Matt's Big Oscar Challenge Day 344: As Seen on TV

It has been really interesting chronicling the history of cinema over the course of this blog as we've seen film-making change during the past seventy years. Whereas cinema was once the only source of entertainment that people could find soon films saw themselves competing with a box which could be found in the living room of most homes. Television provided an alternative to the cinema where people could be informed and entertained in equal measure. As we entered the 1990s a trend began to adapt old TV shows into movies with spooky sitcom The Addams Family being the first major example of this. Oscar honoured this trend by nominating The Fugitive for Best Picture with the film being based on the 1960s series of the same name. Although you'd think it would be hard to condense four seasons of a show into a two hour film, I felt that director Andrew Davis and the two screenwriters did an admirable job. Both the TV show and the film focus on Dr. Richard Kimble, a respected surgeon who is convicted of killing his wife and sentenced to death. As the title would suggest, Kimble soon goes on the run and is eager to find the one-armed man who he claims was the real killer. As I wasn't overly familiar with the plot of the TV show, I was wondering how they could possibly have made this premise last so long as it seems like an ideal movie plot. I'm guessing why this was adapted into a film and the cat-and-mouse sequences between Kimble and Deputy Marshall Gerard were expertly choreographed. However, the film doesn't feel too much like a Best Picture winner and instead is nothing more than an above average action thriller. Whilst there's nothing particularly wrong about that genre of the film, I don't think it stacks up against a lot of the other films I've watched over the course of the decade.

It's incredibly surprising then that The Fugitive would be nominated for an amazing seven Oscars including Best Picture and a win for Tommy Lee Jones in the Supporting Actor category. I was sceptical of Jones' win before watching The Fugitive primarily because he'd convinced the academy his performance here was better than Ralph Fiennes' turn in Schindler's List. After watching the film I'm even more convinced that Fiennes should have triumphed as Jones' wise-cracking deputy wasn't exactly a crucial presence in the film. Part of me thinks that his award here was the academy's way of apologising for not giving him the win for his superior performance in JFK which was definitely more of an award-winning turn. I personally feel The Fugitive's main strengths were its cinematography and editing both of which added more tension to the brilliant chase sequences. However, The Fugitive didn't win in any of these categories which I would have a problem with if it weren't for the fact that the majority of the awards went to Schindler's List. After following his career over two decades I feel it's rather a shame that Harrison Ford has reverted back to his action persona especially as we saw him shine in films as diverse as Witness and Working Girl. At the same time Ford is a brilliant action hero and he gives a compelling turn as a wrongly-accused man searching for the truth. Interestingly I feel that Ford looks more like a fugitive before he goes on the run as his beard gives him the look of a homeless gentleman while his clean-shaven look is more in line with that of a debonair doctor. Like a lot of action films, The Fugitive calls for some large suspensions of disbelief in order for the plot to progress but I didn't particularly have a problem with any of these. In fact I found The Fugitive to be a refreshing change to all of the historical epics I've watched recently and it acted as more of a pallet cleanser between the stereotypical 'worthy films'. But ultimately The Fugitive doesn't show me anything that suggests it should be a Best Picture candidate and I definitely feel that Jones' Best Supporting Actor win was a mistake.

Next time we look at a man who became one of the biggest stars of the 1990s.

Matt's Big Oscar Challenge Days 301-302: Sheens at War

Most of the war films I've encountered throughout the course of this blog have been flag-waving salutes to the boys and girls fighting the good fight. Although occasionally bleak in tone, these films have nonetheless praised those in command of the missions and have led us to believe that everything is being done for the greater good. However, starting in the late 1970s, some films started to tell a different tale altogether with movies such as The Deer Hunter and Coming Home showing what was really going on in Vietnam. Two more films were nominated during the 1980s ceremony and were linked by the fact that the earlier one starred a famous actor and the latter featured his now notorious son.

Nominated at the first Oscar ceremony of the decade, Apocalypse Now was the perfect example of a war movie which really saw how badly some missions were handled. Francis Ford Coppola's movie starred Martin Sheen as Captain Ben Willard, a special operations veteran who is tasked with a secret mission whilst serving in Vietnam. The already jaded Willard is instructed to track down Colonel Kurtz, a formerly respected officer who went rogue and later retreated to neutral Cambodia. Willard later joins a navy command with a ragtag group of men including a former surfer, a wannabe chef and the captain of the vessel who is constantly feeling undermined by Willard's presence. Along the way the crew encounters several colourful characters including the memorable Colonel Killgore, who loves the smell of Napalm in the morning. After plenty of time has surpassed, and with some of the crew members winding up dead along the way, Willard and the remaining men arrive at Kurtz's base. Here they find that Kurtz has already brainwashed the majority of the natives, as well as a free-loving war photographer and a former commanding officer who is now seen to be in an almost comatose state. Coppola does well building up to Kurtz's first reveal and his presence in the film is certainly a representation of how war can change a man. It's certainly very clear of how the film is going to end but Coppola and his actors make sure the final scenes really stay with you. It's unfortunate then that he didn't employ the same amount of discipline throughout the film as I did feel a large proportion of it was surplus to requirements.

These feelings were magnified due to the fact that the only version of Apocalypse Now available to me was the Redux cut. This version of the film included almost an hours' worth of extra footage which Coppola somehow deemed important enough to insert into this new cut of the film. I have to hold my hands up and say that this was my first experience of watching Apocalypse Now and therefore I wasn't aware of which scenes were exclusive to the Redux version. However, after watching, I read up on the subject and discovered that all the scenes I thought were unnecessary were the ones that Coppola was desperate to resurrect. Without the scenes, Apocalypse Now was definitely a stronger film with an involving narrative that is punctuated with some colourful characters. There are certain moments that  everybody associates with the film from Willard's opening hallucination to 'The Ride of the Valkyries ' scene and finally the first appearance of Kurtz. These scenes are made memorable due to a fantastic technical team including cinematographer Vittorio Storaro and the editing team who did an excellent job of cutting together the aforementioned hallucination as well as the descent of Kilgore's helicopters. Storaro's camera really captured the horrors of the Vietnam war as well as letting us see how different men reacted to it. In terms of its ascetic value and its musical choices, Apocalypse Now can't be faulted one iota.

That being said I did find the narrative aspect of the film to be a real struggle, primarily Willard's lead voice-over. Coppola overuses this storytelling device to the extent that it just feels like an actor reciting lines rather than a jaded officer reciting what happened during his latest mission. This feeling made the narrative feel incredibly lazy at times and I did feel somebody as adept as Coppola could've found a different way to tell the story. Marlon Brando was incredibly well-utilised as Kurtz, appearing in only a couple of the film's final scenes his enigmatic presence was perfect for that of the disillusioned officer. Robert Duvall brought a real sense of entertainment to the role of Killgore while Dennis Hopper perfectly embodied the hippie movement as the war photographer. But it was Martin Sheen who was tasked with leading the film and I felt he did an admirable job of playing the somewhat reliable Captain whose experiences during his latest mission scar him for life. Sheen benefits from looking like the All-American hero and his opening scenes in Saigon allow us to sympathise with before he heads off in search of Kurtz. Sheen is especially fantastic in the later scenes as we see him being tempted by Kurt'z words and whether what he did was actually the right thing. Ultimately Acopalypse Now has elements of being the perfect film however I did feel it's narrative structure let it down. That being said visually it looked fantastic and it's cast were generally spectacular especially Sheen who was a more than reliable anchor for the film's story.

Seven years later, Martin's son Charlie Sheen followed his father to Vietnam for Oliver Stone's film Platoon, which would go on to win the Best Picture prize at that year's ceremony. Charlie's character in the film is Chris Taylor, a young man who has decided to join the army and fight in Vietnam rather than continue his studies at college. From the very beginning of the film, Stone establishes the fact that Taylor's war will be a tough one as he struggles to carry his kit into camp and is taunted by the men who've been there a while. Chris does find somewhat of a mentor in Sgt. Elias who initially is the only man who is willing to help him when he first arrives in Vietnam. Meanwhile, similar to the way Willard does in Apocalypse Now, Chris has a similarly expositional voiceover but at least this time the narrative is told through letters to his grandmother. As his time in Vietnam continues Chris becomes one of the gang however he never wins round the somewhat ruthless Staff Sergeant Barnes. Barnes and Elias are constantly clashing with the former hating the fact that the latter has more power than him. Meanwhile Elias chastises Barnes for shooting an innocent Vietnamese woman which leads to an incredibly aggressive fight between the pair. Chris soon realises that every man has his own personal war and his experiences are haunted by those who have shaped his time in Vietnam. By the end of the film both Elias and Barnes have been killed, but neither by the men who they initially considered to be the enemy. The final scene, in which Chris surveys the dead bodies strewn across the Vietnamese landscape, perfectly demonstrates the message that the film is trying to give.

Platoon feels like an extremely personal account of Vietnam and is indeed based on Stone's own experience of serving in the war. Stone wrote the screenplay for the film and tried to get it made in Hollywood while writing the scripts for other films, including the Oscar-winning Midnight Express. Eventually he took the decision to direct Platoon himself which I feel was the right move as he would now be able to realise his vision exactly the way he wanted to. The film's cinematography, which was nominated but didn't win an Oscar, is incredibly documentary-like in tone and at times it's if some of it has been lifted out of the history books I used to read at school. Luckily, unlike some of the films I've watched recently, the narrative is as involving as the visual aspects of the picture. This is down to the character of Chris Taylor, a sympathetic everyman who the audience can easily identify with. Taylor's war hasn't been the one he expected and he soon has to adapt new coping mechanisms whilst at the same time maintaining his moral code. Whilst not as compelling as his father's performance in Apocalypse Now, Charlie Sheen at least makes us care about Chris. Sheen brings a type of innocence to the role and becomes almost the straight man to the gang of crazy characters that are part of Chris' platoon. Willem Dafoe definitely makes Elias the heart of the film and he's the character that I personally cared the most about, which made his death even the more shocking. Meanwhile Tom Berenger is perfect as the grizzled veteran who does whatever it takes to make people talk and doesn't really think the rules apply to him. Dafoe and Berenger's duelling performances are the standout aspect of Platoon for me and both men were honoured with Supporting Actor Nominations. Elsewhere familiar faces such as Johnny Depp and Forest Whitaker appear in supporting roles and all add a little bit to the make-up of the platoon.

The film ultimately went on to win four Oscars, with Stone being honoured for his direction but not for his strong and harrowing script. I personally think that Platoon is the best Best Picture winner of the 1980s I've watched thus far and with just one more winner to go that's a compliment indeed. Overall I feel that Platoon is a film that combines the visual splendour of some films with the narrative depth of others. It cares about its characters which in turn makes me want to care about them and I do feel that it's a better film than Apocalypse Now. That being said both of these Vietnam war films featuring the Sheens are excellent movies and somehow worked as the perfect double bill.

Next time we head to one of America's most famous gambling destinations for a romantic crime drama.

Matt's Big Oscar Challenge Days 291-292: Ford Focuses

So far in this challenge we've seen Harrison Ford play the all-action hero both as Han Solo in Star Was and as Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark. Although he's played a supporting role in other genres, such as small roles in American Graffiti and The Conversation, for the most part he's been all abut the action. However, towards the end of the decade, Ford began to broaden his repertoire playing a cop desperate to protect a young boy and a businessman who has his head turned in an unlikely direction.

Ford received his only ever Oscar nomination for his role in Best Picture nominee Witness where he played a by-the-book police officer. Ford's John Book is drafted in to investigate the murder of a fellow officer in the toilets of 30th Street Station in Philadelphia. The murder's only witness is eight-year-old Samuel Lapp, a member of the Amish community who has rarely been outside of his family's farm. His widowed mother Rachel is unhappy with the way that Book is using Samuel to find the killer and wants to get out of the city as soon a possible. Samuel later discovers that the man he saw was a police officer which leads to Book finding out about a number of corrupt officers including his own boss. Realising that these corrupt officers will try to get to Samuel, an injured Book drives them to safety as they return to their family home. Rachel's father-in-law agrees to take Book in until heals, partly as he wants to protect Samuel. Rather predictably Rachel starts developing feelings for Book, however this doesn't sit well with the elders of the community who feel she may be shunned as a result of this relationship. Book is similarly attracted to Rachel but realises that any romance would cost her a way of life that both she and Samuel have become accustomed to. A violent altercation soon alerts the corrupt officers to Book's whereabouts which leads to an intense showdown in a cow barn.

In the wrong hands, Witness could have just been a paint by numbers thriller that was nothing more than a bit of mindless entertainment. Luckily writers  Earl W. Wallace and William Kelley alongside director Peter Weir had a vision for the film that they more than successfully pulled off. Weir excels at putting together several set pieces which perfectly drive along the action of the film. These set pieces include the brilliantly choreographed opening murder scene in the bathroom and later the rather tender moment where Book and Rachel dance in the barn. It's this romance between Book and Rachel that raises Witness above the simple thriller story and really offers up some interesting themes about desire and community. The way the Amish community is treated in modern society is another area that the film looks at it great detail. Due to their horse-drawn carts and distinctive costume, the Amish are treated as fools by some and as tourist attractions by others. It's arguably Book's understanding of the Amish culture that helps him get through his difficult time and even aids him in bumping off one of his attackers. Ford is really great in the role of Book as he transforms him over the period of the film into someone who is a lot more tolerant of others' beliefs. Ford shares brilliant chemistry with Kelly McGillis as the naive Rachel who herself puts in an excellent performance. McGillis was cruelly overlooked in the Best Actress category which is a shame as I feel her role is the more sympathetic and she was particularly brilliant during the more tender moments. Young Lukas Haas' wide-eyed expressions lent a believability to the role of Samuel as he was able to portray his innocence of modern life with ease. The film was bolstered by some fantastic cinematography from John Seale who let his camera capture every detail of Amish country. Similarly beneficial was the Oscar-nominated score from the legendary Maurice Jarre which perfectly suited the tone of the film. Witness did have a few minor problems, most notably the fact that the corrupt officers felt a little clichéd, but I found it involving from beginning to end. More than anything it proved that Ford could thrive in a role in which he was able to do more than simply run around and offer the odd quip when needed.

Ford later proved that he was the perfect comedy straight man as the only central male figure in another Best Picture nominee, Working Girl. The film itself primarily focused on Tess McGill, a young working-class woman who is hoping to rise from her position as a secretary. Tess has a business degree from night school but still isn't taken seriously by her male superiors who view her mainly as a piece of skirt. Fired from yet another position, Tess is given the job of assistant to financial executive Katharine Parker. Katharine initially seems like the perfect boss and wants her and Tess to work as a team. Tess comes to Katharine with the idea of having their client Trask Industries invest in a radio station with Katharine seemingly on board with the idea. Katharine later tells Tess that the idea was rejected by her superiors but she later discovers that her boss is simply going to pass the idea off as her own. When Katharine is injured on a skiing holiday, Tess gains access to her home and dresses up in her clothes to transform herself into an executive. Posing as one of Katharine's colleagues, Tess goes to a party in the hope of meeting Ford's Jack Trainer with whom she will later have a meeting with. Their initial meeting ends up with Tess waking up in Jack's bed but she later discovers that his team are on board with her idea. As Tess and Jack begin working together, an attraction grows between the pair and they are soon able to convince Trask to meet with them after crashing his daughter's wedding. However, Katharine's return brings with it a whole heap of problems not least the fact that she and Jack were involved in a relationship prior to her injury. At the end of the day it's up to Tess to break through the class barrier and prove that she does belong in a boardroom with the other financial executives.

I was almost immediately charmed by Working Girl during its opening sequence which featured commuters on the Staten Island Ferry making their daily trip into work. The whole sequence was accompanied by Carly Simon's 'Let the River Run' which would later go on to win the Oscar for Best Song. One of the film's greatest attributes is Kevin Wade's brilliantly paced script which engrosses you from the word go. He creates four or five characters who feeling incredibly realistic and all of whom you're willing to spend just under two hours with. Tess in particular is a character that I'm sure a vast majority of people can identify with namely a lowly worker who is a lot smarter than those who are promoted above her due to who they know rather than what they can do. Melanie Griffith is fantastic as Tess and excels in a film in which she appears in almost every scene. She brings a certain sense of style to the role which is perfect for a character who sometimes thinks before she acts. Sigourney Weaver is equally fantastic as Katharine a woman who appears to be everybody's friend but in actuality is simply out for herself. Weaver's cool exterior is the perfect balance with Griffith's more zany antics which makes you believe that they are complete polar opposites. Joan Cusack lends great support as Griffith's similarly wacky friend Cynthia whilst Alec Baldwin puts in a memorable turn as Tess' cheating boyfriend. Griffith, Weaver and Cusack all received nominations for their roles in the film as did director Mike Nichols who here presents another perfectly constructed piece of work. Meanwhile, though not recognised by the Academy, Ford was able to showcase another side of his personality and was the perfect foil for both Griffith and Weaver's romantic affections. At points it seemed that Ford was simply there to act as eye candy but I felt he held his own and has some wonderful chemistry with his leading ladies. Ultimately I found Working Girl to be an intelligent comedy which had a lot to say about class and gender whilst at the same time making a star out of its leading lady.

In the coming years, Ford would mainly be known for more roles in action films which is a shame as both Witness and Working Girl demonstrate that he's an actor who can turn his hand to many different genres.

Next time we have a Best Picture winner that really struck a chord with the Academy voters.

Matt's Big Oscar Challenge Days 272-274: The King of the Blockbuster

Back in the mid-1970s we saw that rise of the blockbuster film with Best Picture nominees such as Jaws and Star Wars leading the way. It would be the directors of these two films, Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, who would become synonymous with the blockbuster throughout the following decades. Spielberg in particular would be hailed as the king of the blockbuster after helming four of the 1980s top ten grossing films, two of which were nominated for Best Picture.
In fact the first of these two major blockbusters was a combination between Lucas and Spielberg with the former creating the character of Indiana Jones and the latter helming his first big screen adventure - Raiders of the Lost Ark. According to folklore, the idea was cooked up after Spielberg voiced his desire to direct a James Bond film. Lucas informed his friend that the 'Indiana' character he'd been working on, based on Stuart Grainger heroes of the 1950s, would be an ideal fit. Alongside the film's eventual screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan, the pair hammered out various ideas for what would become Raiders of the Lost Ark. The Indiana Jones character eventually became an archaeology professor and treasure hunter who, in this first instalment, is tasked by the US government to find the Ark of the Covenant. The reason for their haste is due to the fact that the Nazis are also after the Ark and conveniently have hired Jones' arch rival Belloq as their head archaeologist. Jones soon runs into his old flame Marion in a bar in Nepal and she has an encounter with the dreaded Nazis before teaming up with Indiana. The majority of the action takes place in Cario where Jones must outwit Belloq and the Nazis and keep Marion safe at the same time.

After the success of Star Wars, you would think that anything with George Lucas' name attached to it would be snapped up instantly. But once again the major studios turned down the Indiana Jones franchise as they felt the story was too over-the-top. Whilst they were right there's no denying that Raiders of the Lost Ark is an incredibly enjoyable watch and is still entertaining over thirty years later. Part of the charm of the Indiana Jones character is the old-fashioned nature of the plot and the square-jawed look of the central character. Playing a slight variation on the Han Solo character, Harrison Ford is perfectly reserved when he needs to be but also shares great chemistry with Karen Allen as Marion. The swashbuckling nature of the plot is neatly counterbalanced by the amount of special effects that were available to film-makers in the 1980s. Indeed, Raiders of the Lost Ark did go on to win the Visual Effects Oscar, which I believe it deserved for the face-melting scene alone. The film won a further four Oscars, all in the visual and technical categories, however unfortunately composer John Williams didn't win an award for his score. Like with all of the Spielberg films he's worked with, Williams' score enhances the mood of the film and helps to convey the character's emotions. Despite it not being as deep as other Best Picture nominees, Raiders of the Lost Ark is a thoroughly enjoyable romp with a well-written story and some great visuals. It's a shame that not more action adventure films get nominated for Oscars but then a lot of them today are simply cheap carbon copies of this brilliant Spielberg original.
One year later, Spielberg had another film in the Best Picture category and this offering would go on to surpass Star Wars as the highest grossing film of all time. The film was E.T. and was loosely based on the imaginary friend that Spielberg created following the divorce of his parents. The lead character in E.T., Henry Thomas' Elliot, is also the child of a recent divorce and currently lives with his mother, brother and sister in California. Whilst his mother still hasn't completely gotten over her divorce, his older brother Michael has taken over as the man of the house and often chastises Elliot for his child-like behaviour. Both his mother and brother don't believe him when he tells them he's encountered a 'goblin' in the back yard that is until he takes him into the house. Eventually, Michael and Elliot decide that their goblin is an extra-terrestrial and has come from outer space. The brothers decide to keep E.T.'s presence a secret from their mother and swear their sister Gertie to secrecy when she accidentally discovers the creature. E.T.'s arrival appears to create a bonding experience for the siblings as they attempt to help him get back to his home planet. But this is easier said than done when government agents swarm the house and quarantine both Elliot and E.T. This sets up a couple of dazzling final scenes that have since gone down as some of the most famous cinematic moments of all time. In fact, one iconic bike ride in particular would later become the calling card for Spielberg's own Amblin Entertainment Production Company.

Like most people of my age I have watched E.T. several times, usually when it airs on the TV over the Christmas holidays. But this is the first time that I really thought about the film as a whole and mostly about how simplistic it all is. Nothing much happens in terms of the story but at the same time it's a film you'll always remember for a number of reasons. Firstly E.T. itself is a wonderful creation, an iconic screen figure whose pointy illuminated finger is a thing of beauty. Secondly, I feel that the three child actors are all brilliant and add a sense of realism to an otherwise fantastical film. Interestingly the majority of the film was shot in chronological order primarily to get the best reactions from the children. Henry Thomas is totally great as Elliot whilst a young Drew Barrymore steals every scene she's in as the fantastic Gertie. Adding some humanity to the film is Dee Wallace as Elliot's mother who portrays the role of a single mother getting over a divorce beautifully. It's this family aspect that gives E.T. its edge and it's easy to see how Spielberg drew on his own childhood to create the central brood. Allen Daviau's camera captures all of the wonderment that Spielberg can throw at it and is particularly brilliant at filming Elliot and E.T.'s first meeting. Finally, I feel that John Williams' score is vital to the film's success as it contains very little dialogue and at times his accompaniment feels like that of a pianist during a silent film. Williams' score was honoured with one of the film's four Oscars with awards also given for achievement in Sound, Sound Editing and Visual Effects. Furthermore the director of that year's Best Picture claimed that E.T. deserved to win but you'll have to wait to find out who that was and what film they won for.
Three years after E.T.'s nomination, Spileberg would have another film in consideration for the top prize. But, unlike his previous Best Picture offerings, The Color Purple was an entirely different beast and demonstrated a new side to the director that he would enhance over the coming decades. Based on Alice Walker's book, the film looks over thirty years in the life of Celie Harris, a young black woman who had a terrible life. We discover immediately that Celie is the victim of sexual abuse from her father and that she has produced two children as a result. She's soon sold on to the despicable Albert Johnson, who really wants to be with her sister Nettie, who basically treats her as a servant. When Nettie rejects Albert's advances he sends her away and Celie eventually believes her sister is dead. Celie's life is improved by two women, the first of whom is Sofia, a woman who later goes on to become her daughter-in-law. Sofia is someone who, unlike Celie, won't be treated like a victim and often hits back at men who hit her. The other woman is jazz singer Shug Avery, Albert's one true love, who takes a shine to the nervous Celie. Over their time together Shug teaches Celie to come out of her skin and eventually helps her find the letters that Nettie sent to her. By the end of the tale everybody has redeemed themselves so to speak and the film concludes with a tearful finale that is incredibly moving for those who don't possess a hear of stone.

The Color Purple was seen as Spielberg's foray into 'serious film-making' and it definitely got a mixed critical reaction on its release. Some felt that Spielberg was tugging at the heartstrings a little too much whilst others felt he was sugar-coating the plight of black people during the early 20th century. While I can certainly see their points, my main problem was that it took so long to get going. Although it's understandable that Spielberg wanted to establish the relationship between Nettie and Celie, the first thirty minutes dragged for me as we had to rattle through a large amount of exposition. The film really got going when Whoopi Goldberg took over playing the role of Celie as her performance was truly stupendous. Goldberg's tender take on the character makes you really care about Celie and she makes every single moment count when she's on screen. The appearances of both Sofia and Shug made the saga progress even faster and from that point on I was completely engrossed until the end credits rolled. This was partly down to the performances of Oprah Winfrey and Margaret Avery both of whom steal the show in their various appearances. Winfrey starts out by making Sofia a force to be reckoned with before pulling it back to portray her world-weary nature. Similarly, Avery makes Shug a force of nature but changes the character as the years go by, plus she has an amazing singing voice. All three ladies were nominated for acting awards at that year's Oscars but none of the trio were victorious which, in the case of Goldberg, is a disgrace. In fact the film has the dubious honour of receiving eleven nominations without getting a single win. Though the film does have problems, I felt that it was beautifully shot, wonderfully acted and included a brilliant score from the excellent Quincy Jones.

Throughout the rest of his career, Spielberg would go on to balance his output as he continued to create blockbusters while at the same time harnessing his love for the so-called 'serious films'. It would be these historical pictures which would net him two Best Director Oscars in the next decade and one of them would grab the Best Picture honour also. But for now at least we have to bid adieu to Mr Spielberg as we see what else the 1980s has to offer.

Next up we have the final major film by two stars who've cropped up numerous times during this blog.

Matt's Big Oscar Challenge Day 229-230: The Rise of the Summer Blockbuster

Throughout my reviews of 1970s films I've noted how many of the stars and directors would go on to change the cinematic landscape. One such film-maker was Steven Spielberg who, in 1975, essentially created the summer blockbuster. At the time Spielberg had only directed one cinematic feature, The Sugarland Express, and so nobody expected his film about a shark to be particularly historical. But, by putting the film out over the summer, traditionally the time in which studios dumped their less-appealing films, Spielberg capitalised on a new market. His film went on to become the most successful film of all time, for at least two years, and essentially created what we know today as the summer blockbuster.

That film was of course Jaws, adapted from the book by Peter Benchley, and focusing on a shark which threatens the residents of the close-nit Amity Island. Amity's Chief of Police Martin Brody is the first to identify a shark attack after a young girl is killed. But the island's mayor is keen not to close the beach as summer season is on its way. The mayor also clashes with Brody, who was once a cop in the big city, as he doesn't think he understands island life. Following another death by shark, Brody calls in marine biologist Matt Hooper who is able to identify the type of shark the islanders should be looking for. With summer trade at its busiest, the shark strikes again and it's only then that the mayor instructs Brody to hunt down the animal. Brody hires old sea dog Quint and he and Hooper join him on the hunt for the shark. Obviously the search is hard and the mismatched trio don't always live harmoniously together. Indeed Quint's old-fashioned mentality and Hooper's gadgetry aren't best suited to one another while Brody's hatred of the water doesn't exactly make him the ideal candidate to look for a shark.

One of the joys of watching Jaws is the simplicity of the story and the way in which the shark is introduced through the trickery of the screen. Indeed, it is John Williams' score that created the iconic shark and every time those notes are played you know the threat is imminent. Spielberg's high-concept plot meant that audiences didn't have to think too much about what was going on and instead enjoyed the first real summer blockbuster. However, Jaws isn't a blockbuster in the way we know today and isn't chocked full of special effects and wafer-thin characters. The story was the most important thing for Spielberg, who hired many people to edit Benchley's original script, and he wanted the first two thirds of the story to build up to the three men in a boat adventure. I found this build-up to be incredibly masterfully produced with the islanders willing to ignore the threat of the shark until it was right there in front of them. As Brody, Roy Scheider provided the world-weariness of a man who just wanted to do the right thing and was thwarted at every corner. The then unknown Richard Dreyfuss was a ball-of-energy as the enigmatic Hooper and was the perfect antidote to Robert Shaw's cantankerous Quint. Jaws is primarily a film about three men at different stages in their life who just happen to be chasing a man-eating shark. Jaws definitely still looks as good today as it did when it was released and it proves that most blockbusters just need a good story and an effective way to signify the main villain.

John Williams was back two years later signifying the main villain in another summer blockbuster, which overtook Jaws as the most successful film of all time. That film was Star Wars, a movie that has become incredibly famous to the extent where I feel I don't really need to review it. This is because that everybody has their own memory of when they first watched Star Wars and for me it was watching the trilogy back-to-back just before The Phantom Menace was released in 1999. Though I've caught it on the TV in the following years, this was my chance to watch it through a film graduate's eyes and change some of my memories of the film. It's actually quite hard to write about Star Wars without hurting someone's feelings but the first thing I should say is that it's not that spectacular. I feel when people reminisce about Star Wars they're thinking about the whole trilogy but judging the first film by itself is a lot different. Obviously the film is made great by the special effects, which at the time were ground-breaking, and there's no denying that watching someone pull out a lightsaber for the first time is a truly magical experience. Similarly characters like Chewbacca or Darth Vader just didn't exist in normal mainstream cinema back then and I feel that audiences would've been intrigued by their presence. Obviously John Williams reserves some credit for the aforementioned score which instantly brings back memories of both the film's opening and Darth Vader's legendary strut down the death star.

Director George Lucas was really able to create an incredible universe of characters, planets and spaceships with the mythology of the Star Wars universe seeming vast and mysterious. At the same time the characters of Luke, Leia and Han feel fairly simplistic while the central plot is incredibly basic. However, Lucas was lucky with his choice of actors all of whom share great chemistry. Harrison Ford was an inspired choice to play the swaggering Han Solo and he was totally believable as a gambling drunk. Wide-eyed Mark Hammil perfectly encapsulated the innocent Luke while Carrie Fisher combined sexiness with strength to play Leia who could easily hold her own amongst the boys. Bringing gravitas to proceedings was Alec Guinness as Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi though his casting was mainly to appease the studio heads who didn't like the fact he was casting unknowns. Acting and visuals aside; my 2013 viewing experience of Star Wars was pleasant enough but it didn't blow me away. I can understand how audiences at the time would've been dazzled by everything they saw on screen but today I feel that Star Wars, if judged as a film on its own, is nothing more than an entertaining two hour romp. A while back I had an argument with a friend who was trying to explain to me why Star Wars should have won Best Picture over the film that eventually triumphed. His argument was based on the film's legacy but, at the time, there was no legacy to speak off and the Academy purely had to go on the quality of the overall film. It seemed the Oscars did acknowledge the film's main strengths and gave it six awards mainly in the sound, visual effects and art direction categories. However, I would argue that the film itself isn't exactly a masterpiece even if it influenced hundreds of sci-fi films that would come after it.

Next up we get into the ring with a contender that became a Best Picture Winner.

Matt's Big Oscar Challenge Days 210-211: A Pair of Gene's

So here we are in the 1970s, a decade that really pushed the bar in terms of film-making and used the art form to tell some incredibly interesting stories. We begin with a double bill featuring an actor who really came into his own at the beginning of the decade - Gene Hackman.

Though Hackman had been around for a while he only really came to prominence in his late thirties after his appearance in Bonnie and Clyde, which earned him his first Oscar nomination. Four years later he was propelled to stardom thanks to his central role as Jimmy 'Popeye' Doyle in The French Connection. The French Connection picked up Best Picture at the 1972 ceremony and also gave its lead actor his first Academy Award. The film, which was the first R-Rated movie to win the Best Picture Award, takes place in the streets of New York and follows Doyle and his partner Buddy 'Cloudy' Russo as they attempt a drug bust. I found the story of the film fairly unique in that we followed the French drug smugglers at the same time as the New York cops. The film's main antagonist is Alain Charnier, who plans to smuggle millions of dollars' worth of heroin into the country by using the car of a TV personality. As we learn throughout the film, Doyle and Russo aren't exactly the most trustworthy of individuals but they are incredibly good at their jobs so most of their colleagues are forced to trust them. As Doyle and Russo identify Charnier and his men, the chase is on to track down the drugs and arrest those involved in the plot. But not everything goes to plan and when Doyle's plot backfires, he and Russo are taken off the case. However, that doesn't dissuade Doyle and he's soon in hot pursuit of the man whose been sent to assassinate him, hoping that this will result in him finding the drugs.

After watching The French Connection, I feel like I've entered the 1970s with a bang. The film is fast-paced without losing sight of its plot and incredibly stylised throughout. Director William Friedkin looked to French cinema to create a lot of the style in the French Connection and that is definitely evident. At the same time, The French Connection has a profound sense of location and I was completely transported into New York right from the earliest scenes. For me the style extends to the character's costumes most notably the hat and coat worn by Doyle. The most iconic scene in the whole film is the legendary car chase in which Doyle, in a car, is racing a commuter train which is above him. Owen Roizman's cinematography takes you right into Doyle's car while Friedkin makes sure that we don't miss a thing. I was completely sucked in by this chase and think it's one that's been imitate many times but has never been bettered. Hackman is absolutely tremendous in the lead role as Doyle combining the stereotypical 'bad cop' with someone who has a genuine passion for the job. Hackman understands every intricate detail of his character down to the little wave that Doyle gives to Charnier in one of the final scenes. Meanwhile, Hackman is well-supported by the reliable Roy Scheider as the more level-headed Russo. While earlier crime always saw the criminals brought to justice, we learn at the end of The French Connection that a lot of the crooks in the film either served small sentences or never went to jail again. Overall, The French Connection is definitely one of the best Best Picture winners I've seen so far.

Three year later, Hackman starred in another Best Picture nominee, even though he missed out on a Best Actor nomination this time around. Arguably, The Conversation was a better overall film than The French Connection while I definitely preferred Hackman as Harry Caul. Caul is one of America's most renowned surveillance experts and has often been praised for being able to pick up any speech necessary. Caul lives a fairly solitary existence, living alone with only his jazz saxophone for company, though he does have a regular relationship with a woman who knows nothing about him. But Caul's work has sometimes caused him emotional strain and, as we learn later in the film, one of his most recent jobs resulted in a triple murder. Caul is very wary when he is tasked with recording a couple as they walk through Union Square in San Francisco especially when he hears the phrase 'he'd kill us if he got the chance.' Caul is soon tasked with giving his tapes to  a man known simply as The Director, but when one of The Director's underlings takes the tapes a nervous Harry takes them back. As he becomes obsessed by the tapes, Harry realises he has to act on what he's heard and uses the information he has to act as a vigilante hero. But, the film's message ultimately seems to be that, even if you can hear everything, it doesn't necessarily mean that you listen to everything that's being said.

The Conversation is the first time that I've come across a Francis Ford Coppola film while writing this project and you can see why, at his peak, the director was hailed as one of the greats. The Conversation is a tense thriller which builds up the audience's expectations before completely changing the game in the last ten minutes. For me, I think that The Conversation features some of the greatest uses of sound in cinema history. The way we see the conversation being broken down by Harry throughout the film is simply superb and you never tire of hearing the same speech over and over again. Hackman's performance as Harry is also one of the film's greatest strengths as he portrays the surveillance expert as someone whose always been on the borders of society. Though Harry is seemingly attractive to the opposite sex, his intricate nature and paranoia make it impossible for him to form meaningful relationships. For the most part, Hackman plays Harry as someone who only speaks when he really needs to and I feel he communicates more by his actions than by his words. Hackman is supported by John Cazale as Harry's colleague Stan who is a bit wilder than his friend and often uses his job to ogle women. The film also features a great little performance from Harrison Ford as The Director's aide Martin Stett, which provided evidence of how great the actor would go on to be. My only frustration is that The Conversation didn't do better at that year's Oscars, but I don't think Coppola was too bothered seeing as it was another of his films that scooped the majority of the major prizes.

Next time I'll look at the three big screen musicals that were nominated for Best Picture during the 1970s.