A STAR IS BORN (1937), A STAR IS BORN (2018)

"My name is Mrs. Norman Maine!"-A Star is Born 1937

Frederic March and Janet Gaynor in

A Star is Born '37

The A Star is Born "franchise" began as a 1937 movie that I had heard a lot about but never got around to seeing until the newest version made a big splash over the last year. A Star is Born '37 is a movie about a small town girl named Esther Blodgett (Janet Gaynor) who goes to Hollywood to seek her fame and fortune. She meets with initial rejection until she runs into Hollywood star Norman Maine (Frederich March) at a party and they strike up a romance. Esther had seen Maine earlier at the Hollywood Bowl causing a drunken nuisance of himself.  Despite Norman's alcohol issues, the two fall in love, get married and Norman puts Esther in his next picture. The movie is a success, but it is due to overnight sensation Esther (Now going by the name Vicki Lester) instead of Norman, whose star is on the wane as well as his being too much of a pain for the studio to put up with. Vicki becomes a star and Norman begins his downward spiral which eventually leads to him walking into the ocean for the last time and Vicki proclaiming her love for him over the airwaves.

It's an interesting and obviously influential story about Hollywood. It also boasts some fine supporting players (Edgar Kennedy, Andy Devine, Lionel Stander and Clara "Auntie Em" Bandick.) I liked it, though it does seem a little dated and  I do prefer the '54 version.

James Mason and Judy Garland in

A Star is Born '54

A Star is Born morphed over time from being a movie about an aspiring actress to being about an aspiring singer.With Judy Garland and Barbara Streisand in the next versions, that probably seemed like an obvious road to go to. The only 1001 entry for A Star is Born (so far) is the 1954 version with Judy Garland. The 1976 version is usually regarded as the weakest of the Star is Born movies, but also has its fans.

Barbara Streisand and Kris Kristofferson in

A Star is Born '76

Scenes that are in all A Star is Born movies include the scene where the drunken Norman/John/Jackson makes a fool of himself at the Oscars/Grammys while Vicki/Esther/Ally is accepting a big award, the scene where Norman/John/Jackson goes to dry himself out and seems to be getting himself together, the scene where the Norman/John/Jackson is told that the female lead would be better off without him, the scene where we see the male lead commit suicide and the final scene where Vicki/Esther/Ally expresses her undying love for her departed husband. 

Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper in

A Star is Born '18

Bradley Cooper's recent version of A Star is Born was a critical and commercial success. Jackson Maine (Cooper) is a famous singer who has a drinking problem as well as a hearing loss problem. He meets an unheralded singer named Ally (Lady Gaga) performing in a bar one night. He recognizes the talent she has, they fall in love and he brings her on the stage and (spoiler!) she becomes a star! The chemistry between the two stars is the driving force of this movie, as well as the vocal talent of Lady Gaga. I think I'm going to have to go with A Star is Born '18 as my new favorite of the bunch, not to mention the fact that I can't get that Shallow song out of my head.

I'm already planning to watch A Star is Born 2044 (We'll have to designate the movies by century as well as by year by then) from my retirement community.

Janet Gaynor winning a pretend Oscar in

A Star is Born '37

Academy Award pedigree:

A Star is Born '37 won an Oscar for William Wellman's screenplay. Other nominations included Best Actor (March), Best Actress (Gaynor) and Best Director (Wellman)

A Star is Born '54 had six Oscar nominations, including: Best Actor (James Mason), Best Actress (Judy Garland, many think she should have won) and Best Song ("The Man That Got Away")

A Star is Born '76 won an Academy Award for the song "Evergreen " (Streisand and Paul Williams)

A Star is Born '18 was the first version to get a Best Picture nomination, as well as acting nominations for Bradley Cooper, Lady Gaga and Sam Elliot. Shallow won the award for Best Song and is playing in my head as we speak.

 

Lady Gaga wins a real Oscar

for A Star is Born '18

Y TU MAMA TAMBIEN (2001, MEXICO), ROMA (2018, MEXICO)

The trio embraces at the end of Y Tu Mama Tambien

Y Tu Mama Tambien is the story of two teenage boys who go on a cross country trip with an atrractive older (relatively speaking) woman named Luisa. This is the second time I've seen this and I can't say it's a particular favorite, partly because I don't find the boys particularly likable. However, the film does have plenty of good moments. The boys grow as people by the end of the movie and Luisa is largely the one responsible for this. She is only going on the trip because of problems in her marriage and health issues. Director Alfonso Cuaron is really adept at showing us what is going on on the periphery during their trip. We see soldiers marching, local conflicts and workers toiling. It does add quite a bit to the flavor to the movie. There's also a lot of sex. The movie starts with a sex scene and towards the end of the movie has a sex scene with an unexpected twist between the threesome.

Moving on...Cuaron went on to direct Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Children of Men and Gravity, for which he won an Academy Award in 2014.

The family embraces at the end of Roma

To say the tone of Cuaron's 2018 film Roma differs from Y Tu Mama Tambien is an understatement. Where Y Tu Mama Tambien begins with teenagers having sex, Roma begins with a several minute from the ground shot of mop water being spread along a dirty surface. The whole film is understated. It's in black and white and honestly, I understand if one would say this film can be a bit on the dull side at times. It's set in Mexico on the cusp of 1971. It has been stated by the director that it is Curaon's tribute to the women that raised him.

The mother (Sofia) to the four children is important, but she has to work hard in her white collar job to earn a living, so she's away a lot. Seemingly more important to the household is Cleo (played byYalitza Aparicio) a sweet, nurturing young housekeeper who dedicates herself fully to the children.

The two major male characters in this movie aren't exactly shown in a positive light. The father is rarely seen and is usually away on business. We find out at the end of the movie that he is leaving his family (presumably for another woman). He even comes by after the break-up while the family is away to move his things out and takes the book shelves-leaving the books on the floor. If this act isn't meant to symbolize his lack of substance, I'm interpreting it that way anyway! An even worse male role model is Fermin, the martial artist who impregnates Cleo, but doesn't accept that the baby is his and derisively refers to her as "servant."

As I stated, this is a movie you really have to be patient with. There is a lot of emotional moments to be had in the second part of the movie (Cleo's miscarriage, the final embrace on the beach). I just hope you stick around long enough to get there.

Roma won Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film, Best Director and Best Cinematography. 

Yalitza Aparicio in Roma

SHE'S GOTTA HAVE IT (1986), BLACKKKLANSMAN (2018)

Tracy Camilla Johns and Spike Lee

in She's Gotta Have It

She's Gotta Have It, the original Spike Lee joint (he calls his films joints, so I'll just go with that) first came out in 1986. It is the low-budget black and white (as in not in color) story about a young black lady living in Brooklyn sharing her affections with three suitors: an arrogant athlete, a regular guy and the loudmouth Mars Blackmon (played by Lee). It's funny and observant and it's interesting seeing this for the first time so many years after the original release. But everything old is new again as there is now a She's Gotta Have It Netfilx TV series as of 2017!

Of course, it led to Spike making many more movies, generally more serious in nature than She's Gotta Have It (Though even that one does touch on serious issues). I was surprised he had never been nominated for a Best Director Academy Award before this year (Not even for Malcolm X?), though his screenplay for Do the Right Thing was nominated in 1990.

Topher Grace as David Duke in Blackkklansman

America would never elect someone like David Duke president!-Blackkklansman

Spike finally got some Academy director love this year for Blackkklansman, the true story of a black undercover cop and a Jewish cop (Adam Driver and John David Washington) who combine forces to infiltrate a Colorado chapter of the Ku Klux Klan. It hits the right notes for 1973 (afros, Richard Nixon, Stokely Carmichael) but brings it back to the relevancy of racism in present times as shown by the cuts at the end of the movie to real life news footage from the last couple of years. There are definitely many touches of comedy here as well, but the overall stakes are deadly serious.

And who doesn't like to see David Duke made a fool of?

Blackkklansman was nominated for six Academy Awards, including: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor (Adam Driver).

Adam Driver and John David Washington

check out their Klan membership 

card in Blackkklansman.

1939 BEST PICTURE OF THE YEAR!

This is my choice (choices) for Best Picture for the year 1939.  My criteria is that I can only use films that are on the 1001 list. To make it a little easier on myself, I am using the rules of the first Academy Award and name a winner for Best Picture (won by Wings for 1927-1928) and Best and Unique and Artistic Picture (won by Sunrise from 1927-1928). 

This year is often noted as being the best year of the Classic Movie era. There are a lot of potential choices here, but my two winners seem pretty clear.

And the nominees on the entries from every edition of 1001 Movie You Must See Before You Die are...
Stagecoach
The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum
Babes in Arms
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
The Wizard of Oz
Destry Rides Again
Only Angels Have Wings
Gone with the Wind
Daybreak
Gunga Din
Ninotchka
The Rules of the Game
Wuthering Heights

                    

And the winner for the Best Picture of 1939 is…The Wizard of Oz

The Wizard of Oz

Gone With the Wind...Stagecoach...Mr. Smith...Ninotchka...
so many potential winners for this category this year, but I simply couldn't go against the beloved classic, The Wizard of Oz. I've seen this movie probably twenty times and Dorothy's adventures in the land of Oz never seems to get old. Wonderfully cast with that delightfully whimsical story that we all know by heart with special effects that still seem pretty fresh, I'm always going to vote for Dorothy...and Toto, too..

The Wizard of Oz

And the Award for Unique and Artistic Picture of 1939 is...The Rules of the Game

The Rules of the Game

I first saw The Rules of the Game during a summer film comedy class at university during the 80’s. It wasn’t the typical comedy I was used to in this class, but I did like this French comedy of manners and social class from director Jean Renoir. I took a History of Film class (So I like classes where you get to watch movies!) the next year and saw this film again and really began to appreciate it so much more. It’s so smooth and so perfectly done it strikes me as a rare combination of slapstick silliness, ballet, operatic drama all spread over the canvas of the director which is certainly on a par with anything that his father Auguste painted. I have seen The Rules of the Game about five times over the years and it is definitely a movie to be watched and appreciated over several viewings over any cinephile's lifetime. Despite heavy competition from this year, I've got to go with Rules of the Game for the win.

The Rules of the Game