Matt vs. the Academy

The last year of review took me about three and a half months. I've knocked off about a month this time around, so hopefully that's a sign that things will move at a swifter pace from here on in... But don't quote me on that. The nominees for Best Picture of 1959 are: Anatomy of a Murder Ben-Hur The Diary of Anne Frank The Nun's Story Room at the Top Five nominees with vastly disparate subject matters, united by their intensity and thought-provoking themes. Despite this excess of gripping drama, it was the epic that presented itself as the clear front-runner, no doubt due to its legacy. Perhaps not coincidentally, the other four films all offer conclusions that could in some sense be described as unsatisfying - not because of any error in the filmmaking, but rather that they're simply just downers of varying degrees. Each of the lead characters essentially fails to achieve what they really want, or if they do, they then realise it wasn't actua...

On Sunday night, my short film, Clicked , had its screening in competition at the Hoboken International Film Festival , although technically, the cinema at which it screened was actually located in Hoboken-adjacent Jersey City. As could be expected late on a Sunday evening in Jersey City, the turnout was not spectacular, a circumstance accentuated by the large auditorium. Nevertheless, the few movie-goers in attendance seemed to enjoy themselves and, post screening, I was even able to speak to one such attendee, who was modestly complimentary of the film, so I'll take it. A light rail and four trains later, Kat and I made it back to Astoria, stopping in for an early breakfast at our favorite local haunt, Sanford's . Nothing quite like an egg, bacon and cheese sandwich at two in the morning. Now we turn to the final nominee from the race to the 1959 Best Picture Oscar... Anatomy of a Murder Director : Otto Preminger Screenplay : Wendell Mayes (based on the play by ...