Best Pictures #96: 2023 Academy Awards Best Picture Nominee: The Holdovers

 by A.J.

Best Pictures #96: 2023 (96th) Academy Awards Best Picture Nominee

The Holdovers

“Such are the vicissitudes of life.”

There are plenty of movies that deal with how the holidays can make people feel miserable. The Holdovers, director Alexander Payne’s latest movie, set over the Christmas break of 1970-71 at a prestigious New England boarding school, is different from those because it is about people who would rather not be miserable. Ancient civilizations teacher Paul Hunham (Paul Giamatti) would rather spend his break reading mystery novels. Rebellious student Angus Tully (Dominic Sessa) would rather be in St. Kitts. Mary Lamb (Da’Vine Joy Randolph), the school’s kitchen manager, would rather be with her son, who was recently killed in Vietnam. They end up more or less stuck together at the empty school and as the dreary days pass they slowly but surely open up and find unlikely comfort and joy. It’s a story we’ve seen before but rarely done so well. Payne’s previous collaboration with Giamatti resulted in Sideways (2003), probably Payne’s best film and one of Giamatti’s best performances. The results here are thankfully similar. 

David Hemingson’s original screenplay was written especially for Giamatti, who once again works wonders with a prickly character. As much as Paul resembles Giamatti’s character from Sideways (both are well educated misanthropes who end up on a road trip), he has much more in common with another notable Giamatti performance: John Adams. Both Paul and John Adams are well educated New England intellectuals who attended Harvard, are privileged but are conscious of the conditions the less privileged, are disdainful of the rich and undeserving elites they have to work with, are both hurt by and enjoy their isolation from their peers, and are aware that they are, to quote Adams, “obnoxious and disliked.” John Adams is an irritable personality but Giamatti makes him understandable and likable; he does the same for Paul. 

As punishment for failing the son of a rich politician, Paul is assigned to look after the students that are not able to go home for Christmas break: the holdovers. An amusing and welcome plot contrivance whisks the other boys away to a vacation with the father of one of the richer holdovers leaving only Angus behind, much to the equal dismay of Angus and Paul. Angus is played wonderfully by Dominic Sessa in his impressive screen debut. He is troubled and rebellious but far from a bad student or person. The revelation of Angus’s family troubles and how he deals with them feels free of dramatic contrivance. 

Da’Vine Joy Randolph has rightfully earned much praise and a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination for her performance. We learn early on that her son attended the boarding school on a scholarship but because she could not afford to send him to college he was drafted and died in Vietnam. Randolph’s Mary is not a sad-sack or a worn down character. On the contrary, she comes across as the most put together of the trio, but melancholy looms over her and finally spills over at a Christmas Eve party in a subdued but emotional, and therefore instantly believable, scene.

Alexander Payne went out of his way to make The Holdovers look like it was made during the era in which it is set. As a fan of films of that period I must say he succeeded. Though the late 1960’s and early 1970’s are remembered as a time of vibrant colors, the films from that period look drab and devoid of color and The Holdovers captures that look. It opens with a period accurate Universal Studios logo, a trend and pet peeve of mine, but it delivers on that promise. The score genuinely sounds like an original score from an early 70’s movie, vaguely folkish and wistful. There is plenty of period music but none of the “needle drops” are obvious or feel like a compilation of the best-of-the-1970’s. The most notable music sequence is an extended ice skating scene from Paul and Angus’s “field trip” to Boston set to Cat Stevens’s poignant and magical "The Wind." Like many films of that New Hollywood era, the screenplay is very light on plot and is more or less an assemblage of scenes that show an understated journey of personal growth. The side effect of this is that there are a few scenes that are entertaining but ultimately superfluous. The Holdovers brought to mind the films of Hal Ashby, director of Harold and Maude (1971) and The Last Detail (1973), which was likely the intent of director Payne, and this is a good thing. However, Ashby, who began his career as an editor, would likely have made a slimmer but equally affecting film.

The Holdovers is streaming on Peacock Premium and available on DVD/Blu-Ray.

Classic Movie Picks: December 2013

by Lani

Each month, I scour the Turner Classic Movies schedule 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.)

12/10: Patton's Picks
11:45 PM - The Wind Journeys (2009)
2 AM - Aaltra (2004)
This month's TCM Guest Programmer, comedian Patton Oswalt, has chosen two foreign "road movies" which, although they were made within the last decade, I had never heard of until now; both sound intriguing. The Wind Journeys is a celebration of the "vallenato" music of northern Colombia. It follows the journey of a widowed musician and his teenage traveling companion, as they return a precious (and perhaps magical?) accordion to the master craftsman who made it. In Aaltra, a Belgian/French production, feuding neighbors join forces after they are both paralyzed in a farming accident. The two men set out across Europe to confront the Finnish manufacturer of the defective farm equipment, slowed down only by their own lack of legal savvy, money, and common sense.
BONUS: Patton's picks earlier in the evening are worth a watch,too - Kind Hearts and Coronets at 8 PM and 3:10 to Yuma at 10 PM.

12/14, 9:45 PM - Tomorrow is Forever (1946)
Another film that's new to me is this melodrama starring some of my favorite classic movie actors; it's scheduled as part of an evening tribute to Claudette Colbert between the excellent screwball comedies The Palm Beach Story at 8 PM and Midnight at 11:45 PM. A WWI veteran (Orson Welles), disfigured in the war, chooses to be reported dead rather than return to his wife (Colbert) and son. Years later, he re-enters her life, accompanied by a war orphan (Natalie Wood), and though she has remarried, old feelings arise. 

12/18, 2 AM - A Damsel in Distress (1937)

Fred Astaire is the TCM Star of the Month which means that each Wednesday in primetime, including Christmas Day, you're guaranteed a line-up of delightful musical comedies with amazing dancing by Astaire and an array of talented partners. I'm singling out Damsel because it's one of the few Astaire films that I haven't seen. At this point, Fred and Ginger Rogers had made seven musicals together and decided to take a break, which left him free to star opposite a 19-year-old Joan Fontaine in one of her earliest film roles. Fontaine was no dancer, but she certainly fits the part of a sheltered English "damsel" who is "rescued" by an American musical star played by Astaire (not much of a stretch for him either). While this film didn't mark the debut of the next great dance team, it does feature 8 hummable Gershwin tunes, including "A Foggy Day" and "Nice Work if You Can Get It." Gracie Allen and George Burns provide comic relief and some fancy footwork of their own. Astaire's later films often feature complicated numbers devised by Astaire and his collaborator, Hermes Pan, which pair the dancer with unlikely objects, such as a hat rack in Royal Wedding or a shop full of toys in Easter Parade. However, "Put Me to the Test" in Damsel, in which Astaire, Allen, and Burns all dance with whisk brooms, was designed by Burns.

12/21, 10:30 PM - Christmas Eve (1947)
I always enjoy discovering a new holiday movie, especially when it has more to its story than a Hallmark-style romance. To save her fortune from a scheming nephew, an eccentric philanthropist (Ann Harding) has until Christmas Eve to reunite her three adopted sons who have dispersed around the world. The sons are played by George Raft, George Brent, and Randolph Scott and each one is dealing with complications of his own - fiancee troubles, illegal baby adoption, and hidden Nazi loot, for example - that could prevent them from coming to mom's rescue. Will goodness prevail over greed?

12/30: In Memoriam
8 PM - It Started with Eve (1941)
Deanna Durbin
9:45 PM - Bikini Beach (1964)
Annette Funicello
11:30 PM - The Cheap Detective (1978)
Eileen Brennan
1:15 AM - The Loved One (1965)
Jonathan Winters
3:30 AM - Five Easy Pieces (1970)
Karen Black
5:15 AM - East of Eden (1955)
Julie Harris
12/31, 7:15 AM - Tea and Sympathy (1956)
John Kerr
Movie-lovers mourned the passing of many beloved performers this year and tonight TCM pays tribute to six actors and actresses who were not honored with special programming earlier in the year. I'm especially looking forward to the first three films in the line-up featuring three fabulous singing ladies.
- It Started with Eve stars Deanna Durbin at the peak of her career as a singing ingenue, alongside two of her favorite co-stars, Charles Laughton and Robert Cummings. 
- I love the "Frankie and Annette" beach movies, but the plots tend to run together in my memory. Bikini Beach is the one in which the teens must deal with the British Invasion, in the form of pop star Potato Bug (also played by Frankie Avalon), and outsmart a tycoon's pet chimp.
- A spoof of the detective genre, The Cheap Detective, combines the plots of several of Humphrey Bogart's best films with Peter Falk as a Bogey-esque gumshoe. Tonight's honoree, Eileen Brennan portrays a torch singer at "Nix Place" (sound familiar?).

Happy Holidays!

Classic Movie Picks: December

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.)

12/6, 8 PM & 11 PM - A Night at the Movies: Merry Christmas (2011)
This new TCM documentary is all about iconic holiday films. The Night at the Movies series offers the standard fare of film clips mixed with interviews, but there are always interesting bits of trivia that make these hour-long docs worth a look.
BONUS: TCM has scheduled 30 holiday-themed films this month and you probably haven't seen them all, so why not tune in on December 6, 13, 16, 20, 24, and 25 for a little Christmas spirit!

12/10: Directed by Edward Dmytryk
8 PM - The Caine Mutiny (1954)
10:15 PM - Obsession (1949)
12 AM - Back to Bataan (1945)
1:45 AM - The End of the Affair (1955)
3:45 AM - Till the End of Time (1946)

Edward Dmytryk worked his way up through the studio system from messenger boy to editor at Paramount, and eventually directed films for Monogram, Columbia, and RKO. As one of the Hollywood Ten, Dmytryk was blacklisted for his connections to the Communist Party and imprisoned for 6 months on the charge of contempt of Congress. After a brief exile in England, he went before the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1951, and agreed to name names. His testimony made him a controversial figure, but he continued to work directing studio films for 20 more years. Tonight's line-up features two pre-HUAC war films (Back to Bataan, Till the End of Time), one psycho-noir made in England (Obsession), and two of his high-profile post-blacklist efforts (The Caine Mutiny, The End of the Affair).

Till the End of Time has particular significance for Dmytryk since it was on this film that he met his second wife, actress Jean Porter. Though they were married until Dmytryk's death in 1999, the union had an unfortunate effect on her career - because their romance began while Dmytryk was still legally married to his first wife, MGM punished Porter by refusing to hire her again. Despite the controversy that surrounded him, Dmytryk was a skilled director whose films are worth watching.

12/13, 11:45 PM - The Great Rupert (1950)
Jimmy Durante and Terry Moore star in this film about a poor family who receives a little help from above - in the form of a squirrel named Rupert. It is a cute, holiday film which young children (and, of course, the young-at-heart) will especially enjoy.

The 12/13 showing is part of TCM's Christmas programming, but this film is also playing on 12/3 at 9 AM.

12/22, 8 PM - On the Case with Nick and Nora!
I'm especially looking forward to the early Christmas gift of all six films starring William Powell and Myrna Loy as amateur detectives Nick and Nora Charles. The first, The Thin Man, is probably the best, but all these films are worth watching for the great interplay between Loy and Powell.
BONUS: Star of the Month William Powell is featured every Thursday in December. I always enjoy his mix of wit and style, with a generous dollop of broad comedy, but never more than when he's paired with the delightful Myrna Loy. Including the Thin Man films, Powell and Loy appeared onscreen together 14 times - and you can see seven of their collaborations starting at 8 PM on 12/29 and extending into the next morning!

12/27, 1:15 AM - Daleks -- Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. (1967)

Attention Whovians! Fans of Dr. Who may enjoy this film which is loosely based on the British TV series, if only to spot the changes made to the characters during the translation from small screen to big screen. Peter Cushing plays a human doctor named Who, not an alien Time Lord as on TV, traveling through time with his granddaughter, niece, and a London policeman to thwart an invasion by the dastardly Daleks.

Happy Holidays!

Wonderful Christmastime

It's Christmas and it's my favorite time of year. Christmas decorations are everywhere, so is Christmas music, and on TV there are plenty of Christmas movies (some of them are actually good movies). Tonight I will continue a tradition of mine and watch It's a Wonderful Life, one of my essential Christmas movies. It may very well be, for me at least, the perfect Christmas movie. It's such a well established classic there's really not much I can say about it hasn't already been said. Dare I say it warms my heart, it really does. It's just not Christmas without my friend George Bailey and his friend Clarence.


And it's not Christmas for me without Love Actually which slipped it's way into my Christmas tradition only a few years ago. I have to admit I am partial to multi-story lined movies and romantic comedies so it may be only natural that I am very fond of this movie. The stories about different kinds of love amongst different people in London, with some help from a wonderful score by Craig Armstrong, are all very endearing (even the ones I don't care for). What I really like about this movie about so many different people in somewhat overlapping circles of friends, families, and coworkers is though there are scenes at the beginning and end with many of them in the same building there's no forced meeting of any of these different stories. There's about 3 different climaxes that happen more or less at the same time. They don't converge to be solved all at once, though there is that nice epilogue at Heathrow Airport. It may be sentimental and mushy but by then I won't care; I'm overwhelmed with good feelings from these characters that were inspired by the kindness and hope and love that really is all around at Christmas.

Christmas with Bing

Each year I look forward to spending the holidays with one of my favorite leading men, crooner/innkeeper/ex-G.I./priest Bing Crosby. He stars and sings in four of my favorite films to watch at Christmastime.

Holiday Inn (1942): Bing stars with Fred Astaire as former song and dance partners who have a nasty habit of chasing the same women. After Bing moves to Connecticut to open a themed boutique hotel which is only open on national holidays, a.k.a. "Holiday Inn," the two men reluctantly reunite. Though it takes place over the course of a year, with a musical number for each holiday, Holiday Inn really feels like a Christmas movie because it introduced the now-classic carol "White Christmas" by Irving Berlin.

White Christmas (1954): Bing and Danny Kaye play Army buddies turned successful entertainers who follow a sister act (Rosemary Clooney and Vera Ellen) to Vermont during an unseasonably warm winter. Vera Ellen is one of my favorite dancing ladies and when she teams with Danny Kaye for "The Best Things Happen While You're Dancing," it is pure joy.

And speaking of that song...it's interesting to see how differently "White Christmas" is treated in Holiday Inn and this film which shares its title. In Holiday Inn, the song is melancholy, sung by a man who is lonely at Christmas. Twelve years later, the song has become a standard. When it is performed by Bing and the rest of the cast (at the beginnning and at the finale) it's no longer a lament, but an expression of nostalgia.

Going My Way (1944) and The Bells of St. Mary's (1945): Bing portrays Father O'Malley, the newly arrived priest who shakes things up at a failing parish. The delightful Barry Fitzgerald plays an old-fashioned elder priest. In 1944, Going My Way was awarded Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director (Leo McCarey), Best Actor (Bing Crosby), Best Supporting Actor (Barry Fitzgerald), Best Song ("Swingin' on a Star"), as well as two other awards.

This film was so popular it warranted a sequel the next year, The Bells of St. Mary's. This time, liberal Father O'Malley finds himself butting heads with strict nun Ingrid Bergman (also an Oscar winner in 1944 for Gaslight) over how best to run the St. Mary's school.

Again, these films do not take place exclusively during the holidays; however, the "holiday spirit" is at the core of each one. The stories may seem corny to "modern" audiences, but I contend that if you can't enjoy these two sweet films then you have no heart.

AMC is showing Holiday Inn during December (check listings on http://www.amctv.com/) and a White Christmas marathon on Christmas Eve. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any scheduled showings of Going My Way or The Bells of St. Mary's this month. However, all four of these films are available on DVD.

Happy Holidays!

R.I.P. Patrick Swayze

This Christmas, like always, I'll decorate a barstool, gather 'round, and sing one of my favorite holiday songs: "Let's Have a Patrick Swayze Christmas." Then I'll settle in with a DVD of Roadhouse because if Patrick Swayze has taught me anything, it's that a good action sequence does belong at Christmas.

I was going to write about something else this week, but I decided to comment on the unfortunate passing of Patrick Swayze. I'm sure that anything I have to say has already been written elsewhere, but I think he's someone who deserves to have nice things written about him. The outpouring of sentiment this week has had as much to do with Swayze's memorable moments on screen, as with the fact that off screen he seemed like a truly decent guy. He was married to the same woman for over 30 years, promoted dance (before it was cool again), and possessed a refreshing sense of humor about himself and his films.

Swayze is not my favorite actor, but he is someone whose films I simply enjoy watching - someone I am glad to spend a couple of hours with on a rainy day. There are a lot of talented and popular actors for whom I can't say the same. Though he had a sense of humor about his image, when he was on screen he was totally committed to each role and that makes him worth watching.

He played a lover (Ghost) and a fighter (Red Dawn), and occasionally something completely off the radar (Donnie Darko). I think that if he had been born a couple of decades earlier, he could have been a musical star at MGM. For some, Swayze is best remembered as the "sensitive man of action" he portrayed in films such as Roadhouse and Point Break. However, I'll always identify him first and foremost as Johnny Castle in Dirty Dancing. (I'm sure this is a gender and/or generational distinction since most women my age have had Dirty Dancing tattooed on their conciousness, whether wittingly or not!)

As a tribute to Swayze's talent, I'm going to recommend a couple of films I have not yet mentioned in this post: Three Wishes and To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar, both from 1995. Neither of these films typecasts Swayze in the sensitive lover or sensitive fighter roles he was known for, but they are both quite charming and perfect for watching on a rainy day.