Saturday, July 12, 2008

Movies Of The Year Awards: 1967

Best Picture:

The End: Playtime
Oscar: In The Heat Of The Night

Best Director:

The End: Jacques Tati, Playtime
Oscar: Mike Nichols, The Graduate

Actor:

The End: Lee Marvin, Point Blank and The Dirty Dozen
Oscar: Rod Steiger, In The Heat Of The Night

Actress:

The End: Catherine Deneuve, Belle de jour and The Young Girls Of Rochefort
Oscar: Katherine Hepburn, Guess Who's Coming To Dinner

Supporting Actor:

The End: John Cassavetes, The Dirty Dozen
Oscar: George Kennedy, Cool Hand Luke

Supporting Actress:

The End: Françoise Dorléac, The Young Girls Of Rochefort
Oscar: Estelle Parsons, Bonnie And Clyde

Original Screenplay:

The End: Jean-Luc Godard, Week End and 2 Or 3 Things I Know About Her
Oscar: William Rose, Guess Who's Coming To Dinner?

Adapted Screenplay:

The End: Alexander Jacobs, David Newhouse, Rafe Newhouse, Point Blank
Oscar: Stirling Silliphant, In The Heat Of The Night

Foreign Language Film:

The End: Playtime
Oscar: Closely Watched Trains

Documentary Feature:

The End: Don't Look Back
Oscar: The Anderson Platoon

Film Editing:

The End: DA Pennebaker, Don't Look Back
Oscar: Hal Ashby, In The Heat Of The Night

Cinematography:

The End: Jean Badal and Andréas Winding, Playtime
Oscar: Burnett Guffey, Bonnie And Clyde

Art Direction:

The End: Eugène Roman, Playtime
Oscar: John Truscott, Edward Carrere and John Brown, Camelot

Costume Design:

The End: Theadora Van Runkle, Bonnie And Clyde
Oscar: John Truscott, Camelot

Sound:

The End: Playtime
Oscar: In the Heat Of the Night

Original Score:

The End: Michel Legrand, The Young Girls Of Rochefort
Oscar: Elmer bernstein, Thoroughly Modern Millie

Special Effects:

The End: The One-Armed Swordsman
Oscar: Doctor Doolittle

Non-Oscar Categories:

Breakthrough Performance:


Dustin Hoffman, The Graduate

Soundtrack:

Don't Look Back

Movies Of The Year Awards: 1966

Best Picture:

The End: Au hasard Balthazar
Oscar: A Man For All Seasons

Best Director:

The End: Robert Bresson, Au hasard Balthazar
Oscar: Fred Zinneman, A Man For All Seasons

Actor:

The End: Tatsuya Nakadai, The Sword Of Doom
Oscar: Paul Scofield, A Man For All Seasons

Actress:

The End: Anne Bancroft, 7 Women
Oscar: Elizabeth Taylor, Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?

Supporting Actor:

The End: Eli Wallach, The Good, The Bad & The Ugly
Oscar: Walter Matthau, The Fortune Cookie

Supporting Actress:

The End: Margaret Leighton, 7 Women
Oscar: Sandy Dennis, Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?

Original Screenplay:

The End: Robert Bresson, Au hasard Balthazar
Oscar: Claude Lelouch and Pierre Uytterhoeven, A Man And A Woman

Adapted Screenplay:

The End: Michelangelo Antonioni. Blow-Up
Oscar: Robert Bolt, A Man For All Seasons

Foreign Language Film:

The End: Au hasard Balthazar
Oscar: A Man And A Woman

Film Editing:

The End: Raymond Lamy, Au hasard Balthazar
Oscar: Fredric Steinkamp, Henry Berman, Stu Linder and Frank Santillo, Grand Prix

Black And White Cinematography:

The End: Marcello Gatti, The Battle Of Algiers
Oscar: Haskelll Wexler, Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?

Color Cinematography:

The End: Tonino Delli Colli, The Good, The Bad & The Ugly
Oscar: Ted Moore, A Man For All Seasons

Black And White Art Direction:

The End: Sergio Canevari, The Battle Of Algiers
Oscar: Richard Sylbert and George James Hopkins, Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?

Color Art Direction:

The End: Takeo Kimura, Tokyo Drifter
Oscar: Jack Martin Smith, Dale Hennesy, Walter M. Scott and Stuart A. Reiss, Fantastic Voyage

Black And White Costume Design:

The End: Masculin féminin
Oscar: Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?

Color Costume Design:

The End: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly
Oscar: A Man For All Seasons

Sound:

The End: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly
Oscar: Grand Prix

Original Score:

The End: Ennio Morricone, The Good, The Bad & The Ugly
Oscar: John Barry, Born Free

Soundtrack:

The End: Blow-Up
Oscar: A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum

Special Effects:

The End: Come Drink With Me
Oscar: Fantastic Voyage

Non-Oscar Categories:

Breakthrough Performance:


King Hu, Come Drink With Me

Villain:

Tatsuya Nakadai, The Sword Of Doom

Friday, July 11, 2008

Metro Classics Returns

We're back with another nine week repertory series, this time with six foreign films representing the opposing factions of World War II and three weeks of World War II movies starring the always surly Lee Marvin. Here's the schedule:

Axis Powers (Germany, Italy, Japan):

July 30 - German Expressionism Double Feature: The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari (Weine) & The Last Laugh (Murnau)

August 6 - La Strada (Fellini)

August 13 - Ikiru (Kurosawa)

Allies (Britain, France, USSR):

August 20 - Black Narcissus (Powell & Pressburger)

August 27 - Pickpocket (Bresson)

September 3 - I Am Cuba (Kalatozov)

Lee Marvin:

September 10 - The Dirty Dozen (Aldrich)

September 17 - Hell In The Pacific (Boorman)

September 24 - The Big Red One (Fuller)

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Movies Of The Year Awards: 1965


Best Picture:

The End: Pierrot le fou
Oscar: The Sound Of Music

Best Director:

The End: Jean-Luc Godard, Pierrot le fou
Oscar: Robert Wise, The Sound Of Music

Actor:

The End: Richard Burton, The Spy Who Came In From The Cold
Oscar: Lee Marvin, Cat Ballou

Actress:

The End: Anna Karina, Pierrot le fou and Alphaville
Oscar: Julie Christie, Darling

Supporting Actor:

The End: Oskar Werner, The Spy Who Came In From The Cold
Oscar: Martin Balsam, A Thousand Clowns

Supporting Actress:

The End: Claire Bloom, The Spy Who Came In From The Cold
Oscar: Shelly Winters, A Patch Of Blue

Original Screenplay:

The End: Charles Schultz, A Charlie Brown Christmas
Oscar: Frederic Raphael, Darling

Adapted Screenplay:

The End: Orson Welles, Chimes At Midnight
Oscar: Robert Bolt, Dr. Zhivago

Foreign Language Film:

The End: Pierrot le fou
Oscar: The Shop On Main Street

Film Editing:

The End: Françoise Collin, Pirrot le fou
Oscar: William Reynolds, The Sound Of Music

Black And White Cinematography:

The End: Oswald Morris, The Spy Who Came In From The Cold
Oscar: Ernest Laszlo, Ship Of Fools

Color Cinematography:

The End: Raoul Coutard, Pierrot le fou
Oscar: Freddie Young, Dr. Zhivago

Black And White Art Direction:

The End: Alphaville
Oscar: Ship Of Fools

Color Art Direction:

The End: The Cincinnati Kid
Oscar: Dr. Zhivago

Black And White Costume Design:

The End: Chimes At Midnight
Oscar: Darling

Color Costume Design:

The End: Pierrot le fou
Oscar: Dr. Zhivago

Sound:

The End: Thunderball
Oscar: The Sound Of Music

Original Score:

The End: Vince Guaraldi, A Charlie Brown Christmas
Oscar: Maurice Jarre, Dr. Zhivago

Soundtrack:

The End: A Charlie Brown Christmas
Oscar: The Sound Of Music

Special Effects:

The End: Thunderball
Oscar: Thunderball

Non-Oscar Categories:

Breakthrough Performance:


Jane Fonda, Cat Ballou

Villain:

Anna Karina, Pierrot le fou

Wednesday, July 09, 2008

Movies Of The Year Awards: 1964


Best Picture:

The End: Dr. Strangelove
Oscar: My Fair Lady

Best Director:

The End: Mikhail Kalatozov, I Am Cuba
Oscar: George Cukor, My Fair Lady

Actor:

The End: Peter Sellers, Dr. Strangelove
Oscar: Rex Harrison, My Fair Lady

Actress:

The End: Nina Pens Rode, Gertrud
Oscar: Julie Andrews, Mary Poppins

Supporting Actor:

The End: Alec Guinness, The Fall Of The Roman Empire
Oscar: Peter Ustinov, Topkapi

Supporting Actress:

The End: Jeanne Moreau, The Train
Oscar: Lila Kedrova, Zorba The Greek

Original Screenplay:

The End: Jacques Demy, The Umbrellas Of Cherbourg
Oscar: Peter Stone and Frank Tarloff, Father Goose

Adapted Screenplay:

The End: Stanley Kubrick, Peter George and Terry Southern, Dr. Strangelove
Oscar: Edward Anhalt, Becket

Foreign Language Film:

The End: The Umbrellas Of Cherbourg
Oscar: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

Film Editing:

The End: Nina Glagoleva, I Am Cuba
Oscar: Cotton Warburton, Mary Poppins

Black And White Cinematography:

The End: Sergei Urusevsky, I Am Cuba
Oscar: Walter Lassally, Zorba The Greek

Color Cinematography:

The End: Jean Rabier, The Umbrellas Of Cherbourg
Oscar: Harry Sradling, My Fair Lady

Black And White Art Direction:

The End: Dr. Strangelove
Oscar: Zorba The Greek

Color Art Direction:

The End: Zulu
Oscar: My Fair Lady

Black And White Costume Design:

The End: I Am Cuba
Oscar: Night Of The Iguana

Color Costume Design:

The End: The Umbrellas Of Cherbourg
Oscar: My Fair Lady

Sound:

The End: Zulu
Oscar: My Fair Lady

Original Score:

The End: Michel Legrand, The Umbrellas Of Cherbourg
Oscar: Richard Sherman and Robert Sherman, Mary Poppins

Soundtrack:

The End: The Umbrellas Of Cherbourg
Oscar: My Fair Lady

Special Effects:

The End: Mary Poppins
Oscar: Mary Poppins

Non-Oscar Categories:

Breakthrough Performance:


Catherine Deneuve, The Umbrellas Of Cherbourg

Villain:

Sterling Hayden, Dr. Strangelove

Movies Of The Year Awards: 1963


Best Picture:

The End: 8 1/2
Oscar: Tom Jones

Best Director:

The End: Federico Fellini, 8 1/2
Oscar: Tony Richardson, Tom Jones

Actor:

The End: Marcello Mastroianni, 8 1/2
Oscar: Sidney Poitier, Lilies Of The Field

Actress:

The End: Audrey Hepburn, Charade
Oscar: Patricia Neal, Hud

Supporting Actor:

The End: Jack Palance, Contempt
Oscar: Melvn Douglas, Hud

Supporting Actress:

The End: Lotte Lenya, From Russia With Love
Oscar: Margaret Rutherford, The VIPs

Original Screenplay:

The End: Federico Fellini, Ennio Flaiano, Tullio Pinelli and Brunello Rondi, 8 1/2
Oscar: James Webb, How The West Was Won

Adapted Screenplay:

The End: Jean-Luc Godard, Contempt
Oscar: John Osborne, Tom Jones

Foreign Language Film:

The End: 8 1/2
Oscar: 8 1/2

Film Editing:

The End: Leo Cattozzo, 8 1/2
Oscar: Harold Kress, How The West Was Won

Black And White Cinematography:

The End: Gianni Di Venanzo, 8 1/2
Oscar: James Wong Howe, Hud

Color Cinematography:

The End: Raoul Coutard, Contempt
Oscar: Leon Shamroy, Cleopatra

Black And White Art Direction:

The End: 8 1/2
Oscar: America, America

Color Art Direction:

The End: Contempt
Oscar: Cleopatra

Black And White Costume Design:

The End: 8 1/2
Oscar: 8 1/2

Color Costume Design:

The End: The Leopard
Oscar: Cleopatra

Sound:

The End: The Birds
Oscar: How The West Was Won

Original Score:

The End: Georges Delerue, Contempt
Oscar: John Addison, Tom Jones

Soundtrack:

The End: Contempt
Oscar: Irma la Douce

Special Effects:

The End: Jason And The Argonauts
Oscar: Cleopatra

Non-Oscar Categories:

Breakthrough Performance:


Tippi Hedren, The Birds

Villain:

Lotte Lenya, From Russia With Love

Movies Of The Year Awards: 1962


Best Picture:

The End: The Manchurian Candidate
Oscar: Lawrence Of Arabia

Best Director:

The End: John Frankenheimer, The Manchurian Candidate
Oscar: David Lean, Lawrence Of Arabia

Actor:

The End: Peter O'Toole, Lawrence Of Arabia
Oscar: Gregory Peck, To Kill A Mockingbird

Actress:

The End: Anna Karina, My Life To Live
Oscar: Anne Bancroft, The Miracle Worker

Supporting Actor:

The End: Frank Sinatra, The Manchurian Candidate
Oscar: Ed Begley, Sweet Bird Of Youth

Supporting Actress:

The End: Angela Lansbury, The Manchurian Candidate
Oscar: Patty Duke, The Miracle Worker

Original Screenplay:

The End: Luis Buñuel, The Exterminating Angel
Oscar: Ennio De Concini, Alfredo Giannetti and Pietro Germi, Divorce, Italian Style

Adapted Screenplay:

The End: George Axerod, The Manchurian Candidate
Oscar: Horton Foote, To Kill A Mockingbird

Foreign Language Film:

The End: L'Eclisse
Oscar: Sundays And Cybele

Film Editing:

The End: Eraldo Da Roma, L'Eclisse
Oscar: Anne Coates, Lawrence Of Arabia

Black And White Cinematography:

The End: Gianni Di Venanzo, L'Eclisse
Oscar: Jean Bourgoin and Walter Wottitz, The Longest Day

Color Cinematography:

The End: Freddie Young, Lawrence Of Arabia
Oscar: Freddie Young, Lawrence Of Arabia

Black And White Art Direction:

The End: The Trial
Oscar: To Kill A Mockingbird

Color Art Direction:

The End: Lawrence Of Arabia
Oscar: Lawrence Of Arabia

Black And White Costume Design:

The End: L'Eclisse
Oscar: Whatever Happened To Baby Jane

Color Costume Design:

The End: Lawrence Of Arabia
Oscar: The Wonderful World Of The Brothers Grimm

Sound:

The End: Lawrence Of Arabia
Oscar: Lawrence Of Arabia

Original Score:

The End: Michel Legrand, Cleo From 5 To 7 and My Life To Live
Oscar: Maurice Jarre, Lawrence Of Arabia

Soundtrack:

The End: Cleo From 5 To 7
Oscar: The Music Man

Special Effects:

The End: The Longest Day
Oscar: The Longest Day

Non-Oscar categories:

Breakthrough Performance:


Peter O'Toole, Lawrence Of Arabia

Villain:

Angela Lansbury, The Manchurian Candidate

Movies Of The Year Awards: 1961

Best Picture:

The End: A Woman Is A Woman
Oscar: West Side Story

Best Director:

The End: Jean-Luc Godard, A Woman Is A Woman
Oscar: Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins, West Side Story

Actor:

The End: Toshiro Mifune, Yojimbo
Oscar: Maximilian Schell, Judgement At Nuremburg

Actress:

The End: Audrey Hepburn, Breakfast At Tiffany's
Oscar: Sophia Loren, Two Women

Supporting Actor:

The End: Montgomery Clift, Judgement At Nuremburg
Oscar: George Chakiris, West Side Story

Supporting Actress:

The End: Judy Garland, Judgement At Nuremburg
Oscar: Rita Moreno, West Side Story

Original Screenplay:

The End: Alain Robbe-Grillet, Last year At Marienbad
Oscar: William Inge, Splendor In The Grass

Adapted Screenplay:

The End: George Axelrod, Breakfast At Tiffany's
Oscar: Abby Mann, Judgement At Nuremburg

Foreign Language Film:

The End: A Woman Is A Woman
Oscar: Through A Glass Darkly

Film Editing:

The End: Agnès Guillemot and Lila Herman, A Woman Is A Woman
Oscar: Thomas Stanford, West Side Story

Black And White Cinematography:

The End: Sacha Vierny, Last Year At Marienbad
Oscar: Eugen Schüfftan, The Hustler

Color Cinematography:

The End: Raoul Coutard, A Woman Is A Woman
Oscar: Daniel Fapp, West Side Story

Black And White Art Direction:

The End: Yojimbo
Oscar: The Hustler

Color Art Direction:

The End: Breakfast At Tiffany's
Oscar: West Side Story

Black And White Costume Design:

The End: Last Year At Marienbad
Oscar: La Dolce vita

Color Costume Design:

The End: Breakfast At Tiffany's
Oscar: West Side Story

Sound:

The End: A Woman Is A Woman
Oscar: West Side Story

Original Score:

The End: Michel Legrand, A Woman Is A Woman and Lola
Oscar: Henry Mancini, Breakfast At Tiffany's

Original Song:

The End: Moon River, Breakfast At Tiffany's
Oscar: Moon River, Breakfast At Tiffany's

Soundtrack:

The End: A Woman Is A Woman
Oscar: West Side Story

Special Effects:

The End: Yojimbo
Oscar: The Guns Of Navarone

Non-Oscar categories:

Breakthrough Performance:


Anna Karina, A Woman Is A Woman

Villain:

George C. Scott, The Hustler

Movies Of The Year Awards: 1960



Best Picture:

The End: Psycho
Oscar: The Apartment

Best Director:

The End: Alfred Hitchcock, Psycho
Oscar: Billy Wilder, The Apartment

Actor:

The End: Anthony Perkins, Psycho
Oscar: Burt Lancaster, Elmer Gantry

Actress:

The End: Monica Vitti, L'Avventura
Oscar: Elizabeth Taylor, Butterfield 8

Supporting Actor:

The End: Charles Laughton, Spartacus
Oscar: Peter Ustinov, Spartacus

Supporting Actress:

The End: Moira Shearer, Peeping Tom
Oscar: Shirley Jones, Elmer Gantry

Original Screenplay:

The End: Jean-Luc Godard and François Truffaut, Breathless
Oscar: Billy Wilder and IAL Diamond, The Apartment

Adapted Screenplay:

The End: Joseph Stefano, Psycho
Oscar: Richard Brooks, Elmer Gantry

Foreign Language Film:

The End: Shoot The Piano Player
Oscar: The Virgin Spring

Film Editing:

The End: Cecile Decugis and Lila Herman, Breathless
Oscar: Daniel Mandell, The Apartment

Black And White Cinematography:

The End: Aldo Scavarda, L'Avventura
Oscar: Freddie Francis, Sons And Lovers

Color Cinematography:

The End: Russell Metty, Spartacus
Oscar: Russell Metty, Spartacus

Black And White Art Direction:

The End: L'Avventura
Oscar: The Apartment

Color Art Direction:

The End: Spartacus
Oscar: Spartacus

Black And White Costume Design:

The End: L'Avventura
Oscar: The Facts Of Life

Color Costume Design:

The End: Spartacus
Oscar: Spartacus

Sound:

The End: Breathless
Oscar: The Alamo

Original Score:

The End: Bernard Herrmann, Psycho
Oscar: Ernest Gold, Exodus

Soundtrack:

The End: Bells Are Ringing
Oscar: Song Without End

Special Effects:

The End: 13 Ghosts
Oscar: The Time Machine

Non-Oscar categories:

Breakthrough Performance:


Jean-Luc Godard, Breathless

Villain:

Anthony Perkins, Psycho

Movies Of The Year Awards: 1959

I've decided on an statue for our awards:



Best Picture:

The End: North By Northwest
Oscar: Ben-Hur

Best Director:

The End: Alain Resnais, Hiroshima mon amour
Oscar: William Wyler, Ben-Hur

Actor:

The End: Cary Grant, North By Northwest
Oscar: Charlton Heston, Ben-Hur

Actress:

The End: Emmanuelle Riva, Hiroshima mon amour
Oscar: Simone Signoret, Room At The Top

Supporting Actor:

The End: Dean Martin, Rio Bravo
Oscar: Hugh Griffith, Ben-Hur

Supporting Actress:

The End: Juanita Moore, Imitation Of Life
Oscar: Shelly Winters, The Diary Of Anne Frank

Original Screenplay:

The End: Marguerite Duras, Hiroshima mon amour
Oscar: Russell Rouse, Clarence Greene, Stanley Shapiro, Maurice Richlin, Pillow Talk

Adapted Screenplay:

The End: Jules Furthman and Leigh Brackett, Rio Bravo
Oscar: Neil Paterson, Room At The Top

Foreign Language Film:

The End: Hiroshima mon amour
Oscar: Black Orpheus

Film Editing:

The End: Jasmine Chasney, Henri Colpi, Anne Sarraute, Hiroshima mon amour
Oscar: Ralph Winters and John Dunning, Ben-Hur

Black And White Cinematography:

The End: Takahashi Michio and Sacha Vierny, Hiroshima mon amour
Oscar: William Mellor, The Diary Of Anne Frank

Color Cinematography:

The End: Russell Harlan, Rio Bravo
Oscar: Robert Surtees, Ben-Hur

Black And White Art Direction:

The End: Hiroshima mon amour
Oscar: The Diary Of Anne Frank

Color Art Direction:

The End: North By Northwest
Oscar: Ben-Hur

Black And White Costume Design:

The End: Anatomy Of A Murder
Oscar: Some Like It Hot

Color Costume Design:

The End: North By Northwest
Oscar: Ben-Hur

Sound:

The End: Hiroshima mon amour
Oscar: Ben-Hur

Original Score:

The End: Duke Ellington, Anatomy Of A Murder
Oscar: Miklos Rosza, Ben-Hur

Special Effects:

The End: Darby O'Gill And The Little People
Oscar: Ben-Hur

Soundtrack:

The End: Anatomy Of A Murder
Oscar: Porgy And Bess

Non-Oscar Categories:

Breakthrough Performance:


Emmanuelle Riva, Hiroshima mon amour

Villain:

Machiko Kyo, Floating Weeds

Movie Roundup: Down With Oklahoma Edition

Still trying to decide what to do as an NBA fan: do I become a Trail Blazers fan? try to watch the games without a particular rooting interest? I really don't know.

Unfaithfully Yours - Rex Harrison plays a conductor who has reason to believe his wife is cheating on him. During a performance, he imagines three possible ways he can deal with her: a carefully planned and perfectly executed murder, a stoic self-sacrificial divorce, a lunatic game of Russian roulette. When the shows over, he puts his plans into action only to be hilariously foiled by the objects and people which fail to conform to his will. Harrison is a perfect match for writer-director Preston Sturges's rapid-fire, complex screwball dialogue, and the long slapstick sequence as he destroys his uncooperative apartment trying to setup the murder is a masterpiece of the form. The darkness of the middle section of the film was apparently shocking for a comedy at the time, and the film was a flop, but its reputation has grown with time and it is undoubtedly one of Struges's best films, right up there with his great The Lady Eve, Sullivan's Travels and The Palm Beach Story. The #6 film of 1948.

Flags Of Our Fathers - The first part of Clint Eastwood's epic examination of the battle of Iwo Jima focuses on the American soldiers who famously raised a flag (or two) atop that island's Mt. Surbachi and got their picture taken. The three surviving flag-raisers are whisked off on a promotional tour, trying to raise money for the war bonds necessary to finance the last year of the war. Much more ambitious and abstract than the second part, the film is more about the images of and narratives about war and the ways those narratives contradict the actual experiences of the people who were there than it is about the actual battle. As a denunciation of the myth of heroism, the film isn't as genre-destroying as Eastwood's Unforgiven; it tends toward melodrama more than subversive parody. But it's about as good a denunciation of a film like, say, Saving Private Ryan, as we're likely to get out of Hollywood. The actors are generally very good, but Adam beach standout as the Pima Indian soldier Ira Hayes, who Johnny Cash sang about. The #11 film of 2006.

Letters From Iwo Jima - A lot of American critics seemed to prefer this second part of Eastwood's Iwo Jima epic, the story of the battle from the Japanese side, it was the one that got a Best picture Oscar nomination. But I found it much less interesting, while still being very good. The film, but for a couple of flashbacks, is set entirely on the island, a the Japanese forces are slowly destroyed by the American invasion. It does a fine job of bringing human complexity to characters generally caricatured in American World War 2 films, but other than that it doesn't bring a lot that is new to the genre. The #13 film of 2006.

Hellboy - Guillermo del Toro's superhero film is a lot more fun than his depressing, messy and emotionally ugly yet critically-acclaimed Pan's Labyrinth. The great Ron Perlman brings his customary combination of swagger and vulnerability to the title role as a demon-spawned secret agent. The tight plot makes a reasonable amount of sense, and del Toro does a great job filling out the background of the comic book world, making it all believable. Plus, once again he uses the wipe, a lost art that only he and George Lucas seem to want to keep alive. This is exactly what comic book movies should be. Why more of them can't manage to be fun and competent is beyond me. The #19 film of 2004.

The Man From Laramie - The fifth and final Western collaboration between Jimmy Stewart and director Anthony Mann has Stewart once again seeking revenge, this time against the sadistic son of a local cattle baron. Arthur Kennedy plays the baron's right-hand man, possibly the most complex role in the film as he is both ambitious (he wants to get rich and marry Cathy O'Donnell) and reasonably honorable (he does what he can to keep the crazy son in line). When Stewart comes along, he's threatened with losing everything (both O'Donnell and the baron, the great Donald Crisp seem to recognize Stewart as the better man). His resulting fall gives the film its tragic dimension, pushing it beyond the basic revenge plotline of the Mann-Stewart hero. All five of their films are great, but I guess if I had to rank the Mann-Stewart Westerns, I'd go like this:

1. Winchester '73
2. The Naked Spur
3. Bend Of The River
4. The Far Country
5. The Man From Laramie

But it seems to me, that's the order I saw them in, so it probably isn't right. Anyway, this one is the #18 film of 1955.

Roman Polanski: Wanted & Desired - A fine documentary about the director's trial for having sex with a 13 year old girl in the late 70s. An awful crime, to be sure, but one for which, had the justice system functioned properly, he would have been punished instead of spending the last 30 years in exile. The film does a great job of demonizing the grandstanding judge who presided over the case and made a mockery of the whole affair. The film combines standard talking heads and archival footage with shots from Polanski's films that more or less match the actions the talking heads are describing, an interesting technique I hadn't seen before and one that works reasonably well.

Mamma Roma - The first film by Pier Paolo Pasolini I've seen, and though it's one of his earlier works, I expected something different. Anna Magnani plays an ex-prostitute who's saved up enough money to quit streetwalking, open a vegetable stand and try raising her teenaged son. Magnani is tremendous in the part, boisterous and heart-breaking. Pasolini uses a by this point antiquated Neo-Realist technique for much of the film, making the film seem a lot closer to Fellini's Nights Of Cabiria from five years earlier than Godard's Vivre sa vie made the same year, two pick two other films about prostitutes. This is what I mean by it not being what I expected: Neo-Realism, it seems to be, had largely been abandoned by 1962 (Fellini, for example, had followed Cabiria with La Dolce Vita in '60 and 8 1/2 in '63, neither of which is much concerned with filmic reality, neo- or otherwise). The best scenes in the film are the least realistic ones: Magnani walking through the streets at night, surrounded by black and delivering a rapid-fire monologue as she passes or walks with various random people. The #14 film of 1962.

Crossfire - Edward Dymtryk's film noir about a group of GIs investigating the murder of a Jewish man they met at a party. An excellent example of the classical noir visual style, it's also a much more biting denouncement of anti-Semitism than the Best Picture Oscar winner from that year, the mediocre Gentlemen's Agreement. The cast is terrific, with typically great work from Robert Mitchum, Robert Ryan and Gloria Grahame. The #6 film of 1947.


The Gang's All Here - A joyously hallucinatory musical from Busby Berkeley with a silly plot about a GI in love with a show girl despite being engaged to a society dame. The musical sequences are of course what matters in a Berkeley film, and they're as weird as ever here, with the great Carmen Miranda dancing with giant bananas, a New York shipyard apparently contained on a small club stage, and the disembodied head's of all the principal actors singing the final song against fields of pure color. Miranda's a revelation here: this is the first film I've seen her in, and not only are her costumes great, but her machine gun malapropistic spanglish is always hilarious. The Benny Goodman Orchestra plays a prominent role in the film, and Goodman even sings, which i didn't know he did. The #7 film of 1943.

The Saddest Music In The World - Speaking of crazy musicals, this Guy Maddin film applies the battered silent movie visual style he used in Archangel and The Heart Of The World in a story about a Depression-era music contest in Winnipeg. Legless beer baron Isabella Rosselini organizes an international competition to determine the titular musical style, and the family responsible for her missing limbs comes together to try to win the prize: the father (who cut off her legs in a bit of drunken surgery) representing Canada, his son ((Mark McKinney from The Kids In The Hall) and her former lover, now with the nymphomaniac Maria de Medieros) representing the USA and his other son (mourning his dead son and looking for his lost wife) representing Serbia. Befitting a Maddin film, it's totally insane and a lot of fun, but it all gets a bit dizzying after awhile. I've liked the two short of his I've seen more than any of his features thus far, and I wonder if that's why: does the whimsy get tiresome? The #15 film of 2003.

WALL-E - Less obviously ambitious than Brad Bird's great Ratatoille from last year, this latest Pixar film is probably the more perfect film. The plot is the most basic romance imaginable: robot meets robot, robot loses robot, robot gets robot back. The much praised opening third of the film, dialoguelessly set on a trash covered Earth 800 years in the future populated by a lone robot who organizes the junk into massive skyscrapers and collects interesting garbage (Rubik's cube, spork, Hello, Dolly!) is a wonder of trompe l'oeil computer animation. The Pixar guys have gone a long way towards making animated films cinematic, going so far as to bring in the great cinematographer Roger Deakins as a consultant. The long shots and focus shifts in this film are something never seen before in animation, to say nothing of the palpable sense of reality and weight they were able to give the objects and robots in the Earth sequences. Once WALL-E and his love interest EVE get to space, the animation loses some of that solidity, become a bit more cartoony, but there are still some beautiful sequences (namely a lovely space flight). In all, this is a huge leap forward for director Andrew Stanton after the pretty but pedestrian Finding Nemo. Unlike in Pixar's Cars, with its similar pro-environment message, WALL-E excels in never letting the theme take over the film to the point of head-drubbing annoyance. Instead, the plight of the overweight humans and their destroyed Earth is always tangential to the actions and interests of the romantic protagonists. The film is a love story with a subplot about the environment, not the other way around. there's so much to love about the film: the sound design, by Ben Burtt, is incredible adding to the tactile sense of the objects as never before in an animated film; the modernist soundtrack by Thomas Newman, mixed with a wonderful Louis Armstrong version of "La vie en rose" and a couple of songs from Hello, Dolly! that might be terrible in any other context but are magical here is good enough that I bought it and spent two days last week listening to it; the epilogue with hand-drawn recreations of the re-evolution of humanity through the whole history of artistic style is amazing: it's a crime that so many people get up and leave the theatre in the middle of it; etc etc. I've seen this movie twice already and I'm unashamedly in love with it. It is easily the best film I've seen from 2008 thus far, and it may very well be my first animated #1 movie of the year.

The Fall Of The Roman Empire - Anthony Mann's Roman epic is at least a better film the Ridley Scott's absurd Gladiator. From a period of big, silly Hollywood historical epics, I can't say it did much to stand out from that mob for me. Alec Guinness is, as always, wonderful as the dying Emperor Marcus Aurelius, but once he's gone and the power struggle between his degenerate son (Christopher Plummer) and the noble general he'd wanted as his successor gets going, interest quickly fades. Plummer is certainly an improvement on Joaquin Phoenix's annoying portrayal of Commodus in Scott's film, but Stephen Boyd is far too much of a blank as the hero. At least he's got a more realistic name than Russell Crowe was saddled with. The #19 film of 1964.

Monsters, Inc. - After my rapturous experience with WALL-E, I decided to watch the rest of the Pixar films I hadn't yet seen. Well, this one was a disappointment. It's more of a kid's movie than anything I've seen from that great studio, with almost nothing for a grown up to hold onto other than the amazing animation of John Goodman's fur. Goodman actually does a fine voice acting job, but Billy Crystal is obnoxious as his sidekick. There is a nice action sequence towards the end on a delirious assemblage of doors, but that and the fur is about the best that it gets. The #24 film of 2001.

A Bug's Life - A bit better is Pixar's version of Seven Samurai with an ant colony threatened by some evil grasshoppers. Actually, it;s probably more of a Three Amigos remake, as the insects the ant Dave Foley recruits to help are circus ants who think they're being hired to put on a show. The animation is, of course, far cruder than the amazing level Pixar has reached recently, but the film is nonetheless pretty entertaining and I enjoyed it much more than Monster's, Inc. Perhaps the greatest innovation Pixar has made with their last three films is that none of them have any child characters. They're starting to make grownup films for grownups. If only the rest of Hollywood would follow suit. The #27 film of 1998.

Mask Of The Avenger - A generic Zorro-type story, set in Italy and starring the quite bland John Derek as a nobleman fighting the evil Anthony Quinn with the help of a disguise. Phil Karlson's a director I hear a lot of good things about, at least for his noirs. I'll refrain from judging him until I see some of those rather than this nonsense. The #22 film of 1951.


Early Summer - Ho hum, another great Yasujiro Ozu film. Surprisingly, Setsuko Hara's family wants her to get married, but she isn't so sure she likes the idea. A wonderful portrait of a family, we get three generations (the little kids here play a larger role than in most of Ozu's later films, Good Morning excepted) dealing with Hara's matrimonial issues. The film deals more obviously with the war than Ozu's other films, one of the family's sons is missing and presumed dead (the parents, have a heart-breaking scene discussing his fate. One gets the feeling that the war, and this missing brother, are a primary cause of Hara's hesitation: she repeatedly talks about wanting a man she can trust, presumably one who will stick around and not go off to war like her brother. It's Ozu's unique way of bringing realism to a film that allows for such speculations: despite his unusual editing style, tatami-level camera placement and generally fixed camera (though it moves more here than in any Ozu I can recall), everything in an Ozu film feels real: people talk like normal people about normal human issues. One great example: halfway through the film, a new character walks through the door and starts talking to some of the family members. My wife, quite naturally, asked "who is that guy?" We'd never seen him before, and he didn't announce himself in the kind of awkward expository dialogue we get in Hollywood films. I told her I didn't know, but to wait and we'd find out. Sure enough, within moments the characters began talking about an anecdote we'd heard reference to earlier, something that seemed a random piece of gossip then, but through the organic conversation of this scene, explained who this new character was and his relation to the main characters. This kind of elegance looks tremendously simple, but is of course exactly what make Ozu great. The new #1 film of 1951, and it'll probably force me to revise my awards for that year.

Hollywood Hotel - A much more subdued musical from Busby Berkeley, about a former member of the Benny Goodman Orchestra (Dick Powell) who tries to make it as an actor in Hollywood. He gets mixed up in a bizarre charade involving a pain-in-the-ass star and a girl who looks exactly like her (played by sisters Lola and Rosemary Lane). Again, it's the songs that are interesting, not the plot. The film kicks off with a rocking, extended version of "Hooray For Hollywood" sung by the Orchestra as they see Powell off at the airport. But the best scene in the film is in the middle, as the Orchestra rehearses and drummer Gene Krupa goes nuts. After seeing this I was very excited, but didn't remember what song it was. I did a little research and I'm pretty sure it was Louis Prima's "Sing, Sing, Sing" which I then purchased and discovered was, in fact, perhaps the most famous song of the swing era. This made me feel pretty dumb, but it's a great song. The #13 film of 1937.

Smilin' Through - Director Frank Borzage has a fine reputation among critics (the folks at "a film by" and davekehr.com absolutely love him) so I've been tivoing his films from TCM whenever they show up. I've seen four so far, and it's a motley group. The Spanish Main was a mediocre swashbuckler, The Mortal Storm a fine early anti-Nazi melodrama, A Farewell To Arms a pretty good adaptation of a Hemingway novel I really liked and this one, a thoroughly mediocre musical ghost story. From all I've heard, these certainly aren't considered his best films, so I'm not making any judgements, but I didn't see anything here all that exciting. Jeanette MacDonald plays a woman raised by her aunt's widower. Turns out the young man she's fallen in love with is the son of the man who killed her aunt (also played by MacDonald in flashbacks). Musical melodrama ensues. Hopefully some better Borzage becomes available. The #16 film of 1941.

Thieves' Highway - Very good film noir from the late Jules Dassin that stars Richard Conte as a WW2 vet who drives a truckload of apples to San Francisco to get revenge on the wholesaler who duped his dad and indirectly caused the car accident that cost his father his legs. The location shooting, especially the night scenes at the vegetable market in San Francisco is magnificent. Shooting outside the studio was still an innovation in Hollywood at this time, as was the leftist politics of the film itself (Dassin left Hollywood because of McCarthyism not long after this, thanks in part to testimony by Edward Dmytryk, who directed Crossfire). The film's not exactly anti-capitalist, unless you happen to believe that all capitalists are necessarily corrupt, which I guess you might. Lee J. Cobb gives one of his best snarly performances as the corrupt wholesaler, and Valentina Cortese is mesmerizingly nuanced as a prostitute he hires to distract Conte from his revenge. The great Out Of the Past podcast had a great discussion on this film this month, I highly recommend it to anyone who has seen the film. The #9 film of 1949.

Sinbad The Sailor - Mediocre adventure film with lots of big gestures from Douglas Fairbanks Jr and Anthony Quinn, and a very out of place Maureen O'Hara (!). Fairbanks plays the titular hero with a scene-eating bravado that would make even the most over the top of his father's contemporaries cringe. There's some reasonably interesting action, but not enough of it. Alexander Korda's The Thief Of Bagdad did all this much better seven years earlier, with believable acting and excellent special effects as well. The #13 film of 1947.