Classic Movie Picks: February

by Lani

Each month, I scour the Turner Classic Movies Now Playing guide for upcoming films that I can't miss. The highlights are posted here for your reading and viewing pleasure! (All listed times are Eastern Standard, check your local listings or TCM.com for actual air times in your area. Each day's schedule begins at 6:00 a.m.; if a film airs between midnight and 6 a.m. it is listed on the previous day's programming schedule.)

We all know that the Oscars will be awarded February 27th, but this month classic movie fans may be even more excited to see TCM's "31 Days of Oscar." All the films scheduled February 1 through March 3 have won or been nominated for an Academy Award. To bridge the gap between "then" and "now" I've picked some classic films that relate to this year's Best Picture nominees.


127 Hours
2/7, 3:15 PM - The Snows of Kilimanjaro (1952)
2/19, 6:15 PM - Bad Day at Black Rock (1955)
Like 127 Hours protagonist Aron Ralston (James Franco), the main characters in these two films encounter some bad luck. In Snows, American writer Gregory Peck falls ill while on safari in Africa; as he lays dying in the jungle, he reflects upon his past mistakes and finds a will to live. As for Black Rock, well I'll just say that Spencer Tracy's WWII veteran has more in common with Ralston at the end of his 127 hour ordeal.

Black Swan
2/7, 1:45 PM - Black Swan (1942)
2/26, 2:45 PM - Frances (1982)
3/1, 10 PM - All About Eve (1950)
3/2, 4 AM - Obsession (1976)
Black Swan is the story of a talented, but timid ballerina (Natalie Portman) who is driven mad by too many thematic elements. So, I've had to pick several films to cover each of Swan's themes. In Frances, based on the life of Frances Farmer, a young actress cannot cope with the pressures of her career and her domineering mother. All About Eve is the quintessential backstage drama, in which an ambitious newcomer sabotages a star's career. Of course, there are two constants in Black Swan director Darren Aronofsky's films - obsession and pretty, dark-haired women. Obsession has both these elements, in the forms of Cliff Robertson and Genevieve Bujold, respectively, as well as the theme of the "double" which is so central to the plot of Swan.
And I couldn't leave out 1942's Black Swan, which shares a title with the 2010 Best Picture nominee, but that's where the similarities end. Nevertheless, both films have earned Oscar nominations for Best Cinematography. Leon Shamroy won in 1942, can Matthew Libatique win this year with his Swan?

The Fighter
2/4, 11:30 AM - The Champ (1931)
3/1, 2:45 AM - Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956)
The Academy loves films about boxers - think Rocky, Raging Bull, Million Dollar Baby - and often awards the actors who step into the ring. In The Champ, Wallace Beery fought his way to the Best Actor award as a washed-up boxer trying to care for a young son. Somebody is a boxing biopic (The Fighter is based on the life of boxer Mickey Ward), the story of world champion Rocky Graziano's rise from street fighter to prizefighter.

Inception
2/12, 10 PM - The Wizard of Oz (1939)
2/15, 2:30 PM - Alice (1990)
2/21, 4:30 AM - A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935)
After watching Inception audiences were left to wonder, "was it all a dream?" My three classic picks feature very different characters (a Kansas farmgirl, a Manhattan housewife, and a quartet of young Greeks) who are all transformed by dreamlike experiences.

The Kids Are All Right
2/2, 10 PM - Terms of Endearment (1983)
2/14, 4:45 AM - Cousin, Cousine (1975)
2/15, 4:15 AM - Two Women (1961)
When the two children of a lesbian couple try to form a relationship with their biological father in The Kids Are All Right, jealousies threaten the bonds of their tightly-knit family. Familial conflict like this provides ample opportunities for an actor to emote, and Kids's Annette Bening has been nominated for her performance as one of "the moms." Marie-Christine Barrault scored her Oscar nomination as one of two cousins whose close friendship inspires jealousy in Cousin, Cousine. Terms and Two Women both deal with the relationship between a mother and daughter earning their respective leads, Shirley MacLaine and Sophia Loren, Best Actress awards for their portrayals of strong mothers.

The King's Speech
2/1: "3 Films about Henry VIII"
8 PM - The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933)
10 PM - A Man for All Seasons (1966)
12:15 AM - Anne of the Thousand Days (1969)
2/19, 1:30 AM - The Last Emperor (1987)
The one profession Oscar loves more than boxer? Royalty. The King's Speech, about King George VI's efforts to overcome a speech impediment, garnered 12 nominations this year, including one for Colin Firth's lead performance. Charles Laughton won Best Actor for his portrayal of a king in The Private Life of Henry VIII; A Man for All Seasons received 8 nominations with 6 wins; Anne of the Thousand Days received 10 nominations, but only won for its costume design. However, the real ruler of the Oscars might be Pu Yi, the titular Last Emperor - his film was nominated for and won 9 Oscars, including Best Picture.

The Social Network
2/1, 1 PM - Citizen Kane (1941)
2/7, 12 PM - Libeled Lady (1936)
2/27, 12 AM - The Informer (1935)
The Social Network stars Jesse Eisenberg as a young entrepreneur who alienates his friends and incurs several lawsuits on his way to becoming a billionaire. Sounds a lot like the story of self-made man Charles Foster Kane in Orson Welles's masterpiece, Citizen Kane. The Informer, also about a man who betrays his best friend, won 4 Oscars - Best Actor, Director, Score, and Screenplay (Social Network has a good chance in all these categories, too). Libeled Lady offers a more comedic take on lawsuits, and contains fast-talking dialogue worthy of Social Network writer, Aaron Sorkin.

Toy Story 3
2/16, 6 AM - Grand Illusion (1937)
2/22, 7:15 PM - The Red Balloon (1956)
Ok, so at first glance the animated adventure of Toy Story 3 may not have a lot in common with French anti-war classic Grand Illusion. But these two films share lovely messages about friendship and coping with the march of time. They are also both "prison-break" films with exciting escape sequences! And, they are also both rarities among Best Picture nominees - Grand Illusion was the first foreign-language film to be nominated for the big prize, and TS3 is one of a handful of animated films to earn the nomination.
I'm also re-recommending my December "pick" Red Balloon, which is also a film about a child's toy come to life.

True Grit
2/11, 2:45 AM - Cat Ballou (1965)
2/19, 11:30 AM - Captains Courageous (1937)
2/25, 4 PM - The Search (1948)
The plot of Cat Ballou is remarkably similar to that of True Grit - a young woman hires a gunslinger to seek revenge after the death of her father. In Ballou, Lee Marvin's role as cantankerous drunk Kid Shelleen earned him the Best Actor award. Grit's Jeff Bridges won last year for playing a drunk in Crazy Heart, can he win again for his performance as cantankerous drunk Rooster Cogburn?
The other star of True Grit earning praise is 14 year-old Hailee Steinfeld. Her character's bond with Bridges's Cogburn is the center of the film. The Search and Captains Courageous also focus on a friendship between a young person and an older person. Captains stars Freddie Bartholomew, one of the most talented and popular child actors of all time; Bartholomew was 13 at the time he made this film - the same age as Steinfeld was when she made Grit. The Search's Ivan Jandl received a special Oscar for outstanding juvenile performance for his portrayal of a homeless boy who befriends a soldier.

Winter's Bone
2/1, 6 AM - Eskimo (1933)
2/16, 8 AM - Chang (1929)
2/11, 5:45 PM - Little Women (1949)
Winter's Bone paints a vivid portrait of a life of poverty in the Ozarks. In this respect, it follows in the tradition of films like Eskimo and Chang which examine "alien" cultures and show how people survive harsh living conditions.
Little Women is a quite different film tonally from Winter's Bone, but at the center of both of these films is a determined young woman who makes sacrifices for the sake of her family.

I hope you enjoy "31 Days of Oscar," but don't miss out on the nominated films from 2010! All of them are either in theaters now, or available on DVD!

On Other Websites...

by Lani

The balcony is open! I've felt a void in my life since the cancellation of At the Movies with Michael Phillips and A.O. Scott last August, so I am happy to report that Roger Ebert has resurrected the movie review TV show that made him famous - including the Thumbs! Due to his recent health problems which have left him unable to speak, Ebert will serve as a producer rather than co-host. The critics giving thumbs up or down each week are Christy Lemire, Associated Press, and Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, mubi.com. Other critics, including Ebert, will also provide weekly segments about classic movies, the entertainment industry, and indie films. You can check for showtimes in your area on the Ebert Presents website.

One of the new releases reviewed on the first episode of Roger Ebert presents At the Movies is No Strings Attached, a romantic-comedy starring Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher as friends who attempt to have a relationship based on emotion-free sex (the essence of romance, no?). Portman's character is a doctor, one of the eight career options for modern rom-com heroines identified in this amusing slideshow by New York Magazine.

Also, amusing? Kevin Costner's array of cinematic accents, from "Massachusetts on steroids" to "just woke up from a nap twang," also courtesy of New York Magazine.

And finally, the 20/20 Awards are back! This Seattle-based revisionist awards ceremony looks back at the films released twenty years ago and decides, with the benefit of hindsight, whether the Academy got it right when awarding that year's Oscars. Looking over the list of Oscar nominees from 1991, it is a bit shocking to see how many nominations were given to Ghost and The Godfather III. Dances with Wolves won best picture and best director for Kevin Costner (though not best actor, maybe it was the accent?). However, I suspect that the 20/20 voters may reward infamous also-rans Goodfellas and its director Martin Scorsese.

My Favorite Performances of 2010

by Lani

The Golden Globes will be given out this Sunday. As every year, some of the nominations are a bit mystifying (was The Tourist supposed to be a comedy?), but I was happy to see that a few of my favorite films of 2010, like Inception and The Social Network, are in the running. The arrival of award season always inspires "best of" lists, and I am not immune. Since I have not seen every notable film of the year, rather than make a list of the best films of 2010 I have been thinking about which individual performances made the biggest impressions on me. Here's my list of favorites (not necessarily the best), in no particular order:

Tom Hardy, Inception
One thing I'm sure of after watching Inception? You don't want to be in a scene with Tom Hardy - that is, unless you're okay with him stealing it right out from under you. Hardy plays Eames, a "forger" recruited for Leonardo DiCaprio's dream-team. But he isn't there to make fake passports; within a dream, people can be forgeries, too. Among a cast with charisma to spare, Hardy was the standout for me.

Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network
Jesse Eisenberg is not an actor whom I would usually describe as having an expressive face, but this trait is to his advantage in the role of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, a character who keeps his emotions and motivations largely to himself. But then, with slightest curl of his upper lip, Eisenberg conveyed operatic levels of bitterness, contempt, and betrayal. If there were an award for best lip-acting of 2010, Eisenberg would be a lock.

Armie Hammer, The Social Network
In The Social Network, director David Fincher used cutting-edge technology to create the characters of identical twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss by filming actor Armie Hammer opposite a body double, Josh Pence, then digitally grafting Hammer's face onto Pence's body. The effect is seamless, but it works so well because Hammer makes each of the brothers a distinct, separate character - allowing the audience to just believe him when he says "I'm six-five, 220 pounds, and there are two of me!"

Kim Hye-Ja, Mother
Though she has been acting in South Korean film and TV for 30 years, Kim Hye-Ja was basically unknown to American audiences until her starring role in director Bong Joon-Ho's noirish suspense film, Mother. As a single mother determined to clear her adult son of a murder charge, she is engaging and exasperating from minute to minute. She faces the world with an expression of innocence and naivete, but by the end of the film you wonder just how much she has chosen to forget.

Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams, Blue Valentine
I praised Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams a couple of months ago, and despite all the great films I've seen since then, their performances as the troubled couple at the center of Blue Valentine are still at the top of my list. As Roger Ebert noted in his review of the film, it is one thing for an actor to age onscreen from 24 to 60 - old-age makeup and physical tricks can do a lot of the work. It is much more difficult to show someone at 24 and then at 30. The physical differences are subtle, the real changes occur within. Critics have been singling-out Williams's performance, and I would love to see her win an Oscar for it; however, I can't help thinking of Gosling and Williams as a unit - one performance couldn't exist without the other.

James Franco, 127 Hours
As with Williams and Gosling, I have praised James Franco in a previous posting, but this list would not be complete without mention of his intense portrayal of a hiker stuck between a rock and a hard place in 127 Hours. After his hilarious role in The Pineapple Express (2008), an impressive supporting performance in Milk (2009), and this one-man showcase - I am convinced that Franco can play anything and I can't wait to see his next film.

Honorable Mention: Rosamund Pike, An Education and Made in Dagenham
An Education is technically a 2009 film, but I didn't see it until February 2010, which makes Rosamund Pike's performance as dumb blonde, Helen my first "favorite" of the year. The character is meant to be a contrast to the precocious, plain Jenny (played by Carey Mulligan); but Pike took what could have been a stock "bimbo" role and made her more surprising, warm, and real than I ever expected. Later in the year, I took notice of Pike again in a small, but memorable role as an upper class housewife who befriends a striking auto worker (Sally Hawkins) in Made in Dagenham.

Others of note: Jennifer Lawrence, Winter's Bone; John Hawkes, Winter's Bone; Hilary Swank, Conviction; Sam Rockwell, Conviction; Helena Bonham Carter, The King's Speech; Emma Watson, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1