Best Pictures #88: 2022 (95th) Academy Awards Best Picture Nominee: Elvis (2022)

 by A.J. 

Best Pictures #88: 2022 (95th) Academy Awards Best Picture Nominee

Elvis (2022) 

“We are the same, you and I! We are two odd, lonely children, reaching for eternity.”

Even before the movie actually begins we see the Warner Bros. logo made of shiny gold and encrusted in shimmering jewels. This sight makes sense given that you are about to watch a biopic of Elvis Presley. It also makes sense because you are about to watch a movie directed by Baz Luhrmann. It’s no surprise that the king of rock and roll and the king of cinematic spectacle are a perfect match for each other. Luhrmann's maximalist, bombastic style hits or misses depending on the movie and, more importantly, the viewer. So, in spite of, and because of, all the flaws, strange choices, inexplicable and inconsistent motifs, frenetic montages, and over the top performance and sequences, this turns out to be an incredibly lively biopic. 

As much of a central character as Elvis is his manager Colonel Tom Parker, who is essentially the villain of Elvis’s life story. There are shades of Amadeus, Jesus Christ Superstar, and Hamilton in the screenplay and structure of Elvis; like those works, in which the antagonist is also the narrator, the Colonel serves as our narrator. However, this movie uses only broad strokes to paint Elvis and the Colonel so even after 2 hours and 45 minutes we’re left with sketches instead of full portraits. As the Colonel, Tom Hanks is thoroughly enjoying his wild, strange performance. He plays Colonel Parker, under tons of makeup and a fat suit, like a Batman villain from the 1960’s TV show. The Colonel’s accent is hard to pin down—at one point in his life he claimed to be a citizen of no nation, and thus not subject to any laws—and that is merely one of the over the top elements about Hanks’s performance.  

Austin Butler has a difficult task in playing Elvis. A larger than life character requires a larger than life performance, but Butler must also be the film’s emotional core. He earned a Best Actor Oscar nomination for a performance that rides the line in an over the top movie but never becomes a caricature. Butler successfully makes Elvis a sympathetic person with a serious attitude for his music and the social concerns of the 1950’s and 60’s.

The attention given to comic books and superheroes and “peeping” as thematic refrains never really pays off, or adds up to anything significant though the movie returns to them again and again. The movie reaches a fever pitch as Elvis prepares for his Comeback Special. The importance to the Colonel of Elvis singing “Here Comes Santa Claus” cannot be overstated (“Here Comes Santa Claus” is said enough times to crack anybody’s sanity). 

The area where Baz Luhrmann excels is using his energetic, off-the-wall style to effectively convey the “why” of Elvis’s never before reached heights of superstardom and controversy. When Elvis first performs in front of a large crowd, wiggling his hips, the girls in the audience begin to scream, both are shocked and surprised at the effect they have on each other. This is intercut with dancers in a juke joint (where Elvis first heard the song) grinding on each other to a more blues-y version of the same song. It’s blunt, but the point, well understood but unspoken at the time, is made clear. That Elvis is a white man singing “race music” (music created by black musicians in the American South), in the same style and intensity of its black creators is not overlooked.

This movie shines in its musical scenes and montages where the music and the cinematic style converge into effective, even great, storytelling. Sometimes the dialogue or dramatic scenes in between feel like filler until the next lavish music sequence. That the music sequences are at times a more effective storytelling device than the dramatic sequences is not necessarily a negative, but it makes the movie feel uneven, especially as the runtime drags on. 

Perhaps the most significant achievement of the film, of its screenplay, direction, performances, is showing how Elvis Presley was caught, and in many ways trapped, in an abusive relationship with Colonel Tom Parker. That the Colonel took advantage of Elvis financially, and provided drugs to keep Elvis awake and performing is sadly not a surprise. What this film does is show the human side of this exploitation. The most emotional scenes come when Elvis seems on the verge of breaking with the Colonel only to go back. In this way the fun, campy biopic is also a tragedy. With his grandiose, baroque style, Luhrmann is able to portray so many different aspects of Elvis’s story and his undeniable long lasting influence. 

Nominees: Baz Luhrmann, Catherine Martin, Gail Berman, Patrick McCormick, Schuyler Weiss, producers

Director: Baz Luhrmann

Screenplay: Baz Luhrmann & Sam Bromell and Craig Pearce and Jeremy Doner; story by Baz Luhrmann and Jeremy Doner

Cast: Austin Butler, Tom Hanks, Olivia DeJonge

Production Companies: Warner Bros. Pictures, Bazmark Films, The Jackal Group

Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures

Release Date: June 24th, 2022

Total Nominations: 8, including Best Picture

Other Nominations: Actor-Austin Butler; Cinematography-Mandy Walker; Costume Design-Catherine Martin; Editing-Matt Villa, Jonathan Redmond; Production Design-Catherine Martin, Karen Murphy, Beverley Dunn; Makeup and Hairstyling-Mark Coulier, Jason Baird, Aldo Signoretti, Best Sound, David Lee, Wayne Pashley, Andy Nelson, Michael Keller

13 Nights of Shocktober: The 'Burbs (1989)

by A.J.

This is my favorite time of year, second only to Christmas. Autumn has arrived, the weather is cooling down, and October becomes the month-long celebration of scary movies called Shocktober. There are a lot of horror movies out there, but as a genre, horror is still looked down upon by some mainstream critics and moviegoers. It doesn’t help that, admittedly, there are so few quality horror movies made but, like comedy, it’s a very difficult and subjective genre. So, in the days leading up Halloween I’ll be posting some recommendations for scary movies to help you celebrate Shocktober.

Night 6: Horror-Comedy Night
“I love this street.”

The ‘Burbs (1989)

The ‘Burbs is a spooky fun horror-comedy set in a slightly goofier version of everyday suburbia. Director Joe Dante is right at home in horror-comedy having previously directed 1984’s Gremlins and 1981’s The Howling, both of which played with genre conventions and tropes. The ‘Burbs is no different. With shades of Rear Window, the classic Twilight Zone episode “The Monsters are Due on Maple Street,” and classic horror movies of the 30s and 40s, The ‘Burbs has a genuine admiration for the movies it draws inspiration from while also having fun with them.

Tom Hanks stars as Ray Peterson, an average, sensible everyman spending his vacation just hanging around the house. He gets bored, as you might imagine, and starts watching his neighbors. Something suspicious seems to be going on at the out of place old, creepy house next door. The new neighbors, the Klopeks, are rarely seen except at night and there are strange lights coming from the basement. Ray and his neighbor friends then start to speculate that the Klopeks killed the previous owner of the house and another elderly neighbor that suddenly disappeared.

The cast of The ‘Burbs is a list of great performers in major and minor roles. Aside from Hanks in the lead, Carrie Fisher plays his wife, Carol, the voice of reason. The great character actor Rick Ducommun—you may not recognize the name but you'd certainly recognize his face—plays Ray’s annoying, not too bright neighbor friend that fills his head with paranoid ideas. Bruce Dern plays the military veteran neighbor that still thinks he’s in the military. Henry Gibson—another great character actor whose face you’d certainly recognize—is the unassuming, but believably sinister, Dr. Klopek. Courtney Gaines, the menacing Malachi from Children of the Corn, is funny as the oddball Hans Klopek. Corey Feldman rounds out the cast as the young cool dude on the block. He also serves as a sort of narrator/guide to the world these people have created out of their block of suburbia. He invites his friends over to watch Hanks, Ducommun, and Dern poke around the Klopek house and sits back for an entertaining show.

The ‘Burbs has a pretty broad sense of humor. It draws on horror movie situations for comedy and never takes itself too seriously. Some of the gags are even cartoonish. When Hanks and Ducommun discover part of a skeleton, the camera frantically zooms in and out on them as they scream in terror. These goofy moments are all part of the fun. 

The ‘Burbs is not quite a meta horror film, but the influence of horror films of the past is ever present. The Klopeks being new, potentially dangerous, neighbors from eastern Europe is meant to be reminiscent of Dracula. Cory Feldman compares what the street is experiencing to the horror film The Sentinel. The score by Jerry Goldsmith is meant to evoke the grand ominous music of horror films of the 30’s and 40’s. The only genuinely scary moment in The 'Burbs comes when Hanks has a nightmare after watching parts the horror films Race with the Devil, The Exorcist, and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 on TV. The characters in The Burbs are aware of horror movies, so they know how outlandish it seems that the new neighbors are serial killers. This movie is heavy on laughs and light on actual scares, so even if you don’t like horror movies you’ll still be able to enjoy this horror-comedy. 

Best Pictures #14: 2015 (88th) Academy Awards Best Picture Nominee, Bridge of Spies (2015)

by A.J.

2015 (88^th) Academy Awards Best Picture Nominee

Bridge of Spies (2015)

Bridge of Spies, like fellow 2015 Best Picture nominee Spotlight, is the most difficult kind of thriller to execute: a true story to which you already know the ending. Spotlight had the advantage of being a detective story in addition to being a procedural to draw the audience into the plot. Bridge of Spies is also a procedural except the main character doesn’t know what the procedure is and has to figure it out along the way. That may be shaky material to start with, but in the skilled hands at work both on and off screen the result is an excellent low-key but suspenseful Cold War thriller.  

Bridge of Spies has two distinct settings each occupying a half of the film and presenting a different challenge for our hero, insurance lawyer James Donovan, played by Tom Hanks. In New York in 1957, where the film begins, Donovan is selected by his law firm for the task of defending recently arrested Soviet spy Rudolph Abel, played by Mark Rylance. It is a thankless task since Abel certainly is a spy, but the courts and Justice Department feel it is important that Abel appear to receive a fair trial and competent defense. They want someone to give the minimum effort required. They found the wrong man for that with Donovan. Abel’s trial is just for show, but Donovan takes the case seriously saying that every person matters and everyone deserves a defense. He gives Abel a more than competent defense much to the chagrin and disdain of the judge, his firm, and anyone that recognizes him on the street. I couldn’t help but be reminded of John Adams defending British soldiers after the Boston Massacre of 1770 to prove that American justice is truly fair and impartial. I think it is safe to assume both men share the belief that everyone deserves a fair trial and capable defense.  

Hanks fits into the role of James Donovan with convincing ease and brings his everyman persona to a character that is a low key, quiet badass. In scene after scene we him doing what he does best, which is not just practicing law, but also negotiating for “his guy,” unintimidated by whoever the other person in the room is. Donovan is going to do not just what is asked of him; he is going to do what he knows is right and fair. Hanks is great at playing Donovan with believable confidence and conviction and without condescension or any hint of self-righteousness.

The second half of the film gives Donovan an even bigger, more complicated challenge and sends him to Berlin, just as final stones of the wall dividing West and East Berlin are being set in place. He is asked by the CIA, unofficially, to travel to Berlin and negotiate a trade with the Soviets: Abel for recently captured U2 spy plane pilot Francis Gary Powers, who was shot down over Soviet airspace. Making things even more complicated, the East Germans have arrested an American student that was caught on the wrong side of the wall. Donovan becomes determined to get both Americans back even though he has only one Soviet spy to trade, the U.S. doesn’t acknowledge the existence of the German Democratic Republic, and the CIA has no interest in getting the student back.

Both halves of Bridge of Spies are interesting and engaging but the film feels like it really takes off once Donovan is sent to Berlin. The people and bureaucrats that he encounters, East German and Soviet alike, range from suspicious to bizarre. He has a particularly amusing encounter with the dramatically expressive East German Attorney General, and Abel’s supposed family is an odd bunch, too. Joel and Ethan Coen co-wrote the screenplay and, unintentionally or not, the Berlin scenes have the eccentric Coen Brothers feel to them. 

Tom Hanks owns every scene he has in this movie, except for those he shares with Mark Rylance. They do not have many scenes together, but are immensely entertaining to watch. Rylance, nominated for a Supporting Actor Oscar, is a quiet, unassuming presence on screen and provides some unexpected wry humor. Whether we are watching Jim Donovan negotiating an impossible exchange or watching Hanks and Rylance show us more by doing less, it is always interesting to watching someone do something very well.

This may be a story about spies and the Cold War but it is much more in line with the slow burn character heavy spy stories of John le Carrè, author of the novel that was adapted into the excellent Oscar nominated film, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011). Most of the action in this movie comes from people talking in rooms sizing each other up, trying to find out what the other person knows while revealing as little as possible of what they know. The tension of those interesting, suspenseful, and entertaining scenes comes from the well-written and well played characters. Human lives, more so than government secrets, are at risk, and the only person aware of that in Bridge of Spies is Donovan. He tells a Soviet representative, “We need to have the conversation that our governments can’t.”

There are several things that have to be done well for a movie like Bridge of Spies to work and, fortunately, they are all done very well. The screenplay by Matt Charman and Joel & Ethan Coen, which is deservedly Oscar nominated for Original Screenplay, provides the actors with great material to work with. The cinematography by Janusz Kaminski gives Bridge of Spies the look and feel of a noir film. The dull, muted color palette of the costumes and production design makes the New York and Berlin of the past feel genuine and real and not like an exaggerated memory.

It has been a long time since I’ve been excited to see a movie directed by Steven Spielberg, or been excited by a movie by him. Spielberg’s movies over the past ten years have been good but uneven (Lincoln, 2012, Munich, 2005) or well-made but unremarkable (War Horse, 2011). I admit that I was not excited when I saw Spielberg’s name as director for this movie, but having seen it, I’m very glad with the result. It feels clichéd but accurate to say that Bridge of Spies is a “return to form” for Spielberg; this is the kind of quality I expect from a master filmmaker like him. This is a tough story for any filmmaker to tackle, but Spielberg has shown that he is still a skilled craftsman and was the right man for the job. Bridge of Spies, the last Spielberg movie I enjoyed completely from beginning to end was The Terminal, released in 2004. That film was also the last time he worked with Tom Hanks, so I can’t help but think that they bring out the best in each other.

Nominees: Steven Spielberg, Marc Platt, Kristie Macosko Krieger, Producers

Director: Steven Spielberg

Screenplay: Matt Charman and Joel & Ethan Coen

Cast: Tom Hanks, Mark Rylance, Amy Ryan

Production Companies: DreamWorks Pictures, Fox 2000 Pictures, Reliance Entertainment, Participant Media, TSG Entertainment, Afterworks Limited, Studio Babelsberg, Amblin Entertainment, Marc Platt Productions

Distributor: Walt Disney Studios, 20^th Century Fox

Release Date: October 16^th, 2015

Total Nominations: 6, including Best Picture

Other Nominations: Supporting Actor in a Supporting-Mark Rylance, Original Screenplay-Matt Charman and Joel & Ethan Coen, Production Design-Adam Stockhausen, Rena DeAngelo, Bernhard Henrich, Original Score-Thomas Newman, Sound Mixing-Andy Nelson, Gary Rydstrom, Drew Kunin   

Classic Movie Picks: February 2016

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.)

It is awards season in Hollywood, which means that it is also time for TCM's 31 Days of Oscar festival featuring Academy Award-nominated films from February 1 through March 2. This year, as a play on the "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon" game, each film in the 31 Days schedule is linked to the next by a common actor; no actor is repeated and the last film is linked to the first. For my monthly movie picks, I've linked an actor from each classic film to a 2016 Oscar nominee. Each is linked in less than six degrees and no actor is repeated.  As an added bit of fun, or difficulty, the last link must include the current nominee's co-star in the movie from which he or she was nominated. Make sense? Let's get to the picks...

2/5, 8 PM - The Love Parade (1929)
The Love Parade is a light, airy musical comedy directed by Ernst Lubitsch starring Maurice Chevalier as a raffish count who marries the queen of a small European country, played by Jeanette MacDonald, only to find that being the man behind the great lady isn't a role he's willing to play. The film has an interesting take on gender politics, but ends on an unfortunately conventional note. However, it's pretty fun along the way. The film is at its most crackling when Chevalier and MacDonald trade flirty dialogue and Lubitsch employs his talent for telling risqué jokes in a tasteful fashion. 
The film received seven Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director for Lubitsch, and Best Actor for Chevalier. MacDonald is most associated with the string of wholesome operettas she starred in opposite Nelson Eddy. The Love Parade was MacDonald's first film and I was surprised to learn that it was Lubitsch who discovered her. As Queen Louise she shows off a talent for comedy and singing, as well as her legs. The rest of the cast includes colorful character actors like silent film comedian Lupino Lane, gravel-voiced Eugene Pallette, and plucky Lillian Roth (whose thick New York accent is a bit of an anachronism, but who cares?).
To connect The Love Parade to this year's Oscar nominees, we'll go from Chevalier to Leslie Caron (Gigi) to Juliette Binoche (Chocolat) to Steve Carell (Dan in Real Life) to Christian Bale in The Big Short. I've been a fan of Bale for a long time (hello, Newsies!) and I'd love to see him try a romantic role again after his latest streak of intense dramatic and action roles. Has it really been 21 years since he stole hearts as Laurie in Little Women? I know Bale has it in him to channel his inner Chevalier in a light romance again.

2/10, 3:45 AM - This Land is Mine (1943)
Charles Laughton stars as a timid school teacher living in a World War II occupied town and suspected of being a Nazi collaborator. Though we're told the setting is "somewhere in Europe," it is likely meant to be France, the home country of director Jean Renoir. Renoir, who had made the great anti-war film Grand Illusion in 1937, aimed to show American audiences what the day-to-day life of an occupied country was like for its citizens. In addition to Laughton, the cast includes the very capable Maureen O'Hara, George Sanders, and Walter Slezak.
The film won an Academy Award for Best Sound. It was the only competitive Academy Award ever received by a Renoir film, though the director did receive an honorary award in 1974. 
I'm going to connect This Land is Mine to a 2016 Oscar nominated film which also looks at paranoia and suspicion during wartime, Bridge of Spies: from star Maureen O'Hara to John Candy (Only the Lonely) to Tom Hanks (Volunteers) to Best Supporting Actor nominee Mark Rylance. Rylance's understated and unexpectedly wry performance as a convicted Russian spy during the Cold War is one of my favorites of the year.

2/26, 3:30 PM - Day for Night (1973)
Francois Truffaut directed, co-wrote, and stars in Day for Night as a film director struggling to complete his movie on-location in the French Riviera. Frequent collaborator Jean-Pierre Leaud plays the lead actor in the film-within-a-film and the glamorous Jacqueline Bissett is the leading lady. It's a movie about making movies - a favorite topic for the Academy Awards - and the title refers to the technique of filming a scene set at night during the daytime with the help of a camera filter. 
Day for Night received Oscar nominations for Truffaut in the categories of Best Director and Best Original Screenplay, as well as a Best Supporting Actress nomination for veteran Italian actress Valentina Cortese as an older actress who can't remember her lines. However, the only Academy Award it won was Best Foreign Language Film, as the entry for France, which isn't too shabby.
Day for Night is about creating an illusion, a fiction which we accept as reality; so, I'll connect it to current nominee which is also about constructing reality from illusion, but with a much more dramatic tone: Room. Jacqueline Bissett connects to Sean Connery (Murder on the Orient Express) to Kevin Costner (The Untouchables) to Joan Allen (The Upside of Anger) to the star of Room, Brie Larson. Larson's affecting performance as a young woman held captive in a single room, striving to create a loving and healthy reality for her son, has made her a front-runner for this year's Best Actress award.

2/27, 12 AM - Apollo 13 (1995)
Apollo 13 tells the true story of the 1970 mission to the moon in which three astronauts were left stranded en route after an explosion crippled their spacecraft. Tom Hanks, Bill Paxton, and Kevin Bacon play the astronauts who, with the help of Mission Control in Houston, must draw upon all their training to devise solutions which will bring them home. Director Ron Howard has made many good films and I think this is one of his very best; surprisingly though, Howard was not even nominated by the Academy for Best Director (the award that year ultimately went to Mel Gibson for Braveheart). Howard would win an Oscar six years later for A Beautiful Mind, but I think Apollo 13 is a better film and a better testament to his skill. (And it isn't even my favorite film of 1995; that would be fellow Best Picture nominee Sense and Sensibility whose director, Ang Lee, was also not nominated...it was a strange year.)
The film received eight Academy Award nominations including Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay, and Supporting Actor and Actress nominations for Ed Harris as the Mission Control flight director and Kathleen Quinlan as Marilyn, the wife of astronaut Jim Lovell (played by Tom Hanks). However, it won only two awards, for sound and editing.
I have a hard time thinking of any film about space exploration that doesn't involve some sort of accident which jeopardizes the entire mission. Maybe A Trip to the Moon from 1899? Of course, in that adventure from film's early days, the voyage was all a dream; but since mankind actually started taking trips to the moon, filmmakers have devised all manner of calamities to befall such missions - some based on fact, but mostly fiction. One such story is current Best Picture nominee The Martian. Like Apollo 13, the veteran director of The Martian, Ridley Scott, was not nominated by the Academy. I really liked The Martian and I'm disappointed that it isn't more of a front-runner this awards season; though star Matt Damon has a long-shot chance for Best Actor. For this last connection from Oscar nominees past to present, I have to start with Mr. Six Degrees himself, Kevin Bacon: from Bacon to John Lithgow (Footloose) to Jessica Chastain (Interstellar) to the titular "martian" Matt Damon. 

The 2016 Oscars, honoring films from 2015, will be given out on February 28. I'll be watching to see if any of my favorite films win, hope you'll join me!

Classic Movie Picks: February 2014

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.)

Once again, in honor of the Academy Awards, the TCM elves have programmed 31 days of Oscar nominated films. This is always one of my favorite months on TCM because, despite the numerous commentators who say that awards don't mean anything, I find it fascinating to look back at which films captured the attention of critics and audiences in a given year. This year, the primetime line-ups feature all the nominated films in a particular category in a single year -- such as today's schedule of Best Picture nominees from 1939 -- allowing those of us at home to decide if we agree with the Academy's decision.
For my picks this month, I've chosen films which remind me of the current crop of Oscar nominees. It proved a bit of a challenge since classic-era filmmakers failed to tackle such topics as Gravity's female astronaut lost in space (without a male hero along to rescue her) or a man who falls in love with his cell phone as in Her. And Hollywood films even today struggle to portray slavery in America with the same honesty as 12 Years a Slave. However, greed, injustice, and danger at sea have proved to be fertile ground for movie makers throughout the decades. So let's dive in!

2/10, 4 PM - Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)
Gary Cooper plays Longfellow Deeds, a humble, small-town eccentric who unexpectedly inherits $20 million and is immediately beset upon by predators looking for their piece of his fortune. Nebraska's prize winner, Woody Grant (portrayed by Bruce Dern), may not be as altruistic as Deeds, but when he believes he's won $1 million all he really wants is a new truck and an air compressor. Family and friends back in Woody's hometown are angling for their cut, despite the fact that Woody has yet to collect, and Woody generously offers the few bucks he has in his pockets. Deeds was nominated for Best Picture, Actor, Screenplay, and Sound, but its only win was for director Frank Capra. Out of Nebraska's six nominations, including ones for director Alexander Payne and actor Dern, I think its best chances for a win could be for either Bob Nelson's Original Screenplay or cinematographer Phedon Papamichael.

2/11, 8:30 AM - The Lady Eve (1941)
In this much-praised Preston Sturges comedy, Charles Coburn and Barbara Stanwyck play con artists "Colonel" Harry Harrington and his daughter, Jean, who bilk a small fortune from a mild-mannered beer scion played by Henry Fonda. These card sharps preying upon wealthy travelers aboard luxury liners are not much different from the shady operators of American Hustle. Of course, one could argue that at least the Harringtons' marks can afford to lose some of their cash, unlike the desperate people who come to Christian Bale and Amy Adams (aka "Lady Edith Greensly") for dubious loans in Hustle. Moreover, both films prove that with the right dress and a phony English accent a clever woman can convince a man of almost anything; and the better the dress, the worse your accent can be. The Lady Eve received only one nomination, for Original Screenplay; in contrast, American Hustle is at the front of this year's pack, in a tie with Gravity, with 10 nominations.

2/23, 4:45 PM - Mutiny on the Bounty (1962)
3/2, 8 PM - Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
The true story of the HMS Bounty, which set sail from England in 1787 bound for Tahiti and upon its return experienced an infamous mutiny, has been adapted for the screen many times. Both the 1935 and 1962 versions received 7 Oscar nominations; however, the earlier version had bigger box office success and has retained a better critical reputation in the ensuing years. The film also won Best Picture in 1935, its only award. Clark Gable, Charles Laughton, and Franchot Tone all received Best Actor nominations for their respective roles, which may helped split the vote in favor of the eventual winner, Victor MacLaglen for The Informer. Since TCM is playing both films this month, you can decide which version of the story you prefer. In both films Captain Bligh, as played by Laughton and later Trevor Howard, is portrayed as a cruel tyrant who grossly mistreated his crew. In contrast, historical accounts paint a picture of an accomplished captain and humane disciplinarian resented by only a few malcontents among the crew (but that doesn't make quite as juicy a role or exciting a movie plot). In this sense, I was reminded of Tom Hanks in Captain Phillips. He runs a tight ship and has little tolerance for breaches of discipline. Phillips' security precautions prove justified when the ship is attacked by pirates; however, the crew ultimately couldn't hold off the intruders. Captain Phillips is nominated for 6 Oscars, but I wouldn't be surprised if, like 62's Mutiny, the filmmakers go home empty-handed.

BONUS PICK: 3/3, 2 AM - The Last Voyage (1960)
Not since Jaws terrorized the beaches of Amity has the sea been so dangerous -- at least that's the impression one gets from the numerous recent films which showed that no ocean is safe. Kon-Tiki had a memorable shark attack of its own, while the 21st century waters of Captain Phillips were infested with Somali pirates. All is Lost proved that even trusty vessels can fail you when faced with nature's fury, as demonstrated again when the Wolf of Wall Street's yacht contended with some "chop" out on the Mediterranean. In honor of 2013's peril-at-sea theme, I'm picking The Last Voyage which follows passengers Robert Stack and Dorothy Malone struggling to survive aboard a slowly sinking ship. 10 years before The Poseidon Adventure and almost 40 years before Titanic, this film offered a thrillingly realistic shipwreck adventure. The filmmakers did not use miniatures or rear screen projection, instead, a real ship was flooded and flipped over. The film's special effects received an Oscar nomination, but lost out to The Time Machine.

2/26, 1:30 PM - Elmer Gantry (1960)
This film about a charismatic evangelist who inspires fervor among his acolytes, and easily parts trusting folk with their money, earned Burt Lancaster the Oscar for Best Actor as well as awards for supporting actress Shirley Jones and the screenplay by Richard Brooks. Leonardo DiCaprio's corrupt stocktrader Jordan Belfort in The Wolf of Wall Street proves to have a similarly seductive way with words as an evangelist for greed. He shamelessly peddles worthless stocks, effortlessly attracts accomplices and followers, and, perhaps most importantly, he is able to convince himself that his depraved behavior is somehow acceptable. Unlike Elmer Gantry, however, DiCaprio's Belfort displays no remorse for his misdeeds. Therefore, I don't think DiCaprio will follow Lancaster as a Best Actor winner; despite a performance of physical and verbal virtuosity, his character is just too repellant. Wolf received 5 Oscar nominations and its best chance may be Terence Winter's Original Screenplay.

2/28, 5:45 PM - Philadelphia (1993)
Though AIDS first became part of the collective consciousness in the early 80s, 1993's Philadelphia was the first mainstream Hollywood film to deal with HIV/AIDS, casting a honest look at the homophobia which hindered efforts to deal with this major health crisis. Though the title references a place -- the "City of Brotherly Love," here notably lacking in compassion -- the story is about one person's struggle. Tom Hanks won his first Best Actor award for this portrayal of Andrew Beckett, a young gay lawyer who is ostracized and eventually fired from his law firm after it becomes clear that he is suffering from AIDS. Beyond the obvious connection of subject matter, Philadelphia and 2013's Dallas Buyers Club are linked by their strong lead performances. For his role as a homophobe dying of AIDS, Matthew McConaughey has a very good chance of winning Best Actor; ironically, his win could come in a year in which Hanks' solid performance in Captain Phillips was overlooked for a nomination. Because films like Philadelphia have covered this ground first -- and, in the case of the Oscar-nominated documentary How to Survive a Plague, more comprehensively -- Dallas Buyers Club doesn't feel like a revelation. However, both McConaughey and supporting actor Jared Leto are deserving of the accolades they've received.

And the Oscar Goes To... (2014)
This original TCM documentary goes behind-the-scenes at the Academy Awards. Utilizing the expertise of official Oscar historian Robert Osborne, as well as numerous Oscar winners, this doc should offer a lot of fun trivia for movie lovers.
It is showing on 2/1, 2/2, 2/7, 2/10, and 2/15 -- check the full schedule for times.