#Oscar project

[astonishinglysane]

Movies I’ve Watched - 2024

360/?: Toy Story 3 (2010) - watched 12/17/24

I saw this one in the theatre, and have ever since been haunted by the scene where all our heroes silently join hands and accept death. I can’t even think of it without tearing up. This is a great but emotionally difficult movie. It walks the line of understanding that the original Toy Story audience are adults now, while still being appropriate for kids.

TOY STORY 3 (2010) dir. Lee Unkrich

[astonishinglysane]

Oscar Rankings - 1948

The wrong movie won this year — despite being adapted (and perhaps too freely abridged) from Shakespeare, Hamlet just can’t hold a candle to the first three movies on this list. I was really expecting to love The Red Shoes, but I mostly just found it boring. My ranking:

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre

Johnny Belinda

The Snake Pit

Hamlet

The Red Shoes

[astonishinglysane]

Movies I’ve Watched - 2024

87/?: One Night of Love (1934) - watched 3/25/34

This is a thoroughly mediocre movie which unfortunately dispenses with the most likable characters after the first fifteen minutes. There is a lot of opera, which Grace Moore sings well (for the most part). It is interesting how often, in old movies with love triangles, the woman ends up with the wrong guy and it’s supposed to be a happy ending. Obviously they were not considered the wrong guy back then, so there is something about the assumptions about what love is and what makes a good partner that does not translate to the modern day.

[astonishinglysane]

Oscar Rankings - 1967

This year has four good-to-great movies that pushed the boundaries of film at the time, whether by content, theme, or technical achievement. Yet it also has one of the worst examples of the last gasp of the dying studio system. My ranking:

The Graduate

In the Heat of the Night

Bonnie and Clyde

Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner

Doctor Dolittle

[astonishinglysane]

Movies I’ve Watched - 2024

362/?: Life of Pi (2012) - watched 12/19/24

The problem with this movie is that the filmmakers thought they were adapting a good book. It is way too faithful to a book that is philosophically shallow and condescending to its readers. This needed the Old Hollywood approach to adaptation — keep the exciting stuff and ruthlessly chop everything else. Cut the framing device completely. Get to the shipwreck immediately (any absolutely necessary exposition can be told in flashback). End it on the Mexican beach. And for the love of God don’t insult your audience by spelling out your metaphor. There is some good and even beautiful filmmaking while Pi is lost at sea, but this should have just been an adventure story rather than some half-baked philosophical treatise.

Life of Pi (Ang Lee, 2012).

[astonishinglysane]

Oscar Rankings - 2007

This year is full of movies that I like and admire but don’t love — that describes all these movies except Juno, which just sucks major ass. My ranking:

No Country for Old Men

There Will Be Blood

Michael Clayton

Atonement

Juno

[astonishinglysane]

Oscar Rankings - 1972

This was a really strong Oscar year. It was hard to choose between The Godfather and Cabaret, but in the end I had to give the edge to Coppola. The only one of these I didn’t really care for was The Emigrants, which is overlong and way too slow in the first half. My ranking:

The Godfather

Cabaret

Deliverance

Sounder

The Emigrants

[astonishinglysane]

Oscar Rankings - 1956

This was a year for bloated epics which are varying degrees of dull. Naturally the best movie is the one smallest in scope, Friendly Persuasion. It is a legitimately good movie, while the other nominees rise to the level of “pretty good” at best. My ranking:

Friendly Persuasion

Giant

Around the World in 80 Days

The Ten Commandments

The King and I

[astonishinglysane]

Movies I’ve Watched - 2024

280/?: The Lion in Winter (1968) - watched 9/30/24

The movie is full of great actors devouring the scenery, including a young Anthony Hopkins and a baby Timothy Dalton. The script gives everyone a lot of opportunities to deliver memorable dialogue, but there are some editing and directing oddities that keep this from being a truly great film. Still, worth it for the performances.

THE LION IN WINTER (1968) dir. Anthony Harvey

[astonishinglysane]

Oscar Rankings - 1989

This was an incredibly weak Oscar year. Born on the Fourth of July is only my favorite by default, because none of these exactly blew my skirt up. Dead Poets Society and Field of Dreams are also good, at least. Of course the Academy didn’t help things by choosing the worst of the nominees as the winner. My ranking:

Born on the Fourth of July

Dead Poets Society

Field of Dreams

My Left Foot

Driving Miss Daisy

[astonishinglysane]

Movies I’ve Watched - 2024

335/?: The Thin Red Line (1998) - watched 11/24/24

I love the filmmaking here — there is a meditative quality that really drew me in. It’s so good that it makes the story seem better than it is, because upon reflection it is a bit too scattered and muddy. Still, I enjoyed watching it.

[astonishinglysane]

Oscar Rankings - 1930/1931

This is a pretty weak Oscar year. Cimarron and The Front Page are the best movies, but neither are amazing. Skippy is pretty good but tonally odd, and Trader Horn and East Lynne have their interest but are both pretty dull. My ranking:

Cimarron

The Front Page

Skippy

Trader Horn

East Lynne

[astonishinglysane]

Movies I’ve Watched - 2024

235/?: The Silence of the Lambs (1991) - watched 8/16/24

I’ve seen this before, and I’m having a hard time thinking of what to say about it. It’s just a great, expertly-made movie, with some unsettling cinematography and smart editing. The performances are all compelling, but Anthony Hopkins absolutely dominates.

THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS jonathan demme, 1991

[astonishinglysane]

Oscar Rankings - 1990

This was a decent Oscar year. Dances with Wolves is a respectable winner, but Awakenings, although smaller in scope, moved me more. My ranking:

Awakenings

Dances with Wolves

Goodfellas

The Godfather Part III

Ghost

[astonishinglysane]

Oscar Rankings - 1971

This was a really strong Oscar year. With the exception of Nicholas and Alexandra, which is too restrained for its own good, any of these films would have made worthy winners. All of the remaining films show something that had never been seen before. It all comes down to a matter of taste. My ranking:

A Clockwork Orange

The Last Picture Show

The French Connection

Fiddler on the Roof

Nicholas and Alexandra

[sennamaticart]

Artfight attack for @possessedpasm of August and Oscar doing the twist!