Post by idioticbunny on Jun 3, 2017 17:13:40 GMT
Only took nearly half a year, but I've finally gotten through the 1920's (yay being currently jobless!). Unfortunately, I feel like this year did very little for me. I could tell they cared less about the actual stories this year, and more about the advent of sound which I could tell really hurt films like Welcome Danger and Blackmail because the lack of music during the dialogue scenes marred the pacing. Anyway, my final line-up for the 1920s:
Best Picture:
01. A Cottage on Dartmoor.
02. Woman in the Moon.
03. Pandora's Box.
04. Blackmail.
05. Man with a Movie Camera.
06. Spite Marriage.
07. Welcome Danger.
08. The Trespasser.
09. The Broadway Melody.
10. A Throw of Dice.
-----------------
11. The Cocoanuts.
12. The Manxman.
Best Director:
01. Anthony Asquith - A Cottage on Dartmoor.
02. Dziga Vertov - Man with a Movie Camera.
03. Alfred Hitchcock - Blackmail.
04. Georg Wilhelm Pabst - Pandora's Box.
05. Fritz Lang - Woman in the Moon.
Best Actor:
01. Uno Henning - A Cottage on Dartmoor.
02. Harold Lloyd - Welcome Danger.
03. Wally Fritsch - Woman in the Moon.
04. Buster Keaton - Spite Marriage.
05. Malcolm Keen - The Manxman.
Best Actress:
01. Louise Brooks - Pandora's Box.
02. Gloria Swanson - The Trespasser.
03. Bessie Love - The Broadway Melody.
04. Anita Page - The Broadway Melody.
05. Norah Baring - A Cottage on Dartmoor.
Best Supporting Actor:
01. Fritz Kortner - Pandora's Box.
02. Groucho Marx - The Cocoanuts.
03. Jed Prouty - The Broadway Melody.
04. Donald Calthrop - Blackmail.
05. Fritz Rasp - Woman in the Moon.
Best Supporting Actress:
01. Barbara Kent - Welcome Danger.
02. Dorothy Sebastian - Spite Marriage.
03. Kay Hammond - The Trespasser.
04. Gerda Maurus - Woman in the Moon.
05. Alice Roberts - Pandora's Box.
Best Original Screenplay:
01. A Cottage on Dartmoor.
02. Welcome Danger.
03. The Trespasser.
04. The Broadway Melody.
Best Adapted Screenplay:
01. Pandora's Box.
02. Blackmail.
03. Woman in the Moon.
04. Spite Marriage.
05. The Cocoanuts.
Best Ensemble:
01. Pandora's Box.
02. The Broadway Melody.
03. The Trespasser.
04. A Cottage on Dartmoor.
05. Woman in the Moon.
Best Editing:
A Cottage on Dartmoor.
Best Cinematography:
Man with a Movie Camera.
Best Art Direction:
Woman in the Moon.
Best Costume Design:
A Throw of Dice.
Best Makeup:
A Throw of Dice.
Best Visual Effects:
Woman in the Moon.
Best Sound Design:
The Broadway Melody.
Hitchcock finally gets into his groove here with Blackmail and while The Manxman might be one of his most boring films, it still had a distinct style purely his own. Very excited to see how his 1930s work holds.
As for the rest of the year, I think Welcome Danger might have been one of Lloyd's best, if not his absolute best, but the sound design severely killed the film (not just the terrible synchronization, but also the almost total lack of a musical score to accompany the actions on screen). I've heard a silent version exists, and if I get the chance to watch it one day, it might improve the rating, so we'll see. Also Spite Marriage is a better Buster Keaton film than I expected, and a nice way to go out on a high note before he started doing talkies.
Man with a Movie Camera was superbly directed, but strangely enough while I disliked Berlin: Symphony of a City more because of its lack of artistry, it at least told a story of the city. Whereas this film had so much artistry, but told almost no story. Had very high expectations but was mildly disappointed. Still, fantastically directed and shot, just wish it said more about the city it was shooting.
Another disappointment was The Cocoanuts, my very first Marx Brothers film. I know that a lot of their later stuff is much better (from what I hear), but I sincerely hope they have very little in common with this film because this one was just all over the place. Barely even a movie (but damn if Groucho wasn't fantastic).
Fritz Lang has always been hit or miss for me, but I think Woman in the Moon might be even better than Metropolis and Destiny, his two biggest silent films. It gets a bit muddled in the second half (honestly I feel like most of Lang's issues come from his wife's [Thea von Harbou's] scripts), but the energy built up from the first half carried over to make such an exciting film that nearly flew by for being close to 3 hours. Way better than I was expecting.
But the only film that truly pleased me was A Cottage on Dartmoor (also known as Escape from Dartmoor). I was drawn into it because I heard it was very Hitchcockian (even though the term didn't exist for many years to come), and it certainly is that but so much more. Such strong work from a director I've heard very little about. One of the best of the decade for sure, and a great ode to the silent era.
Other than that, I'm just ready to move onto the 1930s and watch so many of the films I've really been waiting on (M, City Lights, It Happened One Night, Bringing Up Baby, Gone with the Wind, etc.).
Best Picture:
01. A Cottage on Dartmoor.
02. Woman in the Moon.
03. Pandora's Box.
04. Blackmail.
05. Man with a Movie Camera.
06. Spite Marriage.
07. Welcome Danger.
08. The Trespasser.
09. The Broadway Melody.
10. A Throw of Dice.
-----------------
11. The Cocoanuts.
12. The Manxman.
Best Director:
01. Anthony Asquith - A Cottage on Dartmoor.
02. Dziga Vertov - Man with a Movie Camera.
03. Alfred Hitchcock - Blackmail.
04. Georg Wilhelm Pabst - Pandora's Box.
05. Fritz Lang - Woman in the Moon.
Best Actor:
01. Uno Henning - A Cottage on Dartmoor.
02. Harold Lloyd - Welcome Danger.
03. Wally Fritsch - Woman in the Moon.
04. Buster Keaton - Spite Marriage.
05. Malcolm Keen - The Manxman.
Best Actress:
01. Louise Brooks - Pandora's Box.
02. Gloria Swanson - The Trespasser.
03. Bessie Love - The Broadway Melody.
04. Anita Page - The Broadway Melody.
05. Norah Baring - A Cottage on Dartmoor.
Best Supporting Actor:
01. Fritz Kortner - Pandora's Box.
02. Groucho Marx - The Cocoanuts.
03. Jed Prouty - The Broadway Melody.
04. Donald Calthrop - Blackmail.
05. Fritz Rasp - Woman in the Moon.
Best Supporting Actress:
01. Barbara Kent - Welcome Danger.
02. Dorothy Sebastian - Spite Marriage.
03. Kay Hammond - The Trespasser.
04. Gerda Maurus - Woman in the Moon.
05. Alice Roberts - Pandora's Box.
Best Original Screenplay:
01. A Cottage on Dartmoor.
02. Welcome Danger.
03. The Trespasser.
04. The Broadway Melody.
Best Adapted Screenplay:
01. Pandora's Box.
02. Blackmail.
03. Woman in the Moon.
04. Spite Marriage.
05. The Cocoanuts.
Best Ensemble:
01. Pandora's Box.
02. The Broadway Melody.
03. The Trespasser.
04. A Cottage on Dartmoor.
05. Woman in the Moon.
Best Editing:
A Cottage on Dartmoor.
Best Cinematography:
Man with a Movie Camera.
Best Art Direction:
Woman in the Moon.
Best Costume Design:
A Throw of Dice.
Best Makeup:
A Throw of Dice.
Best Visual Effects:
Woman in the Moon.
Best Sound Design:
The Broadway Melody.
Hitchcock finally gets into his groove here with Blackmail and while The Manxman might be one of his most boring films, it still had a distinct style purely his own. Very excited to see how his 1930s work holds.
As for the rest of the year, I think Welcome Danger might have been one of Lloyd's best, if not his absolute best, but the sound design severely killed the film (not just the terrible synchronization, but also the almost total lack of a musical score to accompany the actions on screen). I've heard a silent version exists, and if I get the chance to watch it one day, it might improve the rating, so we'll see. Also Spite Marriage is a better Buster Keaton film than I expected, and a nice way to go out on a high note before he started doing talkies.
Man with a Movie Camera was superbly directed, but strangely enough while I disliked Berlin: Symphony of a City more because of its lack of artistry, it at least told a story of the city. Whereas this film had so much artistry, but told almost no story. Had very high expectations but was mildly disappointed. Still, fantastically directed and shot, just wish it said more about the city it was shooting.
Another disappointment was The Cocoanuts, my very first Marx Brothers film. I know that a lot of their later stuff is much better (from what I hear), but I sincerely hope they have very little in common with this film because this one was just all over the place. Barely even a movie (but damn if Groucho wasn't fantastic).
Fritz Lang has always been hit or miss for me, but I think Woman in the Moon might be even better than Metropolis and Destiny, his two biggest silent films. It gets a bit muddled in the second half (honestly I feel like most of Lang's issues come from his wife's [Thea von Harbou's] scripts), but the energy built up from the first half carried over to make such an exciting film that nearly flew by for being close to 3 hours. Way better than I was expecting.
But the only film that truly pleased me was A Cottage on Dartmoor (also known as Escape from Dartmoor). I was drawn into it because I heard it was very Hitchcockian (even though the term didn't exist for many years to come), and it certainly is that but so much more. Such strong work from a director I've heard very little about. One of the best of the decade for sure, and a great ode to the silent era.
Other than that, I'm just ready to move onto the 1930s and watch so many of the films I've really been waiting on (M, City Lights, It Happened One Night, Bringing Up Baby, Gone with the Wind, etc.).
