DVD Roundup Birds Edition: Rio and The Big Year

Anyone who has been reading this blog for a while knows that my professional field is in the realm of biology.  I teach various facets of it now, and have studied it for more than a decade.  This is to say that movies that involve aspects of science or environmental nerdiness either make me giddy or piss me off like crazy.  I'm happy to say that both of these movies fall into the former category more than the latter.

Rio is an animated movie that was nominated for an Oscar for Best Song (though not for Best Animated Feature).  The voice talent is broad and includes Jesse Eisenberg, Anne Hathaway, Leslie Mann, Jemaine Clemente, Tracy Morgan, Jamie Foxx, Will I Am, and George Lopez.  There are also lots of other lesser parts with very recognizable voices.  So on that score, it's very successful.  The story is also a great environmental message - Blu (Eisenberg) is a blue macaw, a highly endangered tropical bird much sought after for the pet trade.  He is kidnapped as a chick and taken to a pet store in Minnesota where he lives a very happy life as a pet to Linda (Mann).  However, blue macaws are so endangered a scientist has tracked down Blu and would like to borrow him to mate with a female, Jewel (Hathaway).  Linda agrees to go to Rio de Janeiro  with Blu to try to propagate the species. Blu meets Nico (Foxx) and Pedro (Will I Am), local tropical birds in the know.  Eventually they help Blu get back to Linda after he and Jewel are kidnapped and sold to smugglers.  When Blu and Jewel need to get their chains cut after they escape, they meet Rafael (Lopez) a toucan with connections to Luiz (Morgan) a bulldog who can do anything.  Of course, everything works out, and Jewel teaches Blu that it might be better being free than being a pet, and Blu teaches Jewel that it's pretty great being someone's friend.

It's beautifully colored, but not particularly sharp in its animation.  There are also several songs, obviously since one was nominated, but they're few and far between, just augmenting the festive atmosphere of the city of Rio.  Eisenberg is AWESOME as the unsure, contentedly repressed character.  He is really unsure of what the "wild" is all about, and is particularly nervous - especially since he never learned to fly.  Definitely a fun, bright one for kids, and very tolerable for adults.  Nothing like a Pixar film in terms of strong writing, but not bad.  3 of 5 stars/lambs

The Big Year was one of my most anticipated movies of the fall, but it was only in theaters near me for about a week.  The reason for my anticipation is that the movie is about competitive bird-watching.  Now in my field  there are two kinds of people - birders and everyone else.  I am not a birder.  But I found the concept fascinating - A Big Year, according to the movie, is when you try to set the all-time record for number of species of birds seen in a single year.  There is a lot of "on your honor" action in doing this - does it count if you only hear it, but can definitely identify the call, or must you photograph it?  Thankfully, the movie doesn't go too far into that.  Instead, we follow three characters trying for A Big Year - Steve Martin, a wealthy businessman getting ready to retire, Jack Black, a tech support geek looking to prove he can achieve something, and the current record holder Owen Wilson who doesn't want to lose his record.  We get to watch them travel all over the US looking at all the different kinds of birds, and most especially the lengths that birders will go to in order to see a particular bird.

There is definitely a market for this film - probably a deceptively large one (there are a LOT of closet birders out there), but it's also not for everyone.  I found it really funny - it tickled my nerd funny bone often.  However, like the TV show "The Big Bang Theory" that kind of humor isn't for everyone.  Owen Wilson is a really great jackass.  Jack Black makes you really root for him to win, and Steve Martin is super sweet realizing his life is changing before his eyes.  I enjoyed it and actually can't wait for it to be $5 at Walmart someday so I can own it!

Movie Mashups 4

New Clue: A love triangle helps some actors make the transition from silent to musical films, while a con man tries to help his disabled brother have a better life.

Guest appearance on MILFcast!

Rachel and I were cordially invited to be guests on the 40th Episode of the Man I Love Films podcast (MILFcast).  Usually Kai is joined by Heather, but alas, she doesn't seem able to join when Rachel and I are guests.  So we got to pal around with another of our favorite podcasters - Scott Knopf from the Frankly, My Dear podcast.  Seriously, if you haven't checked out both of these podcasts, you must do so in the immediate future.  We talked movies, played some games and basically had a jolly good time.  Though, I'm probably not going to be asked to play The Game again.

Movie Mashups 3

Going strong!  

New clue: Two Irish brothers have trouble with their relationships - one marries quickly, the other can't keep it in his pants, while a female bounty hunter can't decide which hot guy she really wants.  

The goal is to figure out the two movies that overlap in some words creating a new movie described by the clue.  Leave your answer in the comments. Good luck! 

What if a romance was defined by the movies?

Along with my mashups, I've been noticing there is often a continuity to an actor's career - I described Tom Cruise's career as a single man's lifetime:
Brian Flanagan (Cocktail) gets his life together and goes to law school.  He graduates and joins The Firm (Mitch McDeere).  However, since that doesn't work out, he joins the navy, becomes a pilot (Maverick, Top Gun) but realizes his legal career might be put to better use and he defends some murderers (Lt. Daniel Kaffee, A Few Good Men).  After he's released from military service, the intelligence community decides he's worth the investment since he's already a lawyer (Ethan Hunt, Mission: Impossible series, Roy Miller Knight and Day).  Once that's over, he decides politics might be the way to go and he becomes a Senator (Jasper Irving, Lions for Lambs).  Of course, you can't be a politician forever, and he goes becomes a music mogul (uncredited, Tropic Thunder).  


However, you can also define the stages of a relationship with titles from movies.  

When Harry Met Sally - This really works best if your name actually IS Harry or Sally, but the basic message is the same.  There's a point in every relationship when you first meet.  You'll hopefully start out as friends, but if there's anything Harry and Sally taught us, it's that man and women can't remain friends.  Which is a big part of how most relationships move along.

Lust, Caution - Hopefully, if the relationship progresses, you'll reach the stage of actually wanting to sleep together.  However, this can also be the stage in any relationship when the wheels come of the bus, so exercising caution about whether to indulge your lust might be a good idea.

Friends and Lovers - If all goes well, you'll reach the stage of being both friends and lovers.  Marriage is often a  big part of this stage.  Most people hope to marry both a friend and a lover.  But you'll have some time to practice being both - we live in a modern age after all.

Father of the Bride - Assuming your father is still living, there will presumably be a moment when he gets to walk you down the aisle.  Weddings, while spiraling out of control financially, are some of the most fun you can have with your friends and family in the same place.

Sex, lies and Videotape - You'll probably get a few years of enjoying one another.  Then you might decide you need to spice up your sex life.  Whatever you do, DON'T put it on you tube!


Happily N'ever After - While I do believe that it's possible to be happy with one person for the rest of your life, if it doesn't work out, at least you can move forward and attempt to start over.  Thankfully there are LOTS of movies that can help you with that!

Movie Mashups 2

Off to a good start.  Here's the next one:


New Clue: A young man is trapped on an island with a haunted house which I'm sure the men who are shot down in helicopters in Somalia would trade for in an instant.  


The goal is to figure out the two movies that overlap in some words creating a new movie described by the clue.  Leave your answer in the comments. Good luck! 

A movie for St. Patrick's Day

Here's a little luck for St. Patrick's Day.  Be sure to go out and find yourself some green beer.  Oh, and here's a little movie that you should definitely seek out to enjoy some of the luck 'o the Irish.

Waking Ned Devine is a movie I'd recommend to anyone who needs something for the whole family to watch on St. Patrick's Day (or any day for that matter).  The story takes place in a small Irish village of 52 people, and starts just after one of them wins the Irish National Lottery.  Jackie O'Shea (Ian Bannen) and Michael O'Sullivan (David Kelly - both pictured above, Kelly on the left) go out to figure out which person won.   Jackie and his wife Annie (Fionnula Flanagan) plan a dinner to invite the whole town to figure out who might have won.  When no one steps up, they visit the only person who missed the dinner, Ned Devine, who they find dead from shock with a smile on his face.  Jackie has a dream that Ned wants the town to share the wealth and convinces the town that they can fool the Lotto inspector and share the prize.  Of course there's a mean woman who's the only hold out and the town tries lots of shenanigans to keep her away from the Inspector.

The movie has a lot of terrific humor - whimsy and frivolity that are borne of watching these two elderly men plot fraud.  There are subplots between lots of the townspeople - a woman who can't marry the love of her life because he always smells like pigs (he's a pig farmer and keeps trying out new soaps to find one that will take away the smell), a new, young priest trying to win over the the older parishioners, and little boys trying to make mischief.  It's a terrific film with strong writing that doesn't try to be any more than a delightful piece of entertainment, with Irish accents.   And of course, a good Irish wake is the source of the title.

Movie Mashups

Here's the first mashup in my Drive for 900.  Just to remind you of where the leaderboard is starting, here it is:


 Leaderboard 

Andrew, SDG, Ryan - 2
Dylan, Keith, Dave, Rachel - 1

New clue: A bank employee becomes embroiled in an espionage plot when she decodes a computer message, but learns she really need to be a ballet dancer (welding can be a hobby).   

The goal is to figure out the two movies that overlap in some words creating a new movie described by the clue.  Leave your answer in the comments. Good luck! 

Trying for 900

My 5-year blogaversary is in about 3 weeks - April 10th.  I'd really like to hit 900 posts (I need almost 40 posts in 3 weeks, so forgive me if you get sick of me). I want to do this mostly because Rachel will hit 1000 posts and I want to live up a little bit to my half of the podcast team effort.  We were joking that I should do a movie mashup every day until then, so I'm gonna try.  Since the current leaderboard is rather evenly divided, I'll just add to it, and there will be over 20 opportunities to guess in the next few days.  I'll keep a running leader total, but since I'm going to try to set up all the posts in advance, there won't be answers posted until the last day - though they will appear in the comments obviously!  I hope everyone who reads this will participate and help me get to 900 posts by April 10th.  And with all the effort it'll take, please show your support by at least trying to guess the answers.  Some will be really easy and some will definitely be pretty difficult.

Wednesdays Movie Mashup No. 60

It was a good week for the Reel Insight ladies - I guessed Rachel's Sim's Screenshots, and Rachel got on the leaderboard!  Well done. 

Last week's clue: A sad family shows us all the ways to shoot up and go a little crazy, while they sing in the 1960s and stab each other in the back to get famous.  

Answer: Requiem for a Dreamgirls

 Leaderboard 

Andrew, SDG - 2
Ryan, Dylan, Keith, Dave, Rachel - 1

New clue: A zoologist fights with an heiress about her pet while she hires another lying woman to carry her child.  

The goal is to figure out the two movies that overlap in some words creating a new movie described by the clue.  Leave your answer in the comments. Good luck!

Reel Insight Episode 75: Bill Nighy

I know you're probably surprised by our star of the week, but once you get a little bit into his filmography there is a lot there to like.  Two franchises - Pirates of the Caribbean and Underworld can't be completely wrong.  We also talked about this fancy new technology, Blu-ray, and why I'm too much of a luddite to own one.  We talk about Anonymous, Drive, and The Big Year.  Other fun things were talked about as always.  Enjoy.

Ryan Gosling DVD Roundup: Drive and The Ides of March

It's been a while since I actually got a good chance to watch a few movies on DVD.  So I'm pleased this will be the first of a few DVD Roundups so I can catch up on what I've seen.  If you listen to Reel Insight (and why don't you?) you might have heard me talk about a few of these, hopefully this will add something to it.  2011 was definitely the year of Ryan Gosling.  There were probably other actors who made 3 movies last year, but no one else did this good a job.

The Ides of March, directed by and co-starring George Clooney, follows a young campaign staffer, Stephen (Gosling) on Gov. Mike Morris' (Clooney) campaign.  We see him being wooed by the opposition (Paul Giamatti), but trying to explain to his own boss (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) that he doesn't want to leave.  However, even the whisper of a high level staffer wanting to leave a campaign has political ramifications that come back to bite you in the ass.  There isn't a lot to say about the movie specifically because the concept has been done before - corrupt politicians who can't keep it in their pants actually win races, much to the dismay of their ideologically minded staffers.  However, the style and finesse of this movie make it worth watching - probably several times.  The direction is very Clooney (it's kind of nice to see a style emerge because he's done enough films) with the shadows always mattering to every scene.  The cast can't be surpassed - with all the guys bringing their A-game and being self aware enough to know their position in the film and their physical attributes embody every politician you've ever seen, from staffers up to the governors.  3.5 of 5 stars/lambs

Drive couldn't be more different, and I actually liked it much more than Ides.  Gosling plays The Driver, a getaway driver for hire who works days as a stunt driver for movies.  We never learn anything more about his past, but that doesn't mean we don't learn a lot about him.  He lives next door to Carey Mulligan and her son (whose dad is in prison).  He starts falling for her, but in a strangely unromantic way.  He wants to be with her, help her son, and ultimately help her husband, Standard, when he gets out of prison.  His relationship with her family was one of my favorite things about this movie.  Sadly, Standard still has criminal connections and needs help with a job to pay back some bad people.  The driver agrees to help him, and along with Christina Hendricks, they steal a TON of money.  However, things of course don't go well.  It turns out they stole money from the mob (Albert Brooks and Ron Perlman) and they want it back.  The movie has moments of real violence, but the story is focused and the car scenes are pretty awesome.  I enjoyed it a lot 4 of 5 stars/lambs

Wednesdays Movie Mashup No. 59

We have a 2-way tie for first place.  But at least there are still 6 people on the leaderboard.  Well done SDG - go check out his blog over at U, Me and Films.


Last week's clue: A little boy tries to reconnect with his dead father while a confused man tries to explain the disappearance of a little boy and find a mountain. 


Answer: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close Encounters of the Third Kind

Leaderboard 
Andrew, SDG - 2
Ryan, Dylan, Keith, Dave - 1

New clue:  A sad family shows us all the ways to shoot up and go a little crazy, while they sing in the 1960s and stab each other in the back to get famous.  

The goal is to figure out the two movies that overlap in some words creating a new movie described by the clue.  Leave your answer in the comments. Good luck!

Wednesdays Movie Mashup No. 58

Sorry there was quite a hiatus of almost 6 weeks with the whole 30 Days of Oscar.  I didn't want to double up on posts too much, so we're back now.  Andrew has pulled into the lead of the new leaderboard, but just by 1.  Congratulations to our new winner - he knew some pretty disparate movies to guess this one.


Last Clue:  A son feels responsible for his father's death in Africa while a crusading knight tries to save a city from the Saracen king Saladin.


Answer: The Lion Kingdom of Heaven

Leaderboard 
Andrew - 2
SDG, Ryan, Dylan, Keith, Dave - 1

New clue: A little boy tries to reconnect with his dead father while a confused man tries to explain the disappearance of a little boy and find a mountain.  

The goal is to figure out the two movies who overlap in some words creating a new movie described by the clue.  Leave your answer in the comments. Good luck!

Reel Insight Episode 74: Amy Adams

We had a guest!  It was wonderful have another international guest as Joel Burman from Deny Everything and shepherd of the LAMB joined us to talk about the career of Amy Adams.  It was a fun episode - we talked about our new movies.  Our random topic was the perception of Sweden in cinema, and the state of Swedish cinema.  Turns out Rachel knows more than I thought!  Let us know what you think at reelinsight at gmail and we'll read all about it.

30 Days of Oscar 2012 Summary

In case you missed the last month here I thought I'd give you a summary of what I saw.  Many of them were Best Picture nominees, and at least 5 were Best Picture winners (How Green Was My Valley, Going My Way, An American in Paris, My Fair Lady and Midnight Cowboy).  Except for the 1930, there is at least two from every decade.  I managed to see both Best Actor and Best Actress winners from 1991 finally (Jeremy Irons and Kathy Bates).   I saw what felt like a LOT of period pieces - Cyrano, My Fair Lady, Vera Drake, Mrs. Brown, Gosford Park, and The Iron Lady, and most of them for the Best Actor (Ferrar Harrison, and Depardieu) and Best Actress (Judi Dench, Imelda Staunton, and Meryl Streep).  There were two documentaries in the mix (The Garden and Trouble the Water) and only one foreign film this year (In a Better World).  I still have lots more to see so I'm sure there will be another 30 Days of Oscar in my future.

1931: City Lights
1942: How Green Was My Valley
1945: Going My Way
1948: The Bishop's Wife
1951: Cyrano de Bergerac
1952: An American in Paris
1955: The Caine Mutiny
1964: Hud
1965: My Fair Lady
1970: Midnight Cowboy
1976: Dog Day Afternoon
1980: Kramer vs Kramer, Ice Castles
1982: Absence of Malice
1989: The Accused
1990: My Left Foot
1991: Cyrano de Bergerac, Reversal of Fortune, Misery
1993: Enchanted April, Passion Fish
1998: Her Majesty, Mrs. Brown
2002: Gosford Park
2005: Vera Drake
2007: Notes on a Scandal
2008: The Garden
2009: Trouble the Water
2011: In a Better World
2012: The Iron Lady, The Descendants, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

30 Days of Oscar Day 30: Going My Way

Movie: Going my Way
Year: 1945
Nominations: Best Picture, Best Actor - Bing Crosby, Best Actor - Barry Fitzgerald, Best Supporting Actor - Barry Fitzgerald, Best Director - Leo McCarey, Writing Original Story, Writing, Original Screenplay, Cinematography, Editing, Original Song "Swinging on a Star"
Wins/Snubs: I have never seen the same actor nominated for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor for the same role, but Barry Fitzgerald did win for Best Supporting Actor and Bing Crosby won for Best Actor.  Picture, Director, both writing awards, and Best Song were all big winners that year. Laura won for Cinematography and Editing went to Wilson neither of which I know.  12 Songs were nominated including "The Trolley Song" from Meet Me in St. Louis, but I really like the winner too.  

I wanted to finish off this year's series with another Best Picture winner I'd never seen.  And after the success of An American in Paris, I went with another famous crooner in the lead role.  Going My Way is the story of Father "Chuck" O'Malley (Bing Crosby) who has been sent to St. Dominic's in New York City (though you'd never know it) to help the aging Father Fitzgibbon (Barry Fitzpatrick) bring the parish back to solvency before the bank forecloses.  Father O'Malley has trouble integrating with the parish at first, but eventually his methods of directing the parish bear fruit and things get better (boys stop stealing and join the choir, people stop being evicted and a young homeless woman gets married).  However, they still need money for the mortgage and the choir rents out the Metropolitan Opera (Father O'Malley's old girlfriend is their new "Carmen") and intends to sell the rights to some songs that Father O'Malley wrote.  Of course it all works out.  


Bing Crosby is very convincing as the young priest who is "going his way" through life, pursuing religion and trying to help people.  He has the helpful attitude that people take seriously but older people are pretty sure might cause trouble.  It's a good movie that obviously follows the morals of the day and though I'm surprised it beat both Gaslight and Double Indemnity, it's very much an Oscar worthy film.  It has the same sort of feel-good-ness that It's a Wonderful Life or Mrs. Miniver or The Bells of St. Mary's does so well.  Here's the video of the choir singing "Swinging on a Star".

30 Days of Oscar Day 29: The Iron Lady

Movie: The Iron Lady
Year: 2012
Nominations:  Best Actress - Meryl Streep, Best Makeup
Wins/Snubs: Hard to say - Streep won the Golden Globe, but Davis won the SAG award, so this could go either way.   As for makeup, it's impressive, so hard to say.  It's up against Harry Potter 7.2 and Albert Nobbs.  Since HP hasn't been nominated before, perhaps it will take it, especially since the period pieces might split the vote.  However, it is a really impressive achievement in makeup.


When I was growing up Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher ruled the world, as least as far as I knew.  So I was familiar with her global reputation, but less so with her ratings at home or her rise to power.  Sadly, even after seeing this movie, I only know slightly more about the Falklands war and the fact that she now has dementia.  The movie made the fatal flaw of any biopic - trying to tell us so much, they leave us with nothing.  

Margaret Thatcher (an unrecognizable Meryl Streep) is living with a debilitating dementia, and much of the movie is shown as flashbacks, from her childhood as a shopkeeper's daughter to her first failed attempt to run for office and ultimately her life as Prime Minister.  She also marries Dennis Thatcher (an amazing Jim Broadbent), who supports her and has now begun to haunt her dementia after his death.   The problem with trying to just show us her entire life is that they can't show a full picture of any part of her life.  Yes, she was the first female Prime Minister, but she wasn't the first female Member of Parliament, yet the movie doesn't show any others.  They gloss over that entire concept by showing an ironing board in the ladies room and business being negotiated in the men's room.   Yes, she had to navigate a new path to be taken seriously as Prime Minister and had consultants advise her.  That idea is shown entirely in a discussion of pearls and a lesson on lowering her voice so as not to be "shrill".  There were some interesting moments about her struggles going to war and making decisions both as a mother and a Prime Minister.  


Meryl Streep did a terrific job in this, and as much as I LOVED The Help and Viola Davis, I wouldn't be disappointed to see Meryl win.  However, I do think Viola should win as she took a role and elevated the movie with her performance.  Meryl took a role and did a good job despite the movie.  


One of the annoying things I do when a movie is dull or shallow like The Iron Lady is I sit and think of ways they could have done the film in a way I might have enjoyed more.   Jim Broadbent's performance as Dennis Thatcher was fascinating.  He was a man in the 1960s who was able to support a wife who became the most famous woman in the world for a time.  They had a long, mostly successful marriage.  When he's haunting her, he's funny, bullying, kind, rude, and everything in between.  I think telling her story through his eyes would have given us more of the story - we see really well how she ended up, but the story of how she got there just wasn't well done.  My alternative movie His Iron Lady would have shown us what she was like at the END of the day deciding to send troops to the Falklands and how he felt about nearly being blown up at a hotel by the IRA because he was the Prime Minister's husband.  I thought his story was much more interesting and would have given a direction toward telling the important parts of her story.  A disappointing attempt to tell a story that I really want to hear.  And since this always pisses me off - the trailer on IMDB shows the course of her life, but not a single moment of her present circumstance which is about 2/3 of the film itself.  Argh. 2.5 of 5 stars/lambs

30 Days of Oscar Day 28: An American in Paris

Movie: An American in Paris
Year: 1952
Nominations:  Best Picture, Best Director - Vincent Minnelli, Art Direction, Cinematography (Color), Costume, Score of a Musical, Writing, Editing
Wins/Snubs: It won Best Picture over A Streetcar Named Desire (which took most of the acting awards) and A Place in the Sun (which won Best Director for George Stevens) so I'm actually okay with it as they're both really depressing.  Paris won Cinematography for color, and A Place in the Sun won for Black and White, as well as for Editing and Score of a drama.  Except for Bogart winning Best Actor for The African Queen, these three movies won all of the rest.  

I can't believe I'd never seen this as I really enjoy musicals.  In many other years it wouldn't have been the winner, but it split with 2 other films and took all the awards.  It stars Gene Kelly as the titular American, Jerry Mulligan, an artist trying to make a go of it in Paris.  He meets a rich patroness, Milo (Nina Foch) while he's selling his paintings.  She mostly gets a thrill dating bohemian artist.  One night when they're out with her friends, he sees Lisa (Leslie Caron) and falls in love.  Of course that pisses of his patroness Milo, and Lisa isn't all that interested. However, Jerry is a persistent stalker and and she agrees to go out with him.  Because it's a musical, there has to be a bigger complication. Jerry's friend Adam (a pianist) is friend's with famous actor Henri Baurel (Georges Guetary) who is engaged to a lovely woman named Lisa.  

The music and lyrics are done by George and Ira Gershwin, so there are a lot of recognizable songs - "I've got rhythm (Who could ask for anything more", "S'wonderful", plus many in the background/score that you'll recognize, "Strike up the band".  There are also two really extended dance numbers - one of Jerry fantasizing about being with Lisa, and another of Henri describing how terrific Lisa is.  Leslie Caron (all of 19 at the time) is an exceptional dancer - ballet, jazz, etc. and she really gets a lot of screen time to showcase this talent - however, I'm not a fan of dance (particularly for 10 minutes at a time) so I lost a bit there.  Gene Kelly is remarkably compelling though - he's fun, does a great tap dance with his neighbor kids, falls in love at the drop of a hat, and can sing too.  He and Lisa don't really have much chemistry, but man can they dance and the beautiful setting of Paris is vibrant and colorful and full of hope.  

30 Days of Oscar Day 27: How Green Was My Valley

Movie: How Green Was My Valley
Year: 1942
Nominations:  Best Picture, Best Director - John Ford, Best Supporting Actor - Donald Crisp, Best Supporting Actress - Sara Allgood, Editing, Cinematography (Black and White), Art Direction, Sound, Score, Screenplay
Wins/Snubs:  This movie will probably be most famous for beating Citizen Kane for Best Picture, Director and Cinematography and Art Direction.  Donald Crisp won for Supporting Actor and totally deserves it.  I think Maureen O'Hara should have been nominated for Supporting Actress.  Sara Allgood was beaten by Mary Astor in The Great Lie.  


The Feb. 24 2012 issue of Entertainment Weekly has a story about the most overrated Best Picture winners.  I've already covered one of them this year: My Fair Lady which you can read about here before I knew it was considered "overrated".  Since I had 5 days left, I thought I would cover some of them and see if I agree.  One of their most "overrated" is also one of my favorite movies of all time, so I won't bother looking at Out of Africa because I am totally biased thinking it deserved every accolade it got.  But this is the first one, and it has HUGE historical importance in film for winning over Citizen Kane.

**Some spoilers if you've never seen it.
How Green Was My Valley follows the Morgan family in a small coal-mining village in southern Wales in the 1930s.  Based on a novel of the same name, you see the story through the eyes of the youngest son Huw (Roddy McDowell) who admires his father and older brothers and has a crush on his oldest brother's wife, Bronwyn (Anna Lee).  His parents, played by Donald Crisp and Sara Allgood, want him to grow up to be more than a coal miner.  This is the time when coal was being mined less and unions were on the rise.  The brothers want to unionize but Mr. Morgan won't have it.  Mrs. Morgan and Huw go to talk to the brothers and are injured coming home.  It looks like Huw won't walk again, but thanks to some help from the local preacher Mr. Gruffydd (Walter Pidgeon), he does eventually.  Huw's sister Angharad (Maureen O'Hara) is in love with Mr. Gruffydd, but marries someone else (ultimately divorcing causing a scandal!).  Of course, there is eventually an explosion in the mine and accidents ensue with Mr. Morgan getting trapped and dying and causing Huw to remember "how green was his valley" when all his family was alive, well, and living together.

Because this movie was filmed after the outbreak of WWII, it couldn't be filmed in Wales, and was filmed on a created set in California.  Only one of the minor actors was even Welsh.  That gave everyone a very odd accent.  Perhaps it was spot on, but it sounded more like they were all mocking Apu from The Simpsons with an odd Britishness (though Walter Pidgeon speaks American for no obvious reason).  So that was particularly disconcerting.  Second, the story is rather simple and the dialogue really basic (though very much of that era in film).  So there's not a lot to really impress you.  Generally, the movies of that era have something particularly unique or ahead of their time, and I didn't really see much in this.  It's very good, don't misunderstand, but as the film that won the Best Picture Oscar, it's only okay.  I can see it being a favorite of many people - the many characters offers something for everyone, and it would be an enjoyable experience watching in a theater on a big screen, but on a random afternoon after work, it wasn't anything particularly special.  


On a random note, given that the color green is in the title, I couldn't help wondering while watching the terrific cinematography how this movie would actually appear in color.  The red of Maureen O'Hara's hair, the black dust of the coal mines, the white of the flowers in the fields, and of course the green valleys.