One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest Nicholson hamming his way to an Oscar by being an annoying a-hole who just doesn’t know when to stop. Fletcher was just kind of there. Dourif was mostly one-note. The movie feels longer than it is. 2/5
It Happened One Night On the enjoyable side, even though I don’t see why Colbert would fall for Gable given the way he treats her. I will say I laughed out loud…I think twice? Definitely once after their fake fight. I’m happy that they end up together, though we don’t even get to see the actors do a reconciliation scene. Like people say it does feel ahead of its time. It’s a decent choice for the first Big Five winner, better than the other 2, though I think if it had lost Best Actor then the amazing Gone with the Wind would be a Big 5 winner instead. 3.25/5
Silence of the Lambs is surprisingly blah. Foster was blah. The supporting cast was blah. I wasn’t scared. The writing was somewhat interesting, but it felt like a supersized episode of some police procedural. Hopkins is arguably great in a totally supporting role, but I suppose there weren’t many choices. The competitors were mostly (at least eventual) Oscar winners in meh role. Of course one BP nominee had a great cast but they were obviously miles away from Oscar noms because it was “just voice work.” I did watch it the whole way through, so I suppose it sufficiently captured my interest. 2.25/5
Network is decent but I mostly just liked the Dunaway parts and she was better when directed by Katy Perry’s uncle in a somewhat similar role. Maybe I’m ageist against old men movies. I did enjoy the commentary on television, though it wasn’t brilliant or scintillating. Beatty and Holden were histrionic and bugged me. The non-nominated actors were mostly blah. Straight was great in her tiny role and the Academy ignoring the underage hooker was good as it let Foster keep a lower profile before her big comeback as an adult, and she has two lead Oscars now – more than, say, Meryl Streep. Oh, Finch was okay too; he was kinda likable, his award was posthumous, and the Academy I suspect had Rocky as a second choice given its Pic win. 2.75/5
Streetcar Named Desire is anchored by 2 amazing lead performances, a quite good Hunter, and a mostly unmemorable Malden exc for his mean scene though the competition was whatever and he later lost for Waterfront, so it’s cool. Plus otherwise Network would be the only one with 3 acting Oscars; even though this movie deserves its 3 for another set of actors, I understand why they didn’t want to make Brando the youngest winner ever. I have more to say, but it’s worth its own post, when I get to it. 4.5/5
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