News from the Boston Becks

The 1st Edition cover of the brilliant spy novel.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

• Author:  John Le Carré
• Published:  1974
• Publisher:  Hodder & Stoughton
• Pages:  317  (Pan paperback)
• First Line:  “The truth is, if old Major Dover hadn’t dropped dead at Taunton races Jim would never have come to Thursgood’s at all.”
• Last Line:  “The gun, Bill Roach, had finally convinced himself, was after all a dream.”
• Film:  1979 TV series  (****), 2011  (**** – dir. Tomas Alfredson)
• First Read:  December 2011

(more…)

This is my kind of film and behind it is the single best view of my old city.

You can read more about this year in film here.  The Best Picture race is discussed here, with reviews of all the nominees.  First there are the categories, followed by all the films with their nominations, then the Globes, where I split the major awards by Drama and Comedy, followed by a few lists at the very end.  If there’s a film you expected to see and didn’t, check the very bottom – it might be eligible in a different year.  Films in red won the Oscar in that category (or Globe, in the Globes section).  Films in blue were nominated.  Films with an asterisk (*) were Consensus nominees (a scale I put together based on the various awards) while those with a double asterisk (**) were the Consensus winners.

I’m listing 10 in each category because there are a strong Top 10 in most of the categories but only the top 5 make the nomination list (except for Actor).

Nighthawk Awards:

• Best Picture

1. Rebel Without a Cause
2. Mister Roberts
3. Bad Day at Black Rock
4. To Catch a Thief
5. East of Eden  *
6. Lady and the Tramp
7. Othello
8. The Man with the Golden Arm
9. Mr. Hulot’s Holiday
10. Samurai I: Miyamato Musashi

(more…)

The film that taught me that the book is usually better.

Revisiting Childhood Movies Part IX:

The Secret of NIMH

• Director:  Don Bluth
• Writer:  Don Bluth  /  John Pomeroy  /  Gary Goldman  /  Will Finn  (from the novel Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O’Brien)
• Producer:  Don Bluth  /  John Pomeroy  /  Gary Goldman
• Stars:  Elizabeth Hartman, Derek Jacob, Dom DeLuise, Peter Strauss (voices only)
• Studio:  MGM/UA
• Award Nominations:  none from groups I track
• Length:  82 min
• Genre:  Kids  (Animated)
• MPAA Rating:  G
• Release Date:  2 July 1982
• Box Office Gross:  $14.66 mil  (#52  –  1982)
• Ebert Rating:  ***
• My Rating:  ***.5
• My Rank:  #23  (year)
• Nighthawk Nominations:  Best Animated Film
• Nighthawk Notables:  Best Animated Voice Performance (John Carradine)
• First Watched:  on HBO when it first came to cable
• Number of Times Watched as a Kid:  10-15

(more…)