In 1980, Martin Scorsese made what may be the finest film of the ’80s, Raging Bull, but lost Best Picture and Best Director to a matinee idol directing his first film (Robert Redford, with Ordinary People). Ten years later, in 1990, Scorsese made what may be the finest film of the ’90s, Goodfellas (pictured), but lost Best Picture and Best Director to a matinee idol directing his first film (Kevin Costner, with Dances With Wolves). Scorsese seemed jinxed; indeed, he wouldn’t win Best Picture and Best Director until 2007 with The Departed. Still, it’s no wonder Goodfellas lost to Dances. A sprawling Western that finally gave American Indians their due, it allowed the Academy to indulge its fondness for weighty historical epics and to right some old wrongs. (Remember, Marlon Brando had famously refused his Godfather Oscar in 1973 in protest of Hollywood’s long history of mistreatment of Native Americans.) Plus, the Academy always likes it when actors make good by creating their own opportunities behind the camera; see Stallone for Rocky, Redford for People, Emma Thompson for her Sense and Sensibility screenplay, and Matt Damon and Ben Affleck for writing Good Will Hunting. Compared to Dances, it’s no wonder Scorsese’s morally ambiguous crime drama left voters cold. At least they couldn’t deny the genius of Joe “How am I funny?” Pesci’s performance and gave him Best Supporting Actor.