Rating: PGRuntime: 1 hour, 47 minutesDirector: Marilyn Agrelo Quick Impressions:Appearing on Jeopardy! has made me think a great deal about sincerity in television. By nature, I’m quite guarded, and early on, I was reluctant to reveal too much about myself. When I first auditioned, I didn’t want to give up …
Best Picture: #54Original Release Date: September 25, 1981Rating: PGRuntime: 2 hours, 5 minutesDirector: Hugh Hudson Quick Impressions:As we geared up to watch Chariots of Fire, I spent about two weeks humming the theme song to my daughter, convinced that she would eventually recognize it. After all, the catchy, inspiring music …
Original Release Date: January 18, 1985 (or in festival release March 26, 1984)Rating: RRuntime: 1 hour, 38 minutesDirectors: Joel Coen (and Ethan Coen) Quick Impressions:This week I desperately wanted to watch Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street, but not desperately enough to go to the theater to see …
Best Picture: #53Original Release Date: September 19, 1980Rating: RRuntime: 2 hours, 4 minutesDirector: Robert Redford Quick Impressions:My mother loved Ordinary People. She would often watch her favorite films again and again, turning them on for background noise while she did housework, and giving them her full attention only occasionally. She’d …
Rating: TV-MARuntime: 1 hour, 56 minutesDirector: Joe Penna Quick Impressions:Though we were considering watching Eddie Izzard and Judi Dench thwart the Nazis, or Benedict Cumberbatch spy on the Russians, we ultimately landed on this Netflix Original space drama because 1) It looked vaguely compelling, and 2) It was free. If …
Best Picture: #52Original Release Date: December 17, 1979Rating: PGRuntime: 1 hour, 45 minutesDirector: Robert Benton Quick Impressions:Kramer vs. Kramer has haunted me my whole life—not in the sense that I’ve seen it and found it moving. It was simply Best Picture the year that I was born. (At least, in …
Rating: RRuntime: 2 hours, 5 minutesDirector: Ramin Bahrani Quick Impressions:The day the BAFTA nominations were announced, I skimmed various posts covering the topic on my phone while sitting in on my son’s kindergarten class. Because I’ve been more out of it than usual in this oddest of awards seasons, I …
Best Picture #: 51Original Release Date: December 8, 1978Rating: RRuntime: 3 hours, 3 minutesDirector: Michael Cimino Quick Impressions:For the sake of completion, we did watch Annie Hall, and I wrote up my thoughts. But Woody Allen is getting enough press right now. The thought of posting something about him at …
Best Picture: #49Original Release Date: December 3, 1976Rating: PGRuntime: 2 hoursDirector: John G. Avildsen Quick Impressions:How did Rocky sneak in with the other 1970s best picture winners? They’re all about the Mafia, and narcotics detectives, and mental patients, and people going through a painful divorce, and Vietnam vets, and murdered …
Rating: GRuntime: 1 hour, 25 minutesDirectors: Pippa Ehrlich and James Reed Quick Impressions:When I found out My Octopus Teacher was actually about an octopus, I had to see it. Maybe you’re asking, “What else would it be about, Sarah?” Well, you see, when I first heard of the film, I …
