Sunday Best: Top 10 Best Picture Oscar Winners

 The Oscars are supposed to be pinacel of the film industry: the best of the best.

As I've written before, the Academy Awards have slowly slid into irrelevancy with their terrible taste in films that turn off most audiences.  But that wasn't always the case.  

Below are what I believe are the 10 Best Movies to ever win the Best Picture Oscar.

10. Forrest Gump (1995)

I think that this movie has been reduced in people's minds because of the caricature of the main character.  But Robert Zemekis does an impressive feat along with Tom Hanks in creating a unique cinematic voice that is superbly acted, visually stunning, and always memorable.

9. Rocky (1977)

This is a raw movie.  The sequels make people forget how rough and tumble this film was.  Rocky's world is mean and dark.  The whole point of the movie is to ask whether this man can stand up and be a man against the best in the world.  The brilliance of this film is that in understands that the real prize is not the belt, but the fact that Rocky learns his own value.

8. Titanic (1998)

Because it was so popular, people sometimes write this film off as populist tripe.  But director James Cameron achieves an incredibly epic story with a strong emotional center.  There is a reason that this story struck such an emotional chord and Cameron was able to use all of his skills as a visual storyteller to make a film that pierced the heart.

7. West Side Story (1962)

This could easily be written off as a relic of its day with its stylized dialogue and color palate.  In fact, that appears to be what Spielberg attempted to do in his remake.  But that is a mistake, because there is magic in the way this movie is made.  The opening prologue casts a spell on you that does not let go.  You are pulled into a world that is our own but not.  The bright colors and big, bombastic score promise love and adventure, which makes the tragedy all the more powerful.

6. The Sound of Music (1966)

This is a nearly perfect film.  The casting is superb, the shots are gorgeous, and director Robert Wise created something truly iconic.  There is a reason that this movie makes it to number one on so many people's favorite movies.  It is a timeless film for the ages that beautifully captures the magic of love, faith, and music.

5. The Godfather (1973)

I first saw this movie as a child and I hated it.  I wasn't ready for it.  A friend of mine saw this later in life and said, "It reminded me of so many movies, probably because so many movies were influenced by it."  The older I have gotten the more I've come to love this movie.  Every shot, every sound is perfectly done with stellar performances that are both intriguing in their charisma and repellent in their evil.

4.  Casablanca (1944)

Like The Sound of Music, this film is timeless.  It is the story of a man who slowly finds his soul again.  He was an empty shell living in purgatory.  He has a chance to damn himself with selfishness, but that final scene is one of the greatest, manliest moments in movie history, where Rick sacrifices his own happiness for the greater good.  And it has one of the best final lines of any film.

3.  The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2004)

CS Lewis said of Tolkien's story that the tale was "good beyond hope."  That is how I felt about this film.  People complain about the length of the ending, but when put into context of the entire epic, you need that time for closure.  The entire second half is absolutely riveting.  What Peter Jackson was able to do, which is incredibly rare nowadays, is take an amazing adventure epic and imbue it with a sense a reality, most particularly in the emotional life of the characters.  I am still boggled that Sean Astin did not win an Oscar for his performance as Samwise.

2.  Braveheart (1996)

Perhaps I saw this movie at just the right time as I was becoming a man, but this film is an epic masterpiece.  It has all of the hallmarks of a war epic, but Mel Gibson films it in a way that feels timeless and as legendary as the main character.  So many war films after this copied his style, from Saving Private Ryan to Gladiator and you can even see echoes of it in Avengers: Endgame.  But the movie is ingrained in me that if I listen to the last 10 minutes of the score I can recite all of the lines word-for-word until the end.

1. Schindler's List (1994)

I will write more about this at a later date, but there is no other film that could take this position.  This is a movie that can break your heart and change your life.  I don't know why as a 15-year-old, this film touched my soul.  There are only two movies that completely transported me.  What I mean by that is I completely lost track of who and where I was because I was taken up by the experience.  The first was Return of the Jedi when I was a child.  But Schindler's List did that to me when I was almost a man.  It is the perfect blend of artistry and history.  It is Spielberg using all of skills to show both the absolute horror of humanity and its heavenly virtue in a way that shows us who we are and (more importantly) who we could be.

Honorable Mentions:

1956 - "Marty"

1955 - "On the Waterfront"

1947 - "The Best Years of Our Lives"

1967 - "A Man for All Seasons"

1961 - "The Apartment"

1960 - "Ben-Hur"

1989 - "Rain Man"

1981 - "Ordinary People"

1975 - "The Godfather Part II"

2013 - "Argo"

2002 - "A Beautiful Mind"

2001 - "Gladiator"

1993 - "Unforgiven"

1992 - "The Silence of the Lambs"

Film Review: Ant-Man and the Wasp - Quantumania

 

Sexuality/Nudity Acceptable

Violence Acceptable
Vulgarity Acceptable

Anti-Catholic Philosophy Acceptable

Ant-Man and the Wasp - Quantumania is meant to launch the MCU into Phase 5.  How good of a kick-off is it?

It's not bad.

I got to see this movie a little later and there were some people savaging it in their reviews, so I went in expecting the worst.  But what I found was a pleasant to middling Marvel film.

Quantumania takes place after the events of Avengers: Endgame.  Scott Lang/Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) is riding high on celebrity.  His girlfriend Hope/The Wasp (Evangeline Lily) is not only still doing the superhero thing but has taken over her father's company and doing great things with it.  The one sticking point is that Scott's daughter Cassie (Kathryn Newton) gets involved in social action and keeps getting in trouble with the law.  Scott decides to have a sit down diner with them and Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and his wife who they rescued from the Quantum Realm, Janet (Michelle Pfeiffer).  However, things fall apart when Cassie shows them a device she built that sends a signal to the Quantum Realm, which leads to all of them being abducted to that tiny dimension.  There, they encounter strange creatures and a vicious dictator Kang, the Conqueror (Jonathon Majors).  The group, though separated must find a way to get home without letting Kang escape the Quantum realm.

The best of the film is Rudd himself.  The man is so affable and charming that you can't help but feel good will towards him.  He also knows how to expertly play the comedy and the drama.  He effortlessly moves from silly, broad jokes to the serious and terrified father trying to protect his child.  And while Douglass doesn't have as much to do in this film, his chemistry with Pfeiffer makes their relationship believable.  Lily does a fine job, but the script can't seem to find an important part for her to play.  Newton is a decent addition, but she doesn't really stand out.  Partly this is due to the fact that Cassie lacks the things that make Scott so interesting.  She also has the annoying, lecturing tone that the young often have towards their parents.  To be fair, there is some growth here.  But when it is up to Cassie to inspire a rebellion in the Quantum Realm, I didn't quite buy it.

The other great part of the movie is Majors.  His Kang is fantastic.  He believably goes from genial to deadly.  Majors has charisma that flows out from the screen.  What makes his villain so interesting is the sense of sadness and weariness he brings to the part.  Kang has killed countless worlds for what he believes is the greater good.  But the moral toll that has taken on him has filled him with a fatigue.  This is an interesting take on the villain, who, like Thanos, sees himself as the hero who has to take on the debt of doing evil.  And yet, Majors infuses him with a great deal of humanity.

What keeps this story from really taking off is that it really forgets that it is an Ant-Man movie.  What makes an Ant-Man movie unique is the fantastic sense of scale that makes us look a the world in a new way.  My favorite moment from any in this series is when he shrinks for the first time and even a bathroom can seem wild, dangerous and wonderous.  In the second film, it was funny to watch Scott use a truck like a little scooter.  But in Quantumania, that sense of scale is mostly gone.  Yes, they are in microverse, and yes there are times when he shrinks and grows.  But often the scale is not there.  There is one scene where Scott and another enlarged character run towards each other and hug.  However, there is so little to give the scene scale that I didn't realize that they weren't normal-sized.  When you don't have that, you miss most of the magic.

The Quantum Realm itself does not seem like anything cohesive.  It feels like a hodge-podge of fantastical creatures and landscapes.  But there is nothing to differentiate it from other alien locals we've seen in Guardians of the Galaxy or Thor movies.  Because of that, it feels almost generic.

The story and plot points are fine, but it doesn't feel like the characters have as much to do or as much to grow.

I should make a not about the character MODOK, who is long-standing villain in the Marvel comics.  Because of his unusual appearance, the filmmakers decided to use him completely as a punchline.  This would have worked better if the humor landed.  Instead, it feels out of place, especially when next to the grave and humorless Kang.  Though I admit his final scenes had me laughing a bit, MODOK mostly failed in execution.

There were some decent themes about responsibilities of family and how they conflict with duty along with some other moral issues that Catholics might want to explore.  But these themes never get fully developed in the story.

SPOILER FOR THE END OF THE MOVIE BELOW.  SKIP IF YOU DO NOT WANT SPOILERS.

At least towards the end, it feels like one or more characters is going to make a harrowing, life-altering decision.  But any price that is paid is almost immediately fixed.  For that reason, it felt like the stakes were weightless.  It reminds me a line from Spirited, "You're sacrifice would be meaningless if there was no consequence."

END SPOILERS

As I wrote, this movie has been getting hit very hard, but it is not a bad film.  It is a fun, enjoyable outing, though it misses a chance and doing great things.

Hopefully if there is another Ant-Man and the Wasp movie, it will rise to the occasion.

Film Flash: Ant-Man and the Wasp - Quantumania

 

15 words or less film review (full review to follow soon)

Better than the second Ant-Man.  Enjoyable, but middling Marvel film, with a great villain.

Film Review: Tár

 

 Sexuality/Nudity Mature

Violence Acceptable
Vulgarity Mature

Anti-Catholic Philosophy Mature

There are those who will like the slow-burn and stylized dialogue of Tár.

I am not one of them.

Tár is the story of Lydia Tár (Cate Blanchett).  She is a world-renowned conductor whose star is still on the rise.  She is celebrated throughout the world and is about to engage in a great coup in her career by conducting Mahler's Fifth Symphony.  For the first part of the movie, she appears to be in absolute control of her world with her sycophantic assistant (Noemie Meriant), her romantic partner Sharon (Nina Hoss), adoring college Eliot (Mark Strong), and mentor Andris (Julian Glover).  She strides into each situation and conflict with absolute confidence.  But there is something slightly unnerving her when she is contacted by an old acquaintance.  As the story unfolds, Lydia is accused of use her influence to gain romantic favors from those working for her.  This causes a slow and methodical disintegration of her life.

Blanchett has been getting a great deal of accolades for this performance and rightly so.  The success of this movie comes from the command of her performance and the power of her charisma.  Everything she does is fascinating.  This is also a performance that is tightly controlled until it needs to boil over.  She completely embodies this character in a way where she disappears completely into the part.  The supporting cast is also very good.  I particularly like Strong in a role that is different from his usual characters.  His Eliot is so demure and desperate that it took me a second to realize it was strong.

However, writer/director Todd Field has a major flaw that is apparent as the movie progresses: his need to show off.

The movie begins with a LONG interview with Lydia about the area of conducting.  Instead of dumbing down the jargon, Field expects you to keep up and throws you into the deep end.  This actually works incredibly effectively.  You feel like you have been invited to a high-level discussion of the art.  When the scene ended, I turned to my wife and said, "I only understood about 20% of that, but it was so interesting."  

Later, Field writes the best scene of the movie.  Lydia is teaching a class on conducting and one of the students complains that he cannot relate to the music of Bach because Bach is a different race and sexual orientation.  Lydia, who is homosexual, is appaled by this idea and tries to get the student to listen to the beauties and subtlties of Bach.  When the student still refuses to listen, has two of the best lines of the movie:

"Don't be so eager to be offended.  The narcisssim of small differences leads to the most boring kind of conformity."

and

"The problem with enrolling yourself in an ultrasonic epistemic dissident is that if Bach's talent can be reduced to his gender, birth country
, religion, sexuality, and so on, then so can yours."

These two scenes hooked me into the character, but the rest of the movie never lives up to this first act.

Instead, of getting the story moving at a nice pace, Field keeps diverting his story, especially with long dialogues that keep throwing his knowledge of music in your face.  What at first seemed like a fascinating window into a different world soon becomes an educated person hitting you over the head with $10 dollar words as if to shout to you "I AM SMART ABOUT MUSIC.  LISTEN TO ME!!!"  It almost feels like a test:  if you don't keep up with all of this, then you are not smart enough to appreciate this movie.  While I can imagine that there are those who understand everything and even those who pretend to understand for the sake of appearance, that is not me.  

The glacial pace of the plot also did not help.  Although I am not one that needs to be spoon-fed the information, Tár drags its heals to the point that the half-way point of the film felt like 2-hours had gone by.  As I said, there are those for whom this style of writing will not be an issue and that they will enjoy the subtle shifts in the story.  But I think that the film makers are there to be at the service of the audience and that when it devolves into showing off, then you've lost the thread that holds the audience to you.

To be sure, there are some interesting ideas presented and to its credit, the movie leaves a lot of the moral judgments up to the audience?  Is Lydia a monster or is she being unfairly railroaded?  Is she a jerk or is she merely a genius in pursuit of perfection?  The movie does not put its thumb on the scale, but instead lets you decide.  And there are a lot of flaws in the main character, both large and small, that are open to severest judgment.  But once again, Blanchett's performance humanizes Lydia enough so that you still want her to find some kind of redemption.  There is enough sin presented here to make a Catholic watch this with caution, but almost all of the sin presented results in a bad consequence.

But because the fascination of the first half-hour fades from the film, I cannot recommend it, unless you have an appetite for this style of film.  

Perhaps I am not smart enough or not pretentious enough to truly grasp this film.  I will let you decide. 

Ash Wednesday 2023

 

Remember, man, that you are dust and unto dust you shall return.

Memento Mori.

We now begin our Lenten journey, where we die to ourselves to more richly live in Christ.

I recently joined the Hallow App and I am making it part of my Lenten prayer experience.

Today, we began with the Litany of Humility.  The meditation share one of my favorite stories about St. Augustine.  Someone asked him what are the three most important virtues.  He responded: "The three most important virtues in order of importance are: humility, humility, and humility."

Part of Lent is humbling ourselves in the sight of the Lord so that He can raise us up.  If we think that we are "good enough," then we are like the Pharisees who did not realize that they needed a savior.  

But we need Jesus.

The reflection on Hallow led us through the Litany of Humility.  I invite all of you to pray this prayer today at the beginning of Lent.

O Jesus, meek and humble of heart,

Hear me.

From the desire of being esteemed,

Deliver me, O Jesus.

From the desire of being loved,

Deliver me, O Jesus.

From the desire of being extolled,

Deliver me, O Jesus.

From the desire of being honored,

Deliver me, O Jesus.

From the desire of being praised,

Deliver me, O Jesus.

From the desire of being preferred to others,

Deliver me, O Jesus.

From the desire of being consulted,

Deliver me, O Jesus.

From the desire of being approved,

Deliver me, O Jesus.

From the fear of being humiliated,

Deliver me, O Jesus.

From the fear of being despised,

Deliver me, O Jesus.

From the fear of suffering rebukes,

Deliver me, O Jesus.

From the fear of being calumniated,

Deliver me, O Jesus.

From the fear of being forgotten,

Deliver me, O Jesus.

From the fear of being ridiculed,

Deliver me, O Jesus.

From the fear of being wronged,

Deliver me, O Jesus.

From the fear of being suspected,

Deliver me, O Jesus.

That others may be loved more than I,

Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

That others may be esteemed more than I,

Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

That, in the opinion of the world, others may increase and I may decrease,

Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

That others may be chosen and I set aside,

Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

That others may be praised and I go unnoticed,

Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

That others may be preferred to me in everything,

Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should,

Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

New Evangelizers Post: The Pillars of Lent

                                       

 

I have a new article up at NewEvangelizers.com.  

Ash Wednesday is this week, marking the beginning of the holy season of Lent.

One of the reasons we enter into this season each year is that we are in constant need of spiritual renewal. I’ve written before about how Lent is “spiritual bootcamp.” Christ showed us the way to enter into this season through His own 40 days in the desert. And through that, we can see how we are to live out this season through the 3 Pillars of Lent:

Fasting, Prayer, and Almsgiving.

Lent is a time of sacrifice. Most of us remember being children and giving up chocolate. But as we get older, we come to understand that this deprivation has a point. In fasting, we strengthen our wills against our own desires. If our wills are weak, we are more prone to sinful temptations. The more we can assert our will over our wants, we can are more armed when temptations come our way. Fasting also empties us of so many of the things we do not need. St. Francis had the insight that if we could be satisified with very little in this world, we could focus our satisfactions in the Divine.

One of the things I’ve noticed in my life, I find that things like YouTube and social media take up a good portion of my free time. This is time I could be using on my daily duties or (more importantly) on God. This Lent I will be fasting from these types of things. In order to be filled with God, I must now empty myself of the noise that distracts me. In the desert, Christ emptied Himself of his bodily desires so that He could focus everything He was on being satisified by His Father.

Lent is also a time for our prayer life to deepen and mature. A mistake that many people make is to think that more prayer is the same as better prayer. To be sure, many of us need more prayer in our lives. But filling the minutes with prayer only the beginning. Praying for an hour a day would be nice. But God is not impressed simply because of the quantity of prayer, but the quality. Remember His words, “And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.” (Matt 6:7).

I want to be clear that I am not discouraging you from bringing prayer more prominently into your life. You have my full support if you are planning on adding the rosary, adoration, or novenas to your Lenten prayer program. All I am saying is that this is the beginning, not the end. By adding more, the goal is to grow closer in relationship to the Lord. By filling our lives with God in prayer, we may be increasing the chance of that meeting with Him. But if all we’ve done is marked off time with Him, then we have not gone deep enough.

Finally, we have almsgiving. The Bible constantly reminds us of the spiritual benefit of giving to the poor. Jesus even says “Give for alms those things which are within; and behold, everything is clean for you.” (Luke 11:41). Giving alms during this time does two things:

You can read the whole article here.

Sunday Best: Superbowl Commercials 2023

 My apologies for the lack of updates this week, my wife and I have been ill.  But I should be getting back to more regular content.

And for today, I would like to look at the 10 best Superbowl commercials from last week's Superbowl.  Over the last few years, I've come to enjoy football, but I've always loved the Superbowl, particularly for the commercials.  I always find in interesting, entertaining, and fascinating to see how these big companies spend their money in order to get us to consume their products.

It also can sometimes be a window into how corporate America looks at the country.  The idea is to make a broad appeal, so there must be some underlying insight into our fellow Americans that they think they have.

In this list, I will NOT include movie trailers, since I think those each deserve their own considerations.

So here are the best Superbowl ads from this year.

1. Pop Corners - Breaking Bad

Being an enormous fan of this show, it was such a kick to see them recreate the characters and moments but for these "pop corners," with the implication that they are senesational, even addictive.  It was a very nice homage to the show.

2. Netflix Electric Vehicles

This is essentially an ad for GM electric vehicles, but it is also a promotion for Netflix.  And while not every joke from Will Ferrell landed, I enjoyed how he entered both Squid Games and Stranger Things.

3.  Tellers Bud Light

This one was very simple and very charming.  Just a man and his wife trying to make a little fun and magic out of the hum-drum and ordinary.  It just felt nice.

4.  The Farmer's Dog

This one was probably the saddest and the one that pulled most at the heart-strings.  It is a reminder of what wonderful companions we have in dogs and how there is a real, life-long emotional bond that we can build with them, full of joy and sadness.

5 and 6. Pepsi Zero Sugar Acting

I will have to admit that I have never been more interested in at least trying a Zero Sugar Pepsi.  It is a funny bit and it throws a challenge at you, the audience member, which makes this ad more interactive than most others.

7.  Busch Beer Animals

The callback to the ubiquitous Sarah McLachlan ads for animal shelters is what really sells this video with some good-natured humor.

8.  T-Mobile, the Coopers

There is something rather sweet about Bradley Cooper making a commercial here with his mom.  I can't tell how much of this is improv and playing around and how much is only meant to look like that.  But I love Cooper's humility to let his mom take a jab at the fact that he has never won a major award.  

9.  T-Mobile, Grease

I know there are those who find this cloying and cringy.  But Grease is so deeply soaked into my bones (whether I want it there or not), that I could not help enjoying seeing John Travolta having silly fun with Braff and Faison.  It just seemed like they were all having a goofy, fun time.

10.  Affleck Dunkin'

I have a lot of affection for Ben Affleck, and I'm always rooting for his success.  I liked this bit he does interacting with customers.  I especially like the moment when the customer does not recognize him.  

Thoughts?