Category: Best Film Editing

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Moulin Rouge (1952)

Unexpectedly this isn’t about the famous Parisian cabaret, but instead focuses on the life of one of its more famous early patrons, the artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, told mainly through his relationships with women. The result is a fairly standard biopic, with its typical stretches of the truth, that is greatly improved during the few glorious scenes set in the titular club. Jose Ferrer plays the tortured artist, and his father, quite impressively, especially when noting the efforts required to portray someone of a much shorter stature. The transition montages of Toulouse’s art does at least give the viewer exposure to the prolific artist’s work.  Best Picture Nomination

Oscar Win: Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color; Best Costume Design, Color; Best Costume Design, Color

Oscar Nominations: Best Picture; Best Actor in a Leading Role; Best Actress in a Supporting Role; Best Director; Best Film Editing

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The Good Earth (1937)

In early 1900s China, young farmer Paul Muni marries Luise Rainer, a slave in the village’s Great House. The couple experiences extremes of highs and lows together, wearing down every ounce of strength from the wife. If one can get beyond the very blatant yellowface, it’s an epic family drama that celebrates hard work and ingenuity to improve and maintain one’s station, though a bit too simplistically. The lead performances are a uneven when held in comparison; Muni is almost comically cheerful, while Rainer’s face is filled with sorrow often in the same scenes.  Best Picture Nomination

Oscar Wins: Best Actress in a Leading Role; Best Cinematography

Oscar Nominations: Best Picture; Best Director; Best Film Editing

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David Copperfield (1935)

Freddie Bartholomew plays the title character, an orphaned young boy who in Disney princess fashion encounters heroes and villains who guide him toward adulthood. For the most part, the film seems to follow Dickens’s tale and Bartholomew has a well earned reputation for his performances as a child actor. The film slows down in the second half when the character ages and Freddie leaves the story, but it remains an engaging adaptation that kept me interested in seeing the outcomes for the various characters.  Best Picture Nomination

Oscar Nominations: Best Picture; Best Film Editing; Best Assistant Director

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Midnight Express (1978)

Brad Davis is sent to a Turkish prison after attempting to smuggle 2kg of hashish out of the country. He’s initially given a sentence of four years for possession and he must decide whether or not to join fellow English-speaking prisoners John Hurt and Randy Quaid in taking the Midnight Express, slang in the prison for an escape attempt. Differentiating from the non-fiction book it was adapted from, it strangely includes a girlfriend character which adds some explicit sex scenes, while purposefully suppressing the homosexual sexual activity that actually happened. The depiction of the prison is a surprising oddity as the prisoners are allowed a bit of freedom of movement within its walls but are also subjected to a great amount of violence from guards and other prisoners. It’s a bleak reminder to not screw around when visiting other countries.   Best Picture Nomination  Crime

Oscar Win: Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium; Best Music, Original Score

Oscar Nominations: Best Picture; Best Actor in a Supporting Role; Best Director; Best Film Editing

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Mutiny on the Bounty (1962)

Ever since I first learned about the HMS Bounty, I’ve been fascinated by the story and how this group of mutineers changed the history of Pitcairn Island. In this version of one of the most famous mutinies ever, Captain Trevor Howard is so domineering and abusive that eventually even Marlon Brando has had enough and provokes a mutiny. While it does have some beautiful views of the expansive sea, this film is just way too long. It takes over half of its three plus hour runtime to even get to the actual mutiny. I was having a hard time getting into Brando’s portrayal (he has a very strange accent and various affectations), especially when compared to Clark Gable in the 1935 version, but I eventually warmed up as it makes sense that he’s rather sniveling and pompous until Howard’s callousness is even too much for him. For such a stupid long movie, the ending comes rather abruptly and doesn’t seem to have any connection to reality.  Best Picture Nomination

Oscar Nominations: Best Picture; Best Cinematography, Color; Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color; Best Film Editing; Best Effects, Special Effects; Best Music, Original Song; Best Music, Score – Substantially Original

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The Great Waltz (1938)

The life of Johann Strauss II is told through a generic love triangle between him, his wife Luise Rainer, and opera singer Milizas Korjus. The music is beautiful though Korjus’s singing is overwhelming and featured too frequently. Outside the musical scenes, the rest of the film is rather bland and unmemorable.  Music  Musical

Oscar Win: Best Cinematography

Oscar Nomination: Best Actress in a Supporting Role; Best Film Editing

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Don’t Look Up (2021)

Two astronomers Jennifer Lawrence and Leonardo DiCaprio discover a comet hurtling towards earth and find out in a post-truth worth that it’s impossible to get anyone to take the threat seriously and more importantly to find leaders who find it politically beneficial to do something about it. The satire is a bit too on the nose most of the time and the film drags for way too long. None of the characters feel real in any way, but there are some entertaining moments scattered throughout and the overall plot is probably as realistic as any other take on the story could be. Best Picture Nomination  SciFi

Oscar Nominations: Best Motion Picture of the Year; Best Achievement in Film Editing; Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Score); Best Original Screenplay

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tick, tick… Boom! (2021)

This is the film adaptation of the semi-autobiographical musical written by Jonathan Larson that was revamped after his death. In the film, Andrew Garfield is Jonathan, a composer and playwright approaching his 30th birthday and feeling pressure to meet the successes of his idol and mentor Stephen Sondheim while preparing for a workshop of his passion project Superbia. While I’ve never seen a production of this particular piece, Rent was the first stage production I personally bought tickets for myself and I am a fan of Larson’s work. The interweaving of Larson performing this piece with earlier preparations for the Superbia workshop along with his personal and internal struggles during this time is delicately balanced. There are bits of the music and story that hint to the future inspirations for Rent. Not known for musical work, Garfield fully embodies the late Larson in his performance. I’m unsure if I feel there were too many or not, but otherwise love the theatre cameos.   Musical

Oscar Nominations: Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role; Best Achievement in Film Editing

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The Power of the Dog (2021)

In 1920s Montana, ranchers Jesse Plemons meets and marries widowed inn owner Kirsten Dunst, much to the chagrin of his abusive brother Benedict Cumberbatch. During the summer, Dunst’s son Kodi Smit-McPhee visits the ranch and also endures Cumberbatch’s abuse but overtime finds common ground with the rancher. Not being a fan of Jane Campion nor really of Westerns, I didn’t have high expectations of going in, but I came away quite impressed. There’s a long interwoven tale here of shifting power dynamics, sexuality, and gender roles that slowly reveals itself and doesn’t become clear until its final moments, and maybe not even then. The performances are strong across the board and play against each other in incredible ways.  Best Picture Nomination  Western

Oscar Win: Best Achievement in Directing

Oscar Nominations: Best Adapted Screenplay; Best Motion Picture of the Year; Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role (2); Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role; Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role; Best Achievement in Production Design; Best Sound; Best Achievement in Cinematography; Best Achievement in Film Editing; Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Score)

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Die Hard (1988) – Rewatch

Beginning a Die Hard marathon, I had to start with a rewatch of the original. During Christmastime, NYPD cop Bruce Willis has recently arrived in Los Angeles in an attempt to reconcile with his estranged wife Bonnie Bedelia. He shows up at his wife’s office holiday party only to have his plans waylaid by a group of hostage-taking German terrorists, led by Alan Rickman. It’s not a surprise that this inspires yearly arguments over whether it counts as a Christmas film or not; people are just looking for an excuse to watch this classic again. It’s filled with plenty of action and humor. Unlike his recent roles, Willis does more than just squint at the camera and seems to actually be enjoying himself. Though I find his German accent a bit suspect, Rickman otherwise completely kills it as an absolutely iconic bad guy.  Action  Holiday

Oscar Nominations: Best Sound; Best Film Editing; Best Effects, Sound Effects Editing; Best Effects, Visual Effects

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