Thursday Movie Picks: Oscar nominated films that should have won
1) Inception
The 2011 Oscars has one of the greatest Best Picture nominees of all time. They actually used all 10 slots and only one of them - Toy Story 3 was truly terrible. That being said, they gave it to The King's Speech when there were about 6 other films I liked better. My favorite of that bunch is Inception. I so wish this would've won Best Picture.
2) Sunset Boulevard
It lost to All About Eve, which is also a great movie but Sunset was just so much better. I wish this had won.
3) The Descendants
This one is less about a great movie snubbed and more about me still being annoyed to this day that The Artist was named Best Picture. I'm a sucker for all things tap dance and I still hated that movie. The Descendants for me was the best film nominated that year.
I’m late for my own theme but it will be up. I love The King’s Speech but I also love Inception. I would have been happy if Inception would have won but I am not upset that King’s Speech won. This is a clear example of the old guard vs the new but the old winning. Sunset Blvd is my wish to have won even though I also love All About Eve. It is just a wild flick and I love what Mae Murray said after seeing this film...”None of us floozies was ever that nuts”. I do like the Descendants but I love The Artist so we are polar opposites with that film:)
ReplyDeleteI don't think The King's Speech was a bad movie at all, I enjoyed it for the most part, just not nearly as much as I enjoyed Inception, The Social Network, Black Swan, 127 Hours, and The Kids Are All Right in that category. It was a strong year.
DeleteI did not see the last 2, but I would have been aok if Inception won but I hate Black Swan as well as The Social Network because I found this film boring which means my age...hahahaaa. I think more young people liked that film
DeleteI was rooting for The Descendants; that was a fantastic film. Inception is also a great one; it's a memorable work of Nolan's. I end up watching it whenever its being played.
ReplyDeleteGlad to see some more love for the Descendants!
DeleteI loved Inception though I wasn't sorry to see The King's Speech win since its closest competitor was The Social Network, a film I hated. I wouldn't have been upset to see Inception take the prize though.
ReplyDeleteAs far as Sunset Blvd., it's a masterpiece but then so is All About Eve so the best solution would have been a tie. It's unfortunate that never happens and Eve would still have been my choice but I understand those who prefer Sunset.
I really disliked The Descendants but I was pulling for Moneyball to win that year though I would have been good with Midnight in Paris and I liked The Artist even if it was a bit derivative.
This was fun and I could only narrow my choices down to four.
I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932)-Just after the end of the First World War vet James Allen (Paul Muni) decides to ramble around the country working odd jobs before settling down. Striking up a casual acquaintance with another drifter he is implicated in a robbery and despite his innocence sentenced to several years on a Southern chain gang. Faced with intolerable conditions he manages to escape and over time build a new and successful life but fate intervenes. Powerful indictment of prison conditions and man’s inhumanity to man with brilliant work by Muni and a haunting ending. There is no way in hell this should have lost to the ponderous Cavalcade.
A Tale of Two Cities (1936)-Solid extremely well-acted version of the Dickens story of the French Revolution and some caught in its web. Handsomely mounted with Ronald Colman a strong Sydney Carton, Blanche Yurka a terrifyingly unhinged Madame De Farge and a lovely small performance by Isabel Jewell as a doomed seamstress. Again vastly superior to the corny and lumbering winner of its year-The Great Ziegfeld.
Grand Illusion (1938)-Eloquent treatise on the futility and senseless of war defies easy synopsis without sounding trite but the basic story is of two French fliers shot down during WWII and their relationship with their cultured German captor. Gripping and profound.
The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)-Spirited, lively, colorful and flat out fun version of the legend pulsates with vivid colors and a sense of joy. Masterfully lead by director Michael Curtiz with performances full of joie de vivre from Claude Rains, Basil Rathbone, the Warner’s stock company and Olivia de Havilland but driving the entire enterprise is the perfectly cast Errol Flynn who is obviously having a great time. You will too. Either this or Grand Illusion should have emerged triumphant over the ultimate winner, the scattered and foolish You Can’t Take It With You.
Double Indemnity (1944)-Rapacious Phyllis Dietrichson (Barbara Stanwyck) ensnares hapless insurance man Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray) into killing her husband in such a way that they can collect the double indemnity policy on him. As Neff’s boss and mentor Barton Krebs (Edward G. Robinson) begins to suspect foul play things spin out of control and the depths of Phyllis’s maliciousness rise to the surface. Seminal noir that is expertly written and directed by Billy Wilder and memorably performed by Stanwyck and MacMurray in huge breaks from their established personas at the time. The winner this year was the genial but flyaway Going My Way, a pleasurable watch but nothing compared to this trendsetting masterwork.
I haven't seen any of your picks. Moneyball I would've put over The Artist too. Midnight in Paris is the only Woody Allen film I've ever enjoyed, I'd stick that above as well.
Delete2011 was a super strong year indeed! I thought about Sunset Boulevard but I can't remember All About Eve very well apart from Bette Davis's performance... though maybe that's saying something 😅
ReplyDeleteHaving watched All About Eve recently, I still like Sunset better.
DeleteNot even George Sanders' performance? A runaway Oscar winner if ever there was one.
DeleteThe acting in both of those movies is excellent, I just have a soft spot for Sunset!
DeleteNot even George Sanders, no! It's time for a rewatch :)
DeleteInception is the only one I've seen and I loved it. Black Swan was the best of that year in my opinion but they all were strong, all but The King's Speech. I liked it but it sure didn't deserve the Oscar.
ReplyDeleteI would've been happy with a Black Swan win too. Excellent film.
DeleteThe Artist is adorable, how dare you :P
ReplyDeleteThe Artist sucks. lol Only the dog was adorable.
DeleteInception is great but I WILL NOT hear a word against Toy Story 3, Brittani! I. WILL. NOT. ;)
ReplyDeleteI LOVED The Artist even though I wasn't sure I wanted it to win that year, but The Descendants would NOT be the one I would have chosen instead. That screenplay still annoys me to this day.
All About Eve vs. Sunset Boulevard is an IMPOSSIBLE choice.
2011 was not a strong year. The only other Best Pic nominee I really loved other than Descendants was Moneyball.
DeleteI tend to think that most nominees are at least somewhat worthy but of course we always have personal favourites and mine are not often the ones that win. Of course, now that we put money on our pics I find myself picking against my own heart a lot of the time, and that's a yucky feeling!
ReplyDeleteMy local theater did an Oscar pick contest one year for free tickets and I had to pick Boyhood as Best Picture because I thought that would win. That was gross. lol
DeleteInception should've had more love though I was rooting for The Social Network. I haven't seen All About Eve but I can't argue with Sunset Boulevard. Personally, I would've gone for The Tree of Life over The Artist but you do make a solid argument for The Descendants which I do love.
ReplyDeleteI would've been happy with The Social Network winning too because that film was wonderful. I actually managed to hate Tree of Life more than The Artist. lol
DeleteThe Descendants was a good movie.. I don't like Woodley as much but I liked her in this.. and the Spectacular Now!
ReplyDeleteShe's like Jennifer Lawrence where I find her really insufferable in interviews but I can't deny her talent on screen. Though unlike Lawrence, she needs a good director behind her to get a good performance. Secret Life of an American Teenager was tragic.
DeleteHaha...I agree about what you said about them in interviews...it's like them trying too hard to be the "cool girl".
DeleteAnyway...I think I'm in the minority, I didn't like Inception.
Yes! Or trying too hard to be ~relatable~
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