Matt vs. the Academy

It's Thanksgiving week here in the United States. That generally means people are flying home to be with their families. Kat and I will be doing that next month instead when we fly to Australia, so for this holiday, we've chosen Miami as our destination. And I'm sure we'll be giving thanks for the warm weather down there. Happy Thanksgiving to all my U.S. readers! Yesterday, I viewed the next in 1986's lineup of Best Picture nominees... Children of a Lesser God Director : Randa Haines Screenplay : Hesper Anderson and Mark Redoff (based on the play by Redoff) Starring : William Hurt, Marlee Matlin, Piper Laurie, Philip Bosco Academy Awards : 5 nominations 1 win, for Best Actress (Matlin) James Leeds (Hurt) is the new speech teacher at a New England school for deaf children. While his unorthodox methods raise some eyebrows, he is very successful and much loved by his students. As he teaches them to speak (and even sing!), he finds himself smitten with the school's...

As promised, the poll for the next year of review is now running (in the right sidebar). You may notice that the list of years available in the poll does not include films from the 1930s as I mentioned in my last post. Here's my excuse... Kat and I will be heading home to Sydney over the Christmas/New Year period and then, on the way back to New York, I'll be stopping in L.A. for about a week. This seems like the perfect opportunity to check in at the UCLA Film Archive for a viewing of one or two of those hard-to-find Best Picture nominees. Since all those rarities are from the 1930s, I figured it best to spend time with another decade for now and leave the 1930s for January. Meanwhile, we continue with 1986's contest by taking a look at the following Best Picture nominee... The Mission Director : Roland Joffé Screenplay : Robert Bolt Starring : Robert De Niro, Jeremy Irons, Ray McAnally, Aidan Quinn, Cherie Lunghi, Ronald Pickup, Chuck Low, Liam Neeson Academy Awards : 7 ...

We launch into another year of review, which is normally the time I put up the poll to decide the next year of review after that. I'd like to offer you some options from the 1930s again, but before I do that, I need to figure out which films are more easily available to me from that decade. Hence, I may need another few days of research. Stay tuned... On another note, many of you may be aware of my previous website creation years ago - a weekly film quiz. Perhaps if I ever manage to complete this current project, I'll return to that concept, but in the meantime, I couldn't help myself. I created a couple of quizzes on Sporcle ( Verbose Movie Titles and Verbose Movie Titles 2 ) for a bit of fun. Enjoy! Yesterday, I began my look at the Best Picture contenders of 1986 by revisiting... Hannah and Her Sisters Director : Woody Allen Screenplay : Woody Allen Starring : Woody Allen, Michael Caine, Mia Farrow, Carrie Fisher, Barbara Hershey, Lloyd Nolan, Maureen O'Sullivan, Da...

The trend of incredible (and lengthy) films continues. I found all five contenders in 1962's competition to be thoroughly engaging. Yet another hallmark year for this project. The nominees for Best Picture of 1962 are: Lawrence of Arabia The Longest Day The Music Man Mutiny on the Bounty To Kill A Mockingbird My first move in this verdict is to split these fine films into two groups. In the bottom section is The Music Man, a spectacularly entertaining film, perhaps only disadvantaged by its lack of substance in comparison with the other four nominees, which all deal with very powerful material. Joining the musical, I have placed To Kill A Mockingbird. I know, I know. Most people love it. And I did, too. Just not as much as its competitors. The three films on the upper branch, coincidentally or not, happen to be the three longest nominees - each running at least three hours - and are also all based on true stories. First, we have Mutiny on the Bounty, an intense battle of minds comp...

I'm writing this in the few remaining hours of Daylight Savings in New York City. Tomorrow, the darkness creeps in an hour earlier. Subsequently, each day will see the sunset arrive sooner than the day before... Well, okay, that makes it sound far more foreboding than is necessary. Still, I'll be hotfooting it soon to the other side of the equator, where not only is the day getting longer, but warmer too. Kat and I have a visit home to Sydney planned for Christmas and New Year's. But more on that later... Yesterday, I viewed the last in the shortlist for 1962's Best Picture crown... Mutiny on the Bounty Director : Lewis Milestone Screenplay : Charles Lederer (based on the novel by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall) Starring : Marlon Brando, Trevor Howard, Richard Harris, Hugh Griffith, Richard Haydn, Tarita, Percy Herbert Academy Awards : 7 nominations 0 wins Based on a novel which was itself based on a true story, Mutiny on the Bounty is apparently not entirely ac...

Don't forget to vote for which year Matt vs. the Academy should tackle next. You can do so by selecting one of the options in the poll on the right. For my American readers, consider it a warm-up for the voting muscles you will be exercising on Tuesday... unless, like me, you are not a U.S. citizen and are therefore ineligible to vote ... in which case, just vote in my poll anyway. Today, in lieu of any Halloween festivities, I watched another contender in 1962's Best Picture race... The Music Man Director : Morton DaCosta Screenplay : Marion Hargrove (based on the Broadway musical by Meredith Willson) Starring : Robert Preston, Shirley Jones, Buddy Hackett, Paul Ford, Hermione Gingold, Pert Kelton, Ron Howard Academy Awards : 6 nominations 1 win, for Best Score (Adaptation) Popular on Broadway, Meredith Willson's The Music Man centres on a travelling salesman who calls himself Professor Harold Hill (Preston). Arriving in River City, Iowa, Hill attempts to con the townsfolk...