2019 Oscar Winners Viewing Marathon

[RCRochester]

It's now four weeks until the 2019 Academy Awards.

As a custom, in the month leading up to the Oscars I like to have a marathon where I only watch movies that have won Oscars.

Similar to the horror viewing marathons in October, I thought I would start a thread chronicling the films I watch and inviting others to join me.

Although the emphasis is mainly on movies from your blu-ray collection, movies on DVD, TV, Netflix, etc. count too.

The only rule is that the film must be an Oscar WINNER (unlike TBS whose Oscar marathons include non-winning nominees). If you are unsure, Wikipedia or IMDB are good resources. Honorary Oscars such as John Chambers' award for Planet of the Apes DO count.

This means that bona fide classics such as Vertigo or Taxi Driver are excluded but it still allows for a fun range of movie options - you can watch a multiple award winning masterpiece such as Gone With The Wind one night, and a silly family comedy like Harry and the Hendersons the next.

If you play along, post the movies that you watch, whether it's a first time viewing or an old favorite, what your thoughts were of the movie, whatever you feel like.

Hopefully some of you will play along, if not I'll be posting all by my lonesome on this thread for the next month.

EDIT: I have posted the TCM 31 Day of Oscar bingo card here for anyone playing along with that too:

[Show spoiler]

[MJD64]

I was planning on a rewatch of AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON tonight, and it does fit this thread. 1981's AMERICAN WEREWOLF was the first film to win the "Best Makeup" award in 1982 (beating out HEARTBEEPS; y'all remember that one, right? Actually, I do...) and was presented by Vincent Price and Kim Hunter to the great Rick Baker. I saw AMERICAN WEREWOLF opening day towards the end of my summer vacation in 1981 (saw THE HOWLING opening night earlier that year, and caught WOLFEN at a second-run theater later that year); was taking a chance as I was still underage at the time and the theater I saw this at was notorious for carding for R-rated films: I made it, though!

What a movie: This remains among my favorite horror comedies because it delivers down the line in both genres (it's also got some surprisingly good dramatic moments and scenes) and that is one tough balancing act to maintain. David Naughton makes for an appealing, affable lead, the hilariously sardonic and undead Griffin Dunne steals every scene he's in and the lovely Jenny Agutter makes the dramatic tragedy of the material all the more emotionally potent (especially the ending). The transformation scene in this film is a classic (and was damn-near jaw-dropping watching it the first time) and to this day those physical effects best many CGI-rendered similar scenes.

My memory could be playing tricks on me, but I seem to recall Siskel and Ebert being vocally against this new award at the time, believing it to be nothing more than something that would predominantly glorify horror films... (I did like and religiously watch Siskel and Ebert at the time however, even given their two-man crusade against the slasher genre!)

[Hoke Moseley]

Not to be a jerk, but wouldn't this make more sense in the movies section?

Either way, I'll participate.

[RCRochester]

Originally Posted by Hoke Moseley

Not to be a jerk, but wouldn't this make more sense in the movies section?

Either way, I'll participate.

Could be, but I rarely go to that section of the forum, it comes across as a sort of IMDB 2.0 for me.

I'll let the mods decide if they want to move it, but seeing as I'm watching most of these movies on blu-rays from my collection, I don't think it's out of place here.

Thanks for playing along!

[Dailyan]

I'll participate! I had started, somewhat, when I watched "Babe" last night (Best Visual Effects).

[RCRochester]

Originally Posted by Dailyan

I'll participate! I had started, somewhat, when I watched "Babe" last night (Best Visual Effects).

Cool!

Yesterday was technically the four week mark because the Oscars are on Sunday the 24th so if you want to include Babe and post further thoughts on the movie, you're welcome to.

I would have started yesterday myself but having watched In The Heat Of The Night last week, I wanted to squeeze in the two Virgil Tibbs sequels before starting.

[filmbuffTX]

Cool thread, I’ll participate. I was already planning on watching a bunch of Oscar winners that I hadn’t seen yet for next month. I’ll post what I watch here.

So far I have planned:
-Cavalcade
-How Green Was My Valley
-Annie Hall
-The King’s Speech

Over the weekend I watched:
-Moulin Rouge! (8 nominations, winner for costume design and production design)
-The Sound of Music (10 nominations, winner of 5 including Best Picture)

[Dailyan]

#1 (Started on 1/27):
Babe (Best Visual Effects)

[Show spoiler]

I haven't seen this since I was a child. I know the term "they don't make 'em like they use to" gets thrown around a lot but man, they don't make 'em like they use to. "Babe" is a simple, sweet, and at times dark, family film that gets the job done. A funny thing is seeing two of the three main "Agents" from the original "Matrix" film appearing (Hugo Weaving and Paul Goddard).

[GrouchoFan]

Oh boy, an excuse to rewatch Suicide Squad!

[RCRochester]

Originally Posted by GrouchoFan

Oh boy, an excuse to rewatch Suicide Squad!

[Dailyan]

#2:
The Apartment (Best Picture, Director, Original Screenplay, Art Direction, Film Editing)

[Show spoiler]

Still one of my favorite Best Picture winners and Top 5 Wilder for me. Jack Lemmon & Shirley MacLaine are excellent and Adolph Deutsch's score is magnificent. I put off picking up the Arrow release for space reasons and that I still enjoyed the MGM disc; I decided to bite the bullet when I saw that limited edition started to get scarce. The Arrow transfer looks fantastic and the original mono is icing on the cake.

[RCRochester]

Kicked off my Oscar marathon with this gem:



Nominated for 3 Oscars and winner of Best Color Cinematography for Robert Burks.

I first saw this film in the early 90s when I was just discovering Hitchcock. Sandwiched between films like Vertigo and Rear Window, I found it to be kind of a middling little film. When it first came out on blu-ray I gave it another chance and I'm so glad I did because it's become one of my favourite Hitchcock films. The first shot of the movie is a shop window of a travel agent touting the benefits of a trip to France and it's appropriate because the film is a gorgeous travelogue of the French Riviera, with all of its beauty captured by Robert Burks' Oscar winning cinematography. Cary Grant is his usual charming self as John Robie, the reformed jewel thief out to clear his name, but whenever Grace Kelly is on the screen I can't take my eyes off her. She is absolutely gorgeous at all times and even if Rear Window is her best Hitchcock film, this is the one where you can truly see how glamorous she really was. The film is still a lighter Hitchcock piece but it's very fun and sexy, particularly the scene where Kelly seduces Grant with her diamond necklace.

[Dailyan]

#3 Rebecca (Best Picture, Cinematography)

[Show spoiler]

"Rebecca" is a mixed bag for myself. I love the Gothic atmosphere/design of Manderley, Waxman's score, and Judith Anderson's performance as Mrs. Danvers but I feel the film looses steam when

[Show spoiler]Maxim tells Mrs. de Winter about the death of Rebecca.

In terms of Best Picture winners, it's easily one of the better ones but would I of voted it over "The Grapes of Wrath"? Most likely not. I'd place "Rebecca" in the mid-tier of Hitchcock films I've seen because I do enjoy everything up until that particular scene.

[RCRochester]

01/28 - To Catch A Thief (1955)

01/29 - The Thomas Crown Affair (1968)



Oscar Winner for Best Song "The Windmills of your Mind" by Michel Legrand, Alan Bergman & Marilyn Bergman

Having discovered yesterday that Michel Legrand passed away over the weekend, I decided to watch the only one of the three films he won Oscars for that I have in my collection. It also fit with the movie I watched yesterday because it's also about a woman who pursues a man she suspects is a master thief. This is another movie that I was disappointed by the first time I saw it because I was expecting some Ocean's Eleven style film that is all about the heist, but that only occupies a small portion at the beginning of the film while the rest concerns Faye Dunaway's sexy but cunning insurance investigator trying to prove that Steve McQueen's billionaire playboy Thomas Crown is a criminal mastermind. The film just drips with late 60s coolness and style, particularly the iconic chess scene, and Michel Legrand's score as well as the Oscar winning song fit perfectly with the mood of the movie. It's not my favourite film of McQueen's by a long stretch, but it is one I've come to really appreciate over subsequent viewings.

[Dailyan]

#4 Shane (Best Cinematography, Color)

[monwobbbo]

watched SHAFT earlier today (best song for Theme From Shaft)

[RCRochester]

01/28 - To Catch A Thief (1955)
01/29 - The Thomas Crown Affair (1968)

01/30 - A Fish Called Wanda (1988)



Best Supporting Actor - Kevin Kline

It seems there's a theme developing here of romantic heist movies - there is also a connection with To Catch A Thief in that John Cleese's character is named after Cary Grant's real name, Archibald Leach. Anyway, this is an old favourite that I've seen many times going right back to its original release in 1988. Kevin Kline won the Oscar for his over-the-top performance as Otto, but the entire cast is brilliant including Michael Palin who won the equivalent BAFTA award. I also think this should have won Best Screenplay over Rain Man (which I still think is a great film).

[Hoke Moseley]

1.

Best Actress - Frances McDormand
Best Original Screenplay - Joel & Ethan Coen

I see snow outside, I put Fargo on... it's as simple as that. I don't love it quite as much as I once did, but it's still a movie I'll be re-watching forever.

[RCRochester]

Love Fargo, love the Coens. I still haven't watched my UHD of Big Lebowski yet but I'm waiting to see if somewhere in this world a disc emerges of Buster Scruggs so I can have a full on Coen marathon. I suppose I could watch it on Netflix again, but it's just not the same.

[filmbuffTX]

1. Moulin Rouge! (2001)



8 Nominations: Winner for Costume Design and Production Design

This was a first-time viewing for me. I enjoy musicals, but didn’t like this one as much as I thought I might. McGregor and Kidman are great in the lead roles. I do like Baz Luhrmann’s style: Romeo & Juliet and The Great Gatsby. I hope I like this movie more on repeat viewings.