Classic Movie Review: Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)

Best Picture Winner: #8Original Release Date:Rating: Not RatedRuntime: 2 hours, 12 minutesDirector: Frank Lloyd Quick Impressions:“Have you seen this movie before?” my daughter asked as we started. “I’ve definitely seen Bugs Bunny do it,” I replied.  Surely at some point during my childhood, I must have seen at least part …

Classic Movie Review: It Happened One Night

Best Picture Winner: #7Release Date:  February 22, 1934Rating:  ApprovedRuntime: 1 hour, 45 minutesDirector:  Frank Capra Quick Impressions:On July 3, I was consumed by the desire to watch Hamilton as soon as possible.  Apparently, I mentioned that seven or eight…hundred…thousand times.  My mother remarked that a friend of hers had mentioned …

Classic Movie Review: Grand Hotel

Best Picture Winner: #5Release Date: September 11, 1932Rating: NRRuntime: 1 hour, 52 minutesDirector: Edmund Goulding Quick Impressions:After Cimarron so bitterly disappointed us, I was relieved to watch Grand Hotel, the first Best Picture winner we’ve encountered so far that I had already seen. “Don’t worry,” I reassured my daughter when …

Classic Movie Review: All Quiet on the Western Front

Best Picture Winner: #3Release Date: August 24, 1930Rating: NRRuntime: 2 hours, 32 minutesDirector: Lewis Milestone Quick Impressions:During the opening credits of All Quiet on the Western Front, I noted, “Erich Maria Remarque, he wrote the novel.” “There’s a novel of this?” my daughter said in surprise. “Oh yes,” I replied.  …

Classic Movie Review: The Broadway Melody (1929)

Best Picture Winner #2Release Date: June 26, 1929Rating: PassedRuntime: 1 hour, 40 minutesDirector: Henry Beaumont Quick Impressions:My daughter and I expected a let down after the soaring excellence of Wings, but we still pressed on to watch The Broadway Melody (1929).  I had never seen this one, either, though I’m …

Review of Oscar Nominees 2020: Best Picture, Part III

Jojo Rabbit Nominated Producers: Carthew Neal and Taika WaititiDirector: Taika WaititiWriter: Taika Waititi Cast: Roman Griffin Davis, Scarlett Johansson, Thomasin McKenzie, Sam Rockwell, Taika Waititi, Rebel Wilson, Archie Yates, Alfie Allen, Stephen Merchant, and others. Plot:Near the end of World War II in Germany, Johannes Betzler, a ten-year-old boy in …

Review of Oscar Nominees 2020: Best Picture, Part II

Little Women Nominated Producers: Amy Pascal Director: Greta Gerwig Writer: Greta Gerwig Cast: Saoirse Ronan, Florence Pugh, Emma Watson, Eliza Scanlen, Timothée Chalamet, Laura Dern, Tracy Letts, Bob Odenkirk, James Norton, Louis Garrel, Jayne Houdyshell, Chris Cooper, Meryl Streep, and others. Plot: The four March sisters have grown up into no-longer-little …

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