1962 Line-ups.

Amazing how two of my top three films I almost put off for a later date... because they truly are worthy of my decade line-ups and I'm only three years into the decade (those two films being Lawrence of Arabia - which I wanted to save for a theater experience but kind of glad I bit the bullet and watched it now so I have the opportunity to revel in it again when I inevitably see it on the big screen - and the other being Baron Munchausen which just so happened to pop up as Criterion Channel's most recent Movie of the Week and it was just an absolute blast).

If it weren't for those two (and the rest of my top four), I'd say it would certainly be a bit of a letdown of a year. Overall, it may be my least favorite year of the three so far, but like always there's a lot to appreciate. It feels like Kubrick finally perfected his style here with Lolita (and maybe James Mason's best performance?). Carnival of Souls is an absolutely trippy delight that I can't believe Herk Harvey only made one film (but for being his first and last, it's brilliantly done). Harakiri further proves Kobayashi to be one of my favorite directors of the decade (a few more films to check out, but if they stay such strong quality he could prove to be a top director altogether). Il Sorpasso would possibly rank higher, but the final five minutes almost entirely ruined the movie for me (sorry Viced ). But how beautiful everything that lead up to it was (although I did have some issues here and there with offensive slurs/dated ideals, though I realize that may have been part of Gassman's character). I also liked Sanjuro a great deal more than Yojimbo (which was a bit of a disappointment for me), but I have a good feeling Kurosawa's next will be the one that does it for me.

Other than that, most others were slight disappointments (even To Kill a Mockingbird knocked down a peg for me as it used to be an all-timer when I was younger) to big letdowns (I had been hyped up for The Trial for so long, but while Welles' direction and Perkins' performance were stellar, everything else was just far too plotless and messy for my taste).

I will say, though, that Dr. No was a pretty kick-ass (if a bit overstuffed) intro to the older Bond films. Up to now the oldest Bond film I had seen was Brosnan's The World Is Not Enough so I'm very excited to start this marathon (on top of my Kubrick/Hitchcock ones).

But yeah, for sure, this was Lawrence of Arabia's year. I felt after the intermission was a bit messy in places, but it didn't hurt the viewing enough for me that I still think it contends for my third 10/10 in a row this decade. A theater experience will certainly help determine that, though. And for this also being my first O'Toole performance (well, live-action anyway since I've seen Ratatouille), what a way to start. I can see based on this performance alone why he's considered one of the best. He just stole every frame he was in (and that's saying a lot considering Freddie Young's cinematography may be a contender for all-time for me). Anyway, here are my line-ups:

Best Picture:
01. Lawrence of Arabia.
02. Harakiri.
03. The Outrageous Baron Munchausen.
04. Carnival of Souls.
05. Il Sorpasso.
06. Lolita.
07. To Kill a Mockingbird.
08. Sanjuro.
09. Dr. No.
10. The Manchurian Candidate.
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11. An Autumn Afternoon.
12. Days of Wine and Roses.
13. Vivre Sa Vie.
14. What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
15. Long Day's Journey Into Night.
16. The Miracle Worker.
17. Cléo from 5 to 7.
18. Ivan's Childhood.
19. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.
20. The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner.
21. Knife in the Water.
22. Jules and Jim.
23. L'Eclisse.
24. The Longest Day.
25. The Trial.

Best Director:
01. David Lean - Lawrence of Arabia.
02. Karel Zeman - The Outrageous Baron Munchausen.
03. Herk Harvey - Carnival of Souls.
04. Masaki Kobayashi - Harakiri.
05. Stanley Kubrick - Lolita.

Best Actor:
01. Peter O'Toole - Lawrence of Arabia.
02. Jack Lemmon - Days of Wine and Roses.
03. Gregory Peck - To Kill a Mockingbird.
04. Tatsuya Nakadai - Harakiri.
05. James Mason - Lolita.

Best Actress:
01. Katharine Hepburn - Long Day's Journey Into Night.
02. Bette Davis - What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
03. Candace Hilligoss - Carnival of Souls.
04. Jeanne Moreau - Jules and Jim.
05. Anne Bancroft - The Miracle Worker.

Best Supporting Actor:
01. Jason Robards - Long Day's Journey Into Night.
02. Peter Sellars - Lolita.
03. Dean Stockwell - Long Day's Journey Into Night.
04. Brock Peters - To Kill a Mockingbird.
05. Rentarô Mikuni - Harakiri.

Best Supporting Actress:
01. Shelley Winters - Lolita.
02. Patty Duke - The Miracle Worker.
03. Inga Swenson - The Miracle Worker.
04. Angela Lansbury - The Manchurian Candidate.
05. Vera Miles - The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.

Best Original Screenplay:
01. Il Sorpasso.
02. Carnival of Souls.
03. Days of Wine and Roses.
04. An Autumn Afternoon.
05. Cléo from 5 to 7.

Best Adapted Screenplay:
01. Lolita.
02. Harakiri.
03. Lawrence of Arabia.
04. Sanjuro.
05. The Outrageous Baron Munchausen.

Best Ensemble:
01. Long Day's Journey Into Night.
02. Lolita.
03. Lawrence of Arabia.
04. The Miracle Worker.
05. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.

Best Editing:
Lawrence of Arabia.

Best Cinematography:
Lawrence of Arabia.

Best Art Direction:
The Outrageous Baron Munchausen.

Best Costume Design:
Lawrence of Arabia.

Best Makeup:
Carnival of Souls.

Best Visual Effects:
The Outrageous Baron Munchausen.

Best Sound Design:
Lawrence of Arabia.

Best Original Score:
*TIE - Gene Moore - Carnival of Souls // Maurice Jarre - Lawrence of Arabia.

Best Original Song:
"Sans Toi" - Cléo from 5 to 7.

Best Choreography:
Harakiri.

Pretty excited for 1963 just because there is such a wide variety of films (particularly genre stuff) that I really think I'll enjoy. Plus finally getting around to some long-awaited films (like 8 1/2, High and Low, Charade, etc.). But please throw your recommendations my way! I think considering how many films I'm having trouble cutting down lately, I might boost up my list to 15 films per year. Means watching more, but it's been getting tough to push stuff aside (and there are still like twenty movies every year I'm sorry to push aside)! Though '63 is the year where I had seen the most films prior to starting this (I've seen 7), so there will be some re-watches here as well (means making way for more movies a lot easier!).