Romeo and Juliet (1968)

Academy Awards, USA 1969

Winner Oscar	Best Cinematography Pasqualino De Santis
	Best Costume Design Danilo Donati
Nominee Oscar	Best Picture Anthony Havelock-Allan John Brabourne
	Best Director Franco Zeffirelli

Paramount
Directed by Franco Zeffirelli
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb Wikipedia
(DVD, Paramount)

Two teenagers fall in love in medieval Italy, but happen to be from families whose longstanding feud leads to frequent street brawls. Her flirtations cause her cousin to challenge Romeo to a duel. He resists, but his friend fights instead, leading to his death, and later the death of her cousin in another duel. Romeo is banished from the town, causing Juliet much grief. Her parents, unaware they have been secretly married, try to arrange a marriage for her with a wealthy aristocrat. Unable to dissuade them, she concocts a plan with a friend of Romeo to fake her own death. More tragedy ensues. While it may be faithful to Shakespeare, the dialogue is often too confusing, if not outright unintelligible, and often yelled by its enthusiastic and youthful players. Disappointing.

The Hours (2002)

Academy Awards, USA 2003

Winner Oscar	Best Actress in a Leading Role Nicole Kidman
Nominee Oscar	Best Picture Scott Rudin Robert Fox
	Best Actor in a Supporting Role Ed Harris
	Best Actress in a Supporting Role Julianne Moore
	Best Director Stephen Daldry
	Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay David Hare
	Best Costume Design Ann Roth
	Best Film Editing Peter Boyle
	Best Music, Original Score Philip Glass

Paramount
Directed by Stephen Daldry
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb Wikipedia
(DVD, Paramount)

Virginia Woolf is having a nervous breakdown while writing her latest book in 1920s England. Decades later, dissatisfied California housewife Julianne Moore reads the finished novel while trying to hold her own life together. In modern day New York City, a character strongly resembling the one in the novel prepares a party for a friend dying of AIDS. The stories interweave and have striking similarities, not the least of which is suicide. The second and third merge as Moore's character turns out to be the elderly mother of the dying man, revealing what happened in the long intervening gap. Occasionally moving but mostly confusing, the non-linear storytelling apparently meant to mimic the style of Woolf's writing. Mostly, though, I could not stop looking at Nicole Kidman's prosthetic nose, an entirely unnecessary distraction. Soundtrack by Philip Glass is good, but also calls to much attention to itself.

Kung Fu Panda (2008)

Academy Awards, USA 2009

Nominee Oscar

Best Animated Feature Film of the Year John Stevenson Mark Osborne

Paramount
Directed by John Stevenson and Mark Osborne
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb Wikipedia
(Blu-ray, DreamWorks)

An overweight panda and fervent kung fu fan unwittingly becomes the "Dragon Warrior" after being accidentally chosen to save a small valley in China from the revenge of a spurned student. Tasked with training the panda is a teacher and his five master students, who put him in intentionally humiliating situations in an attempt to dissuade him. He not only persists, but ultimately excels, when his teacher discovers that food can motivate him to do almost anything. His unorthodox style, and layers of fat, make him a formidable opponent when his enemy shows up, a ferocious and angry snow leopard. The animation is smooth and vibrant, the plot intelligent and humorous, making this a better-than-average animated adventure meant to appeal to a wide audience.

America America (1963)

Academy Awards, USA 1964

Winner Oscar	Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White Gene Callahan
Nominee Oscar	Best Picture Elia Kazan
	Best Director Elia Kazan
	Best Writing, Story and Screenplay - Written Directly for the Screen Elia Kazan

Warner Bros.
Directed by Elia Kazan
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb Wikipedia
(DVD, Warner Bros.)

A Greek family living in Turkey sends their oldest son to Istanbul to make money in the family carpet business. Along the perilous journey he manages to lose all of his possessions, even his shoes, to a fast talking fellow traveler. His relative in Istanbul tries to convince him to marry the daughter of a wealthy customer, but he dreams of starting a new life in America so refuses. He ends up homeless on the streets and is almost killed when he is mistaken as a rebel by Turkish soldiers. After recovering from his wounds, he once again ends up with his relative and engaged to the same wealthy daughter. He can't go through with it and instead concocts a plan to get to America by starting an affair with an older wealthy American woman. He manages to reach New York City and fulfills his dreams. Gritty account of director Elia Kazan's family history, he provides narration at the beginning and end of the film. Young unknown actor Stathis Giallelis, with a permanent smirk on his face, makes it more difficult than it should be to sympathize with in the leading role.

The Nun's Story (1959)

Academy Awards, USA 1960

Nominee Oscar	Best Picture Henry Blanke
	Best Actress in a Leading Role Audrey Hepburn
	Best Director Fred Zinnemann
	Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium Robert Anderson
	Best Cinematography, Color Franz Planer
	Best Sound George Groves (Warner Bros. SSD)
	Best Film Editing Walter Thompson
	Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture Franz Waxman

Warner Bros.
Directed by Fred Zinnemann
My rating: 3.5 stars out of 4
IMDb Wikipedia
(DVD, Warner Bros.)

Audrey Hepburn, the daughter of a prominent surgeon in Belgium, enters a convent. She undergoes years of rigorous training which teaches her to give up worldly desires. She also is trained to be a nurse in tropical medicine, for which she has a natural aptitude. Her rebellious nature often gets her in trouble with the nuns, who send her to work in a mental hospital instead of her preferred location in the Belgian Congo. She attacked by a patient and after recovering she is eventually sent to Africa. There she excels as the assistant to surgeon Peter Finch. He senses her doubts about being a nun, thought there is never a relationship. She contracts tuberculosis and has a long convalescence, after which she returns to the convent in Belgium. Dissatisfied, and feeling her medical talents are being wasted, she asks to be released from her vows. Hepburn is perfectly cast as the strong, silent nun struggling to reconcile her beliefs with her vocation. Finch is just as good as her counterpart in Africa. A tad overlong, but it is divided equally between her time in the convent and in Africa, both of which are filled with intricate details of day to day living, almost making it two films.

A Troll in Central Park (1994)

Warner Bros.
Directed by Don Bluth and Gary Goldman
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb Wikipedia
(DVD, Warner Bros.)

A troll with a green thumb is banished from his gloomy troll kingdom to New York City. However, he lands in Central Park and proceeds to fill it with flowers while living under a bridge. Two neglected kids find him and get caught up in his battle with the wicked troll witch. Another colorful entry from Don Bluth and friends, with an amazing voice cast consisting of Dom DeLuise, Cloris Leachman and Charles Nelson Reilly, and they sing, too.

Animalympics (1980)

Warner Bros.
Directed by Steven Lisberger
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb Wikipedia
(DVD, Hen's Tooth Video)

Satire of a television network broadcast of the Olympics featuring an all-animal cast. A product of its time, the 1970s, so unless you were there many of the references will be missed. Gilda Radner is great as usual, particularly her "Barbra Warblers" character (Barbra Walters), as is Harry Shearer as "Keen Hacksaw" (Keith Jackson). It's all in good fun, quite colorful and very entertaining. 

The Prince of Tides (1991)

Academy Awards, USA 1992

Nominee Oscar	Best Picture Barbra Streisand Andrew S. Karsch
	Best Actor in a Leading Role Nick Nolte
	Best Actress in a Supporting Role Kate Nelligan
	Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published Pat Conroy Becky Johnston
	Best Cinematography Stephen Goldblatt
	Best Art Direction-Set Decoration Paul Sylbert Caryl Heller
	Best Music, Original Score James Newton Howard

Columbia Pictures
Directed by Barbra Streisand
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb Wikipedia
(DVD, Columbia TriStar)

Southern football coach Nick Nolte reluctantly agrees to travel to New York City to help his sister's psychiatrist, Barbra Streisand, figure out what is behind her latest suicide attempt. He ends up being the one psychoanalyzed instead, eventually revealing the horrible family truth hidden away for so many years. Along the way he falls in love with her. The scene where he finally uncovers the truth is truly moving, the rest is just your typical romantic comedy fluff. Barbra directed herself in some truly embarrassing moments towards the end. George Carlin is terrible as Nolte's gay neighbor.

Alice Adams (1935)

Academy Awards, USA 1936

Nominee Oscar	Best Picture
	Best Actress in a Leading Role Katharine Hepburn

RKO Radio Pictures
Directed by George Stevens
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb Wikipedia
(DVD, Warner Bros.)

Katherine Hepburn lives in a decaying house on the poorer side of town. Her father is in ill health but continues to get paid by his long time employer while her mother constantly complains about the lack of money. Hepburn attends a party given by her socialite friend and tries too hard to impress everyone. However, she manages to charm wealthy Fred MacMurray, whom she invites home for a meal. Hilarity ensues as the family dresses up on the hottest night of the year and hires comically inept housekeeper Hattie McDaniel to cook and serve the meal. Hepburn is embarrassed by the whole ordeal and thinks she has blown her chances with MacMurray. However, there is the mandatory happy ending. Hepburn is at her most irritating: coy, precocious; while MacMurray just smiles and plays along most of the time. McDaniel as the housekeeper and Fred Stone as her father steal the show during the pivotal dinner scene. 

Loves of a Blonde (1965)

Academy Awards, USA 1967

Nominee Oscar

Best Foreign Language Film Czechoslovakia.

Filmexport (Czechoslovakia)
Directed by Milos Forman
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb Wikipedia
(DVD, Criterion Collection)

A teenage shoe factory worker in a bleak Czechoslovakian town attends a dance organized by her company with the members of a re-located military outfit. Unfortunately for the girls, the outfit consists mainly of middle-aged, married men. So instead she hooks up with the piano player in the band and the spend an awkward night together. He leaves the next day, but after a morality speech at the factory she heads to Prague to see him again. Instead she finds his bewildered parents at home in the middle of the night. They reluctantly let her sleep on the couch and force their son to sleep in bed with them. More hilarity follows, but the girl eventually realizes she is not wanted by any of them and goes back to work in the factory. Influential Czech New Wave film has lost a lot of punch today. There are some jabs at the mundane, lonely life under repressive Communist rule, but most of the film is just a run-of-the-mill sex comedy.