Category: Oscar Nominee

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Cactus Flower (1969)

His girlfriend Goldie Hawn values honesty above all else, which becomes a problem when dentist Walter Matthau decides he would like to marry her after previously telling her he was married with three children. Enter Ingrid Bergman, Matthau’s prudish assistant who holds a secret affection for her employer, who is enlisted to fill in as the imaginary wife. A light-hearted amusing romp, I appreciated it for being one of Bergman’s later roles and a rare comedic performance. I really dig Goldie’s mod style and her bubbly personality throughout the film, but it’s strange that she won an Oscar for a role that doesn’t seem that far-fetched from her normal persona.  Comedy  Romance

Oscar Win: Best Actress in a Supporting Role

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Betrayal (1983)

The adulterous love affair between Jeremy Irons and his best friend’s wife Patricia Hodge is told in reverse chronological order from a meeting two years after the affair ended to the first moments when Irons’s indicated his attraction to Hodge. Based on the semi autobiographical play of the same name written by Harold Pinter, the narrative is intriguing for its real life implications and innovative backwards storytelling. My biggest complaint would be to Ben Kingsley’s role as the cheated on spouse. His somewhat cool removed comes across as if he were aware of the affair from the beginning and just didn’t care, which seems to be at odds with the tale as laid out.

Oscar Nomination: Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium

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5 Broken Cameras (2011)

Purchasing a camera after the birth of his fourth son, Emad Burnat slowly began using it, and the four that later replaced it in succession, to film his village’s nonviolent resistance to the encroaching illegal Israeli settlements. Similar to the journalists in Burma VJ, Burnat’s work attempts to document the attacks of violence and coercion laid on the protestors by a military that is also willing to go to great lengths to see that the recordings cease to exist. Almost easy to dismiss as simply home movies made by a father, it’s a powerful testament to one part of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as witnessed by those whose lives are most gravely affected by the liberties that one side continues to take.  War

Oscar Nomination: Best Documentary, Features

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Children of Paradise (1945)

In the theatrical world of Paris’s Boulevard du Crime, unattainable courtesan Arletty encounters and forms relationships with four men of vastly disparate backgrounds and demeanors. Notable for being filmed during the Nazi occupation of France, it’s an incredibly sweeping epic that somehow never feels like it’s overstaying its more than three hour runtime as it details the intrigues of the five characters’ entwined lives. In a role inspired by the famous mime Jean-Gaspard Deburau, Jean-Louis Barrault is beautifully melancholic, bearing witness to the virtues of mime as an art form in ways I never knew possible while also portraying the desperate heartbreak of a love that, even when unrequited, won’t die.  Romance

Oscar Nomination: Best Writing, Original Screenplay

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Roommates (1995)

Following the deaths of both of his parents, D.B. Sweeney moved in with his 77 year old grandfather Peter Falk. What follows was thirty years of off and on living together through life’s ups and downs. The posters for this make it look like it’d be an intergenerational version of The Odd Couple, but it’s far from that. It’s mostly a maudlin portrayal of the difficulties of life that is only buoyed by a great performance by Falk and a criminally small appearance by Julianne Moore.

Oscar Nomination: Best Makeup

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The Boxtrolls (2014)

In the hilltop town of Cheesebridge, the human denizens fear the Boxtrolls, humanoid creatures who wear discarded boxes for clothing, who are rumored to have kidnapped a baby. Instead it’s the underground-living, peace-loving Boxtrolls, and the orphaned boy whom they have raised from infancy, who must fear the human Snatchers who are swiping trolls for nefarious purposes. An ugly bit of stop-motion animation distracts from a fairly charming albeit predictable story. Narratively, it reminds me a lot of Aardman productions, especially in its somewhat silly comedy parts.

Oscar Nomination: Best Animated Feature Film of the Year

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The Perils of Pauline (1947)

A seamstress in a sweatshop, Pearl White, portrayed here by Betty Hutton, discovers a change in careers when a set of circumstances leads her to starring in her own series of silent movies. A fairly standard biopic of the era, it focuses more on romance and songs than any adherence to reality. I’m not generally a fan of Hutton’s broad humor, but her fans will probably like her performance here. I’m fascinated about White’s history as a film pioneer, but that fascination isn’t to be fulfilled here.   Musical

Oscar Nomination: Best Music, Original Song

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Barton Fink (1991)

John Turturro is an up and coming New York playwright who accepts a contract to write scripts in Hollywood. The reality of the scriptwriting process proves to be more difficult than expected; he is assigned to write about an unfamiliar subject and regularly distracted by his insurance salesman hotel neighbor John Goodman. Difficult to interpret at many times, the film offers a dark perspective on the writing process, especially when it becomes a commercial endeavor. The performances are immensely committed, especially whenever combined with Turturro’s stand-out lead.

Oscar Nominations: Best Actor in a Supporting Role; Best Art Direction-Set Decoration; Best Costume Design

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Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country (2008)

During the Saffron Revolution with the government attempting to prevent anyone from accessing the Internet, video journalists in Myanmar risked severe penalties to secretly film what was happening in their country. Later that footage was smuggled so the world at large could bear witness. The film drops the viewer straight into the action, which makes it difficult for anyone unfamiliar with the situation to really follow what is going on. Luckily that’s not completely necessary to appreciate the film as a momentary celebration of the power of freedom of the press and of the people to join up in protest.

Oscar Nomination: Best Documentary, Features

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The War of the Worlds (1953)

When a large object falls from space, the hopeful reception by the naïve Californians is quickly dashed by the brutal destruction of the visiting Martians. Some brilliant set designs are unfortunately paired with an incredibly hokey story and under developed heroes. While I love a lot of 1950s SciFi films, this one takes itself a bit too seriously while not putting in enough effort for the audience to do so as well. The well-established ending comes along suddenly in a ‘we didn’t know quite where to go with this’ sort of way.  SciFi  Action

Oscar Win: Best Effects, Special Effects

Oscar Nominations: Best Sound, Recording; Best Film Editing

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