Best Motion Picture Trivia Chat

Best Motion Picture Nominees (2010)...

2011-02-20T09:31:00.000-08:00

Best Motion Picture Nominees in 2011

Black Swan
Mike Medavoy, Brian Oliver and Scott Franklin, Producers

The Fighter
David Hoberman, Todd Lieberman and Mark Wahlberg

Inception
Emma Thomas and Christopher Nolan, Producers

The Kids Are All Right
Gary Gilbert, Jeffrey Levy-Hinte and Celine Rattray

The King's Speech
Iain Canning, Emile Sherman and Gareth Unwin

127 Hours
Christian Colson, Danny Boyle and John Smithson, Producers

The Social Network
Scott Rudin, Dana Brunetti, Michael De Luca and Ceán Chaffin, Producers

Toy Story 3
Darla K. Anderson

True Grit
Scott Rudin, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen

Winter's Bone
Anne Rosellini and Alix Madigan-Yorkin

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Best Motion Picture Winner 2010: The Hurt Locker...

2010-05-01T12:28:00.001-07:00

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BMP Actor Spotlight: Luise Rainer...

2010-02-23T23:26:00.000-08:00

Luise Rainer is a German film actress, the first woman to win two Academy Awards, and the first person to win them back to back. She was born in Düsseldorf, Germany on January 12, 1910.

She was discovered by MGM talent scouts while acting on stage in Austria and Germany and after appearing in Austrian films.

Her training began in Germany from the age of 16 by leading stage director Max Reinhardt. After a few years, she became recognized as a "distinguished Berlin stage actress", acting with Reinhardt's Vienna theater ensemble. Critics "raved" at her stage and film acting quality, leading MGM to sign her to a three-year contract and bring her to Hollywood in 1935. A number of filmmakers anticipated she might become another Greta Garbo, MGM's leading female star.

Her first American role was in the film Escapade (1935), which was soon followed with a relatively small part in the musical biopic The Great Ziegfeld (1936). Despite her limited appearances in the film, she "so impressed audiences" that she won the Oscar for Best Actress. For her dramatic telephone scene in the film, she was later dubbed "the Viennese teardrop". In her next role, producer Irving Thalberg was convinced, despite the studio's disagreement, that she could play the part of a poor uncomely Chinese peasant in The Good Earth (1937), based on Pearl Buck's novel about hardship in China. The subdued character she played was such a dramatic contrast to her previous, vivacious character, that she won another Academy Award, even with Greta Garbo as one of the nominees.

However, she would later remark that by winning two consecutive Oscars, "nothing worse could have happened to me", as audience expectations from then on would be too high to fulfill. She was then given parts in a string of unimportant movies, leading MGM and Rainer to became disappointed, and she ended her brief 3-year career in films, soon returning to Europe.

She was once married to playwright Clifford Odets. Her second husband was Robert Knittel, a publisher, to whom she was married for 47 years (until his death). Rainer and Knittel had one daughter, Francesca Knittel-Bowyer (born on June 2, 1946).

She currently lives in London. On 12 January 2010, she celebrated her centenary in London. Actor Sir Ian McKellen was one of her guests.

She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6300 Hollywood Boulevard.

Best Motion Picture Association:
Rainer appeared in only one Best Motion Picture.
The Great Ziegfeld (1936)

Academy Awards and Nominations
During her career as a motion picture actor Luise Rainer was twice nominated for the Best Leading Actress Academy Award.

Won Award for Best Actress:
The Great Ziegfeld (1936)
The Good Earth (1937)

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Film Focus: The Great Ziegfeld (1936)...

2010-02-23T23:00:00.000-08:00

Notable Film Fact(s):
The Great Ziegfeld (1936) is a musical film produced by MGM.

A fictionalized biography of Florenz Ziegfeld from his show business beginnings to his death, it showcases a series of spectacular musical productions.

The film includes original music by Walter Donaldson and Irving Berlin. Berlin's work was featured in the Ziegfeld Follies of 1918, 1919, and 1920.

The film, which premiered in Los Angeles at the elegant Carthay Circle Theatre, was the first musical film in history for which one of its cast members won an Academy Award - Luise Rainer received the Best Actress Oscar for her portrayal of Ziegfeld's first wife, Anna Held.

This film also won the Academy Award for Best Dance Direction - Seymour Felix - For "A Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody".

The number "Pretty Girl" was written for the 1919 Follies, not the first edition of the revue, as shown in the film.

The film also gives the impression that the successful original production of Show Boat, which Ziegfeld produced, closed because of the Great Depression, when in fact Show Boat ended its original 1927 run in the spring of 1929 (the stock market crash did not occur until October of that year). It was the 1932 revival of the show, not the original production, that was affected by the Depression.

Film Synopsis:
The son of a highly respected music professor, Florenz "Flo" Ziegfeld, Jr. (William Powell) yearns to make his mark in show business. He begins by promoting Eugen Sandow (Nat Pendleton), the "world's strongest man", at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, overcoming the competition of rival Billings (Frank Morgan) and his popular attraction, belly dancer Little Egypt, with savvy marketing (allowing women to feel Sandow's muscles).

Later, on an ocean liner to England, Flo runs into Billings again and discovers that he is on his way to sign a beautiful French star, Anna Held (Luise Rainer), to a contract. Despite losing all his money gambling at Monte Carlo, Flo charms Anna into signing with him instead.

At first, Anna is not a success. However, Flo manages to generate publicity by sending many gallons of milk to Anna every day for a fictitious milk bath beauty treatment, then refusing to pay the bill. The newspaper stories soon bring the curious to pack his theater. Flo and Anna then get married.

However, one success is not enough for the showman. He has an idea for an entirely new kind of show, one that will "glorify" the American woman. Thus, the Ziegfield Follies is born, a lavish production filled with beautiful women. This makes Anna very nervous, as she is still performing in her own show and will be unable to keep an eye on her husband. It is a smash hit, and is followed by more versions of the Follies. Soon Flo hires Fanny Brice (playing herself) away from vaudeville and gives stagehand Ray Bolger (himself) his break as well.

He also tries to make a star out of Audrey Dane (Virginia Bruce), but alcoholism turns out to be her downfall. However, before then, Anna becomes jealous of the attention Flo pays to Audrey and gets a divorce. Afterward, Flo meets Broadway star Billie Burke (Myrna Loy) and marries her. When she hears the news, a heartbroken Anna telephones Flo and pretends to be glad for him.

Flo has more hits, but after a while, the public's taste changes, and people begin to wonder if the times have not passed him by. Stung, he vows to have four hits on Broadway at the same time. He achieves his goal, but then the stock market crash of 1929 bankrupts him, forcing Billie to go back on the stage. Ever self-confident, he is planning his comeback when he dies.

Director:
Robert Z. Leonard

Producer:
Hunt Stromberg

Screenplay:
William Anthony McGuire

Cast:
William Powell
Myrna Loy
Luise Rainer
Frank Morgan
Fanny Brice
Virginia Bruce
Reginald Owen
Ray Bolger
Ernest Cossart
Joseph Cawthorn
Nat Pendleton
Harriet Hoctor

Distributor:
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Release Date(s): April 8, 1936 (U.S)

Running time: 185 minutes

My View Rating: **
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82nd Annual Academy Awards Nominees: Best Picture...

2010-02-12T11:41:00.000-08:00

The 82nd Annual Academy Awards will take place at The Kodak Theatre, Hollywood, CA on Sunday, March 7th, 2010 at 5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET.

Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin will team up as co-hosts of the Awards.

The Nominees for Best Picture are:

1. Avatar
James Cameron and Jon Landau
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2. The Blind Side
Gil Netter, Andrew A. Kosove and Broderick Johnson
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3. District 9
Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham
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4. An Education
Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey
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5. The Hurt Locker
Kathryn Bigelow, Mark Nicolas Chartier and Greg Shapiro
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6. Inglourious Basterds
Lawrence Bender
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7. Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire
Lee Daniels, Sarah Siegel-Magness and Gary Magness
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8. A Serious Man
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
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9. Up
Jonas Rivera
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10. Up in the Air
Daniel Dubiecki, Ivan Reitman and Jason Reitman
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BMP Actor Spotlight: Clark Gable...

2010-02-12T11:06:00.000-08:00

William Clark Gable was an American film actor, nicknamed "The King of Hollywood" in his heyday. He was born in Cadiz, Ohio on February 1, 1901 and died in Los Angeles, California on November 16, 1960.

Gable's most famous role was Rhett Butler in the 1939 Civil War epic film Gone with the Wind, in which he starred with Vivien Leigh. Later performances were in Run Silent, Run Deep, a submarine war film, and his final film, The Misfits (1961), which paired Gable with Marilyn Monroe in her last screen appearance.

In his long film career, Gable appeared opposite some of the most popular actresses of the time. Joan Crawford, who was his favorite actress to work with, was partnered with Gable in eight films, Myrna Loy was with him seven times, and he was paired with Jean Harlow in six productions. He also starred with Lana Turner in four features, and with Norma Shearer in three. Gable was often named the top male star in the mid-30s, and was second only to the top box-office draw of all, Shirley Temple.

In 1999, the American Film Institute named Gable seventh among the greatest male stars of all time.

Best Motion Picture Association:
Gable appeared in four Best Motion Pictures.
It Happened One Night (1934)
Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
You Can't Take It With You (1938)
Gone With the Wind (1939)

Academy Awards and Nominations
During his career as a motion picture actor Clark Gable was thrice nominated for the Best Leading Actor Academy Award.

Won Award for Best Actor:
It Happened One Night (1934)

Nominated for Best Actor:
Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
Gone With the Wind (1939)

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BMP Trivial Fact: Best Motion Picture with Character name in film title...

2010-02-11T10:44:00.000-08:00

Over the past 81 years, there have been many films which won Best Motion Picture, that have a [Lead] Character's name in the title. These are the ones that I have come up with.

Rebecca (1940)
The Great Ziegfeld (1936)
The Life of Emile Zola (1937)
Mrs. Miniver (1942)
Hamlet (1948)
All About Eve (1950)
Gandhi (1982)
Marty (1955)
Gigi (1958)
Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
Tom Jones (1963)
Rocky (1976)
Oliver (1968)
Patton (1970)
Annie Hall (1977)
Kramer Versus Kramer (1979)
Driving Miss Daisy (1989)
Amadeus (1984)
Forrest Gump (1994)
Schindler's List (1993)
Ben Hur (1959)
Shakespeare in Love (1998)

It can be argued that Dances With Wolves (1990) could be added to the above list. Why? Well, in the film Lieutenant John J. Dunbar (Kevin Costner) becomes an accepted full member of the Sioux tribe, and is named ugmánitu Taka Ob'wahi (the eponymous "Dances with Wolves". ugmánitu Taka literally large coyote, Lakota for wolf). Thus, Dances With Wolves is a lead character in the film, as well as in the film's title.

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Film Focus: The French Connection (1971)...

2010-02-11T09:47:00.000-08:00

Notable Film Fact(s):
The French Connection is a 1971 American crime film. The film was adapted and fictionalized by Ernest Tidyman from the non-fiction book by Robin Moore.

It was the first R-rated movie to win the Academy Award for Best Picture since the introduction of the MPAA film rating system.

It also won Academy Awards for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Gene Hackman), Best Director, Best Film Editing, and Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium (Ernest Tidyman).

It was nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Roy Scheider), Best Cinematography and Best Sound. Tidyman also received a Golden Globe Award, a Writers Guild of America Award and an Edgar Award for his screenplay.

It tells the story of New York Police Department detectives named "Popeye" Doyle and Buddy Russo, whose real-life counterparts were Narcotics Detectives Eddie Egan and Sonny Grosso. Egan and Grosso also appear in the film, as characters other than themselves.

In 2005, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

Film Synopsis:
This gritty police drama portrays two tough New York City cops, Detective Jimmy 'Popeye' Doyle (Gene Hackman) and Detective Salvatore "Buddy" Russo (Roy Scheider) trying to intercept a huge heroin shipment coming from France. Police partners Doyle and Russo put a candy store under surveillance based on a hunch that something fishy was going on. Eventually it turns out that the proprietors [Salvatore "Sal" Boca (Tony Lo Bianco) and his wife Angie (Arlene Farber], are involved in one of the biggest narcotics smuggling rings on either side of the Atlantic, and the cops go to work.

In the film, an interesting contrast is established between Doyle, a short-tempered alcoholic who is nevertheless a hard-working and dedicated police officer, and his French nemesis Alain Charnier (Fernando Rey), a suave and urbane gentleman who is also one of the largest drug suppliers of heroin to North America.

During the candy store surveillance and eventual drugs bust, the film provides one of the most gripping and memorable car chase sequences ever filmed.

The film epilogue informs us that Chanier escapes without capture and is believed to be living in France, and that Doyle and Russo were suspended from narcotics duty.

Director:
William Friedkin

Producer:
Philip D'Antoni

Screenplay:
Ernest Tidyman

Cast:
Gene Hackman
Fernando Rey
Roy Scheider
Tony Lo Bianco
Pierre Nicoli
Arlene Farber
Eddie Egan
Sonny Grosso

Distributor:
Twentieth Century Fox

Release Date(s): October 9, 1971

Running time: 104 minutes

My View Rating: ***
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Film Focus: How Green Was My Valley (1941)...

2009-11-21T08:43:00.000-08:00

Notable Film Fact(s):
The film is a 1941 American drama film, based on the Richard Llewellyn novel of the same name.

It was nominated for ten Academy Awards, winning five and beating out such classics as Citizen Kane, The Maltese Falcon, and Sergeant York for Best Picture. However, this film has become a classic in its own right.

William Wyler, the original director, saw the screen-test of McDowall and chose him for the part. Wyler was replaced later by director John Ford.

Ford wanted to shoot the movie in Wales, but events in Europe during World War II made this impossible. Instead, he built a replica of the mining town at the nearly 3,000-acre Fox Ranch in Malibu Canyon.

The film tells the story of a close, hard-working Welsh family at the turn of the twentieth century in the South Wales coalfield. However, the cast had only one genuinely Welsh actor in a minor role, Rhys Williams.

In 1990, How Green Was My Valley was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

Film Synopsis:
The story is told through the eyes, and with the voice-over narration of Huw Morgan (Roddy McDowall), now a middle-aged man leaving the mining town of Cwm Rhondda, recalling the events that most impressed his younger self. The boy Huw is played by Roddy, but the voice-over is that of actor Irving Pichel, who is never seen in the film.

His first memories are of the marriage of his brother, Ivor (Patric Knowles), and the burgeoning, unspoken, and ill-fated romance of his sister, Angharad (Maureen O'Hara) with the new preacher, Mr. Gruffydd (Walter Pidgeon). Because of the forbidden nature of the romance, Angharad marries another man, whom she later divorces, and Mr. Gruffydd leaves his church in disgust after being subjected to untrue town gossip - his romance with Angharad is never consummated, nor do they ever marry. Still too young to work in the local coal mine like his father, Gwilym (Donald Crisp), and his five older brothers, Huw senses the seriousness of an imminent strike by the rift it creates between his father and the other boys when three of them move out of the family abode.

During the tensions of the strike, Huw saves his mother (Sara Allgood) from drowning and in so doing temporarily loses the use of his legs. As Gruffydd aids in Huw's recovery, insisting on a positive attitude, he suggests that it is only the first of many trials the boy will have to face. Other subplots are featured in the film. The film concludes with the death of the father in a mining accident.

Director:
John Ford

Producer:
Darryl F. Zanuck

Screenplay:
Philip Dunne

Cast:
Walter Pidgeon
Maureen O'Hara
Anna Lee
Donald Crisp
Roddy McDowall
John Loder
Sara Allgood
Barry Fitzgerald
Patric Knowles
Morton Lowry
Arthur Shields
Ann E. Todd
Frederick Worlock
Richard Fraser
Evan S. Evans
James Monks
Rhys Williams
Lionel Pape
Ethel Griffies
Marten Lamont

Distributor:
Twentieth Century Fox

Release Date(s): October 28, 1941 (USA)

Running time: 118 minutes

My View Rating: ***
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BMP Actor Spotlight: Joan Crawford...

2009-10-23T13:03:00.000-07:00

Joan Crawford was an American actress in film, television and theatre. She was born on March 23, 1905 and died on May 10, 1977.

Starting as a dancer in traveling theatrical companies before debuting on Broadway, Crawford was signed to a motion picture contract by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1925.

In the 1930s, Crawford's fame rivaled MGM colleagues Norma Shearer and Greta Garbo. Crawford often played hardworking young women who find romance and financial success. These "rags-to-riches" stories were well-received by Depression-era audiences and were popular with women. Crawford became one of Hollywood's most prominent movie stars and one of the highest paid women in the United States, but her films began losing money and by the end of the 1930s she was labeled "box office poison".

After an absence from the screen, Crawford staged a comeback by starring in Mildred Pierce (1945), for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress. In 1955, she became involved with the Pepsi-Cola Company, through her marriage to company president Alfred Steele.

She continued acting in film and television regularly through the 1960s, when her performances became fewer; after the release of the British horror film Trog in 1970, Crawford retired from the screen. Following a public appearance in 1974, after which unflattering photographs were published, Crawford withdrew from public life and became more and more reclusive until her death in 1977.

Crawford married four times. Her first three marriages ended in divorce; the last ended with the death of husband Al Steele. She adopted five children, one of whom was reclaimed by his birth mother.

Best Motion Picture Association:
Although Joan Crawford acted in a large number of movies during the course of her career, she only appeared in one Best Motion Picture.

Grand Hotel (1932)

Academy Awards and Nominations

Won Best Actress:
Mildred Pierce (1945)

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Film Focus: Grand Hotel (1932)...

2009-10-23T12:26:00.000-07:00

Notable Film Fact(s):
The film is based on the 1930 play of the same title and was adapted from the 1929 novel Menschen im Hotel by Vicki Baum.

When the film won the Academy Award for Best Picture, it was the sole category in which it was nominated.

In 2007, Grand Hotel was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.

The film was remade as Week-End at the Waldorf in 1945. It also served as the basis for the 1989 stage musical of the same title.

Film Synopsis:
Berlin's plushest, most expensive hotel is the setting where in the words of Dr. Otternschlag "People come, people go. Nothing ever happens.". The doctor is usually drunk so he missed the fact that Baron von Geigern is broke and trying to steal eccentric dancer Grusinskaya's pearls. He ends up stealing her heart instead.

Powerful German businessman Preysing brow beats Kringelein, one of his company's lowly bookkeepers but it is the terminally ill Kringelein who holds all the cards in the end. Meanwhile, the Baron also steals the heart of Preysing's mistress, Flaemmchen, but she doesn't end up with either one of them in the end.

Director:
Edmund Goulding

Producer:
Irving Thalberg

Screenplay:
William A. Drake
Béla Balázs

Cast:
Greta Garbo
John Barrymore
Joan Crawford
Wallace Beery
Lionel Barrymore
Lewis Stone
Jean Hersholt

Distributor:
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Release Date(s): September 11, 1932

Running time: 112 minutes

My View Rating: ***

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BMP Actor Spotlight: Deborah Kerr....

2009-10-20T11:28:00.000-07:00

Deborah Kerr, born Deborah Jane Kerr-Trimmer, CBE was a British stage, television and film actress. She was born in Scotland on the 30th September, 1921 and died on the 16th October. 2007.

She was nominated six times for an Academy Award as Best Actress but never won. In 1994, however, she was cited by the Motion Picture Academy for a film career that always represented "Perfection, Discipline and Elegance". Amongst her most famous films were: The King and I, An Affair to Remember, From Here to Eternity, Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison and Separate Tables.

She won the Sarah Siddons Award for her Chicago performance as Laura Reynolds in Tea and Sympathy, a role which she originated on Broadway, a Golden Globe Award for the motion picture, The King and I, and she was also the recipient of honorary Academy, BAFTA and Cannes Film Festival awards.

Best Motion Picture Association:
Kerr appeared in one Best Motion Picture.

From Here To Eternity (1953)

Academy Awards and Nominations

Nominated for Best Actress:
Edward, My Son (1949)
From Here to Eternity (1953)
The King and I (1956)
Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison (1957)
Separate Tables (1958)
The Sundowners (1960)

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BMP Trivial Fact: Longest and Shortest Films to Win....

2009-10-15T14:59:00.000-07:00

The longest movie to win an Oscar for Best Picture is Gone With the Wind (1939), a film based on the 1936 book by Margaret Mitchell, starring Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh. The film lasted for about 238 minutes (2 minutes short of 4 hours) including the credits and the 2 intermissions (1 at the beginning, 1 in the middle).

The shortest movie to win an Oscar for Best Picture is Marty (1955), starring Ernest Borgnine and Betsy Blair. The total running time is 91 minutes. This movie was also the first best picture winner to have been based on a TV program. The story came from the 1953 TV programmed called "Marty".

Note: This fact is based on the first 81 years of the Academy Awards.

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Film Focus: Gandhi (1982)...

2009-10-02T06:22:00.000-07:00

Notable Film Fact(s):

This is a biographical film based on the life of Mohandas Gandhi, who led the nonviolent resistance movement against British colonial rule in India during the first half of the 20th century.

In addition to receiving the Academy Award for Best Picture, this film won seven other Academy Awards.

During pre-production, there was much speculation as to who would play the role of Gandhi. The choice was Ben Kingsley who is partly of Indian heritage (his father was Gujarati and his birth name is Krishna Bhanji).

During film production, approximately 400,000 extras were used in the funeral scene, the most for any film according to Guinness World Records.

Film Synopsis:
When Mohandas Gandhi (Ben Kingsley) first set foot in British India, he had already been to Britain and South Africa, and had created quite a stir for the betterment of the people.

In India, he realizes that he had first to live the life of a peasant to understand what it is to be an Indian. He is urged to take up the fight for India's independence from the British Empire. Gandhi agrees, and mounts a non-violent non-cooperation campaign of unprecedented scale, coordinating millions of Indians nationwide. This leads him to mobilize awareness of local industry, less dependence on imported material, the historic Dandee march for withdrawal of the salt tax, a fast unto death to stop the virtual slaughter of British troops, and be imprisoned several times.

His resolve was to work with stalwarts such as Mohammed Ali Jinnah, Sardar Valabhbhai Patel and Professor Gokhale to ensure first of all to get the British to quit India, and then run an Indian Government under the Congress party. Gandhi will soon realize that it is not enough to be just an Indian, for India has many facets - Muslim, Hindu and other religions.

Concerned over the inroads made by Gandhi to unite the Hindus, Muslims, and all others under a common umbrella, the British invited Jinnah for talks, and it is here that a seed was laid for a separate country called Pakistan. When Gandhi came to know about this, he pleaded with Jinnah to unite the Muslims, even take over as the first Prime Minister with his choice of Muslim candidates for Parliament, but separatist Jinnah had already made his mind. The World Wars of 1914 and 1944 having taken its toll on Europe, and on Britain in particular, the weary British finally decided to leave India in 1947 - not the India they had conquered - but an India that was ready to be divided in East Pakistan and West Pakistan. Now after the much awaited independence was the real test for Gandhi - a test that will make him or break him - as he started a fast unto death to try and stop the violence that was threatening to break out into a civil war.

Director:
Richard Attenborough

Producer:
Richard Attenborough

Screenplay:
John Briley

Cast:
Ben Kingsley
Rohini Hattangadi
Candice Bergen
Martin Sheen
Roshan Seth
John Gielgud
Trevor Howard
John Mills
Ian Bannen
Nigel Hawthorne
Daniel Day-Lewis

Distributor:
Columbia Pictures

Release Date(s):
India: 30 November 1982
United Kingdom: 3 December 1982
United States: 8 December 1982
Australia: 16 March 1983

Running time: 188 minutes

My View Rating: ****

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BMP Actor Spotlight: Marlon Brando....

2009-09-30T06:19:00.000-07:00

Marlon Brando, Jr. was an American actor whose body of work spanned over half a century. He was born on April 3, 1924 and died on July 1, 2004.

He was named the fourth Greatest Male Star of All Time by the American Film Institute, and part of Time magazine's Time 100: The Most Important People of the Century.

He is best known for his roles as Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire and Terry Malloy in On the Waterfront, both directed by Elia Kazan in the early 1950s. In middle age, his well-known roles include his Academy Award-winning performance as Vito Corleone in The Godfather, Colonel Walter Kurtz in Apocalypse Now, both directed by Francis Ford Coppola and an Academy Award-nominated performance as Paul in Last Tango in Paris.

Brando was an activist, lending his presence to many issues, including the American Civil Rights and American Indian Movements.

Sacheen Littlefeather on behalf of Marlon Brando, refused to accept the Best Actor Oscar® for his performance in The Godfather (1972).

Best Motion Picture Association:
Brando appeared in two Best Motion Pictures.

On The Waterfront (1954)
The Godfather (1972)

Academy Awards and Nominations
Won Award for Best Actor:
On the Waterfront (1954)
The Godfather (1972)

Nominated for Best Actor:
A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
Viva Zapata! (1952)
Julius Caesar (1953)
Sayonara (1957)
Last Tango in Paris (1973)

Nominated for Best Supporting Actor:
A Dry White Season (1989)

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Film Focus: On The Waterfront (1954)...

2009-09-30T05:38:00.000-07:00

Notable Film Fact(s):

This film was based on a 24-part series of articles in the New York Sun by Malcolm Johnson, Crime on the Waterfront. The series won the 1949 Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting. The stories detailed widespread corruption, extortion, and racketeering on the waterfront of Manhattan and Brooklyn.

To add realism, On the Waterfront was filmed over 36 days on-location in Hoboken, New Jersey (the docks, workers' slum dwellings, bars, littered alleys, rooftops).

Director Sam Spiegel sent the film script to Marlon Brando and it came back with a refusal. While Spiegel continued to work on Brando, Frank Sinatra agreed to take on the role.

It is also on the Vatican's list of 45 greatest films of all time, compiled in 1995.

Film Synopsis:

Terry Malloy (Marlon Brando) once dreamt of being a great prize fighter, but now works at the docks of Johnny Friendly (Lee J. Cobb), the corrupt boss of the dockers union. He witnesses the murder of longshoreman Joey Doyle by a couple of Johnny's thugs, but won't betray Friendly, who is both his brother's (Rod Steiger) boss and a long-time friend of his family.

Later Malloy meets the dead man's sister Edie (Eva Marie Saint) and feels responsible for his death. She introduces him to Father Barry (Karl Malden), who tries to force him to provide information for the courts that will smash the dock racketeers.

Director:
Elia Kazan

Producer:
Sam Spiegel

Screenplay:
Budd Schulberg

Cast:
Marlon Brando
Karl Malden
Lee J. Cobb
Eva Marie Saint
Rod Steiger

Distributor:
Columbia Pictures

Release Date(s): 28 July 1954 (US)

Running time: 108 minutes

My View Rating: ***

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BMP Actor Spotlight: James Stewart....

2009-09-14T08:30:00.001-07:00

James Maitland "Jimmy" Stewart was an American film and stage actor, best known for his self-effacing persona. He was born on May 20th, 1908 and died on July 2nd, 1997.

Over the course of his career, he starred in many films widely considered classics and was nominated for five Academy Awards. In 1940, he won the best actor Academy Award for his performance in The Philadelphia Story with Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant. He also received one Lifetime Achievement award. He was a major MGM contract star.

He also had a noted military career, rising to the rank of Brigadier General in the United States Air Force Reserve.

From the beginning of James Stewart's career in 1935 through his final theatrical project in 1991, Stewart appeared in 92 films, television programs and shorts.

Best Motion Picture Association:
Although Stewart appeared in many landmark and critically acclaimed films, he has only two connections with the Best Motion Picture of the Academy Awards:

You Can't Take It With You (1938)
The Greatest Show on Earth (1952)

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Film Focus: You Can't Take It With You (1938)...

2009-09-14T07:35:00.001-07:00

Notable Film Fact(s):
This 1938 comedy film directed by Frank Capra was adapted from the Pulitzer Prize-winning play of the same name by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart.

In addition to winning Best Picture, it also won Best Director for Frank Capra.

Actor Lionel Barrymore's infirmity was incorporated into the plot of the film. He was on crutches the entire movie, which was said to be due to an accident from sliding down the banister. In reality, it was due to his increasing arthritis.

Film Synopsis:

Tony (James Stewart), the eldest son of millionaire Anthony P. Kirby (Edward Arnold) and his snobbish mother (Mary Forbes), has fallen in love with a stenographer that works for Kirby, Alice Vanderhof (Jean Arthur).

She is the only relatively normal member of the eccentric Sycamore family, whom she lives with and a few extra misfits in a decaying old house. It's a building that just happens to stand in the way of Mr. Kirby's plans to construct an impressive office complex. But Grandpa Vanderhof refuses to sell. When the Kirbys are invited to dinner to become better acquainted with their future in-laws, things do not turn out the way Alice had hoped.

Director:

Frank Capra

Producer:
Frank Capra

Screenplay:
Robert Riskin

Cast:
Jean Arthur
Lionel Barrymore
James Stewart
Edward Arnold
Mischa Auer
Ann Miller
Spring Byington
Samuel S. Hinds
Donald Meek
H. B. Warner
Halliwell Hobbes
Dub Taylor
Mary Forbes
Lillian Yarbo
Eddie Anderson
Charles Lane
Ian Wolfe
Ward Bond

Distributor:
Columbia Pictures

Release Date(s): 23 August, 1938

Running time:
126 minutes

My View Rating: **

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BMP In Remembrance of Budd Schulberg (American screenwriter)...

2009-08-24T09:05:00.000-07:00

Budd Schulberg
(March 27, 1914 – August 5, 2009)

Budd Schulberg, who died on 5 August, 2009, was an American screenwriter who won an Oscar for the Best Motion Picture film On the Waterfront (1954).

The film, which starred Marlon Brando, Karl Malden, Eva Marie Saint, Lee J. Cobb and Rod Steiger, told a tragic and brutal story of mob rule on the wrong side of side town. It was based on a series of articles uncovering the corruption and immorality of Manhattan and Brooklyn published in the New York Sun in 1949.

He contributed stories of screen plays to nearly 20 films during the 1940s and ’50s, and also wrote novels.

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Film Focus: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)...

2009-08-21T23:18:00.000-07:00

Notable Film Fact(s):
The film is an adaptation of the 1962 novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey. The movie was the first to win all five major Academy Awards (Best Picture, Actor in Lead Role, Actress in Lead Role, Director, Screenplay) since It Happened One Night in 1934, an accomplishment not repeated until 1991, by The Silence of the Lambs.

The movie was filmed at Oregon State Hospital in Salem, Oregon, which was the setting of the novel.

Kirk Douglas originated the role of McMurphy in a presidential stage production, and then bought the film rights, hoping to play McMurphy on the screen. He passed the production rights to his son, Michael Douglas, who decided his father was too old for the role. Kirk was reportedly angry at his son for a time afterward because of this.

Actor James Caan was originally offered the McMurphy role. The role of Nurse Ratched was turned down by six actresses, Anne Bancroft, Colleen Dewhurst, Geraldine Page, Ellen Burstyn, Jane Fonda, and Angela Lansbury, until Louise Fletcher accepted casting only a week before filming began.

Film Synopsis
Randle Patrick McMurphy (Nicholson), a criminal who has been sentenced to a fairly short prison term, decides to have himself declared insane so he'll be transferred to a mental institution, where he expects to serve the rest of his term in comfort and luxury.

His ward in the mental institution is run by an unyielding tyrant, Nurse Ratched (Fletcher), who has cowed the patients, most of whom are there by choice, into dejected institutionalized submission. McMurphy becomes ensnared in a number of power games with Nurse Ratched for the hearts and minds of the patients.

Throughout his short stay at the hospital, McMurphy forms deep friendships with two of his fellow patients: Billy Bibbit (Dourif), a suicidal, stuttering manchild whom Ratched has humiliated and dominated into a quivering mess; and "Chief" Bromden (Sampson), a Native American who has schizophrenia. In the former, McMurphy sees a younger brother figure whom he wants to teach to have fun, while the latter is his only real confidant, as they both understand what it is like to be treated into submission.

McMurphy later realizes that Chief can speak and has actually been faking his situation at the ward the whole time. This leads McMurphy to allow Chief in on his escape plan. One night, McMurphy sneaks into the nurse's station and calls his girlfriend to bring booze and assist in his escape. She brings a girlfriend, and both enter the ward. The patients drink, while Billy flirts with McMurphy's girlfriend.

Nurse Ratched commands the nurses to clean up the patients after the mess from the partying. She threatens to tell Billy's mother about his behavior and when left alone momentarily, he commits suicide. After McMurphy sees what the ward has done to his friend, he explodes into a violent rage, strangling Nurse Ratched until she is near death. She survives, but McMurphy is taken away for a lobotomy operation.

Chief, unwilling to leave McMurphy behind, suffocates his vegetable-like friend with a pillow. He lifts a heavy marble fountain and, hurling it through a barred window, escapes to Canada.

Director:
Miloš Forman

Producers:
Michael Douglas
Saul Zaentz

Screenplay:
Lawrence Hauben
Bo Goldman

Cast:
Jack Nicholson
William Redfield
Brad Dourif
Will Sampson
Danny DeVito
Scatman Crothers
Christopher Lloyd
Louise Fletcher

Distributor:
United Artists

Release Date(s): November 19, 1975

Running time: 133 minutes

My View Rating: *****

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BMP Actor Spotlight: Bette Davis...

2009-08-13T14:57:00.000-07:00

Bette Davis was an American actress of film, television and theatre. She was born Ruth Elizabeth Davis on the 5th of April, 1908 and died on the 6th of October, 1989.

Noted for her willingness to play unsympathetic characters, she was highly regarded for her performances in a range of film genres; from contemporary crime melodramas to historical and period films and occasional comedies, though her greatest successes were her roles in romantic dramas.

Davis began acting in films in 1931, making her film debut in The Bad Sister. Her final film appearance was in Wicked Stepmother, released in 1989, the year of her death. During her 68 years as a film actress, Davis appeared in over ninety movies.

Best Motion Picture Association:
Although Davis was an acclaimed actress, she has only one connection with the Best Motion Picture of the Academy Awards. She starred in a leading role as Margo Channing in the film All About Eve (Best Picture, 1950). And she was nominated as Best Actress for that role.

Academy Awards and Nominations
Won Award for Best Actress:
1935 - Dangerous
1938 - Jezebel

Nominated for Best Actress:
1939 - Dark Victory
1940 - The Letter
1941 - The Little Foxes
1942 - Now, Voyager
1944 - Mr. Skeffington
1950 - All About Eve
1952 - The Star
1962 - What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?

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Film Focus: All About Eve (1950)...

2009-08-13T13:49:00.000-07:00

Notable Film Fact(s):
It was nominated for fourteen Academy Awards - more than any other picture in Oscar history, until Titanic (1997). The film won six Oscars: Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor (George Sanders), Best Director (Joseph L. Mankiewicz), Best Screenplay (Joseph L. Mankiewicz), Best Sound Recording, and Best B/W Costume Design. Four actresses in the film were nominated (and all lost). It holds the record for the film with the most female acting nominees:

• Best Actress (two) - Bette Davis and Anne Baxter
• Best Supporting Actress (two) - Celeste Holm and Thelma Ritter

Film Synopsis
This film is a realistic, dramatic depiction of show business and backstage life of Broadway and the New York theater.

Margo Channing (Bette Davis) is one of the biggest stars on Broadway, but despite her unmatched success, she is beginning to show her age. After a performance one night, Margo's close friend Karen Richards (Celeste Holm), the wife of the play's author Lloyd Richards (Hugh Marlowe), brings in besotted fan Eve Harrington (Anne Baxter) to meet Margo. Eve claims to be Margo's biggest fan who tells the group gathered in Margo's dressing room - Karen and Lloyd, Margo's lover Bill Sampson (Gary Merrill), and Margo's maid Birdie (Thelma Ritter) - that she followed Margo's theatrical tour to New York after seeing her in a play in San Francisco.

Margo quickly befriends Eve, who willingly offers to assist Margo in small ways. Margo soon offers Eve a job as assistant, leaving Birdie, who dislikes Eve, feeling put out.

Eve begins working to supplant Margo, scheming to become her understudy and taking advantage when Margo is tricked into missing a performance. Eve, knowing in advance she will go on, invites the city's theatre critics to the theatre that night. Eve makes a pass at Bill, but he rejects her. She then schemes to secure the role of Cora - despite the fact that Lloyd has written this new character for Margo - through blackmail. Eve attempts to climb higher by using theater critic Addison DeWitt (George Sanders). Just before the out-of-town opening of her play Eve faces DeWitt with her next plan - to marry playwright Lloyd Richards after he divorces his wife. DeWitt is infuriated that Eve has outwitted his own plans and reveals that he knows her backstory is all lies.

Eve becomes a Broadway star and is presented with an award for her performance in the role of Cora. She arrives home and encounters Phoebe, a high-school girl who admires her immensely; who had sneaked into her apartment. The doorbell rings, and Eve, too tired to answer it, accepts Phoebe's offer of help. At the door is DeWitt, returning with Eve's forgotten award. In a glance, he takes in Phoebe and all her shallow ambition, and as he leaves he smiles sardonically, knowing that the cycle is beginning all over again.

Director:
Joseph L. Mankiewicz

Producers:
Darryl F. Zanuck

Screenplay:
Joseph L. Mankiewicz

Cast:
Bette Davis
Anne Baxter
George Sanders
Celeste Holm
Gary Merrill
Hugh Marlowe
Thelma Ritter
Gregory Ratoff
Barbara Bates
Marilyn Monroe

Distributor:
20th Century Fox

Release Date(s): October 13, 1950

Running time: 138 minutes

My View Rating: ***

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BMP Scene Note and Blooper: A Beautiful Mind...

2009-08-07T14:24:00.000-07:00

Nobel Prize Scene

Mathematician John Nash is awarded the Noble Prize for his research in governing dynamics. (Stockholm, Sweden)

Note:

The Nobel Prize ceremony was filmed in Prudential Hall at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) in Newark, NJ.
Nobel Prize winners do not make an acceptance speech, but in the movie the John Nash character did. The directors acknowledge this, but state that they wanted one for the dramatic benefit of the film.
The real John Nash didn't receive the Nobel prize alone, but with colleague Reinhard Selten and Hungarian-born János Harsányi.

Blooper:
When John Nash gets standing ovations from the Nobel-prize audience, you can clearly see that the name Nobel is misspelled ("Noble") on the platform which he stands behind.

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Film Focus: A Beautiful Mind (2002)

2009-07-31T15:22:00.000-07:00

Notable Film Fact(s):

The film is loosely based on the life of John Forbes Nash, a Nobel Laureate in Economics, who had a life-long struggle with schizophrenia. The narrative of the film differs considerably from the actual events of Nash's life. The film has been criticized for this, but the filmmakers had consistently said that the film was not meant to be a literal representation.

The film was nominated for eight Academy Awards. In addition to winning the Best Picture Award (Brian Grazer and Ron Howard), it also won the following:
Best Actress in a Supporting Role - Jennifer Connelly
Best Director - Ron Howard
Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published - Akiva Goldsman

It was nominated but didn't win the following:
Best Actor in a Leading Role - Russell Crowe
Best Editing - Mike Hill and Daniel P. Hanley
Best Makeup - Greg Cannom and Colleen Callaghan
Best Music, Original Score - James Horner

Film Synopsis
This film is based loosely on the book of the same name by Sylvia Nasar and tells the true story of prominent mathematician John Forbes Nash Jr. Russell Crowe stars as the brilliant but arrogant Professor Nash. The professor seems guaranteed a great future in the early '50s after he marries beautiful student Alicia (Jennifer Connelly) and makes a remarkable advancement in the foundations of "game theory". His work carries him to the brink of international acclaim.

Later on, John is visited by Agent Parcher (Ed Harris) from the CIA, who wants to recruit him for code-breaking activities. However, Nash's perceptions of reality are cloudy at best. He struggles to maintain his sanity and Alicia suspects a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia.

Battling decades of illness with the loyal Alicia by his side, Nash is ultimately able to gain some control over his mental state, and eventually goes on to triumphantly win the Nobel Prize in Economics.

Director:
Ron Howard

Producers:
Brian Grazer
Ron Howard

Screenplay:
Akiva Goldsman

Cast:
Russell Crowe
Jennifer Connelly
Ed Harris
Paul Bettany
Christopher Plummer
Josh Lucas

Distributor:
Universal Pictures (Domestic)
DreamWorks Pictures (International)

Release Date(s): December 21, 2001

Running time: 134 min

My View Rating: ***

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BMP Trivial Fact: Best Picture Title with single word starting with "C"....

2009-07-31T14:20:00.000-07:00

Over the past 81 years, there have been 5 winners of Best Picture in the Academy Awards that have a one word title, starting with the letter "C":

Cimarron (1931)
Cavalcade (1933)
Casablanca (1943)
Chicago (2002)
Crash (2005)

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