OK, so I am posting this on Oscar nomination day in 2022 and it's got me super hyped to watch every film ever. It's partially why I came back to this project to finish this year. I just fell off and didn't feel motivated to watch movies. Played so many video games and binged like 3 years of TV shows. Just had so much else going on. I know my ideal timeline for this project was like maybe 5-10 years, but sometimes you get stuck. Life happens, or doesn't happen as is my case really. Just didn't feel like watching Zorba the Greek after a few tries. It's a good group of nominees and am finally excited to get this shit over with.
1964 Best Picture
My Fair Lady
When it comes to musicals, I always seems to start out heavily skeptical about if I'm going to like them or not. I think we have all sat through a musical we just absolutely hated or that was flatly boring with some uninspired songs. But for the most part, the musicals I have encountered in this project have been mostly entertaining with some catchy songs. This one is no different. There are a couple songs I really liked and as a whole, the musical works. It has a lot of things you could point to as issues, though. Audrey Hepburn has her singing dubbed over, Rex Harrison mostly talk sings and isn't that great vocally, though this style does work for me in this film and for the character. Julie Andrews originated the role of Eliza on stage and really wanted the film and so did Harrison, so there was that background going on. Of course, Andrews went on to win her Oscar for Mary Poppins and Hepburn was famously snubbed for even a nomination, though I feel a nomination was not earned here. And many feel that Harrison's Henry Higgins is plainly misogynistic, though again, I feel like he mostly just hates people and not women in general. Most of that doesn't matter to the story for me. Eliza has a horrible cockney accent that Higgins accepts through a bet to change her into a proper sounding British woman that can pass as believable in high society. Hepburn does a great job with that awful cockney accent and makes the transformation truly believable, even if she doesn't get to sing her own songs. There are quite a few well done scenes like the one at the horse race that looks wonderful. I liked the way some of those scenes had the extras all gather and stop at various times to start the scene, it was pretty clever. I was surprised with how lively the film was overall. I guess I was thinking that a story about proper, upper crust British folk may be a bit dour and boring, but it had some energy to it, thankfully. It's just under three hours but didn't feel too long. I do think the ending goes on a bit and could have been shortened, but otherwise the pace of the film is nice as we bounce from song to song. It's a pretty good musical, but we also have another musical in this category that feels a bit more progressive, while this is old school. It will be interesting to see if this holds up as a winner because I have a feeling it will not with the stiff competition of the other films below.
Becket
Boy do I really love historical period piece dramas! And that's not a sarcastic joke from me. This is a fantastic film and while the term period piece can evoke stuffy costume drama, this is far from that. This film is a story about King Henry the II and his right hand man and confidante, Thomas Becket. These are played by Peter O'Toole and Richard Burton, respectively. That's one hell of a combination of actors and the two have such easy, seamless chemistry. It's a story of love and friendship and focuses on devotion and what that really means. The two are great friends, though the king is still the king, and after Burton is made Archbishop of Canterbury in hopes this will keep the Church firmly in O'Toole's control, Burton takes the role seriously and contention and drama ensues. There is some great acting from both men as well as John Gielgud in this film. It's like a masterclass in acting. It's far from stuffy, too. It has a nice pace and the acting and relationships are the primary focus of the film and not the costumes and sets. Though those are all on point here and the film looks great overall. The music and cinematography are good, as well, but you are here for the acting showcase on display. The story is interesting and it won a Screenplay Oscar, though it also lost eleven other nominations which is tied for most all time. Not sure what else to say about this great film. It's simply a film where the acting takes precedence and really carries the film overall. The reason you watch is to see O'Toole and Burton act with and against each other and just soak up the awesome display of acting power on screen. Can't go wrong with that.
Dr. Strangelove
"You can't fight in here, this is the war room!" I think that line just about sums up what this film is all about. It's a great political satire from Stanley Kubrick and is simply an all time classic. It takes the not so absurd idea that an American airbase commander would launch a nuclear strike on Russia and we see the fallout from trying to stop it and understand it. The satire is biting and funny and you realize just how possible something like this scenario could happen in real life. So much so that the US had to overhaul their protocols to prevent something like this happening in real life. There is great acting throughout the film, most notably from Peter Sellers who plays three very different characters and knocks them all out of the park. Without Sellers, the film wouldn't be as poignant and great and it's crazy to me that he didn't win Best Actor. The black and white photography is great, Kubrick's direction is inspired, the story and all the other elements just coalesce into something that stands the test of time. This is one of those picks by the Academy that looks better and better as years go by. Yeah, other films in this group are beloved and respected, but this film has been held up as a classic and one of the best satire films ever that still remains relevant in today's world. This one is a quick and easy watch that will leave you laughing and also shaking your head that this could still be possible. An all-timer.
Mary Poppins
I sometimes forget that this is a Best Picture nominated film and that the Academy loved the hell out of it, too. This film actually was nominated for 13 Oscars, second most all time, of which it won 5 of them. Really everyone reading this should have seen the film already and knows all about it and it's cultural impact. Not really anything deep I can add to the critique of the film that hasn't been said a million times before by millions of other folks. The film is colorful, charming, inventive, and entertaining. It's easy to see why it was so liked back then and still so well beloved now. The mix of animation and real live acting had to have been really mind blowing back then. I really do love how a lot of the scenes are full of color and spectacle and how the special effects, for which it won an Oscar, are so seamlessly integrated and still look good today. There are some places where it looks obvious, but it doesn't take me out of the film at all. Now it's just charming and yet there are still some crazy effects, especially all the flying around people do. Julie Andrews is obviously a big reason the film works and her performance is iconic and warmly comforting in a way. My complaints would be Dick Van Dyke's cockney accent, though some probably find it funny and charming in its own right. And I feel the movie is too long and drags a lot at the end. The pacing was off to me and felt like it should have been tighter. I was not a fan of the banking scenes, either, which were really boring and lacked the actual Mary Poppins. But this is a classic for a reason and holds up well as a musical with some very catchy songs. I may forget that it's been nominated in this category, but it makes sense with how well made it is and how well loved it is.
Zorba the Greek
It took me a long while to finally watch this film. I tried a couple times and just couldn't get past about twenty minutes. Not because it's bad or anything, but the film never really grabbed me in a strong way. I know it's somewhat beloved by folks and typically I had heard good things about the performances and film as a whole. But this one just didn't seem to connect with me. To start off, it does look great and won Oscar for the Cinematography and Art Direction (both black and white). The film itself feels familiar, as if I have already seen it before and perhaps I have in a roundabout way with how influential this was with its foreign slice of life story. I really enjoyed Alan Bates and this project has not only introduced me to him, but made me a fan of his work. It's solid sort of stuffy British fish out of water type of stuff, but I enjoyed his role. I recognize that Anthony Quinn is well liked and a good actor, but he's a bit over the top here and I guess that is how he plays a Greek man who has a big zest for life. I know Quinn has played all different kinds of foreign characters and he is believable as a Greek man. A lot of his work just seems to be his natural charm and likability as an actor which benefits him well here. The story at times is slow and can seem a bit vignette-y, where this clearly comes from a book. I'm also sure the book does a better job of reeling you in and is probably more exciting to read than it is to watch this film, for me anyway. Again, not a bad film at all, but it bounces from one idea to the next without really developing any of them in any meaningful way. When the Widow is killed, we quickly move on from being shocked and saddened by it. It's really weird how it just flits on to the next little blurb of a story like we just moved on to a new episode. Sometimes a film just fails to connect in a way that others seem to love about the film. Zorba was an interesting watch but certainly not a favorite especially with this nominee group. Worth watching because it is part of film history and always gets some love by others who talk about, so see for yourself how you feel about it.
I liked this group of nominees and it's a very entertaining group. Honestly, besides Zorba the Greek, it could maybe be a toss up. I enjoyed Zorba for what it is but just have so many issues with the story and the characters. Mary Poppins is a classic, but also has its issues. Lovable but it has its flaws. My Fair Lady is actually a respectable winner, but just not my winner. Like the performances and songs, just not the overall thing. Becket is flipping awesome. Love costume dramas, but this is like a bro costume drama. Just a great story with phenomenal acting and if not for an all time classic war satire film, it would be an easy winner. Dr. Strangelove is the winner for me. It's sooooo good and just funny and absurd and iconic and just a million other adjectives. Peter Sellers is ridiculous and should have won and the world leaders should watch this film together every year. Why are we hurtling towards WWIII with Ukraine and Russia right now when this is still so relevant? Crazy, but that's why it wins, an all-timer.
Oscar Winner: My Fair Lady
My Winner: Dr. Strangelove
Becket
My Fair Lady
Mary Poppins
Zorba the Greek
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