News from the Boston Becks

To have any other film as my #1 would be inconceivable.

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 (or directors) in olive are links to earlier posts that I don’t want to have show up in blue and be mistaken for a nominee.  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 the top 10 in the categories but only the top 5 earn Nighthawk nominations.

Nighthawk Awards:

• Best Picture

1. The Princess Bride
2. Hope and Glory  **
3. Broadcast News  *
4. Au Revoir, Les Enfants
5. Empire of the Sun  *
6. Manon of the Spring
7. The Dead
8. Matewan
9. The Last Emperor  *
10. Jean de Florette  *

Analysis:  All of these are **** films (and there are three more: Full Metal Jacket, The Untouchables and House of Games).  But, outside of The Princess Bride, none of them are really high-level **** films.  It’s the year of lots of great films but only one of them is truly great.  As a result, we have a Top 5 that is lower than the year before but a Top 10 that is the highest in seven years.  Jean de Florette is the best #10 film since 1963.  And how did the Academy acknowledge this remarkable year?  By nominating Fatal Attraction, one of the worst films ever nominated for Best Picture. (more…)

When we began this blog, oh so many years ago, it was the spawn of a graduate school project that Veronica had done.  It was mainly designed to keep our family updated with what Thomas was doing (before my writings about movies and literature took it over).  Well, we still like to give you updates on Thomas, and this is a big one, because he turned 12 today.  So, for all of you who have known him since he was small or even a baby, it’s time for you to feel old.

Veronica made him an Inside Out cake (with a color and sticker for each emotion).  We also measured him and he’s just under 5’2″ which means by the end of the summer, Veronica will go back to being the shortest person in our family.

Revisiting Childhood Movies Part XVIII:

The Untouchables

• 

  The most famous graduate of my high school becomes a star.

  Director:  Brian De Palma

• Writer:  David Mamet  (suggested by the book by Eliot Ness and Oscar Fraley)
• Producer:  Art Linson
• Stars:  Kevin Costner, Sean Connery, Robert De Niro, Andy Garcia, Charles Martin Smith
• Studio:  Paramount
• Award Nominations:  Academy Awards – Supporting Actor, Original Score, Art Direction, Costume Design; Golden Globes – Supporting Actor, Score; BAFTA – Supporting Actor, Score, Production Design, Costume Design; WGA (Adapted Screenplay); NBR – Supporting Actor
• Length:  119 min
• Genre:  Suspense
• MPAA Rating:  R
• Release Date:  5 June 1987
• Box Office Gross:  $76.27 mil  (#6 – 1987)
• Ebert Rating:  **.5
• My Rating:  ****
• My Rank:  #12 (year)
• Nighthawk Nominations:  Supporting Actor, Editing, Original Score, Sound, Art Direction, Sound Editing, Costume Design
• Nighthawk Notables:  none
• First Watched:  the week it came out on video
• Number of Times Watched as a Kid:  5 or 6

As a Kid:  I don’t think it was known yet when I saw this film.  The “it” in the preceding sentence is not that Kevin Costner was about to become one of the biggest stars on the planet.  It’s that Kevin Costner was the most famous person to ever come out of my high school.  I already liked him before I was inclined to like him and this film (along with Silverado) was a major reason why, even before he starred in the two best baseball films ever made at a time when baseball was a massive part of my life. (more…)

nobody, not even the rain, has such small hands

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 (or directors) in olive are links to earlier posts that I don’t want to have show up in blue and be mistaken for a nominee.  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 the top 10 in the categories but only the top 5 earn Nighthawk nominations.

Nighthawk Awards:

• Best Picture

1. Hannah and Her Sisters  **
2. Platoon  *
3. A Room with a View  *
4. Stand by Me
5. Blue Velvet  *
6. Mona Lisa
7. My Beautiful Laundrette
8. Aliens
9. Decline of the American Empire
10. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

(more…)

STANLEY [with heaven-splitting violence]: STELL-LAHHHHH!  (p 60)

My Top 10:

1. A Streetcar Named Desire
2. Detective Story
3. A Place in the Sun
4. The African Queen
5. Strangers on a Train
6. Oliver Twist
7. La Ronde
8. Death of a Salesman
9. He Ran All the Way
10. Alice in Wonderland

(more…)

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 (or directors) in olive are links to earlier posts that I don’t want to have show up in blue and be mistaken for a nominee.  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 the top 10 in the categories but only the top 5 earn Nighthawk nominations.

Nighthawk Awards:

• Best Picture

1. Ran  *
2. Blood Simple
3. Kiss of the Spider Woman
4. The Purple Rose of Cairo  *
5. Brazil
6. Witness  *
7. Back to the Future
8. The Color Purple  *
9. After Hours
10. A Private Function

Analysis:  It’s the fourth time that Kurosawa wins Best Picture at the Nighthawks, although Bergman has won it three times since Kurosawa won it last.
This is the strongest Top 5 in this category in five years, namely because Brazil is the best #5 film in five years.  Witness is the best #6 film in six years.  That strong top 5 means a low Oscar score (54.1 – the lowest since 1977 and second lowest since 1969).  The Oscar itself goes to Out of Africa, the worst choice since the 50’s; it’s the first film since 1974 to win without a single critics award.  But the Consensus Award goes to Prizzi’s Honor, which is my #12. (more…)