Thursday, February 19, 2015

Thursday Movie Picks - Oscar Winning Movies


Written for the blogathon hosted by Wandering Through the Shelves. You should join us by picking three movies that meet the weekly topic and telling us about them!

Everyone's favorite awards show is just around the corner, so of course this week's topic is Oscar Winning Movies - from the pool of winners of Best Picture/Best Animated Film/Best Foreign Film. Obviously, this is a treasure trove of great movies (and a handful of not-so-good ones), so I decided to go with my favorite winners in each category. Completely by accident, I noticed a running theme. These all happen to be films with a perfect final scene.


Casablanca (Michael Curtiz, 1945) For my money, still far and away the greatest film to ever win Best Picture. Casablanca is top-notch filmmaking on every level, and I don't think every element of a film has ever worked so well together to create a whole. The script is full to bursting with instant classic lines, the cinematography creates immediate atmosphere in each scene, the editing is perfectly timed, the score is moving and essential. And the performances. It is cast perfectly, from the top all the way down. The last scene, at the airport, is so perfect that nothing will ever top it. This is pure Old Hollywood craft at its finest. Which is pretty damn fine, to say the least.


Toy Story 3 (Lee Unkrich, 2010) The last fifteen minutes. Holy crap, the last fifteen minutes. I liked the first two Toy Story films just fine, but I never had a Woody doll or a Buzz Lightyear action figure or anything. I never felt emotionally attached to them in any way. But I was a blubbering mess for the last fifteen minutes of this. Even now, I get choked up thinking about it. And in that last scene, as perfect an image of leaving childish things behind and moving on to adulthood as has ever been put on screen, the entire trilogy came full-circle in the most beautiful way. Possibly the greatest ending to a film trilogy ever.


Nights of Cabiria (Federico Fellini, 1957) - Can we please just talk about Giulietta Masina for a minute? Because she is glorious, and I feel like no one talks about her anymore - if they ever really did. She has one of the great movie faces - all eyes and mouth, and all so expressive. Her body, too, is incredibly expressive. She may be a tiny thing, but she has an awareness and control over her body that few actresses have ever had. You can see all this in any of her collaborations with husband Federico Fellini, but it is Nights of Cabiria, particularly its final scene, where she shines brightest. The ultimate hooker with a heart of gold, Cabiria has suffered more indignities by this point than any person should ever have to bear, but a passing group of young people, riding on scooters and playing music, surround her, and she lets their joy take over, smiling through her tears in one of the most indelible images in all cinema. If that scene sounds familiar, it's because Nights of Cabiria was later turned into a little musical called Sweet Charity, which was then filmed by Bob Fosse starring Shirley MacLaine. MacLaine is a reasonable facsimile of Masina, but nothing can touch the real thing.

BONUS PICKS: My shortlist for my favorite Best Foreign Language Film was five long, and I was worried I was going to have to do a coin toss or something to choose. When my sub-theme became apparent, I realized I had to go with Cabiria, but I feel like I need to give a shout-out to two recent winners, both of which are absolutely perfect films: Asghar Farhadi's astonishingly precise A Separation and Michael Haneke's devastating Amour.

19 comments:

  1. Nice picks! I did the same thing, pick from all three categories. I've never seen Nights of Cabria though. I might have to check that out. I realized when making this that I didn't care for a lot of the foreign films that won. My favorites always lose.

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    1. Thanks! I have the same issue with the foreign film category in general - a lot of my favorites have lost. But Nights of Cabiria is a real gem, if mostly because of Masina's endearing performance. She's amazing.

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  2. Fellini! I almost went with La Strada, which is my personal favorite foreign language winner, but I went with a different 'theme' within this 'theme'.

    Love all three of these picks though; very much!

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    1. I LOVE La Strada too! Such a rich film, and I also love Masina in that one. But Cabiria just has a hold on my heart.

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  3. Nights of Cabria, eh? Gonna add that to my watchlist.

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    1. Yes! It's a great film with one of the all-time greatest female leading performances.

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  4. I love your first two picks! I haven't seen anything by Fellini yet. Another one of these blind spots. :)

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    1. Thanks! Definitely get on the Fellini train - he has a really varied, enjoyable filmography. Cabiria is a good place to start! :)

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  5. I feel like the only person on earth who has seen Casablanca and didn't care for it. There was some really great filming, but as a whole, I wasn't blown away. I do appreciate it for it's quotability though.

    The ending to Toy Story 3 was really really sad!!! I can't(actually I can) believe they're going to make a fourth. Like, chill. You have plenty of money, now work on something new.

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    1. I'm genuinely curious as to why you didn't care for Casablanca. I get so wrapped up in it every time. I know I'm a hopeless romantic, so I'm a bit of an easy mark, but even still. It's so ridiculously well-crafted. The "La Marseillaise" scene is PERFECTION on every level. And as strong as the filmmaking is on its own, the film is also incredibly entertaining.

      Are they REALLY making a fourth Toy Story film?!? I mean, I guess I can't blame them, but I can't imagine there's any new ground to tread there, and I have recently lost faith in Pixar's ability to find new ground where one would think there isn't any.

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    2. Modesto you're not the only one...I watched Casablanca a few years ago I and I was...that's it? Everything that Daniel mentioned I didn't notice, I just found it boring. But I've only watch the once, maybe I just didn't get it then?

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  6. I love that you went Casablanca here. Yes! Such the classic, isn't it? Just beautiful. And Toy Story 3 is spectacular. I cried like a friggin' baby. Nice picks!

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    1. Always nice to know I'm not the only one who was reduced to a puddle by the end of Toy Story 3!

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  7. I haven't seen your last pick, but loved Casablanca and Toy Story 3!

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    1. Definitely watch Nights of Cabiria when you get a chance. It's really lovely.

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  8. I'm not an animation fan and even after two attempts have never been able to make it more than 15 minutes into the first Toy Story so I'll never get to the third but it does seem beloved.

    I just watched Nights of Cabiria for the first time about two months ago and liked it. I had put it off for years because having seen Sweet Charity and, aside from Chita Rivera and the song Hey, Big Spender, thought it was a piece of crap. Happily this was better though Cabiria's constant gullibility became hard to take after a while. Giulietta Masina was brilliant thoughout.

    Love Casablanca and agree it's near perfect film making in which all the studio elements fortuitously fell into place. I've seen it many times, including once in a theatre with a near sellout crowd which was great since the audience reaction really impacted the experience of the film. There's a wonderful book about the making of the film and everything associated with it called Round Up the Usual Suspects by Aljean Harmetz.

    As Casablanca did my three picks this week all related to WWII as well. I selected one just pre-war-From Here to Eternity, one during wartime-Mrs. Miniver, and one immediately postwar-The Best Years of Our Lives. All terrific examples of studio film making at the highest level.

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    1. I agree, Sweet Charity (the film anyway) is not great. And yes, the gullibility of the character can be tough to take, but Masina's performance puts it over the top for me - she just deeply believes in the goodness of people! And after all she endures, that's pretty powerful stuff.

      I'm going to have to read that Harmetz book. Of your picks I only haven't seen Mrs. Miniver, which is definitely on my list. LOVE Greer Garson! I think The Best Years of Our Lives is easily one of the best films to win Best Picture.

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  9. Agree on both points. I love Greer Garson too, just yesterday finally caught up with Sunrise at Campobello her last really good film role where she and Ralph Bellamy make a fine FDR and Eleanor. Well worth seeing out.

    And Best Years is absolutely one of the best films to win the top prize. There's not a bad performance in it but it's mad that two of the best by Myrna Loy and Dana Andrews were ignored. But then it's even crazier that those two were never nominated for any of their work. The price that's paid for always being exceptional unfortunately.

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    1. I am still not over the fact that Myrna Loy was never even nominated for an Oscar. She should have easily had at least three, all for Best Picture nominees: Libeled Lady, The Thin Man, and Best Years of Our Lives.

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