Top 5 Oscar Sunday Watches of 2020
By Austin Johnson
2020 saw Filmgazm Productions grow into two shows instead of just one. 2021 will see it add more, but in 2020, the new show became Oscar Sunday, which focuses on films with Oscar nominations. Over the course of 2020, we did 30 episodes representing 30 films. The great thing about Oscar Sunday is that we use each episode to branch out and watch multiple films from the ceremony we cover or maybe an individual we cover. For example, episode 25 was based around Kramer vs. Kramer, so we watched all of the Best Picture nominees from 1979. Episode 20 was based around Back to the Future, so we watched all of the Best Original Screenplay nominees from 1985. Some of the extra films are rewatches and some are first-time watches. The films listed below are all the ones I got to see for the first time because of the podcast. The list below the mega list represents the five films I enjoyed the most from the first time Oscar Sunday watches.
1938
Angels with Dirty Faces
Boys Town
The Adventures of Robin Hood
You Can’t Take It with You
1940
The Great Dictator
Rebecca
The Philadelphia Story
The Grapes of Wrath
1942
The Pride of the Yankees
1948
Hamlet
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
Johnny Belinda
The Red Shoes
The Snake Pit
1949
White Heat
1950
Rashomon
1954
The Caine Mutiny
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
Seven Samurai
1958
The Hidden Fortress
1960
Elmer Gantry
The Sundowners
Sons and Lovers
1967
Doctor Dolittle
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner
Closely Watched Trains
1969
Z
Anne of a Thousand Days
Hello, Dolly!
1970
Five Easy Pieces
Airport
MASH
1979
Breaking Away
Norma Rae
1985
Brazil
The Official Story
The Purple Rose of Cairo
Witness
1994
Four Weddings and a Funeral
2001
In the Bedroom
Gosford Park
Angels with Dirty Faces
Boys Town
The Adventures of Robin Hood
You Can’t Take It with You
1940
The Great Dictator
Rebecca
The Philadelphia Story
The Grapes of Wrath
1942
The Pride of the Yankees
1948
Hamlet
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
Johnny Belinda
The Red Shoes
The Snake Pit
1949
White Heat
1950
Rashomon
1954
The Caine Mutiny
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
Seven Samurai
1958
The Hidden Fortress
1960
Elmer Gantry
The Sundowners
Sons and Lovers
1967
Doctor Dolittle
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner
Closely Watched Trains
1969
Z
Anne of a Thousand Days
Hello, Dolly!
1970
Five Easy Pieces
Airport
MASH
1979
Breaking Away
Norma Rae
1985
Brazil
The Official Story
The Purple Rose of Cairo
Witness
1994
Four Weddings and a Funeral
2001
In the Bedroom
Gosford Park
5.) Norma Rae (1979)
“Forget it! I'm stayin' right where I am. It's gonna take you
and the police department and the fire department and the National Guard to get me outta here!” |
Episode 25 was our first ever proper Best Picture Showdown based around Kramer vs. Kramer from 1979. It won Best Picture at the 52nd Academy Awards, so leading up to the episode we watched all 5 nominees. That group was awesome and includes All That Jazz, Apocalypse Now, Breaking Away, Norma Rae, and Kramer. I hadn’t seen Breaking Away or Norma Rae before that week, but they both kinda shocked me. Of the two, Norma Rae stuck out a bit more and for whatever reason, it’s bloody hard to find. Connor randomly saw a copy of it on DVD at Half Price Books and we both became entranced by it, mainly Sally Field’s ridiculously strong performance. Norma Rae received four nominations at the 52nd Academy Awards and got two wins for Best Original Song and Best Actress for Sally Field. I thoroughly enjoyed every performance and it’s one of those every day kind of American films that really nailed it for me. Norma Rae is also the kind of film that we are always looking forward to when we are watching shit for Oscar Sunday. It’s what this list and the show are all about.
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4.) Five Easy Pieces (1970)
“I move around a lot, not because I'm looking for anything really,
but 'cause I'm getting away from things that get bad if I stay.” |
Honestly, I straight up used Oscar Sunday to check out this Jack Nicholson performance that I’ve been itching to see for years. His performance as Bobby Dupea in Five Easy Pieces is at the beginning of his multiple nomination run, which has an argument for being the best in Oscar history. Jack has three wins on twelve total nominations, which is third of all time behind Meryl Streep with three wins on 21 nominations and Katherine Hepburn with four wins on twelve nominations. Connor and I both went into episode 19, based around 1970’s Five Easy Pieces as massive fans of Jack's work and came out with that fandom even more solidified. The film itself was also nominated for Best Picture, Best Screenplay, and then Karen Black got a nom for Best Supporting Actress at the 43rd Academy Awards. There’s a consistent subtlety that Five Easy Pieces brings to the table and it clearly inspired many independent films that followed. I’m very grateful for films like that and occasionally the Academy will give them their proper due. Especially in the 70’s.
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3.) Z (1969)
“Always blame the Americans. Even if you're wrong!”
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We talked about Z and the Best Foreign Language Film category, which is now called the Best International Feature Film category on episode 13. La Grande Illusion is a French film from 1937 which became the first ever foreign film to be nominated for Best Picture, but the Foreign Language Film category didn’t exist yet. Z is the first film to ever win the Best Foreign Film Oscar while also being nominated for Best Picture. In addition, Z received nominations for Best Screenplay, Best Director, and a win for Best Film Editing at the 42nd Academy Awards. It changed things for the Oscars as far as foreign films go and grabbed hold of me within seconds of watching it. There’s a shit ton of really interesting history behind Z and the release of it because it’s based on the events surrounding the assassination of the Greek politician Grigoris Lambrakis. Costa Gravas wrote and directed Z and was born in Greece, but couldn’t film Z in his home nation because they definitely didn’t like that he was going to share a story that makes the Greek junta look like a dickhead. Gravas said fuck it and filmed in France and Algeria, making one of the most intense political thrillers I have ever seen. The man, Jean-Louis Trintignant is doing some hall of fame type acting as Le juge d’instruction. While Oscar Sunday highlights a bunch of my all time favorite films, it also allows me to add some favorites to my list and Z entered that conversation and will surely rise up the ranks with some rewatches.
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2.) Elmer Gantry (1960)
“Sin, sin, sin! You're all sinners! You're all doomed to perdition!”
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I went into episode 30 with an open mind, but I didn’t think I’d come out of it with something as spectacular as Elmer Gantry. 30 was based around the 33rd Academy Award Best Picture winner The Apartment from 1960, so Connor and I watched the five Best Picture nominees from that ceremony which include Sons and Lovers, The Sundowners, The Alamo, Elmer Gantry, and of course The Apartment. There’s two solid films there and three not so good ones. The Apartment is awesome and totally dominated that ceremony with five wins on ten nominations, but I do think Elmer Gantry is far more daring and definitely more fun to talk about. When I saw the shit Burt Lancaster is doing as Elmer for the first time, I fell in love with the craft of acting as intensely as ever. He won Best Actor and while Shirley Jones snagged the win for Best Supporting Actress. Richard Brooks won for Best Screenplay, giving Elmer Gantry three wins on five nominations at the 33rd Academy Awards. Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho has been my favorite 1960 film for a long time, but now it has a rival in my mind.
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1.) The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
“We've wounded this mountain. It's our duty to close her wounds. It's the least we can do to show our gratitude for all the wealth she's given us.
If you guys don't want to help me, I'll do it alone.” |
Episode 16 was centered around Hamlet from 1948, which was nominated seven times at the 21st Academy Awards with four wins, including Best Picture. What sucks is that Hamlet is without a doubt the worst film out of the five nominees that year. The other four rock and Connor and I took it upon ourselves to check out all five films during the week leading up the Hamlet episode. Johnny Belinda, The Snake Pit, and The Red Shoes are all well worth the watch, but The Treasure of the Sierra Madre is an absolute game-changer. It features some kick-ass performances with Humphrey Bogart front and center, who somehow was not nominated. Walter Huston won for Best Supporting Actor while his son John Huston wrote and directed and got wins in both categories, giving Sierra Madre a total of three wins on four nominations. It should’ve been about twelve nominations and I’m not just saying that shit because I personally like it. Any film fan with a pulse will fall in love with Sierra Madre. It honestly bothers me that it took 25 years of life to see the light, but I’m here now and you can bet all of your gold that it’s a film I’ll be watching countless times in the future.
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