I Finished Watching All the Oscar Best Picture Nominees

I need to qualify the title of this post: one nominee (1928’s The Patriot) is presumed to be lost and another nominee (1934’s The White Parade) exists only as a single copy in the UCLA film archive.  Reportedly, if you arrange an appointment and physically travel there they will allow you to watch it – not a very practical way to see a movie.  I have seen the other 518 (as of this writing) nominees that can be watched.

I started this effort a few years ago after completing the 1,001 Movies You Must See Before You Die list.  Actually, that’s sort of misleading.  I partially started long before that. 

Movie – Birdman (2014)

The first thing that I noticed about Birdman was that it appeared as if the movie never cut away from a scene.  After a bit it became obvious that while there were long takes going on – some of them several minutes in length – the film was disguising the edits to make it seem as if the entire movie was one long continuous shot (ala Timecode or Russian Ark).  After realizing this I actually was distracted for a while as I was watching to catch the hidden edits, almost as if it was a game.  I finally settled down and started watching it as an overall movie, not just a bunch of clever camera movements.  When I did I discovered a film that works on multiple levels and one that I feel has the greatest chance of winning Best Picture because of what it has to say regarding the performing arts.

Movie – Gone with the Wind (1939)

Gone with the Wind, based on the Margaret Mitchell novel of the same name, was the pop culture phenomenon of the late 1930s.  The book had created a sensation when it came out, and almost immediately people started talking about making a movie from it.  There was no doubt in people’s minds who should play Rhett Butler – Clark Gable.  On the other hand, the casting of Scarlett O’Hara has become the stuff of legend – so much so, that no one alive today even knows the true story anymore of exactly how Vivien Leigh got the part.

Movie – 12 Years a Slave (2013)

The film 12 Years a Slave is based on the 1853 memoir of the same name written by Solomon Northup.  It’s been made into a film before, but not one on such a large scale as this one.  12 Years a Slave received nine Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Director, Actor, and Adapted Screenplay – four of the “big five”.  It also received nominations in the two supporting actor and actress categories.  Those three acting categories are for the three main characters in the film.  There are smaller appearances from a number of other familiar faces.  It probably wasn’t hard for director Steve McQueen to attract talent to such a high visibility production.

Movie – The Greatest Show on Earth (1952)

If you ask people to list the ten least deserving Best Picture winners chances are pretty good that The Greatest Show on Earth will be among them.  Sometimes a film suffers in comparison to another nominee from the same year (i.e. Ordinary People vs. Raging Bull in 1981), or sometimes the film just isn’t Best Picture caliber (i.e. A Beautiful Mind in 2002).  In the case of The Greatest Show on Earth, both of these apply.  Two of the other films nominated that year were High Noon (1952) and The Quiet Man (1952).  Not even receiving a Best Picture nomination was Singin’ in the Rain (1952).  And the overall tone of The Greatest Show on Earth doesn’t scream “Best Picture!”  The mistake that some people make, though, is equating “shouldn’t have won” with “bad movie.”  In the other examples I gave both Ordinary People and A Beautiful Mind are films worth seeing; they just weren’t “Best Pictures”.  The Greatest Show on Earth is the same.  It’s “big with a capital B” entertainment from the undisputed king of big entertainment in the early days of Hollywood: Cecil B. DeMille.

Movie – Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

What praise can be given to Lawrence of Arabia that has not already been spoken many times over?  What words can be written about both a movie and a man whose histories are both inextricably linked and also clouded in questions of reality vs. fiction?  To be clear, the film Lawrence of Arabia is epic, and even that’s a bit of an understatement.  While I know of at least one person for whom “epic” is a four letter word, I am using it in the most positive way.  I could joke, “Look up ‘epic’ in the dictionary and they will have a picture of Peter O’Toole as Lawrence.”  Instead, I will be completely serious when I write the following sentences.  I have seen all 85 films that have won the Academy Award for Best Picture – from Wings (1927) to Casablanca (1943) to The Godfather (1972) to Schindler’s List (1993) to Argo (2012).  If I were ever to be put in the “gun to your head, gotta pick only one as the best of the best” situation, then my choice would be Lawrence of Arabia as the greatest of all 85 Best Picture Oscar winners.

Movie – Argo (2012)

As I write this review Ben Affleck has just won the DGA’s Best Director award for Argo.  This adds to Affleck’s and the film’s wins at The Golden Globes, the PGA awards, and the SAG awards.  The only major guild it failed to win an award from was the WGA. Hollywood loves movies about themselves.  Just last year the Best Picture Oscar went to The Artist which was about the start of the sound era in Hollywood.  To add even more to Argo’s plus side, the Hollywood people get to be heroes in the story.  All of these wins and the characteristics of the film have combined to push Argo to the favorite position for winning Best Picture at the Oscars.  And all of this despite Affleck not even getting an Oscar nomination for Best Director. 

Movie – Forrest Gump (1994)

Every once and a while a movie that is very popular with audiences will also win the Best Picture Oscar.  This happened in 1994 with Forrest Gump.  In fact, the film received 13 Oscar nominations and won six, including four of the “big five” – Picture, Director, Actor, and Screenplay.  It only missed out for Best Actress (there was no nomination for the film in that category.)  It also provided Tom Hanks with his second consecutive Best Actor Oscar – something only Spencer Tracy had accomplished before him.  Forrest Gump is a bittersweet look at the extraordinary life of one man who touched many other lives around him.

Movie – Casablanca (1942)

Look at pretty much any movie-related person’s or publication’s list of the greatest films of all time and you will find Casablanca at or near the top.  It is considered one of the all time classic films by both critics and viewers alike.  And considering that this movie partially owes its existence to a quick attempt to cash in on the popularity of The Maltese Falcon, as well as the U.S.’ entry into World War II, that’s pretty damn good.

Nowadays we’re used to top tier movies having months, or even years, of pre-production with every single element carefully planned out.  Casablanca is an example of almost nothing being planned and serendipity providing all the right elements.

Movie – Rain Man (1988)

At the time it won the Oscar, Rain Man was the highest grossing Best Picture winner of all time.  (It has since been surpassed by Forrest Gump and, of course, Titanic).  Rain Man actually won four of the five major Oscars – Picture, Director, Actor, and Original Screenplay.  It was nominated for four other Oscars.  It was also the highest grossing movie of 1988.  It’s not often that a film is both popular with movie audiences and critically acclaimed, but Rain Man was.

Movie – Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

Slumdog Millionaire is an absolutely terrific film that swept through the Oscars in 2009.  It won 8 of the 10 awards it was nominated for, including Best Picture.  And one of the awards it didn’t win – Best Song – it lost to itself when the other song from the film, “Jai Ho”, took home the Oscar.  It wasn’t just the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences who loved it.  It is only the second film in history to sweep the Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Screenplay awards at the Golden Globes (Hollywood Foreign Press), BAFTAs (the “British Oscars”), and Academy Awards.  The other film to do it?  Schindler’s List.

Movie – The Artist (2011)

The movie The Artist is a love letter to the silent movie era of Hollywood.  Not only is it about the effect of sound movies (“talkies”) on silent film stars, but it is presented in the same style as those movies.  The result is a very fun movie experience.  I still need to see a few of the Best Picture nominees, but right now this film is my favorite.

Movie – Shakespeare in Love (1998)

This movie won the Oscar for Best Picture in 1999.  Among others it beat out Steven Spielberg’s movie Saving Private Ryan.  There was some carping over this as people asked how this little romantic comedy/drama could beat out a big budget war movie with big D-Day battle scenes and Tom Hanks in it.  Some people complained that the makers of Shakespeare in Love actually campaigned for the award, as if every other movie maker hadn’t done the same.  I am here to tell you that the reason that Shakespeare in Love won the Best Picture Oscar is that it is a truly great film.  In fact, it is second only to Schindler’s List as the best film of the entire 1990s.

Movie – The King’s Speech (2010)

This movie is the one that might beat out The Social Network for the Best Picture Oscar.  It recently won Best Picture from the Producers Guild, which some people feel means it has a chance against The Social Network, which has won most of the other Best Picture awards.  Combine this recent win for The King’s Speech with the fact that it got the most nominations and some people are thinking this might even be the favorite.

Movie – American Beauty (1999)

American Beauty won five Oscars, including four of the five major ones, capped off by Best Picture.  It only missed for Best Actress.  Annette Bening was beaten by Hilary Swank’s performance in Boys Don’t Cry.  Unlike most Oscar winning movies, which are very dramatic and heavy, this movie had enough humor in it to be called a comedy/drama.

Movie - The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

This movie stars Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins.  Jodie Foster is one of the few child actresses that made a successful transition into adult roles.  She had already won one Oscar for The Accused before winning again for this movie.  Anthony Hopkins had been making movies since the late 60s, but this is the one that made him a household name.

It was directed by Jonathan Demme, who went on to do Philadelphia.  It was adapted by Ted Tally, who also adapted the prequel Red Dragon.

Movie - One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)

This movie stars Jack Nicholson and Louise Fletcher.  Nicholson needs no introduction.  Louise Fletcher has worked constantly in both movies and TV since winning the Oscar, but she never again had a role like this one.  Trekkies/Trekkers will recognize her as Kai Winn on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

It was directed by Milos Forman, who went on to do Amadeus.  It was adapted by Lawrence Hauben, who never wrote another movie, and Bo Goldman, who went on to write Scent of a Woman.

Movie - It Happened One Night (1934)

This movie stars Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert.  If the names are not familiar then this is an excellent movie to introduce them to you.  Gable would go on to do Mutiny on the Bounty and Gone with the Wind.  Colbert would go on to do The Palm Beach Story.

It was directed by Frank Capra, who went on to do Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and It’s a Wonderful Life.  It was adapted by Robert Riskin, who went on to write You Can’t Take It with You and Meet John Doe.