These Three (1936)

Academy Awards, USA 1937

Nominee Oscar

Best Actress in a Supporting Role Bonita Granville

United Artists
Directed by William Wyler
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb Wikipedia
(DVD, Warner Archive Collection)

Miriam Hopkins and Merle Oberon graduate from college and decide to open their own school in a dilapidated farm house inherited by Merle. They renovate it with the help of friendly doctor Joel McCrea. He begins a romance with Merle, not realizing that Miriam is secretly in love with him. The school becomes a success, but when rumors of sexual impropriety between Joel and Miriam begin to circulate, the students are withdrawn by their wealthy parents. The rumors are traced back to Bonita Granville, one of the students, who seems to harbor a pathological hatred of the two women. The young girl manipulates everyone around her, especially her elderly grandmother who initially helped build the school. A trial ensues and eventually the truth comes out, but not until the damage is done. Starts out fine, but degenerates into screaming and yelling between Granville and just about everyone else in the cast. 

The Thief (1952)

Academy Awards, USA 1953

Nominee Oscar

Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture Herschel Burke Gilbert

United Artists
Directed by Russell Rouse
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb Wikipedia
(DVD, Image Entertainment)

Ray Milland is a compromised nuclear physicist working in Washington DC. He snaps photos of top secret documents and passes them on to a foreign government via a complex series of public drops and hand-offs. When one of the couriers is killed in an accident, the photos are discovered and the FBI steps in to investigate his lab. He is ordered to hide out in New York City, but is tailed to the Empire State Building and has a memorable encounter at the very top of the building. Later, his conscience gets the most of him and he turns himself in to the FBI. Utilizes a gimmick of no dialogue, but still manages to be quite tense. Milland is fantastic. 

Neptune's Daughter (1949)

Academy Awards, USA 1950

Winner Oscar

Best Music, Original Song Frank Loesser For the song "Baby, It's Cold Outside"

MGM
Directed by Edward Buzzell
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb Wikipedia
(DVD, Warner Bros.)

Ridiculous mistaken identity comedy with Esther Williams falling for handsome polo player Ricardo Montalban while her sister falls for masseuse Red Skelton. Only problem is that her sister thinks Skelton is really the polo player. Skelton threatens to take over the whole movie with his antics. Esther Williams looks miserable. 

Green Grass of Wyoming (1948)

Academy Awards, USA 1949

Nominee Oscar

Best Cinematography, Color Charles G. Clarke

Twentieth Century-Fox Film
Directed by Louis King
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb Wikipedia
(DVD, Fox)

Thunderhead is now a wild stallion with a habit of luring mares away from their homesteads. This upsets race horse owner Charles Coburn, who wants to shoot Thunderhead. He clashes with young Robert Arthur, who is emotionally attached to Thunderhead. Also a racer, Arthur and Coburn face each other in the climactic county fair. Peggy Cummins is Arthur's teen romance interest and Coburn's granddaughter, causing more problems between the two. Nice scenery, but gets bogged down in boring family issues. Lloyd Nolan is terrible as Arthur's father.

Travels with My Aunt (1972)

Academy Awards, USA 1973

Winner Oscar	Best Costume Design Anthony Powell Anthony Powell couldn't attend the awards ceremony, as he was working on Papillon (1973) in London,... More Anthony Powell couldn't attend the awards ceremony, as he was working on Papillon (1973) in London, England. George Cukor, the film's director, accepted the award on his behalf.
Nominee Oscar	Best Actress in a Leading Role Maggie Smith
	Best Cinematography Douglas Slocombe
	Best Art Direction-Set Decoration John Box Gil Parrondo Robert W. Laing

MGM
Directed by George Cukor
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb Wikipedia
(DVD, Warner Archive Collection)

London banker Alec McCowen is befriended by a stranger at his mother's funeral who claims to be a long-lost aunt. He gets involved with her unconventional lifestyle, following her to Europe where she tries to raise money to free an ex-lover from kidnappers. They travel by train from France to Turkey on the Orient Express. He meets lovely Cyndi Williams on board and they share a joint. They are turned away at the Turkish border so head back to Paris to try to get more money from another one of her lovers. He turns out to be McCowen's father, and his aunt is really his mother. The end up in Africa to free her hostage lover, but it turns out to be a hoax. Some fast thinking get them out of the situation and they decide to continue their travels together. Maggie Smith is excellent as usual as the aunt, but she lacks chemistry with McCowen, and the whole thing feels dated, not to mention just plain implausible.

Meet Me in Las Vegas (1956)

Academy Awards, USA 1957

Nominee Oscar

Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture George Stoll Johnny Green

MGM
Directed by Roy Rowland
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb Wikipedia
(DVD, Warner Archive Collection)

Dan Dailey is  rancher visiting Las Vegas, where he has a reputation for losing. He holds the hand of passing young ladies for luck, eventually choosing ballerina Cyd Charisse. She turns out to actually have the ability to make him win, every time, be it at the roulette table or slots. Despite their obvious incompatibilities, they fall in love. Reality sets in when he stops winning and has to return to the ranch, conflicting with her performance schedule. It's all about as believable as Las Vegas itself. Fun for the cameos of famous stars and a glimpse at the "old" Vegas, just don't take anything seriously.

How to Train Your Dragon (2010)

Academy Awards, USA 2011

Nominee Oscar	Best Animated Feature Film of the Year Dean DeBlois Chris Sanders
	Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score John Powell

Paramount
Directed by Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb Wikipedia
(Blu-ray, Paramount)

On a mythical island, Vikings are relentlessly attacked by dragons. Manhood is measured by the number of dragons one has killed. The teenage son of the Viking leader is physically weak but mechanically brilliant. Instead of fighting dragons he builds things to shoot them down. He succeeds in wounding a notoriously violent dragon, but doesn't have the heart to kill him. Instead, he befriends him, then trains him to fly while riding on his back. He impresses the rest of the Vikings with his new dragon-taming skills, except for his father, who refuses to give up the old dragon-killing traditions. When the nest of the dragons is revealed, father and son must confront not only the dragons, but each other. Some heartwarming moments between the boy and the dragon, and those magnificent flying sequences, but both are almost drowned out by too many loud, obnoxious explosions and other action cliches. 

Billy Budd (1962)

Academy Awards, USA 1963

Nominee Oscar

Best Actor in a Supporting Role Terence Stamp

Allied Artists
Directed by Peter Ustinov
My rating: 3.5 stars out of 4
IMDb Wikipedia
(Blu-ray, Warner Archive Collection)

Terence Stamp is a naive, optimistic sailor pressed into service aboard a war ship commanded by Peter Ustinov. He witnesses torture and worse at the hands of the brutal Master at Arms, Robert Ryan. Attempts to befriend Ryan by Stamp only serve to anger him more, and Stamp soon finds himself being framed for mutiny. When Ryan confronts Stamp in front of the captain with the false charges, Stamp is so upset the he strikes and unintentionally kills Ryan. He is arrested and put on trial, which takes some unexpected turns. Finely acted, immensely enjoyable adaptation of Herman Melville, filled with his usual overt symbolism of good and evil. 

The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972)

Academy Awards, USA 1973

Nominee Oscar

Best Music, Original Song Maurice Jarre (music) Alan Bergman (lyrics) Marilyn Bergman For the song "Marmalade, Molasses & Honey".

National General Pictures
Directed by John Huston
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb Wikipedia
(Blu-ray, Warner Archive Collection)

Paul Newman walks into a dusty western town and after killing every outlaw decides he will become the law "west of the Pecos". Soon every hotel, saloon and establishment in town bears his name. Victoria Principal is his teenage girlfriend who stands by his side. Roddy McDowall is a lawyer who schemes to take everything away from him. Stacy Keach has a memorable, if brief, role as an outlaw named "Bad Bob", who literally ends up with a hole through his body. Director John Huston is also briefly glimpsed as Grizzly Adams. Jacqueline Bisset is Newman's grown-up daughter who acts a lot like him. Ava Gardner is basically herself, Newman's idolized love interest from afar. Absolutely insane western from Huston and Newman. The Coen Brothers went on to make an entire career out of this style. 

Whoopee! (1930)

Academy Awards, USA 1931

Nominee Oscar

Best Art Direction Richard Day

United Artists
Directed by Thornton Freeland
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb Wikipedia
(DVD, Warner Archive Collection)

Eddie Cantor is an eccentric hypochondriac staying on a dude ranch in Arizona. When not popping pills, he carouses with local beauties who congregate to sing songs in geometrically precise routines choreographed by Busby Berkeley. It all takes place in a rather ugly early two-strip Technicolor and is frequently politically incorrect by today's standards. Cantor is an acquired taste, much like Woody Allen, whom he frequently resembles. The eye-rolling double entendres are overused and simply not funny. There is one strange scene where Cantor and the elderly ranch owner examine each other for scars. A mixed bag, to be sure. 

A Majority of One (1961)

Academy Awards, USA 1962

Nominee Oscar

Best Cinematography, Color Harry Stradling Sr.

Warner Bros.
Directed by Mervyn LeRoy
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb Wikipedia
(DVD, Warner Archive Collection)

Ray Danton accepts a new job in Tokyo, taking along not only his wife but his middle-aged mother-in-law, Rosalind Russell. During the long crossing aboard a ship, they meet wealthy industrialist Alec Guinness, whom Danton will be dealing with in negotiations in Japan. Guinness is attracted to Russell, and despite her initial misgivings she is also attracted to him. Once in Japan, she is invited to his house where he announces his intent to court her in a very traditional Japanese way. This threatens to upend Danton's business negotiations, not to mention the "interracial" overtones of the couple. Guinness is barely recognizable in heavy makeup and a Japanese accent. Only his immense acting talent allows him to pull it off. Russell is interminable as the stereotyped Jewish mother and their romance is unconvincing. Without it, the film almost falls apart, with only Guinness holding it together. 

The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond (1960)

Academy Awards, USA 1961

Nominee Oscar

Best Costume Design, Black-and-White Howard Shoup

Warner Bros.
Directed by Budd Boetticher
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb Wikipedia
(DVD, Warner Archive Collection)

Ray Danton is a two-bit thief in hustler who idolizes a mob leader in New York City. His enthusiasm and persistence gets him a job as a bodyguard. He takes the opportunity to study the business with plans to ultimately take it over. When he finally gets the chance, his arrogance and sense of invulnerability ultimately do him in. A fine character study of a deeply amoral character, which Danton plays with aplomb. However, tends to be talky and set bound. 

The Power and the Prize (1956)

Academy Awards, USA 1957

Nominee Oscar

Best Costume Design, Black-and-White Helen Rose

MGM
Directed by Henry Koster
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb Wikipedia
(DVD, Warner Archive Collection)

Robert Taylor is the vice president of a New York mining company. His overbearing and demanding boss Burl Ives sends him to London to close a deal where he intends a hostile take over of the unsuspecting company. Taylor reluctantly agrees, since he is being groomed to take over the company and marry the bosses' niece. In London, he can't go through with the deal when the other executives trust him at his word. In the meantime, he falls in love with a local musician, a refugee from Austria. Her fiery personality clashes with his calm one, but she eventually succumbs to his lavish gifts and persistence. They get engaged but he has to go back to New York. His boss is incensed at the failed deal and refuses to sign a letter necessary to get her a visa. He manipulates Taylor into either resigning or being fired at the next board meeting. However, Taylor has a strong ally in another board member and the tables are turned. Ives is cast against type and is great as the relentless boss without a conscience. Taylor is steady as always. The story is a bit dated today, but still an entertaining study of the corrupting influence of power, and the healing power of love. 

On Body and Soul (2017)

Academy Awards, USA 2018

Nominee Oscar

Best Foreign Language Film of the Year Hungary

Netflix
Directed by Ildikó Enyedi
My rating: 1.5 stars out of 4
IMDb Wikipedia
(Netflix)

At a Hungarian slaughterhouse, "mating powder" goes missing. The police suggest they hire a psychologist to perform personality tests on all of the employees to identify a suspect. One of the questions she asks is about their recent dreams. This reveals that the manager and a recently hired meat inspector are having the same dream. After confirming it independently, the strike up a friendship. He is older and mostly given up on dating, she is young and attractive but suffers from crippling autism. They have sex one night in the dream (as deer), which they embarrassingly admit the next day. However, they are unable to do the same in real life because of their lack of social skills. He dumps her one day at work, sending her into a suicidal spiral, which she barely survives. Simply awful film with graphic scenes in the slaughterhouse whose only purpose I can think of is to numb us to the equally graphic suicide attempt at the end of the film. Also has one of the worst sex scenes I can ever remember. 

Happy Feet (2006)

Academy Awards, USA 2007

Winner Oscar

Best Animated Feature Film of the Year George Miller

Warner Bros.
Directed by George Miller
My rating: 3.5 stars out of 4
IMDb Wikipedia
(Blu-ray, Warner Bros.)

In Antarctica, a young penguin is born with the ability to tap dance, putting him at odds with his colony that values singing to find a mate. Nonetheless, he falls in love with a talented young singer. Rejected by his parents, the colony, his girl and the village elders, he makes friends with a roaming group of young penguins who call themselves the Amigos. They help him win over the girl with his tap dancing, but this only further enrages the elders who kick him out of the colony and blame him for the diminishing supply of fish. Along with the Amigos, he seeks out a mystic penguin named Lovelace who tells them the fish are disappearing due to the activities of mystic beings. These turn out to be humans who are overfishing the area. He is trapped when he approaches a fishing boat and ends up in a marine zoo, which he mistakes as heaven. When he starts tap dancing, he becomes a worldwide sensation and is released back to the colony. The humans follow and after an outcry fishing is banned and the colony restored, making him a hero. Bizarre animated feature film is no dancing penguin story. Instead, there are religious overtones, interracial tensions and the more obvious conservation theme. It's all set to re-worked hip-hop, R&B and classic rock songs. The animation is spectacular. Future generations will make this a cult classic, for now it is just a cute talking animal movie. 

Take the High Ground! (1953)

Academy Awards, USA 1954

Nominee Oscar

Best Writing, Story and Screenplay Millard Kaufman

MGM
Directed by Richard Brooks
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb Wikipedia
(DVD, Warner Archive Collection)

Richard Widmark and Karl Malden are drill sergeants at an Army base near the Mexican border. Widmark is resentful of his job and constantly applies to be sent back to the Korean front. He puts the new recruits through hell, often to the dismay of Malden. They spend their down time in Mexican bars, where they meet beauty Elaine Stewart, drunk and flirting with the recruits. Widmark takes her home, but she rejects him and ends up with Malden. This only makes it tougher back at the base for recruits, one of whom starts to fantasize that he will murder Widmark. He straightens him out in a memorable scene at the shooting range. Meanwhile, Widmark and Malden tussle over Stewart. Back in Mexico, Widmark tries to seduce her, in another memorable scene that takes place in almost complete darkness other than the blinking glow of a neon hotel sign. She rejects both him and Malden, sending them back to the base where they soon get back to the job of training recruits. Boot camp drama rises above its predictable story line due to the aforementioned two scenes and the usual quality performances from Widmark and Malden. 

Interrupted Melody (1955)

Academy Awards, USA 1956

Winner Oscar	Best Writing, Story and Screenplay William Ludwig Sonya Levien
Nominee Oscar	Best Actress in a Leading Role Eleanor Parker
	Best Costume Design, Color Helen Rose

MGM
Directed by Curtis Bernhardt
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb Wikipedia
(DVD, Warner Archive Collection)

Biography of Australian opera singer Marjorie Lawrence. It traces her from her roots in the Australian outback where she sneaks from home to a competition, which she wins. This gets her a chance for a scholarship in Paris, where she is honed by a prestigious teacher and finally gets a role in an opera. She is an instant success and tours the world. She falls for visiting American doctor Glenn Ford, but her touring schedule interrupts their romance. She eventually relents so he can start his practice and they can raise a family. However, while on tour in South America she contracts polio which changes everything. He helps her during a long recovery, and she eventually gains enough confidence to resume her singing career, albeit from a wheelchair. Typical genre fare, though Ford and Eleanor Parker overact at times and their romance is unconvincing, as is Parker's lip syncing to the opera parts. 

Libel (1959)

Academy Awards, USA 1960

Nominee Oscar

Best Sound A.W. Watkins (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer London Sound Department)

MGM
Directed by Anthony Asquith
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb Wikipedia
(DVD, Warner Archive Collection)

Canadian flyer in London recognizes a wealthy man on TV as a former POW in Germany. The man had an uncanny resemblance to his friend and another prisoner (both played by Dirk Bogarde), and he is convinced that the man on TV murdered his friend and stole his identity. He plants a story in the local tabloid and is promptly sued. The long courtroom drama which follows takes many twists and turns, most of which are entirely predictable. Bogarde gets to act with himself using shaky back projection.

Roma (2018)

Academy Awards, USA 2019

Winner Oscar	Best Foreign Language Film of the Year Mexico
	Best Achievement in Directing Alfonso Cuarón
	Best Achievement in Cinematography Alfonso Cuarón
Nominee Oscar	Best Motion Picture of the Year Gabriela Rodriguez Alfonso Cuarón
	Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role Yalitza Aparicio
	Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role Marina de Tavira
	Best Original Screenplay Alfonso Cuarón
	Best Achievement in Production Design Eugenio Caballero Barbara Enriquez
	Best Achievement in Sound Editing Sergio Diaz Skip Lievsay
	Best Achievement in Sound Mixing Skip Lievsay Craig Henighan José Antonio García

Netflix
Directed by Alfonso Cuarón
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb Wikipedia
(Netflix)

In Mexico City circa 1970, a live-in maid works for a middle class family. The husband and wife are going through a messy separation, trying to hide it from the children. Meanwhile, the maid gets pregnant but her boyfriend abandons her at a movie theater. She finds him sometime later but he threatens her with violence. While shopping for a crib, she encounters again, this time taking part in violent student protests in which he is wielding a gun. This causes her to lose the baby in a long, grueling scene in a hospital. Afterwards, she goes with the family on vacation by the seaside and ends up saving a couple of the children from drowning. Basically a melodrama, though a pretentious one with random, inexplicable scenes thrown in for no reason other than the must have seemed interesting to the director at some point. The black-and-white cinematography by the director almost makes up for the other excesses, almost.