Best Score Oscar winners

nominated for best picture at oscars

The story grips you. The internal struggle of the main character is at once suffocated by guilt and uplifting.

nominated for best picture at the oscars

nominated for best picture at the oscars

nominated for best picture at the oscars

I've read all the books, and even though it takes liberties with a few things, I still love it. In this most well-known adaptation, the special effects for the time, the technicolor, the quotable lines, and the simple values of brain, heart, courage, and home are what make it great. It'll always be my favorite!

There's thrilling adventure. There's a young John Wayne. There's a stagecoach. This is the grandfather of movies about a bunch of stranger crammed into a small space while they make a dangerous trip.

That gangster James Cagney can sing and dance!! I enjoyed this biopic very much especially for Cagney's against type performance. He is very talented.

nominated for best picture at the oscars

nominated for best picture at the oscars

nominated for best picture at the oscars

Another social issue movie of the 40's. A topic that continues to be an issue in society since, returning vets adjusting to home life. One performer stands out exceptionally- Harold Russel! He was not an actor, but a real vet, and you can tell his performance is pure truth. Even from WWII it was hard for the three main characters, as played by March, Andrews, and Russell, to overcome the inner conflict that has formed within each one. It's a battle with one's self having seen the things a soldier sees and remembering more innocent times, plus not knowing the reactions of those who stayed home. This movie ends romantically, the main characters find a way to adjust to civilian life without quite so much trouble as vets from later wars perhaps faced. But some strong forces that need overcome are portrayed. Awe inspiring.

nominated for best picture by NBR

Most people don't seem to realize that movies in the early 50's (or even before) dealt with such tough topics. Another reason I love William Holden. Gloria Swanson's character is so memorable too including her impersonation of Chaplin.

want to see this because it won best comedy or musical picture at the golden globes

nominated for best picture by NBR

nominated for best picture at the oscars

The scenery and effects were probably amazing to the 50s audience who hadn't seen many exotic locals. I've also heard that a main reason for this film's popularity were the massive amounts of cameos by various celebrities. I like to think that through my goal to watch Oscar winning movies that I can recognize quite a few well known stars, but all these cameos are a gimmick and they don't carry the story. Where does that leave the story? It's choppy and barely sustained through the 80 days.

Sweeping Lean! The acting is awesome. I love the battle of wills between the two top officers. POWs captured by the Japanese somewhere in Asia during WWII are ordered to build a bridge that will help the Japanese war effort. But then Alec Guinness decides to build his men's moral by taking on the building project and plans to leave the bridge as a monument to British resourcefulness and engineering skill. This movie has another charismatic performance from Holden too. After escaping, Holden must journey back toward the POW camp on a mission to destroy the bridge that the Japanese will use to transport supplies. You see two Allie forces working at opposite goals. Meanwhile, Hayakawa plays a Japanese General riddled with shame. And the ending is edge of your seat suspenseful without all the excessive special effects and stunts used in today's action dramas.

want to see this because it won best picture with the NBR

want to see this because it won best comedy or musical picture at the golden globes

want to see this because it won best comedy or musical picture at the golden globes

nominated for best picture at the golden globes

I had a hard time wrapping my mind around this one and appreciating this type of bawdy British humor and melodrama. There are some weird Keystone Cops kind of sped up action sequences that just left me thinking, "Huh?". I really thought I was going to find this a total waste of time till the movie got to about half way through. When Tom Jones leaves home by foot to see London and make his own way in the world it suddenly became much more interesting to me.

Lou Jacobi played a good supporting role. I do really enjoy Billy Wilder's sense of humor. Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine are great actors. But, it's hard to explain why I didn't love it. I guess I thought it wasn't based in reality enough.

I just saw the Broadway touring version of this story in Cleveland. It made me think of this movie again and how much I loved it when I was young. The Sherman Brothers' music (who's career is explored in the new documentary) is still used in the stage version plus new songs. The story is adjusted and just about all of the fantasy sequences are changed. I didn't love the new songs or most of the changes from the movie, but it was still a magical theatrical experience.

Julie Andrews is incredibly charming as Mary Poppins. I always wanted to be Dick Van Dyke as Bert. He's an impishly fun narrator to take you through the story. The kids are classic 1960's Disney live action characters. Tomlinson as the father has a nice character arch. It is because he becomes a more loving family man that the story is so touching. The other supporting players are wonderful as well. And the animation sequences are good fun. Who can forget Bert doing the tap routine with the penguins? Feed the Birds, A Spoonful of Sugar, Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, and Let's Go Fly a Kite are such good songs; Mary teaches simple, enjoyable, meaningful life lessons.

Beautiful epic movie! The sweeping scenery, time line, and emotions are not to be missed.

When I was young I would only pay attention to the parts with the kids. The nuns at the beginning and the nazis at the end were too much for me, too serious, too adult for me to understand.

I've just seen the movie again after many many years and there was so much I wasn't aware of before. There is beautiful scenery and architecture, catchy songs of course, the charming and disarming Julie Andrews, and a surprisingly strong message about climbing every mountain until you find your dream. A seasonal inspiration!

nominated for best picture by NBR and at the golden globes

I didn't get the humor in this. It was no where near the same level as some of the other great comedy pics of the time.

nominated for best picture at the golden globes

nominated for best picture at the golden globes

Classic, iconic everything!

nominated for best picture at the golden globes and at the oscars

want to see this because it won best drama picture at the golden globes and was nominated for best picture by NBR and oscars

nominated for best picture at the golden globes

TRADITION! Well actually the movie is about changing, bending, breaking traditions. The Fiddler on the roof as described by Tevye in the opening of the movie is symbolic for existentialism. It is a metaphor for the challenge of balancing your life and knowing your place in the world. Traditional religious rituals and customs give the community where Tevye's family lives the supposed comfort to get through the balancing act. However, Tevye's three oldest daughters challenge tradition in their romantic lives and the "outside" world is entering into a time a extreme turmoil. The ways of the older generation clash with those of the younger generation. And through it all Tevye is really pretty progressive for a man in his society.

The story is serious and humorous. The film is shot beautifully. The songs are great, some more catchy than others. Tevye's constant dialog with his "best friend," God is thought provoking and often funny.

Since it is based on the book Tevye's Daughters, it is appropriate that his daughter's romantic awakenings be the main concern of the plot. The oldest daughter challenges tradition a little by pledging her love to a man of her choice, but he is a (soft-spoken) tailor from the same village and they still have a customary wedding. The middle daughter bends tradition by falling for a progressive teacher and budding revolutionary. I love that in the existential crisis he claims humankind must take much more responsibility for balancing on the roof and that traditions are not going to keep us safe up there. The youngest of the three daughters of marrying age meets another intelligent reader, but he is a Russian Kazakh and Christian. This is breaking the tradition entirely by having a marriage of two faiths. It is because the relationships of the three daughters and the father-daughter relationships are so well rendered that this story is more than a Jewish story.

nominated for best picture by NBR

This movie version is a little psychedelic at times, but the music is good and the themes are important to understanding how Naziism came to power in Germany during this time.

nominated for best picture by NBR

Fun movie! The Scott Joplin music makes it bounce right along causing the ending to be even more surprising.

nominated for best picture at the golden globes and oscars

want to see this because it won best picture with the NBR and was nominated for best picture at the golden globes and oscars

nominated for best picture at the golden globes and oscars

Wow, impressive realism of the brutality of life in prison, particularly in a prison where the rights we enjoy in America are valued so little. The main character comes so close to totally losing his sanity. I love, love, love the scene where he wonders to the basement where prisoners mindlessly shuffle around a central column totally given into conformity and lacking their humanity. The main character at first shuffles along with everyone else then begins going against the flow and finally climbs the stairs out of the basement regaining his sanity. So transcendent!!

nominated for best picture at the oscars

nominated for best picture at the golden globes

nominated for best picture at the golden globes

nominated for best picture by NBR, at the golden globes, and at the oscars

want to see this because it won best comedy or musical picture at the golden globes and was nominated for best picture by NBR

Directed by Lean and based on a novel from later in E.M. Forster's career, the common themes of Forster's writings are clear. A young woman accompanied by an older woman in British society before either of the world wars, encounters something exotic and wants to burst out of the stuffy tight collared restraint that polite society of the time required. In this case the exotic location is India among the British ruling class. It is arranged for the young woman to marry a man, but she learns he does not satisfy her. She is still afraid of total wildness and severing ties with her culture, but in meeting a young Indian doctor who is excited to impress, and an English professor who has been immersed in the foreign culture, she finds adventure. The story and film show the ugliness of racism, injustice, and militant oppression. The movie ends with a court case that could have gone terribly wrong. But instead we are presented with a court system in which we can have faith, if intelligent people who know what they are doing are running the show, and those involved in the case find the courage to be truthful!

nominated for best picture by NBR

First, let me recommend the Director's Cut though it is 3 hours and 20 minutes. There is so much historical and political content that I found a second viewing helpful too. The costumes, sets, cinematography, and music are all sumptuous.

The movie covers almost 60 years of Chinese history from the perspective of one person. The last emperor, Pu Yi, lived through so much history during the first half of the 20th century. I don't know how much of the story is completely historically accurate, but the changes of the decades and major historical events seem to be presented authentically. The story reminded me at certain points of the movie and book, The Good Earth. While that story shows some of the cultural changes in Chinese history from the perspective of peasants out in the fields, this story is told mainly from within the walls of the Forbidden City or the walls of a Communist re-education camp. There is a strong imprisonment theme! The story is told in flashbacks, and I thought this device was well crafted with interesting parallels.

Pu Yi's life is incredibly tragic and yet I found all the drama enthralling. He becomes Emperor at 3 years old and so hasn't formed any ideas for himself. Even later in his life you can't really say that he ever gained much experience as a leader. Earlier in China's history this might have worked out better to have a leader start so young without much conflict, but with all the changes preparing to take place in the 20th century it is inevitable that Pu Yi would become a tragic figure. He becomes spoiled because every want and need is taken care of for him. He's a puppet controlled by many others through his life. Early in his life China becomes a Republic and he no longer has any real power, but traditions stay the same inside the Forbidden City. Just before WWI O'Toole arrives as a Western tutor and Pu Yi begins to learn about the modern world. Eventually he tries to reform the traditions of imperial China, but he still takes a wife and a consort (a second wife). China then becomes a Communist country and some people turn against the Manchurian part of northern China. Since Manchurian is the Emperor's heritage, he and his remaining staff are kicked out of the Forbidden City. He ends up being welcomed by Japan in the early 30's before WWII and they feed him some misinformation. At this point he still craves the power of being Emperor and there is a lot of political intrigue as Manchuria becomes independent (but, Japan is really pulling the strings). He has relationship issues with his wife and consort, one feeling like a third wheel in the more westernized Japan and the other becoming addicted to opium. After WWII the Communist powers in China change a bit and in 1950 we catch up to the "current" events where Pu Yi and all the other imperial supporters are being re-educated. Ying gives an impressive performance and human face to the "Governor" of the camp. It is an amazing, in depth, dramatic conflict from the American audience perspective when you realize that Pu Yi was working with the Japanese, one of the Axis powers of WWII, and the Communists are trying to turn him into a comrade. Between a rock and a hard place. There's a good portion of Americans that wouldn't see either side of this conflict as worth cheering for. But still I found it very engaging to watch John Lone portray the struggle.

One of my favorite quotes: The Governor- "You are responsible for what you do! All your life you thought you were better than everyone else. Now you think you're the worst of all!" There's also a quote about how all the new generals and changes in the communist regime are just like the battling war lords of tribal society. There's a sense that the differences between the old and young in society will lead to history repeating itself, and in fact power keeps on shifting but nothing in history really changes.

Costner as John Dunbar, a Union Civil War officer, is suicidal. He'd rather lose his life than lose his foot, but miraculously he survives to be sent to the outermost western post that the army has on the frontier. His sense of purpose in life has been renewed.

The green and brown and yellow of the rolling hills and rare blue of a stream below and the blue and pink and orange with white puffs of clouds above is an epic setting! The frontier is a grand place to tell this story of two cultures.

It is about a man who becomes physically separated from anyone else of his race. And seeds have been planted in his mind that many of his race are crass and foul. He has a loyal horse and a wolf who hangs around without vicious intent as his only company. He perseveres in cleaning up the fort and keeps a journal of memories with some sketches. It is important to notice that his first instinct is not to shoot or attach something he does not understand unless for protection, but to be curious and observe and try to communicate. Maybe he does this because he understands he is a small person in this big frontier and yet he shares a connection with everything.

Dunbar meets Kicking Bird (Greene), a holy-man, and Wind In His Hair (Grant), a warrior of the Sioux people. He finds Kicking Bird's inquisitiveness easy to identify with. Wind In His Hair's first instinct is always anger and so they do not grow as close as quickly. He eventually meets the wise chief Ten Bears who listens to all the opinions of the lead men in the tribe before making a decision. The Sioux people are efficient in moving camps, not wasteful of anything, have a strong family and community structure as illustrated with Kicking Bird's wife and children in particular, and become good friends to Lt. Dunbar. Dunbar also meets Stands With A Fist, a white woman who when she was very young was the only survivor of a Pawnee attack on her family's farm. She was found by Kicking Bird and has been living with the Sioux for some twenty years. She becomes a translator to help with communications. Of course a romance forms and Dunbar/Dances With Wolves is married to Stands With A Fist. Dances With Wolves participates in a Buffalo hunt and in protecting the tribe from an attack by the warring Pawnee. Dances With Wolves is ready to leave the fort and live with his new wife and the Sioux people, but he has one more encounter with some US soldiers. He has changed allegiances and to the soldiers that brands him a traitor. They don't understand life on the frontier in the same way he now does. It's about a man who learns a new life and gets a new name.

I thought all the performances were wonderful. The Sioux's ritual chants were deep and connected to the world. John Barry's score was soaring and triumphant. "The only word that comes to mind is harmony."

At the height of Disney's hit making years, this one had it all! And with the combination of Robin William's voice and the shape-shifting abilities of a genie, this movie made references nearly as lightning paced as Family Guy does today.

Gut-wrenching! Inspiring!!

won best Foreign film from BAFTA

want to see this because it won best picture at the oscars, best drama picture at the golden globes, best picture with the BAFTA

want to see this because it won best picture at the oscars and best drama picture at the golden globes

want to see this because it won best picture with the BAFTA

want to see this because it won best foreign-language film at the oscars

I think all the elements of this film came together very well. At the time I saw it I thought I wanted to write children's plays (that dream has since moved to the back burner), but still Barrie's story is a great inspiration. Depp, Winslet, Christie, Macdonald, and especially Freddie Highmore give impressive performances.

want to see this because it won best picture with the NYFC, best drama picture at the golden globes, best picture with the BAFTA, and best picture with the LAFC

want to see this because it won best drama picture at the golden globes

want to see this because it won best drama picture at the golden globes and best picture with the BAFTA

I also really enjoyed this movie even though you can see a lot of the plot coming. The colors are vibrant and even though much of the movie is set in the dusty corrupt slums, where in American gritty urban pics the images are often extremely dark and without color, this movie is always visually interesting. The action is often so fast that colors appear smeared or streaked across the screen and that's not a bad thing. I thought the editing and camera work was done very well especially with the constant flashbacks to different points in Jamal, Salim and Latika's lives. The few adult characters, in particular the game show host, the police interrogators, the gangsters, and the brothers' mother listed here on Flixster, gave solid supporting performances. Dev, Madhur and Freida as the oldest teenage versions of Jamal, Salim and Latika give good performances, but I actually liked the younger actors who played the three main characters better.

The early parts of the movie are filled with both really funny moments that people of any culture could appreciate and troubling tragic moments that are also universal. Jamal, the always good hearted romantic, Salim, the older and opportunistic brother, and Latika, the beautiful girl who Jamal spends his life pursuing are orphaned around the ages of 6-8. They are the Three Musketeers! They have lots of adventures together, but at times the brothers are separated from Latika. Eventually they grow up to be pre/early-teens and the adventures continue. Life on the streets is tough, filled with scams, fleeing from the authorities, and revenge, but Jamal always has the hope that he will find Latika. I recently learned a bit about Charles Dickens and so his famous stories with strong elements of social justice were fresh in my mind when I saw this. All the scenes with the children or pre-teens living on the streets and doing what they can to get by as controlled by a couple local gangsters definitely invoked Dickens, especially Oliver Twist.

It's no spoiler to anyone who has read a little about this movie that Jamal is interrogated on suspicion of cheating to win money on India's Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. This is where the story begins to unfold. However, all of Jamal's life experiences connected in his mind to his brother or his love help him legitimately pick the right answers. And through the way the script was written and the film was edited it is shown that all three orphans are always linked together to the end. And there are little things you'll notice on repeated viewings. I must say, the movie didn't make me feel a rush of emotions when Jamal and Latika are reunited like I expected it might, but still it is a little movie that has had a long road to the recognition and kudos it has been receiving.

Is it just me, or do filmmakers seem to be making more interesting end credits in these past couple years? When it gets to the more technical positions it still may go to a black screen with white scrolling text, but this movie has a fun Bollywood dance number intercut with the credits for some of the major players working on the film. It helps keep more people in their seats to actually pay attention to who the filmmakers were. Maybe it's just the number of animated movies I've seen this year that is making it seem like Hollywood is getting more creative with credits.