Gigi

 And this week's Friday night movie has been... Gigi!

Original image located here. Accessed 26th April 2024

Best Picture Oscar winner no.: 31 (1958)

It would appear that history has not been kind to this movie. I feel inclined to agree. 

Sure Leslie Caron has a magnetic presence, the costumes are great and the images of Paris are superb but I, like most people, feel that this movie has aged very poorly. The sexual politics are waaaaaaay out of date, the sentiment of the opening song is incredibly uncomfortable, Honoré Lachaille has a punchable presence, and the music is rather limp. But the biggest crime this movie commits is that it's boring. Granted I'm not the biggest fan of musicals but I know for a fact that it's movie genre that can't afford to be boring.

One final thought: When I went looking for this movie I couldn't find it on any of the streaming services I use. A lot of the other Best Picture Oscar winners were easily found but this wasn't so I had to rely on finding a physical copy. A red flag if ever there was one...

The Bridge on the River Kwai

And this week's Friday night movie has been... The Bridge on the River Kwai!

Original image located here. Accessed 19th April 2024

Best Picture Oscar winner no.: 30 (1957)

I've been wanting to see this movie for years but I never got around to it. I recall years ago I was discouraged through my father describing it as 'silly'. But not this time around....

So what makes this movie special? Well it is a unique entity in the war movie genre in that it seems less concerned with getting a commentary on warfare across and more interested in being a character driven piece. The characters are indeed complex, helped considerably by the cast playing them with standouts being Alec Guinness and Sessue Hayakawa. The scale is staggering - as befitting a David Lean film - and it's impressive to know that the crew built the bridge for real. Furthermore, the final twenty minutes are astonishing. If this was attempt to show what the big screen could do, as opposed to the small screen of TV sets, then mission well an truly accomplished. 

Finally, was it as 'silly' as it was described to me? Well there were a few moments that did seem difficult to swallow but there rest of the movie is so strong that it makes such instances easier to forgive. 

A classic without a doubt

On the Waterfront

  And this week's Friday night movie has been... On the Waterfront!

Original image located here. Accessed 12th April 2024

Best Picture Oscar winner no.: 27 (1954)

Seeing as we currently going though the 1950s Best Picture winners, it is important to take a step back and see what was going on in Hollywood at the time.
It should be noted that this decade gave cinema some major competition in the form of television: A smaller screen but one that found it's way into many people's homes. So how did film producers rise to the challenge of getting people out of the house and into the cinema? By playing up the whole spectacle angle, offering the kind of visuals that couldn't be found on a smaller screen. So yeah, from here movies start getting bigger, pushing the envelope as to what they could accomplish. 
So where does this movie fit in? Well On the Waterfront seems to take the angle of presenting a realistic and grounded story. It may seem out of place compared to the other winners of the decade but on the other hand, On the Waterfront (as well as Marty) doesn't look like the kind of stuff a small scale TV screen of the day would tackle. 

It seems that this movie's success hinges on two men: Director Elia Kazan and actor Marlon Brando. The former made this movie to address his pariah status in Hollywood when he identified eight communists in the film industry, the latter effectively rewrote the rules of film acting. So how does this movie stand up against the march of time?

No doubt about it: this is Brando's show all the way through. The taxi scene may have been quoted many times but it would seem for a very good reason. Sure the Christ analogies may have been heavy handed but this is still engaging decades later. Particularly the final scene which still packs a punch

From Here to Eternity

 And this week's Friday night movie has been... From Here to Eternity!

Original image located here. Accessed 5th April 2024

Best Picture Oscar winner no.: 26 (1953)

If people know this movie it's because of that unforgettable image of it's two stars, Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr, in a passionate embrace in a beach as the waves roll around them. That's all well and good but what of the movie attached to said image?

In recent years it has become something of a joke that if you want to win big at the Oscars, then just make a movie based on World War II. In which case I think we can blame this movie for that observation. Keep in mind this was made eight years since the end of the war and would no doubt be still fresh in people's minds.
So what we have here is a group of soldiers going through various trials and tribulations, both on and off the military grounds, that eventually leads to a climax where Pearl Harbour is under attack. 
So yeah, I do like that this movie is taking a humane approach to it's subjects - which in turn makes the climax hit hard. Certainly the movie may look archaic now but there is still a lot going for it.
Still I have to wonder if those was the film that Michael Bay had in mind when he made Pearl Harbour...