movies

[ghostrunner]

1998: "Shakespeare in Love" over "Saving Private Ryan", what a f*****g disaster. "Saving Private Ryan" just got added to the National Film Registry, by the way.

I don't even think Saving Private Ryan is that great.

Out of Sight came out the same year, and it's a better movie. Truman Show or Lebowski would also get my vote over it. Elizabeth. Rushmore. All better IMO.

Related to this, Paltrow winning over Cate Blanchett might have been when I finaly stopped caring about those awards. Really the whole Shakeapeare in Love thing generally. I figured everyone must have been taking crazy pills.

[The Third Man]

1944: "Going My Way", which I guess is a pretty harmless comedy with Bing Crosby playing a priest.

Even at the cinema watching that awful Going My Way, the day they met, he saw every white straying of her ungauntleted hands, could feel in his skin each saccade of her olive, her amber, her coffee-colored eyes. He's wasted gallons of paint thinner striking his faithful Zippo, its charred wick, virility giving way to thrift, rationed down to a little stub, the blue flame sparking about the edges in the dark, the many kinds of dark, just to see what's happening with her face. Each new flame, a new face.

[The Third Man]

1997: I actually like "Titanic", that movie is worth watching just to see the re-creation of the ship, but you can't argue for that movie over "LA Confidential".

[expletive] yes I can. Titanic is way better than LA Confidential.

[Vidor]

1944: "Going My Way", which I guess is a pretty harmless comedy with Bing Crosby playing a priest.

Even at the cinema watching that awful Going My Way, the day they met, he saw every white straying of her ungauntleted hands, could feel in his skin each saccade of her olive, her amber, her coffee-colored eyes. He's wasted gallons of paint thinner striking his faithful Zippo, its charred wick, virility giving way to thrift, rationed down to a little stub, the blue flame sparking about the edges in the dark, the many kinds of dark, just to see what's happening with her face. Each new flame, a new face.

I remember watching "Going My Way" years and years ago...but I can't remember a goddamn thing about it, except Bing Crosby was a priest, and he was very nice.

Beat two straight-up classics, "Gaslight" and "Double Indemnity". And all those other great movies I noted. Also "Meet Me in St. Louis", not nominated. "The Miracle of Morgan's Creek", not nominated. "The Woman in the Window", with Joan Bennett semi-topless, not nominated.

Big whiff in 1944.

Now that I think about it, it might be more interesting to list years when Oscar got it right. "Sunrise" for Unique and Artistic Production in 1927, "All Quiet on the Western Front" in 1930, "Casablanca", the first two "Godfather" films, "Schindler's List". I thought "The Departed" was a pretty solid choice--people kept judging it against all the Scorsese classics that didn't win but I thought it was a pretty good pick for that field in that year.

[Vidor]

Oscar whiff 1968: I didn't list "Oliver!" because I've never seen it, but it's a musical and its title ends with an exclamation point, and those are bad signs. The Franco Zeffirelli "Romeo and Juliet" that came out that year is the most famous version. "2001" not nominated (and it was the highest grossing film that year). "Bullitt", "Rosemary's Baby", "Night of the Living Dead", "If", "Once Upon a Time in the West", "The Producers".

[Vidor]

I didn't realize "Night of the Living Dead" made that much money. $30M, in 1968 money, after they spent about $2.95 making it.

[JL21]

"The Miracle of Morgan's Creek"

That movie is so good. It's as good as comedy writing got in that era.

RE: the Oscars- they're never going to give it to a more challenging film (ergo why 2001 and Do the Right Thing didn't win), and they're very rarely going to give it to a film with darker themes (which makes it all the more shocking that 12 Years a Slave DID win last year). I've said it before and I'll say it again- look at the demographics of Oscar voters and you'll never care about them getting it right again. It's a fun award and it's great that it prompts discussion, but it's about on par with giving out MVPs based on batting average.

[JL21]

I'm working on a freelance project and it involves the top 20 on Rotten Tomatoes this year. It's kind of a fascinating list because of how much it's dominated by foreign and documentary films. Poland, Chile, Sweden, and... half Korean/half American (whatever Snowpiercer was) all make the list. I trimmed out films with less than 100 reviews.

Gloria (2014) 99%
Boyhood (2014) 99%
The Babadook (2014) 98%
Life Itself (2014) 98%
Citizenfour (2014) 97%
We Are the Best! (2014) 97%
Love Is Strange (2014) 96%
Blue Ruin (2014) 96%
Ida (2014) 96%
Whiplash (2014) 96%
The LEGO Movie (2014) 96%
Snowpiercer (2014) 95%
Nightcrawler (2014) 95%
Pride (2014) 94%
Frank (2014) 93%
Wild (2014) 93%
Birdman (2014) 93%
How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014) 92%
The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) 92%
X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014) 92%

[go birds]

I'm working on a freelance project and it involves the top 20 on Rotten Tomatoes this year. It's kind of a fascinating list because of how much it's dominated by foreign and documentary films. Poland, Chile, Sweden, and... half Korean/half American (whatever Snowpiercer was) all make the list. I trimmed out films with less than 100 reviews.

Gloria (2014) 99%
Boyhood (2014) 99%
The Babadook (2014) 98%
Life Itself (2014) 98%
Citizenfour (2014) 97%
We Are the Best! (2014) 97%
Love Is Strange (2014) 96%
Blue Ruin (2014) 96%
Ida (2014) 96%
Whiplash (2014) 96%
The LEGO Movie (2014) 96%
Snowpiercer (2014) 95%
Nightcrawler (2014) 95%
Pride (2014) 94%
Frank (2014) 93%
Wild (2014) 93%
Birdman (2014) 93%
How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014) 92%
The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) 92%
X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014) 92%

Surprised to see x-men over guardians with all the love guardians got.

Glad to see blue ruin on there. Great movie.

[JL21]

Guardians just missed, with 90%.