BEST PICTURE NOMINEES
*Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
*A Man for All Seasons
*Alfie
*The Sand Pebbles
*The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming
AND 'MY' WINNER IS...The Sand Pebbles
AND 'THE' WINNER IS...A Man for All Seasons
The Sand Pebbles (1966) directed by: Robert Wise
Main Cast: Steve McQueen, Richard Attenborough, Richard Crenna, Candice Bergen and Mako
Went into this movie not expecting to like it. I must say I was extremely surprised at how much I enjoyed it. I had never seen a Steve McQueen movie and now I can't wait to see more. Steve McQueen plays Jake Holman, a navy engineer on a battleship in Shanghai. I am going to be making a special trip to the DVD store as soon as possible for this gem.
RATING: 9/10
THE ACADEMY'S PICK
A Man for All Seasons (1966) directed by: Fred Zinnemann
Main Cast: Paul Scofield, Wendy Hiller, Robert Shaw and Orson Welles
This one was really not an easy task for me. Cardinals, Kings, Consulates, Queens...anyone bored yet? I sure was! The acting by Paul Scofield, I admit, was superb, but the time period in which the movie was set, just turned me off. This one will certainly not make it into my collection anytime soon, if ever.
RATING: 3/10
BEST OF THE REST
RUNNER-UP:
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966) directed by: Mike Nichols
Main Cast: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, George Segal and Sandy Dennis
This whole movie is based around a middle aged married couple, Martha (Taylor) and George (Burton). Martha is a crazy drunk who is never seen without a drink in her hand. She is constantly yelling at and belittling George. They both seem to hate each other and I do believe they both are a little crazy at points. An entertaining movie that kept me wanting more and wondering what would happen next. Not sure if I would add it to my collection, that's something I'll have to contemplate.
RATING: 8/10
HONORABLE MENTION
The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming (1966) directed by: Norman Jewison
Main Cast: Carl Reiner, Eva Mare Saint, Alan Arkin and John Phillip Law
A Russian submarine with a captain that had never seen America, is trying to get a closer look, when suddenly they go aground and are stuck. Nine of the soldiers come inland in search of a boat to free the submarine. Sound like trouble?I recommend you check it out. Not one I will be rushing out to buy, but one that I'd certainly watch on TV if I came across it.
RATING: 6/10
THE REST
Alfie (1966) directed by: Lewis Gilbert
Main Cast: Michael Caine, Shelley Winters and Millicent Martin
Alfie (Caine) is a womanizer who is seeing so many different women that it is hard to keep track. He doesn't care if they are married or not, as long as they give him what he wants. Alfie thinks his life is great until he meets Annie, then he starts to really care for her. Time for Alfie to decide between the life he loves and the woman he's falling in love with. Pretty average movie for me. Not something I will be buying.
RATING: 5/10
1967 at the Oscars certainly paled in comparison to 1983, but still gave me The Sand Pebbles and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, two movies I won't soon forget and two movies that will soon grace my DVD shelf, so for that I can't complain.
Rating for 1967 as a whole: 5/10
NEXT UP: 2001 - which includes Chocolat, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Erin Brockovich, Gladiator and Traffic
September 26. 2009 11:02pm
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Sunday, September 20, 2009
1983
BEST PICTURE NOMINEES
*Tootsie
*The Verdict
*E.T.: The Extra-terrestrial
*Gandhi
*Missing
AND 'MY' WINNER IS...Gandhi
AND 'THE' WINNER IS...Gandhi
Gandhi (1982) directed by: Richard Attenborough
Main Cast: Ben Kingsley, Candice Bergen and Martin Sheen
I must say that I went into this one really dreading it. First off it is over three hours and secondly I am not much of a biopic fan. Well, for starters, I was unsure of what Gandhi had actually even done. I mean, of course, I had heard his name, but never really knew what he accomplished. Now after watching this movie I must say that I was totally shocked I absolutely loved it!! Gandhi was a truly amazing man, who deserves all the respect and admiration that he has gotten. This movie is a definite must see and will certainly be one of my favorites from now on. I do not own this movie, but that will definitely have to be rectified.
RATING: 10/10
BEST OF THE REST
RUNNER-UP:
Tootsie (1982) directed by: Sydney Pollack
Main Cast: Dustin Hoffman, Jessica Lange, Teri Garr and Bill Murray
I had heard a lot of mixed reactions from a lot of different people regarding Tootsie. They say you either love it or you hate it. So I was very excited to give Tootsie a try. Just the thought of Dustin Hoffman (who I think is an amazing actor) cross-dressing as a woman to gain a role in a soap opera sounded priceless to me. Well I was NOT disapointed. Tootsie was a great movie that I would watch again anytime and I must say that if I didn't already own it, I'd be making a trip to my local DVD shop to buy it. If you have never seen it, it comes with the highest of recomendations.
RATING: 10/10
HONORABLE MENTION
Missing (1982) directed by: Costa-Gavras
Main Cast: Sissy Spacek and Jack Lemmon
I had never actually heard of this movie until I started this mission of mine. Missing is based on a true story about the disapearance of Charlie Horman while living in Chile with his wife. The movie shows her struggle, alongside his father (Jack Lemmon) to find out the truth surrounding his ominous vanishing and the quest to find out what actually happened to him, while constantly getting more of a runaround than help. I will definitely be adding this one to my DVD shelf.
RATING: 10/10
THE REST
E.T.: The Extra-terrestrial (1982) directed by: Steven Spielberg
Main Cast: Dee Wallace, Henry Thomas and Drew Barrymore
Well I remember I must've enjoyed this movie as a child, because I will never forget my E.T. stuffed dolls. However, about a year ago, my husband and I revisited this movie again and for some reason or another I really don't remember liking it that time around. But after having rewatched it for my new found mission, I must say I truly do think it is an excellent movie. The only reason it's included in "The Rest" catergory is because of the moment in the film when the mother first meets E.T. and she is running out of the house with the family and the men in space suits are swarming in, even through the windows. Sorry kinda creepy! Great movie though all in all, truly a must see!
The Verdict (1982) directed by: Sidney Lumet
Main Cast: Paul Newman, Jack Warden, James Mason and Charlotte Rampling
Paul Newman, of who I am a huge fan of, playing a down and out, drunk lawyer who pulls all the punches, even resorting to crashing funerals in search of clients, sounded great to me. The Verdict started off really slow and it took a while to get interesting, but once it got to the courtroom part of the movie, it became a little more exciting and pulled me in a bit deeper. All in all I would say kind of average, but not highly recomended.
So there you have it, 1983 at the Oscars. To sum it up 1983 was a great year for film, with many great directors on showcase. I got lucky with picking this particular year to kick off my mission.
RATING FOR 1983 as a whole: 9/10
NEXT UP: 1967 - which includes Alfie, A Man for All Seasons, The Russians Are Coming the Russians Are Coming, The Sand Pebbles and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
September 20, 2009 9:41pm
*Tootsie
*The Verdict
*E.T.: The Extra-terrestrial
*Gandhi
*Missing
AND 'MY' WINNER IS...Gandhi
AND 'THE' WINNER IS...Gandhi
Gandhi (1982) directed by: Richard Attenborough
Main Cast: Ben Kingsley, Candice Bergen and Martin Sheen
I must say that I went into this one really dreading it. First off it is over three hours and secondly I am not much of a biopic fan. Well, for starters, I was unsure of what Gandhi had actually even done. I mean, of course, I had heard his name, but never really knew what he accomplished. Now after watching this movie I must say that I was totally shocked I absolutely loved it!! Gandhi was a truly amazing man, who deserves all the respect and admiration that he has gotten. This movie is a definite must see and will certainly be one of my favorites from now on. I do not own this movie, but that will definitely have to be rectified.
RATING: 10/10
BEST OF THE REST
RUNNER-UP:
Tootsie (1982) directed by: Sydney Pollack
Main Cast: Dustin Hoffman, Jessica Lange, Teri Garr and Bill Murray
I had heard a lot of mixed reactions from a lot of different people regarding Tootsie. They say you either love it or you hate it. So I was very excited to give Tootsie a try. Just the thought of Dustin Hoffman (who I think is an amazing actor) cross-dressing as a woman to gain a role in a soap opera sounded priceless to me. Well I was NOT disapointed. Tootsie was a great movie that I would watch again anytime and I must say that if I didn't already own it, I'd be making a trip to my local DVD shop to buy it. If you have never seen it, it comes with the highest of recomendations.
RATING: 10/10
HONORABLE MENTION
Missing (1982) directed by: Costa-Gavras
Main Cast: Sissy Spacek and Jack Lemmon
I had never actually heard of this movie until I started this mission of mine. Missing is based on a true story about the disapearance of Charlie Horman while living in Chile with his wife. The movie shows her struggle, alongside his father (Jack Lemmon) to find out the truth surrounding his ominous vanishing and the quest to find out what actually happened to him, while constantly getting more of a runaround than help. I will definitely be adding this one to my DVD shelf.
RATING: 10/10
THE REST
E.T.: The Extra-terrestrial (1982) directed by: Steven Spielberg
Main Cast: Dee Wallace, Henry Thomas and Drew Barrymore
Well I remember I must've enjoyed this movie as a child, because I will never forget my E.T. stuffed dolls. However, about a year ago, my husband and I revisited this movie again and for some reason or another I really don't remember liking it that time around. But after having rewatched it for my new found mission, I must say I truly do think it is an excellent movie. The only reason it's included in "The Rest" catergory is because of the moment in the film when the mother first meets E.T. and she is running out of the house with the family and the men in space suits are swarming in, even through the windows. Sorry kinda creepy! Great movie though all in all, truly a must see!
The Verdict (1982) directed by: Sidney Lumet
Main Cast: Paul Newman, Jack Warden, James Mason and Charlotte Rampling
Paul Newman, of who I am a huge fan of, playing a down and out, drunk lawyer who pulls all the punches, even resorting to crashing funerals in search of clients, sounded great to me. The Verdict started off really slow and it took a while to get interesting, but once it got to the courtroom part of the movie, it became a little more exciting and pulled me in a bit deeper. All in all I would say kind of average, but not highly recomended.
So there you have it, 1983 at the Oscars. To sum it up 1983 was a great year for film, with many great directors on showcase. I got lucky with picking this particular year to kick off my mission.
RATING FOR 1983 as a whole: 9/10
NEXT UP: 1967 - which includes Alfie, A Man for All Seasons, The Russians Are Coming the Russians Are Coming, The Sand Pebbles and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
September 20, 2009 9:41pm
Friday, September 18, 2009
Introduction
Recently, my husband decided to take on the mission of watching every movie in the "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die" book. After contemplating whether or not I wanted to join him on his journey through cinema, I decided that I really didn't think the path that he was taking, was suited for me. So I decided to take a path of my own, a path, that has lead me on a very exciting mission.
What is my mission, you ask:
After hearing that the academy, that is the Academy of Motion Pictures (aka the Oscars) have decided to nominate ten Best Picture nominees in 2010, instead of the standard five, it got me to thinking about all of the films that have had the honor of "Best Picture Nominee" bestowed upon them. So I've decided to undertake the mission of watching them all. That is, all the nominees and of course, the winners. But there's a twist, in the way that I'm going to pursue my mission.
While I had some free time on my hands, I got out my stationary kit and found myself some paper, scissors and an ink pen. I wrote down every year that there has been an Academy Awards ceremony. From there, I put all of the slips of paper into an old pretzel jar and decided that from there, I would randomly pick a year, watch all of the films that were nominated in that particular year and then blog about them.
In conclusion, this will give me a chance to give my own spin on what should've happened at the Oscars on any given year. I'll be able to give you a year, the films that were nominated and tell you what won, what should've won and what I thought of the rest.
I hope that you will find my blog informative, and hopefully it'll gear you up for the 2010 ceremony and leave movie fans craving for my opinions.
What is my mission, you ask:
After hearing that the academy, that is the Academy of Motion Pictures (aka the Oscars) have decided to nominate ten Best Picture nominees in 2010, instead of the standard five, it got me to thinking about all of the films that have had the honor of "Best Picture Nominee" bestowed upon them. So I've decided to undertake the mission of watching them all. That is, all the nominees and of course, the winners. But there's a twist, in the way that I'm going to pursue my mission.
While I had some free time on my hands, I got out my stationary kit and found myself some paper, scissors and an ink pen. I wrote down every year that there has been an Academy Awards ceremony. From there, I put all of the slips of paper into an old pretzel jar and decided that from there, I would randomly pick a year, watch all of the films that were nominated in that particular year and then blog about them.
In conclusion, this will give me a chance to give my own spin on what should've happened at the Oscars on any given year. I'll be able to give you a year, the films that were nominated and tell you what won, what should've won and what I thought of the rest.
I hope that you will find my blog informative, and hopefully it'll gear you up for the 2010 ceremony and leave movie fans craving for my opinions.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
