Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner

Nominated in: 1968
Did it win? No, the Oscar went to In the Heat of the Night
Worth watching? Yes
Standout performance: Spencer Tracy as Matt Drayton, Sidney Poitier as Dr. John Wade Prentice
Watchfl’s favorite quote: “You don’t know how I feel, what I think. And if I tried to explain it the rest of your life you [...]

Gone with the Wind

Gone with the Wind is important in all the ways a film can be important: historically, financially, topically, critically.

Bonnie and Clyde

Nominated in: 1968
Did it win? No
Worth watching? Yes
Standout performance: Warren Beatty as Clyde Barrow
Watchfl’s favorite quote: “You’ve heard the story of Jesse James, of how he lived and died. If you’re still in need of something to read, here’s the story of Bonnie and Clyde.” – Bonnie Parker
Bonnie and Clyde was a hugely celebrated film; [...]

Gandhi

Nominated in: 1983
Did it win? Yes
Worth watching? Yes
Standout performance: Sir Ben Kingsley as Gandhi
Watchfl’s favorite quote: “Whenever I despair, I remember that the way of truth and love has always won. There may be tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they may seem invincible, but in the end, they always fail. Think of it: [...]

The Killing Fields

Nominated in: 1985
Did it win? No, the Oscar went to Amadeus
Worth watching? Yes
Standout performance: Dr. Haing S. Nor as Dith Pran, Cambodian journalist and New York Times translator
Watchfl’s favorite quote: “I’m a reporter too, Morgan! I know his heart. I love him like my brother, and I’d do anything for him! Anything!” [...]

The Queen

Nominated in: 2007
Did it win? No, the Oscar went to The Departed
Worth watching? Yes
Standout performance: Helen Mirren as Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
Watchfl’s favorite quote: “Because you saw all those headlines and you thought: ‘One day that might happen to me’…and it will, Mr. Blair. Quite suddenly and without warning” – Helen Mirren
How did Queen [...]

Changeling (Just say “yes” to editing)

I saw Changeling in the theater a few weeks ago. Although its weak title suggests something science-fictionish, the movie is actually based on a true story.
Christine Collins, a single mother in 1930s Los Angeles, begins living a nightmare when her only son disappears while she is at work. The corrupt L.A. Police return a [...]

A Place in the Sun

Nominated in: 1952
Did it win? No, the Oscar went to An American in Paris
Worth watching? Yes
Standout performance: Montgomery Clift as George Eastman
Watchfl’s favorite quote: “I love you. I’ve loved you since the first moment I saw you. I guess maybe I’ve even loved you before I saw you.” – Montgomery Clift
Based on the novel An [...]

Beautiful Girls

Timothy Hutton and I have similar movie taste. I know, who?
He starred in Ordinary People, Everybody’s All American and Beautiful Girls, the subject of this entry. All of these films have character-driven plots with complex emotional themes. They raise questions and offer no answers, and I am inexplicably drawn to them.
Beautiful Girls is the first [...]

In the Heat of the Night

Nominated in: 1967
Did it win? Yes
Worth watching? Yes
Standout performance: Sidney Poitier and Rod Steiger are both excellent as Detective Virgil Tibbs and Police Chief Bill Gillespie, respectively
Watchfl’s favorite quote: “They call me Mister Tibbs!” – Sidney Poitier
There have been many outstanding movies about race relations and civil rights in the United States. My favorites are [...]