{"id":4749,"date":"2006-04-19T08:32:26","date_gmt":"2006-04-19T12:32:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=4749"},"modified":"2006-04-19T08:32:26","modified_gmt":"2006-04-19T12:32:26","slug":"comments-on-my-best-picture-choices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=4749","title":{"rendered":"Comments on my Best Picture choices"},"content":{"rendered":"

So Edward<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n

Here are mine:<\/p>\n

1. 1943 – Casablanca<\/b>
\nOne 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.<\/p>\n

2. 1973 – The Sting<\/b>
\nWords 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<\/i> they made an exception.<\/p>\n

3. 1984 – Amadeus<\/b>
\nIf 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.<\/p>\n

4. 1954 – On the Waterfront<\/b>
\nEven 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.<\/p>\n

5. 1993 – Schindler’s List<\/b>
\nNot 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.<\/p>\n

6. 1934 – It Happened One Night<\/b>
\nClark 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.<\/p>\n

7. 1950 – All About Eve<\/b>
\nSecond 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.<\/p>\n

8. 1978 – The Deer Hunter<\/b>
\nThis 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.<\/p>\n

9. 1974 – The Godfather Part II<\/b>
\nMasterful 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.<\/p>\n

10. 1980 – Ordinary People<\/b>
\nRobert 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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a> Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4749"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4749"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4749\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20481,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4749\/revisions\/20481"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4749"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4749"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4749"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}