31 Days of Oscar, Part 1
Mar. 7th, 2011 12:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gonzaiLast year I discovered that one of the best things about a DVR is '31 Days of Oscar', Turner Classic Movies' 31 day marathon of Oscar-nominated films. That movie you've always heard about but never saw? A rare basic cable airing just waiting to be recorded. Last year I recorded a dozen films and watched them, mostly in March when primetime took a break. This year I may have gone a wee bit nuts, with 2 dozen flicks on the DVR, but I also have hand surgery upcoming which will keep me home for at least 5 days. I'll try to throw out some comments on these classics as I work my way through the pile. (All of these films on the DVR are at least 10 years old, so I'm not bothering with spoiler warnings.)
'Stand and Deliver' - Edward James Olmos as LA math teacher Jaime Escalante, who passed away last year. Olmos is brilliant; the movie, not so much. It's a true story, and the script hews very tightly to THE story with only passing glances of character development, background detail or reality, for that matter. (Gangs are briefly addressed, then they vanish. Not in East LA, they don't.) But it is inspirational, and Olmos is awesome. ***
'Stagecoach' - Think of every cliche you can involving Westerns and/or 'start with a diverse group of strangers and kill them off one at a time' concepts. They're all in here. The only reason to not throw this film out is that it's not a collection of cliches; made in 1938/9,it's the source of those cliches. You like Westerns and/or John Wayne - watch it. Otherwise, pass. **
'The Dirty Dozen' - For some odd reason I thought this was a Western. Try WWII mission film. Apparently, at the time this movie was considered incredibly violent and sadistic. Well, until the end, it's tame. And the end...45 years later, it's no big deal violence-wise. We see worse on the news. And the above-mentioned cliche about diverse strangers? Ta da, it's back! The only original thing being, they're all bad guys/creeps, instead of some good and some bad. Definitely exciting, tight storyline, surprising humor. **1/2
'Marty' - Ernest Borgnine won the acting Oscar for this. He deserved it. Mind, I spent much of this movie wanting to strangle many of the characters in it, but in the end Marty wised up. Phew. It's an adapted play and you can certainly tell it was a play first, right down to incongruent scenes of minor characters which leave you wondering why that's in there until you realize that's when the main actors changed clothes/sets/etc. Very simple, very to the point, enjoyable. ***
'Stand and Deliver' - Edward James Olmos as LA math teacher Jaime Escalante, who passed away last year. Olmos is brilliant; the movie, not so much. It's a true story, and the script hews very tightly to THE story with only passing glances of character development, background detail or reality, for that matter. (Gangs are briefly addressed, then they vanish. Not in East LA, they don't.) But it is inspirational, and Olmos is awesome. ***
'Stagecoach' - Think of every cliche you can involving Westerns and/or 'start with a diverse group of strangers and kill them off one at a time' concepts. They're all in here. The only reason to not throw this film out is that it's not a collection of cliches; made in 1938/9,it's the source of those cliches. You like Westerns and/or John Wayne - watch it. Otherwise, pass. **
'The Dirty Dozen' - For some odd reason I thought this was a Western. Try WWII mission film. Apparently, at the time this movie was considered incredibly violent and sadistic. Well, until the end, it's tame. And the end...45 years later, it's no big deal violence-wise. We see worse on the news. And the above-mentioned cliche about diverse strangers? Ta da, it's back! The only original thing being, they're all bad guys/creeps, instead of some good and some bad. Definitely exciting, tight storyline, surprising humor. **1/2
'Marty' - Ernest Borgnine won the acting Oscar for this. He deserved it. Mind, I spent much of this movie wanting to strangle many of the characters in it, but in the end Marty wised up. Phew. It's an adapted play and you can certainly tell it was a play first, right down to incongruent scenes of minor characters which leave you wondering why that's in there until you realize that's when the main actors changed clothes/sets/etc. Very simple, very to the point, enjoyable. ***
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