BPFTOI: 1944 & 1991

It's time for another installment of the "Best Pictures From the Outside In" series. Mike, Nick and I have been having these mash-up conversations off and on for what seems like forever and we're only 17 episodes in! I don't want to sound like I'm bemoaning how long we have to go... just that it's taken us so long that soon we'll have not just one (Slumdog Millionaire) but two (Up in Avatar's Inglourious Locker?) "Best Pictures" screwing up the concept of our original bookend timeline mashups. Anyway, I'm not complaining. I love the refreshers in Oscar history and the opportunity this affords me to see some films for the first time. I'd never actually seen the 1944 winner Going My Way, starring Bing Crosby as a saintly singing Irish priest and this was my first chance to revisit Silence of the Lambs on Blu-Ray.

'44 nominees: Double Indemnity, Gaslight, Going My Way & Since You
Went Away. Wilson, the fifth, is largely forgotten. No poster online (!)

1991 nominees: Beauty & The Beast, Bugsy, JFK, The Prince of Tides and
The Silence of the Lambs (an anomaly in Oscar history)

History has a way of proving Oscar wrong (Double Indemnity is the film that people still worship from 1944) and proving them right (many people thought Silence was an instant classic in 1991 ... and they were correct). At the time of the 1991 Oscar race I was personally rooting for Beauty & The Beast but since I knew it wouldn't win, I was pulling for Beatty & The Bening... yes, my obsession with those two goes way back. In retrospect it's so exciting that Silence won. It's the only horror movie to have ever garnered the industry's top prize unless you count Hitchcock's Rebecca (do you?) or Forrest Gump (kidding!)

Since I've been spending this week preparing for my own FB Awards, I'm kinda focused on my own personal favorites at the moment. If I had always ruled the world the 1944/1991 conversation would be a match made in girlie heaven, Meet Me in St Louis and Thelma & Louise, both of which are in my personal canon. Strangely both were snubbed for Best Picture by the Academy despite strong public and critical reception and a multiple other nominations, too: Thelma won six nominations and St. Louis four.

Nathaniel's 1991 & 1944 favorites

Anywayyyyyyy. My point is that that paired conversation would be a helluva lot different than the one we just had involving leering cannibals and celibate priests.

read and join the conversation @ Goatdog's Blog.
Comment over there. Mike won't bite. That's Dr. Lecter's bag

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previous episode: Unforgiven (1990) and Casablanca (1943)
coming in February: Dances w/ Wolves (1990) and The Lost Weekend (1945)
full index of episodes

Meet Me In St. Louis

It's time for the "Musical of the Month" celebration. This month it's the Vincent Minelli/Judy Garland holiday spectacular Meet Me St. Louis (1944). Unfortunately something came up on my end so my article --incidentally another addition to my personal canon project-- won't be ready until tomorrow afternoon. In the meantime enjoy these Meet Me in St. Louis pieces from other MotM participants. I'll add more links if any come in...

• Gratuitous Violins sees this holiday classic for the first time and shares her thoughts (and a first name "Esther" with Judy's character. How nifty)
• Here and There and Everywhere CrazyCris loves Garland. What's not to love?
• Movies Kick Ass looks into the blossoming romance of Garland & Minelli behind the scenes. That led to Liza Minelli, so it's more than just a movie. It's an event.
  

Clang!Clang!Clang! Went the trolley...

Previous Musicals of the Month:
Velvet Goldmine, Cabin in the Sky, Little Shop of Horrors and Calamity Jane