You may have heard about 2020. The worldwide Covid-19 pandemic killed millions, wrecked the world's economy, and of least importance, but for the purposes of an alternate Oscar blog, of most relevance, shut down movie theaters for most of the year.
To say it was a thin year for movies would be an understatement. Not only did Hollywood punt many premieres into 2021 but studios also took the opportunity to beef up their streaming platforms by releasing movies directly into your living room, bypassing theaters altogether.
Back in the day, this would have precluded a film from Oscar consideration, but times change and so, apparently, did the rules. I'm sure Netflix was thrilled (although we now know the streaming boom was a mirage) but it leaves me wondering what counts as a movie and what doesn't.
Did any movies nominally released in 2020 enter the public consciousness? Or will that year forever be a black hole in our memories filled only with death, Zoom calls and the yammering of nitwits claiming that science isn't real?
For once I don't offer an opinion as to who and/or what should have won — most of these are what I have previously referred to as "consensus picka." Some are starting to trickle out onto basic cable (e.g., Promising Young Woman, The Personal History of David Copperfield), but many remain hidden behind various streaming paywalls.
Hard to tell what's catching the public's eye.
(I miss the communal experience of my youth, the Beatles in real time, a new movie hitting theaters. Now the culture is completely Balkanized. "The Moon Landing — exclusively on Apple TV!" No wonder we share no common ground.)
I did include a couple of my personal favorites (Enola Holmes, The Gentlemen) that were largely ignored come award season, but which I liked. My blog, my rules.
And I will say that declining to give Chadwick Boseman (nominated in two categories) a well-deserved posthumous Oscar when it had the chance is all the proof I need that the Academy is willfully hostile to its own audience and has long outlived its usefulness as an arbiter of what is good and great about motion pictures.
A note: From this point forward, I'm changing up the alternate Oscar format. Instead of ten best picture nominees and five in the other categories, I'm rounding up twice the usual number of suspects and hoping that somewhere among them is one deserving winner. Because, let's face it, at this point I'm just taking the proverbial wild-ass guess at what movies are actually going to emerge as all-time greats.
We can always revisit the issue later ...
My choices are noted with a ★. A tie is indicated with a ✪. Historical Oscar winners are noted with a ✔. Best foreign-language picture winners are noted with an ƒ. Best animated feature winners are noted with an @. A historical winner who won in a different category is noted with a ✱.
To read Part 1, click here. Read Part 2 here. Read Part 3 here, Part 4 here, Part 5 here and Part 6 here.
A dozen International films to choose from — but no heavy lifting, no spinach. The Monkey doesn't do spinach (although I do eat spinach from time to time).
Nosferatu (1922). Horror (Germany). A vampire relocates to the big city and samples the local cuisine. Dir. F.W. Murnau. Starring Max Schreck, Alexander Granach. More German Expressionism: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920), Der Golem, Waxworks, Faust, Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans, The Man Who Laughs, Pandora's Box, Vampyr. See also M and Fritz Lang.
M (1931). Crime (Germany). A serial killer preys on children on the eve of Hitler's rise to power. Dir. Fritz Lang. Starring Peter Lorre. More Lang: Dr. Mabuse the Gambler, Metropolis, The Testament of Dr. Mabuse, You Only Live Once, Scarlet Street, The Big Heat.
Rashomon (1950). Drama (Japan). Witnesses to a murder — including the killer and the ghost of the victim — tell conflicting stories about the event. Dir. Akira Kurosawa. Starring Toshiro Mifune, Takashi Shimura. More Kurosawa: Ikiru, Seven Samurai, The Hidden Fortress, Yojimbo, Sanjuro, Ran.
Tokyo Story (1953). Drama (Japan). An aging couple's children don't have time for them. Dir. Yasujiro Ozu. Starring Chishu Ryu, Chieko Higashiyama, Setsuko Hara. More Ozu: I Was Born But, Late Spring, Early Summer, Floating Weeds, Late Autumn.
The Seventh Seal (1957). Fantasy Drama (Sweden). A medieval knight plays chess against Death with his life riding on the outcome. Dir. Ingmar Bergman. Starring Max von Sydow, Bengt Ekerot. More Bergman: Smiles of a Summer Night, Wild Strawberries, Persona, Cries and Whispers, Scenes from a Marriage, Fanny and Alexander.
The 400 Blows (1959). Drama (France). Ignored by his parents, a boy slides into delinquency. Dir. Francois Truffaut. Starring Jean-Pierre Leaud, Albert Remy, Claire Maurier. More French New Wave Cinema: Hiroshima Mon Amour, Breathless, Shoot the Piano Player, Lola, Last Year at Marienbad, Cleo from 5 to 7, Jules and Jim, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg.
La Dolce Vita (1960). Comedy Drama (Italy). A debauched tabloid reporter spends seven wild days and nights in the fleshpots of Rome. Dir. Federico Fellini. Starring Marcello Mastroianni, Anita Ekberg, Anouk Aimee. More Movies From Italy: Ossessione, Rome Open City, Bicycle Thieves, Umberto D., La Strada, L'Avventura, Rocco and His Brothers, 8½, The Leopard, The Gospel According to St. Matthew, The Conformist.
Wings of Desire (1987). Romantic Fantasy (Germany). An angel sacrifices immortality to become human. Dir. Wim Wenders. Starring Bruno Ganz, Solveig Dommartin, Otto Sander, Curt Boise, Peter Falk. More Movies From Germany: Aguirre the Wrath of God, Ali: Fear Eats the Soul, Das Boot, Run Lola Run, Downfall, The Lives of Others, The White Ribbon.
In the Mood for Love (2000). Romance (Hong Kong). Two lonely people with cheating spouses meet and fall in love. Dir. Wong Kar-wai. Starring Tony Leung, Maggie Cheung. More Movies From Hong Kong: The Way of the Dragon, Fist of Fury, Drunken Master, The Killer, Hard Boiled, Chungking Express, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Infernal Affairs.
Amelie (2001). Comedy Fantasy (France). A shy waitress helps lonely people in a candy-colored Paris. Dir. Jean-Pierre Jeunet. Starring Audrey Tautou, Mathieu Kassovitz, Serge Merlin. More Comedies From France: Le Million, A Nous La Liberte, Boudu Saved from Drowning, Zero for Conduct, L'Atalante, The Rules of the Game, Monsieur Hulot's Holiday, Mon Oncle, Playtime, La Cage aux Folles.
Spirited Away (2001). Animation (Japan). When her parents are magically transformed into pigs, a ten year old girl takes a job in the spirit world to set them free. Dir. Hayao Miyazaki. More Japanese Anime: Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Akira, Grave of the Fireflies, My Neighbor Totoro, Porco Rosso, Ghost in the Shell, Princess Mononoke.
Pan's Labyrinth (2006). Dark Fantasy (Spain/Mexico). In Franco's Spain, a ten year old girl enters a labyrinth leading to the underworld. Dir. Guillermo del Toro. Starring Ivana Baquero. More Spanish Language Cinema: Los Olvidados, The Exterminating Angel, The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, Like Water for Chocolate, Y Tu Mama Tambien, Volver, Roma.
To read Part 1, click here. Read Part 2 here. Read Part 3 here. Read Part 4 here. Read Part 5 here.
I'm sure somebody has written about this at length, but movie poster art has gotten a lot less interesting over the last thirty years or so. I'm sure there are a lot of reasons for that — newspapers stopped carrying ads for movies (or shall we just admit, "newspapers stopped"), multiplex theaters don't have room for lobby cards, movies don't rely on word of mouth anymore (it's all blitzkrieg style advertizing then straight to streaming), etc.
And maybe those cheapskates at the studios figure any intern in the marketing department with access to Photoshop Elements can noodle together a poster. Well, they can't. But they keep trying ...
Goodfellas (1990). True-Life Crime. The rise and fall of wiseguy Henry Hill, from the lows to the lowlifes. Dir. Martin Scorsese. Starring Ray Liotta, Joe Pesci, Lorraine Bracco, Robert De Niro, Paul Sorvino. More Scorsese: Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, The Age of Innocence, The Departed.
Malcolm X (1992). Bio-pic. The true story of African-American human rights activist Malcolm X. Dir. Spike Lee. Starring Denzel Washington, Angela Bassett, Albert Hall, Al Freeman, Jr., Delroy Lindo. More Lee: Do the Right Thing, Get on the Bus, 4 Little Girls, Inside Man, BlacKkKlansman, Da 5 Bloods.
Groundhog Day (1993). Comedy Fantasy. An egocentric weatherman relives the same day over and over and over ... Dir. Harold Ramis. Starring Bill Murray, Andie MacDowell, Chris Elliott, Stephen Tobolowsky. More Ramis: Animal House (writer), Caddyshack (writer-director), Stripes (writer), Ghostbusters (writer).
Pulp Fiction (1994). Neo-Noir Comedy. Two half-smart hit men chase down a glowing MacGuffin in a briefcase, crossing paths with a gangster's moll, a washed-up boxer, and a pair of petty thieves. Dir. Quentin Tarantino. Starring John Travolta, Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, Uma Thurman. More Tarantino: Reservoir Dogs, Jackie Brown, Inglourious Basterds, Django Unchained, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
The Shawshank Redemption (1994). Prison Drama. Two convicts forge an unlikely friendship over a poster of Rita Hayworth. Dir. Frank Darabont. Starring Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman, Bob Gunton, William Sadler, James Whitmore. More Movies Based On Stephen King: Carrie, The Dead Zone, Stand By Me, The Green Mile.
Toy Story (1995). Animation. A rivalry between two toys tests loyalties and strains friendships. Dir. John Lasetter. Starring the voices of Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Annie Potts, John Ratzenberger, Don Rickles, Wallace Shawn. More Post-Walt Disney Animation: Yellow Submarine, Beauty and the Beast, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Spirited Away, The Incredibles, Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, Up, The Lego Movie, Coco, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.
The Big Lebowski (1998). Screwball Noir. The world's laziest man is drawn into L.A.'s seamy underworld in a quest to recover a rug that really tied the room together. Dir. Joel and Ethan Coen. Starring Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi, David Huddleston, Julianne Moore, John Turturro, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Sam Elliott. More Coen Bros.: Miller's Crossing, Fargo, O Brother Where Art Thou?, No Country for Old Men, True Grit (2010).
Lost in Translation (2003). Comedy. An aimless actor and a lonely expat pal around Tokyo. Dir. Sofia Coppola. Starring Bill Murray, Scarlett Johansson. More Movies By Women Directors: Suspense (1913), The Hitch-Hiker (1953), A League of Their Own, The Piano, Sleepless in Seattle, The Hurt Locker, Selma, Girls Trip, Little Women (2019).
The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014). Comedy. Between the world wars, the concierge of Europe's finest hotel creates a bubble of civilization for his well-to-do guests. Dir. Wes Anderson. Starring Ralph Fiennes, Adrien Brody, Willem Dafoe, Jeff Goldblum, Saoirse Ronan. More Anderson: The Royal Tenenbaums, The Darjeeling Limited, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Moonrise Kingdom, Isle of Dogs, Asteroid City.
Get Out (2017). Horror. A young Black photographer visits his White girlfriend's liberal parents only to discover the new politics is a just fresh way of expressing the same old evils. Dir. Jordan Peele. Starring Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, Bradley Whitford. More Movies By Black Directors: Within Our Gates (1920), Shaft (1971), Super Fly (1972), Car Wash, Boyz n the Hood, Menace II Society, Devil in a Blue Dress, 12 Years a Slave, Selma, Straight Outta Compton, Creed, Moonlight, Girls Trip, Black Panther, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Summer of Soul, American Fiction. See also Malcolm X and the Films of Spike Lee.
Jojo Rabbit (2019). Anti-Hate Satire. A goofy ten year old (with an imaginary friend named Adolf Hitler) learns what fascism is really all about when he discovers a Jewish girl hiding in the attic. Dir. Taika Waititi. Starring Roman Griffin Davies, Thomasin McKenzie, Scarlett Johansson, Taika Waititi, Sam Rockwell. More Anti-Hate Satire: You Nazty Spy, The Great Dictator, To Be Or Not To Be (1942), The Producers (1968), Inglourious Basterds.
Little Women (2019). Historical Family Drama. The March sisters come of age during the American Civil War, facing love, tragedy and comic misadventures along the way. Dir. Greta Gerwig. Starring Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, Eliza Scanlen, Laura Dern, Timothée Chalamet. More Gerwig: Frances Ha (actress), To Rome with Love (actress), 20th Century Women (actress), Lady Bird, Barbie.
To read Part 1, click here. Read Part 2 here. Read Part 3 here. Read Part 4 here.
Next Sunday at this time, I'll be posting the alternate Oscars for 2020. Or maybe the Sunday after that. Stay tuned ...
The Godfather (1972). Crime Family Saga. The attempted murder of a mafia don draws his war hero son into the family business. Dir. Francis Ford Coppola. Starring Al Pacino, Marlon Brando, James Caan, Robert Duvall, Sterling Hayden, Diane Keaton. More Coppola: Patton (screenwriter), The Godfather Part 2, The Conversation, Apocalypse Now.
The Sting (1973). Caper Flick. Two con men set out to scam a vicious gangster. Dir. George Roy Hill. Starring Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Robert Shaw, Charles Durning, Ray Walston, Eileen Brennan, Harold Gould. More Caper Flicks: The Asphalt Jungle, The Lavendar Hill Mob, Rififi, Bob le Flambeur, The Italian Job (1969 and 2003), Kelly's Heroes, Le Cercle Rouge, A Fish Called Wanda, Out of Sight, The Thomas Crown Affair (1999), Snatch, Ocean's Eleven (2001), The Town, Rogue One, Hell or High Water, Baby Driver.
Chinatown (1974). Neo-Noir Mystery. A cynical private eye with a taste for the good life bites off more than he can chew in pre-war Los Angeles. Dir. Roman Polanski. Starring Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, John Huston, Burt Young, Perry Lopez. More Nicholson: Five Easy Pieces, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Reds, Batman, A Few Good Men, About Schmidt, The Departed.
The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976). Western. At the end of the American Civil War, a guerrilla fighter flees the authorities and picks up a makeshift family along the way. Dir. Clint Eastwood. Starring Clint Eastwood, Chief Dan George, Sandra Locke, John Vernon. More Eastwood: Dirty Harry (actor), High Plains Drifter, Unforgiven, Million Dollar Baby.
Annie Hall (1977). Romantic Comedy. A neurotic New Yorker falls for a Midwestern eccentric and remakes her in his own image. Dir. Woody Allen. Starring Woody Allen, Diane Keaton. More Woody: Sleeper, Love and Death, Hannah and Her Sisters, Midnight in Paris.
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981). Action Adventure. A whip-wielding archeologist races Nazis to find the Lost Ark of the Covenant. Dir. Steven Spielberg. Starring Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman, Ronald Lacey, John Rhys-Davies, Denholm Elliott. More Spielberg: Duel, Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, The Color Purple, Jurassic Park, Schindler's List, Saving Private Ryan, Minority Report, Catch Me If You Can, Lincoln.
The Terminator (1984) Science Fiction. A spunky waitress battles a robot sent back from the future to kill her. Dir. James Cameron. Starring Linda Hamilton, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Michael Biehn, Paul Winfield. More Science Fiction: The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), The Thing From Another World, The War of the Worlds (1953), Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), 2001: A Space Odyssey, Planet of the Apes (1968), Star Wars (1977), Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Blade Runner, Aliens, The Matrix, Interstellar.
The Princess Bride (1987). Fantasy Comedy Adventure. A dotty grandfather reads his skeptical grandson a story filled with fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, miracles and true love. Dir. Rob Reiner. Starring Peter Falk, Fred Savage, Cary Elwes, Robin Wright, Chris Sarandon, Wallace Shawn, Mandy Patinkin, Andre the Giant, Billy Crystal, Carol Kane. More Reiner: This is Spinal Tap, The Sure Thing, Stand By Me, When Harry Met Sally, Misery, A Few Good Men.
Bull Durham (1988). Sports Comedy. A career minor leaguer and a baseball groupie tutor a rookie phenom on the finer points of the game. Dir. Ron Shelton. Starring Kevin Costner, Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins. More Sports Movies: The Pride of the Yankees, The Hustler, The Endless Summer, Brian's Song (1971), The Bad News Bears (1976), Rocky, Slap Shot, Caddyshack, Raging Bull, Chariots of Fire, Victory, The Natural, Hoosiers, A League of Their Own, The Sandlot, The Big Lebowski, 42, Creed, Ford v. Ferrari.
To read Part 1, click here. Read Part 2 here. Read Part 3 here.
It's Saturday night, right? and you're sitting on the couch saying, "What do you want to watch?" and the person next to you says, "I don't know, what do you want to watch?" Well, cut it out and pick a movie off this list! The first one you haven't seen!
Remember: Life is too short not to watch a movie.
Singin' in the Rain (1952). Musical Comedy. Silent film stars struggle to adapt to the sound era. Dir. Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly. Starring Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds, Donald O'Connor, Jean Hagan. More Donen: On the Town, Funny Face, Charade.
Rear Window (1954). Suspense. A bored photographer can't convince anyone he's seen a murder from his apartment window. Dir. Alfred Hitchcock. Starring James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Thelma Ritter, Wendell Corey, Raymond Burr. More Hitchcock: The 39 Steps, The Lady Vanishes, Rebecca, Shadow of a Doubt, Notorious, Strangers on a Train, To Catch a Thief, Vertigo, North by Northwest, Psycho, The Birds, Marnie.
Ben-Hur (1959). Historical Action Drama. In the time of Christ, a Jewish prince seeks revenge against the Roman officer who sentenced him to life as a galley slave. Dir. William Wyler. Starring Charlton Heston, Stephen Boyd, Jack Hawkins, Hugh Griffith. More Wyler: Dodsworth, Wuthering Heights, Mrs. Miniver, The Best Years of Our Lives, The Heiress, Roman Holiday.
Rio Bravo (1959). Western. A sheriff and his alcoholic deputy square off against a wealthy landowner and his gang of hired cutthroats. Dir. Howard Hawks. Starring John Wayne, Dean Martin, Walter Brennan, Angie Dickinson. Ricky Nelson, Claude Akins. More Hawks: Scarface (1932), Bringing Up Baby, Only Angels Have Wings, His Girl Friday, Ball of Fire, To Have and Have Not, The Big Sleep, Red River, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.
Lawrence of Arabia (1962). War Bio-pic. A glory-seeking soldier unites the Arab nations against the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Dir. David Lean. Starring Peter O'Toole, Omar Shariff, Anthony Quinn, Claude Rains, Arthur Kennedy. More Lean: Brief Encounter, Great Expectations, The Bridge on the River Kwai, Doctor Zhivago, A Passage to India.
Goldfinger (1964). Spy Thriller. Super spy James Bond hunts a gold-obsessed industrialist, his hat-throwing butler and Pussy Galore. Dir. Guy Hamilton. Starring Sean Connery, Honor Blackman, Gert Fröbe, Shirley Eaton, Harold Sakata. More Bond: From Russia With Love, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, The Spy Who Loved Me, License to Kill, GoldenEye, Casino Royale (2006), Skyfall.
A Hard Day's Night (1964). Musical Comedy. On their way to a show in London, the Fab Four and a grumpy grandfather see a train and a room, a car and a room, and a room and a room. Dir. Richard Lester. Starring The Beatles, Wilfrid Brambell, Norman Rossington, John Junkin, Victor Spinetti, Anna Quayle. More Musicals: Gold Diggers of 1933, Meet Me in St. Louis, An American in Paris, Singin' in the Rain, Funny Face, West Side Story (1961), The Sound of Music, Funny Girl, Cabaret, Grease, The Blues Brothers, Victor/Victoria, Moulin Rouge, Chicago, The Greatest Showman. See alsoTop Hat and Astaire and Rogers.
Mary Poppins (1964). Musical Fantasy. A practically-perfect nanny whips an unhappy British family into shape. Dir. Robert Stevenson. Starring Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke, David Tomlinson, Glynis Johns, Ed Wynn. More Walt Disney: Steamboat Willie, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio, Fantasia, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Lady and the Tramp, One Hundred and One Dalmatians, The Jungle Book.
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966). Spaghetti Western. A bounty hunter, a hit man and a criminal lowlife search for buried treasure during the American Civil War. Dir. Sergio Leone. Starring Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, Eli Wallach. More Leone: A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, Once Upon a Time in the West, Once Upon a Time in America.
The Endless Summer (1966). Documentary. Two surfers circle the globe in search of the perfect wave. Dir. Bruce Brown. Starring Mike Hynson, Robert August. More Documentaries: Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat (1896), Nanook of the North (1922), The Memphis Belle (1944 and 2016 restoration), Woodstock, Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse, Hoop Dreams, When We Were Kings, No Direction Home: Bob Dylan, The Cold Blue, Apollo 11 (2019), Summer of Soul, Get Back.
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). Science Fiction. Apes and astronauts encounter a mysterious monolith to the sounds of Richard and Johann Strauss. Dir. Stanley Kubrick. Starring Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood, William Sylvester, Douglas Rain. More Kubrick: The Killing, Paths of Glory, Spartacus, Dr. Strangelove, The Shining.
Have you ever noticed how much romantic comedy and film noir have in common? They're basically light and dark sides of the same coin — beautiful people doing stupid things for reasons they can't quite comprehend. If at the end they get married, it's romantic comedy. They die? Film noir.
I mean, look at The Philadelphia Story and Out of the Past. One is a classic rom-com, the other is the quintessential noir. But if you look at their plots from outer space, they're the same story — a jilted lover falls back into the orbit of the woman who ruined his life. One ends in marriage, the other in rivers of blood.
Seriously. Check them out.
The Grapes of Wrath (1940). Social Drama. Okies from Muskogee head to California in search of the American Dream. Dir. John Ford. Starring Henry Fonda, Jane Darwell, John Carradine. More Ford: Stagecoach, They Were Expendable, My Darling Clementine, Fort Apache, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, The Quiet Man, The Searchers, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence.
The Philadelphia Story (1940). Romantic Comedy. A snooty blueblood juggles three men on the eve of her wedding. Dir. George Cukor. Starring Katharine Hepburn, James Stewart, Cary Grant, Ruth Hussey, Virginia Weidler. More Cukor: Dinner at Eight, Holiday (1938), The Women, Gaslight, Adam's Rib, A Star Is Born (1954), My Fair Lady.
Citizen Kane (1941). Drama. A wealthy publishing magnate gets — and loses — everything he ever wanted. Dir. Orson Welles. Starring Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Dorothy Comingore, Everett Sloane. More Welles: The Magnificent Ambersons, The Stranger, The Lady From Shanghai, The Third Man (actor), Touch of Evil, Chimes at Midnight, A Man for All Seasons (actor).
The Maltese Falcon (1941). Crime Mystery. A private detective pries a priceless black bird loose from a swell lot of thieves while searching for his partner's killer. Dir. John Huston. Starring Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Peter Lorre, Sydney Greenstreet, Elish Cook, Jr. More Huston: The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Key Largo, The Asphalt Jungle, The African Queen, Heaven Knows Mr. Allison, The Night of the Iguana, Chinatown (actor), The Man Who Would Be King.
Sullivan's Travels (1941). Screwball Comedy. A Hollywood director, longing to make a "serious" picture, hits the road in search of the real America. Dir. Preston Sturges. Starring Joel McCrea, Veronica Lake, William Demarest. More Sturges: Easy Living (writer), The Great McGinty, The Lady Eve, The Miracle of Morgan's Creek, Hail the Conquering Hero.
Casablanca (1942). War Romance. A cynical saloon keeper bumps into Nazis and his ex-girlfriend in war-torn Morocco. Dir. Michael Curtiz. Starring Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains, Dooley Wilson, Conrad Veidt, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, S.Z. Sakall. More Curtiz: Captain Blood, The Adventures of Robin Hood, Angels with Dirty Faces, Yankee Doodle Dandy, Mildred Pierce, White Christmas.
Now, Voyager (1942). Romance. A dowdy spinster wriggles out from under her mother's thumb and finds love and a decent wardrobe. Dir. Irving Rapper. Starring Bette Davis, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains, Gladys Cooper. More Davis: The Petrified Forest, Jezebel, Dark Victory, The Little Foxes, The Man Who Came to Dinner, All About Eve, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte.
Double Indemnity (1944). Film Noir. An insurance salesman commits murder mostly just to see if he can get away with it. Dir. Billy Wilder. Starring Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward G. Robinson. More Wilder: Ninotchka (writer), Ball of Fire (writer), Five Graves to Cairo, The Lost Weekend, Sunset Boulevard, Ace in the Hole, Stalag 17, Sabrina, Witness for the Prosecution, Some Like It Hot, The Apartment.
Out of the Past (1947). Film Noir. A private eye falls in love with a woman fleeing her gangster boyfriend. Dir. Jacques Tourneur. Starring Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer, Kirk Douglas. More Film Noir: The Maltese Falcon, Double Indemnity, Laura, Murder My Sweet, Detour, Scarlet Street, The Killers, The Postman Always Rings Twice, Crossfire, Kiss of Death, The Lady from Shanghai, The Big Clock, Champion, They Live By Night, The Set-Up, White Heat, Sunset Boulevard, Gun Crazy, In a Lonely Place, His Kind of Woman, The Narrow Margin, The Big Heat, Pickup on South Street, Kiss Me Deadly, The Night of the Hunter, Sweet Smell of Success.
The Third Man (1949). British Noir. A bumptious American writer searches for his pal's killer in post-war Vienna. Dir. Carol Reed. Starring Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, Orson Welles, Trevor Howard. More British Movies: The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, Henry V, Black Narcissus, The Red Shoes, Kind Hearts and Coronets, The Lavender Hill Mob.
To help with your New Year's Resolution to watch a movie a week, here are the first ten thumbnail descriptions of the films I've suggested. In case you've seen all these, I'm also offering up related titles. And if you've seen all of them, you shouldn't be reading this blog, you should be writing it.
The General (1926). Silent Action Comedy. A lovelorn engineer battles spies who hijack his train during the American Civil War. Dir. Buster Keaton and Clyde Bruckman. Starring Buster Keaton, Marion Mack. More Keaton: One Week, The Boat, Cops, Our Hospitality, Sherlock, Jr., The Navigator, Steamboat Bill, Jr., The Cameraman (actor).
Trouble in Paradise (1932). Sophisticated Comedy. Thieves fall in love and bilk a beautiful, rich widow out of her fortune. Dir. Ernst Lubitsch. Starring Herbert Marshall, Miriam Hopkins, Kay Francis. More Lubitsch: Design for Living, Ninotchka, The Shop Around the Corner, To Be Or Not To Be, Heaven Can Wait (1943).
King Kong (1933). Horror. During a long weekend in New York, a giant ape takes an old girlfriend to the top of the Empire State Building. Dir. Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack. Starring Fay Wray, Robert Armstrong, Bruce Cabot. More Monsters: The Thing From Another World, The War of the Worlds, Godzilla, Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), Alien, John Carpenter's The Thing, Predator.
It Happened One Night (1934). Romantic Comedy. A scheming reporter falls for a rich, runaway bride. Dir. Frank Capra. Starring Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert, Walter Connolly. More Capra: The Bitter Tea of General Yen, Lady for a Day, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, You Can't Take It with You, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Arsenic and Old Lace, It's a Wonderful Life.
The Thin Man (1934). Mystery Comedy. A retired detective, his socialite wife and their wire haired terrier solve a string of murders. Dir. W.S. Van Dyke. Starring William Powell, Myrna Loy, Asta, Maureen O'Sullivan, Nat Pendelton. More Powell: The Last Command, Jewel Robbery, One Way Passage, After the Thin Man, Libeled Lady, My Man Godfrey, I Love You Again, Life with Father. More Loy: The Best Years of Our Lives, The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer, Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House.
Bride of Frankenstein (1935). Horror. As the song says, "man must have his mate" — even one stitched together from spare body parts! Dir. James Whale. Starring Boris Karloff, Elsa Lanchester, Colin Clive, Ernest Thesiger. More Early Horror: The Phantom of the Opera (1925), The Unknown (1927), The Man Who Laughs (1928), Dracula (1931), Frankenstein (1931), Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931), Freaks (1932), The Invisible Man (1933), Cat People (1942), I Walked With a Zombie, The Body Snatcher (1945).
A Night at the Opera (1935). Comedy. A shady promoter and two stowaways disrupt an opera in the name of love. Dir. Sam Wood. Starring the Marx Brothers, Margaret Dumont, Sig Ruman, Kitty Carlisle, Allan Jones. More Marx Bros.: Animal Crackers, Horse Feathers, Duck Soup, A Day at the Races.
Top Hat (1935). Musical Comedy. Astaire and Rogers sing and dance their way through a Hollywood sound stage named "Venice, Italy." Dir. Mark Sandrich. Starring Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Edward Everett Horton, Eric Blore, Erik Rhodes, Helen Broderick. More Astaire and Rogers: The Gay Divorcee, Swing Time, Shall We Dance.
Modern Times (1936). Silent Comedy. The Little Tramp gets ground up in the gears of the modern world. Dir. Charlie Chaplin. Starring Charlie Chaplin, Paulette Goddard. More Chaplin: The Immigrant, A Dog's Life, Shoulder Arms, The Kid, The Gold Rush, The Circus, City Lights.
The Wizard of Oz (1939). Musical Fantasy. A farm girl in red shoes makes friends and confronts an evil witch in the Technicolor land of Oz. Dir. Victor Fleming. Starring Judy Garland, Ray Bolger, Jack Haley, Bert Lahr, Margaret Hamilton, Frank Morgan. More Children's Classics: A Plumbing We Will Go, National Velvet, The Muppet Movie, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, A Christmas Story, Home Alone, Babe, A Little Princess (1995), The Parent Trap (1998), Freaky Friday (2003), The Harry Potter Franchise, Paddington, Paddington 2.
Having trouble coming up with a New Year's Resolution? Want to eat right, exercise more, make friends, change the world — but it's just too much work? I know how you feel, buddy! So how about a resolution that requires no more effort than what you're doing right now, sitting on the couch watching television?
But instead of that thousandth rerun of The Big Bang Theory, do what I do: watch a movie!
That's right, watch a movie — it's easier than reading a book, less aggravating than following the news, and more virtuous than doing nothing at all. Besides, I can't tell you how many people have said to me, "Monkey, I sure wish I knew as much about movies as you do but I don't know where to start!" (Fewer than two but more than none, if I had to guess.) Well, now you can do something about it — with no effort at all!
Heck, you don't even have to think up the movies. Because the Monkey is a full-service blog, I've done the thinking for you and come up with some suggestions. 52 of them!
Why 52, you ask?
52 weeks in the year, of course. A movie a week. Anybody can do practically anything once a week. Why, I manage to skip the gym every single day — what's once a week?!?
It's a diverse list chockful of fun, entertaining films — nothing dreary, no heavy lifting — covering many genres and time periods, from the silent era to the present day. There's no more than one movie from any given director and where practicable, I limited repeat appearances by lead actors.
And because I figure you're a risk adverse bunch, all the movies are in English.
(My overseas readers needn't worry, however. As a bonus, I have also listed twelve International feature films — one a month — for those of you who can never get enough of a good thing.)
My suggestions are grouped chronologically:
1920s - 1930s
The General * Trouble in Paradise * King Kong * It Happened One Night * The Thin Man * Bride of Frankenstein * A Night at the Opera * Top Hat * Modern Times * The Wizard of Oz
1940s
The Grapes of Wrath * The Philadelphia Story * Citizen Kane * The Maltese Falcon * Sullivan's Travels * Casablanca * Now, Voyager * Double Indemnity * Out of the Past * The Third Man
1950s - 1960s
Singin' in the Rain * Rear Window * Ben-Hur * Rio Bravo * Lawrence of Arabia * Goldfinger * A Hard Day's Night * Mary Poppins * The Good, the Bad and the Ugly * The Endless Summer * 2001: A Space Odyssey
1970s - 1980s
The Godfather * The Sting * Chinatown * The Outlaw Josey Wales * Annie Hall * Raiders of the Lost Ark * The Terminator * The Princess Bride * Bull Durham
1990s - present
Goodfellas * Malcolm X * Groundhog Day * Pulp Fiction * The Shawshank Redemption * Toy Story * The Big Lebowski * Lost in Translation * The Grand Budapest Hotel * Get Out * Jojo Rabbit * Little Women
International Films
Nosferatu (1922) * M (1931) * Rashomon * Tokyo Story * The Seventh Seal * The 400 Blows * La Dolce Vita * Wings of Desire * In the Mood for Love * Amelie * Spirited Away * Pan's Labyrinth
Stream them, buy them, check them out from your local library (if you still have one). Watch them in any order, one a week or in a single tushy-numbing marathon. Whatever floats your boat! Why, I'll bet you a buck you've already seen some of them, maybe even all of them! See how easy this is?!?
But I promise that if you see them all, by the end of the year, you too will be able to fake your way through any conversation about classic movies. And isn't that what life is all about — convincing people you have a clue what you're talking about when you really don't?
Starting tomorrow, I'll post one-line descriptions of each movie — to make this even easier! Because watching movies should never feel like work.
Named for Katie-Bar-The-Door, the Katies are "alternate Oscars"—who should have been nominated, who should have won—but really they're just an excuse to write a history of the movies from the Silent Era to the present day.
To see a list of nominees and winners by decade, as well as links to my essays about them, click the highlighted links:
Remember: There are no wrong answers, only movies you haven't seen yet.
The Silent Oscars
And don't forget to check out the Silent Oscars—my year-by-year choices for best picture, director and all four acting categories for the pre-Oscar years, 1902-1927.
Look at me—Joe College, with a touch of arthritis. Are my eyes really brown? Uh, no, they're green. Would we have the nerve to dive into the icy water and save a person from drowning? That's a key question. I, of course, can't swim, so I never have to face it. Say, haven't you anything better to do than to keep popping in here early every morning and asking a lot of fool questions?
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