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Watched on Wednesday June 4, 2025.
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They should have let Alan Johnson direct more of Mel Brooks.
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There's a dozen reasons this is my favorite Mission Impossible, not the least of which is the office lady giving her nod of approval to Hunt as he prepares to jump out that window.
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Considering the level of wealth Lane and the Syndicate was already able to utilize when undercover, they definitely would have blown through that 2.4 billion pounds in like a year, right?
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I'm glad the franchise is starting to embrace Looney Tunes shenangians.
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You can tell by this is the JJ Abrams one because he leaves the classic second half Mission: Impossible heist as one of his mystery boxes.
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Felt more like an early 00s action flick than a Mission Impossible movie, and I don't mean that as a criticism.
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This review may contain spoilers.
Everyone re this movie for the “I coulda been a contender, I coulda been somebody”, so it’s incredibly fitting that Malone wins in the end not just from boxing Friendly, but by walking past him and inspiring the rest of the dockworkers to ignore Friendly, which is what really defeats him.
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This review may contain spoilers.
Now I'm curious what a Star Trek: Generations would have looked like if they had had Shatner be the turncloak villain to Picard.
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I wonder how much CGI money they saved by having the spaceship scenes take place at double speed.
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Watched on Friday May 23, 2025.
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Such a dumb movie; would be two stars higher if I had first watched this ten years ago.
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Watched on Thursday May 22, 2025.
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This review may contain spoilers.
Acting is fine, particularly from Kerr and Lancaster, but there's so much about the story and its execution that I do not like.
There's scant development that the bombing of Pearl Harbor offers for our characters, the corny foreshadowing for the bombing itself (leaning next to calendar), but what really baffles me the most is the framing of Prewitt's death as a tragedy.
A much better movie exists, albeit much shorter, if Prewitt was just not a part of the story at all.
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Can’t wait for Plainview to start a Food Network show documenting him going from town to town looking for the perfect milkshake.
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Too many storylines bloat this show and keep it from being the greatest on Earth, though at least each plot seems interesting enough on their own.
It definitely contains enough of a spectacle without reducing the acts into caricatures, and the third act is easily the best portion of the movie.
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I can see why my geography teacher went on a two-hour rant the day of the 50th anniversary of the JFK assassination.
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Wait, Steve Carell’s character was 15 years old in middle school?
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This review may contain spoilers.
Who puts a MRI machine in a hospice room less than ten feet from the vending machines?
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Really liked how you could see the notches forming on the swords during the final fight.
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It has grown on me a bit over time, and it is a fine enough musical, but this is one story that has too much missing. Kelly's propensity to have massive third-act interpretive dance numbers, while visually pleasing, do little to build on the previous hour and a half.
The musical numbers aren't as memorable, characters not played by Gene Kelly are one-dimensional entities with little to no resolution to their plots, and I'm fairly certain I'm not supposed to laugh at the ridiculousness that is Kelly's impression of an aeroplane.
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In Stanislav's defense, "To be or not to be" is an overrated soliloquy.
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This review may contain spoilers.
Amazing film delving into the nature of obsession, for Davis's Margo slowly unravelling at Eve's gaining popularity, while simultaneously Eve's subtle manipulation to get to the top and become the new Margo Channing. George Sanders is a delight as always, and Davis should have won an Oscar just from her mugging the camera in the opening scene.
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Broke: “That’s Mike Myers!”
Woke: “That’s Diane Kruger from National Treasure!”
Bespoke: “That’s 60s character actor Rod Taylor playing Churchill!”
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This review may contain spoilers.
Shelley Winters cannot catch a break.
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There are two morals All The King's Men has to offer. The first: power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. And it's not just the leader; even a fascist demagogue cannot exist in a vacuum but must be ed by those around them and those who them. But do we give into the allure of power or allow ourselves to become so jaded that we commit heinous acts?
The second is that Louisiana politicians have always been corrupt.
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Watched on Thursday May 8, 2025.
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Hepburn and Tracy are always a delight, but the message is too vague with both the political and romantic plots feeling like they’re taking a backseat.
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Just the right amount of Scarlett Johansson.
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Watched on Sunday May 4, 2025.
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There’s definitely a mapping between characters in Dr. Strangelove to the characters in Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
Turgidson is definitely Lancelot, but who would be Sir Robin?
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Easily my favorite Shakespeare adaptation by Olivier so far. Wonderfully adapted and Olivier doesn’t hold back in how vile yet neurotic he makes his Richard III.
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Could see this being a movie my sister would make me watch when I was five. Can't go wrong with Peter Sellers being an absolute disaster, though.
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This review may contain spoilers.
Beautifully shot and wonderfully acted from each of our players, it is a definitive improvement on Olivier's Henry V.
Main criticism has to be on the lack of Fortinbras and the Norway plot. While the focus on the psychology behind Hamlet and his plots against his uncle, the resulting cut political aspects lose a bit of the play's commentary on the destructive and narrowminded nature of revenge.
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It's difficult to judge a stage adaptation, particularly when it references extensive backstory from other, less adapted, plays. Between this, and the fact this was made as the English were fighting back against the Nazis, I can understand the desire to show a less harsh Henry V.
And the decision to have the opening wide shots show Elizabethian-era London, which then cuts to the first Act performed directly on stage at the Globe is great, and helps immerse the audience in how the play was originally performed.
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This review may contain spoilers.
While the film does an excellent job showing the quiet racism that so permeates society, its message gets bogged down in lack of retrospection regarding Schuyler’s own state after his performance is revealed. We have Schuyler capable of stopping his presentation as Jewish without any noticeably lasting repercussions after the fact. Kathy has to confront her own ive antisemitism, but we see a more muted reaction to Schuyler’s revelation from others who weren’t in on it for whom a visible reaction would have been more warranted.
Also, I do not think Peck had a to say all those slurs.
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This review may contain spoilers.
So was it ever addressed that someone built a bungalow right before the dinosaurs got whacked?
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Watched on Monday April 28, 2025.
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The family skinny dipping scene was kinda odd.
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Gotta love how you can tell when the screenwriter ran out of Humphrey Bogart noirs that the audience would reasonably and just threw in the other major noirs to bulk up the runtime.
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Drinking game idea for six friends: pick one of the Monty Python and take a shot every time they play a new character.
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This review may contain spoilers.
The raw emotion Harold Russel displays makes his Homer Parrish one of my favorite Oscar performances. Really enjoyed March and Loy, but I am not really a fan of Dana Andrews or his storyline here.
Still a wonderful war movie that does something unique for the time: look at what happens to the soldiers after they return home.
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Watched on Monday April 21, 2025.
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Nowhere near whimsical enough given the premise.
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Torn between my desire to also leave wacky hijinks as part of my will and the knowledge that I will not have this much money to leave to any unsuspecting relatives.
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Haven’t watched in 20 years, slowly ing all the scenes my sister and I would re-enact.
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Where does a man at rock bottom go? Ray Miland’s Don goes through a harrowing weekend bender, selling not just his meager possessions for a drop of alcohol, but his relationships and his soul.
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Schmaltz was selling this season, I'm afraid. I enjoy this movie, but the romantic subplot clashed horribly with Father O'Malley's story, and Junior ing the Air Force just seemed out of place.
Barry Fitzgerald is a delight as usual, and he gives what I consider an even stronger performance than Bing Crosby.
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Really glad Leslie Nielsen got his buddy (the fart machine he carries around to interviews) a cameo role.
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Watched on Tuesday April 15, 2025.
]]>Rewatching Best Picture winners and ranking them based on 2025 rewatch.
- Casablanca
- It Happened One Night
- All About Eve
- On the Waterfront
- Gone with the Wind
- All Quiet on the Western Front
- The Life of Emile Zola
- Mrs. Miniver
- The Lost Weekend
- Mutiny on the Bounty
...plus 19 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>American Film Institute's list of the top 100 funny movies in American cinema, unveiled by the AFI in 2000.
- Some Like It Hot
- Tootsie
- Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
- Annie Hall
- Duck Soup
- Blazing Saddles
- M*A*S*H
- It Happened One Night
- The Graduate
- Airplane!
...plus 90 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>All 98* films, as of March 2, 2025, to have won Best Picture at the Academy Awards.
*Includes winner for Best Unique and Artistic Picture at the 1st Academy Awards
- Wings
Won "Outstanding Picture" at the 1st Academy Awards, and is recognized on Best Picture Oscar lists.
- Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans
Won "Best Unique and Artistic Picture" at the 1st Academy Awards, and is generally not recognized on Best Picture Oscars lists.
- The Broadway Melody
- All Quiet on the Western Front
- Cimarron
- Grand Hotel
- Cavalcade
- It Happened One Night
- Mutiny on the Bounty
- The Great Ziegfeld
...plus 88 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>- 7th Heaven
Winner of the Academy Award for Best Dramatic Director and Best Adapted Screenplay.
- The Patriot
Winner of the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.
- In Old Arizona
- The Divorcee
- All Quiet on the Western Front
Winner of the Academy Award for Best Director.
- Cimarron
Winner of the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.
- Skippy
Winner of the Academy Award for Best Director.
- Bad Girl
Winner of the Academy Award for Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay.
- Lady for a Day
- Little Women
Winner of the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.
...plus 368 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>- 12 Years a Slave
- 127 Hours
- A Beautiful Mind
- A Better Life
- A Complete Unknown
- A Double Life
Winner of the Academy Award for Best Actor.
- A Free Soul
Winner of the Academy Award for Best Actor.
- A Hatful of Rain
- A Man for All Seasons
Winner of the Academy Award for Best Actor.
- A Place in the Sun
...plus 459 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>Movies that were nominated for both Best Picture and for either Best Adapted or Best Original Screenplay.
- 7th Heaven
Winner of the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.
- The Patriot
Winner of the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.
- In Old Arizona
- Disraeli
- The Divorcee
- All Quiet on the Western Front
Winner of the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Picture.
- The Big House
Winner of the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.
- Cimarron
Winner of the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Picture.
- Skippy
- Bad Girl
Winner of the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.
...plus 429 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>- 7th Heaven
Winner of the Academy Award for Best Dramatic Director.
- The Crowd
- The Patriot
- In Old Arizona
- The Broadway Melody
Winner of the Academy Award for Best Picture.
- The Love Parade
- The Divorcee
- All Quiet on the Western Front
Winner of the Academy Award for Best Director and Best Picture.
- Cimarron
Winner of the Academy Award for Best Picture.
- The Front Page
...plus 362 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>- 5 Fingers
- 7th Heaven
Winner of the Academy Award for Best Dramatic Director.
- 8½
- 12 Angry Men
- 12 Years a Slave
- 1917
- 2001: A Space Odyssey
- A Beautiful Mind
Winner of the Academy Award for Best Director.
- A Clockwork Orange
- A Complete Unknown
...plus 472 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>All Nominees* for the Academy Award for Best Picture sorted alphabetically.
*Including nominees for Unique and Artistic Picture from the 1st Academy Awards
- 7th Heaven
- 12 Angry Men
- 12 Years a Slave
Winner of the Academy Award for Best Picture.
- 42nd Street
- 49th Parallel
- 127 Hours
- 1917
- A Beautiful Mind
Winner of the Academy Award for Best Picture.
- A Clockwork Orange
- A Complete Unknown
...plus 604 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>Title says it all.
But thank you for reading the description anyway. I work hard on writing these sometimes.
- 5 Fingers
- 7th Heaven
Winner of the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.
- 8½
- 12 Angry Men
- 12 Years a Slave
Winner of the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.
- 20th Century Women
- 49th Parallel
- 127 Hours
- 1917
- 2001: A Space Odyssey
...plus 892 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>People who were/are originally well-known for their acting rather than their directing/writing/producing/etc.
For example, Woody Allen and Mel Brooks started directing and writing before acting.
- Ordinary People
Robert Redford won Best Director
- Gandhi
Richard Attenbourgh won Best Picture and Best Director
- Dances with Wolves
Kevin Costner won Best Picture and Best Director.
- Unforgiven
Clint Eastwood won Best Picture and Best Director
- Braveheart
Mel Gibson won Best Picture and Best Director
- Good Will Hunting
Ben Affleck and Matt Damon won Best Original Screenplay
- Million Dollar Baby
Clint Eastwood won Best Director and Best Picture
- Argo
Ben Affleck won Best Picture
- Promising Young Woman
Emerald Fennell won Best Original Screenplay
- Women Talking
Sarah Polley won Best Adapted Screenplay
- Becket
- The Lion in Winter
- The King's Speech
- The Private Life of Henry VIII
- Hamlet
- Henry V
- Henry V
- Elizabeth
- Braveheart
- The Queen
...plus 1 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>Winners of the Academy Award for Best Picture that won no Acting Oscars. The 12 Best Picture Winners with no Acting Oscar nominations are noted.
- Wings
Was not nominated for any Acting Oscars.
- The Broadway Melody
- All Quiet on the Western Front
Was not nominated for any Acting Oscars.
- Cimarron
- Grand Hotel
Was not nominated for any Acting Oscars.
- Cavalcade
- Mutiny on the Bounty
- You Can't Take It with You
- Rebecca
- Casablanca
...plus 31 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
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