What Movie Did You Just Watch

[talonmalon333]

I feel like I'm only going to rewatch The Hobbit trilogy when I inevitably do a run of the six movies, starting with the first Hobbit and ending with Return of the King.

[Avaitor]

I'm going to look through all of the Best Picture nominations, from the first to last years and see which film was the most worth each time. I won't name all of the nominees, since that'll take too long. Feel free to look them up with me. And I'll also do this in 2 parts.

1927/1928

It's kind of hard to really compare all of the BP winners, since The Racket is very hard to find. 7th Heaven, which has nothing to do with the show, not so much, although I still haven't seen it- apparently it's good, though. Wings is a solid spectacle flick, almost like a Marvel or Star Wars movie of the silent era, and it's still pretty fun to watch now. Not a bad way to start off the Academy.

As for the Unique and Artistic Production, two of what might just among the best films, silent or otherwise, ever made were nominated- The Crowd, and Sunrise, with the latter winning. I'm sure Chang is fine too, but those two sure deserved something.

1928/1929-

I've honestly seen none of these, parts of the winner aside. The early sound musicals are pretty hard to watch, and probably always have been, and nothing seems to indicate that The Broadway Melody was any different. From what I can tell, this is a weak selection all in all.

1929/1930-

Although The Love Parade is among the best of the early musicals, brought to life by decent direction and Maurice Chevalier just being himself. If it was eligible for the previous award, that would have been just fine, but the winner for this ceremony was well deserved- All Quiet on the Western Front. Still among the best war films ever made.

1930/1931-

Meh, a pretty weak selection here as well. Fuck Cimarron. Among the most boring anythings I've ever seen.

1931/1932-

I've been keeping my eye for Shanghai Express, hoping it'll arrive on TCM's lineup, but it hasn't recently. As of now, the only nominee I've seen is the winner itself, Grand Hotel, which is important enough but pretty dry by today's standards. You'd think that with such a big talent pool, a better script would have been offered. But nope.

1932/1933-

I've only seen one of the nominees here, I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang, which is a fairly dated but still powerful prison picture. Considering the weak reception I've heard towards Cavalcade, and a lot of the other nominees, it might have deserved the win instead.

1934-

On the one hand, the winner is one of the finest comedies you'll ever see, It Happened One Night. The chemistry between Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert still pops 80 years later, and will continue to pop in another 80 years. Even the expected climax still lands, since the bond the film builds between its characters is so strong. But another excellent comedy, one that started what might be my favorite iflm franchise, is nominated here- The Thin Man, a fantastic mystery comedy that pokes fun of itself just as much as its willing to take its story and characters seriously. It's far less dry than the martinis Nick and Nora sip throughout, and would have been just as deserving of a win. The Gay Divorcee's pretty fun, too.

1935-

I've seen a few films here, but not the big winner itself- Mutiny on the Bounty will actually be on TCM tomorrow night, so maybe it's time that I change that. Of what I have seen though, Captain Blood and Top Hat are excellent films that could have only been made the way they were during this great era for pirate films and light musicals, where choreography and chemistry came before self-aware writing.

1936-

A couple of good nominees, but my choice would be Dodsworth, an intelligent, uncompromising look at an older couple dealing with divorce. I have still yet to see The Great Ziegfeld, though.

1937-

Frankly, Snow White should have been nominated, and won. I couldn't even make it through Emile Zola. And I recently just saw The Good Earth, which is a good adaptation of the book, but really needed actual Chinese actors in the leads.

1938-

I like Capra's older stuff, but I wasn't really impressed with You Can't Take It With You. I see two much better choices in this ballot- Robin Hood, which is not only one of the earliest, most gorgeous use of three-strip Technicolor, but is just an insanely FUN action movie. You can tell that everyone involved with the production, from the actors down to the sound people, were having a good time making this one. And then there's Grand Illusion, which is among Renoir's finest, a great precursor to WWII and Rules of the Game.

1939-

Wow! So many strong choices. Gone With the Wind is Hollywood excess at its finest, even if it's also Hollywood at its most blatantly racist. I can't condone the source's obvious support of the confederacy, but it's hard to not be sucked into the whole sweeping release today. That said, my choice might have been Ninotchka, a great comedy written by Billy Wilder before being allowed to direct his scripts. And Garbo laughs!

1940-

Ooh, some more great films, including two of my favorite comedies- The Philadelphia Story, and The Great Dictator. But the closest thing to a big win for Hitch, Rebecca, was still a deserved choice. I read the original novel not too long ago, but he really knocked its gothic vibe with almost no effort necessary. Having Laurence Olivier as his actor sure helped, as well.

1941-

It's popular to make fun of How Green Was My Valley in the years since snubbing Citizen Kane, and while it isn't nearly as good as it or Maltese Falcon, it is a very well made look at Welsh culture that's still pleasant to watch today. I would have voted for Kane too, but as far as safe BP choices go, the Academy has went with much worse one than this.

1942-

Mrs. Miniver is a fine enough support film made just in time for British soldiers heading into WWII, but it's hardly something great to watch today. While I'm sure the full, unaltered version of The Magnificent Ambersons may have been the best choice of them all, I think I'll side with Yankee Doodle Dandy, where James Cagney's mesermizing performance as George M. Cohen is still unbelievable to behold today.

1943-

Some great choices, but there's only one true choice here. You must remember this, a kiss is just a kiss, a sigh is just a sigh...

1944-

For whatever reason, I can't get myself interested in seeing Going My Way. I guess Bing Crosby just doesn't matter to our generation, even compared to, say, Sinatra. I'm sure it's fine, but against Double Indemnity or Gaslight? Well, I'd like to be surprised.

1945-

Oh man, now here are some great options. Mildred Pierce is an excellent noir, containing what is easily Joan Crawford's best performance, while Spellbound is fine practice for Hitch before Vertigo, containing gorgeous collaboration from Dali. But the winner is a fine pick itself. While there have been better films about alcoholism since, The Lost Weekend is an excellent look at the subject from Wilder, and is still rough today.

1946-

It's a Wonderful Life is the popular choice here, and The Razor's Edge is another fine potential, but I think the Academy made the right choice with The Best Years of Our Lives, a powerful take on postwar America. The film really deserves a better life on home video, though.

1947-

... I've got nothing. I've heard that Elia Kazan, one of the best actors' directors of them all, thought that Gentlemen's Agreement didn't work because of Gregory Peck's performance. I still want to see it myself to judge, but for now I've got nothing.

1948-

Laurence Olivier knocked it out of the park with Hamlet, which still holds up as among the best Shakespeare adaptations of them all. But it's not my choice, and neither is Treasure of the Sierra Madre, which I also really enjoy. The Red Shoes is one of the most important films I've ever seen. Hell, probably one of the best, period. I can't recommend it enough, even if you don't like ballet or fairy tales.

1949-

All I've seen here is A Letter to Three Wives and Twelve O'Clock High, both good films. I think I prefer the latter, though.

1950-

Oh man. I love All About Eve, and I love Sunset Boulevard. I even have seen Born Yesterday fairly recently, and enjoyed that a good deal as well. My favorite is probably Boulevard, though

1951-

I LOVE An American in Paris. Some of the best cinematography and choreography in all musicals, that ending in particular being a real winner. And Streetcar is an important part of American film culture, bringing method acting onto the world. But my vote would have gone to A Place in the Sun, among the best melodramas of them all. Everyone nails it here.

1952-

The Greatest Show on Earth is a weird-ass film. Worth seeing if you want to see Jimmy Stewart slowly die inside dressed as a clown. Nowhere near as good, or as intentionally awesome as High Noon.

1953-

I like From Here to Eternity, I like Shane, and I like Roman Holiday. I don't love or feel anything special for any of these, though. My favorite is probably Roman Holiday, but FHTE is a fine winner instead.

1954-

I'm not much for On the Waterfront, or Brando in general, but I can't deny its importance, so why bother fighting with the win? Especially since nothing here seem as worthy to take it instead. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers is a creepy as shit film, in particular. Great choreography, though.

1955-

Marty is another clear winner here, although I do like Mister Roberts and Picnic. This is the film that made Ernest Borgnine a star, and he couldn't have chosen a better film to do so with.

1956-

I haven't seen Around the World in 80 Days, although I kind of want to, just to see how it compares to the book I love. I have seen Giant and The Ten Commandments, though. Meh.

1957-

12 Angry Men and Witness for the Prosecution are fantastic, but Bridge on the River Kwai really was the best possible choice. If I'm picking a Billy Wilder film over something else, you know it's good.

1958-

Gigi is what happens when a despondent studio like MGM couldn't get the rights to My Fair Lady, and had to make do instead. There is fun and wit to be had, but there are much better musicals from the era to find first, and it also contains the biggest problem with An American in Paris in front and center- Leslie Caron. She just wasn't a very good actress, singer, or dancer, as much as Minnelli tried to hide this. Even Chevelier's presence isn't enough to save the film. If you want a better, more fun family film from the same year and ballot, look no further than Auntie Mame. But don't watch the musical version from the 70's starring Lucy.

1959-

I've tried more than once to sit through Heston's Ben-Hur, but haven't succeeded. 50's biblical epics just don't do much for me, although the original 1920's version is good. I'd have gone with Anatomy of a Murder, since North by Northwest wasn't nominated. Damn fine procedural.

1960-

Huh, Psycho wasn't nominated here, either. 1960 had 3 of my all-time favorite movies in its release released, but only one of them was nominated for Best Picture- and won, I might add. The Apartment goes through multiple emotions at once, and succeeds at everything it accomplishes with nary a hitch. This is the definition of a best picture, as it captures something relevant to the time, but contains enough human truth to make it eternally relevant. Bravo.

1961-

West Side Story is a fun musical, and it's just as progressive to Latina culture as it is offensive, which is good enough for this time frame. I'd probably vote for Judgment at Nuremberg, though.

1962-

To Kill a Mockingbird could have easily won in any other year, but this is Lawrence of fucking Arabia we're talking about. Two winners in a row, only David Lean.

1963-

...I'll get back to you.

1964-

My Fair Lady? Psssh, nah. As much as I dig Dr. Strangelove as competition, Mary Poppins deserved the gold this year. This might just be Disney's greatest statement, all in one powerhouse film.

1965-

Confession- I haven't seen The Sound of Music. I know of the plot, and have the general idea of the most famous songs down, but for some reason, I've never had the chance to see it. I do plan to rectify this soon, but of the nominees, Doctor Zhivago is a good follow-up to Lawrence, even if it isn't nearly as good. Ah well.

1966-

A Man for All Seasons is okay. That's about it. Sorry, Kevin Smith. But Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? just floors me. I would have loved to know it won instead.

1967-

And here's where I'm stopping for now. I'll be honest, I was really impressed with In the Heat of the Night when I saw it ages ago, but in hindsight, I don't remember much of it at all, and haven't felt the desire to see it since. And I recently saw Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, which means well but doesn't have much to offer today. And Doctor Doolittle, ha! It's all between Bonnie and Clyde and The Graduate, two films that have more or less changed Hollywood in the past 45+ years. Either would have been fine choices, but I'd personally side with the latter.

Part 2 will be up later!

[gunswordfist]

yeah, it sucks that there will probably not be another epic fantasy movie. i remember thinking thor 2 could have been that...

[Avaitor]

Now I'll finally try to do part 2!

1968-

Oliver! is a movie that I haven't seen all the way through, but am 99.99% sure that I've seen the whole thing. Considering how I couldn't even finish the book, it isn't that bad of a musical adaptation, but it's not what I'd call a great film. Now, a great adaptation would be Romeo and Juliet from this era. Way better than that Baz Luhrmann bs. That said, my choice would have been The Lion in Winter, a hell of a stage piece with some of Peter O'Toole and Katharine Hepburn's best acting. We were still at the tailend of the Golden Age, but great films were being made here for sure.

1969-

Midnight Cowboy, the first and only X-rated film to win Best Picture, is mighty tame by today's standards, but it is pretty good. It wouldn't have been my first choice for the year (maybe Easy Rider would have been), but there's enough merit and promise for a new, exciting Hollywood to make it a deserving win. The only other nominee I've seen here is Butch Cassidy, and I'm honestly not that hot on it.

1970-

I finally saw Patton for the first time a few months ago, and was quite impressed with it. George C. Scott nailed the role, and made the film exciting all the way through. While I also do think there is much to like about Five Easy Pieces and MASH, this wasn't a bad choice at all.

1971-

I like The French Connection, right down to that fantastic car chase, but I can't say that I like it or find it to be a better choice than either A Clockwork Orange or The Last Picture Show. But that's just me.

1972-

This is pretty much a Gravity/12 Years a Slave deal, where Cabaret won the bulk of the awards, but The Godfather took home the big one, along with a couple of other deserving wins. I can't say that I disagree with it too much, since the production and aesthetic behind Cabaret is great, but the book is just too clumsy to fully appreciate, while The Godfather... yeah. Not a bad decision, really.

1973-

The only film I haven't seen here is A Touch of Class. Everything else, I love! The Sting is one hell of a flick, as fun to watch now as it was 40 years ago, and is a deserved win all on its own. But my favorite film of the year wasn't nominated, I'm afraid- Badlands. Which did deserve the award even more, honestly.

1974-

I'll say this- The Conversation is my favorite Coppola movie, but I can't argue with his other picture from the year winning. Godfather Part II is about as perfect of a sequel as you can get, and really did cement that this new crop of filmmakers had plenty to say. Chinatown is another great one, but again, I can't really argue against the Academy here.

1975-

I really like all of these but Barry Lyndon, which is precisely the Kubrick that I don't like. My favorite has got to be Nashville, a great look at American culture with country music as a backdrop, but One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is a hell of a choice itself. I still get floored every time I watch it.

1976-

Rocky's a fine film, one that I really do appreciate. But I don't think that I would have voted for it. All the President's Men is a fantastic expose on the Watergate scandal, which came out at almost the right time for it. Taxi Driver is one of Scorsese's best, a gripping look at the life of a lonely wanderer, with equal parts sympathy and scorn behind it. And then there's Network. Oh my god, this is such a quotable film. I couldn't choose, but either of the latter two might have been it.

1977-

Woody Allen is a gross parasite who has no sympathy from me. I would never bother to defend his actions or reported lack of sympathy behind them... but as a filmmaker, I can't deny his talents. And Annie Hall really is a better film than Star Wars, and the right choice for Best Picture at the time. The dialogue just pops, as does his message. And Christopher Walken.

1978-

The Deer Hunter has some great moments throughout, but it's a bit jarring to sit through today, as it doesn't offer all that much for modern viewers. Or maybe it does, since it still has fans. Personally, Midnight Express is it for me, as rough as it is. Easily among the best prison pictures of them all.

1979-

I know that it's popular to hate on Kramer vs. Kramer since it isn't Apocalypse Now, but truthfully, I liked but wasn't blown away with AN, while I was surprised with how much of KvK I admire today. It does have a strong statement towards gender roles, and how they rule issues such as divorce. I also think it has one of Meryl's greatest performances, which she rightfully won her first Oscar for. But besides those, All That Jazz is... something.

1980-

I like various aspects of Ordinary People, but compared to Raging Bull, Coal Miner's Daughter, The Elephant Man? Nah.

1981-

Holy shit, Raiders was nominated? Well, since I still have no interest in Chariots of Fire, I would not have been opposed to that winning.

1982-

I like three of the nominees, don't like another, and haven't seen Missing (although it's on my queue). I think Gandhi was a good choice, myself.

1983-

Terms of Endearment isn't the most beloved award winner, but in truth, it holds up pretty well. The cast is strong all around, while James L. Brooks successfully pulls off a feature production in between his more iconic TV credits. It gets sappy, yes, but I think it was a better choice than either The Right Stuff or The Big Chill, good movies that do less for me on the whole.

1984-

Fun fact- I've read before that Amadeus and A Passage to India were basically tied by the Academy, until some form of intervening that I've since forgotten allowed the former film to walk home proud that night. Which is a good call, since Amadeus really is one of the best.

1985-

Ew, Out of Africa. My vote would have gone to The Color Purple, easily.

1986-

Hannah and Her Sisters is another good Allen film before... but Platoon was a better choice. Oliver Stone before he went batshit, and easily among his strongest films.

1987-

The Last Emperor isn't exactly among my favorite films, but it's a well-made film, and a better choice than... Moonstruck? That's all I've seen here. Huh.

1988-

Wow, I've seen none of these. Anyway...

1989-

I actually just put Driving Miss Daisy on my queue, so I have no opinion on it. All I have seen is Dead Poets Society, which I'm not much for.

1990-

Another year where I haven't seen the winner. But Goodfellas, man.

1991-

Beauty and the Beast will never be among my favorite Disney movies, but it is a good movie, and a respectable choice for the first animated Best Picture nominee. Similarly, while I'm not sure if I believe Oliver Stone's take on the JFK conspiracy, he made a heck of a movie out of it. But the winner was the right call. We may never see another horror film win again, and Silence was a damn fine one-off choice.

1992-

Unforgiven is really due for another viewing from me. It's a wonderful way to end Clint's western persona, a great film.

1993-

I like The Fugitive and The Piano, but again, the Academy chose well. Spielberg never did better.

1994-

Moving on...

1995-

Braveheart is crazy, not historically accurate at all, not always the right thing to deal with. Basically, the film version of Mel Gibson. But I like Apollo 13 just as much, a fine piece of popcorn filmmaking with one of Tom Hanks' best performances. The lack of Before Sunrise or Dead Man Walking is sad, though.

1996-

Elaine Benes. Moving on...

1997-

I'll never get the love for Titanic, myself. I've tried, but the thing just does nothing for me. LA Confidential, though, I can get behind any day of the week.

1998-

I haven't seen Shakespeare in Love, so I have no say. Saving Private Ryan loses me after the explosive opening, and while I like a lot of Life is Beautiful, I understand why it isn't for most people. My choice is The Thin Red Line, one of Malick's greatest creations.

1999-

Of all of these nominees, American Beauty is easily the best choice. But if Girl, Interrupted or Talented Mr. Ripley were nominated, on the other hand...

2000-

I do like Gladiator, stupidity and all, but I would have voted for Traffic instead. Or hell, maybe Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Not a bad year, really.

2001-

Ugh, not A Beautiful Mind. I'm sorry, but no. Give it to the hobbits or jukebox musical instead. Talk about a BM.

2002-

What I've seen of Chicago on stage points to a better musical than the film, which left me cold. I'm here for Gangs of New York instead.

2003-

I have interesting opinions on LOTR as a film franchise, but there's no doubt that it should have won this, and most of its other awards that night. So yeah.

2004-

One of these days, Million Dollar Baby will finally come here from my queue. Until then, all I've seen is The Aviator, which is good, but not among Marty's best.

2005-

Ew, fuck Crash. Every other choice is much better. No joke, take your pick!

2006-

I don't think that The Departed is among Marty's best either, but it's not a bad selection for his win, and it is a good film. I think that I like Little Miss Sunshine better, though.

2007-

I've tried on more than one occasion to appreciate No Country for Old Men, and it just never happened. I can tell that everyone involved was bringing their best, but I just can't care. I would have preferred There Will Be Blood instead, even if it is the last "conventional" film PTA makes. Also, Atonement should be here very soon. I liked the book, so I want to see how the film compares.

2008-

I remember liking Slumdog Millionaire pretty well when I saw it, which was just before the Oscar buzz came in. I haven't seen the film in years, but I'm not sure how it would hold up for me now. Of the other choices, Milk is a fine biopic, a great look at a great gay politician. I think that I prefer that now, in fact.

2009-

Frankly, I care not for The Hurt Locker. I think that it's a generic war picture, which won more due to Oscar politics than out of genuine quality. Although it did indeed deserve its awards over Avatar. That said, I do prefer every other film here that I've seen. And you can guess which would have got my vote if I had the chance to.

2010-

The King's Speech is pretty much the definition of Oscarbait, an agreeable film with great cinematography, tight acting, and a good message for typical Oscar votes to relate to. While it's a hell of a film to look at, my vote would have gone to The Social Network or Toy Story 3 instead.

2011-

I love The Artist. I fell in love with the concept the moment that I heard of it, and was happy to see it win. Although I was actually rooting for Hugo, which is Marty at his best, telling a powerhouse story with some of the best use of 3D I've seen, being one of the few times that I didn't mind paying for it. But my favorite film here, and of the decade, has to be The Tree of Life. I don't care if many people hate it, this is too grand of an experience to ignore. And must be played at full blast.

2012-

I'll get to Argo at some point. Otherwise, I don't have much to say on these choices, aside from Django being a good one. Following up Tarantino's disgust towards Nazis in Inglourious Basterds, he does a great attack on slavery, keeping the film as angry and energetic as it needed to be. The way the guy uses genre to get his themes across is why I keep coming back to his films.

2013-

12 Years a Slave will be here from Netflix very soon, so I'll finally get to see it. There are some wonderful films, but I think Her is my favorite of what I've seen thus far.

As you can tell, I got lazy near the end, as usual. But it was fun to look back at the Academy's choices over the years.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

If I'm not mistaken, the 1988 winner was Rain Man. That's one of my personal favorites.

Anyways, the Oscars is one of those things based more on tradition and older values than on actual quality, so it's no wonder why they get it wrong so many times.

[Avaitor]

In the past few weeks, I've been able to see the following films from last year-

-Whiplash- This was SO good. And intense, holy shit. The ending is the thing of legends, and more intense than most thrillers that I've seen. You can tell that this is a first-time director, since Chazelle has the energy of a newbie, but also the talent of a pro. Which is present from the use of hues in color, to how he stages Miles Teller and J.K. Simmons, who both seamlessly give wonderful performances. If Simmons doesn't win the Oscar, I don't know, man.
-A Most Violent Year- This really made New York in the 80's look GORGEOUS, thanks to fantastic cinematography, but it's a pretty flat crime story that you've probably seen done better a half dozen times at least. If you have an uncle, or a friend of your dad, or maybe just your own father that is really into The Godfather and The Sopranos, but don't care about other "prestige dramas", they'll probably love this. Otherwise, I don't recommend it.
-Selma- Beautiful. Absolutely magnificent. I really hope that Spielberg never makes his MLK movie, since there's no way that he could top this. It's one of the best experiences I've had in film in a long time, and really does make you feel like you're right there during the Civil Rights Movement. I think that I like this and Whiplash about the same, but I'd vote for this for BP if I could.
-Foxcatcher- Meh. Channing Tatum and Mark Ruffalo are great, Steve Carell less so. There are definitely some good moments, but I came out empty. Most of the people who saw this with me felt the same.

And I recently got my MoviePass card mailed to me, so I could do a free 2-week trial... except that you need an app for it to work, and my phone's too old to use it. So unless I get a new phone in a few days, I won't be able to use it. Which is a shame, since I wanted to take the chance to see American Sniper, Imitation Game, and Paddington, movies I have varied interest in seeing, but not enough to pay. As well as Mr. Turner, but that one is something that I wouldn't mind paying to see.

[Avaitor]

Oscars tonight! And I have a party with the other people in the film major here planned.

It seems like Birdman has become the new front-runner, surpassing Boyhood in the past couple of weeks. I still have yet to see either (although Boyhood should be here from Netdlix soon), so I can't compare, but these both seem like pretty non-traditional BP choices, so I'm happy.

[Foggle]

Finally saw Birdman. Excellent film in every capacity, but extremely depressing. I found myself relating to Michael Keaton's character a lot... which probably isn't a good thing.

[gunswordfist]

hang in there, foggle.

i want to do a a to z list here. maybe later.

[Avaitor]

Is anyone interested in the new Cinderella?

The Disney club I go to at campus is planning to go see it in two weeks, since this coming week will be our spring break. I'm honestly more interested in the Frozen short accompanying it, and I'm pretty sick of Frozen myself, but if any of my friends really wants to, I might join the group. I don't think they're going to have as big of a turn around as they did for Big Hero 6.

[gunswordfist]

I see no reason not to go.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

So, it looks like Netflix took down Big Trouble in Little China....just when I was planning to re-watch it for the competition. On the plus sid they do have The Apartment and Sunset Boulevard. They don't have Kung Fu Hustle, which I really wanted to re-watch, but at least they have Shaolin Soccer.

[gunswordfist]

Dammit.

[Avaitor]

Dang, and I've been wanting to give it a chance myself. I think my friend has a copy though, so maybe we'll watch it together soon.

I'm hoping to get through the first Karate Kid and Friday the 13th before they expire at the end of the month, as well. Can you believe that I haven't seen the latter yet? And it's been years since I've seen Karate Kid.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Spend the couple of bucks it costs on DVD. It's a re-watch movie.