Nominees: 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Great Silence, The Valley of the Bees, Romeo and Juliet, Petulia, Rosemary's Baby, Kuroneko, Memories of Underdevelopment, We’ll Live Till Monday, The White Room
Oscars pick: Oliver
Nominees: Funny Girl, The Lion in Winter, Rachel, Rachel, Romeo and Juliet
Ye gads what a season- and I didn't even nominate Oscar's winner, the musical Oliver - which is a pleasant enough movie, I liked it – though I wouldn't say it quite reaches up towards 'best picture' type magnificence.
Just about everybody who second-guesses the Oscars selects, 2001: A Space Odyssey for 1968. And after finally seeing to on the big screen I can see why. It's an incredible experience.
Just behind it...
Franco Zeffirelli's adaptation of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet was magnetic and moving and had me completely wrapped up in the story and characters. I also was gobsmacked by Richard Lester's unique Petulia - very much a 60s movie, it's notable for its quick edited flashbacks and flash-forwards. Tonally unconventional, it goes from kooky romantic to bizarre gaudy grim to melancholic. Petulia stars George C. Scott & Julie Christie, who are both fantastic. And features a lingering score from John Barry (of James Bond fame) and dynamic camerawork by Nicolas Roeg.
While college students were having their minds blown away by Kubrick's Space Odyssey, something more down to Earth -but equally as spectacular- was doing the same to mine. Sergio Leone's grand and epic Spaghetti Western, Once Upon a Time in the West was one of those special, elevated film experiences.
The first time I saw Leone’s masterpiece I was left slack-jawed and speechless, but I’ll try and find my voice for this posting. Sometimes a movie can be something you enjoy as a spectator, other times a movie asks that you participate and engage. And sometimes it does all that and more: Writers Leone, Bernardo Bertolucci, and Dario Argento gave us an expansive story, with several plot threads that are adroitly woven into an explosive whole (I won't go into detail as one of the joys in this film is in the discovery). The ensemble cast, which includes Henry Fonda, Charles Bronson, Jason Robards, and Claudia Cardinale, breathe life into these interesting people they portray, and their interactions are a huge plus. Photographed in widescreen splendor by cinematographer Tonino Delio Colli and scored with beauty, whimsy, and power by the great Ennio Morricone. "Once Upon" expertly and ambitiously blends drama, mystery, suspense, outrage, humor, sex, and psychology. My admiration and affection can’t be overstated, and I consider it, with Eastwood's Unforgiven and Ford's The Searchers, the greatest western ever made.
Postscript, with spoilers: While casual or younger viewers might not understand its impact, Henry Fonda's first appearance set the uneasy tone of the film. Fonda often played men of reason; there was gentleness and warmth in him. And the first time he rode up onscreen, with those sky blue eyes of his, I thought "Oh good, he’s here to save the day." And then he guns down a boy in cold blood. Holy shnikey -- that was unexpected. People back in the day, my father included, couldn't believe it. Leone stole the breath from our lungs and let it be known that appearances would be deceiving from here on out.
Honorable Mentions:
Jack Albertson, The Subject Was Roses * ToshirÅ Mifune & Lee Marvin, Hell in the Pacific * Max von Sydow, Shame * Charlton Heston, Will Penny & Planet of the Apes * Boris Karloff, Targets * Vyacheslav Tikhonov, We'll Live till Monday * Alan Arkin, The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter * Burt Lancaster, The Swimmer * George C. Scott, Petulia * Alan Bates, The Fixer
Best Actress: Mia Farrow, Rosemary's Baby
Honorable Mentions:
Honorable Mentions:
Katharine Hepburn, The Lion in Winter * Claudia Cardinale, Once Upon a Time in the West * Vanessa Redgrave, Isadora * Tuesday Weld, Pretty Poison * Liv Ullmann, Shame * Julie Christie, Petulia * Joanne Woodward, Rachel, Rachel * Patricia Neal, The Subject Was Roses
Supporting Actress: Beverly Garland, Pretty Poison
Supporting Actor: Henry Fonda, Once Upon a Time in the West
