Category: Oscar Nominee

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The Grandmaster (2013)

Kung fu grandmaster Ip Man reflects on his life after his fortieth birthday and the connection he had to Gong Er, the daughter and holder of the secrets of another grandmaster. Apparently there were a number of changes made from the original Chinese cut of the film to what was released for American audiences, including about 22 less minutes of runtime. The latter version is the one I watched and the editing made for a confusing product with a very choppy flow. It’s a beautiful looking film with some gorgeous fight choreography, but I’m not sure I got much from the film beyond that.

Oscar Nominations: Best Achievement in Cinematography; Best Achievement in Costume Design

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In Darkness (2011)

During World War II, a Catholic sewer worker and thief, despite his best misgivings, hid a group of Jewish people in the sewers of Lwów, Poland. Adapted from one of two books about the incident, the film suffers from coming after many better films on the Holocaust. The majority of the film is set in the sewer, which means much of the film is very dark and there are umpteen closeups of rats scurrying about. The runtime is already fairly long, but there isn’t a lot of time spent building the characters of the Jewish group before they go into hiding, which makes each person hard to discern in the dark. For better or worse, the film doesn’t shy from portraying the characters humanly. There is quite a bit of sex for a film about genocide and many scenes involve various characters yelling at each other.   War

Oscar Nomination: Best Foreign Language Film of the Year

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Amarcord (1973)

It is hard to not immediately compare this to The Hand of God as they are both Italian films featuring a teenager as he comes of age surrounded by a cast of eccentric characters. It’s obvious this influenced that other film. While I’m still rather done with films centered on white, teenaged boys, especially when they all seem to feature adults sexually taking advantage of children, this one exceeds the others as it allows the focus to move away from the boys and let the other characters have time to shine. Set in a Northern Italian seaside village during the 1930s Mussolini era, it offers a real sense of time and place while also having just enough surreal, dreaminess to invoke a feeling of nostalgic memory.

Oscar Win: Best Foreign Language Film

Oscar Nominations: Best Director; Best Writing, Original Screenplay

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Story of a Dog (1945)/One Survivor Remembers (1996)

As a dog lover, it’s difficult to enjoy Story of a Dog. The film follows a group of dogs as they go through Basic Training so they can serve with their trainers during World War II. The dogs are forced into unnatural situations, such as remaining calm during gun fire, just to fight in man’s war.   War  Animals

Holocaust survivor Gerda Weissmann Klein died this month, so I thought it was a good time to watch the short film that serves as her testimony, One Survivor Remembers. As the only survivor of her family, she was sent to various work camps along the German border, finally forced into a months long death march which killed all of her remaining friends, only to finally be liberated by the man she would eventually marry. Unlike some other Holocaust films that can verge on tragedy porn, this one maintains a steadfast focus on Gerda’s gracious telling of her story.  War

Oscar Win: Best Documentary, Short Subjects (One Survivor Remembers)

Oscar Nominations: Best Short Subject, One-reel (Story of a Dog)

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San Antonio (1945)

Cattle rustling is rampant in Texas and Errol Flynn has the evidence that Paul Kelly is responsible. He has to survive the general lawlessness of San Antonio and the attraction to visiting singer Alexis Smith in order to arrest his prey. The stakes don’t feel particularly high in this film, but there is plenty of gun-play especially in a full-throttle, no holds barred, barroom brawl. The costumes are prettier and less rugged than a John Wayne western, but that helps to highlight the athleticism and charm of Flynn.  Western

Oscar Nominations: Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Color; Best Music, Original Song

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The Gay Parisian (1941)/ Forty Boys and a Song (1941)

The Ballet Russe de Monte-Carlo interprets the story of The Gay Parisian, about a visiting Peruvian falls in love with a dancer who is already in love with a baron, through dance. It’s rather chaotic with many people on the set dancing at once, which made me glad for the introductions to all the main characters before the start. The costumes and set are beautifully expansive as a result.

In 1934 Robert Mitchell established a special school for young boys that forms the choir shown in Forty Boys and a Song. The film features scenes with the boys in class and on a camping trip, all as a showcase for the singing talents of the choir. I like little behind the scenes shorts on Hollywood such as this. The choir performed in over 100 feature films over the years, including the Best Picture winner Going My Way.  Music

Oscar Nominations: Best Short Subject, Two-reel (The Gay Parisian); Best Short Subject, One-reel (Forty Boys and a Song)

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The V.I.P.s (1963)

A group of rich and famous people are majorly inconvenienced when they are stranded at Heathrow Airport due to fog. The film delves into all the mundane details of the rich people problems that these rich, white people are facing and how the delay could bring ruin to each of them. It’s generally boring, particularly as it insists on focusing mainly on Elizabeth Taylor leaving Richard Burton for a more appealing younger man. Even young Maggie Smith is underutilized as a secretary unrequitedly in love with her boss The airport setting is somewhat fun, particularly in its period details, and Margaret Rutherford is a delight, though also underused, as a scatterbrained duchess trying to save her family’s estate.

Oscar Win: Best Actress in a Supporting Role

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The Sandpiper (1965)

Single mother and artist Elizabeth Taylor’s delinquent son is forced by the courts to attend headmaster Richard Burton’s school. Though he is married to Eva Marie Saint, he begins an affair with the free-spirited Taylor. All the men in the film seem to have been in love with Liz at some point and she is really gorgeous in the film. I suppose audiences at the time might have enjoyed Taylor and Burton carrying on an extramarital affair onscreen in a way that somewhat mirrored their own lives, but I personally don’t feel much chemistry between the two of them. I relate most to Saint’s level-headed, sensible character and the film wastes her power.

Oscar Win: Best Music, Original Song

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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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Shall We Dance (1937)

Ballet dancer Fred Astaire falls for Ginger Rogers, but she doesn’t want anything to do with him. When a ruse goes awry, they must pretend to be married for the sake of their careers. This is my last Astaire-Rogers pairing and while it’s not my favorite, there are a couple of moments that shine. While they are on a ship travelling back to the United States, they spend a lot of time bonding on the dog walking deck, which the deck is very cute with all the puppies walking and in special ship kennels. The highlight remains the tape dancing routine between the two of them on roller skates. I watched it multiple times just to watch the intricate overlap between their tap skills and skating while dancing together.   Musical

Oscar Nomination: Best Music, Original Song

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