TCM’s 31 Days of Oscars: More Movie Suggestions!
Wednesday, February 13th, 2008 by Scott MalchusOkay, I dropped the ball on posting some more of my suggestions for the Turner Classic Movies 31 Days of Oscars fest they have each year. Truth is I’m still recovering from a late-night screening of There Will Be Blood (the powerful combo of Day-Lewis, Anderson, Greenwood and too much coffee kept me awake until three in the morning…damn, I’m getting old). Enough of my excuses! Here are a bunch of movies that There Will Be Blood is worthy of. Pick and choose what you want and set your TiVos.
All times are Eastern time.
Wednesday February 13
The Quiet Man (1952)
8:00 PM John Wayne (proving he can play more than cowboys or commandos) stars an ex-boxer who retires to Ireland to find a wife. Maureen O’Hara stars as the “lucky woman.”
Friday February 15
A Day At The Races (1937)
12:15 PM The Marx Brothers. ‘Nuff said.
Saturday February 16
Woman Of The Year (1942)
12:00 PM Tracy and Hepburn in the film that started one of Hollywood’s most legendary relationships (both on screen and off). She’s political columnist and he’s a sportswriter. You know they’re going to fall for each other. The joy is watching it happen.
Monday February 18
L.A. Confidential (1997)
1:00 AM Two relatively unknown Australian actors named Russell Crowe and Guy Pearce played the leads in this, one of the finest “noir” films in the last ten years. Curtis Hanson directed with a sure hand and the script was perfection. Somehow, Titanic beat this fantastic movie for best picture, proof that the Academy Awards are flawed.
See you next week!
Aloha
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"The Quiet Man" is one of my favorites: A tale of a newcomer in a foreign culture (totally alien to him even though it's the land of his birth) where he has to navigate a minefield of rituals and traditions to get what he wants. He finally figures it out. John Ford famously John Wayne how to act in "Stagecoach" ("Use your eyes, John, not your mouth"), and the epic-length slow burn that culminates with him dragging Maureen O'Hara over half of Ireland to the resolution of all their troubles is a masterpiece of film pacing.
And it's a mystery! Thanks for blowing the big spoiler!
The cliched plot elements of "L.A. Confidential" bothered me when I saw it in the theater (is anyone who has ever seen any movie surprised at the revelation of the villain?), but once it showed up on cable I found I was re-watching it compulsively. There's so much there: the powerful symbolism of the weathered "Victory Motel" sign; poor Bud White's desperate longing to be taken seriously as a detective; Jack Vincennes' realizing the perfect message to send Exley. Even the language at times has its own odd beauty: "There's something wrong with the Night Owl," as Bud says, having put his finger on the crux of the plot and summing it up in one elegant line.
One wonders how much more successful the movie would have been on its initial release if Crowe hadn't been almost fresh off the boat.
I love the Marx Brothers, but "A Day at the Races" is one of their worst efforts; "A Night at the Opera" is a classic, but as soon as Thalberg died their movies started running out of steam, and even "At the Circus" has more laughs than this pathetic attempt. Watch the movie again and I dare you to realize how long it takes for the first real laugh to show up, or Groucho himself for that matter. My guess is that Dan saw this movie or another like it and it soured him on the Marxes forever. Just take two movies ("Horse Feathers" and "Monkey Business") and call me in the morning.
TCM had a surprisingly strong lineup the other night, even for Oscar month: The Nightmare Before Christmas, The Return of the King, Silence of the Lambs, and Seven. All letterboxed, of course, so they looked great on my new HDTV!
Was there ever a stronger on-screen chemistry than Tracy/Hepburn? I don't think so. Even their weakest movies together are totally watchable. WOTY is one of their best. I highly recommend it to anyone who even remotely likes romantic comedies.
My big excitement for this week is reserved for Friday night, when they're showing "Little Big Man" for the first time in ages. I haven't seen it in at least 20 years. It's a mess, but Dustin Hoffman is great. It's back-to-back with "Tootsie," which I could probably watch daily.
"The Mating Season," which is on tonight, is underrated and very funny. Next Tuesday evening, "The Ox-Bow Incident" is one of the most powerful Westerns ever made.
I was going to list "Ox Bow" next week. It is a truly remarkable movie and, sadly, very timely.
Give me details, Scott. I've been waiting to see "There Will Be Blood" for awhile now. Folks have been saying Movie Of The Year and all that...
Where does it rank against "No Country For Old Men"?
"There Will Be Blood" is an American masterpiece. It is a movie that, twenty years from now, will be mentioned in the same breath with "Kane", "The Godfather" and "Raging Bull." That's how I feel about it, anyway.
Not that you asked me, but I thought "There Will Be Blood" was better than "No Country." Both have seriously flawed endings--not because they're downbeat, but because they're disjointed.
This Oscar season reminds me a lot of 2000, when almost all the nominated films were good-not-great (this year, I'd argue that "Atonement" isn't even good) but nothing was crying out to be awarded an Oscar. Certainly not "American Beauty."
I HATE the Marx Brothers. Can't explain it. Love L&H, A&C, 3 Stooges, other funny people and groups from pre-1960, but the Marx Bros.? Don't get it.