The Best Picture Project Posted by Alyson on October 26, 2011

Unlike many animated films today, Winnie the Pooh seems to have been made for one reason: to bring back the familiar characters in some of their most classic tales with no new gimmicks.  It’s really quite refreshing and reminded me of the older cartoons I had not even thought of...   read more

The Best Picture Project Posted by Alyson on October 24, 2011

Over at Top 10 Films, Dan Stephens has turned the idea from 1993’s Last Action Hero and turned it into a fun blogathon for us film fanatics.  In the film, starring Arnold Schwartznegger, a teenage boy uses the power of a magic ticket to transport himself into his favorite movie....   read more

The Best Picture Project Posted by Alyson on October 17, 2011

I first saw Being John Malkovich for a film class in college.  This was supposed to help us focus on the aspects of acting.  Before this film, I guess I saw acting as a simple thing.  Get in costume, say some lines, make it sound convincing, right?  No way.  The...   read more

The Best Picture Project Posted by Alyson on October 13, 2011

I’m proud to say that my first movie theater experience was seeing Bambi during its re-release in 1988.  At roughly three years old, I don’t remember any of it.  These are facts of my life that my mother has told me:  We went to see Bambi with my aunt and...   read more

The Best Picture Project Posted by Alyson on September 29, 2011

Anthony Adverse is based off the novel by Hervey Allen about the trials of an orphan that only get more intense in his adulthood.  Before we can meet the little orphan Anthony, the details surrounding his unfortunate circumstances must be made clear.  The film begins as a young woman is...   read more

The Best Picture Project Posted by Alyson on September 17, 2011

Just like the tabloids of today, every now and then some old scandalous case is slapped across the front page just to sell copies.  That’s how the Gazette operates here in Mervyn LeRoy’s Five Star Final.  With the competitive circulation dropping, publisher Hinchcliffe (Oscar Apfel) pushes the edito   read more

The Best Picture Project Posted by Alyson on August 26, 2011

This is me, days before starting my project. Early one morning, while visiting my family for the weekend, my dad found me at the kitchen table, typing up the day’s review over coffee.  When he realized I wasn’t just checking facebook, (he loves to annoy my mom while she’s playing...   read more

The Best Picture Project Posted by Alyson on August 25, 2011

Just recently my husband and I have made a major move over five hundred miles, into a cute little suburban neighborhood.  All the houses are made of brick, with matching brick mailboxes.  We now have trees, a gas fireplace, and a dining room with a big window that begs to...   read more

The Best Picture Project Posted by Alyson on August 24, 2011

Based on a novel by Stephen King, The Green Mile focuses on the experiences Paul Edgecomb (Tom Hanks) has while working as a prison guard on a death row block in Louisiana during the depression.  He’s a more soft spoken man than you expect to find in this line of...   read more

The Best Picture Project Posted by Alyson on August 23, 2011

In St. Cloud, Maine, Dr. Wilbur Larch (Michael Caine) runs an orphanage.  It’s also the remote destination where unwed mothers come for safe (but still illegal) abortions or give birth to their unwanted children.  The children are left, named by Larch, and grow among the other children, all wishing   read more

The Best Picture Project Posted by Alyson on August 22, 2011

In the fall of 1999, I felt like the last person on Earth to see The Sixth Sense.  With the multiplex charging a ghastly five bucks per ticket, my dad said he would take me to see it, when it came to the cheap theater that showed movies after the...   read more

The Best Picture Project Posted by Alyson on August 21, 2011

Having been an early teen of the late 90’s, the words ‘big tobacco’ will always hold a variety connotations.  Not only were we systematically being taught every year in school the whole drugs-are-bad campaign, but we were also reminded in the news what terrible people were trying to sell us...   read more

The Best Picture Project Posted by Alyson on August 19, 2011

This may be my last musical to review here, and what a note to end on.  Oliver! is one of those rare musical films that carries enough whimsy and charm to make the songs a delightful interjection to the action.  And through this charm, the film becomes universally enjoyable.  Children...   read more

The Best Picture Project Posted by Alyson on August 17, 2011

I watched A Lion in Winter with my mom and sister, while I spent a little time at home.  Supportive of my blogging mission, they were excited to watch a best picture nomination with me.  Shortly into the film, they both had their questions and comments.  “Which Henry is he...   read more

The Best Picture Project Posted by Alyson on August 9, 2011

Franco Zeffirelli’s Romeo and Juliet is usually the more favored film version of Shakespeare’s play.  The filming feels wonderfully modern, while only showing us a long ago period.  The actors are young, full of uninhibited youthful energy, just as their characters are.  Best of all, this vers   read more

The Best Picture Project Posted by Alyson on July 31, 2011

Loosely based on the life of Fanny Brice, Funny Girl tells the story of the young Jewish girl’s rise to becoming the star of Zeigfeld’s Follies through her comedic talent, not necessarily her looks.  When I say loosely, I mean the film takes a lot of liberties leaving out many...   read more

The Best Picture Project Posted by Alyson on July 30, 2011

The Rachel (Joanne Woodward) in Paul Newman’s directorial debut, Rachel, Rachel, has let her life go nowhere.  She is thirty-five, living with her overbearing, widowed mother (Kate Harrington) in the same baby-pink room she grew up in.  Her job as a second grade school teacher surrounds her with chi   read more

The Best Picture Project Posted by Alyson on July 26, 2011

As a young, slightly cynical film lover, I approached the four hours of epic Southern drama that Gone with the Wind would bring with caution.  A big part of me was afraid that I would hate it, and that would make for a long and miserable afternoon.  But when that...   read more

The Best Picture Project Posted by Alyson on July 21, 2011

If there’s one film that kids are nearly obligated to become familiar with, it’s The Wizard of Oz.  Moments from that film have become like small institutions within our culture that we begin to understand at an early age.  We commonly joke that small people are Munchkins, that three cli   read more

The Best Picture Project Posted by Alyson on July 20, 2011

Well darn, so close to the end of the project I hate to tell you that I’ve come across another film out of my grasp, but that’s just how it goes.  After getting roped into the first five minutes available on YouTube, I realized that the rest of the film...   read more