Matt vs. the Academy

The dust has truly settled on another Oscar season, so let me wrap it up by noting the decidedly average result of my predictions. I correctly picked only 16 of the 23 winners this year. Mind you, I did exceedingly well with the major categories, nailing Picture, Director, both Screenplays and three out of the four acting awards. Emma Stone pipped Lily Gladstone at the post, it seems, and that was my lone error in the top eight categories. As I write this, I'm again in Los Angeles. I'm about to finish off this current year of review, which ironically began in this very city two years ago when I saw Bugsy on the big screen. Indeed, no visit to LA is complete without at least one trip to one of the many revival cinemas here, so I have my sights set on a few potential Best Picture nominees that are screening. For now, though, we come to the final movie in the 1991 Best Picture race... The Prince of Tides Director : Barbra Streisand Screenplay : Pat Conroy & Becky Johns...

With the actors' and writers' strikes behind us, Oscar season is well and truly heating up. Always an exciting time of year, in large part due to the glut of Oscar-bait movies that are released. Other than the Barbenheimer duo, I've not seen many of the contenders so my watchlist is growing as rapidly as my anticipation for such titles as Killers of the Flower Moon, Maestro, May December, Napoleon, Past Lives, American Fiction, Poor Things, The Holdovers... So many movies, so little time. Meanwhile, next up in 1991's shortlist is the first animated film to gain a Best Picture nomination... Beauty and the Beast Director : Gary Trousdale, Kirk Wise Screenplay : Linda Woolverton Starring : Paige O'Hara, Robby Benson, Richard White, Jerry Orbach, David Ogden Stiers, Angela Lansbury, Bradley Pierce, Rex Everhart, Jesse Corti Academy Awards : 6 nominations 2 wins, for Best Original Score and Best Original Song In this classic fairy tale, a heartless prince (Benson)...

Oof, I'm yet again introducing a blog post by noting how embarrassingly long it has been since my last one. This time, it's just over a year (not including Oscar predictions). Hopefully, this slow pace won't remain for too much longer. Let's dive in to another of 1991's Best Picture nominees... JFK Director : Oliver Stone Screenplay : Oliver Stone & Zachary Sklar (based on the books "On the Trail of the Assassins" by Jim Garrison and "Crossfire: The Plot that Killed Kennedy" by Jim Marrs) Starring : Kevin Costner, Kevin Bacon, Tommy Lee Jones, Laurie Metcalf, Gary Oldman, Michael Rooker, Jay O. Sanders, Sissy Spacek, Joe Pesci Academy Awards : 8 nominations 2 wins, for Best Cinematography and Best Film Editing Shortly after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in November 1963, New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison (Costner) discovers that the alleged assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald (Oldman), had ties to his jurisdiction....

I seem to be on a roll with the big-screen viewings of the nominees in this current year of review. First, it was  Bugsy at the Los Feliz 3 in Los Angeles, and now, I've just taken in the eventual victor at the Randwick Ritz here in Sydney. I won't hold my breath waiting for the other three nominees to pop up on any local cinema's schedule, so this streak will likely end at two, but it was fun while it lasted. Continuing our look at the Best Picture nominees of 1991, here are my thoughts on... The Silence of the Lambs Director : Jonathan Demme Screenplay : Ted Tally (based on the novel by Thomas Harris) Starring : Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Scott Glenn, Ted Levine, Anthony Heald, Brooke Smith Academy Awards : 7 nominations 5 wins, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Hopkins) and Best Actress (Foster) FBI agent in training Clarice Starling (Foster) is entrusted with an interview of notorious psychiatrist turned serial killer Hannibal Lecter (Hopkin...

For the first time in over two years, I'm back in Los Angeles. In fact, only a few more days and I'll be heading home again to Sydney. But I haven't wasted the opportunity to catch a classic on the big screen. I ventured out to the historic Los Feliz 3 Theatre  to see another Best Picture nominee, presented in 35mm. While it was nice to experience the nostalgic graininess of a real film projector (as opposed to the flawless digital projectors currently in use almost everywhere), this particular print had clearly collected 30 years of dust, grit and hair, which was surely not what movie-goers in 1991 experienced. Nonetheless, watching old movies (it feels strange to me to call 1991 old, but I think that's undeniable now) on a big screen is still one of my favourite pastimes so I'm not complaining. So, let's begin our review of 1991's race for Best Picture by taking a look at... Bugsy Director : Barry Levinson Screenplay : James Toback Starring : Warren Bea...