Should Have Won the Oscar!
The Movies that should have won the Oscar for Best Picture, starting with 2010 and going backwards. I am limiting myself to English language movies, because that is in essence what Oscar does. Only if Oscar has recognized the foreign film with important nominations beyond the foreign film category do I use a foreign film.
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- DirectorEthan CoenJoel CoenStarsOscar IsaacCarey MulliganJohn GoodmanA week in the life of a young singer as he navigates the Greenwich Village folk scene of 1961.
- DirectorAng LeeStarsSuraj SharmaIrrfan KhanAdil HussainA young man who survives a disaster at sea is hurtled into an epic journey of adventure and discovery. While cast away, he forms an unexpected connection with another survivor: a fearsome Bengal tiger.
- DirectorAsghar FarhadiStarsPayman MaadiLeila HatamiSareh BayatA married couple are faced with a difficult decision - to improve the life of their child by moving to another country or to stay in Iran and look after a deteriorating parent who has Alzheimer's disease.I still have many movies to see from 2011, but if any of them are better than this one I'll eat my keyboard. Since AMPAS nominated its screenplay, I'll say they should have nominated this film, and it should have been the easy winner.
- DirectorDebra GranikStarsJennifer LawrenceJohn HawkesGarret DillahuntAn unflinching Ozark Mountain girl hacks through dangerous social terrain as she hunts down her drug-dealing father while trying to keep her family intact.A dark glimpse at a violent underbelly. Terrific performance by Lawrence and especially Hawkes.
- DirectorEthan CoenJoel CoenStarsMichael StuhlbargRichard KindSari LennickLarry Gopnik, a Midwestern physics teacher, watches his life unravel over multiple sudden incidents. Though seeking meaning and answers amidst his turmoils, he seems to keep sinking.I have no real problem with The Hurt Locker winning, an excellent, deserving picture. But my vote goes to the Bros Coen's brilliant retelling of Job. Maybe.
- DirectorMartin McDonaghStarsColin FarrellBrendan GleesonCiarán HindsAfter a job gone wrong, hitman Ray and his partner await orders from their ruthless boss in Bruges, Belgium, the last place in the world Ray wants to be.I like Slumdog. But the dialogue in this movie crackles and pops with snappy wit like a bowl of Rice Krispies. And the movie deserves the Oscar for the "Inanimate Object" line reading alone.
- DirectorEthan CoenJoel CoenStarsTommy Lee JonesJavier BardemJosh BrolinViolence and mayhem ensue after a hunter stumbles upon the aftermath of a drug deal gone wrong and over two million dollars in cash near the Rio Grande.Chalk.
- DirectorGuillermo del ToroStarsIvana BaqueroAriadna GilSergi LópezIn the Falangist Spain of 1944, the bookish young stepdaughter of a sadistic army officer escapes into an eerie but captivating fantasy world.I am making an exception here to the English language rule because, mostly, Pan's Labyrinth had Oscar recognition beyond the foreign film category. And also because otherwise my pick is Borat. Having honored Scorsese elsewhere, I have no need to throw him a bone for a good but not great movie this year.
- DirectorGeorge ClooneyStarsDavid StrathairnGeorge ClooneyPatricia ClarksonBroadcast journalist Edward R. Murrow looks to bring down Senator Joseph McCarthy.Weak year. But then I still haven't seen Brokeback Mountain, or for that matter, all of Crash. I can always edit.
- DirectorMichel GondryStarsJim CarreyKate WinsletTom WilkinsonWhen their relationship turns sour, a couple undergoes a medical procedure to have each other erased from their memories forever.By a nose over Sideways. Charlie Kaufman is the best addition to the movies in the last 15 years, and this is his best, most moving and most thought provoking screenplay. Winslet as Clementine walks that fine line between the reality and the fiction of the manic pixie dream girl.
- DirectorShari Springer BermanRobert PulciniStarsPaul GiamattiShari Springer BermanHarvey PekarAn original mix of fiction and reality illuminates the life of comic book hero everyman Harvey Pekar.Completely overlooked by Oscar, including Giamatti's great, great, lead performance. And let me shout it to the heavens: Paul Giamatti gave the two best lead actor performances of the decade in back to nack years, and never even got freaking nominated! AMPAS, AMPAS, you have your head up your rectum!
- DirectorSpike JonzeStarsNicolas CageMeryl StreepChris CooperA lovelorn screenwriter becomes desperate as he tries and fails to adapt 'The Orchid Thief' by Susan Orlean for the screen.More Kaufman! Cage as lead, as well as Cooper, Streep, and Cage in supporting roles, are wonderful. Worth it for the script writing seminar alone.
- DirectorPeter JacksonStarsElijah WoodIan McKellenOrlando BloomA meek Hobbit from the Shire and eight companions set out on a journey to destroy the powerful One Ring and save Middle-earth from the Dark Lord Sauron.The virtue of doing this backwards is I get to honor the whole of the trilogy in its first year, where the competition is so so - The Pianist would be my second choice. I have come around to seeing this as the best of the trilogy anyways.
- DirectorSteven SoderberghStarsMichael DouglasBenicio Del ToroCatherine Zeta-JonesA conservative judge is appointed by the President to spearhead America's escalating war against drugs, only to discover that his teenage daughter is a crack addict. Two DEA agents protect an informant. A jailed drug baron's wife attempts to carry on the family business.Again, not a great year. Thought about O Brother, but it's minor Coens. Maybe Crouching Tiger, but I decided to go with an English language film instead, since Oscar would. OK. mostly English language.
- DirectorPaul Thomas AndersonStarsTom CruiseJason RobardsJulianne MooreAn epic mosaic of interrelated characters in search of love, forgiveness and meaning in the San Fernando Valley.Still Paul Thomas Anderson's best movie.
- DirectorJohn MaddenStarsGwyneth PaltrowJoseph FiennesGeoffrey RushThe world's greatest ever playwright, William Shakespeare, is young, out of ideas and short of cash, but meets his ideal woman and is inspired to write one of his most famous plays.It was too! Suck on it, haters! Saving Private Ryan won the Oscars it deserved, neither more nor less. Shakespeare in Love is a better movie; better screenplay, better acting, more thought provoking and more interesting for its full length.
- DirectorCurtis HansonStarsKevin SpaceyRussell CroweGuy PearceAs corruption grows in 1950s Los Angeles, three policemen - one strait-laced, one brutal, and one sleazy - investigate a series of murders with their own brand of justice.Brilliant neo-noir, with top notch acting, including surprisingly good performances by a couple of people I normally do not like (Crowe, Basinger). There were a couple of times I cursed the director and wanted to through my feces at the screen like a chimp in a zoo (I hate directors that insult my intelligence, PM me for details) but the strength of the movie otherwise overcomes the flaws.
- DirectorJoel CoenEthan CoenStarsWilliam H. MacyFrances McDormandSteve BuscemiMinnesota car salesman Jerry Lundegaard's inept crime falls apart due to his and his henchmen's bungling and the persistent police work of the quite pregnant Marge Gunderson.The best film by our best current film makers. This is where the Coens matured - the addition of a major character that contains a human message in the middle of nihilistic bleakness elevates the movie beyond the normal brilliant technical work the Coens always give us. In other words, I heart Margie!
- DirectorRichard LoncraineStarsIan McKellenAnnette BeningChristopher BowenThe classic Shakespearean play about the murderously scheming 15th-century king is reimagined in an alternative setting of 1930s England as clouds of fascism gather.A weak year, and I am a sucker for Shakespeare anyway. See, 1998, above. Great performances in a great play. It's hard for a good actor to do Richard badly, but Ian McKellan does him great.
- DirectorKrzysztof KieslowskiStarsIrène JacobJean-Louis TrintignantFrédérique FederA model discovers a retired judge is keen on invading people's privacy.Kieslowski's nomination for Best Director brings this under my rules. I'd otherwise go with Pulp Fiction, but I am not a huge fan of that movie, as much as I admire the technique. And the other two of 1994's Big Three... well, I'm not a fan. Red is Kieslowski's last film, and it is a brilliant envoy to the series and his career.
- DirectorMike LeighStarsDavid ThewlisLesley SharpKatrin CartlidgeAn unemployed Mancunian vents his rage on unsuspecting strangers as he embarks on a nocturnal London odyssey.I think David Thewlis's performance is brilliant. The Oscar went to Schindler's List, and picking against that seems rather... heartless. But I have problems with the emotional hammer Spielberg whangs us with at the end.
- DirectorRobert AltmanStarsTim RobbinsGreta ScacchiFred WardA Hollywood studio executive is being sent death threats by a writer whose script he rejected, but which one?Despite my dislike for Tim Robbins, this is my second favorite Robert Altman film. No real complaint with the very deserving Unforgiven. My big complaint for the year is giving the Oscar to Pacino's god awful one note screech of a performance.
- DirectorRidley ScottStarsSusan SarandonGeena DavisHarvey KeitelTwo best friends set out on an adventure, but it soon turns around to a terrifying escape from being hunted by the police, as these two women escape for the crimes they committed.A wonderful evocation of the lure of the open road, distaff style! And I prefer it to a slasher movie with A List stars, yes I do.
- DirectorMartin ScorseseStarsRobert De NiroRay LiottaJoe PesciThe story of Henry Hill and his life in the mafia, covering his relationship with his wife Karen and his mob partners Jimmy Conway and Tommy DeVito.The best movie ever "about" the mob - the Godfather is not "about" the mob - and it has one of the best supporting performances ever. No, I don't think you're funny, Tommy. No sir.
- DirectorWoody AllenStarsMartin LandauWoody AllenBill BernsteinAn ophthalmologist's mistress threatens to reveal their affair to his wife while a married documentary filmmaker is infatuated with another woman.Woody Allen's best movie that is not primarily funny. Great acting performances from Landau and Huston, and a unsettling glimpse of a world that is not under the eyes of God. And I pee better movies than Driving Miss Daisy.
- DirectorCharles CrichtonJohn CleeseStarsJohn CleeseJamie Lee CurtisKevin KlineIn London, four very different people team up on a jewel heist, then try to double-cross one another for the loot, complicated by their efforts to fool a very proper barrister.Comedy is Oscar's least appreciated genres, and this is one of the best comedies of the last 30 years. Kevin Kline is great in particular, but the whole film is full of great comic performances. Rain Man is on my list of least deserving winners.
- DirectorLasse HallströmStarsAnton GlanzeliusTomas von BrömssenAnki LidénIn the late '50s, young Ingemar learns a lot about life and himself when he is sent away from his sick mother to live with his aunt and uncle in a town full of eccentrics.I'd normally not really look to a writing Oscar to justify the inclusion on this list, but this was a dog of a year (pun intended) and this is a wonderful, touching, brilliant movie. Oscar eligible for 1987 despite being a 1985 film.
- DirectorWoody AllenStarsMia FarrowDianne WiestMichael CaineBetween two Thanksgivings two years apart, Hannah's husband falls in love with her sister Lee, while her hypochondriac ex-husband rekindles his relationship with her sister Holly.Another Allen movie, structured like an episodic novel, well acted all around, except by Woody himself who never really acts. But it is a great screenplay, and a wonderful, evocative movie. Room With A View as a nice runner up. Platoon? Not in the picture.
- DirectorPeter WeirStarsHarrison FordKelly McGillisLukas HaasWhile protecting an Amish boy - who is the sole witness to a brutal murder - and his mother, a detective is forced to seek refuge within their community when his own life is threatened.A love story, a slice of life documentary, and a thriller, and it does all of them very, very well. Peter Weir has not been at this level since, not even near it. Out of Africa is a dull movie with star power, nothing more.
- DirectorWim WendersStarsHarry Dean StantonNastassja KinskiDean StockwellTravis Henderson, an aimless drifter who has been missing for four years, wanders out of the desert and must reconnect with society, himself, his life, and his family.It has my ten favorite minutes of dialogue - mostly monologue - in any movie, ever. It's Harry Dean Stanton, turning his back on his ex-wife behind a one way mirror, and telling her, I knew these people... these two people... and absolutely breaking everyone's heart. God I wish I could write like that. Amadeus is an OK winner, but there were several other better movies.
- DirectorPeter WeirStarsMel GibsonSigourney WeaverLinda HuntA young Australian reporter tries to navigate the political turmoil of Indonesia during the rule of President Sukarno with the help of a diminutive photographer.Yep, Peter Weir used to be great. One of the few times I've really liked Mel Gibson in a movie, and Linda Hunt is brilliant as a (male) Indonesian/Chinese midget. Or is it dwarf? No wonder the kill themselves.... Again a release date for Australia, Oscar eligible for 1983.
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsHenry ThomasDrew BarrymorePeter CoyoteA troubled child summons the courage to help a friendly alien escape from Earth and return to his home planet.This is the movie Spielberg deserves to be remembered for. Spielberg is always at his best when he gives us emotional film making, not intellectual film making.
- DirectorLouis MalleStarsBurt LancasterSusan SarandonKate ReidIn a corrupt city, a small-time gangster and the estranged wife of a pot dealer find themselves thrown together in an escapade of love, money, drugs and danger.Lancaster, Sarandon, and lemons. Oh, to be a lemon.... I like Chariots of Fire more than a lot of people do, but this is a wonderful, and much better, film.
Once again, this was its Oscar year. - DirectorMartin ScorseseStarsRobert De NiroCathy MoriartyJoe PesciThe life of boxer Jake LaMotta, whose violence and temper that led him to the top in the ring destroyed his life outside of it.The biggest screw up in AMPAS's long history of screw ups. Worse even than How Green Was My Valley over Kane and The Maltese Falcon because at least How Green Was My Valley was a pretty good movie. DeNiro and Pesci and Scorsese are all at their absolute best.
- DirectorBob FosseStarsRoy ScheiderJessica LangeAnn ReinkingDirector/choreographer Bob Fosse tells his own life story as he details the sordid career of Joe Gideon, a womanizing, drug-using dancer.A glorified A List Cast Lifetime Movie Network Movie of the Week over this and Apocalypse Now? Criminies, Oscar! Talk about cranial rectal immersion! I prefer this innovative and daring deconstruction of the director's life and - eventually - death over Coppola's great Nam picture, but people who feel otherwise get no argument from me.
- DirectorMichael CiminoStarsRobert De NiroChristopher WalkenJohn CazaleAn in-depth examination of the ways in which the Vietnam War impacts and disrupts the lives of several friends in a small steel mill town in Pennsylvania.Chalk. I love love love the first half of the movie; the second half not so much. But it was better than anything else that year.
- DirectorWoody AllenStarsWoody AllenDiane KeatonTony RobertsAlvy Singer, a divorced Jewish comedian, reflects on his relationship with ex-lover Annie Hall, an aspiring nightclub singer, which ended abruptly just like his previous marriages.More chalk. Good show, Oscar, honoring an intelligent adult comedy over teen fantasy sci fi special effects stuff. Even real, real good teen fantasy sci fi special effects stuff.
- DirectorMartin ScorseseStarsRobert De NiroJodie FosterCybill ShepherdA mentally unstable veteran works as a nighttime taxi driver in New York City, where the perceived decadence and sleaze fuels his urge for violent action.I understand why Oscar did not honor this movie - I never want to see it again. But it is a brutal, brilliant masterpiece, and easily the best movie of the year.
- DirectorRobert AltmanStarsKeith CarradineKaren BlackRonee BlakleyOver the course of a few hectic days, numerous interrelated people prepare for a political convention.The best movie of my lifetime; a sprawling, funny, sad, and biting slice of America at 200 years. It may not all add up, but what of that? It comes close enough, and frankly, it don't worry me....
- DirectorRoman PolanskiStarsJack NicholsonFaye DunawayJohn HustonA private detective hired to expose an adulterer in 1930s Los Angeles finds himself caught up in a web of deceit, corruption, and murder.Nicholson's best performance, a neo-noir that is memorable in every way, except for the plot which is barely comprehensible in one viewing. As it should be. Who the Hell could follow the plot of The Big Sleep? The plot's almost as meaningless as in a Marx Brothers movie.
- DirectorTerrence MalickStarsMartin SheenSissy SpacekWarren OatesAn impressionable teenage girl from a dead-end town, and her older greaser boyfriend, embark on a killing spree in the South Dakota Badlands.Not sure between this and The Last Detail. I know the best picture was NOT The Sting.
- DirectorFrancis Ford CoppolaStarsMarlon BrandoAl PacinoJames CaanThe aging patriarch of an organized crime dynasty transfers control of his clandestine empire to his reluctant son.The sine qua non of chalk. The best movie ever to win an Oscar.
- DirectorRobert AltmanStarsWarren BeattyJulie ChristieRene AuberjonoisA gambler and a prostitute become business partners in a remote Old West mining town, and their enterprise thrives until a large corporation arrives on the scene.Yes, more Altman. Like the Coens and Woody Allen and Billy Wilder, Altman's best movies reach me in ways most films do not even approach.
- DirectorArthur PennStarsDustin HoffmanFaye DunawayChief Dan GeorgeJack Crabb, looking back from extreme old age, tells of his life being raised by Native Americans and fighting with General Custer.Yeah, a little revisionist. But the Massacre at the Washeetah (deliberately misspelled to avoid a beep) River scene is one of the few scenes that gets me to cry openly, every time. No real problem with Patton's win.
- DirectorCosta-GavrasStarsYves MontandIrene PapasJean-Louis TrintignantThe public murder of a prominent politician and doctor amid a violent demonstration is covered up by military and government officials. A tenacious magistrate is determined not to let them get away with it.Another foreign film, but Oscar nominated it for the BP, so who am I to complain? It's my second favorite foreign film of the year, but we cannot expect Oscar to appreciate Melville.
- DirectorAnthony HarveyStarsPeter O'TooleKatharine HepburnAnthony Hopkins1183 A.D.: King Henry II's three sons all want to inherit the throne, but he won't commit to a choice. When he allows his imprisoned wife Eleanor of Aquitaine out for a Christmas visit, they all variously plot to force him into a decision.One of my favorite Christmas movies ever. What is more in the holiday spirit than a dysfunctional family reuniting over Christmas to plot and plan with and against each other to destroy everyone and everything? In my family at least. The less said about Oliver! beating this and 2001, the better.
- DirectorArthur PennStarsWarren BeattyFaye DunawayMichael J. PollardBored waitress Bonnie Parker falls in love with an ex-con named Clyde Barrow and together they start a violent crime spree through the country, stealing cars and robbing banks.Where would Tarantino and the Coens be without Arthur Penn? Bonnie and Clyde is a rich masterpiece of film making, acting, editing, and cinematography. In The Heat of the Night has some great moments, but its world view is - pardon this but I know no other way to put it - too black and white.
- DirectorBilly WilderStarsJack LemmonWalter MatthauRon RichA crooked lawyer persuades his brother-in-law to feign a serious injury.Actually not a favorite Wilder movie, but this was a down year. So let me just toss in a recommendation for the actual best movie of the year, Au hasard Balthazar. It's about a donkey. No, seriously, that's what it's about.
- DirectorOrson WellesStarsOrson WellesJeanne MoreauMargaret RutherfordWhen King Henry IV ascends to the throne, his heir, the Prince of Wales, is befriended by Sir John Falstaff, an old, overweight, fun-loving habitual liar. Through Falstaff's eyes we see the reign of King Henry IV and the rise of Henry V.Falstaff and Welles are both larger than life, and Welles has only been better once - and since he was only in the other movie for 8 minutes and running through the sewer for most of it, this gets the award for his best substantial performance. It's available on youtube but hard to find otherwise. Watch the opening segment, and Welles's reactions to the foolish, prating Shallow. And the battle scene. Brilliance.
- 19641h 35mPG8.4 (519K)97MetascoreDirectorStanley KubrickStarsPeter SellersGeorge C. ScottSterling HaydenAn unhinged American general orders a bombing attack on the Soviet Union, triggering a path to nuclear holocaust that a war room full of politicians and generals frantically tries to stop.I really need to reappraise Kubrick, but this one I do not need to. It's the one Kubrick movie I unreservedly love.
- DirectorFederico FelliniStarsMarcello MastroianniAnouk AiméeClaudia CardinaleA harried movie director retreats into his memories and fantasies.Thank God Fellini got that Best Director nod. I had nowhere else to go.
- DirectorJohn FrankenheimerStarsFrank SinatraLaurence HarveyJanet LeighAn American POW in the Korean War is brainwashed as an unwitting assassin for an international Communist conspiracy.The ultimate political mind muck movie. Wonderfully constructed, written, and shot. Angela Landsbury is chillingly great in this.
- DirectorJerome RobbinsRobert WiseStarsNatalie WoodGeorge ChakirisRichard BeymerTwo youngsters from rival New York City gangs fall in love, but tensions between their respective friends build toward tragedy.I could argue for La Dolce Vita, but again, with a deserving nominee, I am preferring English language movies. And Yojimbo's only Oscar nom was a costume design nom in 1962. Not enough.
- DirectorBilly WilderStarsJack LemmonShirley MacLaineFred MacMurrayA Manhattan insurance clerk tries to rise in his company by letting its executives use his apartment for trysts, but complications and a romance of his own ensue.Oscar gets it right again.
- DirectorBilly WilderStarsMarilyn MonroeTony CurtisJack LemmonAfter two male musicians witness a mob hit, they flee the state in an all-female band disguised as women, but further complications set in.Unnominated. Billy Wilder's great farce is far better than the actual winner, the rather stiff and stultifying - chariot race excepted - Ben Hur.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsJames StewartKim NovakBarbara Bel GeddesA former San Francisco police detective juggles wrestling with his personal demons and becoming obsessed with the hauntingly beautiful woman he has been hired to trail, who may be deeply disturbed.Why oh why had Oscar no use for Hitch? Because they were too busy watching Gigi and mistaking it for something that didn't suck, that's why. This is Hitch's best, most personal, and most intriguing movie.
- DirectorDavid LeanStarsWilliam HoldenAlec GuinnessJack HawkinsBritish POWs are forced to build a railway bridge across the river Kwai for their Japanese captors in occupied Burma, not knowing that the allied forces are planning a daring commando raid through the jungle to destroy it.1957 was the second best year for movies ever. I might prefer Roshomon or Seventh Seal, but whatever. Witness for the Prosecution, 12 Angry Men, Paths of Glory.... Of the English Language films, this was the best.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsJohn WayneJeffrey HunterVera MilesAn American Civil War veteran embarks on a years-long journey to rescue his niece from the Comanches after the rest of his brother's family is massacred in a raid on their Texas farm.Yes, there has probably never been so great a movie with such bad acting, But this is John Ford's masterwork, a complex and moving portrait of a man consumed by racist hate. And maybe unrequitable love.
- DirectorJohn SturgesStarsSpencer TracyRobert RyanAnne FrancisA one-armed stranger comes to a tiny town possessing a terrible past they want to keep secret, by violent means if necessary.Never been a Marty fan. Love Tracy and Ryan in this movie. Sort of a template for some of Eastwood's midperiod westerns.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsJames StewartGrace KellyWendell CoreyA wheelchair-bound photographer spies on his neighbors from his Greenwich Village courtyard apartment window and, despite the skepticism of his fashion-model girlfriend, becomes convinced one of them has committed murder.Yeah, On the Waterfront was the best of the nominees, and a deserving win. But Rear Window is all of us, gaping and gazing like voyeurs into the lives of others on a huge screen, rooting for murders and unspeakable crimes to lighten our days. Really, we are the most frightening ghouls I have ever known.
- DirectorGeorge StevensStarsAlan LaddJean ArthurVan HeflinA weary gunfighter in 1880s Wyoming begins to envision a quieter life after befriending a homestead family with a young son who idolizes him, but a smoldering range war forces him to act.One of the landmark westerns. I could've gone with Stalag 17 here, and I actually prefer it, but I got a lot of Wilder already. A bit of a compromise of my standards, but what good are standards if you cannot undermine them?
- DirectorFred ZinnemannStarsGary CooperGrace KellyThomas MitchellA town Marshal, despite the disagreements of his newlywed bride and the townspeople around him, must face a gang of deadly killers alone at "high noon" when the gang leader, an outlaw he "sent up" years ago, arrives on the noon train.Over Singin in the Rain in a coin flip - or rather because High Noon was nominated. Need some reason to choose. What is indefensible is the thoroughly bad pile of poo that got the Oscar when the greatest traditional musical could not even get a nod. I can barely bring myself to type its name, and so won't.
- DirectorBilly WilderStarsKirk DouglasJan SterlingRobert ArthurA frustrated former big-city journalist now stuck working for an Albuquerque newspaper exploits a story about a man trapped in a cave to rekindle his career, but the situation quickly escalates into an out-of-control circus."Too cynical" they all said back then. Well, they did not sit wide eyed and gaping at some murderer in a slow speed chase in a white Ford Bronco. Or watch a 24 hour news cycle. Or think about what the news coverage would have been like had the Chilean miners not gotten out. Cynical my hairy bum.
- DirectorCarol ReedStarsOrson WellesJoseph CottenAlida ValliPulp novelist Holly Martins travels to shadowy, postwar Vienna, only to find himself investigating the mysterious death of an old friend, Harry Lime.All About Eve is the best movie to not deserve its Oscar. And Sunset Blvd., also eligible in 1950, is my second favorite movie ever. Which tells you what I think of this movie. And my screen name should tell you what I think of the way Welles completely dominates the memory of this movie despite only being in it for 8 minutes. This was its Oscar year, despite the 1949 release.
- DirectorCarol ReedStarsRalph RichardsonMichèle MorganSonia DresdelA butler working in a foreign embassy in London falls under suspicion when his wife accidentally falls to her death, the only witness being an impressionable young boy.I thought about using The Third Man here and Sunset Blvd. in 1950, but that would be contrary to my standards. And I wouldn't want to violate my standards, now would I? Same director, same screen writer, so close enough. Another delayed Oscar year.
- DirectorJohn HustonStarsHumphrey BogartWalter HustonTim HoltTwo down-on-their-luck Americans searching for work in 1920s Mexico convince an old prospector to help them mine for gold in the Sierra Madre Mountains.Huston's brutal look at greed and madness and suspicion. As good as any film on the subject since, well, Greed. And better than the Anderson movie modeled on it be a longshot. Especially in the lead performance.
- DirectorDavid LeanStarsJohn MillsValerie HobsonTony WagerA humble orphan boy in 1810s Kent is given the opportunity to go to London and become a gentleman, with the help of an unknown benefactor.Its Oscar year, and proof that Lean was a great director before he went all epic on us.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsCary GrantIngrid BergmanClaude RainsThe daughter of a convicted German spy is asked by American agents to gather information on a ring of German scientists in South America. How far will she have to go to ingratiate herself with them?Arguably Hitch's best made movie. Grant and Bergman and Rains are all fantastic.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsIngrid BergmanGregory PeckMichael ChekhovA psychiatrist protects the identity of an amnesia patient accused of murder while attempting to recover his memory.Hitch is sort of a default "Best" through these years. The Oscar went to Lost Weekend, which is a close second. Because if the best movie of the year was not Hitch, it was usually Wilder.
- DirectorBilly WilderStarsFred MacMurrayBarbara StanwyckEdward G. RobinsonA Los Angeles insurance representative lets an alluring housewife seduce him into a scheme of insurance fraud and murder that arouses the suspicion of his colleague, an insurance investigator.A ground breaking movie, visually and story wise, for noir. Tremendously written and acted. Who knew Fred MacMurray could be such an arse? Well, who besides Billy Wilder. Well, Edward Dmytryk. Who besides them?
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsHumphrey BogartIngrid BergmanPaul HenreidA cynical expatriate American cafe owner struggles to decide whether or not to help his former lover and her fugitive husband escape the Nazis in French Morocco.Of course! And it saves me from having the BP being 3 Hitch in 4 years. I love Shadow of a Doubt. But Casablanca is the movie that screams "Movie!"
- DirectorOrson WellesFred FleckRobert WiseStarsTim HoltJoseph CottenDolores CostelloThe spoiled young heir to the decaying Amberson fortune comes between his widowed mother and the man she has always loved.Oh, if only the studio hadn't messed with it! Even as is, great, great, great.
- DirectorOrson WellesStarsOrson WellesJoseph CottenDorothy ComingoreFollowing the death of publishing tycoon Charles Foster Kane, reporters scramble to uncover the meaning of his final utterance: 'Rosebud.'Well, I guess AMPAS didn't want to bite one of the hands that fed it. But that's no excuse for a middling John Ford film over The Maltese Falcon!
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsLaurence OlivierJoan FontaineGeorge SandersA self-conscious woman juggles adjusting to her new role as an aristocrat's wife and avoiding being intimidated by his first wife's spectral presence.Hitch's only Best Picture winner. Who am I to argue?
- DirectorErnst LubitschStarsGreta GarboMelvyn DouglasIna ClaireA stern Soviet woman sent to Paris to supervise the sale of jewels seized from Russian nobles finds herself attracted to a man who represents everything she is supposed to detest.In the greatest year for movies, I take a RomCom over seriously great movies like Gone With the Wind - which I wish I could hate! - or Wizard of Oz, or Stagecaoch, or Dark Victory, or Rules of the Game? yes, I do. Because Ninotchka is a witty, funny, charming work, that's why. And Garbo laughs! And Wilder writes! Not incidentally. Have I mentioned I adore Wilder?
- DirectorHoward HawksStarsKatharine HepburnCary GrantCharles RugglesWhile trying to secure a $1 million donation for his museum, a befuddled paleontologist is pursued by a flighty and often irritating heiress and her pet leopard, Baby.I admit for a thing for screwball, especially if it stars Cary Grant. I also admit to not finding frenetic funny, which is my problem with You Can't Take it With You.
- DirectorLeo McCareyStarsIrene DunneCary GrantRalph BellamyA married couple file an amicable divorce, but find it harder to let go of each other than they initially thought.See supra. And The Life of Zola is one of the Oscar winners I haven't seen.
- DirectorCharles ChaplinStarsCharles ChaplinPaulette GoddardHenry BergmanThe Tramp struggles to live in modern industrial society with the help of a young homeless woman.In the great dichotomy of silent comedy, I'm a Buster Keaton kind of guy. But I love this Chaplin film, if only to watch him get force fed. And skate.
- DirectorMark SandrichStarsFred AstaireGinger RogersEdward Everett HortonAn American dancer comes to Britain and falls for a model whom he initially annoyed, but she mistakes him for his goofy producer.All I know is it's heaven.... I'm in heaven... and there follows five minutes of beautiful elegance and grace and whirling ostrich feathers. Mutiny on the Bounty was a good choice, but I also prefer Captain Blood and Midsummernight's Dream.
- DirectorFrank CapraStarsClark GableClaudette ColbertWalter ConnollyA rogue reporter trailing a runaway heiress for a big story joins her on a bus heading from Florida to New York and they end up stuck with each other when the bus leaves them behind at one of the stops along the way.Chalk. Screwball chalk.
- DirectorLeo McCareyStarsGroucho MarxHarpo MarxChico MarxRufus T. Firefly is named the dictator of bankrupt Freedonia and declares war on neighboring Sylvania over the love of his wealthy backer Mrs. Teasdale, contending with two inept spies who can't seem to keep straight which side they're on.Like Oscar, even back then, was going to recognize how great the Marx brothers were. No, Cavalcade was their idea of a great movie. Screw 'em. This is the best of the many great Marx Brothers comedies. This year apparently worked for two years, so the runner up is also Marxist propaganda, Horse Feathers.
- DirectorFritz LangStarsPeter LorreEllen WidmannInge LandgutWhen the police in a German city are unable to catch a child-murderer, other criminals join in the manhunt.A German movie with no nominations? What gives Mr. Standards? Back then, there was no differentiation between English language and foreign language films. Plus, I got nothing else I've seen worth the award. And I've seen Grand Hotel.
- DirectorCharles ReisnerBuster KeatonStarsBuster KeatonTom McGuireErnest TorrenceThe effete son of a cantankerous riverboat captain comes to join his father's crew.I actually do not know the chronology of films released in the first few Oscar years; they seemed to have been honoring two separate years, with an overlap (1927-1928, 1928-1929, etc.). I don't care. I get to put some Keaton on this list, and that's what matters.
- DirectorF.W. MurnauStarsGeorge O'BrienJanet GaynorMargaret LivingstonA sophisticated city woman seduces a farmer and convinces him to murder his wife and join her in the city, but he ends up rekindling his romance with his wife when he changes his mind at the last moment.Sort of chalk.