Best Picture Hall of Fame

The Godfather
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola, 1972 Best Picture Winner



I think it's now hard to argue with those who would claim this as one of the best technically made film in film history. And this is one of those cases (although I would say until recently for me personally the Oscars have had a pretty solid track record) where technically the best film won the award. Looking back on 1972 it seems a rather marginal year overall and I can't disagree with this as the winner although I do prefer Play It Again Sam from an enjoyment standpoint. I'd probably have this at two.

It's hard to say if acting or story is the films true centerpiece. I think Coppola had great casting choices which made his movie even stronger. The story was strong but the overall film was stronger due to the performances. I think Al Pacino as Michael Corleone may be the overall standout although Marlon Brando as Vito is the most epic and memorable. I also was rather impressed with James Caan and I forgot about how solid Diane Keaton was in this. Robert Duvall may be the weakest support role but it's not like he was a slouch either.

I like the darkness of the film. When they are in those rooms that don't shed a lot of light on the characters it gives the film a rather gritty, mobster like feel. This makes it seem as if it's the pioneer of the Mob movie genre although others were made before it. My favorite scenes were the hospital scene and I liked how the film was set up with that opening wedding scene.

I've upgraded how I rated this film and there's really no true flaw I can think of although I'll be all ears from people like Miss Vicky who don't care for the film. The first time I saw it I thought it was really overrated but with the second watch there seems to be a lot going for the film. I thought it felt aged the first watch but I no longer feel that way. It's almost three hour runtime could seem torturous to some but I didn't feel it much this go around. Were there lulls? A few, but nothing to make it daunting for me.

If anything this film shows how personal I can make my rating system at times. I will give a film that I enjoyed more a higher rating rather than one that on the surface may be more technically supreme. I feel like film are sometimes about the personal connections you have to a film and that is always an important factor in my ratings.

But getting back to it, glad this was nominated. This is proof that a rewatch can change ones mind on a film and while I wouldn't call it a personal favorite, I certainly liked it more the second go around. The lead contender to win. Problem for me is I love a crapton of what got nominated so this actually may be pretty low on my overall list.

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The Godfather, like The Great Escape were films they actually broke into a two-night view on regular TV when I was a kid, and with it being censored for violence and language, one I got away with watching quite a bit and, when I got to see it in my late teens when getting it from a video store, and see it in its full glory; it became one on the heavy rotation list of movies for me.
It's been a decade or two since seeing it so pretty excited to see how much I enjoy it and for what aspects.

A Beautiful Mind


SPOILERS


There is really no way to talk about this film without giving way to spoilers and I will say this from the get go: Beautiful Mind is a beautiful story. And the fact that is directed by, in my opinion, one of the best storytellers; Ron Howard, really brings that about.
What I mean by that is, regardless of how good a story is, you STILL need to tell it, and for me, storytelling is something Ron Howard can do in his sleep. He's masterful at it. And for getting us, the viewers caught up in it.
Which wasn't too hard for me when first seeing who directed and the list of actors within this and how much I enjoy them.
Starting with Russell Crowe, who, as usual, nails it. For an actor whose roles are very strong, at times, violent (Romper Stomper, LA Confidential, Gladiator and others) but with a lot more complexity; I was pleasantly impressed (though not surprised I wouldn't be) on how easily it was to believe him playing an awkward genius mathematician.
Along with him were favorites like Paul Bettany, Ed Harris and, wonderfully, Jennifer Connelly who rarely gets a role worthwhile of what she is capable of beyond simply being upset. In this she gets to be charming, clever, delightful and, in the end, determined to be there for the man she loves.

While I knew very little about John Nash beforehand, and of course, looked him up after watching this, I found the way they portrayed his dementia was quite impressive. We are with him and have no idea, like him, that the people he interacts with, aren't real. And with him, we are shocked and more than a little terrified to see Christopher Plummer, whom, much like John Nash, I seriously thought was some kind of international villain and not, simply, a doctor who arrives to treat him for schizophrenia.

Following this, we see Nash attempting,and in his own way, battle it the only way he truly can, with his own deductive, mathematical reasoning. Which were some rather touching scenes, including Connelly making the decision to finally trust in him again and be with him.

I was engrossed, I laughed, I cried; a truly beautiful movie experience.

On a sad, or perhaps, keeping with theme, a beautiful note, while reading about Nash and his wife, I saw that they died, in 2015, together in a car crash while traveling in a taxi. They were the only fatalities.

I'll read these reviews, as soon as I can watch the movies, that's when I rep them. Looks like some good stuff here

Sean, I repped your post as I hope you're joking.

Generally speaking, I really hate the idea that if someone doesn't love a film with a black cast or a gay character (etc) then that person is accused of racism or homo phobia.

You might not have read the discussion on Moonlight, but a couple of people were basically saying that it only won Best Picture because of its black cast and filmmakers. Their opinion was that the win was the Academy's response to the Oscars So White movement from the previous year and that the film did not deserve the win and didn't win based on its own merits.

Nobody's accusing anyone of being racist for simply not liking the film.

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None of us will ever know if that's why Moonlight won, but it's certainly the first thing that popped into my mind. It's a shame because it's a real good film. It's also the first thing that I thought of when I heard Get Out was an Oscar contender.

Yeah it's kind of bad timing in that regard. On the one hand, it is an excellent film IMO. On the other, being so soon after Oscars So White leaves some doubt as to the academy's motivations.

I said and I say again: I think Moonlight is a very good film. There are some details that I find quite interesting that elevate it above the average.

But again, I do think the movie won because of its theme something that happens quite a lot of times, in the Oscars.

Half joking. I don't think anyone is being racist or homophobic. In fact I said myself that I am sure the Oscar so white backlash stuck in voters minds. I don't think social issues can help but. I just think it's kind of strange to say I wonder if the homosexual aspect of the film even needed to be there or calling Moonlight Oscar bait because it is a social film. La La Land had some stuff hanging over its head too. Hollywood loves films about itself. Obviously Oscar has been kind to musicals.

I just don't like looking at movies through that lens. I think awards way too often get talked about like they are being given out by three old white straight males who only care about one kind of film. They are a consensus, voted on by 100's of people, and consensus is usually going to fall to the type of thing that the majority of people can enjoy on some level.

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Letterboxd

You know what would be fun? If each one of us looked at the year of each film and said, in our own opinion of course, if there was a movie more deserving of the Best Picture Award.

1935 - haven't seen much from this year, and what I saw wasn't better than Mutiny on the Bounty.

1949 - This was the year of The Third Man. I can't possibly think how it lost to All the King's Men.

1954 - Difficult year. Hitchcock directed Dial M for Murder and Rear Window, the same year Kazan directed On the Waterfront. I get why it won, but I'd probably go with Dial M for Murder. I just saw that Stanley Kramer made a film called The Caine Mutiny and that was nominated for Best Picture. I'm curious.

1972 - Can't think of a more deserving winner.

1975 - Another great year. Besides One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest there is: Jaws, Barry Lyndon and Dog Day Afternoon. I would have gone with Barry Lyndon.

1976 - Lumet made one of this masterpieces this year: Network and there's also a small movie called Taxi Driver. Rocky is the third best of these 3, in my opinion, with Taxi Driver taking my undoubted choice for Best Picture.

1991 - I haven't seen better films than Silence of the Lambs this year, besides Raise the Red Lantern which was nominated for Best Foreign Film (lost to a film called Mediterraneo, which I hope is excellent, because it's not any film who beats Raise the Red Lantern).

1994 - The year of Leon: The Professional, The Shawshank Redemption and freaking PULP FICTION! It's easy to guess what would be my choice. Not that Forrest Gump is a bad film, it's not. But I named 3 films I prefer.

2000 - Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon beat Amores Perros and In the Mood for Love in Best Foreign Film this year... Jesus!!! 2000 was the year of Memento, O Brother Where Art Thou, The Patriot, Quills and Requiem for a Dream. I would have gone with Requiem for a Dream this year.

2001 - The year of Donnie Darko, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Moulin Rouge, Mulholand Drive, among some others. I like A Beautiful Mind, but I probably would have gave the award to LotR! In the foreign category No Man's Land beat Amelie and Y tu Mamá También... That's just wrong in so many levels!

2012 - I hated Argo so this year has a lot of alternatives, for me. On the nominees list there were movies like: Amour, Beasts from the Southern Wild, Django Unchained and Life of Pi - all far better than Argo, IMO. There was also Moonrise Kingdom not nominated but that deserved a place on the list. Amour won the best foreign film (thank God) and I still can't believe Beasts from the Southern Wild didn't take the Oscar.

2013 - Linklater finished his trilogy with Before Midnight, David O. Russel made American Hustler and Jonze directed Her. There's also Rush, The Wolf of Wall Street (DiCaprio was robbed this year) and Jagten (which lost the Best Foreign Film award to La Grande Belleza which I haven't seen). I would have gone with Jagten or Her over 12 Years a Slave.

2016 - The only good movie besides Moonlight I have seen from this year was the Cannes Award winner: I, Daniel Blake. I absolutely loved it and I would choose it over Moonlight hands down. I should take some time to see the nominees from this year.

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Completely disagree with this, I think it was clear that Kevin clearly cared deeply about Chiron through his life, however had to make decisions for himself to fit in and not become a similar victim to constant abuse

I'd say there's a fair chance that some of the voting Academy members wanted to show they were not racist, so voted for Moonlight. But there's no way to know for sure. AND at any rate it's not the fault of the film makers who made Moonlight, so the film shouldn't be punished for what happened the year before with all that The Oscars are so white BS.

I think a LOT of movies win for themes, and lose for other types of themes. It's always been that way. If I was making a movie it would be about the #me too movement and the sexual charges that resulted from it....That would be almost guaranteed an Oscar nomination. I really should have been a film maker

IMO Oscar Bait is mostly used to describe a movie that won, over a movie that is loved, a type of sour grapes. Example Shakespeare in Love was called Oscar Bait because it beat out some really loved films, just like Moonlight beat out a huge favorite La La Land.

That's my take on the whole ball of wax

1935 - Top Hat was really good and still holds up, would have been a good year to honor Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. I also liked A Midsummer's Night Dream from that year.

1949 - The Third Man was actually 1950 for the Academy. So I would have gone with All The King's Men.

1954 - On The Waterfront would get my vote, had Rear Window been nominated that would have been a tougher call.

1972 - Aguirre:Wrath of God is a top 20 movie for me so that would be ahead of my pick The Godfather but of the nominated films Godfather makes sense

1975 - One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest favorite film from a great year.

1976 - Rocky was the best of the nominated fields...but this should have been the year John Cassavettes broke out as an auteur with Killing of a Chinese Bookie.

1991 - Silence of the Lambs/JFK are two of my all-time favorites so I'm happy with either. Had Stone not won for Platoon he would have won for JFK.

1994 - LOL Gump might have been the worst nom
Best Picture - My choice - Vanya on 42nd Street of the noms - Pulp Fiction "deserved it"
Best Actor - My choice - Harrison Ford Clear and Present Danger of the noms Morgan Freeman for Shawshank
Best Director - My Choice - Jan De Bont Speed of the nominees Tarrantino Pulp Fiction
Best Screenplay - My Choice and the nom - Frank Darabont Shawshank Redemption
Editing - Speed
Visual Effects -...kay the ONE OSCAR I would have given Gump

2000 - Gladiator was fine from the noms but this was the year of Zemeckis masterpiece Cast Away should have won multiple Oscars.

2001 - I don't really care for A Beautiful Mind..it should have gone to Lord of the Rings as I feel that was the best of Jackson's films. From that year I really like The Others. I also consider The Royal Tennebaums to be a masterpiece.

2012 - I liked Argo but I loved Life of Pi and it was kind of a ripoff to give Ang Lee another Oscar without BP validation.

2016 - My two least favorite films from this field were Moonlight and La La Land, I voted Fences on this board from the noms. Silence would have been good but I think this should have been the year the animated films broke through and Zootopia would have won.

17 write ups thus far. Sweet.

Like I said for 1972 I enjoy Play It Again Sam the most, but The Godfather is a highly worthy entry.

I should be able to keep up my 1 a day pace until I'm done. I own Argo, A Beautiful Mind, Forrest Gump, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and of course Gladiator. All the King's Men, The Godfather, Rocky, On the Waterfront, and The Silence of the Lambs are currently on hold for me at the library. I'll probably pick those up on Friday.

Nice. I won't be able to get on a true roll for awhile, but the end of January will be a lot of downtime as well.

I should be able to keep up my 0 a day pace until MV is done.

I'll probably only have about 2 maybe 3 watched before she is done.