The English Patient (1996)

Image: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/47/Eng-patient-mov-poster.jpg

Movie #14: The English Patient (1996)
Oscar wins: 9- Best Picture, Best Director (Minghella), Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Binoche), Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Film Editing, Best Original Score (Gabriel Yared), Best Sound
Nominations: Best Actor in a Leading Role (Fiennes), Best Actress in a Leading Role (Scott Thomas), Best Adapted Screenplay (Minghella)
Directed by: Anthony Minghella
Written by: Ralph Fiennes, Kristin Scott Thomas, Juliette Binoche, Willem Dafoe, Naveen Andrews
Length: 162 minutes
Budget: unknown

Thanks to this film, I have officially fallen off pace. It was very hard for me to struggle through the almost three hours of this film. Although beautiful, it was also very dull and slow.

The English Patient is the story of a nurse (Binoche) who cares for a mysterious patient (Fiennes), who seems to have lost his memory. Through flashbacks, we learn of his past, his love affair (with Scott Thomas), and his military efforts. We also see a man from his past come back into his life (Dafoe), and his nurse fall in love and struggle in post-World War II Italy.

This film was a beautiful film-- amazing scenery, shots, effects, sound, and acting. However, overall it seemed very dull to me, with a story that wasn't anything special and characters that I struggled to care for. Everyone in the film gives an amazing performance, but the script really fell short, in my opinion. I purchased the book and had planned on reading it, but if it is anything like this dragging three-hour flick, I won't be reading it any time soon.

At the 69th Oscars, The English Patient really swept up all of the art and technical awards, and Juliette Binoche won a deserved Best Supporting Actress award (however, I would argue the fact that she was given supporting and Kristin Scott Thomas was nominated for leading). And then, of course, the film also won Best Picture, and Anthony Minghella won Best Director. I would argue, however, that this was not the best film of 1996; to me, that was Fargo. Clearly, 15 years later, Fargo has had more of an impact on cinema, and has really handled the test of time, while The English Patient has really fallen into the unknown. Who knows, maybe at the time I would have felt differently, like the Academy clearly did.

Well, I finally got this film over with. Now it's on to Braveheart, which I'm not really too excited for...

Rankings:
1. American Beauty (1999)
2. Million Dollar Baby (2004)
3. Chicago (2002)
4. Titanic (1997)
5. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
6. The Departed (2006)
7. No Country for Old Men (2007)
8. The Hurt Locker (2009)
9. A Beautiful Mind (2001)
10. The Gladiator (2000)
11. Crash (2005)
12 Shakespeare in Love (1998)
13 The English Patient (1996)
14. Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

Titanic (1997)

Image: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/22/Titanic_poster.jpg

Movie #13: Titanic (1997)
Oscar wins: 7- Best Picture, Best Director (Cameron), Best Cinematography, Best Set Decoration, Best Costume Design, Best Sound, Best Sound Effects Editing, Best Film Editing, Best Visual Effects, Best Original Song ("My Heart Will Go On"), Best Original Score (James Horner)
Nominations: Best Actress in a Leading Role (Winslet), Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Stuart), Best Make-Up
Directed by: James Cameron
Written by: James Cameron
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Billy Zane, Kathy Bates, Frances Fisher, Gloria Stuart
Length: 194 minutes
Budget: $200 million
 
Well... looks like we have a new biggest budget film! That's right, Avatar the First (I mean...) Titanic cost an astounding $200 million, over $100,000,000 more than the 3rd Lord of the Rings film! Also, it is only six minutes short of that film in length. However, I thoroughly enjoy all three hours and fourteen minutes, every time I see it.
 
If you don't know what Titanic is about, you must have been living in a box all your life. It's the story of two lovers, Jack (DiCaprio) and Rose (Winslet) aboard the ill-fated Titanic ship that sank back in 1911. Rose is from a rich, stuck-up family, while Jack comes from a poor life consisting of whatever he feels.
 
The thing that is so incredible about this film is the fact that Cameron gets the viewer to sit down for a movie where we all know the ending (hint: the ship sinks!), and watch for over three hours! And, even better still, not get bored!! Sure, the acting can be a little corny at times, and the script is kind of blah (like all of Cameron's work), but overall the film just raises itself above and beyond the flaws with its incredible effects, the amazing music, and just plain beauty of it all.
 
Ever since the Oscars this year, people have complained: why did Titanic win but not Avatar, they're basically the same thing? Plus, Avatar is more revolutionary! Well, I have a few theories on the answer to that. For one, both of their scripts sucked, but Titanic's was at least original and creative, and thoroughly entertaining outside the effects, while Avatar's was very dull and been-there, done-that. Basically, Titanic was just an all around better movie, with better acting, a better story, and it had more real actors and real events!! Not just all voices and all green screens... But, more importantly, and the main reason (to mean anyway) is that this year there was really a film that deserved the award over Avatar. The Hurt Locker was a piece of genius, and gained so much ground on all of the areas where Avatar lacked (see above for those areas). But, back in 1997, there really wasn't a stand-out film. The Hurt Locker was able to overcome Avatar's effects because it was so much better, but there really wasn't a film in '97 that did that. Sure, Good Will Hunting and As Good as it Gets were entertaining, and had surpurb acting, but as a film they just weren't that special.
 
Well, that's my rant for the day, just my thoughts. Meanwhile, Titanic remains as one of my all-time favorite films.
 
Rankings:
1. American Beauty (1999)
2. Million Dollar Baby (2004)
3. Chicago (2002)
4. Titanic (1997)
5. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
6. The Departed (2006)
7. No Country for Old Men (2007)
8. The Hurt Locker (2009)
9. A Beautiful Mind (2001)
10. The Gladiator (2000)
11. Crash (2005)
12. Shakespeare in Love (1998)
13. Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

Shakespeare in Love (1998)

Image: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d7/Shakes-in-love-mov-poster.jpg

Movie #12: Shakespeare in Love (1998)
Oscar wins: 7- Best Picture, Best Actress in a Leading Role (Paltrow), Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Dench), Best Original Screenplay (Norman & Stoppard), Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, Best Original Musical/Comedy Score
Nominations: Best Director (Madden), Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Rush), Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Make-Up, Best Sound Mixing
Directed by: John Madden
Written by: Marc Norman & Tom Stoppard
Starring: Joseph Fiennes, Gwyneth Paltrow, Colin Firth, Ben Afleck, Geoffrey Rush, Judi Dench, Tom Wilkinson
Length: 123 minutes
Budget: $25 million

Shakespeare in Love beating out Saving Private Ryan was one of the biggest upsets in Oscar history, period.

This film tells the story of William Shakespeare (Fiennes) and his forbidden love for a rich girl, Viola de Lesseps (Paltrow). It's a witty, entertaining love story surrounding real people (Shakespeare, for example, Philip Henslowe [Rush], etc) as well as fictional ones, set in Shakespearean times.

It's not that this film is bad: it has a very good, very witty and clever script; the acting is excellent, including Oscar winners Paltrow and Dench (who played the real Queen Elizabeth I, and was on screen for only eight minutes!); and it has costumes, shots, and all-around design. However, it was certainly not the best film of the year (I would argue it was behind Saving Private Ryan for sure and even Life is Beautiful), it was simply cute and entertaining, but without any real depth, message, or meaning.

So, how did it win? Many critics call the 71st Oscars the year that "money beat out quality." Miramax Films launched a HUGE campaign for Shakespeare in Love, spending over $5,000,000 to promote the film (to compare, major films usually spend--at most-- $2 million, and smaller films less than $250,000). Also, there were complaints about the company holding a party after the film was nominated for (a high for that year) 13 awards. The result of all the company's hard work: Shakespeare in Love pulled off a come-from-behind, last-minute upset of one of the best war films of all time.

Also, as a Cate Blanchett fan, I was incredibly upset that she lost the Best Actress award to Gwyneth Paltrow (and I think everyone that year was equally shocked). Again, Paltrow gave a good performance, but it was nothing to the level of Blanchett's acting in Elizabeth-- in my opinion one of the most powerful performances of all time. I used to complain about Blanchett losing without having seen Paltrow's performance, but when I first saw Shakespeare in Love (and this was my second viewing, by the way) I was even more surprised at her victory: she gives a very simple performance, both on the technical and emotional level, and I would even argue that her portrayal of a man was somewhat... corny.

Well, I don't have much else to say about this film. Sure, it was cute. Sure, it was entertaining. But, in my opinion (and in the opinion of a lot of other critics and film fans), certainly not the best picture of 1998. Unfortunately, though, this was only one of many upsets in the history of the Academy Awards.

I can say a few more things about the 71st Academy Awards, though! First, it was the first time in history that two different people were nominated for playing the same person (Dench and Blanchett, both for Elizabeth I). Second, Life is Beautiful became only the 8th foreign language film to be nominated for Best Picture; also, Roberto Benigni's win for Best Actor was only the 2nd time an actor has won the award for a film they directed themselves (the other being Laurence Olivier for Hamlet in 1948). And, lastly, it was the year the Academy gave their honorary award to director Elia Kazan, and many people in the audience refused to applaud. Why? Because, during the 1950's, Kazan "named names," reporting to HUAC eight fellow workers in the film industry who were reportedly into communism.

You can see the controversial presentation on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YziNNCZeNs

And so, that does it for 1998, now it's on to James Cameron's first giant, Titanic.

Rankings:
1. American Beauty (1999)
2. Million Dollar Baby (2004)
3. Chicago (2002)
4. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
5. The Departed (2006)
6. No Country for Old Men (2007)
7. The Hurt Locker (2009)
8. A Beautiful Mind (2001)
9. The Gladiator (2000)
10. Crash (2005)
11. Shakespeare in Love (1998)
12. Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

American Beauty (1999)

Image: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b6/American_Beauty_poster.jpg

Movie #11: American Beauty (1999)
Oscar wins: 5- Best Picture, Best Directory (Mendes), Best Actor in a Leading Role (Spacey), Best Original Screenplay (Ball), Best Cinematography
Nominations: Best Actress in a Leading Role (Bening), Best Editing, Best Original Score (Thomas Newman)
Directed by: Sam Mendes
Written by: Alan Ball
Starring: Kevin Spacey, Annette Bening, Thora Birch, Wes Bentley, Mena Suvari, Chris Cooper, Allison Janney
Length: 122 minutes
Budget: $15 million

 
Switching from Gladiator to American Beauty could not have been a bigger shift: Gladiator is a big-budget Hollywood film, while American Beauty is a small, low-budget film; Gladiator is a story of war, honor and courage, while American Beauty is about the simplicity of life, the problems of small, suburb America, and the hidden beauty of it all.
 
American Beauty is the story of Lester Burnham (Spacey), who narrates the story and tells the viewer early on that he will be dead in less than a year. We step with Lester into his sad, suburban life, with a wife he no longer loves (Bening) and a daughter who hates him and whom he doesn't understand (Birch). Lester has a mid-life chrisis, so to speak, but in it he realizes that he hates his life, and does everything in his power to do what he wants, when he wants, and make sure no one is going to stand in his way.
 
If you can struggle through the first 30 or so (strange) minutes of this film, you will be greatly rewarded. The first time I saw this film (and this was about my fifth viewing) I almost shut it off because it seemed too off-the-wall, and just too weird; but, I stuck with it, and it is now one of my favorite films.
 
This is a story rich with symbolism and messages, and one could see it dozens of times and still find something new with each viewing. It asks the quesions: what is beauty? does life have beauty and, if so, what is it? And, the big question: what is the meaning of this life? Lester, his family, and his neighbors go on a cooky, (perhaps) over-the-top ride in the quest for these answers, and all of the viewers find something along the way as well.
 
Going into the 72nd Academy Awards, there really wasn't a clear-cut leader in the Best Picture race, and it really took a full out, last minute push from Dreamworks advertising to really promote this film and get it the award. I have seen the other front-runner, Cider House Rules, and I can truthfully say I think American Beauty was the better film. Normally, I am against the really political, advertising side of the Oscars, but I think it this case it really opened a lot of people up to American Beauty and got the small picture on a lot of people's radars. The acting in the film is superb, from every person, and Mendes does an amazing job shooting the film and really making sure everything is put together right. As for Alan Ball's script, as I said before, this film is full of questions and messages, and his script is really an incredible example of just how much a script can do for a film-- beyond just the dialogue.
 
Rankings:
1. American Beauty (1999)
2. Million Dollar Baby (2004)
3. Chicago (2002)
4. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
5. The Departed (2006)
6. No Country for Old Men (2007)
7. The Hurt Locker (2009)
8. A Beautiful Mind (2001)
9. The Gladiator (2000)
10. Crash (2005)
11. Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

"What we do in life echoes in eternity"

Image: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/8d/Gladiator_ver1.jpg

Movie #10: Gladiator (2000)
Oscar wins: 5- Best Picture, Best Actor in a Leading Role (Crowe), Best Costume Design, Best Sound, Best Visual Effects
Nominations: Best Directory (Scott), Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Phoenix), Best Original Screenplay (Franzoni, Logan & Nicholson), Best Editing, Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction (Set Decoration), Best Original Score (Hans Zimmer)
Directed by: Ridley Scott
Written by: David Franzoni, John Logan, William Nicholson
Starring: Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Connie Nielsen, Oliver Reed
Length: 154 minutes
Budget: $103 million

My 10th film is the winner of the Best Picture award at the 73rd Academy Awards, The Gladiator. I have seen most of this film several times, however I think this may be the first time that I sat and watched it beginning to end.

The Gladiator tells the story of the Roman empire in 180 AD. Maximus Decimus Meridius (Crowe) is a Roman soldier, who leads his army to victory over a battling tribe (and to the promise of peace). He is then asked by Caesar Marcus Aurelius (Harris) to take over as the emperor of Rome, in the hopes that he'll keep the people together until the Senate can once again take control and return it to its original roots as a Republic. However, Commodus (Phoenix), Aurelius's son, is angered by this, hoping to be emperor himself, and he kills his father out of rage, thus not permitting him to name Maximus as his successor. As a result, Maximus is forced to flee, and eventually finds his way back to Rome as a gladiator.

This is a story about power, honor, corruption, and ultimately: revenge. At heart, it is truly an action film, but it is elevated to the next level by the amazing talents of Ridley Scott, the superb acting found throughout, and its visual effects and asthetic qualities. I am still a little surprised that this very main-stream film (which only received about 75% positive reviews from critics according to Rotten Tomatoes) was able to win Best Picture. Sure, it is a very entertaining film, with many strengths to put it above the ordinary; however, it is still, at heart, an action film, and one that can come off as rather cliche and corny at its roots.

I said it about A Beautiful Mind in my last post, and I think it applies to this film as well: it greatly benefited from a very weak year in film. Just look at the other best picture nominees: a foreign film (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), a Julia Roberts film (Erin Brockovich), and a Johnny Depp "romantic comedy," if it can even be called that (Chocolat). Therefore, it really came down to the two best-of-the-worst films that year in Gladiator and Traffic. Personally, I would have chosen Steven Soderbergh's Traffic, an incredibly deep, moving drama about the drug war that is amazingly well written and directed, but that's just me!

Actually, now that I am looking at the 73rd Oscars, I'm reminded of just how weak the year truly was. I mean, Julia Roberts won an Oscar for Best Lead Actress!!! But, seriously, all of the awards were basically pre-determined, which, looking back, seems kind of surprising, considering that there wasn't any real stand-out work or performances. My favorite performance of the year came from Marcia Gay Harden in Pollock-- and her Best Supporting Actress win could be considered an upset, based on pre-cursor awards!

Anyway, my dip into the films of 2000 is done. Onto American Beauty and the 1990s!

Rankings:
1. Million Dollar Baby (2004)
2. Chicago (2002)
3. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
4. The Departed (2006)
5. No Country for Old Men (2007)
6. The Hurt Locker (2009)
7. A Beautiful Mind (2001)
8. The Gladiator (2000)
9. Crash (2005)
10. Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

Film #9: A Beautiful Mind (2001)

Image: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/98/Abeautifulmindposter.jpg

Movie #9: A Beautiful Mind (2001)
Oscar wins: 4- Best Picture, Best Director (Howard), Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Connelly), Best Adapted Screenplay (Goldsman)
Nominations: Best Actor in a Leading Role (Crowe), Best Editing, Best Make-Up, Best Original Score (James Horner)
Directed by: Ron Howard
Written by: Akiva Goldsman based on the novel by Sylvia Nasar
Starring: Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Ed Harris, Paul Bettany
Length: 135 minutes
Budget: $60 million

The winner of the Academy Award for Best Picture at the 74th Academy Awards was the film A Beautiful Mind, a true story drama about the life of the brilliant John Forbes Nash, Jr.
 
John Nash (Crowe) is a graduate student at Princeton University. Everyone knows he is a brilliant man, but he doesn't seem to be able to produce the work to back it up. Eventually, his studies lead him to MIT, where he becomes a professor, and meets his future wife, Alicia (Connelly). It is then that things go terribly wrong, and the viewer witnesses problems and eventual collapse of one of the most brilliant minds in history.
 
This film, a Hollywood drama to the core, is filled with great acting performances, from Russell Crowe who recreates John Nash so perfectly, to Connelly as his love interest, Bettany as his friend, and Harris as the tough, hard, crazy stimulus behind Nash's behavior. Also, Ron Howard puts the film together beautifully, with simple yet extravagent shots, and a compelling and insightful script written by Goldsman.
 
Whenever a biography is made, especially about a living person, the people involved go out on a great risk: they face the task of recreating the life of a person, and staying true to who they were and how they lived, while still making it interesting enough for viewers to actually want to see it. This film is the perfect example of a successful biography, one that can tell the story of a man's life, show who he was, while avoiding the dull, history channel-esque plot.
 
In my opinion, the films of the 74th Oscars were (all around) nothing spectacular. A Beautiful Mind was excellent, as was the first installment of the Lord of the Rings trilogy; but all around, the films seemed to lack anything special. Moulin Rouge! was nominated, and it was a decent musical, but it was certainly nothing special; In the Bedroom was an amazingly compelling drama, that certainly was worthy of a Best Picture nomination, but it was one of those films that no one ever expected to win, because it was good but not "Best Picture" good; and Gosford Park was an interesting but very slow, very bland murder mystery, filled with little-known stars. So, although A Beautiful Mind deserved its victory, 2001 certainly won't be remembered as a year of amazing cinematic work.
 
Nine down, seventy-two to go!
 
 
Rankings:
1. Million Dollar Baby (2004)
2. Chicago (2002)
3. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
4. The Departed (2006)
5. No Country for Old Men (2007)
6. The Hurt Locker (2009)
7. A Beautiful Mind (2001)
8. Crash (2005)
9. Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

Chicago (2002)

Image: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/e0/Chicagopostercast.jpg

Movie #8: Chicago (2002)

Oscar wins: 6- Best Picture, Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Zeta-Jones), Best Art Direction (Set Decoration), Best Costume Design, Best Sound, Best Editing
Nominations: Best Director (Marshall), Best Actress in a Leading Role (Zellweger), Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Reilly), Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Latifah), Best Adapted Screenplay (Condon), Best Cinematography, Best Original Song ("I Move On")
Directed by: Rob Marshall
Written by: Bill Condon based on the musical by Fred Ebb & Bob Fosse, and the play by Maurine Dallas Watkins
Starring: Renée Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Richard Gere, Queen Latifah, John C. Reilly
Length: 113 minutes
Budget: $45 million

Chicago is a musical (the most recent to win Best Picture!), and based on a Broadway musical from the 1970's, which was based on a play from the 1920's.

It tells the story of Roxie Hart (Zellweger) who, after murdering her (ex) lover, ends up in jail, where she meets her idol Velma Kelly (Zeta-Jones), and the two of them compete for the stage, fame, and success of the fast-paced, up-beat 1920's Chicago life.

I can honestly say that this is the first musical that I liked, and I absolutely loved it. It really inspired me to watch films like Cabaret, and Sweeny Todd, and even Across the Universe (terribly dissapointing film...). The film puts a 21st century twist on musicals, putting to use the technological advances in lighting, sound, filming, and editing, to put together not only an amazing visual experience, but to really tell an incredible story of life in the roaring '20s. Also, I felt like it really used its songs; rather than having the characters break out into the song for the sake of music, it really had the songs fit into the plot, and move the plot along to not only deliver entertainment value but really deepen the story.

To be honest, I never saw the other big film of 2002, The Pianist (but I do own it!), so I cannot confidently say that this film deserved best picture. However, The Pianist would have to be one hell of a film for me to say that it should've beaten Chicago. As I have always said: Chicago is a film with the brains of a drama, in the body of a Broadway show. As for its other nominations, I really think Zellweger could have made a case for Best Lead Actress over Nicole Kidman (which is surprising coming from me, because The Hours is one of my favorite films). All of the actors and actresses in this film just delivered so well in every single scene and with every single line, and I think they held the film to the perfect point without allowing it to flop (if you want to see what a Marshall film can do in the wrong hands, just check out last year's Nine...).

Well, I'm making good progress. I've seen eight films in thirteen days, and I'm right on pace. Next up is A Beautiful Mind, which I saw for the first time this summer and am excited to see again. As for my rankings, this is another tough decision. I was just so surprised by how in love with Chicago I was, and every time I watch it I continue to uncover new things and continue to be entertained. Thus, it edged out Lord of the Rings for number two, but fell JUST short of #1.

Rankings:
1. Million Dollar Baby (2004)
2. Chicago (2002)
3. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
4. The Departed (2006)
5. No Country for Old Men (2007)
6. The Hurt Locker (2009)
7. Crash (2005)
8. Slumdog Millionaire (2008)