#2020 Movie Odyssey Awards

[dweemeister]

2024 Movie Odyssey Award for Best Original Song (preliminary round)

Long ago, tumblr disabled completely the ability to make indented bullet points. I apologize in advance for how ugly most of this post looks. And now I've been having trouble with traditional user tagging, too. Apologies.

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OPEN invites to (or at least people who are committed to the final, but would like access to the prelim): @derricklogan2, @inmyworldblr, @memetoilet, @metamatar, @myluckyerror, @noelevangilinecarson, @phendranaedge, @plus-low-overthrow, @qteeclown, @shadesofhappy, and @the-lilac-grove. Some of you have participated in past MOABOS editions, some of you are longtime followers I've not really spoken to, but have interacted with quite a few of my posts... if you are interested, please let me know. I'll assign you a group or I'll put you into the final.

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Hello everybody,

The mercury drops, the days shorten, and the sound of cinephiles drawing up their "best of" lists for the current year fill the air. But in addition to my sort-of "best of" list, there's this tradition I've got.

If you were tagged here, that is because you graciously accepted my invitation to help out with this year's edition of the Movie Odyssey Award for Best Original Song (MOABOS). I welcome you to the twelfth edition of MOABOS (MOABOS XII) and the eleventh edition with outside help from family, friends, and followers on tumblr. When I first opened this up to other folks in 2014 (MOABOS II), I believed that this would last but only a few years, at most. And every time the year is new, I have no clue whether or not there will be another edition of MOABOS.

But here we are yet again. The Movie Odyssey Award for Best Original Song is not possible without all of your help.

For newcomers near and far: This is a classic film blog (concentration: pre-1980s Hollywood, but I have various specialties outside of that and watch plenty of newer films). That blog's primary purpose is to host my nearly 800 film write-ups tagged "My Movie Odyssey" (an index can be found here). MOABOS is one of my blog's year-end traditions, and just a smaller part of a larger one. On my blog, the Movie Odyssey Awards honor some of the best achievements from movies that I saw for the first time this calendar year (the "Movie Odyssey") with an Oscar-like ceremony. I choose all the nominees and winners from each category, save one: Best Original Song. It is the only category that does not require you to watch several movies in their entirety. MOABOS is my way to say thank you for your friendship and moral support no matter how long I've known you. It is, sneakily so, a way to introduce all of you to music and movies I enjoyed this past year. And you might learn a snippet of film history through this!

INTRODUCTION

An unspecified number of songs have already advanced to the final round. 24 songs will contest this preliminary round in two groups – Group A and Group B. Longtime participants may notice immediately the lack of newer releases this year, similar to the MOABOS editions from 2020-2022. I saw plenty of new releases in theaters, but very few original songs I deemed good enough to get here. In addition, I think this is the first edition of MOABOS in some time where there is no prohibitive favorite on paper (perhaps as far back as 2015's MOABOS III). The field is wide open for the taking, I think.

Two years after a monolingual slate, 2024 is even more multilingual than 2023. This year, across both groups and an unidentified song and movie that qualified straight to the final round, we have a record number of languages: seven. These non-English songs come from, interestingly: one Old Hollywood movie from a studio celebrating a centennial; an industry-defining film that burst forth across boundaries and remains stratospherically popular in the former Eastern bloc; one of the greatest "what if's" of martial arts cinema; a most pleasant surprise from Viet Film Fest (VFF); an underseen piece of sci-fi animation filled with thematic intrigue and fully-realized worldbuilding; and a film about religion that also gifted us one of the best film scores of the 20th century.

The record 44 participants in last year's prelim were in an upset-minded mood, with stunning early eliminations for Barbie (2023) and both Top Gun movies. Lesser-heralded songs from Brazil, France, and India advanced at their expense. The cold streak for Shirley Temple movies at MOABOS finally broke, with a Shirley Temple song finally advancing from the prelim. What might be the narrative this year? Though I've said there aren't prohibitive favorites, there are still a number of songs I consider favorites and underdogs. Which ones fall unexpectedly? Which Cinderellas will continue to the Big Dance?

2019's MOABOS (MOABOS VII) preliminary – the "I Dug a Ditch" year, as some folks call it – was finally surpassed last year for the amount of chaos that ensued. 2023's MOABOS had a three-way tie on points in one group and the upset of the round in the other (Top Gun's "Take My Breath Away" eliminated by two points). I'm not expecting similar nailbiters yet again, but you folks like to make it dramatic!

INSTRUCTIONS

Please rank (#1-12) at least seven of your group's songs. Please consider to the best of your ability (these are only suggestions, not strict guidelines, and is largely how I consider my own rankings): 

How musically interesting the song is (incl. and not limited to melody, harmony, musical phrasing, and orchestration);

Its lyrics (incl. and not limited to lyrical flow, invention, and poeticism); 

Context within the film (contextual blurbs provided for every entry for those who haven't seen the films)*;

Choreography/dance direction (if applicable; I know that almost none of us have a dancing background, but please do not discount this aspect entirely);

The song's cultural/sociopolitical impact and legacy/listenability outside the film's context (if applicable, and, in my opinion, least important factor)

* Should a song that only appears in the opening and/or closing credits, but has no bearing on the film's score or the body of the film itself be penalized? Some say yes, some say no. I have no official position here.

A notice on audio/video quality and colorization of black-and-white film: Because it is sometimes difficult to find clean recordings of much of this music, imperfections in audio and video quality may not be used against any song while you are drawing up your rankings – you're on the honor system on this one. In addition, in respect to personal and blog policy, I will not provide (nor encourage you to seek) colorized videos of films that were originally in black-and-white. You can call this snobby all you want. But to yours truly, film colorization of B&W is disrespectful to the artisans who plied their craft and made decisions based on the fact the film was shot in black-and-white. It is essentially redirecting a movie without consent.

You are encouraged to send in comments and reactions with your rankings – it makes the process more enjoyable for you and myself!

The top six songs in each group automatically advance to the final round. Unlike previous years, no at-large wild card picks outside the top six will advance to the final.

The deadline for submission is Sunday, December 15 at 11 PM Pacific Time. That is 9 PM Hawaii/Aleutian Time. That deadline is also Monday, December 16 at 1 AM Central Time / 2 AM Eastern Time / 7 AM GMT / 8 AM CET / 9 AM EET / 2 PM Indochina Time. This deadline - and some of you have joked with me that this is inevitable - will be pushed back if there are a large number of people who have not submitted in time.This deadline may be pushed back if there are a large number of people who have not submitted in time. However, I very much do not wish to extend the deadline because the final round is more intensive and usually involves more participants. A small group of longtime MOABOS veterans will be asked to do both groups, if possible (but they are required to complete their assigned group first before moving on) – they are generally selected for their longevity of MOABOS participation and promptness. Tabulation details are under the "read more".

Please pay attention to the groups you have been sorted into, and please only submit rankings for the group you have been assigned. For your convenience, the YouTube playlists for both groups follow:

PLAYLISTS: (GROUP A) / (GROUP B)

Group participants were randomized to ensure a roughly equal gender spread in both groups. The twenty-four songs in the prelim were placed into groups based on a pre-ranking that I always perform before MOABOS – anticipating how all of you, collectively, would rank them, #1-24. Based on those pre-rankings, I balanced the groups and, as needed, separated songs that appeared in the same film.

Feel free to listen as many times as you need and perhaps take notes, and I hope you discover music and movies that inspire you to find them. With profound appreciation from this grateful classic film fan, here are your group's songs.

"Song title", composer and lyricist, Film Title, country/countries of origin if the film is not predominantly in English and not from the U.S.

GROUP A

“Amor de Gitano (The Love of a Gypsy)”, music and lyrics by Morris Stoloff and Fred Karger, The Loves of Carmen (1948)

Performed by Rita Hayworth

Lyrics in Spanish (rough translation)

In this adaptation of Prosper Mérimée's novella Carmen (which also served as the source material for Georges Bizet's opera Carmen), this number appears late in the film after the turbulent relationship between Carmen (Hayworth; whose character is Romani) and Don José (Glenn Ford) of the Spanish dragoons. At this point, Carmen has escaped her earlier poverty (and Don José) and is now living comfortably in Córdoba as the partner of a bullfighter.

Hayworth, an actress of Spanish Romani and Irish/English descent, began her career in minor roles at 20th Century Fox before moving to Columbia. While at Columbia, she became the studio's top star and a pin-up icon to American soldiers in WWII. Despite frequent clashes with chief executive Harry Cohn over roles and pay (contracted Hollywood actors had little freedom to choose their roles until the 1944 court case De Havilland v. Warner Bros.), she single-handedly catapulted Columbia into financial stability for years to come, dashing any remaining beliefs that Columbia was not a major studio. The Loves of Carmen was to be her final film for Columbia, due to her impending marriage to Prince Aly Khan (they divorced, and she came back).

“Belleville Rendez-vous”, music by Benoît Charest, lyrics by Sylvain Chomet, The Triplets of Belleville (2003, France/Belgium/Canada/United Kingdom)

(French original with translation) / (English dub version)

Performed by Béatrice Bonifassi and Matthieu Chedid

Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song

From Sylvain Chomet's absurd, darkly comic, and disgustingly original animated feature debut (“disgustingly” is used here with admiration, because of the intentional ugliness of some of the animation). The film features an aging group of singing triplets who attempt to help another woman find her grandson after the grandson was kidnapped while competing in the Tour de France. The song first appears in the opening, is reprised a few times during the film, and repeated a final time in the end credits. It forms the basis for the film's score.

“Broadway Rhythm”, music by Nacio Herb Brown, lyrics by Arthur Freed, Broadway Melody of 1936 (1935)

(part 1) / (part 2)

Performed by Frances Langford and company; danced by June Knight, Nick Long Jr., Eleanor Powell and company

This number is the third-to-last scene of the film. At a dinner-and-a-show club, radio star Langford (playing herself) sings the title song of the stage musical that producer Robert Gordon (Robert Taylor) has been trying desperately to open for the entire movie. His failure to cast a lead actress – despite his high school sweetheart, Irene Foster (Eleanor Powell), excelling in her audition – and other shenanigans have gotten him to this point. All that singing on the offbeats! If this song sounds vaguely familiar, it might be because it forms much of the mid-film ballet sequence in Singin' in the Rain (1952; "GOT-ta dance!").

Between parts 1 and 2 provided here is supposed to be a dance between siblings Buddy and Vilma Ebsen, but I could not find a video of it online.

In part 2, two of the film's antagonists (not villains, just antagonists), played by Knight and Long, dance with each other. Then, Irene appears to Robert's surprise. It is implied she is cast for the lead role in the film's final scene, as well as rekindling her relationship with Robert. Eleanor Powell, who plays Irene, was approaching the peak years of a relatively short film career, and was considered by many to be the most accomplished female dancer in Hollywood history (incl. Bill "Bojangles" Robinson and Fred Astaire, who said she was in a league all by herself).

“Camp Isn’t Home”, music and lyrics by Ben Platt, Noah Galvin, Molly Gordon, Nick Lieberman, Mark Sonnenblick, Theater Camp (2023)

Performed by the child cast members of the film

In this mockumentary of a summer theater camp (I can already hear the groans from some of you), the kids – many of whom are regulars at this camp – put on a show in order to save the camp from being repossessed. The montages you see in this particular clip are not featured in the film; the film itself simply shows the performance. To explain the final moment in this video would be to spoil a film-ending punchline.

“Dam Bhar Jo Udhar Munh Phere (I Wish the Moon Would Look Away for a Moment)”, music by Shankar Jaikishan, lyrics by Shailendra and Hasrat Jaipuri, Awaara (1951, India)

Performed by Nargis and Raj Kapoor (dubbed by Lata Mangeshkar and Mukesh, respectively)

Lyrics in Hindi (turn on the CC's in the provided video for translation)

In Awaara, Raj (Raj Kapoor) and Rita (Nargis) are childhood sweethearts who were separated when Raj could not afford the fees for school, resulting in his expulsion. Years later, after Raj turned to a criminal gang to support himself and his mother, the two reconnected. He has been trying to tell Rita, indirectly, that he has turned to thievery and is attempting to leave his criminal life behind, but she's unable to connect the dots. After a beachside first date, so appears this number – the rekindling of their relationship, in spite of the length of their separation, class differences, and another factor that would spoil the moral framework of the entire film.

“El Dorado”, music by Nelson Riddle, lyrics by John Gabriel, El Dorado (1966)

Performed by George Alexander and the Mellomen

The opening theme to this American Western film. Appears in the opening credits and quoted occasionally in the film's score. Edgar Allan Poe fans will note a lyrical reference to his poem "Eldorado" (the poem is quoted a few times in the film by James Caan's character). At its heart, this Western is about male friendship amid personal foibles (John Wayne's character has a physical ailment; Robert Mitchum's attempting to overcome his history of alcoholism, Caan is overconfident in his abilities) as the three protagonists attempt to protect a humble family from the illegal and violent machinations of a wealthy land baron.

The portraits you see in the opening credits are from Danish American painter Olaf Wieghorst, a noted 20th century artist who specialized in scenes of the old American West. Some of these portraits were done for the film, and Wieghorst's stock in the art world has gradually risen over the decades.

“Game of Death” (Mandarin version), music by Joseph Koo, lyrics by James Wong, Game of Death (1978, Hong Kong)

Performed by Roman Tam

Some rather blurry subtitles of a loose translation are in the provided video (to my Mandarin-speaking friends, may I ask if you can provide a more accurate translation?)

Appears as the opening credits song to the final film featuring Bruce Lee. Game of Death was incomplete at the time of Lee's death, and a "complete" version was released in 1978 with re-edited footage from his previous films. Roman Tam, the singer, was a major figure in the Cantopop music scene, He was also controversial – his on-stage flamboyance and his voice (which was not as masculine as some of his fellow Cantopop peers) were frowned upon by conservative Hong Kongers.

The Cantonese release of Game of Death occurred at the same time. It also has a title song, with the same composer, lyricist, and performer. However, it is a markedly different song (and is competing in the other group). The Cantonese version is considered the "original" and is competing in the other group.

“Goodbye Girl”, music and lyrics by David Gates, The Goodbye Girl (1977)

Performed by David Gates

This song appears in this romantic dramedy's finale as it transitions to end credits. Unemployed dancer Paula McFadden (Marsha Mason) and ten-year-old daughter Lucy (Quinn Cummings) are forced to take in a struggling actor (Richard Dreyfuss), who is the friend of Paula's now-ex.

Those of you who saw The Last of Us season 1 may have noticed The Goodbye Girl featured in the sixth episode of that show during a "movie night". From my perspective, The Goodbye Girl is about learning how to trust again after being abandoned (whether once before or repeatedly). Very apt for that certain episode of TLoU.

“A Million Miles Away”, music and lyrics by Fred Avril and Philippe Monthaye, Mars Express (2023, France)

Performed by Alice Lewis

Appears as the only song in the end credits to this French animated cyberpunk noir. The lyrics make (relatively non-spoilery) reference to the violent events that transpired in the finale. Not quoted in the film's score. In Mars Express, private detective Aline Ruby and her android partner Carlos Rivera are investigating a homicide – leading both of them to a horrible conspiracy that might shake the foundations of 2200s human society.

Dropping objectivity for a moment... for all of you who are fans of the likes of Blade Runner (1982) and Ghost in the Shell (1995, Japan), Mars Express is 100% for you. And even if you haven't seen either of those, this is the one animated movie from outside the major American and Japanese studios competing in this year's edition of MOABOS I highly recommend to all, with a small warning here for the film's severe violence.

“Puppet on a String”, music and lyrics by Sid Tepper and Roy C. Bennett, Girl Happy (1965)

Performed by Elvis Presley

None of the videos on YouTube have the "correct" audio alongside the images, but the provided version is as close as it gets. Apologies.

In film #17 of 31 in his acting career (1956-1969), Elvis plays the lead singer of a band. The band is normally cooped up in Chicago, but it's Spring Break, and their nightclub manager boss (Harold Stone) needs someone to make sure to watch out for his college senior daughter (Shelley Fabares in her first of three appearances as the leading lady in an Elvis movie – a record). The boss wants her protected from the "30,000 sex-starved young men" also vacationing in Fort Lauderdale. Florida (the boss' words, not mine). The two leads eventually fall for each other, and fully realize this with this song (which became Elvis' most successful single from this film).

“Something’s Gotta Give”, music and lyrics by Johnny Mercer, Daddy Long Legs (1955)

Performed by Fred Astaire; danced by Astaire and Leslie Caron

Starts in earnest at 1:17.

In this, the third (!) adaptation by 20th Century Fox of Jean Webster's 1912 young adult novel of the same name, Daddy Long Legs sees wealthy American magnate Jervis Pendleton III (Astaire in his first widescreen musical) secretly paying for the college education of young Frenchwoman Julie André (Caron), after he, by chance, spotted her tending to children at a French orphanage. Julie calls her unidentified benefactor "Daddy Long Legs", based on a faraway description given to her by her fellow orphans. As she writes to Daddy Long Legs, she nevertheless falls for him – sight supposedly unseen. And he, to his surprise, starts falling for her.

The biggest hurdle to this movie is the obvious age difference between Astaire and Caron. However, Daddy Long Legs fully acknowledges this reality throughout – and gifting viewers some hilarious lines to boot at Astaire's expense. I've seen much worse (re:age difference), and it helps that Astaire moves and dances as well as he does. Your mileage may vary, but I don't read the narrative as predatory.

This is a Great American Songbook standard and was covered by many artists, including Bing Crosby (F:NV fans?), Frank Sinatra, and Ella Fitzgerald.

“You Are My Lucky Star”, music Nacio Herb Brown, lyrics by Arthur Freed, Broadway Melody of 1936 (1935)

(initial version; begins in earnest at 1:00) / (reprise, part 1) / (reprise, part 2)

Initially performed by Frances Langford; reprise performed and danced by Eleanor Powell

If you're vaguely familiar with this song, that's because either you've seen the end of Singin' in the Rain (1952) and/or Alien (1979). Stage producer Robert Gordon (Robert Taylor) is putting on a radio special to promote his upcoming Broadway musical. Robert is also having trouble casting a lead actress for his musical. Frances Langford plays herself here – she was principally a radio star who made only a handful of appearances in films, usually in supporting or bit roles. Langford would be a key fixture in Bob Hope's USO performances during World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War.

In the reprise, Robert's former high school sweetheart, Irene Foster (Eleanor Powell), has just arrived from Albany to audition for his stage musical. She imagines herself onstage – singing and dancing in a fantastical ballet sequence. Powell, approaching the peak years of a relatively short film career, was considered by many to be the most accomplished female dancer in Hollywood history (incl. Bill "Bojangles" Robinson and Fred Astaire, who said she was in a league all by herself). And here, she shows she can do more than just tap dancing.

The folks assigned to GROUP A include: @cokwong, @demenshah, @emilylime5, @halfwaythruthedark, @maximiliani, @rawberry101, @theybecomestories, . You are also being joined by 17 others including myself and my sister.

GROUP B

“Aren’t You Glad You’re You?”, music by Jimmy Van Heusen, lyrics by Johnny Burke, The Bells of St. Mary’s (1945)

(in-film version) / (soundtrack version)

Performed by Bing Crosby

Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song

In this sequel to the Best Picture-winning musical Going My Way (1944), Crosby (at the height of his career) reprises his Oscar-winning role as Father O'Malley, who has just been transferred to a big city parish and to oversee its underfunded, nun-run private school. One student, Patsy (Joan Carroll), has been dropped off there by her financially unstable single mother. While seeking for advice about a writing assignment one night, Father O'Malley urges Patsy – who has not been fitting in at school – to be herself and approach the essay uniquely, leading to this song. Quoted a few times in the film's score. The soundtrack version and all covers are usually a lot more upbeat than the original.

“Farewell Amanda”, music and lyrics by Cole Porter, Adam’s Rib (1949)

Performed by David Wayne

In this romantic comedy, prosecutor Adam (Spencer Tracy) and defense attorney Amanda (Katharine Hepburn) are married. He's a traditionalist; she's a feminist. He's prosecuting a woman who shot (but didn't kill) her adulterous husband; she's defending that very same woman. Their neighbor, pianist Kip Laurie (David Wayne), has been romantically interested in Amanda for some time and, over dinner, premieres this song. The song becomes a hit later in the film.

For MOABOS veterans, you know that I include a "troll song" in MOABOS every now and then. This is the closest thing to a "troll song" this year because "Farewell Amanda" appears multiple times through Adam's Rib in unexpected and hilarious contexts (to Adam's annoyance).

“Game of Death” (Cantonese original), music by Joseph Koo, lyrics by James Wong, Game of Death (1978, Hong Kong)

Performed by Roman Tam

Some rather blurry subtitles of a loose translation are in the provided video (if you know someone who is fluent in Cantonese and is willing to provide a more correct translation, please let me know)

Appears as the opening credits song to the final film featuring Bruce Lee. Game of Death was incomplete at the time of Lee's death, and a "complete" version was released in 1978 with re-edited footage from his previous films. Roman Tam, the singer, was a major figure in the Cantopop music scene, He was also controversial – his on-stage flamboyance and his voice (which was not as masculine as some of his fellow Cantopop peers) were frowned upon by conservative Hong Kongers.

The Mandarin release of Game of Death occurred at the same time. It also has a title song, with the same composer, lyricist, and performer. However, it is a markedly different song (and is competing in the other group).

“Giấc Mơ (Dream)”, music and lyrics by Túng, Before Sex (2024, Vietnam)

Provided version (which is mildly NSFW) performed by Túng; performed in-film by Nguyễn Lê Việt Hưng

Lyrics in Vietnamese (very rough translation that I know the Viet Film Fest crew is gonna pick apart)

The provided soundtrack version is part of the film-ending montage of this raunchy coming-of-age romantic comedy.

The song's first appearance (not provided) is much more instrumentally simple, and appears during a comedic fantastical sequence. Before Sex opens with two groups of friends discussing their opinions on sex, one-night stands, how to "win over" someone, and love before splintering into three storylines. Say what you will about how the film gets to its endings, but I saw Before Sex as a springboard into discussions about what is healthy in a relationship – rare for a major Vietnamese studio romantic comedy.

“Girl Happy”, music and lyrics by Doc Pomus and Jerry Ragovoy, Girl Happy (1965)

(single version which also appears in the opening credits) / (end-of-film reprise)

Performed by Elvis Presley

This number appears in the stylish opening credits and in the final scene of the film. It is occasionally quoted in the film's score. In film #17 of 31 in his acting career (1956-1969), Elvis plays the lead singer of a band (shock!). The band is normally cooped up in Chicago, but it's Spring Break, and their nightclub manager boss (Harold Stone) needs someone to look out for his college senior daughter (Shelley Fabares in her first of three appearances as the leading lady in an Elvis movie – a record). The boss wants her protected from the "30,000 sex-starved young men" also vacationing in Fort Lauderdale, Florida (the boss' words, not mine). The two leads eventually fall for each other, despite this exceptionally strange situation and further drama with another love interest, Deena (Mary Ann Mobley). If you think that sounds like a crazy plot for an Elvis movie, you haven't seen enough Elvis movies.

Girl Happy was made by MGM as a response to the popularity of the "beach party" movies made by American International Pictures (AIP). The beach party subgenre was a 1960s craze with low-budget comedies of teenage/young adult characters getting into zany situations often involving elements of '60s teenage culture – poor romantic decision-making, dance parties, days at the beach (Californian surf culture especially, though Girl Happy is set out in Florida), rock-and-roll, car culture, excessive drinking with comical consequences, and more. AIP's Beach Party movies are also one of my guilty pleasures.

“I’ve Been Kissed Before”, music and lyrics by Lester Lee and Bob Russell, Affair in Trinidad (1952)

Performed and danced by Rita Hayworth (dubbed by Jo Ann Greer)

Nightclub singer Chris Emery (Hayworth) is based in Trinidad and Tobago, still a British colony in 1952, and has been embroiled in an investigation into her late husband's murder. Her husband's brother, Steve (Glenn Ford; first seen at 0:43 in the provided video), has just arrived on the island and is seeking answers. This performance comes at significant risk for Chris, as it is being held in the estate of one of the primary murder suspects (to explain why she is taking that risk is a major spoiler). This song marks the point in the film in which the web of murderous schemes and the local authorities' investigation that define this entire work finally comes together.

Rita Hayworth, of mixed Spanish Romani and Irish/English descent, was considered one of the pin-up girls of 1940s Hollywood. She retired from filmmaking after her marriage to Prince Aly Khan, but when that marriage collapsed, she made her heralded return in this film noir, made at Columbia Pictures (where Hayworth was contracted to before the marriage).

“I’ve Got a Feelin' You're Foolin'”, music by Nacio Herb Brown, lyrics by Arthur Freed, Broadway Melody of 1936 (1935)

Performed and danced by June Knight, Robert Taylor, and company; brief reprise by Frances Langford

Winner of the Academy Award for Best Dance Direction

As Broadway producer Robert Gordon (Robert Taylor) commiserates with the fabulously wealthy young widow Lilian Brent (June Knight) over the fact he is having trouble opening his show on Broadway, the two begin flirting with the other, in addition to suggesting a business arrangement to help open his show. The flirtation continues with this song. How about that furniture? Reprised briefly by Langford later on during rehearsal.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) awarded a competitive Oscar for Dance Direction for only three years (1935-1937). Choreographer Dave Gould won the inaugural Dance Direction Oscar for this number. This category was discontinued because of political pressure from the directors' branch of AMPAS. The most recent honorary winner for an Academy Award for choreography for work on an individual film was Onna White for Oliver! (1968).

“Même plus l'amour (Not Even Love)”, music and lyrics by Fred Avril and Philippe Monthaye, Mars Express (2023, France)

Performed by Barbara Carlotti

Lyrics in French (somewhat literal translation)

In this French animated cyberpunk noir, private detective Aline Ruby and her android partner Carlos Rivera are investigating a homicide. Their investigation leads them to find the murder victim's roommate, who is being followed by persons unknown. Despite their best efforts, Aline and Carlos fail to protect the roommate while trying to make a getaway. This song plays muted, under dialogue with lyrics somewhat not perceptible to the viewer, while Aline – a workaholic and a recovering alcoholic – drinks away her sadness at a bar. Not quoted in the film's score.

Dropping objectivity for a moment... for all of you who are fans of the likes of Blade Runner (1982) and Ghost in the Shell (1995, Japan), Mars Express is 100% for you. And even if you haven't seen either of those, this is the one animated movie from outside the major American and Japanese studios competing in this year's edition of MOABOS I highly recommend to all, with a small warning here for the film's severe violence.

“River Song”, music by Richard M. Sherman, Robert B. Sherman, and John Williams, lyrics by the Sherman Brothers, Tom Sawyer (1973)

Performed by Charley Pride and chorus

Produced by Reader's Digest (seriously) and distributed by United Artists (UA), this is a musical adaptation of Mark Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. This movie comes early in John Williams' film scoring career (this is two years before Jaws, four before Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind) and just past the peak Disney years for the late Sherman Brothers, the three collaborated for this opening credits song – establishing the setting for this film (shot on location in Missouri).

Pride was the first black country music superstar and, at this time, Pride's presence (even for an opening credits song) was a massive get for this production. This was Pride's second and final performance on an original song for any movie.

“Sing Before Breakfast”, music by Nacio Herb Brown, lyrics by Arthur Freed, Broadway Melody of 1936 (1935)

Performed and danced by Eleanor Powell, Buddy Ebsen, and Vilma Ebsen

After going to her former high school sweetheart's office to inquire about auditioning for a Broadway stage musical he is producing (and not finding him there) the previous day, aspiring singer/dancer Irene Foster (Powell) has breakfast with her friends. Siblings Ted and Sally Burke (the Ebsens, both making their film debut; Buddy would go on to have a long film/TV career while Vilma stuck solely to the stage) provide Irene with support during their occasional appearances in this film.

Why is Buddy Ebsen wearing a Mickey Mouse sweater in an MGM musical despite MGM having their own animation studio at the time? No clue.

“Tere Bina Aag Ye Chandni (Without You, Even Moonlight is a Scorching Fire)”, music by Shankar Jaikishan, lyrics by Shailendra and Hasrat Jaipuri, Awaara (1951, India)

Performed by Nargis and Raj Kapoor (singing dubbed by Lata Mangeshkar and Manna Dey, respectively) and chorus

Lyrics in Hindi (turn on the CC's in the provided video for translation)

In Awaara, Raj (Raj Kapoor) and Rita (Nargis) are childhood sweethearts who were separated when Raj could not afford the fees for school, resulting in his expulsion. Years later, after Raj turned to a criminal gang to support himself and his mother, the two reconnected. He has been trying to tell Rita, indirectly, that he has turned to thievery and is attempting to leave his criminal life behind, but she's unable to connect the dots. Awaara comments upon class, feminism, and what a genuine redemption looks like – though it's not apparent in this musical number, the film's dramatic and comedic moments were inspired by the silent films of Charlie Chaplin.

This song is part of a dream sequence depicting the struggle between a potential romantic future and Raj's criminal past. The scene follows a date between Raj and Rita and immediately follows a tense exchange between Raj and his knife-wielding gang boss (seen at 9:09 in the provided video), who fully expects Raj sto steal from Rita and her family.

“Wave-a-Stick Blues”, music and lyrics by Ozzie Nelson, Ozzie Nelson & His Orchestra (1940 short)

Performed by Ozzie Nelson and His Orchestra

This comes from a 1940 Vitaphone short film that most likely would have appeared between feature films at a Warner Bros.-owned theater. The film is solely a musical showcase of the talents of Ozzie Nelson and His Orchestra. Nelson was a bandleader who would become best known for his starring role in the TV sitcom The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (1952-1966).

Before the United States v. Paramount (1948) Supreme Court decision, the major American studios owned theaters and theatrical chains. And back then, if you wanted to see a movie at one of the studio-owned theaters, you often bought a ticket for a double feature. The "B-movie" would go first. Following the B-movie, you would be treated to some combination of a serial film, short film(s) (like Ozzie Nelson & His Orchestra!), and trailers. Then your "feature presentation", the A-movie, would play. Moviegoing was far more of a community event then, and a double feature was considered normal to audiences in those days.

When the major American studios lost the Paramount case, they had to sell off their theaters. And as such, the major studios pulled out of making serial films (essentially, a predecessor of television) and short films. By the end of the 1950s, the live-action short film had essentially become extinct among the majors. The Paramount decrees were repealed by the Department of Justice under the Trump administration in 2020

The folks assigned to GROUP B include: @addaellis, @cinemaocd, @dog-of-ulthar, @idontknowmuchaboutmovies, @machpowervisions, @shootingstarvenator, @stephdgray, @umgeschrieben, and @yellanimal . You are also being joined by 17 others including myself and my sister.

Would you like to know something more about a song or a movie featured above? Do you have a question or comment about MOABOS's processes? Feel free to ask me! If you are having difficulty accessing any of the songs (especially if region-locked) or if there are any errors in the links above or the playlist, please let me know as soon as possible.

You will be contacted for the final round regardless of your participation or non-participation in the preliminary. If turnout in one group is lagging behind compared to another, I will ask some of the more senior participants to participate in the other group, too. Do not worry too much about this if you cannot participate, although I will be checking in as the deadlines near.

Once more to all of you here, my thanks for your support for the Movie Odyssey, the blog, and for me personally over however long I've known you. It's a privilege and a pleasure to share all these movies (well, excerpts of them) and musical numbers with you. I hope not only do you learn something about film or music, but that you personally enjoy listening, too! My deepest appreciation to all!

TABULATION FOR THE PRELIMINARY ROUND

This preliminary round uses a points-based, ranked choice method which has been in use since MOABOS II (2014). A respondent’s first choice receives 10 points, the second choice receives 9, the third choice receives 8, etc. The winner is the song that ends up with the most total points. The tabulation method described here for the preliminary round is used only as a tiebreaker in the final round (more on how the final is tabulated when we get there). 

The tiebreakers for the preliminary are:

total points earned;

total #1 votes;

song(s) which is/are ranked higher on more ballots than the other(s);

average placement on my and my sister's ballots;

tie declared

[anotherdescentintomadness]

Wang YiBo Posts

Vibes, aesthetics, themes, red carpets, and events — Posts I’ve put together

Wang Yibo Photo Shoots and Aesthetics

Rainbow Wang YiBos (the most beautiful thing I’ve ever made)

Harper’s Bazaar x FPU

WYB Cyberpunk Post-Apocalypse Aesthetic (GQ SS2020 shoot)

WYB Neverending B&W Aesthetic

WYB Blue Mullet Aesthetic

WYB’s WuGan Announcement Space Aesthetic

WYB x VogueME: Rose Red Aesthetic

WYB Brides Magazine Aesthetic

WYB x GQ: A Rainbow Sunflower Aesthetic

WYB x Chanel: Red Camellia Aesthetic

26th Birthday Photo Shoot

WYB X HangZhou Asian Games Shoots

Retro Curio Aesthetic (Young Chic 2019)

Countdown to Chanel Cruise Shenzhen

Tracer85 x Bazaar 190810

Tracer85 x Bazaar part 2

Chanel Cruise Shenzhen 2023

Gank Your Heart OST photoshoot

WYB x Leon Young (2018)

Wang YiBo Themed Posts

Wang YiBo and his Tiny Handbags

Photographer Era Wang YiBo

Photographer Era WYB Part 2

WYB in Pink 💖

WYB in Long Coats

WYB with Dogs to Heal your Existential Dread

WYB with Cats to Further Heal your Existential Dread

WYB and that Cute Crouching Thing He Does

WYB sitting THAT WAY

WYB and the City (urban DD)

WYB’s Softest Selfies

Mirror-Selfie Era WYB

The Selfie Gremlin

WYB with flowers

Our Peace and Love Cool Guy (Bixin WYB)

14 Times WYB Came to Slay in Black and Grey in 2023

TikTok Era random DD

Stage Performances

YueHua Nian 2023 // YueHua Nian Cont.

Like the Sunshine 2023

Versace on the Floor 2020

Characters

My Strange Friend — Wei YiChen

A Chinese Odyssey: Part 3 — Hong Hai’Er

Love Actually — Zhai ZhiWei

Gank Your Heart — Ji XiangKong

When We Were Young — Lin JiaYi

Gif Sets

Perish Fashion Week — The King Slays

Our star WYB (SIFF)

White Suit (TTXS)

Suspiciously Cheerful (Happy Camp)

Sleepy WYB x Cow Onesie

Shirtless Fluffy-Haired Tracer85

One & Only Promo

All the One&Only movie posters // Movie posters cont

Roadshows: ChangSha // Hangzhou // Beijing // YueYang // Bangkok

Premiere // Universal Studios // SIFF // Li Jiaqi Live Stream //

Chen Shuo’s Family // Chen Shuo’s Family (part 2)

Events

Perish Fashion Week (Chanel cap) // YueHua Family Concert // YueHua Family Dinner // Shu Uemura // Greater Bay Area Film Concert // Moncler Shanghai Flagship Grand Opening // 20th Movie Channel Media Focus Unit // Weibo Movie Night 2023 // Evisu Racing at ZIC // Douyin Movie Wonder Night // Chanel Métiers d’Art Show 2023 // Huabiao Awards // Chanel Cruise 2023 (LA, CA) // Weibo Night 220814 // Weibo Night 210228

Wang YiBo and Xiao Zhan

[mostlymovieswithmax]

Movies I watched in May

Sadly, I kind of skipped writing a post for April. It was a mad month with so much going on: lots of emails sent and lots of stress. I started a new job so I’m getting to grips with that... and even then, I still watched a bunch of movies. But this is about what I watched in May and, yeah… still a bunch. So if you’re looking to get into some other movies - possibly some you’ve thought about watching but didn’t know what they were like, or maybe like the look of something you’ve never heard of - then this may help! So here’s every film I watched from the 1st to the 31st of May 2021 Tenet (2020) - 8/10 This was my third time watching Christopher Nolan’s most Christopher Nolan movie ever and it makes no sense but I still love it. The spectacle of it all is truly like nothing I’ve ever seen. I had also watched it four days prior to this watch also, only this time I had enabled audio description for the visually impaired, thinking it would make it funny… It didn’t.

Nomadland (2020) - 6/10 Chloé Zhao’s new movie got a lot of awards attention. Everyone was hyped for this and when it got put out on Disney+ I was eager to see what all the fuss was about. Seeing these real nomads certainly gave the film an authenticity, along with McDormand’s ever-praisable acting. But generally I found it quite underwhelming and lacking a lot in its pacing. Nomadland surely has its moments of captivating cinematography and enticing commentary on the culture of these people, but it felt like it went on forever without any kind of forward direction or goal. The Prince of Egypt (1998) - 6/10 I reviewed this on my podcast, The Sunday Movie Marathon. For what it is, it’s pretty fun but nowhere near as good as some of the best DreamWorks movies.

Chinatown (1974) - 8/10 What a fantastic and wonderfully unpredictable mystery crime film! I regret to say I’ve not seen many Jack Nicholson performances but he steals the show. Despite Polanski’s infamy, it’d be a lie to claim this wasn’t truly masterful. Howl’s Moving Castle (2004) - 8/10 Admittedly I was half asleep as I curled up on the sofa to watch this again on a whim. I watched this with someone who demanded the dubbed version over the subtitled version and while I objected heavily, I knew I’d seen the movie before so it didn’t matter too much. That person also fell asleep about 20 minutes in, so how pointless an argument it was. Howl’s Moving Castle boasts superb animation, the likes of which I’ve only come to expect of Miyazaki. The story is so unique and the colours are absolutely gorgeous. This may not be my favourite from the legendary director but there’s no denying its splendour.

Bāhubali: The Beginning (2015) - 3/10 The next morning I watched some absolute trash. This crazy, over the top Indian movie is hilarious and I could perhaps recommend it if it weren’t so long. That being said, Bāhubali was not a dumpster fire; it has a lot of good-looking visual effects and it’s easy to see the ambition for this epic story, it just doesn’t come together. There’s fun to be had with how the main character is basically the strongest man in the world and yet still comes across as just a lucky dumbass, along with all the dancing that makes no sense but is still entertaining to watch. Seven Samurai (1954) - 10/10 If it wasn’t obvious already, Seven Samurai is a masterpiece. I reviewed this on The Sunday Movie Marathon podcast, so more thoughts can be found there. Red Road (2006) - 6/10 Another recommendation on episode 30 of the podcast. Red Road really captures the authentic British working class experience. Before Sunrise (1995) - 10/10 One of the best romances put to film. The first in Richard Linklater’s Before Trilogy is undoubtedly my favourite, despite its counterparts being almost equally as good. It tells the story of a young couple travelling through Europe, who happen to meet on a train and spend the day together. It is gloriously shot on location in Vienna and features some of the most interesting dialogue I’ve ever seen put to film. Heartbreakingly beautiful.

Tokyo Story (1953) - 9/10 This Japanese classic - along with being visually and sonically masterful - is a lot about appreciating the people in your life and taking the time to show them that you love them. It’s about knowing it’s never too late to rekindle old relationships if you truly want to, which is something I’ve been able to relate to in recent years. It broke my heart in two. Tokyo Story will make you want to call your mother. Before Sunset (2004) - 10/10 Almost a decade after Sunrise, Sunset carries a sombre yet relieving feeling. Again, the performances from Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke take me away, evoking nostalgic feelings as they stroll through the contemporary Parisian streets. There is no regret in me for buying the Criterion blu-ray boxset for this trilogy. Before Midnight (2013) - 10/10 Here, Linklater cements this trilogy as one of the best in film history. It’s certainly not the ending I expected, yet it’s an ending I appreciate endlessly. Because it doesn’t really end. Midnight shows the troubling times of a strained relationship; one that has endured so long and despite initially feeling almost dreamlike in how idealistically that first encounter was portrayed, the cracks appear as the film forces you to come to terms with the fact that fairy-tale romances just don’t exist. Relationships require effort and sacrifice and sometimes the ones that truly work are those that endure through all the rough patches to emerge stronger. The Holy Mountain (1973) - 10/10 Jodorowsky’s masterpiece is absolute insanity. I talked more about it on The Sunday Movie Marathon podcast.

The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) - 10/10 Another watch for Grand Budapest because I bought the Criterion blu-ray. As unalterably perfect as ever. Blue Jay (2016) - 6/10 Rather good up to a point. My co-hosts and I did not agree on how good this movie was, which is a discussion you can listen to on my podcast. Shadow and Bone: The Afterparty (2021) - 3/10 For what it’s worth, I really enjoyed the first season of Shadow and Bone, which is why I wanted to see what ‘The Afterparty’ was about. This could have been a lot better and much less annoying if all those terrible comedians weren’t hosting and telling bad jokes. I don’t want to see Fortune Feimster attempt to tell a joke about oiling her body as the cast of the show sit awkwardly in their homes over Zoom. If it had simply been a half hour, 45 minute chat with the cast and crew about how they made the show and their thoughts on it, a lot of embarrassment and time-wasting could have been spared. Wadjda (2012) - 6/10 Another recommendation discussed at length on The Sunday Movie Marathon. Wadjda was pretty interesting from a cultural perspective but largely familiar in terms of story structure.

Freddy Got Fingered (2001) - 2/10 A truly terrible movie with maybe one or two scenes that stop it from being a complete catastrophe. Tom Green tried to create something that almost holds a middle finger to everyone who watches it and to some that could be a fun experience, but to me it just came across as utterly irritating. It’s simply a bunch of scenes threaded together with an incredibly loose plot. He wears the skin of a dead deer, smacks a disabled woman over and over again on the legs to turn her on, and he swings a newborn baby around a hospital room by its umbilical cord (that part was actually pretty funny). I cannot believe I watched this again, although I think I repressed a lot of it since having seen it for the first time around five years ago. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1 - (2011) I have to say, these movies seem to get better with each instalment. They’re still not very good though. That being said, I’m amazed at how many times I’ve watched each of the Twilight movies at this point. This time around, I watched Breaking Dawn - Part 1 with a YMS commentary track on YouTube and that made the experience a lot more entertaining. Otherwise, this film is super dumb but pretty entertaining. I would recommend watching these movies with friends. Solaris (1972) - 8/10 Andrei Tarkovsky’s grand sci-fi epic about the emotional crises of a crew on the space station orbiting the fictional planet Solaris is much as strange and creepy as you might expect from the master Russian auter. I had wanted to watch this for a while so I bought the Criterion blu-ray and it’s just stunning. It’s clear to see the 2001: A Space Odyssey inspiration but Solaris is quite a different beast entirely. Jaws (1975) - 4/10 I really tried to get into this classic movie, but Jaws exhibits basically everything I don’t like about Steven Spielberg’s directing. For sure, the effects are crazily good but the story itself is poorly handled and largely uninteresting. It was just a massive slog to get through.

Darkman (1990) - 6/10 Sam Raimi’s superhero movie is so much fun, albeit massively stupid. Further discussion on Darkman can be found on episode 32 of The Sunday Movie Marathon podcast. Darkman II: The Return of Durant (1995) - 1/10 Abysmal. I forgot the movie as I watched it. This was part of a marathon my friends and I did for episode 32 of our podcast. Darkman III: Die Darkman Die (1996) - 1/10 Perhaps this trilogy is not so great after all. Only marginally better than Darkman II but still pretty terrible. More thoughts on episode 32 of my podcast. F For Fake (1973) - 8/10 Rewatching this proved to be a worthwhile decision. Albeit slightly boring, there’s no denying how crazy the story of this documentary about art forgers is. The standout however, is the director himself. Orson Welles makes a lot of this film about himself and how hot his girlfriend is and it is hilarious.

The Mitchells vs. The Machines (2021) - 4/10 More style over substance, Sony’s new animated adventure wants so much to be in trend with the current internet culture but it simply doesn’t understand what it’s emulating. There’s a nyan cat reference, for crying out loud. For every joke that works, there are about ten more that do not and were it not for the wonderful animation, it simply wouldn’t be getting so much praise. Taxi Driver (1976) - 10/10 The first movie I’ve seen in a cinema since 2020 and damn it was good to be back! I’ve already reviewed Taxi Driver in my March wrap-up but seeing it in the cinema was a real treat. Irreversible (2002) - 8/10 One of the most viscerally horrendous experiences I’ve ever had while watching a movie. I cannot believe a friend of mine gave me the DVD to watch. More thoughts on episode 32 of The Sunday Movie Marathon podcast. Don’t watch it with the family. The Golden Compass (2007) - 1/10 I had no recollection of this being as bad as it is. The Golden Compass is the definition of a factory mandated movie. Nothing it does on its own is worth any kind of merit. I would say, if you wanted an experience like what this tries to communicate, a better option by far is the BBC series, His Dark Materials. More of my thoughts can be found in the review I wrote on Letterboxd.

Antichrist (2009) - 8/10 Lars von Trier is nothing if not provocative and I can understand why someone would not like Antichrist, but I enjoyed it quite a lot. After watching it, I wrote a slightly disjointed summary of my interpretations of this highly metaphorical movie in the group chat, so fair warning for a bit of spoilers and graphic descriptions: It's like, the patriarchy, man! Oppression! Men are the rational thinkers with big brains and the women just cry and be emotional. So she's seen as crazy when she's smashing his cock and driving a drill through his leg to keep him weighted down. Like, how does he like it, ya know? So then she mutilates herself like she did with him and now they're both wounded, but the animals crowd around her (and the crow that he couldn't kill because it's Mother nature, not Father nature, duh). Then he kills her, even though she could've killed him loads of times but didn't. So it's like "haha big win for the man who was subjected to such horrific torture. Victory!" And then all the women with no faces come out of the woods because it's like a constant cycle. Manchester By The Sea (2016) - 6/10 Great performances in this super sad movie. I can’t say I got too much out of it though. Roar (1981) - 9/10 Watching Roar again was still as terrifying an experience as the first time. If you want to watch something that’s loose on plot with poor acting but with real big cats getting in the way of production and physically attacking people, look no further. This is the scariest movie I’ve ever seen because it’s all basically real. Cannot recommend it enough. Eyes Without A Face (1960) - 8/10 I’m glad I checked this old French movie out again. There’s a lot to marvel at in so many aspects, what with the premise itself - a mad surgeon taking the faces from unsuspecting women and transplanting them onto another - being incredibly unique for the time. Short, sweet and entertaining!

Se7en (1995) - 10/10 The first in a David Fincher marathon we did for The Sunday Movie Marathon, episode 33. Zodiac (2007) - 10/10 Second in the marathon, as it was getting late, we decided to watch half that evening and the last half on the following evening. Zodiac is a brilliant movie and you can hear more of my thoughts on the podcast (though I apologise; my audio is not the best in this episode). Gone Girl (2014) - 10/10 My favourite Fincher movie. More insights into this masterpiece in episode 33 of the podcast. Friends: The Reunion (2021) - 6/10 It was heartwarming to see the old actors for this great show together again. I talked about the Friends reunion film at length in episode 33 of my podcast.

Wolfwalkers (2020) - 10/10 I reviewed this in an earlier post but would like to reiterate just how wonderful Wolfwalkers is. If you get the chance, please see it in the cinema. I couldn’t stop crying from how beautiful it was. Raya and The Last Dragon (2021) - 6/10 After watching Wolfwalkers, I decided I didn’t want to go home. So I had lunch in town and booked a ticket for Disney’s Raya and The Last Dragon. A child was coughing directly behind me the entire time. Again, I reviewed this in an earlier post but generally it was decent but I have so many problems with the execution. The Princess Bride (1987) - 9/10 Clearly I underrated this the last time I watched it. The Princess Bride is warm and hilarious with some delightfully memorable characters. A real classic!

The Invisible Kid (1988) - 1/10 About as good as you’d expect a movie with that name to be, The Invisible Kid was a pick for The Sunday Movie Marathon podcast, the discussion for which you can listen to in episode 34. Babel (2006) - 9/10 The same night that I watched The Invisible Kid, I watched a masterful and dour drama from the director of Birdman and The Revenant. Babel calls back to an earlier movie of Iñárritu’s, called Amores Perros and as I was informed while we watched this for the podcast, it turns out Babel is part of a trilogy alongside the aforementioned film. More thoughts in episode 34 of the podcast. Snake Eyes (1998) - 1/10 After feeling thoroughly emotionally wiped out after Babel, we immediately watched another recommendation for the podcast: Snake Eyes, starring Nicolas Cage. This was a truly underwhelming experience and for more of a breakdown into what makes this movie so bad, you can listen to us talk about it on the podcast.

[chilling-w-the-bugblatter-beast]

Some movies to watch this awards season (that aren't just the best picture nominees)

Another Round

Four friends, all high school teachers, test a theory that they will improve their lives by maintaining a constant level of alcohol in their blood.

Critical acclaim for the Danish director and writer Thomas Vinterberg.

One Night in Miami

A fictional account of one incredible night where icons Muhammad Ali, Malcolm X, Sam Cooke, and Jim Brown gathered discussing their roles in the Civil Rights Movement and cultural upheaval of the 60s.

Critical acclaim for Regina King's directorial debut, screenplay and Leslie Odom Jr's performance.

Soul

After landing the gig of a lifetime, a New York jazz pianist suddenly finds himself trapped in a strange land between Earth and the afterlife.

The most awarded animated movie of 2020.

Pieces of a Woman

When a young mother's home birth ends in unfathomable tragedy, she begins a year-long odyssey of mourning that fractures relationships with loved ones in this deeply personal story of a woman learning to live alongside her loss.

Critical acclaim for Vanessa Kirby's lead performance.

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

During a recording session, tensions rise between Ma Rainey, her ambitious horn player and the white management determined to control the uncontrollable "Mother of the Blues".

Critical acclaim for Viola Davis's and Chadwick Boseman's performances, adapted screenplay and make-up.

[aliveandfullofjoy]

So I was reading about the first Oscars ceremony, and it had a division between Outstanding Picture and Best Unique & Artistic Film, where Unique & Artistic was apparently meant to be an equal to Outstanding Picture but dedicated more for prestige artistic works. The next year, the two categories became one from then on, and Outstanding Picture was the only top prize. (If any of that is wrong, blame wikipedia.)

If the split had remained, and there was a more commercial-y movie top prize and a prestige art top prize, what are some notable movies that suddenly pick up wins?

okay wait........ this is a brilliant question and i am ashamed to say i’ve never really given it much thought until now.

idk if you’ve seen wings and sunrise but they’re both pretty great and they do represent wildly different kinds of filmmaking. while it’s safe to say Wings is the more commercial film, it has great craftsmanship behind it and it very clearly created the template for accessible, capital-i Important, and well-made best picture winners to come. 

and, full transparency, sunrise is one of my, like, top 15 favorite movies, so i’m hella biased, but that movie is a gorgeous and strange and thrilling piece of work. the title “unique and artistic film” is impossibly vague, but watching sunrise makes it very, very clear that it fits that bill for that category. and while we’ll, of course, never know what might have happened if that category had continued, it’s tempting to think that all the winners in unique and artistic film would be of sunrise’s calibre, but knowing the oscars... that’s clearly a fantasy, lol. while sunrise is a wildly inventive and artistic film, it’s important to remember that it was fully on the academy’s radar -- janet gaynor won best actress in part for her performance in the film, and it also won best cinematography. so while it’s tempting to think the academy would always recognize a truly unique and artistic achievement every year, in all likelihood, they probably wouldn’t stray too far from the movies that were already on their radar. 

so for this thought experiment!!

it’s probably safe to assume every best picture winner has to go in one of the two categories. there are only a handful of winners that stick out as maybe missing out on the big win in this new system, but only a handful. 

so uh. this is way more than you asked but i got hooked. here’s what i think might have happened if the two best picture categories had stuck around. as i was working through the years, it became clear to me that, unfortunately, in a lot of years, the unique and artistic film would likely end up going to the more overtly “prestigious” films, such as the song of bernadette or the life of emile zola, while their far better and more commercially viable rivals (casablanca for bernadette, the awful truth for zola) would win outstanding picture. the actual best picture winners have an asterisk next to them. what’s also interesting to consider is the importance of the best director category: most of the time, a split in picture and director will tell you what’s clearly the runner-up. those years, usually, give you a good sense of how the two awards would shake out.

Outstanding Picture / Unique and Artistic Film

1929: The Broadway Melody*; The Divine Lady 

1930: The Big House; All Quiet on the Western Front* 

1931: Cimarron*; Morocco 

1932: Grand Hotel*; Bad Girl

1933: Little Women; Cavalcade*

1934: It Happened One Night*; One Night of Love 

1935: The Informer; A Midsummer Night’s Dream (** this is one of the few years i think the actual BP winner, Mutiny on the Bounty, would miss out; The Informer was clearly the runner-up for BP with wins in director, actor, and screenplay, while Midsummer was seen as THE artistic triumph of the year, and with its historic write-in cinematography win, there was clearly a lot of passion for it)

1936: Mr. Deeds Goes to Town; The Great Ziegfeld*

1937: The Awful Truth; The Life of Emile Zola*

1938: You Can’t Take It With You*; Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs or Grand Illusion (** this one’s tough... Grand Illusion made history as the first non-english movie nominated for BP, and it clearly had a lot of support, but Snow White was such a monumental moment in Hollywood, and the academy clearly acknowledged that with its honorary award)

1939: Gone with the Wind*; The Wizard of Oz (** this is one of the first years with a clear runaway favorite for best picture, which makes guessing the way the other award would go very difficult! i’m leaning towards Oz purely because of its technical achievements, but i’m not confident about that choice at all.)

1940: Rebecca*; The Grapes of Wrath 

1941: How Green Was My Valley*; Citizen Kane

1942: Yankee Doodle Dandy; Mrs. Miniver*

1943: Casablanca*; The Song of Bernadette

1944: Going My Way*; Wilson

1945: The Bells of St. Mary’s; The Lost Weekend*

1946: The Best Years of Our Lives*; Henry V

1947: Gentleman’s Agreement*; A Double Life 

1948: The Treasure of the Sierra Madre; Hamlet*

1949: All the King’s Men*; The Heiress 

1950: All About Eve*; Sunset Boulevard

1951: A Place in the Sun; An American in Paris*

1952: The Greatest Show on Earth*; The Quiet Man 

1953: Roman Holiday; From Here to Eternity*

1954: The Country Girl; On the Waterfront*

1955: Marty*; Picnic

1956: Around the World in 80 Days*; Giant

1957: Peyton Place; The Bridge on the River Kwai

1958: The Defiant Ones; Gigi*

1959: The Diary of Anne Frank; Ben-Hur*

1960: Elmer Gantry; The Apartment*

1961: West Side Story*; Judgment at Nuremberg

1962: To Kill a Mockingbird; Lawrence of Arabia*

1963: Tom Jones*; 8½ 

1964: Mary Poppins; My Fair Lady*

1965: The Sound of Music*; Doctor Zhivago

1966: A Man for All Seasons*; Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

1967: In the Heat of the Night*; The Graduate

1968: Oliver!*; 2001: A Space Odyssey 

1969: Midnight Cowboy; Z 

1970: Airport; Patton*

1971: The French Connection*; The Last Picture Show

1972: The Godfather; Cabaret

1973: The Sting*; The Exorcist

1974: Chinatown; The Godfather, Part II

1975: Jaws; One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest*

1976: Rocky*; Network

1977: Star Wars; Annie Hall*

1978: Coming Home; The Deer Hunter*

1979: Kramer vs. Kramer*; All That Jazz

1980: Ordinary People*; Raging Bull

1981: Chariots of Fire*; Reds

1982: E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial; Gandhi*

1983: Terms of Endearment*; Fanny and Alexander

1984: Amadeus*; The Killing Fields

1985: Out of Africa*; Ran

1986: Platoon*; Blue Velvet

1987: Moonstruck; The Last Emperor*

1988: Rain Man*; Who Framed Roger Rabbit

1989: Driving Miss Daisy*; Born on the Fourth of July

1990: Ghost; Dances with Wolves*

1991: The Silence of the Lambs*; JFK

1992: Unforgiven*; Howards End 

1993: Schindler’s List*; The Piano 

1994: Forrest Gump*; Three Colors: Red 

1995: Braveheart*; Toy Story 

1996: Jerry Maguire; The English Patient*

1997: Titanic*; L.A. Confidential

1998: Shakespeare in Love*; Saving Private Ryan

1999: The Cider House Rules; American Beauty*

2000: Traffic; Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (** this is another year where i think the actual BP winner, Gladiator, might have missed out. it was a tight three-way race going into oscar night, and if there were two BP awards, i think this consensus might have settled, leaving Gladiator to go home with just actor and some tech awards.)

2001: A Beautiful Mind*; Mulholland Drive

2002: Chicago*; The Pianist

2003: Mystic River; The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King*

2004: Million Dollar Baby*; The Aviator

2005: Crash*; Brokeback Mountain

2006: The Departed*; Babel

2007: No Country for Old Men*; The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

2008: The Dark Knight; Slumdog Millionaire*

2009: The Hurt Locker*; Avatar

2010: The King’s Speech*; The Social Network

2011: The Artist*; The Tree of Life

2012: Argo*; Life of Pi

2013: 12 Years a Slave*; Gravity 

2014: Birdman*; Boyhood

2015: Spotlight*; The Revenant

2016: La La Land; Moonlight*

2017: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri; The Shape of Water*

2018: Black Panther; Roma (** again, i think Green Book gets bumped out in this scenario, i think Black Panther is precisely the kind of movie that benefits from an award that’s seemingly more ~populist~ while Roma easily snags the unique & artistic prize)

2019: 1917; Parasite*

2020: The Father; Nomadland*

but of course i have no idea at all, and most of these are just my gut reactions lol. what a fun question!

[doomonfilm]

Ranking : Christopher Nolan (1970 - present)

From the moment he kicked the door down on the scene with the breathtaking Memento, the name Christopher Nolan has rung synonymous with high thinking, high level and high entertainment film.  He always finds fresh and unique ways to tell stories, be it visually, narratively, or some combination of the two, and many of his conceptual deep dives have opened real conversations in regards to different aspects of space and time.  For an artist, the impact the Christopher Nolan has had on the populous as a whole is impressive, which is why after recently seeing Tenet, I felt it necessary to take a look back at all of his films and determine where they stood in relation to one another (in my eyes). 

11. Insomnia (2002) As stated with every instance of ranking the work of a director, there’s always one film that’s got to take the bottom of the list hit, and for Nolan, it was Insomnia.  The film in itself is not a bad one, and it does offer some strong visuals in regards to the unrelenting amount of sunlight that one experiences in Alaska, but it does suffer not only from being a remake, but a remake that pales in comparison to the original.  For my money’s worth, Nolan works best with original ideas, with one specific trilogy standing as an exception to that notion.

10. Memento (2000) While not his debut film, this was the film that put Nolan on the map.  The story is unique and intriguing, and the manner in which it is told really makes it work, as a standard A to Z telling of the film would eliminate much of the dramatic tension felt.  That being said, this film suffers from a similar fate to that of films like The Sixth Sense : it’s cool the first time you see it, it really wows you the second time you see it, and then further viewings find diminishing returns in regards to the experience of the “gimmick” (for lack of a better word).  Definitely worth seeing if you’ve never seen it, or are looking for a gateway into the work of Nolan, but underwhelming when held up against his future work.

9. Batman Begins (2005) As previously stated, Nolan (in my opinion) works best as a writer/director of original ideas, so like many, I was slightly surprised when he was tapped to handle the Christian Bale edition of the Batman movie canon.  There wasn’t so much doubt about his ability to pull things off visually, but with such a beloved franchise and character in his hands, there were thoughts about whether or not his style would translate in a way that an already dedicated fanbase would appreciate.  Batman Begins was an effective table-setter for his Dark Knight trilogy, but due to the necessity of having to address an already familiar backstory, many of Nolan’s best ideas would have to wait until the sequel.

8. The Dark Knight Rises (2012) This film found itself the unfortunate victim of an all too familiar national tragedy in the form of a mass shooting during an early screening, forever putting a sort of black cloud over the film as a result.  That being said, the film was a stellar entry in the Dark Knight trilogy, anchored by an instantly iconic Tom Hardy performance.  If this film was attributed to any other director, it would possibly stand as one of their top works, but Christopher Nolan is a man of such depth and style that The Dark Knight Rises merely stands as above average output from a creator who is pulling back a bit to fit the Hollywood ideal (or his version, anyway) of a comic book film.

7. Following (1998) Quite possibly the most personal of all Nolan films, which makes sense, considering it was his first.  It was the buzz that this film generated during the 1997 festival season, along with an already completed script for Memento, that turned Nolan from an aspiring director to a household name.  Following gives us a bit of insight into Nolan’s creative process, presenting us with a highly stylized version of an observational writer, forever receptive to the stimulus around him.  The look of the film displays Nolan’s eye for location and cinematography, and the non-linear nature of the story served as a sneak preview to a format of storytelling he would soon master and manipulate beyond our ability to initially understand.  Though a bit on the short side for a feature film, it is certainly a fun ride with much indication of where its creator was headed.

6. Interstellar (2014) Throughout the 2010s, it seemed that Nolan was hell-bent on warping our brains through the entertainment medium, and after the warning blast that Inception was, Interstellar served as a sort of thematic and spiritual double-tap for our psyche.  Nolan took the basic structure for a story of familial, unconditional love and skewed it by thrusting our protagonist into the uncharted depths of space, skewing his perception of time so radically that the people he loved became old while he did not age, which in itself is enough of a heartbreaking concept to build a film off of.  Add to this the fact that we are presented with (to the best of our knowledge, anyways) the most photo-realistic depictions of a Black Hole and a tesseract, and the end result is a powerful genre-blending journey that stands in rare company, with films like Tarkovsy’s Solaris and Kubrick’s 2001 : A Space Odyssey serving as the closest points of comparison.

5. Tenet (2020) When you have a track record like that of a Christopher Nolan, it is inevitable that people are waiting on your downfall, and with 2020 changing the way we take in films, many tried to seize this opportunity and label Tenet as this moment in time.  To me, this is an absurd stance to take... not only is Tenet one of the most intriguing films I’ve seen in years, but its efficiency in storytelling trims away so much fat that we are left with archetypical characters with subtle amounts of depth shepherding us through a narrative line that folds in and overlaps on itself numerous times.  With this premise set and our characters deeply devoted to their functionality (though not at the expense of performance), we are left with the spectacle of some amazing choreography and in-camera special effects work that makes you really and truly have to stop at times just so you can try and process what it is you are seeing.  Hopefully, in repeat viewings, the “gimmick” won’t take precedence over the film itself, as I believe there is enough going on outside of the visual trickery to keep one interested time and again.

4. Dunkirk (2017) It’s no secret that Christopher Nolan has the talent to build vast, textured and deeply imaginative worlds with his films, but up until the point of Dunkirk, Nolan had not attempted a “period piece”.  Luckily for us film lovers, Nolan decided to try his hand at that style in the form of a war movie, and the result was the extremely moving and powerful experience of Allied troops in World War II caught in a situation where death seemed inevitable.  Despite the vastness of the beach and sea we are shown, the feeling of being trapped permeates through and through, and it is enhanced by stellar cinematography and practical effects.  Even with a cast full of familiar names and faces, the experience of hopelessness created soon eliminates the familiarity that comes with star power, and we are left with nothing but our investment in the story.   

3. The Dark Knight (2008) Simply put, The Dark Knight really has no business being as good as it is.  You’d think that its placement between the two trilogy bookends would give it a transitional nature, potentially only existing to move the story forward to its conclusion.  What we are given, however, is one of the most nuanced looks at heroes, villains, anti-heroes, and just how much those roles can alternate based on the perspective of those applying the title.  For all of the horror that the Scarecrow character brought, or the pure intimidation of Bane, The Dark Knight gives us a complex agent of chaos in the form of Heath Ledger’s instantly iconic (and tragically final) performance as the Joker.  All of the pacing issues that weigh down the other two films are completely absent in this middle offering, and the movie hangs around in your mind well after the final credits roll.  To many viewers, this film set the artistic benchmark for what a so-called “comic-book” movie had the potential to be.

2. Inception (2010) For many, Inception marks the culminative peak of all that Christopher Nolan brings to the table as a director and storyteller.  His ability to coherently weave together a narrative that deals with the perception of time as one goes deeper and deeper into the psyche is impressive in its own right, but the amount of breathtaking nuance, visual effects and mental gymnastics used to tell the story would bring a lesser director to their knees.  If The Revenant and 2015 served as the culmination of Leonardo DiCaprio finally receiving much-deserved recognition as an actor via an Academy Award, then Inception feels like the starting point for that final leg of his journey.  Everyone brought their A-game to this table on both sides of the camera, leaving us with a true visual and storytelling spectacle for the ages. 

1. The Prestige (2006) Irony is a funny thing... I bring that up because Christopher Nolan has literally taken on (and, in some ways, conquered) space, time and perception in his films, all of which would be incredibly lofty concepts to illustrate and visualize, let alone make entertaining.  With all of that in mind, it’s ironic that his best film would be one that does not rely on all of the aforementioned lofty aspects and visual tricks.  The Prestige, at a base level, is a story about jealousy and how it can drive you mad, but it’s the way that this story is told that makes it possibly the best film in the Nolan canon.  Christian Bale’s performance (or performances, at the risk of spoilers) is enough to put this film in a class of its own, but the balance that Hugh Jackman’s performance brings to the overall equation keeps you guessing on whom we are supposed to root for right up until the final frame.  The triangle of love triangles in this film further serve to build up the eventual scale of damage that is presented when everything falls completely apart on both sides of the narrative coin.  Most importantly, like any good magic trick, the film sets you up with expectations, only to wow you in the end.  If you had to pick one Nolan film to watch, this would be the one that I recommend, hands down and without question.

Who knows where Christopher Nolan plans to take us next.  I, for one, would not consider myself clued-in enough to hazard a guess on this, but I would almost certainly put money on the fact that wherever he chooses to take us, he will entertain us and amaze us, if not both at the same time, as he always does.

[vintage1981]

George Romero’s The Living Dead Out Soon from Tor Books

“A horror landmark and a work of gory genius.”—Joe Hill, New York Times bestselling author of The Fireman

New York Times bestselling author Daniel Kraus completes George A. Romero's brand-new masterpiece of zombie horror, the massive novel left unfinished at Romero's death!

George A. Romero invented the modern zombie with Night of the Living Dead, creating a monster that has become a key part of pop culture. Romero often felt hemmed in by the constraints of film-making. To tell the story of the rise of the zombies and the fall of humanity the way it should be told, Romero turned to fiction. Unfortunately, when he died, the story was incomplete.

Enter Daniel Kraus, co-author, with Guillermo del Toro, of the New York Times bestseller The Shape of Water (based on the Academy Award-winning movie) and Trollhunters (which became an Emmy Award-winning series), and author of The Death and Life of Zebulon Finch (an Entertainment Weekly Top 10 Book of the Year). A lifelong Romero fan, Kraus was honored to be asked, by Romero's widow, to complete The Living Dead.

Set in the present day, The Living Dead is an entirely new tale, the story of the zombie plague as George A. Romero wanted to tell it.

It begins with one body.

A pair of medical examiners find themselves battling a dead man who won’t stay dead.

It spreads quickly.

In a Midwestern trailer park, a Black teenage girl and a Muslim immigrant battle newly-risen friends and family. On a US aircraft carrier, living sailors hide from dead ones while a fanatic makes a new religion out of death. At a cable news station, a surviving anchor keeps broadcasting while his undead colleagues try to devour him. In DC, an autistic federal employee charts the outbreak, preserving data for a future that may never come.

Everywhere, people are targeted by both the living and the dead.

We think we know how this story ends.

We. Are. Wrong. 

Tor Books

Tor/Forge

On Sale: 08/04/2020

ISBN: 9781250305121

656 Pages

George A. Romero’s (1940-2017) classic zombie movie cycle begins with the groundbreaking Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead, which are followed by four sequels. Romero directed two Stephen King projects, Creepshow and The Dark Half, and created the TV series Tales From the Darkside. Originally from New York City, Romero attended Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh. He and his wife, Suzanne, lived in Toronto for over 10 years. George A. Romero died in 2017.

Daniel Kraus is the author of numerous novels, including Rotters, the Death and Life of Zebulon Finch duology, and Bent Heavens. With Guillermo del Toro, he wrote the New York Times bestselling The Shape of Water (the companion novel to the Academy Award-winning film) and Trollhunters (the inspiration for the Netflix series). His novels have been Odyssey Award winners, Library Guild selections, YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults picks, Parent’s Choice Gold Award winners, Bram Stoker finalists, and more. He lives with his wife in Chicago.

[rawberry101]

2020 Movie Odyssey Award for Best Original Song (preliminary round)

For the fourth (I think?) year in a row I have been invited to participate in the 2020 Movies Odyssey Awards by @dweemeister! I help vote on the top original song coming from the films he saw this year.

Here are my selections as a participant in Group A:

1. Farewell to Storyville – I’m watching Ken Burns’ Jazz documentary right now so I’m biased but this is #1. Hail to Louis and Billie.

2. Born Free – I can’t believe this song was from this movie. I’ve heard it before from at least one place. Maybe the Simpsons or something like that

3. Hawaiian Sunset – Elvis can sing, what can I say?

4. My Dream Is Yours – I’m starting to see why people loved Doris Day

5. Is There Still Anything Else That Love Can Do – I’m curious about seeing this one in context. The music was moving enough

6. Ride the Wild Surf – This reminds me of that Skeet Surfing bit from Top Secret. I’m sure movies like this were the inspiration

7. Mad Monster Party – I don’t think the song is too terrific but in context it’s a ton of fun

8. Waqt Ne Kiya Kya Hassen Sitam – The music is good but I think I enjoyed the use in the film more than the actual song. Incidentally, this reminded me of the song that Pearl from Night of the Hunter sings on the river.

9. But the World Goes Round – I guess I shouldn’t be surprised to learn that Liza Minelli can sing

10. That’ll Do – Randy Newman ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

11. Blue Shadows on the Trail – A nice little cowboy tune, elevated by the animation imo

12. Exsultate Justi – It’s all Latin to me

[back-and-totheleft]

An epic memoir for an epic life

In a 1992 interview with Arthur Miller, Charlie Rose asked him what quality the great playwrights have shared in common, distinguishing them from the not so great ones in any given age?

After a pause to gather his thoughts, Miller replied that the “big ones share a fierce moral sensibility” and that “they are all burning with some anger at the way the world is.” “The littler ones,” Miller continues, “have made their peace with it. The bigger ones can’t make any peace.”

Oliver Stone is an artist whose work (his early work especially) is, as with Miller’s and all the “bigger ones”, suffused with the passion and fire of a man who refused to make peace with the world he both experienced and observed around him after serving two tours in Vietnam as an infantryman, prior to emerging determined to live life on his own terms or not at all.

The period covered in Chasing the Light runs from Stone’s his childhood and formative years all the way to the mountaintop that is Oscar night in 1987, when he picks up the Oscar for best director for Platoon, which also wins the award for best picture, editing, and score. In between we are taken on a journey of Sisyphean magnitude as he battles to overcome personal demons as a result of fraught-ridden teenage years in the midst of his parents’ divorce, which shatters any semblance of security and certainty he’d enjoyed as a child of relative privilege and affluence. Those demons were key in his decision to volunteer for Vietnam, which he does bent on either death or spiritual rebirth in this hell of his own choosing.

Greek mythology is a key theme in the book and in his life during this seminal period — in particular the epic character Odysseus (Ulysses in Latin), hero of Homer’s epic poem, the Odyssey, and also a key character in its prequel, the Iliad. Stone uses Odysseus as his inspiration in choosing to forego the safe and steady path of convention and instead embrace the wisdom enshrined in Nietzsche: “The secret of realizing the greatest fruitfulness and the greatest enjoyment of existence is: to live dangerously!”

Stone’s struggle to mount the ramparts of the fortress that is Hollywood would have broken the spirit of all but those in possession of the kind of adamantine tenacity and perseverance that takes you to the edge of madness. Reading of his struggles, his years of rejection, of climbing the ladder of hope only to be kicked off it again, you are reminded of the agony of Vincent Van Gogh, expressed in his letters to his brother Theo, or of Knut Hamsun in his classic semi-autobiographical novel Hunger, chronicling his early failed attempts to establish himself as a writer.

To wit: Hamsun: “I was conscious all the time that I was following mad whims without being able to do anything about it … . Despite my alienation from myself at that moment, and even though I was nothing but a battleground for invisible forces, I was aware of every detail of what was going on around me.”

Stone: “I drew hurt and perverse pride in being able to take rejection. Yet my wounded ego interfered with my ability to understand the reasons for these rejections….Beyond the paper world of rejection, there was also the in-person wound of being told no in face-to-face meetings — when they could be had — the hard-to-come-by lunches, the unreturned phone calls.”

In one the most powerful passages in the book, Stone garners renewed strength from visiting his beloved grandmother in Paris on her deathbed. Amid the flux and tumult of his parents’ split during his adolescent years, she had been both sanctuary and emotional anchor.

But then: Meme [grandmother] wanted me to go — quickly, before it was too late. I couldn’t hear but it was clear what the shades were saying: We, the dead, are telling you — your lifespan is short. Make of it everything you can. Before you’re one of us.

After many fits and starts, Stone’s breakthrough comes through his writing — first with Midnight Express, for which he wins the Oscar for best adapted screenplay in 1979, and then Scarface in 1983, a cult classic to this day. The writing in both movies crackles with a rare kinetic energy, jolting you out of your comfort zone with the unvarnished truth of the human condition in situations of extremis. If the famed and controversial Method system of acting has its parallel in screenwriting, Oliver Stone was perhaps its first and still most notable exemplar.

But despite his success as a writer, Stone’s calling is as a writer/director, with his fierce sense of how his words and vision should be captured on screen driving him on through setback after setback, until in 1985 with Salvador (released in 1986) his moment of truth arrives. The drama involved in getting it over the line more than parallels the drama captured onscreen.

At the time, Salvador’s impact on the conscience and consciousness of America when it came to the disjuncture that exists between the mythical depiction its role in the world as a force for good, and the grim truth of its litany of crimes in places that most Americans, trapped in a bubble of celebrity culture and a news information ghetto, don’t even know exist, can’t be underestimated. Salvador was crucial moment in my own political awareness, as someone who grew up in Scotland on a diet of American pop culture and Hollywood movies, becoming imbued in the process with the idea of America as the place to be, the place where you had to be if you wanted a shot at an exciting, meaningful and fulfilling existence.

When it comes to Platoon, there really is nothing more to say or write that hasn't already. It remains the Paths of Glory of our time, a withering riposte to the flag-waving, chest-beating, unthinking patriotism on the part of those whose belief in the myths of Americana personified by John Wayne and the heroes of Iwo Jima has trapped them in a prison of false consciousness. Platoon — not only a masterful movie in its own right in terms of its writing, acting, cinematography and brute authenticity — exploded in the midst of Reagan’s America as a subversive and delicious j’accuse, levelled at a status quo which two decades on from the social upheaval of the sixties, had sought to repackage and resell Vietnam to the American people as a noble if failed attempt to thwart a Communist drive for world domination in service to the God of democracy.

The movie’s depiction of the internecine struggle that rages within a combat platoon polarised along racial, class and cultural lines mirrored and still mirror the faultlines which continue to polarise American society today. In this respect, Platoon is as much social commentary as it is a dramatic piece, retaining its force and relevance thereby.

Throughout the book Stone writes with commendable candour about his fears and insecurities, his relationships, and also his lapse into Hollywood hedonism and drug use, which all serves to make him three dimensional and relatable in equal part.

Ultimately, in reading Chasing the Light, you are reminded of Theodor Adorno’s admonition that “Behind every work of art lies an uncommitted crime.” If Stone had not succeeded as an artist and his creative powers applied constructively, you come away from his story convinced that those powers would have found destructive expression, given what he experienced in Vietnam and his struggle to readjust thereafter. Given his remarkable body of work, we can only be thankful that the former rather than the latter prevailed.

-Jon Wight’s review of Chasing the Light, Medium, Aug 31 2020 [x]

[bigyack-com]

The Best Movies on Netflix in India [February 2020]

In its efforts to win Oscars and please its 167 million members, Netflix has been pouring billions into movies recently, including projects from or featuring the likes of Dwayne Johnson, Martin Scorsese, and Michael Bay. One of those — The Irishman — racked up 10 nominations for the streaming service at the 2020 Oscars, though it failed to come away with a single prize. Netflix has also expanded its film efforts in India in the past year, announcing projects from the likes of Shah Rukh Khan and Karan Johar. For now though, the strength of its catalogue is still the acquisitions. With over 3,500 movies, Netflix offers more choices than any other platform in India. To pick the best movies on Netflix, we relied on Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic, and IMDb ratings to create a shortlist. The last of them was preferred for Indian films given the shortfalls of reviews aggregators in that department. Additionally, we used our own editorial judgement to add or remove a few. This list will be updated once every few months if there are any worthy additions or if some movies are removed from the service, so bookmark this page and keep checking in. Here are the best films currently available on Netflix in India, sorted alphabetically. 12 Monkeys (1995) Inspired by the 1962 French short La Jetée, a prisoner (Bruce Willis) is sent back in time to learn more about the virus that wiped out nearly all of humanity. Terry Gilliam directs. 12 Years A Slave (2013) Duped into slavery on the account of a job, Steve McQueen's adaptation of a free New York black man's (Chiwetel Ejiofor) 19th-century memoir is an incredible true story, and an important watch. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) In Stanley Kubrick's highly-influential sci-fi film, humanity charts a course for Jupiter with the sentient computer HAL 9000, to understand the discovery of a black monolith affecting human evolution. It's less plot, and more a visual and aural experience.

3 Idiots (2009) In this satire of the Indian education system's social pressures, two friends recount their college days and how their third long-lost musketeer (Aamir Khan) inspired them to think creatively and independently in a heavily-conformist world. Co-written and directed by Rajkumar Hirani, who stands accused in the #MeToo movement. 50/50 (2011) Inspired by a true story, a 27-year-old radio journalist (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is diagnosed with spinal cancer and learns the value of friendship and love as he battles the rare disease. Aamir (2008) Adapted from the 2006 Filipino film Cavite, a young Muslim NRI doctor (Rajeev Khandelwal) returning from the UK to India is forced to comply with terrorists' demands to carry out a bombing in Mumbai after they threaten his family. American History X (1998) In a film that's more relevant today than when it was made, a neo-Nazi white supremacist (Edward Norton), who served three years in prison for voluntary manslaughter, tries to prevent his younger brother from going down the same path. American Hustle (2013) In the late 1970s, two con artists (Christian Bale and Amy Adams) are forced to work for an FBI agent (Bradley Cooper) and set up a sting operation that plans to bring down several corrupt politicians and members of the Mafia. Jennifer Lawrence, Jeremy Renner star alongside. Andaz Apna Apna (1994) Two slackers (Aamir Khan and Salman Khan) who belong to middle-class families vie for the affections of an heiress, and inadvertently become her protectors from a local gangster in Rajkumar Santoshi's cult comedy favourite. Andhadhun (2018) Inspired by the French short film L'Accordeur, this black comedy thriller is the story of a piano player (Ayushman Khurrana) who pretends to be visually-impaired and is caught in a web of twists and lies after he walks into a murder scene. Tabu, Radhika Apte star alongside. Apollo 13 (1995) Ron Howard dramatises the aborted Apollo 13 mission that put the astronauts in jeopardy after an on-board explosion ate up all the oxygen and forced NASA to abort and get the men home safely. Argo (2012) Ben Affleck directs and stars in this film about a CIA agent posing as a Hollywood producer scouting for location in Iran, in order to rescue six Americans during the US hostage crisis of 1979. Article 15 (2019) Ayushmann Khurrana plays a cop in this exploration of casteism, religious discrimination, and the current socio-political situation in India, which tracks a missing persons' case involving three teenage girls of a small village. A hard-hitting, well-made movie, though ironically, it was criticised for being casteist itself, and providing an outsider's perspective. The Avengers (2012) Earth's mightiest heroes — including Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, and the Hulk — come together in this groundbreaking Marvel team-up from writer-director Joss Whedon to stop Thor's adopted brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and his alien army from subjugating mankind.

The Aviator (2004) With Leonardo DiCaprio as Howard Hughes and Cate Blanchett as Katharine Hepburn, Martin Scorsese dives into the life of the aviation pioneer and film producer, who grapples with severe OCD while his fame grows. Awakenings (1990) Robin Williams and Robert De Niro lead the cast of this drama based on a 1973 memoir of the same name, about a doctor (Williams) who discovers the beneficial effects of a drug on catatonic patients, thereby gifting them a new lease on life. Barfi! (2012) Set in the 1970s amidst the hills of Darjeeling, writer-director Anurag Basu tells the tale of three people (Ranbir Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra, and Ileana D'Cruz) as they learn to love while battling the notions held by society. Beasts of No Nation (2015) With civil war raging across a fictional African nation, this Netflix Original focuses on a young boy who's trained as a child soldier by a fierce warlord (Idris Elba), and the effects it has on him. Before Sunrise (1995) In the first chapter of Richard Linklater's long-drawn-out trilogy, two idealistic twentysomethings, an American man (Ethan Hawke) and a French woman (Julie Delpy), spend the night together walking around in the Austrian capital of Vienna. The Big Lebowski (1998) A guy known as The Dude (Jeff Bridges) seeks payback for his ruined carpet after he's mistaken for a millionaire with the same name in this crime comedy from the Coen brothers. Less about the plot and more about a way of living. The Big Short (2015) Starring Christian Bale, Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling and Brad Pitt, a look at Wall Street's penchant for self-profit in a vicious loop that caused the 2007–08 global financial meltdown. Birdman (2014) Alejandro G. Iñárritu won three Oscars including Best Picture for this tale of a washed-up superhero actor (Michael Keaton) who struggles to revive his career with a Broadway play. Known for appearing as if it was shot in a single take, it also starred Edward Norton, Zach Galifianakis, and Emma Stone. Blade Runner (1982) One of the most influential cyberpunk films ever made is about a burnt-out cop (Harrison Ford) who reluctantly agrees to hunt down a group of fugitive “replicants”, synthetic humans with a limited life-span who aren't allowed to live on Earth. Blue Valentine (2010) Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams lead this drama that shifts between time periods to depict a couple's courtship and how their marriage fell apart. Das Boot (1981) One of the most authentic war movies ever made chronicles the life of a German submarine crew during World War II, as they go through long stretches of boredom and periods of intense conflict, while trying to maintain morale in a capsule 10 feet by 150 feet hundreds of metres under the surface. The Bourne trilogy (2002-07) Technically not a trilogy, but the first three chapters — Identity, Supremacy, and Ultimatum — starring Matt Damon in the lead as the titular CIA assassin suffering from amnesia were so good that they changed the longest-running spy franchise of all-time: James Bond.

The Breadwinner (2017) This animated film follows a 11-year-old girl living under Taliban rule in Afghanistan, who disguises herself as a boy to provide for her family after the father is taken away without reason. Uses wonderfully-drawn vignettes to stress on the importance of storytelling. Bulbul Can Sing (2019) Three teenagers battle patriarchy and the moral police as they explore their sexual identities in Rima Das's National Award-winning drama — and pay for it dearly. Das writes, directs, shoots, edits, and handles costumes. C/o Kancharapalem (2018) Set in the eponymous Andhra Pradesh town, this Telugu film spans four love stories across religion, caste, and age — from a schoolboy to a middle-aged unmarried man. A debut for writer-director Venkatesh Maha, featuing a cast mostly made up of non-professional actors. Capernaum (2018) In the award-winning, highest-grossing Arabic film of all time, a 12-year-old from the slums of Beirut recounts his life leading up to a five-year sentence he's handed for stabbing someone, and in turn, his decision to sue his parents for child neglect. Captain Phillips (2013) The true story of a Somali pirate hijacking of a US cargo ship and its captain (Tom Hanks) being taken hostage, which spawns a rescue effort from the US Navy. The Bourne Ultimatum's Paul Greengrass directs. Cast Away (2000) After his plane crash-lands in the Pacific, a FedEx employee (Tom Hanks) wakes up on a deserted island and must use everything at his disposal and transform himself physically to survive living alone. Castle in the Sky (1986) In the first film officially under the Studio Ghibli banner, a young boy and a girl protect a magic crystal from pirates and military agents, while on the search for a legendary floating castle. Hayao Miyazaki writes and directs. Chupke Chupke (1975) Hrishikesh Mukherjee's remake of the Bengali film Chhadmabeshi, in which a newly-wedded husband (Dharmendra) decides to play pranks on his wife's (Sharmila Tagore) supposedly smart brother-in-law. Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan also star. A Clockwork Orange (1971) Set in a near-future dystopian Britain, writer-director Stanley Kubrick adapts Anthony Burgess' novel of the same name, commenting on juvenile delinquency through the eyes of a small gang leader who enjoys "a bit of the old ultra-violence". Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) Steven Spielberg's slow-paced sci-fi pic — which spent several years in development, being rewritten over and over — is about an everyday blue-collar guy (Richard Dreyfuss) whose humdrum life turns upside down after an encounter with an unidentified flying object (UFO).

Cold War (2018) Jumping either side of the Iron Curtain through the late 1940s to the 1960s, Oscar-winner Paweł Pawlikowski depicts the story of two star-crossed lovers, as they deal with Stalinism, rejection, jealousy, change, time — and their own temperaments. Company (2002) Inspired the real-life relationship between Dawood Ibrahim and Chhota Rajan, director Ram Gopal Varma offers a look at how a henchman (Vivek Oberoi) climbs up the mobster ladder and befriends the boss (Ajay Devgn), before they fall out. Dallas Buyers Club (2013) Refusing to accept a death sentence from his doctor after being diagnosed with AIDS in the 1980s, the true story of an electrician and hustler (Matthew McConaughey) who smuggles banned medications from abroad. Dangal (2016) The extraordinary true story of amateur wrestler Mahavir Singh Phogat (Aamir Khan) who trains his two daughters to become India's first world-class female wrestlers, who went on to win gold medals at the Commonwealth Games. The Dark Knight (2008) In the second part of Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy, regarded as the greatest comic book movie ever, Batman (Christian Bale) faces a villain, the Joker (Heath Ledger), he doesn't understand, and must go through hell to save Gotham and its people. Dev.D (2009) Anurag Kashyap offers a modern-day reimagining of Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's Bengali romance classic Devdas, in which a man (Abhay Deol), having broken up with his childhood sweetheart, finds refuge in alcohol and drugs, before falling for a prostitute (Kalki Koechlin). Dheepan (2015) Winner of Cannes' top prize, three Sri Lankan refugees — including a Tamil Tiger soldier — pretend to be a family to gain asylum in France, where they soon realise that life isn't very different in the rough neighbourhoods. Dil Chahta Hai (2001) Farhan Akhtar's directorial debut about three inseparable childhood friends whose wildly different approach to relationships creates a strain on their friendship remains a cult favourite. Aamir Khan, Saif Ali Khan, and Preity Zinta star. Django Unchained (2012) Written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, a German bounty hunter (Christoph Waltz) helps a freed slave (Jamie Foxx) rescue his wife from a charming but cruel plantation owner (Leonardo DiCaprio). Drive (2011) A stuntman moonlighting as a getaway driver (Ryan Gosling) grows fond of his neighbour and her young son, and then takes part in a botched heist to protect them from the debt-ridden husband.

Dunkirk (2017) Christopher Nolan's first historical war movie chronicles the evacuation of Allied soldiers from the French beaches of Dunkirk in World War II, using his love for non-linear storytelling by depicting three fronts — land, sea, and air — in time-shifted ways. The Edge of Seventeen (2016) In this coming-of-age comedy, the life of an awkward young woman (Hailee Steinfeld) gets more complex after her older brother starts dating her best friend, though she finds solace in an unexpected friendship and a teacher-slash-mentor (Woody Harrelson). End of Watch (2012) Before he made a terrible sci-fi remake of his own film, writer-director David Ayer took a near-documentarian lens to the day-to-day police work of two partners (Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Peña) in South Los Angeles, involving their friendship and dealings with criminal elements. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) An estranged couple (Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet) begin a new relationship unaware they dated previously, having erased each other from their memories, in what stands as writer Charlie Kaufman's defining work. The Exorcist (1973) One of the greatest horror films of all time, that has left a lasting influence on the genre and beyond, is about the demonic possession of a 12-year-old girl and her mother's attempts to save her with the help of two priests who perform exorcisms. The Florida Project (2017) Set in the shadow of Disney World, a precocious six-year-old girl (Brooklynn Prince) makes the most of her summer with her ragtag playmates, while her rebellious mother tries to make ends meet with the spectre of homelessness always hanging over them. Willem Dafoe stars alongside. Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986) In John Hughes' now-classic teen picture, a high schooler fakes being sick to spend the day with his girlfriend and his best friend, while his principal is determined to spy on him. Fruitvale Station (2013) Black Panther writer-director Ryan Coogler's first feature offered a look at the real-life events of a young California man's (Michael B. Jordan) death in a police shooting in 2008. Winner of two awards at Sundance Film Festival. Full Metal Jacket (1987) Stanley Kubrick follows a US marine nicknamed Joker from his days as a new recruit under the command of a ruthless sergeant, to his posting as a war correspondent in South Vietnam, while observing the effects of the war on his fellow soldiers.

Ghostbusters (1984) A bunch of eccentric paranormal enthusiasts start a ghost-catching business in New York, and then stumble upon a plot to wreak havoc by summoning ghosts. Gave birth to one of the most iconic song lyrics in history. Gol Maal (1979) A chartered accountant (Amol Palekar), with a knack for singing and acting, falls deep down the rabbit hole after lying to his boss that he has a twin, in this Hrishikesh Mukherjee comedy. Gone Girl (2014) Based on Gillian Flynn's best-selling novel and directed by David Fincher, a confounded husband (Ben Affleck) becomes the primary suspect in the sudden mystery disappearance of his wife (Rosamund Pike). GoodFellas (1990) Considered as one of the best gangster films of all time, it brought Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro together for the sixth time. Based on Nicholas Pilegg's 1985 non-fiction book Wiseguy, it tells the rise and fall story of mob associate Henry Hill, his friends and family between 1955 and 1980. Gravity (2013) Two US astronauts, a first-timer (Sandra Bullock) and another on his final mission (George Clooney), are stranded in space after their shuttle is destroyed, and then must battle debris and challenging conditions to return home. Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) A bunch of intergalactic misfits, which includes a talking racoon and tree, come together to form a ragtag team in this Marvel adventure that needs no prior knowledge. Guru (2007) Mani Ratnam wrote and directed this rags-to-riches story of a ruthless and ambitious businessman (Abhishek Bachchan) who doesn't let anything stand in his way as he turns into India's biggest tycoon. Loosely inspired by the life of Dhirubhai Ambani. Haider (2014) Vishal Bhardwaj's Shakespearean trilogy concluded with this modern-day adaptation of Hamlet, that is also based on Basharat Peer's 1990s-Kashmir memoir Curfewed Night. Follows a young man (Shahid Kapoor) who returns home to investigate his father's disappearance and finds himself embroiled in the ongoing violent insurgency. Her (2013) A lonely man (Joaquin Phoenix) falls in love with an intelligent computer operating system (Scarlett Johansson), who enriches his life and learns from him, in Spike Jonze's masterpiece. Hot Fuzz (2007) A top London cop (Simon Pegg, also co-writer) is transferred to a sleepy English village for being the lone overachiever in a squad of slackers. A blend of relationship comedy and a genre cop movie. Edgar Wright directs. Hugo (2011) In 1930s Paris, a boy who lives alone in the walls of a train station tries to figure out the mystery involving his late father and his most treasured possession, an automaton, that needs a key to function. Martin Scorsese directs.

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013) In the best of four movies, Jennifer Lawrence's Katniss Everdeen is forced to participate in a special edition of the Hunger Games, a competition where individuals fight to the death, featuring the winners of all previous competitions. I, Daniel Blake (2016) After a heart attack that leaves him unable to work, a widowed carpenter is forced to fight an obtuse British welfare system, while developing a strong bond with a single mother who has two children. Winner of the Palme d'Or. I Lost My Body (2019) In this animated Cannes winner, a severed hand escapes from a lab and scrambles through Paris to get back to his body, while recounting its past life that involved moving to France after an accident and falling in love. In This Corner of the World (2016) Set in Hiroshima during World War II, an 18-year-old woman agrees to marry a man she barely knows in this animated Japanese film, and then must learn to cope with life's daily struggles and find a way to push through as the war rages on around her. Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) Directed by Steven Spielberg off a story by George Lucas, an eponymous archaeologist (Harrison Ford) travels the world and battles a group of Nazis while looking for a mysterious artefact, in what is now often considered as one of the greatest films of all-time. Infernal Affairs (2002) Martin Scorsese's Oscar-winning The Departed is a remake of this original Hong Kongian film, in which a police officer is working undercover in a Triad, while a Triad member is secretly working for the police. Both have the same objective: find the mole. Into the Wild (2007) Based on Jon Krakauer's nonfiction book, Sean Penn goes behind the camera to direct the story of a top student and athlete who gives up all possessions and savings to charity, and hitchhikes across America to live in the Alaskan wilderness. Iqbal (2005) In writer-director Nagesh Kukunoor's National Award-winning film, a hearing- and speech-impaired farm boy (Shreyas Talpade) pursues his passion for becoming a cricketer for the national squad, with the help of a washed-up ex-coach (Naseeruddin Shah). The Irishman (2019) Based on Charles Brandt's 2004 book “I Heard You Paint Houses”, Martin Scorsese offers an indulgent, overlong look at the life of a truck driver (Robert De Niro) who becomes a hitman working for the Bufalino crime family and labour union leader Jimmy Hoffa (Al Pacino).

John Wick (2014) In the first part of what is now a series, a former hitman (Keanu Reeves) exits retirement to find and kill those that stole his car and killed his dog. Less story, more action, with the filmmakers drawing on anime, Hong Kong action cinema, Spaghetti Westerns, and French crime dramas. Jurassic Park (1993) It might be over 25 years old at this point but watching the very first Jurassic film from Steven Spielberg — based on Michael Crichton's novel, which he co-adapted — is a great way to remind yourself why the new series, Jurassic World, has no idea why it's doing. Kahaani (2012) A pregnant woman (Vidya Balan) travels from London to Kolkata to search for her missing husband in writer-director Sujoy Ghosh's National Award-winning mystery thriller, battling sexism and a cover-up along the way. Khosla Ka Ghosla! (2006) After a powerful property dealer (Boman Irani) holds a middle-class, middle-aged man's (Anupam Kher) newly-purchased property to ransom, his son and his son's friends devise a plot to dupe the swindling squatter and pay him back with his own money. Dibakar Banerjee's directorial debut. Kiki's Delivery Service (1989) A coming-of-age story of the young titular witch, who opens an air delivery business, helps a bakery's pregnant owner in exchange for accommodation, and befriends a geeky boy during her year of self-discovery. Hayao Miyazaki writes and directs. Lady Bird (2017) Greta Gerwig's directorial debut is a coming-of-age story of a high school senior (Saoirse Ronan) and her turbulent relationship with her mother (Laurie Metcalf), all while she figures out who she wants to be through friendships and short relationships. Lagaan (2001) Set in Victorian India, a village farmer (Aamir Khan) stakes everyone's future on a game of cricket with the well-equipped British, in exchange for a tax reprieve for three years. The Little Prince (2015) Antoine de Saint-Exupery's 1943 novella is given the animation treatment, in which an elderly pilot (Jeff Bridges) recounts his encounters with a young boy who claimed to be an extra-terrestrial prince to his neighbour, a young girl. Rachel McAdams, James Franco, and Marion Cotillard also voice. A Little Princess (1995) Alfonso Cuarón directs this tale of a young girl who is forced to become a servant by the headmistress at her New York boarding school, after her wealthy aristocratic father is presumed dead in World War I. The Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001-2003) Peter Jackson brought J.R.R. Tolkien's expansive Middle-Earth to life in these three three-hour epics, which charts the journey of a meek hobbit (Elijah Wood) and his various companions, as they try to stop the Dark Lord Sauron by destroying the source of his power, the One Ring.

Loveless (2017) A Cannes winner about the social ills of life in modern Russia, told through the eyes of two separated parents who are drawn back together after their 12-year-old child goes missing. From award-winning director Andrey Zvyagintsev. The Lunchbox (2013) An unlikely mistake by Mumbai's famously efficient lunchbox carrier system results in an unusual friendship between a young housewife (Nimrat Kaur) and an older widower (Irrfan Khan) about to retire from his job. Lupin the Third: Castle of Cagliostro (1979) In legendary Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki's feature debut, a dashing master thief enlists the help of a long-time nemesis in the police and a fellow thief to rescue a princess from an evil count, and put an end to his counterfeit money operation. Marriage Story (2019) Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver play an entertainment industry couple going through a divorce, which pulls them — and their young son — from New York to Los Angeles, the two different hometowns of the protagonists. Mary Poppins (1964) Based on P.L. Travers' book series of the same name, a disciplined father hires a loving woman (Julie Andrews) — who he doesn't know is capable of magic — to be the nanny for his two mischievous children. Won five Oscars, including best actress for the debutant Andrews. Masaan (2015) Neeraj Ghaywan ventures into the heartland of India to explore the life of four people in his directorial debut, all of whom must battle issues of caste, culture and norms. Winner of a National Award and the FIPRESCI Prize at Cannes. Million Dollar Baby (2004) An overlooked, veteran boxing trainer (Clint Eastwood, who also directs) reluctantly agrees to train a former waitress (Hilary Swank) to help achieve her dreams, which leads to a close father-daughter bond that will forever change their lives. Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015) With the organisation he works for disbanded and his country after him, Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) races against time to prove the existence of the schemers pulling the strings in this fifth chapter. Introduced Rebecca Ferguson to the franchise. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) The legendary British comedy troupe mix their talents with the tale of King Arthur and his knights, as they look for the Holy Grail and encounter a series of horrors. A contender for the best comedy of all-time.

Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979) Satire so cutting that it was banned for years in the UK and elsewhere, Life of Brian saw Monty Python turning their eyes on more long-form storytelling. The Life of Brian is the story of a young Jewish man born on the same day and next door to Jesus Christ, who gets mistaken for the messiah. Mudbound (2017) A Netflix Original, this World War II drama is set in rural Mississippi, and follows two veterans – one white and one black – who return home, and must deal with problems of racism in addition to PTSD. Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. (2003) After his parents find out he has been pretending to be a doctor, a good-natured Mumbai underworld don (Sanjay Dutt) tries to redeem himself by enrolling in a medical college, where his compassion brushes up against the authoritarian dean (Boman Irani). Co-written and directed by Rajkumar Hirani, who stands accused in the #MeToo movement. My Neighbor Totoro (1988) Set in post-war rural Japan, a heart-warming tale of a professor's two young daughters who have adventures with friendly forest sprits. Hayao Miyazaki writes and directs. Mystic River (2003) Three childhood friends reunite after a brutal murder, in which the victim is one's (Sean Penn) daughter, another (Kevin Bacon) is the case detective, and the third (Tim Robbins) is suspected by both. Clint Eastwood directs. Nightcrawler (2014) Jake Gyllenhaal plays a freelance video journalist with no ethics or morals who will do anything to get the best footage of violent crimes that local news stations love. A feature directorial debut for screenwriter Dan Gilroy. Ocean's Eleven (2001) In this first of Steven Soderbergh's trilogy, which features an ensemble cast including George Clooney, Brad Pitt, and Matt Damon, Danny Ocean (Clooney) and his eleven associates plan to rob three Las Vegas casinos at the same time. Okja (2017) Part environment parable and part skewer of corporatisation, this underappreciated Netflix Original by Bong Joon-ho tells its story of a young Korean girl and her best friend – a giant pet pig – while effortlessly crossing genres. On Body and Soul (2017) A shy, introverted man and a woman who work at a Hungarian slaughterhouse discover they share the same dreams after an incident, and then try to make them come true.

Only Yesterday (1991) A Studio Ghibli production about a 27-year-old career-driven Tokyo woman who reminisces about her childhood on her way to the countryside to see her sister's family. Isao Takahata writes and directs. Paan Singh Tomar (2012) A true story of the eponymous soldier and athlete (Irrfan Khan) who won gold at the National Games, and later turned into a dacoit to resolve a land dispute. Won top honours for film and actor (Khan) at National Awards. Pan's Labyrinth (2006) In Guillermo del Toro's fantastical version of Spain five years after the civil war, Ofelia – a young stepdaughter of a cruel army officer – is told she is the reincarnated version of an underworld princess but must complete three tasks to prove herself. The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012) Emma Watson stars in this coming-of-age comedy based on the novel of the same name by Stephen Chbosky, who also wrote and directed the film. Watson plays one of two seniors who guide a nervous freshman. Phantom Thread (2017) Set in the glamourous couture world of 1950s post-war London, the life of a renowned dressmaker (Daniel Day-Lewis), who is used to women coming and going through his tailored life, unravels after he falls in love with a young, strong-willed waitress. Pink (2016) A lawyer (Amitabh Bachchan) comes out of retirement to help three women (Taapsee Pannu, Kirti Kulhari, and Andrea Tariang) clear their names in a crime involving a politician's nephew (Angad Bedi). Won a National Award. PK (2014) A satirical comedy-drama that probes religious dogmas and superstitions, through the lens of an alien (Aamir Khan) who is stranded on Earth after he loses his personal communicator and befriends a TV journalist (Anushka Sharma) as he attempts to retrieve it. Porco Rosso (1992) Transformed into an anthropomorphic pig by an unusual curse, an Italian World War I ace fighter veteran now works as a freelance bounty hunter in 1930s Adriatic Sea in the Mediterranean. Hayao Miyazaki writes and directs. Queen (2013) A 24-year-old shy woman (Kangana Ranaut) sets off on her honeymoon alone to Europe after her fiancé calls off the wedding a day prior. There, freed from the traditional trappings and with the help of new friends, she gains a newfound perspective on life. Director Vikas Bahl stands accused in the #MeToo movement.

Rang De Basanti (2006) Aamir Khan leads the ensemble cast of this award-winning film that focuses on four young New Delhi men who turn into revolutionary heroes themselves while playacting as five Indian freedom fighters from the 1920s for a docudrama. Ratatouille (2007) An anthropomorphic rat (Patton Oswalt) who longs to be a chef tries to achieve his dream by making an alliance with a young garbage boy at a Parisian restaurant. From Pixar. Rebecca (1940) Alfred Hitchcock's first American film is based on Daphne du Maurier's 1938 novel of the same name, about a naïve, young woman who marries an aristocratic widower and then struggles under the intimidating reputation of his first wife, who died under mysterious circumstances. The Remains of the Day (1993) Made by the duo of Ismail Merchant and James Ivory, this based-on-a-book film is about a dedicated and loyal butler (Anthony Hopkins), who gave much of his life — and missed out on a lot — serving a British lord who turns out to be a Nazi sympathiser. Reservoir Dogs (1992) After a simply jewellery heist goes wrong in Quentin Tarantino's feature-length debut, six criminals – Tim Roth, Steve Buscemi, and Michael Madsen are a few of the actors – who don't know each other's identity start to suspect each other of being a police informant. The Revenant (2015) Leonardo DiCaprio and director Alejandro G. Iñárritu won Oscars for their work on this semi-biographical Western film set in the 1820s, which tells the story of frontiersman Hugh Glass and his quest for survival and justice amidst severe winters. Roma (2018) Alfonso Cuarón revisits his childhood in the eponymous Mexico City neighbourhood, during the political turmoil of the 1970s, through the eyes of a middle-class family's live-in maid, who takes care of the house and four children, while balancing the complications of her own personal life. Sairat (2016) In a tiny village in the Indian state of Maharashtra, a fisherman's son and a local politician's daughter fall in love, which sends ripples across the society because their families belong to different castes. Currently the highest-grossing Marathi-language film of all time. Scarface (1983) Al Pacino delivers one of his best performances as a Cuban refugee who arrives in 1980s Miami with nothing, rises the ranks to become a powerful drug kingpin, and then falls due to his ego, his paranoia, and a growing list of enemies. Se7en (1995) In this dark, gripping thriller from David Fincher, two detectives – one new (Brad Pitt) and one about to retire (Morgan Freeman) – hunt a serial killer (Kevin Spacey) who uses the seven deadly sins as his motives. Secret Superstar (2017) Though frequently melodramatic, this coming-of-age story – produced by Aamir Khan and wife Kiran Rao – of a Muslim girl from Vadodara who dreams of being a singer dealt with important social issues and broke several box office records during its theatrical run.

Sense and Sensibility (1995) Jane Austen's famous work is brought to life by director Ang Lee, about three sisters who are forced to seek financial security through marriage after the death of their wealthy father leaves them poor by the rules of inheritance. The Shining (1980) Stephen King's popular novel gets the film treatment from Stanley Kubrick, about a father who loses his sanity in an isolated hotel the family is staying at for the winter, while his psychic son sees horrific forebodings from the past and the future. Shoplifters (2018) Winner of the top prize at Cannes, the story of a group of poverty-stricken outsiders scraping together an under-the-radar living in Tokyo, whose life is upended after they take in a new, young member. Hirokazu Kore-eda writes, directs, and edits. Shrek (2001) A half-parody of fairy tales, Shrek is about an eponymous ogre who agrees to help an evil lord get a queen in exchange for the deed to his swamp, filled with enough jokes for the adults and a simple plot children. A Silent Voice: The Movie (2016) Based on the manga of the same name, a coming-of-age story of a school bully who tries to make amends with a hearing-impaired girl he tormented back in the day, after the tables are turned on him. Silver Linings Playbook (2012) Two people (Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper) with pain and suffering in their past begin a road to recovery while training together for a dance competition, in what becomes an unlikely love story. The Sixth Sense (1999) In writer-director M. Night Shyamalan's best film to date, a child psychologist (Bruce Willis) tries to help a young boy (Haley Joel Osment) who can see and talk to the dead. Snowpiercer (2013) Chris Evans stars in this sci-fi from Bong Joon-ho, which takes place in a future ravaged by an experiment, where the survivors live on a train that continuously circles the globe and has led to a punishing new class system. The Social Network (2010) The tale of Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg gets a slight fictional spin, as it explores how the young engineer was sued by twin brothers who claimed he stole their idea, and sold lies to his co-founder and squeezed him out.

Soni (2019) A short-tempered young policewoman and her cool-headed female boss must contend with ingrained misogyny in their daily lives and even at work, where it impacts their coordinated attempts to tackle the rise of crimes against women in Delhi. Spartacus (1960) After failing to land the title role in Ben-Hur, Kirk Douglas optioned a book with a similar theme, about a slave who led a revolt — known retrospectively as the Third Servile War — against the mighty Roman Empire. Won four Oscars and was named as one of the best historical epics. The Stranger (1946) A war crimes investigator hunts a high-ranking Nazi fugitive (Orson Welles, also director) hiding in the US state of Connecticut, who is also duping his naïve new wife. Super Deluxe (2019) An inter-linked anthology of four stories, involving an unfaithful wife, a transgender woman, a bunch of teenagers, which deal in sex, stigma, and spirituality. Runs at nearly three hours. Swades (2004) Shah Rukh Khan stars a successful NASA scientist in this based on a true story drama, who returns home to India to take his nanny to the US, rediscovers his roots and connects with the local village community in the process. Taare Zameen Par (2007) Sent to boarding school against his will, a dyslexic eight-year-old is helped by an unconventional art teacher (Aamir Khan) to overcome his disability and discover his true potential. Talvar (2015) Meghna Gulzar and Vishal Bhardwaj combine forces to tell the story of the 2008 Noida double murder case, in which a teenage girl and the family's hired servant were killed, and the inept police bungled the investigation. Uses the Rashomon effect for a three-pronged take. Tangerine (2015) Shot entirely on iPhones, a transgender female sex worker vows revenge on her boyfriend-pimp who cheated on her while she was in jail. Tangled (2010) Locked up by her overly protective mother, a young long-haired girl finally gets her wish to escape into the world outside thanks to a good-hearted thief, and discovers her true self.

Thithi (2016) In this award-winning Kannada-language film, set in a remote village in the state of Karnataka, three generations of men reflect on the death of their locally-famous, bad-tempered 101-year-old patriarch. Made with a cast of non-professional actors. The Town (2010) While a group of lifelong Boston friends plan a major final heist at Fenway Park, one of them (Ben Affleck) falls in love with the hostage from an earlier robbery, complicating matters. Train to Busan (2016) Stuck on a blood-drenched bullet train ride across Korea, a father and his daughter must fight their way through a countrywide zombie outbreak to make it to the only city that's safe. Tu Hai Mera Sunday (2016) Five thirty-something friends struggle to find a place in Mumbai where they can play football in peace in this light-hearted rom-com tale, which explores gender divides and social mores along the way. The Two Popes (2019) Inspired by real life, the tale of friendship that formed between Pope Benedict XVI (Anthony Hopkins) and Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio (Jonathan Pryce), the future Pope Francis, after the latter approached the former regarding his concerns with the direction of the Catholic Church. Udaan (2010) Vikramaditya Motwane made his directorial debut with this coming-of-age story of a teenager who is expelled from boarding school and returns home to the industrial town of Jamshedpur, where he must work at his oppressive father's factory. Udta Punjab (2016) With the eponymous Indian state's drug crisis as the backdrop, this black comedy crime film depicts the interwoven lives of a junior policeman (Diljit Dosanjh), an activist doctor (Kareena Kapoor), a migrant worker (Alia Bhatt), and a rock star (Shahid Kapoor). Uncut Gems (2019) A charismatic, New York-based Jewish jeweller and a gambling addict (Adam Sandler) ends up in over his head in this taut thriller, struggling to keep a lid on his family, desires, business, and enemies. The Untouchables (1987) With mobster Al Capone (Robert De Niro) making use of the rampant corruption during the Prohibition period in the US, federal agent Eliot Ness (Kevin Costner) hand picks a team to expose his business and bring him to justice. Brian De Palma directs. Up in the Air (2009) A corporate downsizing expert (George Clooney) who loves living out of a suitcase finds his lifestyle threatened due to a potential love interest (Vera Farmiga) and an ambitious new hire (Anna Kendrick).

Vertigo (1958) Topping Citizen Kane in the latest Sight & Sound poll of greatest films of all time, Alfred Hitchcock's thriller about a detective afraid of heights who falls for an old friend's wife while investigating her strange activities continued his tradition of turning audiences into voyeurs. Village Rockstars (2017) A young Assamese girl of a widow pines to own a guitar and start her own rock band, but societal norms routinely get in the way. Rima Das writes, directs, shoots, edits, and handles costumes. Visaranai (2015) Winner of three National Awards and based on M. Chandrakumar's novel Lock Up, the story of four Tamil laborers who are framed and tortured by politically-motivated cops in the neighbouring state of Andhra Pradesh. Vetrimaaran writes and directs. A Wednesday! (2008) Neeraj Pandey's film is set between 2 pm and 6 pm on a Wednesday, naturally, when a common man (Naseeruddin Shah) threatens to detonate five bombs in Mumbai unless four terrorists accused in the 2006 Mumbai train bombings case are released. Wonder Woman (2017) After a pilot crashes and informs them about an ongoing World War, an Amazonian princess (Gal Gadot) leaves her secluded life to enter the world of men and stop what she believes to be the return of Amazons' nemesis. Wreck-It Ralph (2012) This Disney animated film tells the story of a video game villain who sets out to fulfil his dream of becoming a hero but ends up bringing havoc to the entire arcade where he lives. Zero Dark Thirty (2012) The decade-long international manhunt for Osama bin Laden is the focus of this thriller from Kathryn Bigelow, dramatised as and when needed to keep a CIA intelligence analyst (Jessica Chastain) at the centre of the story. Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (2011) Hrithik Roshan, Farhan Akhtar, and Abhay Deol star as three childhood friends who set off on a bachelor trip across Spain, which becomes an opportunity to heal past wounds, combat their worst fears, and fall in love with life. Zodiac (2007) David Fincher signed on Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, and Robert Downey Jr. to depict a cartoonist's (Gyllenhaal) obsession with figuring out the identity of the Zodiac Killer in the 1960s–70s. Zombieland (2009) A student looking for his parents (Jesse Eisenberg), a man looking for a favourite snack, and two con artist sisters join forces and take an extended road trip across a zombie-filled America, while they all search for a zombie-free sanctuary. Read the full article

[dweemeister]

2023 Movie Odyssey Award for Best Original Song (preliminary round)

Tumblr’s new post editor has disabled completely the ability to make indented bullet points. I apologize in advance for how ugly most of this post looks.

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OPEN invites to (or at least people who are committed to the final, but would like access to the prelim): @birdsongvelvet, @derricklogan2, @dog-of-ulthar, @inmyworldblr, @machpowervisions, @memetoilet, @metamatar, @myluckyerror, @noelevangilinecarson, @phendranaedge, @plus-low-overthrow, @qteeclown, @shadesofhappy, and @the-lilac-grove. Some of you have participated in past MOABOS editions, some of you are longtime followers I've not really spoken to, but have interacted with quite a few of my posts... if you are interested, please let me know. I'll assign you a group or I'll put you into the final.

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Hello everybody,

If you were tagged here, that is because you graciously accepted my invitation to help out with this year's edition of the Movie Odyssey Award for Best Original Song (MOABOS). I welcome you to the eleventh edition of MOABOS (MOABOS XI) and the tenth edition with outside help from family, friends, and followers on tumblr. When I first opened this up to other folks in 2014 (MOABOS II), I believed that this would last but only a few years, at most. And every time the year is new, I have no clue whether or not there will be another edition of MOABOS.

But here we are yet again. The Movie Odyssey Award for Best Original Song is not possible without all of your help.

For newcomers near and far: This is a classic film blog (concentration: pre-1980s Hollywood, but I have various specialties outside of that and watch plenty of newer films). That blog's primary purpose is to host my nearly 800 film write-ups tagged "My Movie Odyssey" (an index can be found here). MOABOS is one of my blog's year-end traditions, and just a smaller part of a larger one. On my blog, the Movie Odyssey Awards honor some of the best achievements from movies that I saw for the first time this calendar year (the "Movie Odyssey") with an Oscar-like ceremony. I choose all the nominees and winners from each category, save one: Best Original Song. It is the only category that does not require you to watch several movies in their entirety. MOABOS is my way to say thank you for your friendship and moral support no matter how long I've known you. It is, sneakily so, a way to introduce all of you to music and movies I enjoyed this past year. And you might learn a snippet of film history through this!

INTRODUCTION

An unspecified number of songs have already advanced to the final round. 24 songs will contest this preliminary round in two groups - Group A and Group B. After three years of pandemic disruptions, the 2020s are finally making a significant mark on MOABOS, perhaps with a vengeance. Some of the highest-grossing films of both 2023 and 2022 are here to contend, as is a movie newly-minted as one of the highest-grossing anime films ever. But the defending decade, the 1980s (through Dolly Parton's title song for 1980's 9 to 5), has plenty of entries this year. It is the decade of pop culture I like least, but the 1980s have a decent shot at being the first decade to defend a MOABOS title.

Last year was regrettably a monolingual field of songs. Folks, multilingual MOABOS is back. This year, across both groups, English, French, Hindi (returning for the first time since 2020, or MOABOS VIII), Japanese (also returning after a three-year absence), Brazilian Portuguese, and Vietnamese will be represented. For their respective movies, they capture just a part of a nation's soul and filmmaking culture at a certain time. MOABOS, too, is its own sort of time capsule.

After a few years of slight decline, the preliminary round of MOABOS drew a record 36 people casting rankings. Might that record fall this year? That same preliminary saw a resounding rejection of American folk music (or spoofs of American folk, at least) and a decidedly mixed opinion of the style of Golden Age 20th Century Fox musicals (their plots might be silly and nonsensical, but at least they have no pretensions of being anything more than that!). No American folk this year, but 20th Century Fox has a few contenders this year.

1980s and contemporary pop have historically performed well in the preliminaries. With some formidable entries this year that receive regular radio play, does that hold up or are there upsets in the cards?

2019's MOABOS (MOABOS VII) preliminary remains the gold standard for sheer chaos. The miraculous comeback of "I Dug a Ditch" from Thousands Cheer (1943) in the prelim's final hour brought a song that seemed dead as a doorknob back to life. A song about digging a hole got out of its hole, if you will. No group since has ever matched that drama. Might this be a nailbiter of a result?

INSTRUCTIONS

Please rank (#1-11) at least seven of your group's songs. Please consider to the best of your ability (these are only suggestions, not strict guidelines): 

How musically interesting the song is (incl. and not limited to musical phrasing and orchestration);

Its lyrics (incl. and not limited to lyrical invention and lyrical flow); 

Context within the film (contextual blurbs provided for every entry for those who haven't seen the films);

Choreography/dance direction (if applicable; I know that almost none of us have a dancing background, but let's not discount this aspect entirely);

The song's cultural/sociopolitical impact and legacy/listenability outside the film's context (if applicable, and, in my opinion, least important factor)

A notice on audio/video quality and colorization of black-and-white film: Because it is sometimes difficult to find clean recordings of much of this music, imperfections in audio and video quality may not be used against any song while you are drawing up your rankings - you're on the honor system on this one. In addition, in respect to personal and blog policy, I will not provide colorized videos of films that were originally in black-and-white. You can call this snobby all you want. But to yours truly, film colorization of B&W is disrespectful to the artisans who plied their craft and made decisions based on the fact the film was shot in black-and-white. It is essentially redirecting a movie without consent.

You are encouraged to send in comments and reactions with your rankings - it makes the process more enjoyable for you and myself!

The top six songs in each group automatically advance to the final round. Unlike previous years, no at-large wild card picks outside the top six will advance to the final.

The deadline for submission is Wednesday, December 13 at 11 PM Pacific Time. That is 9 PM Hawaii/Aleutian Time. That deadline is also Thursday, December 14 at 1 AM Central Time / 2 AM Eastern Time / 7 AM GMT / 8 AM CET / 9 AM EET. This deadline - and some of you have joked with me that this is inevitable - will be pushed back if there are a large number of people who have not submitted in time. However, I very much do not wish to extend the deadline because the final round is more intensive and usually involves more participants. A small group of longtime MOABOS veterans will be asked to do both groups, if possible (but they are required to complete their assigned group first before moving on) - they are generally selected for their longevity of MOABOS participation and promptness. Tabulation details are under the "read more".

Please pay attention to the groups you have been sorted into, and please only submit rankings for the group you have been assigned. For your convenience, the YouTube playlists for both groups follow:

PLAYLISTS: (GROUP A) / (GROUP B)

Group A: be warned, I am somewhat trolling you on one of these songs. At least it comes early!

Feel free to listen as many times as you need, and I hope you discover music and movies that strike your interest. With the deepest appreciation from this grateful classic film fan, here are your group's songs. The following is formatted... ("Song title", composer and lyricist, film title):

GROUP A

“Apartment for Sale”, music and lyrics by Cate Blanchett and Todd Field, Tár (2022)

Performed by Cate Blanchett

After her cross-hall apartment neighbor dies, composer/conductor Lydia Tár (Blanchett; whose character is the first female music director of the Berlin Philharmonic) learns from the deceased's family that they think the classical music emanating from Tár's apartment is an unlistenable racket. They bluntly request Tár to stop playing music entirely when they meet with potential buyers. Moments after that encounter, this is her response. By this point in the film, Tár's rationality is very much in question. This is a drama about the hubris and manipulative ways for a person in power.

This is the shortest song ever to qualify for a MOABOS preliminary round.

“Barsaat mein hamse mile tum sajan (In the Rainy Season, We Met One Another)”, music by Shankarsingh Raghuwanshi and Jaikishan Dayabhai Panchal, lyrics by Shailendra, Barsaat (1949)

(initial version) / (end-of-film reprise)

Performed by Nimmi (singing voice dubbed by Lata Mangeshkar)

Lyrics in Hindi (translations in the CC's in provided videos)

Raj Kapoor was a major director/actor in the early decades of Bollywood. In one of his first directed movies, shortly after the Partition of India, we find Barsaat. This romance tells of two love stories of city men meeting women who live in Kashmir (a disputed region between India, Pakistan, and China). Later in the films, we will find Pran (Raj Kapoor) and Reshma (Nargis) quickly falling in love. But this song surrounds the womanizing Gopal (Prem Nath) and Neela (Nimmi), whose faithful love for Gopal goes largely unrequited. After much convincing from Neela, Gopal attends a local festival – and doesn't pay much attention to this Neela-led song-and-dance number.

In the reprise, Neela has died near the end of the film. Reformed, realizing too late how horrible he has been to Neela, Gopal carries her body to her funeral pyre as the monsoon rains – as hinted in this film's very title – finally arrive.

“Ciao Papa”, music by Alexandre Desplat, lyrics by Roeban Katz and Guillermo del Toro, Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (2022)

Performed by Gregory Mann

In this stop-motion animated adaptation of Carlo Collodi's Pinocchio, director Guillermo del Toro injects the tale with his signature gothic touch – moving the narrative up in time to Fascist Italy and not shying away from the original book's grotesqueness and the title character's sociopathy. This song appears as part of a montage where Geppetto (David Bradley) goes in search of Pinocchio (Mann) after Count Volpe (Christoph Waltz) abducts the wooden son.

“Esse Mundo é Meu (This World is Mine)”, music by Sérgio Ricardo, lyrics by Sérgio Ricardo and Ruy Guerra, Esse Mundo é Meu (1964, Brazil)

Originally performed a cappella by Antônio Pitanga; provided version performed by Marina Lutfi and Adriana Lutfi (lead vocals), Sérgio Ricardo (vocals), João Gurgel (vocal/guitar), Alexandre Caldi (winds), Marcelo Caldi (piano/accordion), Lui Coimbra (cello), Giordano Gasperin (bass), and Diego Zangado (percussion)

Lyrics in Portuguese (extremely rough translated lyrics... "Saravá ogum" is an Afro-Brazilian exclamation; I'm not sure what "Mandinga" means in the song's context, but it's an Afro-Brazilian word that either refers to an ethnic group or "magic")

In this film almost never screened outside Brazil, two separate romantic storylines – a white couple and a black couple – play out in a Rio de Janeiro favela. In the latter storyline, Antônio Pitanga plays a shoeshiner. One day, while setting up his shoeshining equipment along the beach, he sings this song – an optimistic number in hopes for a better tomorrow. Black Brazilian romance was and is rare in Brazilian cinema, and the inclusion of such a romance so prominently featured in this film makes it a landmark of the nation's film history.

From the song's humble origins and use in the film, Sérgio Ricardo turned it into bossa nova. That's the late composer/film director himself in the provided video (the older man furthest to the left). The lead singers are his daughters.

“Hold My Hand” , music and lyrics by Lady Gaga and BloodPop, Top Gun: Maverick (2022)

Performed by Lady Gaga

Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song

This song, with touches of '80s arena rock and torch songs, appears at the top of the end credits. It is not quoted in the film's score at any point in this equally jingoistic sequel to the original Top Gun.

“I Know Why (And So Do You)”, music by Mack Gordon, lyrics by Harry Warren, Sun Valley Serenade (1941)

(initial version) / (reprise)

Performed by Glenn Miller and His Orchestra, Lynn Bari (dubbed by Pat Friday), The Modernaires, and John Payne; reprise by Payne and Sonja Henie

This song's melody forms the backbone of the film's score throughout. In the opening minutes of this musical, we find the Phil Corey Orchestra (Glenn Miller and His Orchestra) rehearsing in preparation for a Christmas concert they will be headlining in the mountainous resort town of Sun Valley, Idaho. The first 48 seconds of the first video are an instrumental version of Glenn Miller's "Moonlight Serenade".

The reprise occurs near the end of the film as Norwegian refugee/figure skating extraordinaire Karen Benson (Sonja Henie, a 3x Olympic gold medalist in figure skating) and pianist Ted Scott (John Payne) find themselves stuck in a mountainside cabin. Karen, who has fled Norway due to the Nazi takeover there, has been pursuing Ted for almost all of the film, and Ted finally succumbs to her charms here - to the outrage of his girlfriend (Lynn Bari). Suffice it to say nobody should watch 20th Century Fox musicals for the plot (but refreshingly, they're not pretending to be any more than what they are).

“Jean”, music and lyrics by Rod McKuen, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969)

Performed by Rod McKuen

Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song

Adapted from Muriel Spark's novel of the same name and set in 1930s Edinburgh, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie stars Maggie Smith as Jean Brodie, a teacher at an all-girls school. Brodie, a woman with unorthodox teaching methods, has a cadre of favorite students nicknamed the "Brodie Set": Sandy (Pamela Franklin), Monica (Shirley Steedman), Jenny (Diane Grayson), and Mary (Jane Carr). Each of them are around twelve years old when the film begins. This film, an atypical "teacher movie", is about a breakdown of professionalism, betrayal of trust, loss of innocence, and hubris.

The melodic structure is inspired by the style of Scottish folk songs, and it forms the central spine of the film's score and plays throughout. The song itself is not performed with lyrics until the end credits. Due to the events in the film's closing act, the tone, placement, and lyrics of "Jean" become ironic. The lyrics are decidedly romantic but, in context, it's anything but.

“Miss Celie’s Blues (Sister)”, music by Quincy Jones and Rod Temperton, lyrics by Quincy Jones, Rod Temperton, and Lionel Richie, The Color Purple (1985)

Performed by Margaret Avery (singing voice dubbed by Táta Vega)

Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song

Based on the book of the same name by Alice Walker, The Color Purple stars Whoopi Goldberg as Celie Harris in her breakthrough role. Celie, forcibly married off to Albert "Mister" Johnson (Danny Glover) as a teenager, has grown resigned after a lifetime of parental and spousal abuse. Mister has a mistress named Shug Avery (Margaret Avery), who works as a showgirl in Memphis. After one stormy evening, a sickly Shug appears at Mister's homestead for the first time and, over a few weeks, Celie nurses her back to health. The two grow attached and, as tribute, Shug performs this song at the local riverside juke joint.

In the book, the romantic relationship between Celie and Shug after this moment is more explicit. Director Steven Spielberg's greatest regret over this film was not making more of this romantic relationship. Given that the movie was released at the height of the HIV/AIDS crisis and in an environment where LGBTQ+ themes were verboten to the major movie studios, I don't believe much more could've been done in 1985.

“Pink”, music and lyrics by Lizzo, Mark Ronson, Andrew Wyatt, and Ricky Reed, Barbie (2023)

(initial version) / (reprise)

Performed by Lizzo

After narrator Helen Mirren describes to the audience Barbieland, we are introduced to Barbie (Margot Robbie), just awakening from a good night's sleep, with the initial version of "Pink". At the end of that day at the nightly dance party, Barbie asks her fellow Barbies if they ever think about death – a Barbie faux pas. Barbie corrects herself, but remains haunted by her question when she goes to bed that evening. We hear the reprise as Barbie awakens the next morning after barely sleeping, and everything that can go wrong does go wrong.

“That Darn Cat!”, composed by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman, That Darn Cat! (1965)

Performed by Bobby Darin

Appears in the opening credits and final minutes of this comedy. That Darn Cat! marked the end of an era and the start of another. This was Hayley Mills' final of six films for Disney (a run that included the title character in 1960's Pollyanna and in her dual role in the original Parent Trap) and Dean Jones' first for Disney. The provided version includes audio from the opening credits, extracted directly from the film itself (a stipulation in Darin's contract means that the original soundtrack version is nowhere to be found online).

“Trời Sáng Rồi, Ta Ngủ Đi Thôi (Good Morning and Good Night)”, music by Phạm Hải Âu, lyrics by Phạm Hải Âu and Chung Chí Công, Good Morning and Good Night (2019, Vietnam)

Performed by Hà Quốc Hoàng and Trần Lê Thúy Vy

Lyrics in Vietnamese (translation in provided video)

In this romantic musical influenced heavily by Richard Linklater's Before trilogy, indie musician Tâm (Hà Quốc Hoàng) unexpectedly forms a deep connection with Thanh (Trần Lê Thúy Vy), a rideshare driver who challenges his view of life, love, and art. This song appears at the top of the end credits. Most of the numbers in this film are composed in a style suited to Vietnamese indie music.

“When I Grow Up”, music by Ray Henderson, lyrics by Ted Koehler and Irving Caesar, Curly Top (1935)

Performed by Shirley Temple; first reprise (not provided) by Billy Gilbert and Arthur Treacher; second reprise (not provided) by Esther Dale

Orphan Elizabeth Blair (Temple) performs this at a charity show meant to raise funds for the orphanage she is staying at. At certain points in this song, she dresses up in a wedding gown and dons "old" makeup in respect to the lyrics.

Where Alice Faye and Betty Grable may have been the two primary musical adult actresses at 20th Century Fox, Shirley Temple eclipsed both. Her modestly-budgeted movies showcased her childhood innocence and spunk, endearing her to a moviegoing public faced with the dire straits of the Great Depression. She was the highest-grossing actor in Hollywood from 1934-1938, and moviegoers of the Lost, Greatest, and early Silent Generations credit Temple's movies as needed morale boosters.

The folks assigned to GROUP A include: @cinemaocd, @cokwong, @emilylime5, @exlibrisneh, @idontknowmuchaboutmovies, @maximiliani, @shootingstarvenator, and @stephdgray. You are also being joined by 15 others including myself and my sister.

GROUP B

“Animal Crackers in My Soup”, music by Ray Henderson, lyrics by Ted Koehler and Irving Caesar, Curly Top (1935)

Performed by Shirley Temple

Young Elizabeth Blair (Temple) and her elder sister, Mary (Rochelle Hudson) are living in an orphanage and are the primary entertainers for their fellow orphan girls. This number occurs early in the film and is quoted multiple times in the film's score. For those of you who despised this song's placement in those Shirley Temple DVD infomercials, I have no apologies to offer you.

Where Alice Faye (MOABOS X's "A Journey to a Star" from 1943's The Gang's All Here) and Betty Grable may have been the two primary musical adult actresses at 20th Century Fox, Shirley Temple eclipsed both. Her modestly-budgeted movies showcased her childhood innocence and spunk, endearing her to a moviegoing public faced with the dire straits of the Great Depression. She was the highest-grossing actor in Hollywood from 1934-1938, and moviegoers of the Lost, Greatest, and early Silent Generations credit Temple's movies as needed morale boosters.

“Barbarella”, music and lyrics by Bob Crewe and Charles Fox, Barbarella (1968)

Performed by The Glitterhouse

Played over the opening credits (not provided, because they are extremely NSFW) in which the title character (Jane Fonda) slowly undresses herself in zero gravity. Based on a controversially racy and heavily sexualized comic book series in France (even for the French!), Barbarella is a campy sci-fi movie that obliterated Fonda's homespun image in cinema. The movie was and is far more popular in Europe than it was in the U.S. (where it never became anything more than a cult classic).

In the years since, Fonda, a noted liberal activist, has essentially pleaded no contest to accusations that the film was anything but feminist.

“Captain Crow”, music by Nell Benjamin and Laurence O’Keefe, The Sea Beast (2022)

Performed by chorus

Appears in part during a celebratory night at a pub in the film's opening act. Full appearance at the top of the end credits. This is a sea shanty celebrating the legendary monster hunter Captain Crow (Jared Harris). The melody is seldom quoted in the film's score. In The Sea Beast, an unnamed country has waged a centuries-long campaign to kill sea beasts, in defense of humanity. Similar to American Westerns, the film and this song plays with ideas of how popular narratives or mythoi are spun.

(Instrumental-only version for those interested... many versions in different languages are available on YouTube, including French, Hindi, Italian, Spanish, Vietnamese, and more – some lyrically clunkier than others)

“I’m Just Ken”, music and lyrics by Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt, Barbie (2023)

Performed by Ryan Gosling and company

The Kens of Barbieland have just taken over power from the Barbies. In response, the Barbies, Allan, and Mattel employee Gloria and her daughter Sasha have manipulated the Kens into fighting each other while they attempt to reestablish control. According to director Greta Gerwig, the dance segment seen here was influenced by "Lullaby of Broadway" from Gold Diggers of 1935 (1935; see the warm-up playlist I sent to many of you) and "The Broadway Melody" from Singin' in the Rain (1952).

“Mujhe Kisi se Pyaar Ho Gaya (I’ve Fallen in Love with Someone)”, music by Shankarsingh Raghuwanshi and Jaikishan Dayabhai Panchal, lyrics by Shailendra, Barsaat (1949, India)

Performed by Nargis (singing voice dubbed by Lata Mangeshkar)

Lyrics in Hindi (translations in the CC's in provided videos)

Raj Kapoor was a major director/actor in the early decades of Bollywood. In one of his first directed movies, shortly after the Partition of India, we find Barsaat. This romance tells of two love stories of vacationing city men meeting women who live in Kashmir (a disputed region between India, Pakistan, and China). This film juxtaposes the story of the womanizing Gopal (Prem Nath) and Neela (Nimmi), with that of Pran (Raj Kapoor) and Reshma (Nargis). It is the beginning of Pran and Reshma's romance that we see here, after she has been rowing Gopal and Pran around for the last few days.

“Qu'est-ce qu'on fait de l'amour? (What Do We Do with Love?)”, music and lyrics by Vincent Courtois, Ernest and Celestine: A Trip to Gibberitia (2022, France)

Performed by Pomme

Lyrics in French (rough translation)

This song appears at the top of the end credits of this sequel to 2012's Ernest & Celestine, which was nominated (against the odds) for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. The original was, as I wrote back in 2014, "cinematic friendship at its most rewarding and profoundly beautiful." In this sequel for our dynamic mouse and bear duo, Celestine (the mouse) accidentally breaks Ernest's (the bear) precious Stradibearius violin. It leads the unlikely friends to search for an old violin maker acquaintance of Ernest's back in his homeland of Gibberitia ("Charabïe" in the original title, a name derived from "charabia", the French word for "gibberish").

A further shameless plug for all of you reading this to seek out animation that is not from the major American and Japanese studios.

“Return to Sender”, music and lyrics by Winfield Scott and Otis Blackwell, Girls! Girls! Girls! (1962)

Performed by Elvis Presley

The eleventh of Elvis' 31 movies (if MOABOS returns for future editions, let's just say there's a lot more Elvis to come) and the second shot in Hawai'i after 1961's Blue Hawaii, Girls! Girls! Girls! is a misnomer as there are only two girls vying for Elvis' affections (it would be an appropriate title for many other Elvis movies). My sister thinks this film should've been titled Girls? Girls. Girls!

Here, Ross Carpenter (Elvis) is a fisherman who spends his evenings as a nightclub singer. Fellow nightclub singer Robin Gantner (Stella Stevens) and the secretly wealthy Laurel Dodge (Laurel Goodwin) are very much attracted to him. This number occurs after Ross starts seeing Laurel, inflaming Robin's suspicions, and resulting in a spat at the bar that immediately preceded the song.

“Something He Can Feel”, music and lyrics by Curtis Mayfield, Sparkle (1976)

Performed by Lonette McKee, Irene Cara, and Dwan Smith

(use in film) / (soundtrack version with Aretha Franklin)

Loosely based on the history of the Supremes, the musical Sparkle is the story of the three Williams sisters (the late Cara as lead singer Sparkle, McKee as Sister, and Smith as Dolores). They decide, along with two of their boyfriends, to take their church singing experience and turn into a semi-professional group called the Hearts.

This song appears midway through the film, as the boys have dropped out to become the group's managers. The Williams sisters have renamed the group Sister and the Sisters (I would've kept the original name). The performance of this number is intercut with glimpses of Sister's troubled personal life – the film's Rubicon crossing, setting up the conclusion of her storyline.

The film's original soundtrack does not contain any of the original performances. Instead, Aretha Franklin sings all the songs from the film in the soundtrack.

“Suzume”, music and lyrics by RADWIMPS, Suzume (2022, Japan)

Performed by RADWIMPS and Toaka

Lyrics in Japanese (extremely rough translation)

This song's melody (especially the eighteen-note vocalized motif) appears throughout the film. But this version, with lyrics, only appears as the second song in the end credits. In this film, 17-year-old Suzume and a young man named Souta must journey across Japan to close a series of mystical doors. Mysterious phenomena are passing through these once-locked into our world, and are causing natural disasters.

Makoto Shinkai's latest, unadjusted for inflation, is the fourth-highest grossing Japanese film of all time. MOABOS regulars will recall previous entries from Your Name (2016) and Weathering with You (2019) – all RADWIMPS compositions. Suzume directly addresses a trauma that Your Name and Weathering with You danced around: the 3/11/11 earthquake, tsunami, and Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster.

“Take My Breath Away”, music and lyrics by Giorgio Moroder and Tom Whitlock, Top Gun (1986)

Performed by Berlin

Winner of the Academy Award for Best Original Song

This song plays during romantic dialogue between Maverick (Tom Cruise) and Charlotte "Charlie" Blackwood (Kelly McGillis). Top Gun never plays the entire song. In its inexplicable four appearances in the film in a 20-minute span, the song itself is played muted underneath the dialogue, its lyrics barely discernible in those respective scenes.

“Tiền”, music and lyrics by Trần Khắc Trí, Good Morning and Good Night (2019, Vietnam)

Performed by Trần Lê Thúy Vy, Hà Quốc Hoàng, and company

In this romantic musical influenced heavily by Richard Linklater's Before trilogy, indie musician Tâm (Hà Quốc Hoàng) unexpectedly forms a deep connection with Thanh (Trần Lê Thúy Vy), a rideshare driver who challenges his view of life, love, and art over a full day. This song appears about a third of the way through, after a conversation about money ("tiền" means "money" in Vietnamese). Most of the numbers in this film are composed in a style suited to Vietnamese indie music.

“We Don’t Need Another Hero (Thunderdome)”, music and lyrics by Terry Britten and Graham Lyle, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985)

Performed by Tina Turner

This song plays at the top of the end credits of the Mad Max series' third entry. In this movie, the late Tina Turner herself plays the antagonist (but neither true villain or antihero) Aunty Entity - who leads a post-apocalyptic trading post called Bartertown. "Thunderdome" refers to a gladiatorial arena in Bartertown in which conflicts are settled in a battle to the death (an aside: awkward as "Thunderdome" sounds as a lyric, it makes more sense than "Thunderball" from the 007 movie of the same name).

The folks assigned to GROUP B include: @addaellis, @halfwaythruthedark, @rawberry101, @rosymeraki-blog, @theybecomestories, @umgeschrieben, @underblackwings, and @yellanimal. You are also being joined by 14 others including myself and my sister.

Would you like to know something more about a song or a movie featured above? Do you have a question or comment about MOABOS's processes? Feel free to ask me! If you are having difficulty accessing any of the songs (especially if region-locked) or if there are any errors in the links above or the playlist, please let me know as soon as possible.

You will be contacted for the final round regardless of your participation or non-participation in the preliminary. If turnout in one group is lagging behind compared to another, I will ask some of the more senior participants to participate in the other group, too. Do not worry too much about this if you cannot participate, although I will be checking in as the deadlines near.

Once more to all of you here, my thanks for your support for the Movie Odyssey, the blog, and for me personally over however long I've known you. It's a privilege and a pleasure to share all these movies (well, excerpts of them) and musical numbers with you. It's my hope that you not only learn something new about film and/or music, but that you also find this very fun to do!

Happy listening, all. And thank you again!

TABULATION FOR THE PRELIMINARY ROUND

This preliminary round uses a points-based, ranked choice method which has been in use since MOABOS II (2014). A respondent’s first choice receives 10 points, the second choice receives 9, the third choice receives 8, etc. The winner is the song that ends up with the most total points. The tabulation method described here for the preliminary round is used only as a tiebreaker in the final round (more on how the final is tabulated when we get there). 

The tiebreakers for the preliminary are:

total points earned;

total #1 votes;

song(s) which is/are ranked higher on more ballots than the other(s);

average placement on my and my sister's ballots;

tie declared

[greysbible]

Just dance 2020 aanbieding

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Within just over a year, I had I won the London Music Award for ‘Best Undiscovered Talent,’ The Guardian’s ‘Future Music Award’ and released my first independent single, ‘Follow You Home.’īRIT was such a unique experience. I spent four years studying music alongside regularly gigging, performing or recording after school and on weekends. The following year I was lucky enough to be accepted to The BRIT School. But crucially, I found the self-confidence that I needed to continue. Not only because I went on to win the contest that year, but I also met lots of other talented musicians, many of whom I still work with regularly to this day. It was all very new to me and I’m so glad I took part. This was the first time I had ever performed my original music outside of school concerts, and there I was, playing to the streets of London. Nine years ago, I entered a performance contest in London called GIGS: Big Busk.

#Just dance 2020 aanbieding movie

As I was only 11 years old at the time, the songs were mostly about movie stars I admired, but I knew then that I wanted to continue writing songs and develop my music.Īt just 22, you've achieved a lot of success. I switched to an acoustic guitar and began to write my own songs. I remember the very first time I heard Taylor Swift – I was in complete awe of her ability to narrate through lyric and song.

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From the age of five, I learned how to play classical guitar and began training in musical theater. Music and performance have always been a really big part of my life. When did you discover your spark for music and songwriting? NATALIE SHAY, an indie pop artist and guitarist from London, shares her experiences as a female singer-songwriter and provides some tips for young newcomers looking to break into the music industry.

Uncharted-Nathan Drake Coll.Natalie Shay on Writing Songs in a Changing Music Industry.

Trollhunters Defenders of Arcadia: 27,98.

Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz HD: 19,98.

Plants vs Zombies – Battle for Neigh: 19,98.

Pillars of Eternity 2-Deadfire Ulti.: 29,98.

Need for Speed-Hot Pursuit Remastere: 29,98.

Horizon-Zero Dawn Complete Edition-: 9,98.

Ghost Recon-Breakpoint Auroa Edition: 14,98.

Farming Simulator 19 Platinum Editio: 29,98.

Far Cry-New Dawn Superbloom Edition: 14,98.

Crash Bandicoot 4-It’s About Time: 44,98.

Cities Skylines – Parklife Edition: 19,98.

Captain Tsubasa-Rise of New Champion: 34,98.

Bayonetta and Vanquish Launch Editio: 19,98.

Assassin’s Creed III + Liberation remastered: 19,98.

Wired Controller-Faceoff Deluxe+ Red: 24,98.

Switch Travel Case-Animal Crossing: 18,98.

Steering Wheel Twin Pack Switch-Steelpla: 7,98.

Screen Protector Tempered Glass-Skylab: 4,98.

PS4VR PlayStation VR V2 Mega Pack 5: 234,00.

Keyboard Apex 3 SteelSeries-Qwerty: 69,98.

Keyboard Apex 3 SteelSeries-Azerty: 69,98.

Headset EF Recon 70 Camo Blue-TB: 32,98.

Headset EF Recon 200-Turtle Beach: 34,98.

Headset Ear Force Stealth 600 V2 TB: 89,98.

Headset Ear Force Stealth 600 PS4-TB: 89,98.

DeluxeTravel Case (klein)-BigBen: 18,98.

Deluxe Travel Case-Super Mario Odyssey-B: 18,98.

Deluxe Travel Case-Mario Characters-BB: 18,98.

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Controller Revolution Pro 3-Nacon: 89,98.

2 Controller Charging Station-Skylab: 7,98.

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PS4 Slim 500GB+Hits Horizon Zero Dawn+Spider-man: 289,00.

Niet alleen games zijn tijdelijk flink in prijs verlaagd maar ook consoles en accessoires waaronder headsets en controllers.ĭit zijn alle Black Friday-aanbiedingen van de Game Mania: Consoles Ook de Game Mania is begonnen met een flinke Black Friday-uitverkoop.

[wildlife-film]

Trailer for The Living Thames from Dorothy Leiper on Vimeo.

Introduced by David Attenborough, and presented by environmentalist Chris Baines, The Living Thames is an odyssey along the river as it meanders through London and flows out to sea, exploring its ever-changing ecology.

The Thames is Britain’s most famous river. Nevertheless, many people don’t know very much about it. For millions who see it every day, it’s a mystery.

Sixty years ago the Thames was severely polluted. Many people still see it as dead and dirty.

The reality, however, is completely different. Thanks to the dedicated work of many, the Thames has recovered dramatically to become one of the cleanest inner-city rivers in Europe, and teems with life.

AWARDS

Winner, Best Long-form Film, Charity Film Awards, 2019 Silver Award, Latitude Film Awards, 2019 Best Documentary Feature, Madrid International Film Festival, 2019 Award of Merit Special Mention: Nature / Environment / Wildlife, Accolade Global Film Competition, 2019 Best Director of a Feature Documentary, Milan International Filmmaker Festival, 2019 Award of Excellence: On-Camera Talent (Chris Baines), The IndieFEST Film Awards, 2019 Award of Excellence: Documentary, Cinema World Fest Awards, 2019 Award of Merit Special Mention: Documentary Feature, Impact DOCS Awards, 2020 Festival Award, L’Age d’Or International Arthouse Film Festival, India, 2020 Gold Award Winner: Film on Nature / Environment / Wildlife, Virgin Spring Cinefest, India, 2020 Best Nature / Environment / Wildlife Film, World Film Carnival, Singapore, 2020 Winner, Cult Critic Movie Award for Best Film on Nature / Environment / Wildlife, Kolkata, India, 2020

NOMINATIONS

North Europe International Film Festival, London, 2020: Best Scientific and Education Film; Best Editing in a Documentary L’Age d’Or International Arthouse Film Festival, India, 2020: Pigeon d'Or Award (Best Nature / Environment / Wildlife Film) World Independent Cinema Awards, Antwerp, October 2020: Best Feature Documentary; Best Director of a Feature Documentary; Best Scientific & Educational Film Cult Critic Movie Awards, Kolkata, India, September 2020: Jean-Luc Godard Award (Best Film on Nature / Environment / Wildlife) Virgin Spring Cinefest, India, November 2020: Golden Galaxy Award (Best Film on Nature / Environment / Wildlife)

OFFICIAL SELECTION FOR

The Barnes Film Festival, London, 2018 The Totally Thames Festival, London, 2018 UK Monthly Film Festival, May 2019 Sofia Science Festival, Bulgaria, 2019 Flickers' Rhode Island International Film Festival, USA, 2019 Changing Face International Film Festival, Sydney, Australia, 2020

CREDITS

Director of Photography CLIVE GILL Lighting Cameraman TOM WEBSTER Aerial Drone Filming AERIAL CREATIVE Location Sound CORMAC TOHILL, KARL MADERT Sound Design MARIE TUEJE Original Score ISIN ERAY Sound Postproduction Facility SOUND DISPOSITION Graphic Design KELLIE JERRARD Visual Effects GARY SCHWARTZ Colourist JONATHAN STRUDWICK Co-Producer AMY PRYOR, THAMES ESTUARY PARTNERSHIP Producer Consultant RAY DAVIES Production Assistant ANGELICA COFER Produced, directed and edited by DOROTHY LEIPER Distribution FILM VOLT LTD

[sjrresearch]

The History of Video Games with Historical Themes

Video games based on historical events and epochs have been in abundance for some time. From the PC release of Call of Duty to the more fictional approaches of the Assassin’s Creed series, gamers have been spoiled rotten with digitized history. It’s fairly commonplace for a new console generation to be met with more than a dozen titles steeped with real-world history, but it’s not just a recent trend. Trace the timeline of historical games back far enough, and you’ll find yourself at the very start of the gaming industry. We may have Assassin’s Creed, Civilization, and Age of Empires now, but the earliest incarnations of historical titles were quite different.

The Earliest Days of Historical Entertainment

One could argue that one of if not the first video games based on history can be attributed to the long-forgotten Magnavox Odyssey. It’s such a long-lost gem of the industry that the Odyssey is often overlooked for later, far more popular releases like the Atari 2600. Released in September 1972, Magnavox’s system was the first commercial gaming console. Though it had a relatively small library, among the simplistic games was a light gun game named Prehistoric Safari. It may not have been ripe with historical information, but the shooter pit players against then-accurate depictions of prehistoric beasts. 

Prehistory is relatively difficult for any living person to relate to, but the 1970s were also an age for Wild West entertainment. Clint Eastwood was still clinging onto his cowboy persona with movies like High Plains Drifter (1973) and Two Mules for Sister Sara (1970) and John Wayne’s career was nearing its end. For gamers, 1975 brought about Gun Fight, a two-player arcade shooter initially released by Japanese creator Tomohiro Nishikado of Taito and later Midway. Limited by the technology, Gun Fight was a fairly rudimentary depiction of the west that relied heavily on visual design to remotely feel like a western. There was no story, but the two cowboys fit the stereotypical depiction of historically accurate high-crown hats and spurs.

Making Great Improvements in the 80s

The 1980s moved the clock forward a bit, leaving behind the antiquated depictions of dinosaurs in favor of games riddled with historical references. One of the first video games to depict war and rival the popular board-based or pencil-and-paper wargames was Atari’s Eastern Front. The title may be taboo today as players lead Germany’s march into the Soviet Union, but its advanced AI helped earn it the Creative Computing Game of the Year award (1981).

Only a month after Eastern Front released, Muse Software delivered Castle Wolfenstein to the Apple II. Muse went a different route than Eastern Front, pitting players in the role of an Allied spy on the hunt for secret German war plans. Castle Wolfenstein was among the first stealth games, though the concept didn’t gain popularity until the late 90s. While the story of the captured Allied spy is all fictional, the game integrates truths from World War II, including the inclusion of SS Stormtroopers and the spy’s use of a Mauser C96 handgun.

Within a decade, World War II and, in some cases, World War I became a popular setting for a range of genres. Capcom emphasized specific conflicts in the Pacific Theater with 1942 (1984) and 1943: The Battle of Midway (1987). In both games, players control an Allied pilot fighting against the Japanese over the waters near Tokyo and the Midway Atoll. Without the cut scenes or the storage needed for ample exposition, games like 1942 and 1943 were shallow in their world history. Some titles, such as Conflict Vietnam (1986, Microprose), dug a little deeper into their conflict utilizing scrolling text as a primary source of historical commentary. In many cases, for the sake of entertainment, some aspects of the game, such as aerial fighter weaponry, were exaggerated.  

Many World War II games emerged throughout the 80s, spanning genres from submarine simulators (Silent Service) to flight simulators (Battlehawks 1942, Air Warrior) and early incarnations of digital strategy games (P.T.O., Conqueror). However, during the 90s, technological advancements in PC and console gaming provided developers with the tools to flood an emerging genre of historical video games. While World War II gaming became a market of its own, a broader scope of history was about to be rooted in 3D adventures as both forms of entertainment and education.

Historical Gaming Gets Modern

At the onset of the 1990s, Sid Meier, co-founder of MicroProse, designed a turn-based strategy game that offered pockets of basic information for its players. Entertainment was more the driving factor for Civilization (1991). According to an Ars Technica article on Civilization’s origin, Meier and co-creator Bruce Shelley relied heavily on children’s history books to flesh out the touches of history referenced in the game. The series has since progressed to be more informational, though still keeping to the core value of fun.

Throughout the 90s, series like Panzer General (1994), Steel Panthers (1995), Close Combat (1996), and Aces of the Pacific (1992) took a strategic approach to depict historical conflicts, primarily World War II. The decade also saw scattered releases, like Hellcats Over the Pacific (1991), Soldiers at War (1998), and Barbarossa (1992). While strategic war games would continue to garner popularity into the 2000s with series like Company of Heroes (2006), developers were finding ways to put players amid the battle with action-packed adventures.

There are several games that some would say launched the popularity of first-person shooters set in a historical period. Medal of Honor (1999), Battlefield 1942 (2002), and Call of Duty (2003) may be seen as pioneers of the genre, but id Software was the first to immerse gamers in a first-person World War II shooter. Granted, the exploits of William “B.J.” Blazkowicz were a fictionalized history, but Wolfenstein 3D (1992), the follow-up to Castle Wolfenstein, showed that the past was fluid and could be tinkered with for the sake of an exciting story. It’s an idea that developers still toy with, as seen in newer installments of the Wolfenstein series, Resistance: Fall of Man (2006), and Assassin’s Creed (2007). The backdrops are real, historical events, but the narratives are fictional takes that only skim the surface of reality.

At the turn of the century, historical war games started to become gritty and real. Medal of Honor popularized wartime first-person shooters, which blossomed into a genre of their own. Battlefield and Call of Duty followed suit, releasing a line of World War II shooters before branching out into other conflicts, including Vietnam, World War I, and the Cold War. Each entry followed a fictional character, but the scenarios and locations were all pulled from history books. Other shooters, including Day of Defeat (2003) and Brothers in Arms (2005), followed suit, throwing players into the midst of known conflicts to tell dramatic stories.

While war shooters grew in popularity, The Creative Assembly started churning out some of the most historically accurate strategic titles. With the launch of Shogun: Total War (2000), the British developer introduced players to gameplay that balanced accuracy and functionality. Massive wars unfolded across realistic battlefields as players commanded armies and historical units across multiple generations and civilizations. The 2019 release of Total War: Three Kingdoms is often considered the “pinnacle of Total War’s evolution.”

Historical gaming continues to grow and evolve as the video game industry does. New innovations push developers to find new and exciting ways to engage players, as seen with the reveal of the virtual reality title, Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond (2020). Whether intended to educate or entertain, the titles that mark the long timeline of historical video games have helped flesh out a genre that, so long as there are stories to be told, will continue to thrive.

At SJR Research, we specialize in creating compelling narratives and provide research to give your game the kind of details that engage your players and create a resonant world they want to spend time in. If you are interested in learning more about our gaming research services, you can browse SJR Research’s service on our site at SJR Research.

[dweemeister]

2023 Movie Odyssey Awards

And now, the penultimate step to conclude the 20223 Movie Odyssey. The Movie Odyssey Awards honor the best in films that I saw for the first time last calendar year for me. Rewatches do not count. Other eligibility rules (such as whether or not a “TV movie” versus a “streaming movie” can count can be found here).

All of these films that were nominated or won (except for Worst Picture) are worth your time and are worth seeking. Even some of the most flawed films I saw this year managed a nomination somewhere - it helps there are ten nominees per category. And, as always, my Best Picture winners are my highest recommendations of the year.

There's also a new category this year! Another music category (some of you are already sighing, I know) in the form of Best Original Score Cue.

Best Pictures (I'm naming ten, I'm not distinguishing one above the other nine)

Anatomy of a Fall (2023, France)

The Color Purple (1985)

I Know Where I’m Going! (1945)

Killers of the Flower Moon (2023)

The Last Command (1928)

Oppenheimer (2023)

Past Lives (2023)

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969)

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023)

Tár (2022)

For the second straight year, I have set a record low for the number of feature films that I saw in a calendar year since when this blog began (2012). And on my failure to adhere to my objective on seeing more pre-1980 movies than those released 1980 and after, this Best Picture list skews far more modern than it usually does. This is also the first Movie Odyssey Award for Best Picture slate without a 10/10 rated film.

Six movies from the 2020s doubles the record (set last year, with three) of Best Picture winners that have come from the current decade.

Anatomy of a Fall, through its courtroom drama lens, remarks on unknowability of even the people we love most. Steven Spielberg's adaptation of Alice Walker's novel The Color Purple is melodrama (a word I'm using here in the neutral sense) of the first order, and tenderly told. The romance I Know Where I'm Going! is not often mentioned when it comes to Powell and Pressburger films (it seems like their first postbellum film despite being set during WWII), but I think scholarship is coming around on that (and I approve).

Martin Scorsese looks like he is getting a lot of short shrift from critics and the industry for Killers of the Flower Moon as another movie dominates 2023's headlines instead. But I thought his adaptation of David Grann's non-fiction book was the best release of 2023, a dramatic epic set on the Oklahoma prairie retelling a horrible saga that American history forgot. Director Josef von Sternberg and Emil Jannings may have had a tumultuous working relationship, but this visually striking silent film makes incredible use of blocking of extras and an arguably career-best performance by Jannings.

Taking much of Killers of the Flower Moon's thunder is Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer, surely one of the movies to define 2023. Nolan's 181-minute biopic epic is arguably his most humanistic film yet (for a director not known for his humanism). On a far different scale, Celine Song's Past Lives was perhaps one of the best romantic dramas I've ever seen in a theater.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse made its predecessor look safe by comparison with its wild variety of styles. Points off for its necessarily heavy exposition and incomplete narrative (it is the first part of two), but its radical background changes, ever-changing color palette, and comprehensible action choreography put the MCU to shame.

Lastly, Tár was very much overshadowed by Everything Everywhere All At Once last year, perhaps unfairly so (it doesn't help that when people hear that the film is immersed in the world of classical music, they immediately lose interest). And The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie was perhaps the film that shocked me the most all year, partly due to my expectations beforehand. Maggie Smith plays the title character in an atypical "teacher movie".

Best Comedy

American Fiction (2023)

Beauty’s Worth (1922)

Beverly of Graustark (1926)

Block-Heads (1938)

Fanfan la Tulipe (1952, France)

The Ghost and Mr. Chicken (1966)

Heathers (1988)

The Holdovers (2023)

My Year of Dicks (2022 short)

An Ostrich Told Me the World is Fake and I Think I Believe It (2021 short)

This comes down to which movie made me laugh the most. I don't think this was that great a year on the comedy end, but Alexander Payne's The Holdovers is destined to be a Christmas classic. A Christmas classic for the sadsacks among us.

I thought The Ghost and Mr. Chicken was going to be utterly terrible. I mean, look at that frigging title. I respect Don Knotts for his Andy Griffith Show work, but I have to be in the right mood. But boy, it was ideal October viewing when I didn't want to watch a straight horror movie. Attaboy, Luther!

Appearing from the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film slate last year are My Year of Dicks and An Ostrich Told Me the World is Fake and I Think I Believe It. If I was still doing the Movie Odyssey For-Fun Awards, those two would tie for "Best Title". Not even close. It helps that they both made me laugh a lot!

Best Musical

Barsaat (1949, India)

Carmen Jones (1954)

Êsse Mundo é Meu (This World is Mine) (1964, Brazil)

The Fabulous Senorita (1952)

Girls! Girls! Girls! (1962)

Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (2022)

Sparkle (1976)

Sun Valley Serenade (1941)

This is the Army (1943)

Trời Sáng Rồi, Ta Ngủ Đi Thôi (Good Morning and Good Night) (2019, Vietnam)

This category has always advantaged original musicals rather than stage adaptations. And the more songs, the better. Just edging out Barsaat and Sun Valley Serenade is Carmen Jones, an adaptation of Oscar Hammerstein II's adaptation of George Bizet's Carmen. Bizet's music remains; Hammerstein wrote the lyrics. Instead of Sevilla, we find ourselves in the American South and all-black cast starring Harry Belafonte, Dorothy Dandridge as Carmen, Pearl Bailey, Olga James, and Joe Adams. An important work, and one of the very few major studio Hollywood movies with an all-black cast. You'll have to get used to both Dandridge and Belafonte being dubbed (their voices not suitable to sing in an operatic style, so director Otto Preminger thought). however.

Sparkle could have won this had they adhered more to the late '50s/'60s Motown sound a lot more faithfully. And if, narratively, the movie was better.

Best Animated Feature

The Boy and the Heron (2023, Japan)

Ernest & Celestine: A Trip To Gibberitia (2022, France)

Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio

Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (2021)

My Father’s Dragon (2022)

Nimona (2023)

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022)

The Sea Beast (2022)

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Suzume (2022, Japan)

ATSV wins this category, but Ernest & Celestine took my heart yet again. Do yourself a favor: please see both the 2012 original and the sequel. The former is one of the best animated features of the young century and though the latter is not as good as the original, it's still very much worth your time.

I was a little disappointed in The Boy and the Heron and, to be honest, I disliked Marcel the Shell and Nimona - an opinion that, if I said this any louder, would invoke the wrath of many on tumblr. Cartoon Saloon misses for the first time with My Father's Dragon. The hot streak had to end some time! Puss in Boots was the biggest surprise in terms of expectations versus how good the movie actually was.

Best Documentary

Fire of Love (2022)

For Tomorrow (2023, Canada)

In Living Memory (2022 short)

Pianoforte (2023, Poland)

Refuge After War (2023)

The Stroll (2023)

Seen as part of the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. An HBO documentary, The Stroll is made by two transgender directors telling the story of the sex workers strolling around New York City's Meatpacking District in the 1980s and '90s, many of whom were transgender. I'm usually not a fan of documentaries where the directors are also subjects/have close ties to the material, but The Stroll is one of those rare exceptions. Beautifully told.

The classical music lover in me also deeply enjoyed Pianoforte, which follows a handful of young contestants (I think there's an age limit) at the XVIII International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw in 2021. One girl I recall said something akin to "I wish to play beautifully and with personality, but I also don't want to make a mistake!" Sorry miss, you've gotta do both! Also, I wonder how many of them hate Chopin's guts after competing in something like that.

Best Non-English Language Film

Anatomy of a Fall, France

Barsaat, India

Ernest & Celestine: A Trip to Gibberitia, France

Êsse Mundo é Meu (This World is Mine), Brazil

Fanfan la Tulipe, France

Fellini Satyricon (1969), Italy

Godzilla Minus One (2023), Japan

The Quiet Girl (2022), Ireland

Shayda (2023), Australia

Suzume, Japan

A relatively weak year in this category, and way too many films in here than there should be from this decade. But I'll highlight here Êsse Mundo é Meu, which I saw last February at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in LA (I would go more often if I didn't live so far). The film, an exemplar of Cinema Novo (taking inspiration from the French New Wave and Italian neorealism, a rejection of Brazilian popular musical and comedies at the time. The print was in bad shape, and the Museum had to recreate the English subtitles by themselves. But it was a wonderful film, and, unfortunately, it is rarely screened outside of Brazil. I highly doubt I'll see the likes of it again.

I'm still not sure what to make of Fellini's fantastical period, which took off after Juliet of the Spirits (1965, Italy).

Best Silent Film

Alice’s Wonderland (1923 short)

Beauty’s Worth

Beverly of Graustark

Clash of the Wolves (1925)

The Last Command

The Oath of the Sword (1914 short)

Something Good – Negro Kiss (1898 short)

With thanks to the San Diego Asian Film Festival for their screening of The Oath of the Sword, the oldest-surviving (that we know of) film made entirely by an Asian American film company and starring a nearly all-Asian cast.

I need to see more silent films next year.

Personal Favorite Film (TIE)

Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret. (2023)

Barbie (2023)

Don’t Bother to Knock (1952)

Ernest & Celestine: A Trip to Gibberitia

Gentleman Jim (1942)

Godzilla Minus One

Ice Merchants (2022 short, Portugal)

The Strawberry Blonde (1941)

Sun Valley Serenade

Wee Willie Winkie (1937)

Godzilla Minus One was the best experience I had in a theater this last year, especially as a fan of Toho's kaiju films.

You can watch Ice Merchants, the highest-rated short film I've seen in years, here. And of course, the Academy disagreed with me.

Best Director

Guillermo del Toro, Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio

Federico Fellini, Fellini Satyricon

Todd Field, Tár

Ronald Neame, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie

Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, I Know Where I’m Going!

Martin Scorsese, Killers of the Flower Moon

Celine Song, Past Lives

Steven Spielberg, The Color Purple

Josef von Sternberg, The Last Command

Justine Triet, Anatomy of a Fall

This is not the best film from Powell and Pressburger, but I Know Where I'm Going! is a fascinating, quickly-shot film that I maintain is underrated in their filmography. You know it was an underwhelming year for me, when I'm not really feeling any of these ten for Best Director. But it had to be awarded to someone.

Best Acting Ensemble

Angels (2023, Vietnam)

The Color Purple

Don’t Bother to Knock

Heathers

The Holdovers

Killers of the Flower Moon

Oppenheimer

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie

The Sea Wolf (1941)

Women Talking (2022)

Whoopi Goldberg, Margaret Avery, Danny Glover, Adolph Caesar, Rae Dawn Chong,Oprah Winfrey, Desreta Jackson, Willard Pugh, Akosua Busia, Laurence Fishburne, Howard Starr... everyone, take a bow. Some career-defining performances in there, enough to evoke tears out of me multiple times. The Color Purple an obvious choice for me here.

If you were to have me pick runners-ups? Probably The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. Killers of the Flower Moon.

Best Actor

Humphrey Bogart, Black Legion (1937)

James Cagney, The Strawberry Blonde

Albert Finney, Murder on the Orient Express (1974)

Brendan Fraser, The Whale (2022)

Hiệp Trần Nghĩa, The Accidental Getaway Driver (2023)

Emil Jannings, The Last Command

Roger Livesey, I Know Where I’m Going!

Bill Nighy, Living (2022)

Vincent Price, Witchfinder General (1968)

Edward G. Robinson, The Sea Wolf

I watched a lot of Vincent Price late in 2023. The Las Vegas Story (1952), House of Wax (1953), The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971). Witchfinder General, also known in the U.S. as The Conquerer Worm, was the role I was least familiar with. And oh my goodness is he excellent here. Price plays Matthew Hopkins, a 17th century English witch hunter, and this is perhaps Price's least sympathetic villain that I have seen. The direction might not be all that great, but give Price a non-campy, sadistic role and he will deliver.

Cagney is vastly underappreciated in The Strawberry Blonde, Humphrey Bogart is surprisingly gullible in Black Legion, and Bill Nighy breaks hearts in Living (a remake of Akira Kurosawa's Ikiru).

Best Actress (TIE)

Lucille Ball, Lured (1947)

Cate Blanchett, Tár

Marion Davies, Beverly of Graustark

Dorothy Dandridge, Carmen Jones

Lily Gladstone, Killers of the Flower Moon

Whoopi Goldberg, The Color Purple

Olivia de Havilland, The Strawberry Blonde

Greta Lee, Past Lives

Marilyn Monroe, Don’t Bother to Knock

Maggie Smith, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie

I... couldn't make a choice. So I made two choices. Whoopi is extraordinary in her breakthrough role. Her physical acting helps us intuit the changing fortunes and self-belief of her character, and never resorting to histrionics as some actresses might. A beautifully nuanced performance.

A little less nuanced is Maggie Smith as Ms. Brodie. Easily one of the most memorable teacher movies I have seen, and it is Smith - giving her all to one of the a most complicated character - who makes it work perfectly.

Runners-up? Blanchett, Davies, Dandridge, and Gladstone. This category was fantastic this year.

Best Supporting Actor

Sterling K. Brown, American Fiction (2023)

Elisha Cook Jr., Don’t Bother to Knock

Robert De Niro, Killers of the Flower Moon

Danny Glover, The Color Purple

Milo Machado-Graner, Anatomy of a Fall

Dustin Nguyen, The Accidental Getaway Driver

George Sanders, Lured

Dominic Sessa, The Holdovers

Christian Slater, Heathers

Teo Yoo, Past Lives

George Sanders? A romantic interest in a noir? What? Well he is here, a departure (perhaps) from his debonair villainous roles. You can always depend on Sanders to deliver. Also considered De Niro here.

Best Supporting Actress

Margaret Avery, The Color Purple

Pearl Bailey, Carmen Jones

Ingrid Bergman, Murder on the Orient Express

Joan Blackman, The Great Impostor (1961)

Hong Chau, The Whale

Sherry Cola, Shortcomings (2023)

Pamela Franklin, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie

Rita Hayworth, The Strawberry Blonde

Oprah Winfrey, The Color Purple

Selina Zahednia, Shayda

Seen at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, virtually. Shayda is an Australian movie in which Iranian mother Shayda (Zahra Amir Ebrahimi) seeks refuge in an Australian women's shelter during Nowruz, Persian New Year. Selina Zahednia plays the daughter, Mona, and gives one of the best and most believable child performances of the young century.

Avery, Franklin, and Oprah Winfrey would have been next up.

Best Adapted Screenplay

Cord Jefferson, American Fiction

Menno Meyjes, The Color Purple

Daniel Taradash and Charlotte Armstrong, Don’t Bother to Knock

Eric Roth and Martin Scorsese, Killers of the Flower Moon

Kazuo Ishiguro, Living

Leo Rosten, Lured

Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer

Jay Presson Allen, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie

Robert Rossen, The Sea Wolf

Sarah Polley, Women Talking

Complain about the 3-hour runtime all you want. I just don't see how anything could've been cut; in fact, I think Roth and Scorsese could've added more context. What pushes them over the top here was their commitment - however flawed - to take the focus away from what was originally a more white savior-y approach to its current form. An extremely risky ending acknowledges more than it lets on.

Best Original Screenplay

Justine Triet and Arthur Harari, Anatomy of a Fall

Abem Finkel and William Wister Haines, Black Legion

Daniel Waters, Heathers

David Hemingson, The Holdovers

Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, I Know Where I’m Going!

Celine Song, Past Lives

Garry Michael White, Scarecrow (1973)

Noora Niasari, Shayda

Makoto Shinkai Suzume

Todd Field, Tár

To descirbe the plot: Manchester native Joan Webster (Wendy Hiller) departs for the Scottish Hebrides in order to marry a wealthy industrialist she has never met. While awaiting the Scottish fog to clear, she meets a Royal Navy officer (Roger Livesey), who is happy to show her the sights and introduce her to the locals, whose humble lives are as far away from the war as could be possible.

Paramount Pictures (who didn't distribute the film) used this film's screenplay to their writer as an example of what a "perfect screenplay" looked like. Okay, it isn't perfect. But it's really damn good.

Best Cinematography

Dương Lê, Angels

Allen Daviau, The Color Purple

Êsse Mundo é Meu (This World is Mine)

Giuseppe Rotunno, Fellini Satyricon

Erwin Hillier, I Know Where I’m Going!

Rodrigo Prieto, Killers of the Flower Moon

Bert Glennon, The Last Command

Dewey Wrigley, My Friend Flicka (1943)

James Wong Howe, The Strawberry Blonde

Florian Hoffmeister, Tár

Best Film Editing

Nick Houy, Barbie

Jack Killifer, Gentleman Jim

John Seabourne, Sr., I Know Where I’m Going!

Thelma Schoonmaker, Killers of the Flower Moon

Michelle Tesoro, Maestro (2023)

Eddie Hamilton, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)

Jennifer Lame, Oppenheimer

Norman Savage, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie

Mike Andrews, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Monika Willi, Tár

Best Adaptation or Musical Score

Irving Berlin, This is the Army

David Buttolph, Cyril J. Mockridge, and Emil Newman, Sun Valley Serenade

Herschel Burke Gilbert, Carmen Jones

Alexandre Desplat, Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio

Joseph L. Lilley, Girls! Girls! Girls!

Curtis Mayfield, Sparkle

Jaikishan Dayabhai Panchal and Shankarsingh Raghuwanshi, Barsaat

Phạm Hải Âu, Trời Sáng Rồi, Ta Ngủ Đi Thôi (Good Morning and Good Night)

Heinz Roemheld, The Strawberry Blonde

Naoki Sato, Godzilla Minus One

This category awards film scores from musical movies or film scores that are taking a lot of pre-existing material and employing variations, but not enough to be considered a more original score. This category also tends to favor musicals, full stop.

And that's what we find here with Sun Valley Serenade taking its 4th and 8th place finishes in MOABOS for a solid, solid musical score.

Best Original Score

Richard Rodney Bennett, Murder on the Orient Express

Danny Elfman, Batman (1989)

Allan Gray, I Know Where I’m Going!

Maurice Jarre, The Island at the Top of the World (1974)

Quincy Jones, The Color Purple

Henry Mancini, The Great Impostor

Alfred Newman, My Friend Flicka

RADWIMPS and Kazuma Jinnouchi, Suzume

Dimitri Tiomkin, Land of the Pharaohs (1955)

John Williams, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023)

Hans Zimmer, The Creator (2023)

The Ancient Egyptian language no longer exists in spoken form, as does any of that civilization's music. So what to do? Hire the one composer in Old Hollywood that you could fling into a historical cultural context so unlike his own and make it sound as genuine as he could get it (even if I'm sure no ancient Egyptian would understand the score too much). Dimitri Tiomkin came from a Russian Jewish family that lived in what is now Ukraine. He was a master of American Westerns and was also accomplished in films set in ancient Greece and Rome. He composes for Land of the Pharaohs one of the most musically interesting epic scores of the 1950s - I just wish there were better, cleaner, more modern recordings of this music!

Danny Elfman's score to Batman the runner-up here (that score played an important part in Batman: The Animated Series, and gave composer/conductor Shirley Walker a very important foothold in the film and television industry), but Richard Rodney Bennett, Quincy Jones, John Williams, and even Hans Zimmer (whom longtime readers will know I have a difficult relationship in terms of his post-Gladiator scores... but my gosh, he composes striking melodies again in The Creator!) are all worthy nominees here.

Best Original Score Cue

“Appel à la resistance”, Vincent Courtois, Ernest & Celestine: A Trip To Gibberitia

“The Building of the Tomb”, Dimitri Tiomkin, Land of the Pharaohs

“Cat Chase”, Kazuma Jinnouchi and RADWIMPS, Suzume

“Helena’s Theme”, John Williams, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

“Main Title”, Danny Elfman, Batman

“Main Title/Pharaoh’s Procession”, Dimitri Tiomkin, Land of the Pharaohs

“Nueva York Train Chase”, Daniel Pemberton, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

“Quantum Mechanics”, Ludwig Göransson, Oppenheimer

“Top Gun Anthem”, Harold Faltermeyer, Top Gun (1986)

“True Love”, Hans Zimmer, The Creator

Our newest category! Yes, a fourth music category. MOABOSC. Okay, let's not.

I've actually wanted to create this category for some time, but I never did so until now. A film score cue is simply any single track heard in a movie, as you may have guessed. No lyrics (that's a song). Must be an original composition.

And it's John Williams who picks the inaugural award up for "Helena's Theme". Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is not the greatest movie. But Williams, now at 91, can compose scores and cues that other composers would sell their souls to compose material half as good. "Helena's Theme" is the dominant new idea in Dial of Destiny. Helena, played by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, is Indy's goddaughter. And her motif, mainly expressed through strings, is a romantic line that harkens to Erich Wolfgang Korngold (a classical music composer who crossed over into films, set the sound for Warner Bros. swashbuckler movies from the 1930s-40s, and established many norms of film scoring still in place today). A tremendous piece from Williams.

Runners-up behind Williams? Elfman, Tiomkin (for the main titles), Pemberton, and Zimmer.

Best Original Song

“Chattanooga Choo Choo”, music by Harry Warren, lyrics by Mack Gordon, Sun Valley Serenade

“Ciao Papa”, music by Alexandre Desplat, lyrics by Roeban Katz and Guillermo del Toro, Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio

“Danger Zone”, music and lyrics by Giorgio Moroder and Tom Whitlock, Top Gun

“Êsse Mundo é Meu (This World is Mine)”, music by Sérgio Ricardo, lyrics by Sérgio Ricardo and Ruy Guerra, Esse Mundo é Meu

“Hooked on Your Love”, music and lyrics by Curtis Mayfield, Sparkle

“I Know Why (And So Do You)”, music by Harry Warren, lyrics by Mack Gordon, Sun Valley Serenade

“I’m Just Ken”, music and lyrics by Mark Ronson and Andrw Wyatt, Barbie

“Miss Celie’s Blues (Sister)”, music by Quincy Jones and Rod Temperton, lyrics by Quincy Jones, Rod Temperton, and Lionel Richie, The Color Purple

“Qu-est-ce qu’on fait de l’amour? (What Do We Do with Love?)”, music and lyrics by Vincent Courtois, Ernest & Celestine: A Trip To Gibberitia

“Suzume”, music and lyrics by RADWIMPS, Suzume

Thanks to all of you who participated in MOABOS this year!

Best Costume Design

Jacqueline Durran, Barbie

André-ani, Kathleen Kay, and Maude Marsh, Beverly of Graustark

Rosemary Odell,The Black Shield of Falworth (1954)

Aggie Guerard Rodgers, The Color Purple

Danilo Donati, Fellini Satyricon

Jacqueline West, Killers of the Flower Moon

Norma Moriceau, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985)

Tony Walton, Murder on the Orient Express

Joan Bridge and Elizabeth Haffenden, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie

Orry-Kelly, The Strawberry Blonde

Best Makeup and Hairstyling

Paul Engelen and Colin Jamison, Batman

Uncredited, Beauty’s Worth

Ken Chase and Robert L. Stevenson, The Color Purple

Gordon Bau, House of Wax (1953)

Emile LaVigne and Ann Locker, Land of the Pharaohs

Elizabeth Ann Fardon, Helen Evans, Rosalind Da Silva, and Cheryl Newton, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome

Kazu Hiro, Sian Grigg, Duncan Jarman, Michael Mekash, and Kay Georgiou, Maestro

Stuart Freeborn, John O’Gorman, Charles E. Parker, and Ramon Gow, Murder on the Orient Express

Gordon Bau and Jean Burt Reilly, The Omega Man (1971)

Adrien Morot, Judy Chin, and Annemarie Bradley-Sherron, The Whale

I wonder how audiences though of the makeup in 3D back in the 1950s. Yes, House of Wax was filmed in 3D when it was a fad for the first time.

Best Production Design                                       

Sarah Greenwood, Barbie

Anton Furst and Peter Young, Batman

Uncredited, Fellini Satyricon

Ted Smith, Gentleman Jim

Curt Enderle and Guy Davis, Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio

John Paul Kelly, A Haunting in Venice (2023)

Jack Fisk, Killers of the Flower Moon

Hans Dreier, The Last Command

Jack Stephens, Murder on the Orient Express

Anton Grot, The Sea Wolf

Achievement in Visual Effects

Alice’s Wonderland

All Quiet on the Western Front (2022)

Barbie

Batman

The Creator

Godzilla Minus One

In Which We Serve (1942)

The Island at the Top of the World

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One

Oppenheimer

Top Gun: Maverick (2022)

All of these films are winners. You can't make me judge the visual effects from a 2020s movie versus a '40s movie. Come on now.

Worst Picture

Barbarella (1968)

King Kong vs. Godzilla (1963, Japan)

Mười: Lời nguyền trở lại (Muoi: The Curse Returns) (2022, Vietnam)

Treasure Island (1973)

Wish (2023)

Because holy cow. What even was low-budget major studio animation in America in the 1970s?

Honorary Awards:

The Film Foundation, for their tireless devotion to the preservation and restoration of classic world cinema

Ben Model, for composing wonderful scores for silent films and helping to preserve the memory of the silent film experience

FILMS WITH MULTIPLE NOMINATIONS (excluding Worst Picture... 51) Thirteen: The Color Purple

Ten: Killers of the Flower Moon

Eight: The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie

Seven: I Know Where I’m Going!, The Strawberry Blonde

Six: Barbie, Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, The Last Command, Murder on the Orient Express (1974), Oppenheimer, Suzume, Tár

Five: Anatomy of a Fall, Batman, Don’t Bother to Knock, Ernest & Celestine: A Trip to Gibberitia, Fellini Satyricon, Past Lives, Sun Valley Serenade

Four: Beverly of Graustark, Êsse Mundo é Meu, Godzilla Minus One, Heathers, Land of the Pharaohs, The Sea Wolf

Three: American Fiction, Barsaat, Beauty’s Worth, The Creator, Gentleman Jim, Lured, Shayda, Sparkle, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, The Whale

Two: The Accidental Getaway Driver, Angels, Black Legion, Fanfan la Tulipe, Girls! Girls! Girls!, The Great Impostor, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, The Island at the Top of the World, Living, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, Maestro, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, My Friend Flicka, This is the Army, Top Gun, Trời Sáng Rồi, Ta Ngủ Đi Thôi (Good Morning and Good Night), Women Talking

WINNERS (excluding honorary awards and Worst Picture; 32) 4 wins: The Color Purple

3 wins: I Know Where I’m Going!, Killers of the Flower Moon

2 wins: Anatomy of a Fall, Barbie, Godzilla Minus One, The Last Command, Oppenheimer, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

1 win: All Quiet on the Western Front (2022), Batman, Carmen Jones, The Creator, Fellini Satyricon, The Holdovers, House of Wax, Ice Merchants, In Which We Serve, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, The Island at the Top of the World, Land of the Pharaohs, Lured, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, Murder on the Orient Express, Past Lives, Shayda, The Stroll, Sun Valley Serenade, Tár, Top Gun: Maverick, Witchfinder General

86 films were nominated in 27 categories.

[the-master-cylinder]

SUMMARY It is 1998 and the city of Los Angeles has been quarantined off after a plague wiped out 120 million people in the country. Law and order no longer exists, but disease, violence and immorality are running rampant. A young man and his family are being terrorized by a local gang and nobody will help. When the gang kills his grandmother and breaks his legs, the computer savvy cripple goes on the defensive and sets booby traps around the neighborhood. It is war and the traps kill the gang members one by one in the most bizarre and vicious way imaginable.

PRODUCTION “Wired to kill is an original premise,” insists Schaeffer, an occasional science-fiction author and painter. “It isn’t post-nuclear holocaust with a motorcycle gang chasing people across the desert. Wired to Kill isn’t just about guys with spikes on their wrists, either. It’s an avant-garde action film with horrific overtones.”

In a way it’s a social comment on the fact that individuals can stand up and make a difference … and hence, the slogan of the film, which is “If you want history, you’ve got to make your own.”

Schaeffer shot Wired to Kill in 1985 on a $3 million budget. Shooting at a devastating pace,” the independent production wrapped after a breezy eight weeks on California locations, including an abandoned industrial complex that gets blown sky high in the movie.

“It’s loosely based on those movies and they’re some bits of CLOCK WORK ORANGE and THE TERMINATOR in it as well,” said McGuire. “This is definitely a violent film, but what makes it different is the treatment of the violence. We haven’t gone to extremes to glamorize the blood and gore, and those elements never overwhelm the action. Sure there’s a lot of bombs and explosions and people get killed but none of the violence in this movie is treated in an explicit way.”

With a shooting schedule that’s Spartan even by low-budget standards, the Wired to Kill crew literally ran from scene to scene. The editing process, which McGuire described as a lot of quick cuts aimed at the MTV generation, is in keeping with what Schaeffer said are the demands of a 1980’s movie going audience. “The present generation has been raised on television and rock ‘n’ roll,” he said.

SPECIAL EFFECTS “They’ve come to absorb images and information in a space of a few seconds. We edited with that audience in mind.”

Much of the special effects in Wired to Kill were natural effects courtesy of a closed, deserted and decaying steel mill in Fontana, California that served as the gang’s hideout and much of the storyline’s deteriorating landscape. “It was 10 miles of twisted pipes and rusting, littered pieces of steel,” said McGuire. “It was kind of like the spaceship set from ALIEN, and it would have cost a fortune to create. Lucky for us it was just laying there.”

It was on this site that the film’s major man-made special effects scene took place. The gang, in a modified transport vehicle called a Euk, crashes into a 2000-ton tower (in actuality a steel blast furnace that was built at the steel mill during World War II), knocking it down. This effect, accomplished with the aid of outside explosives experts, and others in the film were designed by Peter Chesney of Image Engineering.

“We have a number of special makeup effects, promises writer/director Schaeffer. “In one scene, a booby trapped Walkman sends an electric shock through a guy’s head when he puts it on. Michele built a mask in which the eyeballs popped out. Another fellow’s face burns down to a skull, and yet another snorts acidic cocaine that makes his face foam up. The terminal enema-a villain sits on a motorcycle and a massive blade pounds up was also particularly creative. But each death is tongue-in-cheek, besides being uniquely gruesome. We did things that others would say are too farfetched.”

One of those items, the robot Winston, was designed with some specific goals in mind. “We didn’t want to end up with a robot that was a clone of R2D2,” said McGuire. “We wanted something that wouldn’t grate on people’s nerves and that would look like something that a kid who was a genius would make. This thing has a believable look to it.”

Michelle Burke

Michelle Burke, who won an Academy Award for her makeup work in the film QUEST FOR FIRE, contributed bizarre tattoos worn by gang members and lifelike death masks for the movie’s more violent moments.

American Distribution Group plans to released Wired to kill in late summer/fall 1986. Schaeffer feels confident that his violent actioner will find its target teen audience, even if it’s a story that has been done countless times before.

“There’s never a 100 percent original idea in a movie any way,” he observes. “Everything is derivative of something else. But Wired to Kill looks right into the audience’s eyes and doesn’t blink. Many films give up when it comes to the punchline, they’re not brassy enough and don’t go all the way. Our film doesn’t pretend to be any. thing else. Wired to kill is as unrespectable as can be, it’s a pure revenge story. In that way, we are original.”

Francis Schaeffer

Interview with Francis Schaeffer

 It seems the film is literally about good versus evil. Francis Schaeffer: The plot is an allegory, a twentieth century version of Homer’s “Odyssey” – it’s as simple as that.

You have the forces of fate and evil arrayed against our heroes. Are they going to run away or are they going to stay and make a stand? ‘Steve’ and ‘Rebecca’ exercise their rights as human beings to make moral choices and change history. That’s what this movie is about. They are individuals asserting their rights to remain human and to function as humans, even though there are inhuman forces around them. It’s the same as the individual story of today of someone who refuses to bow, say, to the pressures of a deteriorating neighborhood. It’s the local grocery store owner who says, “I’m not moving out of this neighborhood. I was born and raised here and I’m simply not closing my store and boarding it up just because there’s some punks on the corner who keep robbing my store. I refuse to. I’m gonna draw the line and take a stand.” He’s saying “LET THEM MOVE!”

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Does the film hold out any hope? Francis Schaeffer: Oh, very much so, because I think in our film the hero and heroine are totally vindicated. They not only win their battles, but they do so in a way that proves the individual can triumph over adversity … that you can make choices that will not only change your life but also change the lives around you.

The character of ‘Reegus’ is so educated and articulate, yet he is the driving evil force behind this insane, brutal gang. What does he represent? Francis Schaeffer: The lesson behind ‘Reegus’ is that all the trappings of civilization don’t necessarily make you civilized, and that is what makes him so terrifying. Evil can come in very civilized forms, which is much more frightening than just violent, brutal thugs.

It’s the difference between the mindless psychopathic killer who just happens to kill every person he sees, and the premeditated, cold blooded and sadistic enjoyment of some university humanities professor who’s dismembered some kid in one room then holds a seminar on Nietzsche in the other. The mindless thug you understand. You hate him, you fear him, but you understand his actions.

“Reegus, like that professor, is art and civilization turned on its head. It’s the purest forms of evil with a human face – and that is a helluva lot more terrifying.

Is the scenario of “Wired to kill” plausible? Francis Schaeffer: Well, I think it could be, but basically I feel you should judge a film on its own internal logic.

The point of this film is, given the basic premise of the story, is there an internal logic which holds it together?

It isn’t ‘does this film mirror reality?”. If you want reality, you can stay home. That’s reality. You don’t go to a movie to see reality, you go to a movie to be entertained and stimulated.

But can audiences seeing your film be entertained and stimulated by the extreme violence in “Wired to Kill”? Francis Schaeffer: I would like to frame whatever answer I give on the question of violence in the film in a different sense and that is that all art – and film at its best is art – portrays human conflict.

You cannot make creative and artistic statements unless you portray human conflict, of which violence happens to be the ultimate and central point. It goes back to the Old Testament. All the great tales of human endeavor have centered around conflict and adventure, and the way that has always been portrayed has been through violence.

That is what makes it interesting. That is what makes it entertaining. It’s a very simple formula.

But in the film – Francis Schaeffer: Wait a minute. It’s a very simple formula, but it’s not a movie formula. I don’t like this judgment of violence being something bad – something wrong — with a film, any film. If film has been accepted as an art form, then it should have the same privileges as art forms in the rest of history.

You cannot make creative and artistic statements unless you portray human conflict. Violence is an aspect of human existence. To deprive the filmmaker of that tool is to tell him that he can’t portray the human condition.

I think it’s very strange that film is singled out for being criticized as too violent, when in the area of literature and painting and theatre you’ve always had ultra-violence and nobody makes an issue of it. You don’t give an “X” rating for violence to Shakespeare, or to Milton, or to operas such as “Carmen.” There’s not even a human drama in the scriptures without violent confrontation.

From the point of view of the public, what human beings are most interested in is other people, period. And the most interesting moments of everyone’s life are life – death, birth, sex – elements that make up the human condition. You just can’t set preconditions and say “well, you know, because film is a new medium we’re not going to take it seriously and we’re going to limit what you can put in movies.”

On the other hand, the filmmaker is responsible for the total impact his or her films have on an audience. But I would like to distinguish between gratuitous violence and violence that is essential to portraying conflict.

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What would you like people to say about the film when they leave the theatre? Francis Schaeffer: Well, I don’t know what they’ll say. What I would like the film to do is make the audience think or feel that you just cannot wish evil away. Wishing for a crime-free society doesn’t produce a crime-free society. You cannot have a society in which there is no army and no police force and no recognition of the fact that there are very brutal elements in the human race. I want people to feel when they come out of the movie that whether as individuals confronting evil, or as a nation confronting evil and the totalitarian impulse to destroy, that it takes guts to do so! They cannot be foolishly idealistic about evil — there are fine lines drawn between good and bad, right and wrong, in the moral dimensions of humankind. It is the person with their back against the wall, standing with everything to lose, who makes the moral choice to resist evil. And he or she proves with that choice why the human race is worth preserving. That’s what this movie is about!

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CAST/CREW Directed by Francis Schaeffer Written by Francis Schaeffer

Makeup Department Michèle Burke        makeup artist Peter Chesney        special effects coordinator Tom Chesney         special effects technician Bruce D. Hayes       special effects foreman Circe Strauss        special effects crew (as Jarn Heil)

Emily Longstreth     Rebecca Devin Hoelscher      Steve Merritt Butrick      Reegus (The Gang Leader) Frank Collison       Sly Tommy ‘Tiny’ Lister Sleet (as Tommy Lister Jr. ‘Tiny’) Kim Milford        Rooster

CREDITS/REFERENCES/SOURCES/BIBLIOGRAPHY Fangoria#059 Cinefantastique v16n04-05

Wired to Kill (1986) Retrospective SUMMARY It is 1998 and the city of Los Angeles has been quarantined off after a plague wiped out 120 million people in the country.