Matt's Big Oscar Challenge: The Missing List

Just thought I'd finish off for now with a little bit of housekeeping as I look at the films on the challenge that have evaded me.

I'm actually pretty surprised that I managed to watch as many Best Picture nominees as I did and this was primarily due to a lot of nefarious viewing earlier this year. In fact, of the 520 films that have been nominated for Best Picture over the years, there are only four that I failed to watch. These four films are:

1) The Patriot: Nominated for Best Picture at the 2nd ceremony; The Patriot stars Emil Jannings as a Russian Tsar. The Patriot is the only Best Picture nominee for which a full film reel no longer exists and its status as a lost film meant that I could cross it off of my list early on.

2) East Lynne: Frank Lloyd's 1931 film is an adaptation of Ellen Wood's novel of the same name and stars Ann Hardy and Conrad Nagel in the lead roles. Despite not being a lost film, only one print of the movie currently exists at the University of California's Media Lab. Maybe one day I'll be able to fly out there and make an appointment to view it but for now at least I'll have to chalk that one up as a film that I'm unable to see.

3) Flirtation Walk: Frank Borzage's musical film was nominated at the 1934 ceremony and starred Dick Powell and Ruby Keeler. Of the four films I'm unable to see, Flirtation Walk is the one that I'm a little mad about missing as there's no reason why there was no copy available to me. However, it's a film that I'm going to keep searching for and one day may be able to add it to this blog.

4) The White Parade: Nominated in the same year as Flirtation Walk, Irving Cummings' film focuses on trainee nurses and stars Loretta Young in the lead role. Like East Lynne, only one copy of The White Parade exists and once again its available to view at the same media lab. Maybe I should start a Kickstarter campaign to get myself over to L.A. but again I'm not too worried about not seeing this film.

So that's truly it for now, thanks everybody who's followed me on this wild journey and I'll attempt to write my list of all the Best Picture winners in due course.

Matt's Big Oscar Challenge: Reviewing the Ceremonies 82-87 (2010-2015)

So that really is it, after five long years and over five hundred films I've finally come to the end of my Big Oscar Challenge. Don't worry though there's more on the way as at some point I plan to create a list ranking every Best Picture winner and also I'm currently in the process of moving the blog onto a snazzier Wordpress format. But for now at least let's look back at the Academy's most recent decisions in the Best Picture category.


Ceremony 82 (2010)
Winner: The Hurt Locker
Nominees: Avatar, The Blind Side, District 9, An Education, Inglourious Basterds, Precious, A Serious Man, Up, Up in the Air
Did the Right Film Win? Yes
The Hurt Locker felt like a timely winner in the Best Picture category primarily due to what was happening in Iraq and Afghanistan at the time. Although some of the fellow nominees have their plus points I feel that The Hurt Locker's win is more than justified.

Ceremony 83 (2011)
Winner: The King's Speech
Nominees: 127 Hours, Black Swan, The Fighter, Inception, The Kids are All Right, The Social Network, Toy Story 3, True Grit, Winter's Bone
Did the Right Film Win? No
As much as I love the story in The King's Speech, it feels like a film that doesn't truly reflect the time period in which it was made. Instead I would of rather had The Social Network or Inception as the winner this year as both have something to say about modern technology and both are more visually spectacular that this year's eventual victor.

Ceremony 84 (2012)
Winner: The Artist
Nominees: The Descendants, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, The Help, Hugo, Midnight in Paris, Moneyball, The Tree of Life, War Horse
Did the Right Film Win? Yes
I feel like this was a year of right place, right time for The Artist which is a film that I had problems with but was the best of a rather tired bunch of nominees. Of the alternatives I would say that The Descendants is possibly a better film and The Help feels more like classic Oscar bait. But in the end I'm glad that this movie about movies won over the academy as it is still a joy to watch.

Ceremony 85 (2013)
Winner: Argo
Nominees: Amour, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Django Unchained, Les Miserables, Life of Pi, Lincoln, Silver Linings Playbook, Zero Dark Thirty
Did the Right Film Win? Yes
Not as good of a collection of films as the past couple of years but a couple of gems in amongst the more obvious Oscar picks. Argo for me was a quality selection for the win with only Amour or possibly Beasts of the Southern Wild being adequate replacements.

Ceremony 86 (2014)
Winner: 12 Years a Slave
Nominees: American Hustle, Captain Phillips, Dallas Buyers Club, Gravity, Her, Nebraska, Philomena, The Wolf of Wall Street
Did the Right Film Win? No
Although some people loved 12 Years a Slave I think it's possibly Steve McQueen's worst film to date. Meanwhile the brilliant Gravity shone from a technical standpoint and was also an incredibly easy watch given its reduced time limit. Additionally I think that Captain Phillips would've been another fine alternative as I was gripped from beginning to end by Paul Greengrass' fraught tale.

Ceremony 87 (2015)
Winner: Birdman
Nominees: American Sniper, Boyhood, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Imitation Game, Selma, The Theory of Everything, Whiplash
Did the Right Film Win? No
Although Birdman was an enjoyable enough film I thought that it won primarily due to the fact that it focused on older actors and the movie business as a whole. Compare that with Boyhood, a film that documents the first years of the 21st century and prevents a tale that is truly universal. More than that I can't believe that Richard Linklater was overlooked for directing a film that took him a massive twelve years to complete.

Matt's Big Oscar Challenge: Reviewing the Ceremonies 72-81 (2000-2009)

So we've come to the end of our final full decade and it's been a particular joy for me to relive some of the films that got me hooked on cinema in the first place. From a personal point-of-view this decade was also when I got really hooked on the Oscars staying up late for most of the ceremonies starting at number 74.

In terms of the film themselves I think the 21st century saw the academy take a diverse view of what sort of films should be included in their line-up. There did seem to be a shift away from costume drama and war movies in favour of big-budget fantasy fare or more subtle film-making. At the same time there were still a lot of people complaining that certain bigger films were being ignored by the Oscars, especially during the latter half of the decade. That's part of the reason that, as we shall shortly see, the Academy decided to widen the field again and honour up to ten films a year.

Ceremony 72 (2000)
Winner: American Beauty
Nominees: The Cider House Rules, The Green Mile, The Insider, The Sixth Sense
Did the Right Film Win? Maybe
There's no denying that American Beauty is an accomplished, well-written film filled with fine performances and therefore it's one of the better films to win Best Picture. At the same time, in my opinion, The Insider is the better film overall and ultimately deserved the win more.

Ceremony 73 (2001)
Winner: Gladiator
Nominees: Chocolat, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Erin Brockovich, Traffic
Did the Right Film Win? Yes
I think from an overall stand point Gladiator succeeded in combining stunning visuals, fine performances and a well-paced story. The only film that came close to equally Gladiator was Traffic I think that was a little much of a contemporary tale for the Academy to honour.

Ceremony 74 (2002)
Winner: A Beautiful Mind
Nominees: Gosford Park, In the Bedroom, The Lord of The Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Moulin Rouge
Did the Right Film Win? No
This was one of those rare occasions where all four films were in some way better than A Beautiful Mind. My pick would be the emotionally gripping In the Bedroom or the incredibly unique Moulin Rouge but any of the four would've been better than the long-winded biographical affair that ultimately clinched the prize.

Ceremony 75 (2003)
Winner: Chicago
Nominees: Gangs of New York, The Hours, The Lord of The Rings: The Two Towers, The Pianist
Did the Right Film Win? No
Don't get me wrong I like Chicago but there are at least two superior films in this list of nominees. Whilst overblown, Gangs of New York is at least a worthier candidate however I'd select The Pianist as a great historical film with real heart. I suspect the only reason that it didn't win on the night is that the Academy didn't want to bestow two awards on the infamous Roman Polanski.

Ceremony 76 (2004)
Winner: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Nominees: Lost in Translation, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, Mystic River, Seabiscuit
Did the Right Film Win? Yes
I feel that Oscar had to honour the Lord of the Rings trilogy at some point and it was fitting that it was the franchise's final instalment that swept the board. That being said this ceremony featured a rather strong field with the possible exception of racehorse saga Seabiscuit.

Ceremony 77 (2005)
Winner: Million Dollar Baby
Nominees: The Aviator, Finding Neverland, Ray, Sideways
Did the Right Film Win? Maybe
This is one of those years were I'm completely undecided on what film should have won the prize. In my opinion Sideways is the best film of the five but at the same time it doesn't feel like an Oscar winner. Whilst Million Dollar Baby was a worthy winner it's last act was a little too mawkish for my liking and it's nearest competition, the opulent The Aviator may just have edged it out in terms of quality. But I have no problem with Million Dollar Baby being that year's Best Picture recipient as it still stacks up nicely against previous winners.

Ceremony 78 (2006)
Winner: Crash
Nominees: Brokeback Mountain, Capote, Good Night and Good Luck, Munich
Did the Right Film Win? No
While not, as some claim, the worst Best Picture winner ever it's true to say that Crash wasn't the most accomplished nominee that year. In a year that was packed full of serious 'issue-based' films I'm going to have to go with the majority and say that Brokeback Mountain was the film that stuck with me the most. However, I also believe that Good Night and Good Luck felt more like an Oscar winner than Crash and would've been happy if either that or Brokeback had clinched the title in 2006.

Ceremony 79 (2007)
Winner: The Departed
Nominees: Babel, Letters from Iwo Jima, Little Miss Sunshine, The Queen
Did the Right Film Win? Yes
Whilst there are no dud nominees this year I feel that Martin Scorsese's crime epic was the rightful winner from this group of five. It was also great to see him pick up his long-awaited Best Director Oscar after many prior nominations.

Ceremony 80 (2008)
Winner: No Country for Old Men
Nominees: Atonement, Juno, Michael Clayton, There Will Be Blood
Did the Right Film Win? Maybe
I really like No Country for Old Men but Oscar's eightieth ceremony had one of its best field of contenders ever. I personally think that There Will be Blood is the better film and feels more like a Best Picture winner than No Country but at the same time I do feel that the Coens did deserve their awards.

Ceremony 81 (2009)
Winner: Slumdog Millionaire
Nominees: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Frost/Nixon, Milk, The Reader
Did the Right Film Win? Yes
It's fair to say that, after the strong field of nominees the year before this was a rather weak offering in comparison. Despite its faults, Slumdog's feelgood ending and superb visuals best any other of its rival with Milk being the next best film on the list.

Next time I have more filling in the gaps to do as I go back several decades in more Days of Future Past specials.

Matt's Big Oscar Challenge: Reviewing the Ceremonies 62-71 (1990-1999)

So we've to the end of another decade and in fact the end of the century as we've watched the last Oscar-nominated films of the 20th century. As a whole the decade saw the beginning of the trend of the Oscar campaign. The name of Harvey Weinstein and his Miramax company has frequently been mention throughout the decade sometimes in a negative manner. Whilst Miramax were responsible for bringing Pulp Fiction and Good Will Hunting to the public they also aggressively pushed for Shakespeare in Love to win Best Picture. There was also an over-abundance of films set in the past being nominated, a trend that would continue into the new century. But for now we'll do what we always do and explore whether or not the 1990s Best Picture Winners actually deserved their prize.


Ceremony 62 (1990)
Winner: Driving Miss Daisy
Nominees: Born on the Fourth of July, Dead Poets Society, Field of Dreams, My Left Foot
Did the Right Film Win? No
Quaint as it was, Driving Miss Daisy was an unremarkable drama that was memorable purely for its performances. The fact that director Bruce Beresford wasn't even nominated for helming the film tells you all you that nobody expecting Miss Daisy to win the award in the first place. I'd probably say that Born on the Fourth of July deserved to win the most due to its fantastic visuals and Cruise's central performance. However my favourite film of the five was My Left Foot which felt like the underdog film that should have triumphed against the more famous competition.

Ceremony 63 (1991)
Winner: Dances with Wolves
Nominees: Awakenings, Ghost, The Godfather Part III, Goodfellas
Did the Right Film Win? No
I personally found Kevin Costner's Civil War epic to be tiresome and lacking in any real tension to speak off. Despite not considering it the classic that most do, I think that Goodfellas is the most accomplished film here and should have been given the Best Picture award at this year's ceremony.

Ceremony 64 (1992)
Winner: The Silence of the Lambs
Nominees: Beauty and the Beast, Bugsy, JFK, The Prince of Tides
Did the Right Film Win? Yes
By process of elimination I think that Jonathan Demme's psychological thriller was probably the most worthy winner this year. The Prince of Tides was too soppy, JFK was too long-winded and Bugsy was an enjoyable romp but nothing special. An argument can be made for Beauty and the Beast but I feel that the Academy saw it as too much of a children's film to grab the prize. Ultimately The Silence of the Lambs' win was a refreshing change as creepy films like it rarely get nominated let alone win.

Ceremony 65 (1993)
Winner: Unforgiven
Nominees: The Crying Game, A Few Good Men, Howard's End, Scent of a Woman
Did the Right Film Win? Yes
Of the five films nominated this year Clint Eastwood's measured and thoughtful western stands head and shoulders above the rest. Although A Few Good Men was well-paced and Howard's End had its moments this was definitely the year to honour the excellent work Eastwood had done throughout his career.

Ceremony 66 (1994)
Winner: Schindler's List
Nominees: The Fugitive, In the Name of the Father, The Piano, The Remains of the Day
Did the Right Film Win? Yes
As much as I enjoyed all of the nominees in different ways there's no denying that Schindler's List is oneo f the best films of all time.

Ceremony 67 (1995)
Winner: Forrest Gump
Nominees: Four Weddings and a Funeral, Pulp Fiction, Quiz Show, The Shawshank Redemption
Did the Right Film Win? No
It's fair to say that I enjoyed Forrest Gump more than I thought I would but to me it ranks third on the most deserving films nominated this year. Pulp Fiction was such an original concept at the time that I'm surprised it was nominated but a win would've shown that the academy were progressive. But if you were going to choose a feelgood winner then The Shawshank Redemption had the heart of Forrest Gump plus a lot of the grit that the ultimate winner didn't possess. Ultimately this award should have gone to Frank Darabont's prison drama rather than Robert Zemeckis' modern day fable.

Ceremony 68 (1996)
Winner: Braveheart
Nominees: Apollo 13, Babe, Il Postino, Sense and Sensibility
Did the Right Film Win? No
I didn't have as much of a problem with Braveheart as a lot of others have although the acting, particularly from Gibson was over the top. Still, I found Apollo 13 to be a lot more compelling and felt that a drama focusing on more modern history should have been given a win. In fact any of the nominees, with the exception of Babe, would've been a worthy alternative to Gibson's Scottish epic. On a personal note this is the first Oscar ceremony I remember watching pieces of probably due to the fact that I'd seen two of the nominated films.

Ceremony 69 (1997)
Winner: The English Patient
Nominees: Fargo, Jerry Maguire, Secrets and Lies, Shine
Did the Right Film Win? Yes
As much as I liked Fargo and Secrets and Lies there was only obvious choice to win Best Picture this year. With its sumptuous location shooting and brilliant ensemble cast, The English Patient was more than a deserving winner of Oscar's top accolade.

Ceremony 70 (1998)
Winner: Titanic
Nominees: As Good as it Gets, The Full Monty, Good Will Hunting, L.A. Confidential
Did the Right Film Win? Maybe
In some ways Titanic's place as the seventieth Best Picture winner makes sense. The film was full of groundbreaking technical advancements and contained some gripping moments. But in terms of storytelling and character development it was the weakest of the five films nominated that year. In its place I would've put L.A. Confidential; a stylish, well-written and well-acted piece which harks back to the style of earlier decades whilst at the same time feeling utterly modern.

Ceremony 71 (1999)
Winner: Shakespeare in Love
Nominees: Elizabeth, Life is Beautiful, Saving Private Ryan, The Thin Red Line
Did the Right Film Win? No
While Shakespeare in Love was an enjoyable romp, it was nowhere near the masterpiece that Saving Private Ryan was. Spielberg's war epic should have won Best Picture this year and it's down to a number of dirty tactics that saw Shakespeare in Love triumph instead.

That's it for the 20th century, I will return sporadically throughout the next few months with posts concerning the early 2000s and I'm hoping to conclude this challenge somewhere around next year's Oscars.

Matt's Big Oscar Challenge: Reviewing the Ceremonies 52-61 (1980-1989)

The history of the Oscars featuring a certain type of film really began in the 1980s. Although there was the odd interesting selection, Fatal Attraction I'm looking in your direction, ultimately the winners were a mixture of relationship drama and worthy period pieces. Whereas the 1970s Best Picture nominees showcased exactly what was happening in film during that decade, I don't think the 1980s did. Films such as Back to the Future, Full Metal Jacket and Scarface were all cruelly discarded by the academy in favour of much less adventurous fare. As we always do at this time we'll look back at whether the right film won at the 1980s ceremonies and, if not, which other nominee deserved the prize.


Ceremony 52 (1980)
Winner: Kramer Vs Kramer
Nominees: All that Jazz, Apocalypse Now, Breaking Away, Norma Rae
Did the Right Film Win? No
I really enjoyed Kramer Vs Kramer but at the same time I do feel that Apocalypse Now should have won as it's a modern classic and is definitely a better made film. From a purely personal standpoint I believe that Breaking Away was ultimately a more entertaining movie and out of the five is the one that I'd like to rewatch the most.

Ceremony 53 (1981)
Winner: Ordinary People
Nominees: Coal Miner's Daughter, The Elephant Man, Raging Bull, Tess
Did the Right Film Win? No
As a film, Ordinary People is incredibly disjointed and the best thing in it, Donald Sutherland's performance, wasn't even Oscar-nominated. From it's fantastic opening sequence onwards, Raging Bull is a terrific film and I believe deserved to win Best Picture this year.

Ceremony 54 (1982)
Winner: Chariots of Fire
Nominees: Atlantic City, On Golden Pond, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Reds
Did the Right Film Win? Maybe
Chariots of Fire was a pleasant enough film but, to me at least, it didn't have the feel of a Best Picture Winner. That being said there isn't one film that stands out as a potential alternative however the epic Reds does feel more like an ideal candidate. I personally would've gone with the rather sedate but incredibly well-acted On Golden Pond which may be cheesy but does include some fine final performances from both Henry Fonda and Katharine Hepburn.

Ceremony 55 (1983)
Winner: Gandhi
Nominees: E.T, Missing, Tootsie, The Verdict
Did the Right Film Win? No
Gandhi was definitely one of the better epics to win the Oscar but at the same time it was incredibly baggy and included a lot of superfluous scenes. Whilst Gandhi has aged over the past thirty years one film that still feels as exciting as it did in 1983 is E.T. a delightful tale of friendship and family that should have triumphed at that year's awards.

Ceremony 56 (1984)
Winner: Terms of Endearment
Nominees: The Big Chill, The Dresser, The Right Stuff, Tender Mercies
Did the Right Film Win? No
Granted Terms of Endearment did have its moment but I personally didn't sympathise with the characters and found the whole thing quite saccharine. If a relationship drama was going to win I would've selected The Big Chill which was a lot more enjoyable and had characters I actually believed in. But I personally would've given the award to The Right Stuff, a modern epic with a great story and some incredible technical achievements.

Ceremony 57 (1985)
Winner: Amadeus
Nominees: The Killing Fields, A Passage to India, Places in the Heart, A Soldier's Story
Did the Right Film Win? Yes
I really did enjoy the anarchic decadence of Amadeus which contained plenty of visual splendour and a couple of fine performances. The only other film strong enough to challenge Amadeus was A Passage to India but I've got no problem with Foreman's Austrian adventure winning Best Picture this year.

Ceremony 58 (1986)
Winner: Out of Africa
Nominees: The Colour Purple, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Prizzi's Honour, Witness
Did the Right Film Win? No
I do find it ridiculous that The Colour Purple holds the record for the most nominations without a single win. It does feel like a film that should win the Best Picture prize and is a lot more deserving than the dreary Out of Africa. In fact all of the nominees are more interesting than the eventual winner which I found to be an incredibly long-winded epic.

Ceremony 59 (1987)
Winner: Platoon
Nominees: Children of a Lesser God, Hannah and Her Sisters, The Mission, A Room with A View
Did the Right Film Win? Yes
Although I did enjoy aspects of the majority of its fellow nominees, Platoon is an excellent film about the horrors of war and deserved to be recognised by the Academy.

Ceremony 60 (1988)
Winner: The Last Emperor
Nominees: Broadcast News, Fatal Attraction, Hope and Glory, Moonstruck
Did the Right Film Win? No
Whilst I can understand why The Last Emperor won the Best Picture Award I don't agree with this tiresome epic scoring the big prize this year. I feel the best film of the five was Broadcast News and this look at the media and what makes a good news anchor was an incredibly relevant picture. In fact The Last Emperor was the least entertaining of the five nominees with the other four having more to say about relationships and life in general.

Ceremony 61 (1989)
Winner: Rain Man
Nominees: The Accidental Tourist, Dangerous Liaisons, Mississippi Burning, Working Girl
Did the Right Film Win? Maybe
With the possible exception of The Accidental Tourist, I did feel all of the nominees did have some sort of merit. There definitely can be an argument made for Dangerous Liaisons winning as it redefined what the costume drama could be and was a thoroughly enjoyable watch. That being said I don't really have a problem with Rain Man winning as it dealt with a major issue in a relatable way and had two fine performances from both Hoffman and Cruise.

I am now going to take a brief hiatus but I shall return soon with my look at the winners and nominees from the 1990s

Matt's Big Oscar Challenge: Reviewing the Ceremonies 42-51 (1970-1979)

I can't believe I've reached the end of yet another decade and that I've now reviewed the outcome of over fifty ceremonies. As I'm now firmly in the modern era, I think the 1970s has been the easiest decade to complete so far and I'm hoping that this trend continues throughout the rest of the challenge. Looking over the winners, and the majority of the nominees, it's clear that the 1970s is when some of the most influential films were released. Indeed, looking at the list below, there are at least a dozen movies that appear in the greatest films of all times list. Due to this reason it's incredibly hard for me to decide if the right film won each year but, as is my duty, I will endeavour nonetheless to satisfy my audience.

Ceremony 42 (1970) 

Winner: Midnight Cowboy

Nominees: Anne of the Thousand Days, Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid, Hello Dolly, Z

Did the Right Film Win?: No
This line-up of nominees perfectly demonstrates the state of the Oscar selection process at the start of the decade. Whilst there are traditional choices like Anne of The Thousand Days and Hello Dolly there are also more interesting picks such as Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid and Midnight Cowboy. My initial pick for the win was Midnight Cowboy however after recently catching up with Z I feel that Costa-Garvas' film was ahead of its time and ultimately deserved the recognition more than John Scheslinger's Best Picture winner. 

Ceremony 43 (1971) 

Winner: Patton

Nominees:  Airport, Five Easy Pieces, Love Story, M*A*S*H

Did the Right Film Win?: Yes

A very interesting collection of nominees were chosen this year, but I don't think any of them make a suitable Best Picture choice. So, despite my reservations about the film, I do still think that Patton was the most impressive film of the bunch. 

Ceremony 44 (1972) 

Winner: The French Connection

Nominees: A Clockwork Orange, Fiddler on the Roof, The Last Picture Show, Nicholas and Alexandra

Did the Right Film Win?: Yes

As much as I enjoyed both A Clockwork Orange and The Last Picture Show, The French Connection is an incredible piece of work and deserved to be honoured. 

Ceremony 45 (1973) 

Winner: The Godfather

Nominees: Cabaret, Deliverance, The Emigrants, Sounder 

Did the Right Film Win?: Yes
Some incredibly diverse choices once again but there's no doubt in my mind that The Godfather should have won and in fact may be the best Best Picture film of all time. 

Ceremony 46 (1974) 

Winner: The Sting 

Nominees:  American Graffiti, Cries and Whispers, The Exorcist, A Touch of Class 

Did the Right Film Win?: No
Although it's fantastic to look at, I didn't think The Sting had much going on beneath the surface. A much worthier winner was Bergman's surreal Cries and Whispers but, in a way, I can understand why that didn't triumph. However my personal pick for Best Picture would be The Exorcist, a stunningly made film that poses a lot of questions and really highlights how effective the horror genre can be. 

Ceremony 47 (1975) 

Winner: The Godfather Part II

Nominees: Chinatown, The Conversation, Lenny, The Towering Inferno

Did the Right Film Win?: Maybe

I know it's a controversial choice, but personally I feel that The Conversation is a better, more interesting film than the second Godfather. At the same time, The Godfather Part II is a great film and this one is purely a matter of opinion. 

Ceremony 48 (1976) 

Winner: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest 

Nominees:  Barry Lyndon, Dog Day Afternoon, Jaws, Nashville 

Did the Right Film Win?: Yes

Not much to say here as One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is just an outstanding piece of work. 

Ceremony 49 (1977) 

Winner: Rocky 

Nominees: All the President's Men, Bound for Glory, Network, Taxi Driver 

Did the Right Film Win?: No

Even though I like Rocky, there are three other films on this list more deserving of a Best Picture film win. Though Taxi Driver is an influential and innovative piece of work, to me this should have been a two horse race between Network and All the President's Men. I feel that Sidney Lumet's television satire was slightly better than the political thriller but I would have been happier if either had won. 

Ceremony 50 (1978) 

Winner: Annie Hall 

Nominees: The Goodbye Girl, Julia, Star Wars, The Turning Point 

Did the Right Film Win?: Maybe

There is a case to be made that Star Wars should have won the Oscar, but this is based purely on hindsight. Star Wars definitely went on to be one of the most influential films of all time and provided several groundbreaking techniques. But watching the films purely as the academy would have done in the 1970s, I feel that Annie Hall was the strongest of the five. 

Ceremony 51 (1979) 

Winner: The Deer Hunter 

Nominees: Coming Home, Heaven Can Wait, Midnight Express, An Unmarried Woman 

Did the Right Film Win?: Yes

Another year where there isn't a suitable alternative for the film that won the award. I did feel that The Deer Hunter was incredibly baggy, but at the same time it was an epic film that looks like an Oscar winner. Of the five, I probably enjoyed An Unmarried Woman the most, but that was mainly due to the well-written scripts and central performance from Jill Clayburgh. The Deer Hunter is the most spectacular-looking film so ultimately I begrudgingly accept that it should have won the Oscar.

Matt's Big Oscar Challenge: Reviewing the Ceremonies 32-41 (1960-1969)

It's that time once again as I end another decade of Oscar nominated films. Having looked at all of the 1960s films, it's clear to me that the decade was definitely one of change. By the end of the 1960s, the majority of the films produced were in colour while a lot were employing new visual techniques not seen before. Like with decades past, some of the Oscar-nominated films were pretty dubious and not all the winners were just. So that's why I've decided to sum up all of my thoughts in this handy post as we once again explore if Oscar always chose the right film. There are also some films that didn't even make the nominations list these included Psycho, Cool Hand Luke, 2001: A Space Odyssey, La Dolce Vita and 8 1/2. Though the academy did honour the majority of these movies by nominating their directors rather than the film themselves, which I always feel is a little bit of a slap in the face.

Ceremony 32 (1960) 

Winner: Ben-Hur 

Nominees: Anatomy of a Murder, The Diary of Anne Frank, The Nun's Story, Room at the Top 

Did the Right Film Win?: Yes 

Even though I really enjoyed Anatomy of a Murder, I have to concede that Ben-Hur was the right film to win Best Picture. It's probably the film whose iconic scenes still hold up today, most notably the chariot race which is still a thrilling watch in 2013. 

Ceremony 33 (1961) 

Winner: The Apartment 

Nominees: The Alamo, Elmer Gantry, The Sundowners, Sons and Lovers

Did the Right Film Win?: Yes 

I don't think there's much to say here as The Apartment stands head and shoulders above its rivals in this category. The film is still a charming and witty romantic comedy while the only major competition is Elmer Gantry but that's mainly due to Burt Lancaster's tremendous central performance 

Ceremony 34 (1962) 

Winner: West Side Story 

Nominees: Fanny, Guns of Navarone, The Hustler, Judgment at Nuremberg 

Did the Right Film Win?: Yes 

I feel that this was a tossup between West Side Story and The Hustler, but I've given it to the former just because it's the strongest of the four musical winners of the decade. The Hustler also has a dodgy middle section while West Side Story is a joy to watch throughout 

Ceremony 35 (1963) 

Winner: Lawrence of Arabia 

Nominees: The Longest Day, The Music Man, Mutiny on the Bounty, To Kill a Mockingbird 

Did the Right Film Win?: Yes 

Possibly the strongest of David Lean's films, Lawrence of Arabia does suffer from being over long but is still visually spectacular and contains a great central performance from Peter O'Toole. The list of fellow nominees only includes one possible contender, in To Kill a Mockingbird, but I feel that Lawrence is definitely the stronger of the two films. 

Ceremony 36 (1964) 

Winner: Tom Jones 

Nominees: America America, Cleopatra, How the West Was Won, Lilies of the Field 

Did the Right Film Win? No 

I feel that Tom Jones is definitely one of the weakest Best Picture winners thus far and found it to be quite a silly comedy that didn't really have much of a structure. Looking at the nominees, there are definitely two stronger picks the first being Lilies of the Field which is bolstered by a great performance by Sidney Poitier. But my personal pick is America America, a film that I had no idea about prior to watching it, and one that completely blew me away. This authentic tale of a young Greek man trying to find his way to America was just captivating and definitely benefited from its use of unknown actors to create a sense of realism. 

Ceremony 37 (1965) 

Winner: My Fair Lady 

Nominees: Becket, Dr. Strangelove, Mary Poppins and Zorba the Greek 

Did the Right Film Win?: No 

This again was a tough one to sort out but I personally wasn't a massive fan of the characters in My Fair Lady despite the film itself being visually stunning. Personally I think Dr. Strangelove is the most interesting pick of the five, but its subversive nature possibly wouldn't let itself to the Best Picture accolade. Instead, as a film musical did win this award, I'm going to pick Mary Poppins which I feel is still as watchable as it was in the mid-1960s. Maybe it's because I have a certain affection for the film, but I still feel it's an incredibly charming movie with some great songs. 

Ceremony 38 (1966) 

Winner: The Sound of Music 

Nominees: Darling, Doctor Zhivago, Ship of Fools, A Thousand Clowns 

Did the Right Film Win?: Maybe 

This is one of those years in which the winner is probably of the same standing as some of the other nominees. I could definitely make the case for why The Sound of  Music should've won but at the same time I would say that Darling was a better social portrait of the time and Doctor Zhivago was probably more stunning to look at. I also personally enjoyed A Thousand Clowns and found it to be the most charming film of the five. 

Ceremony 39 (1967) 

Winner: A Man for All Seasons 

Nominees: Alfie, The Russians are Coming The Russians are Coming, The Sand Pebbles, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Did the Right Film Win?: Maybe 

Again this is a year where I'm torn between a very worthy winner and a film that I personally enjoyed in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Though A Man for All Seasons is probably more visually impressive, Virginia Woolf had the emotional edge and was bolstered by the pairing of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. I'm still not sure who should've won the award but I'm not disputing the fact that A Man for All Seasons was the ultimate victor. 

Ceremony 40 (1968) 

Winner: In the Heat of the Night 

Nominees: Bonnie and Clyde, Doctor Dolittle, The Graduate, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner

Did the Right Film Win?: No 

This is a year where you could make a case for any film apart from Doctor Dolittle winning. In my eyes there are two films stronger than In the Heat of the Night. The first of these is Bonnie and Clyde, which employed some really interesting visual techniques and was definitely a risque film for the time. But my personal favourite is The Graduate which is just a joy to watch and, unlike a lot of the films from the decade, never outstayed its welcome. 

Ceremony 41 (1969) 

Winner: Oliver! 

Nominees: Funny Girl, The Lion in Winter, Rachel Rachel, Romeo and Juliet 

Did the Right Film Win?: No 

As much as Oliver! was one of my favourite films as a kid, I can concede that there was another film that deserved to win Best Picture. That film is The Lion in Winter which is a well-acted and well-shot film that has a great story and was just simply a joy to watch. 

So there you have it a strong decade with some difficult choices to be made. I'm now going to endeavour to go onto the 1970s a decade which includes some of the films that are considered the greatest of all time.

Matt's Big Oscar Challenge Day 175: What's It All About

So far in this 1960 section of the challenge we've primarily focused on big, colourful musicals without much comment about life was like in the sixties. However the British were making films which today almost feel like a time capsule this is especially true of Alfie which perfectly documents the swinging sixties. Our titular lead is of course played by Michael Caine and is the consummate ladies' man who is constantly breaking the fourth wall to tell his rules about not wanting to string women along. Though on the surface Alfie is a smooth-talker underneath he is as emotional as the rest of us and throughout the film he learns lots of life lessons. He becomes a father however the mother of his son chooses a more dependable father figure, he is sent to a rest home after the doctor finds a shadow on his lung and he also forces one of his married lovers to have an abortion in what is probably the film's most shocking scene. The film comes full circle as he rejected by the much older Ruby, played with gusto by Shelly Winters, when he discovers she has a new lover who is younger than he is. The end line is the one most associated with the film as the character asks us 'What's it All About?' followed by the title theme sung by either Cher or Cilla Black depending on which version you watched.

Alfie is certainly an unusual film as far as the 1960s go as the character is constantly addressing the audience and also there are no title credits as Caine tells us 'this is where you'd expect the titles to be' instead we have an elaborate end credit sequence featuring pictures of both cast and crew members. I have to say the character of Alfie did take a while to settle into because at the end of the day he is a bit of an ass and treats women as objects often referring to them as 'it'. However Caine is such a charismatic presence that he is able to carry this off for the most part especially in the more dramatic moments when Alfie has a breakdown or sees the aborted foetus of his married lover. Otto Heller's cinematography shows a bustling London where everybody is dressed smartly however director Lewis Gilbert combines this with an underbelly of backstreet terminations and pub brawls. I feel that Alfie is a much different film than the ones we've watched before, especially those that have been tasked with presenting Britain in a certain way, and I have to say it is refreshing to see a film that is so brutally honest in a presenting a character who isn't totally likeable. Overall a unique film with a superb lead performance, some stunning cinematography and a cracking end credits sequence.

Matt's Big Oscar Challenge Day 174: And then Some Audrey

So here it is the first Oscar Challenge post on this brand new blog in which I continue my quest to watch every film nominated for Best Picture which I think has a projected finish date of 2015. To start this new site off we present another double bill of one person's efforts in the decade and this time we focus on the delicate features of Miss Audrey Hepburn.

Despite being nominated for five Best Actress Oscars only two of those films were nominated for Best Picture one being Roman Holiday which we looked at last decade and the other being The Nun's Story. Hepburn plays Gabrielle Van Der Mal the daughter of a brilliant doctor who herself dreams of being a medical professional and decides to become a nun so that she can work in one of the hospitals in the Congo. The first hour of the film is devoted to her becoming a nun, later known as Sister Luke, including her taking orders as well as learning her vows which means she can no longer have memories or want physical things. When it finally comes to time to take her medical exams her mother superior suggest that she fail her exam in order to show humility however when she passes she is assigned to a mental hospital in her native Belgium rather than her preferred destination of the Congo. Finally she is allowed to go to Africa where she works with Peter Finch's brilliant atheist Dr Fucani who tries to get her to open up but her vows won't allow it. While in the Congo she sees the dangers of the country when one of the other nun's is killed by a villager and she is later transported back to Belgium after she contracts TB. Missing her life in the Congo she is called to be a nurse again when she has to treat casualties hurt in the bombing of World War 2 however her feelings towards the Nazi Party make her think that she can be a nun no longer especially when she finds out her father has been killed. The film ends with Gabrielle denouncing her orders and leaving the convent once and for all her experiences their having made her a better person.

As I mentioned the first hour of The Nun's Story is almost exclusively reserved for Gabrielle's transformation into Sister Luke including watching her during dinner and during mass. As you can imagine this is pretty dull at times however it does make you relate to the characters and also what it takes to become a nun in the first place. The film really picks up in when Sister Luke makes it to the Congo partly due to the on-location filming that really makes you feel like you're there with the characters and partly because of Peter Finch. This is the first time we're seeing Finch as part of the Oscar Challenge, it won't be the last, and he makes Fucani his own being very forthright but at the same time you can see he cares about Sister Luke whether that be in a romantic way or just friendly concern is a matter we have to decide for ourselves. What makes The Nun's Story so great though is Hepburn herself who at times is the only reason to keep watching throughout you can really believe her as this young girl forced to leave behind everything she knows to give herself wholly to God. I feel she is better here than in her Oscar-winning turn in Roman Holiday partly because this film is heavier meaning the role has more gravitas and partly because it is a more mature performance. Overall this was a film of two halves one a semi-documentary on how nuns are welcomed into a convent and the other a medical film set in Africa coupled with a World War II movie. Thankfully Audrey Hepburn is the star that makes the most of her role and therefore this film is a lot better for having her be a part of it.

I'm not sure the same can be said for My Fair Lady, at least not all of it, which was the film that won Best Picture at the 1965 Oscar Ceremony. Most of us know the story of Professor Henry Higgins taking flower girl Eliza Dolittle off the street and making a bet with his friend Colonel Pickering that he pass her off as a lady at the next embassy ball. The film deals with their relationship as Eliza develops into a lady with Higgins winning his bet and in turn her being pursued by Freddy Eynsford-Hill a boy of breeding who is charmed by her frank nature. However Eliza has fallen for Higgins and runs away from him after he fails to thank her for winning his bet but at the end of the day she returns to him so we the viewer have to decide what happens next. For me this was Rex Harrison's film rather than Hepburn's his blustering, domineering Higgins is a joy to watch mainly because Harrison makes this brute of a man somewhat sympathetic. For me Hepburn struggles with the earlier segments in which she has to play at being a rough cockney flower-seller and personally I never bought her verbal attacks against Higgins finding them forced at times. Hepburn is better in the latter half of the film after she has almost been transformed into a lady her scenes at the races and the embassy ball being my favourite. Stanley Holloway is also great as Eliza's money-grabbing father as is Gladys Cooper as Higgins' disapproving mother. What's so great about My Fair Lady though is how it looks and how it sounds with the production design splendid, the costumes fantastic and the songs being memorable. This musical boasts some of the most famous songs from the theatre including 'I Could've Danced All Night', 'I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face', 'Get Me to the Church on Time' and my personal favourite 'On the Street Where You Live.' Like with Oliver! and The Sound of Music I'm still not convinced that an old-school musical like this should've won a Best Picture prize but again I will reserve judgment until I've seen all five.

OK hope you like the new place more to come soon.

Matt's Big Oscar Challenge Day 173: Even More Musical Melodies

Back again with another double bill of musicals kicking off with a film that sneaked its way into being one of the five nominees at the 1968 ceremony.

Possibly the least impressive of the four films in this blog is the only one I hadn't seen before that being the original 1967 version of Doctor Dolittle. For me the film is most famous for two things Rex Harrison and the song 'If Could Talk to the Animals' however after reading around the production it seems it has an infamous backstory. Originally projected to cost only $6 million dollars the end budget almost tripled that and the film was known as the picture that almost bought Warner Brothers to its knees. The only reason I'm watching it is due to the studio launching a rather aggressive campaign in which it wined and dined Academy members in order to get seven nominations. It won two deservedly for the ahead-of-their-time special effects, which included a two headed llama and a giant snail, as well as for the aforementioned song. Rex Harrison, who wasn't nominated, was brilliant as the former people doctor who'd turned to animals and learnt to communicate with them but had angered several people around him because of this. The first half of the film deals with his past while the second half sees him take off to find the elusive Great Pink Sea Snail eventually ending up on the floating Sea-Star Island. Personally I'm not quite sure what audience this film is aimed at as many of the songs would be too much for the kids while the romance between Dolittle's assistant played by Anthony Newley and the snotty-nosed Emma is really uninvolving. Bar Harrison, a couple of the songs and the effects this is could be described as a white elephant of a film, incidentally not one of the animals that Dolittle deals with, as large set-pieces on the island plus one at a circus fail to provide any interest. In a year in which more interesting films should've taken the Best Picture slot that Dolittle ended up getting it proves just how easily-influenced the Oscar panel were back in the 1960s and depending on who you listen to not a lot has changed in term of the way things work today.

Ending on a more positive note with the film that won the Best Picture at the final 1960s Oscar ceremony that being Oliver! Unlike a lot of these films, which were basically screen musicals adapted almost note-for-note, the film version of Oliver! changed some roles, got rid of some songs and made the whole thing seem more like a film. For example the second half of the film version has a lot less songs than the stage version does which makes it seem rightly a lot more dramatic and less light-hearted than the first half. Not that you can say most of the plot of Oliver! is generally light-hearted dealing as it does with an orphan who runs away from the workhouse to end up working for a gang of young thieves led by a cunning Jew and a woman-beating Neanderthal. Obviously I'm referring there to Oscar nominee Ron Moody's Fagin and Oliver Reed's Bill Sikes who was a character that had a minimal role in the musical but appears more for the film audience to realise that he's no good. Like Mary Poppins, Oliver is one of the films on this list that I have watched many times before however I approached it this time thinking does this feel like a Best Picture winner? My answer would probably be yes but from an earlier decade as by this time the Academy was awarding more alternative films for example the prior winner to Oliver! was In the Heat of the Night and the one after was Midnight Cowboy. What Oliver! is is a brilliant musical with fine turns from Moody, Reed, Shani Wallis as Nancy, Harry Secombe as Mr Bumble and Jack Wild as The Artful Dodger who was the only other cast member to get an Oscar nomination. There are some great set pieces namely in the 'Consider Yourself' and 'Who Will Buy' numbers the latter of which is one of my favourite moments. However as I am one for darker stuff I love the last twenty minutes most notably Fagin and Dodger's reprise of Reviewing the Situation as well as the eventual capture of Bill, hell even Bullseye the dog is brilliant. In 1969 film was changing however if you'd watched Oliver! as a representation of what movies were like at the time then you wouldn't know it although it is an excellent musical I feel that something grittier could've possibly won in its place but then again I haven't watched its competitors yet so only time will tell.

OK  more Oscar blogging to come soon with an Audrey Hepburn double coming up next.

Matt's Big Oscar Challenge Day 172: More Musical Melodies

I know I've been laying low for a while in terms of the Oscar hunt but that's because I've had other things on soon these posts will have their own exclusive blog dedicated to them but for the moment I present a quadruple bill of 1960s musicals. However the characters in the musicals aren't the most savoury of characters - child thieves, gang members, murderers and conmen who can all hold a tune, isn't it just lovely. And we'll kick off with the first two films from that quadruple bill.

Starting off with the film that triumphed at the 1962 ceremony - an update of Romeo and Juliet starring too warring, gun-toting, all-singing, all-dancing gangs. I'm talking of course of West Side Story, Leonard Bernstein and Steven Sondheim's classic musical, which was transplanted to the screen in 1961 to rave reviews. As always with films that I know quite well it's hard for me to know how much plot detail to put in but I will say that the film deals with the rival gangs the Latino-only gang The Sharks and The Jets which are made up of mainly Polish immigrants. Russ Tamblyn plays Jet leader Riff whose lieutenant Tony has essentially quit the gang preferring to work at the local drugstore however he is convinced to come to the dance where both gangs will arrange a rumble. That's where Tony meets Natalie Wood's Maria the sister of Bernardo the leader of the Sharks, played by George Charkiris, with Tony and Maria obviously being the equivalent of Romeo and Juliet. As we all know the story the two warring factions end up getting in the way of the love story with both Biff and Bernardo biting the dust before the final scenes. The only change-up is that Tony is killed but Maria survives telling the gangs to stop what they are doing before there is even more bloodshed. For me the opening fifteen minutes of West Side Story builds it up perfectly with the opening conflict between the two gangs played out to minimal beats building up to a large climax which provides the impetus for the rest of the film. Though I do have a bit of a problem finding gangs that are that in time when dancing together particularly threatening everything else about this film is great. While I found Wood and Richard Beymer a little flat as Maria and Tony there was support elsewhere in two Oscar winning turns from Chakiris and Rita Moreno the latter playing Bernardo's girl and Maria's confident. Actually out of all the performances I feel that Moreno's is the best especially towards the end when The Jets are circling around her following Bernardo's death. The songs are spectacular from America to Maria to Someday and the staging is perfect especially the playground with wire around it a perfect place to start and end the film. So all in all a perfect Oscar Best Picture winner then.

Moving on to the next year a less racy and more traditional musical with The Music Man although it does still feature an unsavoury lead character in conman Professor Harold Hill who comes to the sleepy Iowa town of River City to flog band uniforms and instruments to the unsuspecting townsfolk. Hill is played by Robert Preston, who played the role on stage, however both Frank Sinatra and Cary Grant were offered the role with the latter turning it down saying nobody could play it as well as the man who did on Broadway. Hill is aided in his con by associate Marcellus who is the only one who knows him by his real name Gregory. As he is a showman he convinces the majority of the town to steer away the young folk from the pool tables and instead get them to take part in a band. His pomp and circumstance is infectious as the older women of the town form a dance group while the four men on the school board form a Barbershop Quartet, in actuality they are played by real life quartet The Buffalo Bills. Hill's main opposition comes from the town's mayor who wants his credentials and the local librarian Marian who teaches piano. I was a big fan of The Music Man before revisiting agan and what I like about it so much is in the little details from the opening number set on a train that has all the men in suits and hats complaining about Hill to the final reprise of '76 Trombones' with the whole town now kitted out in their band uniforms. The other songs are just as brilliant with the most famous being 'Till There Was You' however my favourite has to be the famous 'Trouble in River City' in which Hill convinces the people that the pool table is bad news. Both Preston and Shirley Jones are a great couple with support coming from the brilliant Buddy Hackett and a young Ron Howard. While this isn't going to win any points for originality it is still a fine old-fashioned musical and one of the last of its kind.

Matt's Big Oscar Challenge Day 170-171: Simply Sidney

For those of you who have been following the Oscar challenge you will now that when I can I group a number of films together by actor or genre. This is true of this latest trio of films all starring Sidney Poitier who historically was the first African-American actor to become a big star and in terms of this was also the first black male to win an Oscar outside of the honorary categories. We first met him at the tail end of the 1950s in The Defiant Ones for which he was nominated for a Best Actor Oscar and his golden touch continues with all the three films in this list winning at least one award. As you can imagine with a black actor in the 1960s a lot of these films deal with racial prejudice with Poitier often playing against how people of his colour were often portrayed here playing doctors and detectives. But we'll start off with a film in which he neither plays a professional nor is race the main issue.

The film I am referring to is Lilies of the Field the film that won Poitier his Best Actor Oscar and sees him play Homer Smith a drifter and jack-of-all trades who has no fixed abode. When his car runs out of water one day he stops to fill it up at a convent run by Eastern European nuns with the mother superior of the outfit hiring Homer to do some work around their property for the day. However after a while he discovers the mother superior won't let him leave until he has built them a chapel and he soon learns from others the exploitative nature of these nuns. At the same time he sympathises with their struggle to leave their native Germany, they had to climb over the Berlin Wall, and as he had always wanted to be an architect he sets about trying to build the chapel. As word spreads people from the community, mainly Hispanics, come to lend support and materials however Homer refuses their help wanting this to be a single-handed project. He eventually gets the help and the chapel is finished however Mother Maria is too proud to let him stay and so he slips away while the other sisters are singing one of the Baptist hymns he taught them. Lilies of the Field is such a simple film but at the same time is lovingly produced and well put together by director Ralph Nelson. The main theme of the film here is outsiders coming together in this case an African-American drifter, a group of East German nuns and poor Hispanic families as they work to construct something that the community can be proud of. Poitier's performance is larger-than-life with his laughter being infectious and his general aura radiating from the screen he is tasked with leading the film for the most-part and does an excellent job. The desolate locations are well-filmed by Ernest Haller and there is also an excellent supporting performance from Lilia Skala as Mother Maria which earned her an Oscar nod also. This was just a lovely simple tale about family and taking the gifts that are offered to us when they are given.

Four years later, at the 1968 ceremony, Sidney starred in two of the five films nominated for Best Picture including the movie that went onto to win Best Picture that year - In the Heat of the Night. In this film the plot is centred around Poitier's Virgil Tibbs' race as he hauled to the police station in Sparta, Mississippi as he believed to have killed a man he had never met. The racist police Chief Bill Gillespie, played by Rod Steiger who won a Best Actor Oscar for this film, is embarrassed to learn that Tibbs is actually a homicide detective and devices ways to keep him around in order to have his help on the murder case. As Tibbs' targets the wealthiest man in Sparta he soon his confronted by a mob who threaten his life and he is advised by Gillespie to leave the town however a defiant Tibbs refuses until he's solved the murder. Tibbs is able to link the crime to the pregnancy of a local teenager who police officer Sam Wood had taken a liking to and after a conversation with the local backstreet abortionist he is able to track down his man. However will it be too late for Tibbs who has angered even more of Sparta's residents during his snooping. In the Heat of the Night is an excellent film showing racial prejudice at its most extreme with the scenes in which Tibbs his hunted down by a mob being very shocking indeed however the film is also keen to point out that Tibbs is also prejudice against many of the Sparta police department seeing them as stupid. Though Poitier does lend almost a moral backbone to the film it is Rod Steiger who is the star here as Gillespie learns some tolerance and some respect towards Virgil towards the end of the film. There were some points when I watched In The Heat of the Night where I wondered if it should've won the Best Picture award but this film had a good central mystery as well as having a good message about not judging anyone on where they live or the colour of their skin.

The colour of skin also has a massive impact in Poitier's last film here the outstanding Guess Who's Coming to Dinner. Here Poitier plays widower doctor John Prentice who while on holiday in Hawaii meets Christina Drayton and falls in love planning to marry her but first wanting to get the consent of her parents who he thinks will worry that a black man is with their white daughter. Christina's parents, played by the brilliant Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracey the latter in his final film role, have always preached her tolerance but her father Matt is concerned now that he may have a black man as a son-in-law. Things get more complicated when John's parents decide to fly in for dinner despite the fact he has yet to tell them that he wishes to marry a white girl. The film is essentially based around people's opinions of a mixed-race couple for example if love is more important than the colour of someone's skin. I just found it hard to fault Guess Who's Coming to Dinner apart from the fact that I think Poitier should've shown up in the acting categories alongside Hepburn and Tracy both of whom shine throughout this wonderful film. Possibly it's not as cinematic as it could been but the performances and script are flawless throughout so by the time Tracy delivers his final monologue you'll be entrnaced. For me this was the better of the two Poitier films released this year due to its themes, acting, music and script. Though out of the three films this is the one in which Poitier has the least to do yet his presence is still felt which is the mark of a great actor as is the fact that everyone of the roles in these three films he plays very differently.

Matt's Big Oscar Challenge Day 168: It's a Little Bit Funny

So this bank holiday has yielded two films that are on my 1960s list for this Oscar Project with the first being Funny Girl the biographical musical of theatre star Fanny Brice which incidentally was briefly covered in 1930s Best Picture winner The Great Ziegfeld with Brice playing herself. Here Brice is played by Barbara Streisand in her debut film performance, for which she won the Best Actress Oscar, as we see her journey from awkward teenager to star of the Ziegfeld Follies. The story starts with Brice trying to get a part in the chorus but realising that instead she should be a headliner due to her comedy timing and great voice. When she finally makes it she falls in love with Omar Sharrif's Nicky Arnestein with whom she runs off abandoning the Follies. Once he has won lots of money playing cards they return to a big mansion and she returns to the Follies however things take a turn for the worst with Nick's business ventures falling through. After the pair move into an apartment Nick feels that he has to be the man despite Fanny earning more than him so agrees to go through with a shady deal and gets arrested for embezzlement. Fanny and Nick reunite briefly but at the end of the day separate mainly so she can go off and make the sequel.

One of about eight musicals that I have to watch during the next fifty films Funny Girl at least had some bite to it and some very familiar songs. I already knew that Don't Rain on My Parade featured prominently and indeed in the scene in which Fanny decides to abandon the Follies to be with Nick her performance is great as it is on People and all of the other songs featured. The star of the show though is undoubtedly Streisand who is on the ball with all her timing and really convinces as the girl who has a great stage presence but lacks maturity when it comes to her personal life. Omar Sharif is always good as the dashing love interest/caddish villain and in this he plays a version of the two a man who feels like his other half is the one wearing the trousers. The Follies productions are also greatly reconstructed although they don't feel as genuine as in the story of Ziegfeld himself here played by veteran actor Walter Pidgeon. While not everything works and I did find myself a trifle board during some of Nick's card games this was an entertaining musical biopic with a stunning debut performance from its lead actress that was more than worthy of the Oscar she won for it.

Matt's Big Oscar Challenge Day 167: A Place to Stay in the New Decade

So I was thinking I wouldn't try and start on the 1960s as I've so many other things going on at the moment that it would be a mistake but then I never really listen to myself do I? As I ended the last decade with a winner I decided to start the sixties with one also and it's one that has been sitting on my shelf for ages now that being The Apartment. The first five minutes or so of the film establishes the plot as Jack Lemmon's CC Baxter introduces us to his life in which he rents out his apartment to various bosses from the office in which he works so they can be with their mistresses. In return Baxter hopes to get some sort of promotion so he can impress Shirley MacLaine's kindly elevator operator Fran Kubelik. When his boss Sheldrake offers a promotion it is under the condition that he too get a key to Baxter's apartment which he agrees to but later discovers that his mistress is in fact Fran. When Fran realises that Sheldrake will never leave his wife she overdoses on Baxter's sleeping pills however he finds her just in time and helps her recover growing closer to her in the meantime. So the love triangle then develops between Sheldrake, Fran and Baxter in the final third of the movie and it is essentially rooting for the underdog over the more powerful yet cowardly man.

There are no words to describe how much I love The Apartment and it more than deserved to win the Best Picture award. Once again I think it's the academy giving Billy Wilder an award just because they forgot to even nominate Some Like It Hot for Best Picture the previous year. However from the writing, to the performances and to the lovely majestic score from Adolph Deutsch everything is right about this film. For a starters there's Jack Lemmon a man that can go from slapstick comedy to full on drama in a matter of moments and this role more than suits him as he frantically tries to arrange a schedule to fit all of his philandering superiors into his abode at different times. Shirley MacLaine is equally as brilliant as the beautiful, fragile Fran who does a great job making us sympathise for the other woman who is sleeping with a married man and makes us understand that sometimes you can't help who you fall in love with even if they are already attached. There's such a great chemistry between Lemmon and MacLaine the scenes between them in the apartment are just breath-taking as he gently tries to help her get over her suicide attempt. Billy Wilder demonstrates why he is perhaps the greatest director of all time as every frame tells a story from the humdrum world of the office cubicle to the single man trying to escape his life of drudgery through watching the TV. There's nothing bad about a film that is simply about two lost souls trying to find each other which features lots of laughs, a few tears but plenty of enjoyment. I'm so glad that this is the first film that I watched from this decade and I would recommend all of you go out and watch it immediately.

Matt's Big Oscar Challenge: Reviewing the Ceremonies 22-31 (1950-1959)

So here we are at the end of another decade and time for me to look through the ten ceremonies that took place in the 1950s and if any of the nominees deserved to win more than the film that actually took home the prize. However first of all I wanted to have a look at the films that weren't nominated from the 1949-1958 period classics such as Singin' in the Rain, Guys and Dolls and a lot of Hitchcock's output including Vertigo and Rear Window were cut out not to mention the films that Kurosawa and Bergman were making overseas. It just seems a bit of a shame that the stunning but shallow Biblical epics and the dreary war films were passed in favour of some of these films which have stood the test of time more than the final nominees. With that rant over let's get on with the review.

Ceremony 22: 1950 
Winner: All the King's Men
Nominees: Battleground, The Heiress, A Letter to Three Wives, Twelve o'clock High
Did the Right Film Win?: Yes
It seems that Broderick Crawford's political corruption drama was definitely the best of the bunch from the 1949 selection. Of the others The Heiress was a dreary melodrama and the two war films Battleground and Twelve O'Clock High had their moments but were ultimately unmemorable. Only A Letter to Three Wives stood out as a possible contender hence director Joseph L Mankiewicz winner the prize for Best Director and winning the Best Picture prize the year after.

Ceremony 23: 1951 
Winner: All About Eve
Nominees: Born Yesterday, Father of the Bride, King Solomon's Mines, Sunset Boulevard
Did the Right Film Win?: Yes
Not a lot of discussion here either All About Eve garnered a lot of nominations and they were all richly deserved in one of the best films of all time. If we're splitting hairs then Sunset Boulevard would be the only other real contender but Eve wins it for me every time.

Ceremony 24: 1952
Winner: An American in Paris
Nominees: Decision Before Dawn, A Place in the Sun, Quo Vadis, A Streetcar Named Desire
Did the Right Film Win?: No
Though a charming musical film I don't feel that An American in Paris has the lasting effect that some of the other nominees do. While it's probably better than espionage yarn Decision Before Dawn or biblical epic Quo Vadis it is a toss-up between the other two films for Best Picture. A Place in the Sun did have a great star-making turn from Liz Taylor but A Streetcar Named Desire just edges it for me as it grabs you from beginning to end and had three of the four acting categories sown up only a certain Mr Brando was left out in the cold.

Ceremony 25: 1953 
Winner: The Greatest Show on Earth
Nominees: High Noon, Ivanhoe, Moulin Rouge, The Quiet Man
Did the Right Film Win?: No
Possibly the first case of the Academy giving a 'last chance' Oscar to someone who won't have another chance to win one was the fact that Cecil B Demille's film won Best Picture this year. It's true that its live circus atmosphere stays with you but apart from that I'm struggling to remember many details about it. Of the other nominees it is a bit more of a dead cert this year as I would've probably chosen High Noon if I'd been picking as it is the best of a mediocre bunch has a clear storyline and some great performances.

Ceremony 26: 1954
Winner: From Here to Eternity
Nominees: Julius Caesar, The Robe, Roman Holiday, Shane
Did the Right Film Win?: Yes
Sort of a mixed bag this year with another big epic, a Shakespeare adaptation, a romantic comedy and a Western as the contenders however it is this Hawaiian war film that is still the iconic piece thanks in no small part to that beach kiss.

Ceremony 27: 1955
Winner: On the Waterfront
Nominees: The Caine Mutiny, The Country Girl, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Three Coins in the Fountain
Did the Right Film Win?: Yes
There's no going against Elia Kazan's brilliant tale of union corruption and lost dreams with Marlon Brando not a contender but an actual winner. Of the others both The Caine Mutiny and The Country girl showed promise but there was no matching this brilliant film on the night.

Ceremony 28: 1956
Winner: Marty
Nominees: Love is a Many Splendored Thing, Mister Roberts, Picnic, The Rose Tattoo
Did the Right Film Win?: Maybe
It honestly depends on your taste in films but for me Marty was the best of this bunch thanks to Ernest Borgnine's performance as the unlucky in love butcher. Mister Roberts and Picnic were also good films with one being a great war film and the other featuring possibly William Holden's greatest turn. But for me the fact that Marty was set over only 24 hours and the great ensemble cast means that it was my favourite from those on offer.

Ceremony 29: 1957
Winner: Around the World in Eighty Days
Nominees: Friendly Persuasion, Giant, The King and I, The Ten Commandments
Did the Right Film Win?: No
Personally another poor year with this overlong mess stunning Academy members with its exotic locations, slapstick comedy and numerous cameos. Of the other three that I have seen it is Giant that I would pick for a strong turn from Liz Taylor and also from James Dean although for a musical The King and I is also captivating. For me though I'd go for Giant as an alternative winner to this overblown epic.

Ceremony 30: 1958 
Winner: The Bridge on the River Kwai
Nominees: Peyton Place, Sayonara, Twelve Angry Men, Witness for the Prosecution  
Did the Right Film Win?: Not for Me
So my reasons for saying that the River Kwai wasn't the right winner is because my favourite film of all time 12 Angry Men was up against it. It didn't really stand a chance as it was shot in black-and-white and predominantly stayed in the same set but ultimately people have remembered it more fondly than Kwai. Witness for the Prosecution is also worth a mention for Charles Laughton's great turn as the lawyer and Marlene Dietrich for playing the sultry femme fatale so well.

Ceremony 31: 1959
Winner: Gigi
Nominees: Auntie Mame Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, The Defiant Ones, Separate Tables
Did the Right Film Win?: No
Another musical set in France starring Leslie Caron wins again however the other three nominees in this category were deserved winners. I think for me I would pick Separate Tables due to the ensemble nature of the piece and the fact that it got two of the four acting awards that year. Paul Newman and Liz Taylor sparkle together in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof while Sidney Poitier and Tony Curtis have a great chemistry in The Defiant Ones whilst I also loved Rosalind Russell's overblown turn in Auntie Mame. For me though it's all about the British hotel drama and some great turns from Niven, Kerr, Lancaster and Hayworth.

So those are my picks for the 1950s sees you in the 1960s probably next year some time.

Matt's Big Oscar Challenge Day 166: Bridging the Gap Between the Decades

So somehow I've finished the 1950s I didn't think it would ever happen and no doubt it will take me another year before I make it through the 1960s however as I have done before I will end on a winner. The Bridge on the River Kwai is yet another war film but unlike Battleground or 12 o'clock High it doesn't feature men up in the air or down on the ground instead we journey to Thailand and a Japanese prisoner of war camp during the war. When first we get to the camp we meet William Holden's Commander Shears who has been there for quite some time and dreams of escape. At the same time Alec Guinness' Colonel Nicholson arrives with his men and his told by the camp commander Colonel Saito that all men must work on the new railway bridge including the officers. Nicholson's refusal to let his officers work results in a stand-off with the British ultimately winning as Nicholson is released and agrees to help out by using his resources in the right way. Meanwhile Shears has escaped but almost drowns thankfully he is rescued by people in a small town and taken to the nearest army hospital where he has a bit of a fling with one of the nurses. He is then commandeered by the British Major Warden to help in his commando mission to blow the bridge up at the same time as Nicholson is finishing his work and thanking Saito for co-operating. The final stand-off sees those who are trying to blow the bridge up come up against the team of Nicholson and Saito with only one surviving in the film's final spectacular scene.

I really think that The Bridge on the River Kwai is a film of two halves one in which Alec Guinness and Sessue Hayakawa verbally spar with one another over the officers issue and the other in which William Holden and Jack Hawkins creep back to the camp to blow the bridge up. It is this first half that is the better one with Guinness' British resilience earning him a Best Actor Oscar however Hayakwa is equally as compelling and one wouldn't be nearly as good as the other. Maybe I'm just suffering from William Holden fatigue but his leading role in the film was overshadowed by the other acts despite his being the star name here. There are far too many scenes of the creeping through the jungle for my liking and I wish the second film would've been more equally split as I feel that Nicholson's need to get the bridge finished on time is as important to the final scene as the men coming to blow it up. Those criticisms aside though this is a great film thanks to the work of David Lean who used to all of the elements available to him to sculpt a beautifully looking film with a captivating plot. From Jack Hildyard's cinematography to the adapted screenplay everything is on fine form here and overall there is a believable thread to the narrative especially in the relationship between Saito and Nicholson. Though I personally don't believe this should've won Best Picture, see the next post for more details, this is certainly one of the best British films of all times and any other year it would be a no-brainer for the top award. Overall a great-looking well-acted spectacularly-written war movie which is only slightly hindered by its middle section.

Matt's Big Oscar Challenge Day 165: Burning Love

We travel from the blood-soaked fields of World War 2 to Ancient Rome under Emperor Nero for our penultimate 1950s film Quo Vadis. The film is very similar to previous entries on this list such as The Ten Commandments and The Robe in so much as they try to utilise the new technicolor methods to create a vivid story while at the same time referencing parts of The Bible. In this case we have Rome just after the death of Jesus, although Peter features quite predominantly throughout, where the Christians are living in private and here are represented by Deborah Kerr's Lygia. Playing opposite Kerr is Robert Taylor as Marcus Vinicius a returning Roman soldier whose uncle Petronius is one of Nero's most trusted advisors and who becomes intrigued with Christianity through is infatuation with Lygia. When the slightly crazy Nero, played by the brilliant Peter Ustinov, decides to burn Rome and blame the Christians people start to believe that he has gone loopy while Potronious goes so far as to kill himself. Both Lygia and Marcus are arrested and then are married by Peter before he himself is crucified upside down. Nero's wife, who has been knocked back by Marcus, decides to teach the couple a lesson by setting Lygia up to be gored by a bull in the coliseum and chaining Marcus up so he has to watch. Eventually Nero is overthrown and has one of his slaves kill him as he is too cowardly to take his own life so the film ends with Lygia and Marcus able to leave Rome as we see Peter's staff and here his words being spoken to those who are lucky enough to have survived Nero's tyrannical reign.

Always when writing these reviews I try and think what I will most remember about this film after having watched it and in the case of Quo Vadis there are two points. Firstly the epic scale of it all as this is very similar to a Cecil B Demille picture complete with an entire sequence with Rome burning to the ground and then another scene featuring live animals trying to attract Nero's prisoners in the coliseum. The other memorable aspect of Quo Vadis is Peter Ustinov's performance as Nero, for which he was nominated for Best Supporting Actor, playing this evil man in quite a child-like manner changing his ideas on a whim and often being manipulated by his devious wife whom he finally cottons onto and kills just before the end scene. It is Ustinov you always look forward to seeing because Robert Taylor is such a wooden actor and you don't believe for one minute that he is the great Roman soldier in fact he just seems like another beefcake actor while Deborah Kerr here is on poor form possibly being ill-served with a role in which she doesn't do much than follow other men's leads. So all in all this is a colourful romp through Ancient Rome which lasts far too long, its running time is almost three hours, but has a great performance from Ustinov. While this isn't a great film it does highlight a time where film-makers were using techniques to recreate these epic stories so in those terms Quo Vadis is an interesting film to watch if not just in a historical context.

Matt's Big Oscar Challenge Day 164: Lonely Hearts

There were mixed responses to the fact that The Artist won Best Picture at last Sunday's Oscar awards as some sort is as a great film while others thought it was a fad. However isn't the greatest marker of an award winning film longevity? So films I have watched such as Gone with the Wind and Casablanca are still watched today but others such as 1956 winner Marty is now a film that barely anybody knows which is a shame. Ernest Borgnine also won the Best Actor Oscar for playing the titular character a heavy-set butcher who is the only bachelor in his family with all of his younger brothers and sisters having flown the nest after getting married. The opening scene shows us perfectly of the community's feelings about Marty as his customers, who he is perfectly civil to, tell him he should be ashamed of himself for not having got married yet. His mother convinces him to go with his friend to a ballroom where he feels out of his depth and none of the girls want to dance with him because of his size. He then gets approached by a caddish fellow who wants to pay him to look after his plain date because he has had a better offer. Marty is disgusted by this offer but later approaches Clara and the two begin dancing and spend the night walking around the city. They discover they have a lot in common as they are both looked down on by the opposite sex so essentially they find solace in each other. However Marty's friends and mother who all meet Clara try and disuade him from calling her the next day but mainly for their own selfish reasons so the question is will he try and make a date with the only girl who has ever made him happy?

Even though I'd never heard of it you can see the influence in Marty through a lot of films featuring male protagonists from The Apartment, which would win Best Picture five years later, to the Oscar nominated male menopause movies of Alexander Payne. At the heart of this film is the central performance from Ernest Borgnine who is able to convey Marty's friendliness and also his heartbreak in equal measure we get the feeling that this is a decent guy who is just misunderstood by a lot people. However Borgnine would be nothing without director Delbert Mann or especially screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky who also got Oscars for this piece. Of the other cast members I thought Betsy Blair was a great Clara some would call her mousy but she really comes out of herself after her initial meeting with Marty. I also enjoyed Esther Mincotti and Augusta Ciolli as Marty's mother and aunt with these two old Italian women representing a different time and the two scenes in which they both feature are terribly moving and funny in equal measure as I suppose is the film itself. I suppose there are many reasons that Marty hasn't stood the test of time maybe because it's a fairly quiet film and it's one of the shortest Best Picture winners of all time but perhaps some people feel it dated. But for me this is a great little character study and maybe go as far as to say that this is a forgotten gem which got me wondering will we be saying the same thing about The Artist in 56 years time?

Matt's Big Oscar Challenge Day 163: Up, Up and Away

Another day, another war film however at least this one takes things from the soldiers on foot to those up in the air as we join the men looking to go Twelve o'clock High. Henry King's film centres on the 918th Heavy Bombardment Group known as a 'hard luck group' to most as they often suffer fatalities and very few missions see all the men from this squadron return back safely. A lot of the blame for this can be centred on their commander Keith Davenport who is too personal with his team and has driven himself crazy with worry so those in charge believe that he needs to be replaced. They eventually decide that his replacement should be his friend Frank Savage a more level-headed gent who has been working a desk job up to this point in the war. Savage initially alienates most of the company as he chastises them for not carrying out proper security checks, wearing the wrong uniform and generally having a bad attitude. Just before most of the company are about to ask for transfers he is advised by Major Stovall, played by Dean Jagger who won a Best Supporting Actor award for his role, to try and draft in a young pilot and he does this by bringing in Jesse Bishop. Soon the group warm to Savage but like Davenport he starts to go a bit bonkers as the war begins to be fought more and more in the air and it is the task of those around him to try and keep him sane.

For a film set during the war and about flying squads, 12 o'clock High doesn't half feature a lot of men talking in rooms so much so that if it was made today you would've thought Aaron Sorkin had written in it. Of course all the procedural dialogue is important in order for the audience to know how and why the powers-that-be have chosen Savage as a replacement for Davenport but it drags down the first half an hour or so of the film. The film really starts getting going when Gregory Peck takes the helm and his performance as the initially by-the-book Savage is the greatest strength of Twelve o'clock High. He is ably assisted by Dean Jagger who gives a great performance as the former lawyer Stovall who becomes Savage's greatest ally and indeed is the person who is featured first and last in this film while I'm not sure if this was an Oscar-worthy role it is certainly a memorable one in terms of the film's ensemble cast. The most spectacular scenes are those when we are allowed up in the air with the squadron as they try and take down the superior Luftwaffe. This is also a very patriotic film as we see a German radio station mocking the bad luck squadron and the film ends with a celebration of everything these men fought for only several years prior. So an uneven film which really gets going once Peck emerges as the star and we are able to enjoy some spectacular aerial sequences but one that perhaps relies too much on patriotic feelings to get its point across.