Oscar Got It Wrong!: Best Picture 1935

The Contenders:

Alice Adams
The Broadway Melody of 1936
Captain Blood
David Copperfield
The Informer
The Lives of a Bengal Lancer
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Les Miserables
Mutiny on the Bounty (winner)
Naughty Marietta
Ruggles of Red Gap
Top Hat

Manic Pixie Dream...Wait a Minute...

Films: Happy-Go-Lucky
Format: DVD from Cortland Public Library on The New Portable.

I’ve not been nice in the past to the manic pixie dream girl stereotype in films. It’s one of those tropes that, on its surface appears to be progressive but is essentially just another way to service yet another white guy’s fantasies. A film like Happy-Go-Lucky puts the MPDG stereotype front and center in the person of our main character. Like plenty of the movies that are still on my slowly-dwindling list, there was a reason I’ve waited on this.

This is despite the fact that I’m a fan of Sally Hawkins, who is our MPDG. And to be truthful, I should have given this a go some time past. Hawkins deserves the benefit of the doubt, even when I’m not entirely sold on the premise.

Oscar Got It Wrong!: Best Original Screenplay 1971

The Contenders:

The Hospital (winner)
Investigation of a Citizen above Suspicion
Klute
Summer of ’42
Sunday Bloody Sunday

History Lesson

Films: Dawson City: Frozen Time
Format: DVD from DeKalb Public Library on The New Portable.

I said the other day that I commented that I was initially worried about finding Dawson City: Frozen Time, but found it at my local library. I’m not, of course, entirely sure that this will be included in the next 1001 Movies book, but it is exactly the sort of movie that seems like it should be in the next edition. It’s considerably different than I thought it was going to be. That’s not a bad thing; it’s just a true thing.

The story behind this is fascinating, and it’s the main reason to track this down. Nearly 100 years ago, Dawson City was a gold rush town in the Yukon. It was also the last stop on a film distribution cycle. What this meant was that movies would eventually show up in Dawson City 2-3 years after they were released. A new silent produced in 1917 might not show up until 1920 for the Dawson City residents. The fact that this was at the end of a distribution chain is important. Once the movies got to Dawson City, they stayed because it cost more to ship them back than they were worth. Keep this in mind.

Oscar Got It Wrong: Best Adapted Screenplay 2006

The Contenders:

Borat
Children of Men
The Departed (winner)
Little Children
Notes on a Scandal

Coming Soon

Every year around this time, there’s hints and rumors and guesses about what might be in the next edition of the 1001 Movies book. A couple of days ago, fellow 1001 blogger Adolysti dropped me an email linking me to a Facebook post that has what looks to be the additions to the upcoming book. While there are some odd additions (and it appears they’re pulling both Hell or High Water and Arrival, two criminal losses), this seems like a legitimate set of films.

So here’s what looks to be on the new list:
The Handmaiden (2016)
Dawson City: Frozen Time (2016)
Lady Macbeth (2016)
Lady Bird (2017)
The Shape of Water (2017)
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)
Call Me by Your Name (2017)
mother! (2017)
Blade Runner 2049 (2017)
Get Out (2017)
Black Panther (2018)

Oscar Got It Wrong!: Best Actress 1955

The Contenders:

Susan Hayward: I’ll Cry Tomorrow
Eleanor Parker: Interrupted Melody
Jennifer Jones: Love is a Many-Splendored Thing
Anna Magnani: The Rose Tattoo (winner)
Katharine Hepburn: Summertime