Category: Best Picture

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Nightmare Alley (2021)

I have been anticipating Guillermo del Toro’s adaptation of this title since watching the 1947 version last year. As in that earlier film, the main character, here played by Bradley Cooper, is a man who stumbles into a carnival job but has higher aspirations. I had been apprehensive toward Cooper carrying on the role, which were somewhat unfounded though he just wasn’t capable of really closing the the ending. This version has del Toro’s amazing visuals and incredible period details with a stellar cast that includes Cate Blanchett, David Strathairn, Willem Dafoe, and Toni Collette among countless others. Unfortunately it also adds almost 40 extra, almost all unnecessary, minutes to the story, dragging many of the parts on for way too long.  Best Picture Nomination

Oscar Nominations: Best Picture; Best Cinematography; Best Costume Design; Best Production Design

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Heaven Can Wait (1943)

When playboy Don Ameche arrives at the entrance to Hell, Satan has him recount the sordid details of his life to prove his worthiness. He enjoyed a lifelong love with his wife Gene Tierney with the expected ups and downs that occur in many relationships. His one big crime in life seems to be carrying on affairs throughout his marriage, though what these ‘affairs’ actually consist of doesn’t get explained beyond a bracelet bought for another woman. The lack of context behind his ‘bad’ ways makes the Hell premise nonsensical. Ameche is occasionally charming, the leads have a sweet meet-cute that leads to an elopement, and there’s some appealing supporting work done by Charles Coburn and Marjorie Main, but the rest just drags with me still wondering how he ended up in Hell in he first place.   Best Picture Nomination

Oscar Nominations: Best Picture; Best Director; Best Cinematography, Color

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Four Daughters (1938)

Claude Rains’s four daughters are all musically talented and ready to catch the eyes of the male musicians and neighbors who visit their home. The daughters are played by three of the Lane Sisters and Gale Page. Unfortunately Page sticks out as a sore thumb amongst the actual siblings. Though she tries, she lacks their natural camaraderie and charm. The story itself is mostly unmemorable with unnecessary tension added to the obvious central romance between Priscilla Lane and Jeffrey Lynn.  Best Picture Nomination

Oscar Nominations: Best Picture; Best Actor in a Supporting Role; Best Director; Best Writing, Screenplay; Best Sound, Recording

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Kings Row (1942)

Primarily featuring the perspective of future doctor Robert Cummings, the film follows a group of childhood companions as they grow up amongst the secrets and scandals in the titular small town. Also featuring Charles Coburn and Claude Rains in supporting roles, it showcases what is possibly the best film performance of Ronald Reagan’s entire screen career. Unsurprisingly the adapted material was greatly neutered by the Hays Code from the source novel as it apparently features references to incest and homosexuality, The film surprisingly still manages to include themes of euthanasia, mental illness, and blatant malpractice.   Best Picture Nomination

Oscar Nominations: Best Picture; Best Director; Best Cinematography, Black-and-White

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Sons and Lovers (1960)

Young aspiring artist Dean Stockwell’s ambitions and relationships with women are hindered by his ties to his supportive but domineering mother. The performances here are all exceptionally strong, especially Stockwell in the lead and Wendy Hiller and Trevor Howard as his parents. The story meanders a bit with the narrative not cleanly flowing between scenes, but there are surprisingly frank in its discussions and expressions of sexuality for a period piece made at the time.   Best Picture Nomination

Oscar Win: Best Cinematography, Black-and-White

Oscar Nominations: Best Picture; Best Actor in a Leading Role; Best Actress in a Supporting Role; Best Director; Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium; Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White

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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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Cries and Whispers (1972)

While Harriet Andersson painfully dies of uterine cancer, her sisters Liv Ullmann and Ingrid Thulin and servant Kari Sylwan keep watch, struggling to care for her while dealing with their own issues. I’m sure much of the film went over my head as it is quite stylized and the perspective quickly changes between the four women, but the performances reflect lives of pain and loneliness. Unforgettably the rooms these women embody are dramatically and oppressively covered in red while they themselves drift around in white dresses.   Best Picture Nomination

Oscar Win: Best Cinematography

Oscar Nominations: Best Picture; Best Director; Best Writing, Story and Screenplay Based on Factual Material or Material Not Previously Published or Produced; Best Costume Design

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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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