Matt vs. the Academy

Once again, I am confronted with five very worthy contenders for the Best Picture crown. As is the case with most of the awards years of this decade, the films on 1975's shortlist could each plausibly have been my pick in some other year. Despite this abundance of cinematic excellence, I had little trouble selecting my favourite. The nominees for Best Picture of 1975 are: Barry Lyndon Dog Day Afternoon Jaws Nashville One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest Five classics of 1970s film-making from five accomplished directors whose films feature heavily in this project. With the exception of perhaps Barry Lyndon, the only period piece in the mix, all these films achieve their engaging mood mostly through realistically conversational dialogue. Characters talk over each other and there is a general feeling of chaos. Understandable when you consider some of the circumstances - a bank robbery, a mental institution, a shark-induced panic. In any case, each of these films are certainly compelli...

A colleague at work asked me the other day whether my wife was a nerd. My initial response was to suggest that she is as much of a nerd as I am. That is to say, only slightly. I then proceeded to list some of the slightly nerdy things we do together, concluding with the fact that we are currently in the midst of completing Lego Star Wars on the Wii. I paused to comprehend what I had just said. Lego. Star Wars. Wii. Yes. My wife is a nerd. As am I. Today, I concluded the review of the Best Picture nominees from 1975 with my watching of... One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest Director : Milos Forman Screenplay : Lawrence Hauben & Bo Goldman (based on the novel by Ken Kesey) Starring : Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher, William Redfield, Brad Dourif, Sydney Lassick, Will Sampson, Danny DeVito, Christopher Lloyd, Dean R. Brooks Academy Awards : 9 nominations 5 wins, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Nicholson) & Best Actress (Fletcher) Transferred from prison to a m...

Have you ever eaten waffle fries? If not, find some now and eat them. They're just like regular fries, only shaped to look kind of like waffles. I'm not entirely sure how that happens. I assume it's some kind of latticed pressing implement. But whatever the method, it takes regular slices of potato and turns them into crispy waffles of deliciousness. My local diner makes them and, if it weren't so detrimental to my arteries, I could live off them. Today, I viewed another Kubrick entry into the Best Picture nominated family, this one from 1975... Barry Lyndon Director : Stanley Kubrick Screenplay : Stanley Kubrick (based on the novel by William Makepeace Thackeray) Starring : Ryan O'Neail, Marisa Berenson, Patrick Magee, Hardy Kruger, Leon Vitali Academy Awards : 7 nominations 4 wins, including Best Cinematography Redmond Barry (O'Neal) is an 18th century Irishman with a crush on his own cousin who, despite her initial reciprocation, shuns him for a well-to-do En...

Once again, I have been waylaid from my duties here at Matt vs. the Academy. And once again, it is due to an exciting work opportunity. This week, I spent time in Peekskill, New York, on the set of Mildred Pierce, an upcoming HBO mini-series, based on the novel by James M. Cain. Coincidentally, this production is linked to this blog for two reasons. First, it is based on the same source material as the 1945 Best Picture-nominated Joan Crawford film of the same name, which will be reviewed right here in due course. Second, it stars Kate Winslet, who appears in a number of films on the Best Picture honour roll. The character I played had the not-at-all demeaning moniker Starched Collar Man #2, which perhaps gives you an indication of his importance to the plot. Nonetheless, the entire experience was incredibly exciting, if for no other reason than I rubbed shoulders (and will share the screen) with Ms. Winslet. Although I did not have the chance to chat to her at length, I did have short...

The poll for the next year of review is now up, so have your say - it's over there on the right. Kat and I had the chance to get out of the city last weekend with my parents, who are here visiting for a couple of weeks. We didn't go too far, though - only about an hour north of New York City to the town of Sleepy Hollow, named after the Washington Irving story. In fact, the town was known as North Tarrytown until 1996 when they decided to change the name to honour its most famous resident. We visited Irving's home as well as his grave in the ominously named Sleepy Hollow Cemetery. Although I've seen the Johnny Depp movie, I've never actually read The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and upon visiting the author's home, I am reminded of how little classic fiction I have read. Well, at least my complaint about not having seen enough classic cinema is being remedied. Perhaps when I finish this project, I can move on to Matt vs. the Pulitzer ... or not. Last night, I was exc...

Apologies for the short delay in starting the next year of review. The IRS (that's the American equivalent of the ATO, for my Aussie readers) was in need of my money, and for some reason, this country has the most unnecessarily complicated tax system in the world. Thus, it took a short time to figure it out. I have also been hard at work performing in a pilot for an upcoming dramatic web series, named Pioneer One, which is shooting this week. It's a very innovative and suspenseful story with the makings of a cult sensation (if I do say so myself). I'm quite chuffed (that's the Australian equivalent of proud, for my American readers) to be involved. Check out the hype at the official website . You may notice there is no poll to decide the next year to review. Fear not, I will add it soon. Just ran out of time today. I did, however, find a small window of time today to begin the review of 1975's Best Picture nominees, starting with... Nashville Director : Robert Altma...