Film: Mediterraneo
Year: 1991
Win: Foreign Language Film
Other Films in Category: Children of Nature from Iceland, The Elementary School from Czechoslovakia, The Ox from Sweden, Raise the Red Lantern from Hong Kong
Other Nominations: None
Winning Artist: The Academy technically gives Foreign Film to the country, which is Italy, not the artist, director Gabriele Salvatores.
Interesting Facts About Winning Artist: Italy has won 14 Oscars and been nominated 33 times. Both of those are records. They were the first country to receive an Honorary Oscar for Foreign Film for Shoe-shine in 1947. They were the first country to win when Foreign Film became a competitive category in 1956 with La Strada. They are nominated again this year for Io Capitano.
Salvatores was born in Sicily in 1950. He was enrolled in law school at the University of Milan, but switched to drama. He was involved in student protests of the early 70’s. He was among the co-founders of the Teatro dell”Elfo in Milan, where he stayed for over 10 years. He moved to film in 1983. The constant theme of his movies is the escape from the problems of the modern world. He is still alive. His last film was Volare in 2019.
Plot: During WWII, soldiers crash on unimportant island on the Aegean Sea and are forgotten about, so they mix with the natives.
Analysis: It is strange that this film is so similar to Belle Epoque, the Spanish film that won two years later. I guess the Academy just loves it a war film, something it looks to continue this year. This film is slightly better than Belle Epoque, but not by much.
My Vote: I would vote for Raise the Red Lantern.
Next Film in Category: Journey of Hope, 1990
Next Month: Arise My Love, Original Story, 1940
I was originally going to skip The Color Purple since I already did it when I did Ebert’s Top Film. However, two things have happened since then. First, the musical remake came out. Second, I have slightly changed my mind about the film.
Film: The Color Purple
Date Released: December 18, 1985
What Else Happened in History Around that Date: Arrow Air Flight 1285 crashes after taking off from Newfoundland killing 256 people, 248 of whom were U.S. servicemen returning to Fort Campbell, Kentucky, after peacekeeping operations in the Sinai peninsula.
Genre: Drama
Which Spielberg: I used to think this was Spielberg trying to save the world, but then I came to the realization that Celie never really had a childhood and was, in many ways, still a child. So, instead of being Steven, it was Stevie who directed this.
Writers: Screenplay by Menno Meyjes (a writer, and later director, from The Netherlands who later did story work for Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade as well as the awful Denzel Washington starring Ricochet). Adapted from the Pulitzer-Prize winning-novel by Alice Walker.
Stars: Whoopi Goldberg, Danny Glover, Oprah Winfrey, Margaret Avery, Adolph Caesar, Rae Dawn Chong, Laurence Fishburne, Dana Ivey
Oscars: The Color Purple is tied with Turning Point for the most nominations (11) without a win. Its nominations are:
Picture (Out of Africa won)
Actress- Goldberg (Geraldine Page won for A Trip to Bountiful)
Supporting Actress- both Margaret Avery & Oprah Winfrey (Anjelica Huston won for Prizzi’s Honor)
Adapted Screenplay (Out of Africa won)
Cinematography (Out of Africa won)
Art Direction (Out of Africa won)
Song- “Miss Celie’s Blues/Sister” (“Say You, Say Me” from White Nights won)
Score (this nomination holds the record for the most individuals nominated for one movie in one category with 12. Out of Africa won)
Costumes (Ran won)
Makeup (Mask won)
Plot: Young Black woman tries to live in the Post-Civil War South.
Analysis: I have changed my perspective on the film a bit, but I still think it is not a very good movie. The acting is great, but Spielberg was the wrong choice as a director. The assertion that he didn’t need to be an alien to make E.T. (see below) is silly. The movie is not about the alien just like Jaws is not about the shark. E.T. is about a child dealing with parental divorce and meeting an alien, which is seen through a child’s eyes. While I can appreciate this film a little more, it doesn’t mean that I like it. I still find it depressing and the happy ending seems tacked on because we need a happy ending. The musical is a lot better. There are too many scenes that just don’t work, like when Suge goes to reunite with her father. She and the band are sitting around singing on a Sunday morning when she hears hymns from his church. She and the band start singing the hymn and march to the church where she is welcomed back into his open arms. Does this seem likely? The musical actually has the more realistic scene where she just goes to talk to him sans backup and they are able to be open and forgiving with each other. Another scene that works better in the musical is at the funeral of her father where she finds out that he was her stepfather and she has inherited his store. Here, it is done in voiceover while the musical allows us to see her finding out for the first time. Another thing I like about the musical is that it gave Mister a character arc as well. After Celie curses him, he goes through what almost appears to be a Biblical plague. Here, it just looks like he got tired and let his fields go to pot (though we almost never saw him working in the fields to begin with). The musical gives him a bit of redemption. When I watched this time, I made a realization. The 3 versions give different experiences of Celie growing up and feeling whole. Interestingly, they all include her pulling a knife on Mister at the dinner. In the book, she grows up and is made whole through her relationship with Suge, which leads to the knife scene. In this film, she grows up in the knife scene and it is reunion with her children that makes her whole. In the musical, she grows up with her relationship with Suge and the knife scene and becomes whole by becoming a leader in the community.
Interesting Facts About the Film: Producer Quincy Jones asked Spielberg to direct the adaptation. Spielberg replied that he thought his knowledge of the subject was inadequate. Jones replied that Spielberg didn’t need to be an alien to direct E.T. This is one of only four films that Spielberg has directed where John Williams has not done the score. Spielberg left the set leaving his A.D. to direct the birthing scene as his own child was being born. He used his own child’s cries for the newborn in that scene. Alice Walker disliked the film, especially the Oklahoma-style opening, until she saw it with an audience that was very enthusiastic.
Roger Ebert said: “It is a great, warm, hard, unforgiving, triumphant movie, and there is not a scene that does not shine with the love of the people who made it.”
Next Month: Empire of the Sun
This year, 3 of the Adapted Screenplays are based on novels. One is based on historical non-fiction. The last is based on, well, a doll.
American Fiction is based on “Erasure” by Percival Everett. The film has the same basic structure as the novel, but expands on the novel. The novel also includes more of the book the main character is writing as well as an academic paper, letters, and story ideas. The novel features a murder as opposed to the natural death in the film. The film adds a character and some situations. It is also funnier. My Vote: Film
Barbie is based on Barbara Millicent Roberts, otherwise known as the Barbie doll. There have been a number of Barbie cartoons, but Greta Gerwig did not base the film on any of those. So, what is a grown man supposed to do, go to a toy store (are there any of those around anymore?) and read the back of Barbie doll box (assuming that is even a thing, I am thinking of Star Wars action figure that have information about the character on the back of the box) or play with one. Instead, I just skipped it. My Vote: if you haven’t seen it yet, watch the film. However, judging from box office receipts, you probably already have.
Oppenheimer is based on the historical non-fiction book “American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer” by Kai Bird & Martin J. Sherwin. The book tells his story in a more linear fashion while the film jumps around in time. The film does take some liberties with some of the incidents as well. The book is just more interesting and informative. My Vote: Book
Poor Things is based on the novel “Poor Things: Episodes from the Early Life of Archibald McCandless, M.D., Scottish Public Health Officer” by Alisdair Gray. The novel is told from a first-person point of view of the young doctor with most of Bella’s exploits being told in letters and second hand accounts. The film is third person and spends most of the film following Bella with only occasional scenes with the doctors. My Vote: Novel
The Zone of Interest is based on the novel by Martin Amis. The novel tries to have a plot and an actual story that plays through it. The film is plotless and shapeless. The film really only takes the idea of a family of the commandant living next to Auschwitz. It doesn’t add much. My Vote: Novel
Until last year, the Academy had been spreading the wealth with major categories and often had another film winning many of the technical awards. Last year, they gave a majority of the major categories to Everything Everywhere All at Once with three acting awards as well as directing and writing. This year, it looks like the same film will not only win many major categories, but many of the technical awards. Oppenheimer is nominated 13 times. I am not predicting it to break or tie the record of 11, but I would not be too surprised if it happened. There is also a possibility that it loses Picture and wins a bunch. Cabaret won 8 Oscars, but The Godfather won Picture. I have seen all the nominees, except for three: Io Capitano for International Feature, To Kill a Tiger for Documentary Feature, and Robot Dreams for Animated Feature.
Picture: Like I said, Oppenheimer is looking like it could sweep the major awards as well as technical awards. It has practically swept the Guilds. The only thing I can think of is that there are three categories of voter that might vote it low on their ballot: 1. Older voters who couldn’t hear the dialogue. 2. Minorities who may see this as white people with white people problems. 3. Voters who waited to see it on a screener and were not blown away by the spectacle. So, something strange could conceivably happen because of the weighted ballot, but I think it will win easily.
My Vote: Barbie
Actor: This probably started out closer than it ended up. While Paul Giamatti has won some awards for The Holdovers, Cillian Murphy and Oppenheimer have dominated the award season. He is in nearly every scene of the film that seems to be the favorite of the Academy. He is also playing a real person, something the Academy loves. He will be win #2 for Oppenheimer.
My Vote: Paul Giamatti has been great for years and has rarely been better than in The Holdovers.
Actress: This one comes down to Lily Gladstone in Killers of the Flower Moon and Emma Stone in Poor Things. Now, Stone has already won. If Gladstone won, she would be only the third minority winner in this category and probably the first American Indian to win any category. However, Stone went out of her comfort zone. You can’t say she is giving the same performance here as she has anywhere else, especially her win for La La Land. I think she will be rewarded for talking a risk.
My Vote: Sandra Huller gives an amazing performance in Anatomy of a Fall. It is hard to tell if she is guilty or not, icy or not, manipulative or not.
Supporting Actor: Robert Downey Jr. is one of the biggest locks of the night to bring Oppenheimer win #3. It is not only a great performance, but it also makes a great story. Hopefully, he can use the spotlight to speak to people who are in the midst of addictions, like he was for much of the 90’s.
My Vote: Gosling brings heart, soul, and great comic timing to Ken in Barbie.
Supporting Actress: For a while, this looked like it could be a close three person race between Emily Blunt for Oppenheimer, Danielle Brooks for The Color Purple, and Da’Vine Joy Randolph for The Holdovers. Randolph started strong and has only gotten stronger. There were some rumors that Brooks was going to win at SAG, but Randolph took that as well, so she is my pick.
My Vote: Da’Vine Joy Randolph was amazing as a grieving mother trying to hold it together during the holidays in The Holdovers. She steals quite a few scenes from Giamatti, not an easy feat.
Director: I always go with the winner of DGA’s Best Director award. That is Christopher Nolan for Oppenheimer. Even without DGA, the writing is on the wall for win #4 for Oppenheimer.
My Vote: Martin Scorsese shows in Killers of the Flower Moon that, once again, he is one of the greatest directors ever. He only has one Best Director Oscar while his film student Oliver Stone has 2 and John Ford has 4.
Original Screenplay: I think it comes down to Anatomy of a Fall and The Holdovers. One thing that has been true over the past few decades is that this category is given to writer-directors rather than just writer, so point to Anatomy. It is also given to the more daring and original film, another point to Anatomy. This also might be the only chance to reward Anatomy while The Holdovers will probably win an acting award. So, it will be Anatomy of a Fall.
My Vote: The Holdovers.
Adapted Screenplay: All of the films are nominated for Best Picture. If they want to spread the wealth, then they will reward American Fiction. However, they usually want to reward the Best Picture, even big spectacles, with a Screenplay award. I think they will give Oppenheimer win #5.
My Vote: Barbie.
Cinematography: One of the things people love about Oppenheimer is the look of it and the different looks for the different eras. So, it will get win #6 here.
My Vote: Killers of the Flower Moon.
Production Design: This might be where the Oppenheimer train might stop. While three of these are impressive recreations of the past, there are two that create their own worlds. Even if you didn’t like Poor Things, you have to admit to its striking look. I think Poor Things wins.
My Vote: Poor Things.
Sound: Often, I think the voters think Best means Most. If that is the case here, well, Oppenheimer certainly has the most and loudest sound. I think it gets win #7 here.
My Vote: Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning.
Song: Billie Eilish and her brother won two years ago for the No Time to Die theme. She recently won Best Song and Best Song Written for the Visual Medium at the Grammys for the song she is nominated for here. She is the probably the most recognizable name on the ballot, though they will also have heard of Jon Baptiste who is nominated for a song from his documentary. They may know Mark Ronson, who has eight Grammys for producing and writing songs and is nominated for “I’m Just Ken.” They are sure to know Dianne Warren, who is 0 for 14 so far in this category and nominated for a movie nobody saw. I think that they will want to reward Barbie and do it here, which leaves 2 songs and I think they will give Eilish and her brother their second Oscars for “What Was I Made For”.
My Vote: “I’m Just Ken” is the highlight of Barbie, one of the best films of the year.
Score: Last year, All Quiet on the Western Front won with a score that sounded to me like a child pounding one end of a piano. This year, I think the score of Oppenheimer sounds like the same thing. So, I think it will get win #7 here.
My Vote: Killers of the Flower Moon.
Editing: There are three types of movies that win here: Best Picture winner, musicals, and action movies. There are neither of the last two types, so Oppenheimer gets win #8 here.
My Vote: Killers of the Flower Moon.
Costumes: Unless they love suits and hats, I think Oppenheimer won’t be a factor here. I think it will come down to the attempted realism of Poor Things and the recreations of doll fashion with Barbie. I think they will go with Poor Things.
My Vote: I like the lived-in costumes of Poor Things.
Visual Effects: Godzilla Minus One not only has great effects, but has a great story regarding them. While other films sent their effects to special effects houses, the makers of Godzilla did it in-house with a crew of about 20 with the director overseeing the work.
My Vote: Godzilla Minus One.
Makeup: They love to give it to biopics, so I can see them going with Maestro or Oppenheimer. However, if they see Best as Most, then Poor Things, so I’ll go with that.
My Vote: I think the full body makeup of Society of the Snow. It makes you feel the frostbite.
Foreign Film: It is nominated for Best Picture, so Zone of Interest will win.
My Favorite: Society of the Snow.
Documentary Feature: Like last year’s winner, 20 Days in Mariupol is very timely.
My Favorite: 20 Days of Mariupol.
Documentary Short: It has been a hot topic for liberals the past few years, so I’ll go with The ABCs of Book Banning.
My Vote: I liked The Barber of Little Rock.
Live Action Short: I think it could come down to what the voters want: an intelligent adaptation of Roald Dahl directed by Wes Anderson (The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar), a liberal twist on abortion (Red, White, & Blue), or something that pulls on the heartstrings (After). I think they will reward Anderson.
My Vote: The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar is very entertaining.
Animated Short: I think this comes down to if there are enough John Lennon fans to overcome the Academy’s Holocaust bias. War is Over has Lennon’s music and his anti-war sentiment while Letter to a Pig is about the Holocaust. I think they’ll go with Letter to a Pig.
My Vote: I liked how Our Uniform used clothing as a screen to show scenes on.
Animated Feature: I think this comes down to Boy & the Heron or Spider-Man: Across the Spider-verse. The Academy has only gone to sequels when the first film was before the category started. The first Spider-Man won. Hayao Miyazaki has won previously with Spirited Away and this is his last film (or so he says). Many of his great films were before the category started as well. I think the Academy gives him a nice retirement present.
My Favorite: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.
So, I am predicting Oppenheimer to win 8, not a record, but impressive. You never know, it could pull off some of the categories such as Production Design and Costumes.
Film: Never on Sunday
Year: 1960
Win: Song- “Never on Sunday”
Other Films in Category: “The Facts of Life” from The Facts of Life, “Faraway Part of Town” from Pepe, “The Green Leaves of Summer” from Alamo, “The Second Time Around” from High Time
Other Nominations: Nominated for Actress- Melina Mercouri (Elizabeth Taylor won for Butterfield 8)
Director- Jules Dassin (Billy Wilder won for The Apartment)
Original Screenplay (The Apartment won)
Costumes Black & White (The Facts of Life won)
Winning Artists: Manos Hatzidakis
Interesting Facts About Winning Artists: Hatzidakis was born in Xanthi, Greece in 1925. His father died in 1931, so his mother moved the family to Athens. He studied music theory and philosophy at the University of Athens. He never finished because of World War II. During the Axis occupation of Greece, he was a participant in the Greek Resistance. In the late 40’s, he began writing music and he helped create the Greek Dance Theater company. He wrote 4 books and was a director in Greek radio. He died in 1994.
Plot: Nerdy American tourist gets infatuated with a Greek prostitute.
Analysis: This is a very silly film with a ridiculous premise. I never believed these characters one bit.
My Vote: While the scene in Never on Sunday with the song also has Melina Mercouri dancing around in a tight dress, it is not a good song. “The Facts of Life” is a fun song that promises a good time, too bad the rest of The Facts of Life could not fulfill that promise.
Next Films in Categories: Hole in the Head, 1959
Next Month: Mediterraneo, Foreign Film, 1991
I generally don’t write about movies that were not nominated for the Oscars or considered “snubs” since Oscar nominations are subjective. They are just people’s opinions. Everyone has an opinion and is entitled to it. However, I feel the need to address Greta Gerwig not being nominated for Best Director for Barbie. Sure, the film was nominated for Best Picture, making her the first director (male or female) to have her first three movies all nominated for Best Picture. Sure, she was nominated for Adapted Screenplay, along with writing partner and life partner Noah Baumbach. The reason I believe that she deserved a Best Director nomination is that I can’t imagine another person directing her screenplay just as good. As an example, let’s take the movies of Quentin Tarantino. I look at the two movies that were written, but not directed, by Quentin Tarantino. By that, I mean Natural Born Killers and True Romance (I won’t get into From Dusk Til Dawn or movies he was brought on to be a ‘script doctor’). Both are still very good movies as they are and I have both in my DVD collection, but they may have been ever better if he directed them. Oliver Stone turned Natural Born Killers into an exploration into what makes us violent while Tarantino accepts that we are violent, but we can still have morality within our violence. Tony Scott turned True Romance into a well-written Tony Scott film with his choppy editing style. Compare the Mexican standoffs in True Romance and those in films Tarantino directed. Now, imagine either of those gentleman directing Pulp Fiction. If anyone else directed Pulp Fiction, it would have been compromised and a lesser film. I believe the same about Gerwig and Barbie.
Now, let’s talk about what did get nominated. There are some terrific actors who received their first nominations, such as Jeffrey Wright, Cillian Murphy, and Emily Blunt. Stephen Spielberg received a nomination for producing Maestro, making it the 13th film he was nominated for producer, a record. Bradley Cooper now has 12 nominations, as many as Jack Nicholson. However, Nicholson’s nominations were all for acting while only 5 of Cooper’s nominations have been for acting. Martin Scorsese became the oldest Best Director nominee and was nominated for the 10th time, breaking the tie with Spielberg to be the second most nominated director. John Williams has added another nomination, his 54th. He is the second-most nominated person, only Walt Disney has more due to producing numerous short films. Dianne Warren has been nominated for 15 Oscars without ever winning. I am guessing more people voted for her than actually watched Flamin’ Hot (I did and enjoyed it more than some of the Best Picture nominees).
Every year, I say that they should return the Best Picture nominees back to 5 and this year is no different. There were three foreign films nominated for Best Picture. Actually, it is more like two and a half since Past Things is half in English and takes place in New York. It was also written and directed by Celine Song, who, while being born in Korea, moved to Canada when she was 12 and has been living in New York for over 10 years. Are people really watching all the Best Picture nominees? You can watch many of them on streaming platforms, like Past Things can be seen on Paramount+ or Showtime. Are people doing so? While more films are nominated for Best Picture, fewer films are being nominated in other categories, with the exception of Visual Effects.
The Academy has made strides to include more minorities. It has worked somewhat. The Best Picture nominees include a film about a Black family, a film about the plight of Osage Indians (though it is told mainly through the perspective of a white man, Leonardo DiCaprio), and a film about a Korean-American woman. For the fifth consecutive year, a film (actually 3 films) directed by a woman was nominated for Best Picture. A woman was nominated for Best Director and half the Best Picture nominees have at least one female producer. Half the Best Picture nominees are about women. Four of the screenplay nominees were written or co-written by women. Best Actor features 2 Black men, one of whom is openly gay. Lily Gladstone became the first American Indian woman to be nominated for Best Actress. Supporting Actress features a Black man. Supporting Actress features 2 Black women, a Latina woman, and a lesbian. One of the nominated songs is in the Osage language written by a Osage man.
As usual, comic book films were completely ignored, except for one nomination in Visual Effects and one in Animated Feature, while Actors and a Director who has worked on those films have nominations. Christopher Nolan, the odds-on favorite to win Picture, Director, and Screenplay, did all three on his Dark Knight trilogy. Best Actor features Rocket Racoon, Scarecrow, The Watcher, and The Rhino. Colman Domingo has also starred on Fear the Walking Dead TV series. Actress features Gwen Stacy and Annette Bening, who was in the first Captain Marvel. Supporting Actor has 2 Avengers, Iron Man and The Hulk. Sterling K. Brown was Black Panther’s uncle. Robert DeNiro was in The Joker. Gosling hasn’t done a comic book film, possibly because he refuses to do sequels, at least to his own films. The Supporting Actress nominees have not been in comic book films, though Emily Blunt has been rumored for several roles (most notably Sue Storm since her husband played a Reed Richards variant) and was in Edge of Tomorrow, based on a Japanese manga.
The way the Academy does the voting for Best Picture is to number the nominees from 1 to 10 based on your preference. 4 of the nominees are on my top ten. I am going to do the Best Picture nominees based on my preference and then my Top 10.
Best Picture nominees
10-Past Lives-I had to watch this film twice because I felt like I missed something. I didn’t, I just think that it is missing a scene or two. Also, the characters were just not that interesting.
9-Zone of Interest-There have been so many movies about the Holocaust, but they continue making them despite having nothing new to say. This one was about the family of the commandant who all live happily next to Auschwitz. It adds nothing to the discussion.
8-Maestro-This film lacks any drama whatsoever. It felt partly like an acting exercise and partly a bizarre Bradley Cooper workout video.
7-Poor Things-I enjoyed some of this film and there are good performances. However, I think the film pushes the line of decency with its content and the amount of nudity. I really think that someone paid off the MPAA for its R-rating. It is supposed to be a feminist version of Frankenstein, but seems to be the first film written by Velvet Jones since this film is about how great it is to be a prostitute. You get to figure out what you like sexually, get to meet interesting men, and appear to have plenty of free time to read, have sex with your fellow prostitutes, and go to Marxist rallies.
6-Oppenheimer-Not a really bad movie, just overhyped and overpraised. It has a wonderful look to it and the effects are first-rate. I just never felt like I got to know these people in anything but a superficial capacity. The actors do what they can, but they are fighting a losing battle. One huge problem I have is that the music and the rest of the sounds are often louder than the dialogue and I had trouble hearing the dialogue. Nolan seems to want it that way, which makes me want to skip his movies in the theater and wait for a DVD with subtitles.
5-American Fiction-This is a genuinely funny and insightful film. The cast is first-rate. I would have put this film in my top ten, but I was disappointed that they cut away before we get to hear what Monk had to say as well as see the reaction to it. I don’t need a Big, Important Speech, but I wanted something.
4-Anatomy of a Fall
3-The Holdovers
2-Killers of the Flower Moon
1-Barbie
My Top Ten
I don’t think this was a particularly good year for movies, but there were some that rose to the top. There aren’t any movies that I am really sad to leave off.
10-American Symphony-Directed by Matthew Heineman-This is a terrific documentary about performing artist Jon Baptiste, who took the Grammys by storm in 2022. I was not familiar with him previously, except that he won an Oscar for the score of Soul. The film looks at what it means to be an artist, especially a Black artist, and the pigeonhole people try to shove you into. It also shows his personal life as his wife receives a cancer diagnosis. There is a great scene in an airport after his Grammy wins as he is trying to fly back to his sick wife. He listens to the radio on his headphones to people putting down his Grammy wins while others are praising him to his face. It was shortlisted for Best Documentary Feature, but didn’t get the nomination. Nominated for Song-104 minutes-Streaming on Netflix
9-Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse-Directed by Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, & Justin K Thompson-Written by Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, & David Callaham-While the Sony live-action films continue to stink, their animated films have been great. This takes what they did well on the first one and enhances rather than rehashes it. It has an amazing look to it. The new character of Hobie is a work of genius, both visually striking and wonderfully written. Nominated for Animated Feature-140 minutes- Streaming on Netflix
8-Anatomy of a Fall-Directed by Justine Triet-Written by Triet & Arthur Harari-This is a French legal drama starring a German actress, Sandra Huller, in a wonderful performance. The film tells the story of a trial of a spouse after either an accident or a murder. As you watch it, you realize it is the story of a dissolving marriage. It goes even deeper than that when you think about this being a German woman being tried in France who insists on speaking English at the trial. Very thought-provoking.-Nominated for Picture, Actress, Director, Original Screenplay, and Editing-152 minutes-Can be rented on Amazon Prime or Apple+
7-Flora & Son-Directed & Written by John Carney-Another musical love story by the man who did Once. This one is more of the motherly love as a free-spirited single mom takes guitar lessons in order to communicate with her troubled son. The film stars Eve Hewson, who is Bono’s daughter. She is just wonderful in the film. Joseph Gordon Levitt has a small part as a guitar teacher she meets online. They have great chemistry despite spending most of the film apart on computer screens.-97 minutes-Streaming on Apple+
6-The Holdovers-Directed by Alexander Payne-Written by David Hemingson-In 2011, Payne directed The Descendants, which I thought was a masterpiece. Two years later, he directed Nebraska, another excellent film. The Holdovers is only the second film he has directed in the ten years since then. I have missed him. He makes films about how people really are and makes them different than other directors. He allows his actors freedom to create real, nuanced characters. This is a story of a friendship that a teacher and his student forge (along with the school nurse), which is not a new story, but Payne makes if feel new. Paul Giamatti, Dominic Sessa, and Da’Vine Joy Randolph all give wonderful performances.-Nominated for Picture, Actor, Supporting Actress, Original Screenplay, and Editing-133 minutes-Streaming on Peacock.
5-Godzilla Minus One-Directed and Written by Takashi Yamazaki-I have seen several Godzilla movies and none of them have been close to being in my top ten, only a couple of them were any good at all. Here is the Godzilla movie that I never thought I needed or wanted. It is a film with a heart and brains. It allows its characters to feel so real in a way few action movies do, few films at all do. It is finds itself saying something unique about the Japanese people. It is a highly original film.-Nominated for Visual Effects-125 minutes-Not currently streaming, but it is still in theaters.
4-Killers of the Flower Moon-Directed by Martin Scorsese-Written by Scorsese & Eric Roth-Martin Scorsese has made a lot of great films and he adds this one to the list. He likes to look at what people do for money and what will move us to violence. At one point in the film, Leonardo DiCaprio’s character says, “I love money, almost as much as I love my wife.” The fact that he helps to kill her family and tries to poison her leads me to question that statement. It is well-written, superbly acted, and looks amazing. The ending sequence is wonderful.-Nominated for Picture, Actress, Supporting Actor, Director, Cinematography, Production Design, Song, Score, Editing, and Costumes-206 minutes-Streaming on Apple+
3-Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3-Directed and Written by James Gunn-While the rest of the MCU has been either disappointing or downright awful lately, this was a revelation. It takes these characters that we have seen in other things and gives them depth. Bradley Cooper is nominated this year for his Leonard Bernstein impersonation, but he gives heart and soul to a computer-generated raccoon with just his voice. How is that not great acting? It has emotions as well as one of the best hallway fights of the MCU. I think we need to be critical of superhero movies when they are bad, but think they should be rewarded when they knock one out of the park.-Nominated for Visual Effects-150 minutes-Streaming on Disney+
2-Barbie-Directed by Greta Gerwig-Written by Gerwig & Noah Baumbach-This was a treat. I really did not expect it to be any good, but it was amazing. It was visually stunning. It was witty. It made you think. Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling are pitch perfect as Barbie and Ken without overdoing it. Gosling singing “I’m Just Ken” was one of the highlights of my year.-Nominated for Picture, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress, Adapted Screenplay, Production Design, 2 songs, and Costumes-114 minutes-Streaming on Max
1-Dream Scenario-Directed and Written by Kristoffer Borgli-I saw this film and thought it was great. It made me feel for the characters, especially Nicolas Cage’s Paul. It is one of Cage’s best performances. There were many ways for the story to go and it continued to surprise me. It is also funny and philosophical. Then, I couldn’t stop thinking about it for a long time. It is rare to find a film that will make me feel, think, and use all my senses. It has no easy answers, but asks a lot of interesting questions.-102 minutes-Can be rented on Amazon or other streaming services
On the Waterfront, which won Best Picture for 1954, was conceived as an answer to Kazan’s critics for his talking to HUAC. I don’t want to get political, but I see Kazan as a victim, not a rat, and I am glad that he was able to work because he was doing great, historic work. Regardless of the circumstances in which this film was made, it is a great film. The characters and situations feel very real. Kazan is best known for his work with actors, but he is also great with camerawork and pacing. The black and white photography gives it an interesting real- world quality as well as some elements of film noir.
Marlon Brando gives one of his best performances as Terry Malloy. Brando helped revolutionize film acting into a more realistic manner. He won his first Oscar, one that he actually showed up for. He has great chemistry with Saint. The rest of the cast was great as well. Three actors were nominated for Supporting Actor, which probably hurt their chances, but I think Steiger deserved it. His scene with Brando in the back of the taxi is one of the best scenes in film history. A great film really deserving of its accolades.
Other wins: Actor- Brando
Supporting Actress- Eva Marie Saint
Director- Kazan
Story & Screenplay
Black & White Cinematography
Black & White Art Direction
Editing
Other Nominations: Supporting Actor (3)- Lee J. Cobb + Karl Malden + Rod Steiger (Edmund O’Brien won for The Barefoot Contessa)
Comedy/Drama Score (The High & the Mighty won)
Other Best Picture Nominees: The Caine Mutiny, The Country Girl, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Three Coins in the Fountain
My Top Ten of 1954: 1. Rear Window (Alfred Hitchcock)
2. On the Waterfront (Elia Kazan)
3. Sansho the Bailiff (Kenzi Mizoguchi)
4. Beat the Devil (John Huston)
5. Rififi (Jules Dassin)
6. Johnny Guitar (Nicholas Ray)
7. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (Richard Fleischer)
8. Salt of the Earth (Herbert J. Biberman)
9. The Earrings of Madame De… (Max Ophuls)
10. Touchez pas au Grisbi (Jacques Becker)
Next Month: Country Girl
Film: Indiana Jones & the Temple of Doom
Date Released: May 23, 1984
What Else Happened in History Around that Date: A methane gas explosion in a water treatment plan in Lancaster, UK kills 18 people.
Genre: Action
Which Spielberg: Stevie
Writers: Story by George Lucas. Screenplay by Willard Huyck & Gloria Katz.
Stars: Harrison Ford, Kate Capshaw, Ke Huy Quan, Amrish Puri, Dan Ackroyd.
Oscars: Won for Visual Effects
Nominated for Original Score (A Passage to India won)
Plot: Archeologist is asked by Indian village to retrieve ancient stones.
Analysis: This is a big step down as the follow up to Raiders of the Lost Ark, one of the best action-adventure movies ever made. The action scenes are pretty bad, except for the cart scene which is too late in the film. Kate Capshaw is a good actress, but can’t do anything with this character who is just annoying and pointless. The gross-out humor is not funny, especially the ridiculous dinner scene. Besides the cart scene, the only thing I enjoyed in it is the relationship between Indy and Short Round. It felt real and that Indy was trying to be the father he always wished he had.
Interesting Facts About the Film: Kate Capshaw took sedatives to get through the scene where she had to be covered with many insects and the sedatives worked. She had a panic attack in a scene that was to feature her and a giant snake, so the scene was scrapped. Capshaw’s dress featured thousands of beads. It was sitting on a tree when an elephant tried to eat it. They had to fill out an insurance form citing the reason for damage was “dress eaten by elephant”. Lucas later stated the reason that the film is so dark is that both he and Spielberg were going through the breakup of their respective marriages. Spielberg states that there is not an ounce of his own personal feeling in the film.
Roger Ebert said: “It makes no apologies for being exactly what it is: Exhilarating, manic, wildly imaginative escapism.”
Next Month: Empire of the Sun
Film: The High & the Mighty
Year: 1954
Win: Dramatic/Comedy Score
Other Films in Category: The Caine Mutiny, Genevieve, On the Waterfront, The Silver Chalice
Other Nominations: Director- William Wellman (Elia Kazan won for On the Waterfront)
Supporting Actress (2)- Jan Sterling + Claire Trevor (Eva Marie Saint won for On the Waterfront)
Song- The High and the Mighty (The theme to Three Coins in the Fountain won)
Editing (On the Waterfront won)
Winning Artists: Dimitri Tiomkin
Interesting Facts About Winning Artists: Tiomkin was born in 1894 in a part of the Russian Empire that would now be part of Ukraine. His mother was a pianist and studied music at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. After the Revolution, he found work as a Red Army staff composer. Then, he moved to Berlin to be with his father. Since the family was Jewish, they got out of Berlin and emigrated to the U.S. In the U.S., he was not used to handshakes. When he would meet a woman, he would bend down to kiss her hand while she went to shake his hand and would end up hitting him in the face. He worked in the New York theater where he met his first wife, an Australian ballerina. He followed his wife out to Hollywood where she supervised dance numbers at MGM and he did scores at Paramount. He met Frank Capra and did scores to many of his classic films. He was nominated for an Oscar 16 times, winning 4 Oscars. He won two for High Noon and one for The Old Man & the Sea. During the 50’s, he was the highest paid composer. He died in 1979 after fracturing his pelvis in a fall. His work continues to live on. Some of his compositions were played at the Closing Ceremonies to the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.
Plot: Commercial airliner develops engine trouble.
Analysis: While the plot has been redone to death, this is a very good film. John Wayne is terrific. It has some interesting characters and real suspense.
My Vote: The score to The High & the Mighty really adds a lot to the film.
Next Films in Categories: Since You Went Away, 1944
Next Month: Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Musical Score, 1954
Rather than write the best of the month, I decided to write about the problems of Walt Disney’s company. This is going to be about its movies and streaming shows, I won’t discuss politics or its theme parks. I think Disney is broken. It started a few years ago and recently may have hit rock bottom. So, a few years ago, Disney decided to get into the streaming game for itself. At first, it went like gangbusters. You could watch a Disney classic any time you wanted and they turned out some great new stuff with The Mandalorian and Wandavision. They were coming off the high of Endgame and it almost felt like a victory lap. However, shortly after that, there was a steep drop in almost every part of the Disney empire from Marvel to Star Wars to Pixar to its remakes of its classic animated films. It looks like they are going to lose billions of dollars this year. The good news is that they seem to realize that they need to make changes.
While I have been less than enthused after watching the last few Star Wars shows, I am going to focus on Marvel for a moment. The quality has gone downhill fast since Endgame. At first, I still liked most of the films and shows, with the exception of the black hole that was The Eternals. Then, the films just got bad. Thor: Love & Thunder was quite bad, with the exception of Christian Bale who was giving a performance that the film didn’t deserve. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever had its moments and an amazing performance by Angela Bassett that was so good that the movie fell apart without her. Also, the characters were mourning for someone that the audience had already mourned a couple of years earlier. Ant-Man & the Wasp: Quantumania wasted some good ideas as well as wasting Bill Murray. It also made the next Big Bad seem very easy to defeat.
As bad as the films have been, the real nadir came with Secret Invasion, which is different than the Secret Wars that is coming in a few years. So, I thought Secret Invasion started well. I actually liked the first episode, but it went downhill quickly. The second episode had a great monologue brilliantly given by Samuel L. Jackson, but the rest of the show stank. Besides some great performances by Olivia Colman and Kingsley Ben-Adir, the rest was just awful. Jackson seemed to change attitude and look from scene to scene that people were theorizing that he had a Skrull double. The show limped along until the truly wretched, mind-numbing finale. At one point, Jackson as Fury goes to visit Gravik, the Skrull leader, and Gravik has a long monologue. It would have been a great monologue if at any point I believed this was Fury he was talking to and that he didn’t make the subtext text (people don’t actually say “I lost part of my soul that day”). Also, it makes Fury into a villain. Earlier, we learned that Fury had 100 Skrulls as spies (who still missed Hydra), but Gravik was claiming to be an assassin, not a spy. So, Fury had alien assassins working for him for decades? Who were they killing? Fury gives Gravik all the DNA from the Avengers and their assorted foes. Gravik puts it in his magic machine and now he has all their powers. However, in the most obvious twist, it turns out to be Giah and not Fury. Now, Giah had allied herself with Gravik until he found out she was meeting with her father, who was still working with Fury, and tried to kill her. So, Fury gave two alien terrorists the powers of the Avengers and some of their foes. Does that sound wise? They have a fight with some of the worst CGI ever made, which Giah somehow wins. In the meantime, the President’s motorcade was attacked the previous episode and he is in the least staffed hospital in America. While a Skrull posing as Don Cheadle’s Rhodie tries to get him to nuke Russia (because of the motorcade attack?), Fury shows up to take down Skrull Cheadle. After having a close aid be a Skrull, the President goes on TV and declares war on anyone that is not from Earth, despite the fact that there are photos showing the good Skrull giving his life to help the President, and Fury saving him twice. Think about all the heroes that are off world. Captain Marvel has spent most of her life off world. The Hulk just got back from outer space with his half alien son. Doctor Strange is off in other dimensions stopping incursions with Thanos’ sister. Thor and the other Asgardians are from another world. Peter Quill was born on Earth, but just got back from living off world since he was a kid. That is nothing compared to Giah whose father was sure that the Earthlings would invite them in when, suddenly, Fury calls the President who tells Fury that he has missed a step from when he was younger. Isn’t this the same guy who just saved your life twice?
Sorry about the long rant, but I felt that they were demeaning the audience’s intelligence. I really do think that Marvel is in trouble if they don’t make changes. The two best movies in the period following Endgame are Spiderman: No Way Home and Guardians of the Galaxy 3. Do you see the problem there? Spiderman is a character you don’t own. You are going to have to shell out some big bucks to Sony to have Spiderman in the Kang Saga and Secret Wars and it will look funny if there are no Spidermen in Secret Wars. Not to mention that the Sony animated Spider-verse films have been as good as anything you have put out. Guardians is the last film for several key people. Two of the actors, Zoe Saldana and Dave Bautista, have openly said they are done. The director, James Gunn, has moved over to DC to be in charge of their films. If he succeeds at making their films more enjoyable, I think people will move from going to see all Marvel films to going to see all DC films. Anyway, I have come up with some ideas for Disney to do a course correction.
- Quality over quantity. Disney CEO Bob Iger has already suggested a slowdown. There has been more Marvel content after Avengers: Endgame than before it. However, it doesn’t feel like anything has really happened. So, slow down and concentrate on quality.
- Stop spending money like you are the federal government. I realize movies cost money, but Disney has been spending it poorly. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny cost $300 million. The effects looked good, but not that good. Secret Invasion cost $250 million. The effects were awful and the money did not show up on screen. Some of that is bringing back the cast for reshoots and some of it is special effects. The problem with that is when they bought Lucasfilms, ILM, the industry standard for Visual Effects for a long time, came with it. Shouldn’t doing your effects in house make it cheaper? Also, consider that last year’s Best Picture winner, Everything Everywhere All At Once, had great special effects that are as good as anything Marvel has done and its budget was only $25 million.
- Communication. I watched an enlightening interview with Elizabeth Olsen where she said that the writers and director of Doctor Strange: Multiverse of Madness did not know anything about what happened in Wandavision and she had to tell them about that show. Being protective of your secrets is one thing, but you need to communicate with your filmmakers so that you can have some story cohesion. What does Kevin Feige do as a producer anyway?
- Let directors direct. One thing I loved when the MCU first started was that they were playing around in many different genres. Recently, all of Marvel has begun to look the same. Also, there have been some really good directors who have left projects over disagreements with Marvel. Rather than have all your films feel the same, let directors provide their own spins of the material. Also, there have been reports that Marvel lets the directors film the normal scenes while Marvel does the action scenes. That only leads to generic action scenes. Let the directors do the action scenes as well.
- Finish the screenplay. When Iron Man was being made, they went into production without a finished script. It worked for that movie, so they continued to do it. It may work sometimes, especially when you are working with great actors who can improvise, like Robert Downey Jr., and someone with a vision, like Jon Favreau. However, it is not a good ongoing strategy and leads to uneven movies.
- Recast when needed. This is mostly for Star Wars, where much of the new content is set between the Original Trilogy and Sequel Trilogy. They have used CGI on Luke Skywalker with varied results. They have danced around Leia by just mentioning her. You are hurting the story by sidelining these characters. So, recast. This also could apply to Kang, but they should wait on the justice system to work itself out.
- Fulfill promises. At one point at one of the Cons, Disney announced a number of upcoming films, none of which came to fruition. Some of them sounded really interesting, such as Rogue Squadron which was to be directed by Patti Jenkins. They have done this again for both Marvel and Star Wars. Hopefully, the projects they announced will be made and released.
- Answer mysteries. The recent show Ahsoka had questions going into it. The few answers we got were not interesting and led to more questions. This is a problem with many projects, especially those connected to J.J. Abrams, that you set up questions with no answer or a boring answer. Ray Stevenson was terrific in the show, but his character had his own agenda. I still don’t know what he is (somewhere between Jedi and Sith), why he is (no clue), and what he is looking for (something far in the distance that looks like the road to Mordor). The questions about Ezra and Thrawn are sort of answered. Where are they? On a Lord of the Rings planet in a neighboring galaxy. What is Ezra up to? Hanging out with turtle people. Why has Thrawn not gone after Ezra? no clue.
- Don’t be a slave to numbers. So far, all of the Marvel TV shows have been 6 episodes. This worked brilliantly for Wandavision as they had each episode ape a style of sitcom from a different decade. However, it has been a hindrance to some other shows. So, you can have some have six episodes, while other might need 12, while others could just be one or two episodes.
- Cut the run times. Do these films really need to be over 2 and a half hours? My answer is no.
- Realize photorealistic animals don’t work. A “live action” movie with talking animals and no humans is still a cartoon. The photorealistic lion is not a good actor. Somehow, Weta was able to make Gollum give a real performance while Simba in the Lion King remake did not.
- Nostalgia will only take you so far. Lately, Disney remakes have not been big at the box office. When you continue to give people bad movies, they will stop going to see the new stuff and just watch their DVD’s of the classics. The failure at the box office of the remake of The Little Mermaid is the result of how bad other remakes like the Lion King have been.
Those are just a few ideas to think about.
thedudeabidesinsouthflorida 