So Edward asked for those of us who voted in his survey (of Best Best Pictures from the Academy) to send in our comments about our movie choices.
Here are mine:
1. 1943 – Casablanca
One of the things that I think makes a movie great, and not only great but long-lasting, is that there is a mystery about it. It cannot be too easily explained, labeled, pinned down. The discussion about it, the debate it, will continue on. I guess you could say this about the great movie stars, too. They don’t give it all away. They hold their cards close to their chest, in some way, and keep us guessing about them. Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman are perfect examples of this. We can never have all of them. In the same way, that we can never have all of ANYbody (at least anybody who is interesting.) There’s an essential mystery about their screen presences. I will never get tired of this film.
2. 1973 – The Sting
Words fail me. Great movie. Like a big box of candy corn or something. Every. Stinking. Moment. Works. I love it. It also has such a zest, such a joy to it … the sheer joy of film-making. It’s infectious. Fun acting, great music, terrific plot – where everyone gets stung, including the audience … My parents let us stay up late to see this film when we were kids. They never let us stay up late, but for The Sting they made an exception.
3. 1984 – Amadeus
If there is such a thing as a perfect movie, that one has got to be on the list. Every scene, the way the score is integrated – Mozart’s music is not used as a set piece, or as background. It appears to be happening INSIDE HIS HEAD. It is the actors who are able to show us the flaws, the darkness, the capacity for cruelty, the struggle – who really move me, who really insinuate themselves into my consciousness. They’re the ones who can actually teach me things, who can reveal me to myself. That’s the power of this particular art-form. It can illuminate the dark corners of our own souls. It can bring about a necessary catharisis – pity, terror – it can help us things we may have been avoiding, things within us that need to be resolved – things we may not even be aware of ourselves. Nobody embodies that better than F. Murray Abraham as Salieri. He reveals a truth which is unpleasant, something most of us don’t want to hear. We all want to relate to MOZART, not to Salieri. We resist him. And yet … in that last moment … we see that he is our patron saint. And it’s really that truth, that truth within all of us, that makes us most human. It’s painful. It really is. And yet also – within it – is beauty. Redemption.
4. 1954 – On the Waterfront
Even just saying the name of this movie gives me the chills. I watch it now, and am still amazed at its relevance and at the power and timelessness of the acting.
5. 1993 – Schindler’s List
Not a movie I want to watch a million times, too painful – but I believe it is a work of art. Even down to the faces of the extras. They don’t look like “extras”. They look like they come from that world. The scenes between Ben Kingsley and Liam Neeson take my breath away. Ben Kingsley, with one single tear rolling down his face, but his features not moving: “I think I’d better have that drink now.” One of the most moving acting moments ever captured on film. I have tears in my eyes just writing about it.
6. 1934 – It Happened One Night
Clark Gable. Claudette Colbert. If you want to see what my friend Mitchell would call ‘sheer liquid joy’ – rent this movie. I laugh out loud every time I see it. Clark Gable took off his shirt, revealing a white T-shirt, and caused a brou-haha hard to imagine now. But it was sheer sex, or the possibility of sheer sex, right up there on the screen. Beautiful film. Laughoutloud funny.
7. 1950 – All About Eve
Second only to Sunset Boulevard: this is the best movie about the movies ever made. Bette Davis is fearless in her portrayal of an actress growing older, losing her power. Fearless. It’s still thrilling to watch. The dialogue bites, crackles, fizzes … and yet it never loses that deep sense of reality.
8. 1978 – The Deer Hunter
This movie is like a raw nerve. I’ve only seen it once. Once is enough. And yet I remember some of the scenes almost moment to moment to moment. It’s that powerful.
9. 1974 – The Godfather Part II
Masterful performance by Robert DeNiro doing what must have seemed like a nearly impossible job. Play Vito Corleone as a young man – play the whole thing in Italian … Amazing.
10. 1980 – Ordinary People
Robert Redford would watch Mary Tyler Moore walking alone on the beach in Malibu (they were neighbors) and he would wonder to himself, “There’s got to be a dark side there. I wonder what her dark side is.” Eventually, when Ordinary People came along, he got to let her utilize it, and show us her darkness within. And boy did she ever. A woman with ice in her veins. There are such women. I have met them. (The “Break it up” lady comes to mind) But very rarely are actresses capable of playing such women… it’s too frightening. Actors, after all, want to be liked. Mary Tyler Moore gave that all up in this film. Hers is one of the greatest performances given by an actress ever.
Like you, if I’d been allowed to select from ALL movies rather than just the best, my list would have been different. For instance, two of the most ballyhooed films of all time, Citizen Kane and The Third Man, are not even on the list. Still, it was fair enough and I’m anxious to see the results.
You’re absolutely right about The Deer Hunter. Great movie but once is enough. In fact, it might have been too much. Overwhelming is not an exaggeration.
Well, it’s rare that any movie that I consider to be the “best film” is voted “best picture”. It’s all subjective, sure, but for example – I thought “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” was the best film of that year. No way would it ever be voted Best Picture.
And Deer Hunter:
the image of Robert DeNiro saying across the table to Chris Walken, “You can do it… you can do it …” … with such anger, and pain, and love – It’s just burned into my head and yet it was almost unbearable to watch.
About Deer Hunter: De Niro fearlessly placed that revolver to his head in the prison camp and pulled the trigger. In the gambling house, he was scared to death to do it. I didn’t understand the difference until much later. He had nothing to lose in that camp, everything to lose in the gambling house. Perfectly executed.
I LOVE this list, Sheila! LOVE it!
I couldn’t put Deer Hunter on mine cuz I ran out of space, but that film still haunts me. I remember seeing it for the first time, and being truly terrified. Almost in a horror film sort of way. I was shaking and getting very upset.
Not enough can be said about Walken’s weird, archetypical portrayal in that film. It’s Greek like to me. It’s so fantastically nuanced, and wholly scary.
I’ve never forgotten that movie. Not ever.
I too enjoy Amadeus – and I even met Tom Hulce once and complimented him on his performance – but keep in mind that as history it is entirely a work of fiction. There is hardly a lick of truth to the entire story. But the music… ah, the music. Divine.
I’ve never been able to sit through an entire viewing of Schindler’s List. The first time I tried, I got to the point where they’re hiding their children in the sewer and had to turn it off. I’ve seen the whole movie, but only in bits and pieces, here and there.
I seriously think sitting through the entire thing would send me over the edge. It’s that disturbing to me.
Hucbald:
I thought it was a documentary, actually.
:)
Lisa – I hear you. It is wrenching. That sewer scene is particularly awful. One of the little kids saying to the one trying to jump in with them: “This is OUR place, you can’t stay here.”
OUR place is in the sewer.
Oh. The madness of it. It’s unthinkable.
When people start talking about The Deer Hunter, better turn on an egg timer and tell me when to shut-up!
Really, Red, watch it again — you’ll be amazed even more, perhaps a little less shocked by the story and be able to appreciate the acting even more.
Apparently the first cut was quite a bit shorter without the whole saga of the wedding at the beginning, but it didn’t resonate with the audience that strongly, so it was re-cut.
When DeNiro is holidng up the bullet, and shouting “This is this! This ain’t something else! This is this!” What a scene — it leaves me breathless. It drives home the point that people ‘back home’ have no idea what people ‘over there’ went through. And it also says a lot about valuing life.
One thing I love about the movie is the ending. If you were to describe that friends were sitting around after a funeral and just spontaneously burst into ‘God Bless America’ it would sound so hoaky — but in the movie it totally works.
Okay, I can see by the egg timer – I’m done.
(but if anyone wants to turn it over… I could opine about the people of backwoods Pennsylvania…)
Dave – the whole wedding beginning is so crucial, if you think about it … It’s meandering, you just are suddenly launched into their world – the film lets you get to know them slowly … it’s really amazing. Movies like that aren’t made anymore. Michael Cimino really flamed out … which is a shame – but maybe some people only have one great movie in them.
The actors – just some of my favorites from the 70s – John Cazale, John Savage – what a painful performance – and of course DeNiro and Walken. Unforgettable stuff. And yes – the ending is searingly powerful. Unforgettable.
I just love how the whole thing is filmed, too. With as little artifice as possible. It feels REAL. So few film directors do that anymore … but in the 70s, you get the sense watching movies that things are HAPPENING. Very little soundtrack – actually, I don’t think Deer Hunter has ANY soundtrack – at least not incidental music. Which … EVERY movie has a “soundtrack” now that comes out before the movie does, and it’s a big deal … and yadda yadda … but then you watch stuff like 5 Easy Pieces, or Shampoo, or these great films from the 70s and there’s very little music in them. It’s amazing … it’s like real life. Also – if there’s an uncomfortable moment, or a raw moment … the director just lets it BE raw. He doesn’t smooth over it with music, or try to tell you how to feel …
Deer Hunter IS the experience. There’s very little between the audience and the experience. It’s amazing.
Okay. Turning off MY egg timer now.
“dave’, I saw that cut.
I went to a screening where Cimino would be be interviewed beforehand. He was great in a “this style worked in ’78 and I’m sticking with it” kinda way, and everybody kissed his butt and had a good time. Then they showed the movie.
A full house watched the opening credits, and the furnace, and the guys getting off work…everything we knew by heart. Then something was wrong, then something else was wrong. Then…most of the wedding didn’t happen. No Vietnam vet scene. No nude run through the streets, and it got worse from there.
People started yelling. They stopped the film when the first projectile hit the screen. The presenter apologized and claimed he just put up what the archive gave him. We’d get our money back, etc. Anything to prevent a big movie nerd riot.
I had to go directly to my gf’s house with a rented copy to cleanse my soul of that atrocity.
I imagined Cimino in the audience, expecting to revel in the glory of his masterpiece, and instead watching the jinx on his career playing out yet again.
Scotter:
WOW!!!!
heres my picks…some of my faves never won..its hard to find 10 that i LOVE… Nashville.????.my #1 fave movie and director…
THE LIST:
1.All About Eve-“You’re too short for that gesture!”…brilliant script and Bette’s “dont eat the chocolate” scene…hooray
2.Annie Hall -still sooo funny and moving..liek The Way We Were..u still hope that they get together at the end…thats how much we buy into it! Also…so inventive..still being copied by virtually every “romantic comedy” since.
3.Midnight Cowboy-gleefully bleak..iconic acting and any movie with Sylvia Miles AND Brenda Vacarro gets my vote.
4. An American in Paris-perhaps its style over substance??? but the style IS the substance…gorgeous music, dance,color. Minnelli and Kelly…quite the pair.
5.Casablanca-the most quotable movie ever…it just works..the character actors alone are worth the ticket..never mind Bogie and Bergman…the definition of chemistry!
6.It Happened One Night-a movie that is 72 yrs old and is still funnier tah most of the crap that passes for comedy these days is surely one of the best of the best.
7.Ordinary People-cant explain it..saw it as young man…moved me profoundly..Donald Sutherland telling a random party-goer on the steps of a friends house that he thinks that his son is doing great is GREAT movie acting…he’s lying to the friend and to himself..but he needs to ..to get through…its maybe my favorite acting moment ever in a film.
8.From Here to Eternity-a great story told well..thats all I ask…and Deborah Kerr in anything.
9.The Apartment-that rarity..a smart movie about love..its funny and sooo sad at the same time…great last scene..two pros doing it right!
10.Driving Miss Daisy-..granted…a sentimental(perhaps overly) film..but it got me and it gets me every time i flick by it on TV…maybe its the old Jewish lady thing(i was raised by them)..or simply Jessica Tandy’s acting..but it kills me every time.
Mitchell
Red – I just loveloveLOVE your passion for movies! It makes me smile.
Ordinary People is one of my favorite movies! It’s subtlety is so… intense. You keep waiting for MTM to crack – she doesn’t. You keep waiting for Timothy Hutton to regress – he doesn’t.
I haven’t seen it in awhile, but I can hear it perfectly when he says, “You say ‘hang on! hang on!’ AND THEN YOU LET GO!” Hell, I’m getting misty just thinking about that.
JonF –
Hey you!! I love that you’re writing me from across the world … about Ordinary People! hahahaha Love the Internet!
I meant to mention too that Timothy Hutton’s perfromance in Ordinary People – was his DEBUT. His FIRST MOVIE! Like: what???? His career hasn’t really lived up to that first film but still: that debut has to be one of the most amazing debuts of all time. Amazing!!
Mitchell – I love your comments!!!
//a movie that is 72 yrs old and is still funnier tah most of the crap that passes for comedy these days is surely one of the best of the best.//
AbsoLUTEly.!!
thnks..sheil..i wish i was as articulate in word as u are! u are so specific..i love reading ur comments..arent i lucky to be ur friend!!!!