in which we live.