The Cardinal (1963)

The Cardinal DVD

Academy Awards, USA 1964

Nominated Oscar	Best Actor in a Supporting Role John Huston
	Best Director Otto Preminger
	Best Cinematography, Color Leon Shamroy
	Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color Lyle R. Wheeler Gene Callahan
	Best Costume Design, Color Donald Brooks
	Best Film Editing Louis R. Loeffler

Columbia Pictures
Directed by Otto Preminger
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb Wikipedia
(DVD, Warner Bros.)

Tom Tryon plays a young priest struggling with his new role advising parishioners on matters of life, death and faith. He is sent to a rural New England community to learn humility, but ends up taking care of an elderly and dying priest. He gets transferred to Europe and appears to have a bright future, but instead has a crisis of faith and is given a two year sabbatical to figure it out. He falls in love with one of his students in Germany, but decides he was meant for the priesthood after all. He eventually becomes a Cardinal at the Vatican. The first half of this long story, which takes place in America, is actually a fairly moving story of a struggling young priest. However, it loses its way in the second half with two stories of racism in the South and Nazis in Germany, which seem dated and forced. Tryon's one dimensional performance doesn't help.

Legendary Champions (1968)

Academy Awards, USA 1969

Nominated Oscar

Best Documentary, Features William Cayton

Directed by Harry Chapin
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb Wikipedia
(YouTube)

Rare footage of the early days of boxing, including bare-fisted, is the main attraction of this documentary. Much of the footage is blurry and in poor condition, but sketches and photographs manage to fill in the gaps. Jack Johnson stands out among the many personalities presented, his friendly smile and easy going personality belying a tiger-like ferocity when he sets his mind to it in the ring. The late 60s muzak is a major distraction.

Lincoln (2012)

Lincoln (Blu-ray+DVD)

Academy Awards, USA 2013

Won Oscar	Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role Daniel Day-Lewis
	Best Achievement in Production Design Rick Carter (production designer) Jim Erickson (set decorator)
Nominated Oscar	Best Motion Picture of the Year Steven Spielberg Kathleen Kennedy
	Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role Tommy Lee Jones
	Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role Sally Field
	Best Achievement in Directing Steven Spielberg
	Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay Tony Kushner
	Best Achievement in Cinematography Janusz Kaminski
	Best Achievement in Film Editing Michael Kahn
	Best Achievement in Costume Design Joanna Johnston
	Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score John Williams
	Best Achievement in Sound Mixing Andy Nelson Gary Rydstrom Ron Judkins

Touchstone Pictures
Directed by Steven Spielberg
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb Wikipedia
(Blu-ray, DreamWorks)

In the early days of Lincoln's second term, the Civil War is winding down and he intends to pass the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution ending slavery before readmitting the southern states. In order to garner enough votes in the House of Representatives, he must convince highly skeptical and occasionally outright hostile Congressmen to vote for it. He essentially bribes a few with offers of jobs in his new administration, but with others must appeal to their dubious moral ground. He gets considerable help from the influential Thaddeus Stevens, leader of the Radical Republicans and fervent abolitionist, played to perfection by Tommy Lee Jones. His wife gives him moral support at home, but her mental stability leads to other problems. There are moments of great joy when the Amendment passes after a suspenseful vote, but they are soon tempered by the president's untimely assassination. The politics can be dense and you might want to hone up on your history before watching, but Spielberg gives it his usual slick production values, perhaps a little too slick at times.

Wings (1927)

Wings (1927) (BD) [Blu-ray]

Academy Awards, USA 1929

Won Oscar	Best Picture, Production
	Best Effects, Engineering Effects Roy Pomeroy

Paramount Pictures
Directed by William A. Wellman
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb Wikipedia
(Blu-ray, Paramount)

The exploits of two childhood friends who enlist during WWI to become pilots for the Army. Both are in love with the same girl, but she only pretends to be in love with one of them out of sympathy, little realizing that the girl next door, Clara Bow, is the one really in love with him. They go through the usual pilot school routine, eventually going on bombing runs over France. There is a memorable sequence in a Paris nightclub involving champagne bubbles. However, the aerial combat sequences are the real highlight, including hand tinted flame-outs. Highly enjoyable, if occasionally sudsy, silent film that will forever be known as the first winner of the Academy Award for Best Picture.

The Farm: Angola, USA (1998)

Academy Awards, USA 1999

Nominated Oscar

Best Documentary, Features Jonathan Stack Liz Garbus

A&E Network
Directed by Liz Garbus, Wilbert Rideau and Jonathan Stack
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb Wikipedia
(YouTube)

A glimpse at life in the nation's largest prison in Lousiana. Most of the prisoners are there for life, with statistics quoted at around 80% will die there. A friendly warden keeps things in perspective, while the prisoners work in the fields, see the occasional visitor and research their cases. While some are obviously guilty, and readily admit it, others make convincing cases for their innocence. Any one of these stories could be enough for their own documentary, but this documentary seems content to just stick with the basic details. There is a follow up feature made 10 years later for the curious.

The Cry of Reason (1988)

Academy Awards, USA 1989

Nominated Oscar

Best Documentary, Features Robert Bilheimer Ronald Mix

Directed by Robert Bilheimer
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb Wikipedia
(YouTube)

Beyers Naudé, a white Afrikaner and pastor, realizes the inhumanity of the South African apartheid system after a massacre in the early 1960s. He spends the rest of his life as one of the few South African whites to speak out against it, at great personal sacrifice. He gives impassioned speeches while still managing to be humble. One of the more inspirational documentaries of the many that have been made on apartheid.

Promises to Keep (1988)

Academy Awards, USA 1989

Nominated Oscar

Best Documentary, Features Ginny Durrin

Durrin Productions
Directed by Ginny Durrin
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb Wikipedia
(YouTube)

Activists break into a Federal building in DC and use it as a shelter for the homeless. Hundreds show up nightly, but the government tries to shut it down. Mitch Snyder, the leader of the activist group, and others begin a months-long fast to demand action from President Reagan. On the eve of the election, Reagan agrees to make renovations to the building, ending the fast. Months and then years pass with no renovations, prompting more protests. Snyder is a huge personality, single-handedly keeping the cause alive against all odds. His eventual victory is a little anticlimactic, with a Hollywood movie crew starring Martin Sheen (who also narrates this film) showing up at the shelter to make the TV movie, Samaritan: The Mitch Snyder Story.

The Killing Ground (1979)

Academy Awards, USA 1980

Nominated Oscar

Best Documentary, Features Steve Singer Tom Priestley

ABC News Closeup
Directed by Steve Singer and Tom Priestley
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb Wikipedia
(YouTube)

Investigative news-style program produced by ABC and written by Brit Hume, exposing illegal chemical dumping in New Jersey, Louisiana and most famously, the Love Canal in Niagara, New York. Unfortunately, it resorts to confrontational interviews with representatives of the companies involved, or innocent government workers. It also incorporates subliminal editing techniques. The stories speak for themselves, so none of that was really necessary.

Isaac in America: A Journey with Isaac Bashevis Singer (1986)

Academy Awards, USA 1987

Nominated Oscar

Best Documentary, Features Kirk Simon Amram Nowak

Direct Cinema Limited
Directed by Amram Nowak
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb Wikipedia
(YouTube)

A glimpse at the life of Yiddish writer Singer, still alive and kicking at 80 years old in New York City. He visits the same cafeteria which appeared in many of his stories. Later, he visits the neighborhood in Coney Island where he spent his first few years in America as a Polish immigrant. We also see him receiving the Nobel Prize in literature in Stockholm. Singer emerges as intelligent, friendly and with a great sense of humor. Brief, but thoroughly enjoyable.

The Card (1952)

Academy Awards, USA 1953

Nominated Oscar

Best Sound, Recording

General Film Distributors (UK)
Directed by Ronald Neame
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb Wikipedia
(YouTube)

Alec Guinness plays an enterprising young man from a poor background in a fictional British city. He cheats to get into college, blackmails his way into a job as an assistant to a solicitor and eventually finds wealth as a loan shark to poor people who can't pay their rent on time. Naturally, he turns to politics to complete his ascension to power. He manages to find a wife in pretty Petula Clark, after ditching Glynis Johns who only wants his money. Guinness' friendly persona masks a ruthless character who seizes any opportunity to make a profit. This somewhat blunts the social criticism, not to mention leaving a bad taste in one's mouth.