A Century of Film: The Top 1000 Films (#600-551)

This is the 9th part of the Top 1000 list.  The introduction can be found here.  Films #600-571 are a 90 and the rest are a 91 which are both low level ****.

 

Century of Film: The Top 1000 Films (#750-701)

All 50 films in this post earn an 89 which is low ****.  The introduction to the entire list can be found here.

 

A Century of Film: The Golden Globes

A Century of Film

The Golden Globes

I should probably start with the obvious: the Golden Globe Awards are a registered trademark of the HFPA (which is also trademarked).  I don’t have their permission to write any of this (and I don’t need it) and I don’t own any of the photos.  They are also a major part of the film industry, whether anyone likes it or not (and many people don’t for very good reasons).  They have been around for a long time and there is a lot that is odd but also some that is very good about them.  So I’ve compiled a post of various info, trivia and assorted little tidbits about the awards, organized by category.

 

The Year in Film: 2019

First of all, it’s the best performance of the year and it’s from the best film of the year. Second of all, as a straight male, I provide enough for the straight males on this site and thought a picture for those who aren’t straight males would be a treat.

My Top 20

1. Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood
2. Little Women
3. 1917
4. Jojo Rabbit
5. Pain and Glory
6. Parasite
7. Portrait of a Lady on Fire
8. Knives Out
9. Rocketman
10. Marriage Story
11. Toy Story 4
12. Us
13. Avengers: Endgame
14. The Farewell
15. The Irishman
16. Ford v Ferrari
17. Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker
18. The Man Who Killed don Quixote
19. Dolemite is My Name
20. Spider-Man: Far From Home

These are all **** films and they are all the **** films for the year (though I haven’t seen Les Miserables).

 

A Century of Film: Comedies

If you don’t know what is being said in this scene you are sadly deficient when it comes to the greatest Comedy film ever made.

A Century of Film

Comedies

The Genre

“As America’s principal purveyor of entertainment, Hollywood packaged comedy in many forms.  In 1929, Variety surveyed the major studios and classified production trends into seven categories.  Comedy was divided into two – comedy drama and comedy.  The types subsumed under comedy drama consisted of society, rural, city, mystery, college, and domestic, and the types under comedy consisted of farce and action-adventure.  A quarter of all the films produced by the majors in 1929 could be classified as comedies of one sort or another.  Although comic types metamorphosed into the sophisticated, low-life, anarchistic, sentimental, folksy, screwball, populist, or romantic, the production trend remained a key component of every studio’s roster.”  (Grand Design: Hollywood as a Modern Business Enterprise, 1930-1939, Tino Balio, p 256)

 

Best Adapted Screenplay: 1998

“He didn’t move.  Not until the elevator door began to close.  Then raised his hand.  He did – Karen positive now it was Foley – raised his hand to her as the door closed.”  (p 148)

My Top 10

1. Out of Sight
2. Gods and Monsters
3. Primary Colors
4. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
5. Ringu
6. Live Flesh
7. A Simple Plan
8. The Butcher Boy
9. Character
10. Apt Pupil

note:  A very strong Top 4 but then it starts to fall off badly.  The full list is long, though, and is listed down at the bottom except for my #16 (Little Voice) which is reviewed because of its BAFTA nomination.

 

The Nighthawk Awards: 2009

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 15 in the categories but only the top 5 earn Nighthawk nominations.  I’m only going with the Top 15 because there are 15 **** films and several categories don’t even get that far.  It’s a weak year all around.

Nighthawk Awards:

• Best Picture

1. Inglourious Basterds  *
2. The Hurt Locker  **
3. A Serious Man  *
4. Up  *
5. Broken Embraces
6. An Education  *
7. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
8. Up in the Air  *
9. A Single Man
10. District 9  *
11. The White Ribbon
12. The Informant
13. Sin Nombre
14. Coraline
15. Revanche

Analysis:  As mentioned above, I went with 15 films because that’s how many **** films there are in this year.  That the Oscars nominated seven of them (as well as my #16 film, Precious) speaks well of their first year with 10 nominees in 66 years.

 

The Nighthawk Awards: 2006

You definitely don’t want to be the other guy.

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 the top 20 in the categories but only the top 5 earn Nighthawk nominations.

Nighthawk Awards:

• Best Picture

1. The Departed  **
2. Pan’s Labyrinth
3. Children of Men
4. The Fountain
5. The Queen  *
6. The Prestige
7. Casino Royale
8. United 93
9. Army of Shadows
10. Perfume – The Story of a Murderer
11. Volver
12. The Lives of Others
13. Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story
14. Stranger than Fiction
15. The Painted Veil
16. Brick
17. Sophie Scholl – The Final Days
18. Blood Diamond
19. Babel  *
20. Joyeux Noel

Analysis:  The Departed has the lowest Consensus total in five years but that doesn’t mean it’s a competitive race.  It just means that there was a lack of consensus, with a record eight different films winning a Best Picture award (1974 is the only other year with more than six and that was because different eligibility years lead to three films winning the BAFTA).  The Departed wins the Oscar, BFCA, LAFC and CFC while Letters from Iwo Jima wins the LAFC, NBR and the Globe for Best Foreign Film.  The other award winners are The Queen (BAFTA), Little Miss Sunshine (PGA), Babel (Globe – Drama), Dreamgirls (Globe – Comedy / Musical), United 93 (NYFC) and Pan’s Labyrinth (NSFC).  Every Consensus winner after this (through 2016) will score at least 585 points (The Departed has 485) and every year will have at least one film that wins five awards.

 

The Nighthawk Awards: 2004

The DiCaprio side of the DiCaprio-Scorsese collaborations takes a quantum leap.

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 20 in the categories but only the top 5 earn Nighthawk nominations.

Nighthawk Awards:

• Best Picture

1. The Aviator  *
2. A Very Long Engagement
3. Sideways  **
4. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind  *
5. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
6. House of Flying Daggers
7. Closer
8. The Incredibles
9. Kill Bill Volume 2
10. Silver City
11. Hero
12. Hotel Rwanda
13. Million Dollar Baby  *
14. Spider-Man 2
15. Kinsey
16. Bad Education
17. Finding Neverland  *
18. Vera Drake
19. Shrek 2
20. Mar Adentro

Analysis:  Ray and Eternal Sunshine actually tied for the 5th Consensus nominee spot.  Million Dollar Baby, with a third place finish, is the first Oscar winner not to be #1 or #2 at the Consensus Awards since 1995, and no film has finished below 2nd since (through 2016).
All 20 of these films are **** and there are no other **** films.  It’s a magnificent Top 10 and the third best Top 20 to-date.

 

The Nighthawk Awards: 2002

The best film in what is one of the best years in film history.

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 20 in the categories but only the top 5 earn Nighthawk nominations.

Nighthawk Awards:

• Best Picture

1. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers  *
2. Gangs of New York  *
3. Spirited Away
4. Talk to Her
5. The Pianist  **
6. The Hours  *
7. Minority Report
8. Y tu mamá también
9. Chicago  *
10. Adaptation
11. Road to Perdition
12. Solaris
13. The Quiet American
14. Catch Me if You Can
15. 8 Women
16. Heaven
17. Lilo and Stitch
18. 24 Hour Party People
19. Spider-Man
20. Sunshine State

Analysis:  This year is a bit of an oddity.  First, for the first time in five years, the five Oscar nominees are also the five Consensus nominees.  But, much more strangely, for the only time after 1965, the Consensus winner (The Pianist) doesn’t have the highest raw total, but its weighted total turns a 20 point deficit to Chicago into a 10 point advantage.  The Pianist has three wins (BAFTA, NSFC, BSFC) among six total noms (Oscar, Globe, BFCA) while Chicago wins four awards (Oscar, Globe, PGA, BFCA) and earns one other nom (BAFTA).  It will be another decade before the second place film is even within 100 points of the 1st place film.  This is also the first time we have two films that go 0 for 5, earning nominations from all five awards groups (Oscar, PGA, BAFTA, Globe, BFCA) and winning none: Gangs of New York and Two Towers.  There won’t be another year with two such films until 2008.