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In 96 years, the Academy Awards have gone from a 15-minute ceremony with about 200 people to the foremost award for the best of the year in film. The Oscars are always in flux, changing awards, rules, voting bodies, etc., to stay up with the times. But in looking at the films themselves, cinephiles can see the shifting of film history.
The Broadway Melody exists in this weird in-between state, where films were still figuring out how to utilize this new technology while also shaking off the way of doing things in the silent era, and boy, does it feel like it. The songs are bland, the story is cringy, and the performances are over-the-top. In 1929, The Broadway Melody must’ve been a sight to behold, but nearly a century later, even its innovations don’t warrant giving this one a watch.
The ever-reliable Sandra Bullock decides not to be so judgmental when her housekeeper helps her after she falls down, like, four steps. Matt Dillon apparently isn’t such a garbage person because he doesn’t let the woman he felt up earlier in the film blow up in a car crash. Ludacris is a hero because he doesn’t let a van full of immigrants get sold. BUT all that being said, Crash is at least an interesting mess, and the way these stories weave into each other is at least occasionally well-done.
Yet while an uncomfortable watch at times full of pacing issues, the scale that Cimarron attempts in adapting Edna Ferber’s story of the Oklahoma land rush and spanning several decades is still spectacular for the time. Five-time nominee Dunne, who never won an Academy Award, also gives a strong performance despite the film’s many problems.
This story of the man behind the Ziegfeld Follies proves that the Academy has always loved their bloated biopics, even though William Powell does his best as the title character. It’s understandable how it would’ve been a marvel at the time of its release, but today, The Great Ziegfeld is merely a showcase for how far cinema has come since the mid-1930s.
One of the most puzzling Best Picture winners, Tom Jones is a wild, horny comedy where the titular character basically screws his way around England. The film’s narration begins with the statement that Tom was a bastard “born to be hanged,” and Richardson’s film never dissuades viewers that that’s exactly how this story will—and probably should—end. Tom Jones is a strange social satire that became oddly popular in the U.S.
Directed by Peter Farrelly and co-written by Farrelly, Brian Hayes Currie, and Tony Lip’s son, Nick Vallelonga, Green Book didn’t even bother to check with Shirley’s family, who stated that the film misrepresented him—a shame, considering he’s absolutely the interesting half of this duo. Mortensen and Ali elevate this hacky story with their performances, but it’s embarrassing that Green Book won Best Picture against films like BlacKkKlansman, The Favourite, and Roma.
Since the film largely focuses on Emile Zola and his involvement in the Dreyfus Affair, which explored antisemitism in late 19th-century France, this change is unfortunate, especially considering the timeliness of the story. But also, William Dieterle’s film takes its time getting to Zola and the Dreyfus Affair, when this period should’ve probably been the focus.
But whenever it gets away from this central relationship, Out of Africa simply becomes a waiting game until Streep and Redford are back on the screen together again. Both Out of Africa and The Color Purple were nominated for eleven Oscars this year, and while Out of Africa won seven, The Color Purple won zero, making it one of the biggest losers in Oscar history—an absolute shame considering how tedious Pollack’s film often is.
The film's ensemble cast includes Charlton Heston as a ringleader, James Stewart in a scene-stealing role as a clown with a dark past, a cast that was made to learn and perform their own acts at the circus, and even features the real Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. The Greatest Show on Earth is also a lot of flash without much substance—another trait of DeMille’s work.
This is a film that starts with Edward R. Murrow explaining Jules Verne and cameos that include everyone from Peter Lorre, Buster Keaton, Frank Sinatra, and many, many more. Around the World in 80 Days is an almost unthinkable production that throws everything and the kitchen sink into this adaptation. As expected, it’s also a bit of a mess, overlong and hasn’t aged particularly well, but it’s hard to completely discount a picture going as all-in as this one does.
Driving Miss Daisy only works because of the performances and the relationship between Jessica Tandy’s Miss Daisy and Morgan Freeman’s Hoke. Alas, even they can’t keep this film from feeling extremely shallow in its discussions of discrimination and the world over the course of 25 years.
Minnelli knew how to shoot a superb movie musical, and he reunited with his An American in Paris star Leslie Caron, who is a delight as the title character. But at this point, Gigi is sort of odd, from the story centering around a sixteen-year-old being trained to be a courtesan by her family to the opening number of “Thank Heaven for Little Girls,” which is an inherently creepy song.
But You Can’t Take It With You is probably most crucial for being the first film Capra made with Stewart, as the two would go on to make Mr. Smith Goes to Washington the following year. Their final collaboration, It’s a Wonderful Life, would also feature Lionel Barrymore, who also appears here as Alice’s Grandpa Martin Vanderhof. As with all Capra films, You Can’t Take It With You is worth the time, but it’s mostly important for the collaborations it kickstarted.
At least Iñárritu and cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki know how to shoot a gorgeous film. And Iñárritu does have a fantastic cast to play around with, like Michael Keaton, who should’ve won the Oscar for his performance as a washed-up superhero actor attempting to become relevant again on Broadway, an all-time great Edward Norton, and roles for Emma Stone, Zach Galifianakis, and Andrea Riseborough that used these up-and-comers well.
King Henry VIII’s quest for power, to the point that he rewrites the laws to do so, is just as important 500 years after the original incident. The Oscar-winning script by Lawrence of Arabia and Doctor Zhivago writer Robert Bolt—adapted from his play—is the key to this whole conflict, passionate and powerful in this story of right facing down wrong.
Cavalcade’s story also follows any joys with crushing tragedy to a laughable degree, while the story’s moral seems to be that with the world falling apart, it’s best to have your own fun in solitude. Like several of the early Best Picture winners, Cavalcade is ambitious, but the craft just isn’t quite there yet to do the story justice.
But The English Patient also is like a throwback to a period of resplendent, sweeping romance stories that were fading out of popularity in the mid-90s, and are nearly completely out of fashion now.
Primary among these focuses is Gibson’s apparent obsession with the idea that salvation is only available through exhausting physical and emotional trauma . Granted, even though the audience can become desensitized to the film’s violence, Gibson can expertly direct an action scene. But in the end, Braveheart also is Gibson taking the opportunity to make himself a Christ figure through William Wallace, before he went on to literally tell the story of the death of Christ.
Still, the ever-intense and committed Russell Crowe and Jennifer Connelly are giving fine performances despite what they’ve been given. A Beautiful Mind is also another example of Oscar voters picking the film with prestige over the more ambitious, daring efforts. The choice is particularly infamous, especially considering this year's films, like Mulholland Drive, Memento, The Royal Tenenbaums, Ghost World, A.I.
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