Matt vs. the Academy

I can't seem to find an explanation as to why the Academy decided to increase the nominee count to 12 for the 1934 Best Picture category. It's an odd number (well, it's an even number, but you know what I mean), and not at all warranted when you look at the list of films that received those nominations. There are certainly a small handful that could easily have been left off the list and nobody would have complained. The nominees for Best Picture of 1934 are: The Barretts of Wimpole Street Cleopatra Flirtation Walk The Gay Divorcee Here Comes the Navy The House of Rothschild Imitation of Life It Happened One Night One Night of Love The Thin Man Viva Villa! The White Parade In a time before the Academy shied away from romantic comedies, the genre was well represented among this dozen. For that matter, so were romance films in general. In fact, every nominee features some sort of love story, whether it be the main focus or a supporting character...

Milestone time! The following review represents the 200th film I have screened for this project. It's sobering to think the 100th film ( Pulp Fiction ) was reviewed just a touch over one year after the project's commencement, yet the subsequent 100 films took over three times as long to get through. But who's quibbling? And now we close off 1934's record-setting 12-way Best Picture race with... The House of Rothschild Director : Alfred L. Werker Screenplay : Nunnally Johnson (based on the play by George Hembert Westley) Starring : George Arliss, Boris Karloff, Loretta Young, Robert Young, C. Aubrey Smith Academy Awards : 1 nomination 0 wins As an old Jewish money changer in 18th century Prussia, Mayer Rothschild (Arliss) is forced to deal with many injustices from the government. After being gouged by the tax collector, his dying request to his five sons is to head up a bank in each of the major cities across Europe. Thirty years later, Nathan (also A...

Every now and then during this project, particularly while reviewing years prior to 1940, there is a movie that proves a tad elusive to get my hands on. I've visited the UCLA Film Archive twice (once for this current year of review, as it happens) to view three separate films and have had to find some "creative" ways (*cough* YouTube *cough*) to view others. When I began the current year of review (five months ago, shamefully), this next film had been given no home video release. It was also nowhere to be seen via my usual illicit channels, so I simply threw caution to the wind and hoped that TCM would schedule it soon. As luck would have it, they have indeed scheduled it ... for July. As more luck would have it, the Warner Archive Collection added the film to its list of distributed titles just a couple of months ago, making it available to order . Serendipitous, indeed. Considering I only have two films left in this current year of review, it seemed silly to wait an...

As I mentioned in the last post, I'm now officially a published author. Well, an e-published author. A handful of reviews from Matt vs. the Academy have made their way into the Take2 Guide to Steven Spielberg . And now, the good people at Take2 Publishing are offering a discount to Matt vs. the Academy readers. So, if you want to read what dozens of bloggers and reviewers have to say about Spielberg movies, you can now get 20% off the regular price by  visiting this link and applying the discount code mva2020 during checkout. Enjoy! Let's take a look now at another contender for 1934's Best Picture prize... The Gay Divorcee Director : Mark Sandrich Screenplay : George Marion Jr., Dorothy Yost and Edward Kaufman (based on the Broadway musical "Gay Divorce" by Dwight Taylor, Kenneth Webb and Samuel Hoffenstein) Starring : Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Alice Brady, Edward Everett Horton, Erik Rhodes, Eric Blore Academy Awards : 5 nominations 1 win,...

Last year, I was approached by Take2 Publishing  for permission to use several of my blog posts in their Guide to Steven Spielberg . The e-book is now on the e-shelves and four of my Spielberg reviews made their way into the guide. If I'm calculating my royalty percentage correctly, I believe I will receive the enormous sum of 1.4 cents for every copy sold. Who said blogging doesn't pay? They also made a fun video  with some of the contributors wearing iconic hats of Spielberg characters. I think I'm Indiana Jones? We now continue reviewing the behemoth that is the 1934 Best Picture competition with... Flirtation Walk Director : Frank Borzage Screenplay : Delmer Daves & Lou Edelman Starring : Dick Powell, Ruby Keeler, Pat O'Brien, Ross Alexander, John Arledge, John Eldredge, Henry O'Neill, Guinn Williams Academy Awards : 2 nominations 0 wins Stationed in Hawaii, enlisted army man Dick Dorcy (Powell) is assigned to chauffeur the general's da...

I recently ventured into the realm of viral videos (sort of) by creating a montage of movie characters screaming, "I'm walking here!" in homage to Dustin Hoffman's famous delivery in Midnight Cowboy. I don't really know why I took the time to make this, but if you're a film buff and you want a brief smile, check out the video here  and then share away. The next film up for discussion is 1934's eventual Best Picture winner... It Happened One Night Director : Frank Capra Screenplay : Robert Riskin (based on the short story by Samuel Hopkins Adams) Starring : Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert, Walter Connolly, Roscoe Karns Academy Awards : 5 nominations 5 wins, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Gable) and Best Actress (Colbert) Ellie Andrews (Colbert) is the spoiled daughter of a wealthy businessman (Connolly), held against her will on a boat off the coast of Miami while her father attempts to annul her recent elopeme...

Not content to demand constant attention at home, my six-week-old son, Charlie, has now taken it upon himself to upstage my acting career. Well, technically, his mother and I took it upon him, since his decision-making capabilities are still rather limited. Nonetheless, Charlie has now trumped my two-decade career by sharing the screen with Julianne Moore and Alec Baldwin in a scene for the upcoming Still Alice . He plays (if you can call it that) their grandson, coincidentally also named Charlie. While you may not actually see his face through all the blankets, you can be guaranteed that the baby in Kate Bosworth's arms is indeed our little man. Moving on now to another 1934 Best Picture contender... The Barretts of Wimpole Street Director : Sidney Franklin Screenplay : Ernest Vajda, Claudine West, Donald Ogden Stewart (based on the play by Rudolf Besier) Starring : Norma Shearer, Fredric March, Charles Laughton, Maureen O'Sullivan, Katharine Alexander Academy A...

It turns out that being up all night to look after a newborn baby creates the perfect opportunity for some movie-watching. I don't want to speak too soon, but there's a good chance I'll storm through the rest of this review year. Which is a good thing, considering I almost took a step backwards this past 12 months. Between last year's Oscars ceremony and the one just gone, I only reviewed a total of 11 films for this project, while the Academy added another 9 to my list. So, unless I plan on living another 150 years or so, I better get a wriggle on. So, here's a look at another contender from the Best Picture race of 1934... Cleopatra Director : Cecil B. DeMille Screenplay : Waldemar Young and Vincent Lawrence (based on an adaptation of historical material by Bartlett Cormack) Starring : Claudette Colbert, Warren William, Henry Wilcoxon, Joseph Schildkraut, Ian Keith, Gertrude Michael, C. Aubrey Smith Academy Awards : 5 nominations 1 win, for Best C...

So, parenthood. Who would have thought it would be so exhausting? But after you've spent an infuriating hour trying to get the little man to sleep, he flashes a smile and it all seems worth it. Of course, the smile is undoubtedly not actually a smile, and probably just an involuntary facial reaction to a satisfying bowel movement, but hey. Evolution sure knew what it was doing making babies cute. Anyway, the Oscars are well and truly over now, but it would be remiss of me not to mention them briefly. I predicted 20 correct winners, my greatest result ever. Which is not actually that impressive considering this year's awards ceremony provided no real surprises. Just about every favourite won. A couple of quick (Down Under-themed) statistics: With her Best Actress win for Blue Jasmine, Cate Blanchett became the first Australian to win a second acting award after her Supporting Actress victory in 2004's The Aviator. And designer Catherine Martin is now the most decorated A...

The Oscar nominations are in, and my predictions achieved a success rate just above my average but far better than the previous couple of years, so I'll take it. No huge out-of-the-blue surprises in the major categories. Perhaps Jonah Hill's Supporting Actor nod for The Wolf of Wall Street took some off guard, although it wasn't entirely unexpected. It's also interesting to see Hong Kong's The Grandmaster receive two artistic nominations (Cinematography and Costume Design) yet miss out on a citation for Best Foreign Language Film, despite being shortlisted in that category. And some interesting choices in the Makeup & Hairstyling category. Who would have thought we would ever hear the phrase, "the Oscar-nominated Bad Grandpa"? Another fascinating statistic is that this marks the second year in a row that a David O. Russell film has received four acting nominations, one for each category. Last year, Silver Linings Playbook supplied nominations for lea...

Happy New Year, everyone! Things are definitely getting exciting in this year's Oscar race. I've managed to catch a few more contenders (although I still have plenty  left to see), all potential Best Picture nominees: American Hustle is a fun romp and should see itself mentioned several times when the nominations are announced this coming Thursday morning. Along with a likely Best Director nomination, David O. Russell will probably garner nods for a few of his actors, Christian Bale and Jennifer Lawrence, particularly, both of whom have Oscars on their mantles from previous Russell films. August: Osage County is another ensemble acting feast. Meryl Streep seems assured of yet another nomination, and Julia Roberts could receive her first nomination since her Erin Brockovich win well over a decade ago. 12 Years a Slave is to slavery what Schindler's List is to the Holocaust, and knowing the Academy's penchant for epic tragedies of this nature, I expect many nominati...

Awards season is heating up, which means I have a lot of movies to catch up on. I've only seen two of the major contenders so far - Gravity and Blue Jasmine. The former seems certain, at this stage, to garner multiple Oscar nominations, if only for the mere fact that it covers all its bases. It has the potential to be cited in both the creative and technical categories, along with Best Picture and perhaps even a Best Actress nod for Sandra Bullock. Perennial screenplay nominee Woody Allen may add another notch to that belt with Blue Jasmine. In addition, the film may give Cate Blanchett her second Oscar. At the very least, a nomination is almost certain. While the 2013 contenders shuffle for position, we continue our look at the 1934 Best Picture nominees... Imitation of Life Director : John M. Stahl Screenplay : William Hurlbut (based on the novel by Fannie Hurst) Starring : Claudette Colbert, Warren William, Rochelle Hudson, Ned Sparks, Louise Beavers, Fredi Washing...

Finally back in New York now, just in time for the snow. Sure, it's pretty, but after spending a few weeks in Australia and then Southern California, I'll take warmth over pretty any day. While in Los Angeles, I got the chance to visit the UCLA Film Archive again. Almost three years after my first visit there to watch Skippy and East Lynne , I went back to view another title exclusively held on this campus. Hence, the first nominee to be reviewed in the behemoth Best Picture contest of 1934 is... The White Parade Director : Irving Cummings Screenplay : Rian James, Jesse L. Lasky, Sonya Levien, Ernest Pascal (based on the novel by Rian James) Starring : Loretta Young, John Boles, Dorothy Wilson, Muriel Kirkland, Astrid Allwyn, Frank Conroy, Jane Darwell, Sara Haden Academy Awards : 2 nominations 0 wins The copy of The White Parade that is available for general viewing at the UCLA Film Archive, while in DVD format, is not exactly in pristine condition. The D...