1959 Line-ups.

Hell of a way to finish off the decade, and this re-watch of Ballad of a Soldier has definitely put it into my top 10 of all-time. I was even more of a mess watching it this time than the first time, and that's just amazing. Possibly some of the best direction ever. Just... such an amazing movie.

But what was really surprising was how my now probably sixth re-watch of North by Northwest suddenly did the trick for me. I've always enjoyed it, but felt that there was a certain charm missing from it that put into the tippy-top tier of Hitchcock for me. But something about this recent watch just finally clicked for me and I loved every second of it and almost wanted to watch it again the second it was over (might actually go and do that right after I post this honestly...). Still not sure if it will get that coveted 10/10 from me, but it's damn close.

All in all, a pretty great year. Acting line-ups aren't much to write home about, but the Compulsion duo and Riva make a hell of a case for my decade line-up (which I'll be working on next while I watch horror movies the rest of the month). Appropriately blown away by the films I wanted to be blown away by (i.e. 400 Blows, Human Condition, Some Like It Hot) and only mildly disappointed by the ones I was really excited for (i.e. Hiroshima, Ben-Hur). Thankfully had some real surprises in the mix though (i.e. Compulsion, Good Morning - which might be my favorite Ozu and makes me wish he made more comedies because he's got a heck of a knack). Only true bitter disappointments were Anatomy of a Murder which had long been one I've been dying to watch and didn't expect it to be an overly long and dreary film where you can guess where everything's going within the first twenty minutes and then goes to those exact places without much effort; and also Pickpocket which was Bresson doing his best with some of the absolute worst acting I've ever seen - like so dreadful that it severely hindered every other aspect of the film that was doing its best.

Best Picture:
01. Ballad of a Soldier.
02. North by Northwest.
03. The 400 Blows.
04. The Human Condition I: No Greater Love.
05. The Human Condition II: Road to Eternity.
06. Shadows.
07. Compulsion.
08. Some Like It Hot.
09. Good Morning.
10. The World of Apu.
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11. Hiroshima Mon Amour.
12. Floating Weeds.
13. Sleeping Beauty.
14. Ben-Hur.
15. The Bridge.
16. Rio Bravo.
17. A Bucket of Blood.
18. Black Orpheus.
19. The Diary of Anne Frank.
20. House on Haunted Hill.
21. Pillow Talk.
22. Anatomy of a Murder.
23. Fires on the Plain.
24. Pickpocket.

Best Director:
01. Grigoriy Chukhray - Ballad of a Soldier.
02. François Truffaut - The 400 Blows.
03. Alfred Hitchcock - North by Northwest.
04. Alain Resnais - Hiroshima Mon Amour.
05. Masaki Kobayashi - The Human Condition I: No Greater Love.

Best Actor:
01. Dean Stockwell - Compulsion.
02. Jack Lemmon - Some Like It Hot.
03. Bradford Dillman - Compulsion.
04. Jean-Pierre Léaud - The 400 Blows.
05. Cary Grant - North by Northwest.

Best Actress:
01. Emmanuelle Riva - Hiroshima Mon Amour.
02. Doris Day - Pillow Talk.
03. Millie Perkins - The Diary of Anne Frank.
04. Marpessa Dawn - Black Orpheus.

Best Supporting Actor:
01. Dean Martin - Rio Bravo.
02. Orson Welles - Compulsion.
03. Joseph Schildkraut - The Diary of Anne Frank.
04. Joe E. Brown - Some Like It Hot.
05. Hugh Hurd - Shadows.

Best Supporting Actress:
01. Lelia Goldoni - Shadows.
02. Lee Remick - Anatomy of a Murder.
03. Sharmila Tagore - The World of Apu.
04. Machiko Kyō - Floating Weeds.
05. Marilyn Monroe - Some Like It Hot.

Best Original Screenplay:
01. Some Like It Hot.
02. North by Northwest.
03. Ballad of a Soldier.
04. The 400 Blows.
05. Hiroshima Mon Amour.

Best Adapted Screenplay:
01. The World of Apu.
02. Good Morning.
03. Compulsion.
04. Rio Bravo.
05. Floating Weeds.

Best Ensemble:
01. Shadows.
02. Some Like It Hot.
03. Floating Weeds.
04. The Bridge.
05. The Human Condition I: No Greater Love.

Best Editing:
Ballad of a Soldier.

Best Cinematography:
Hiroshima Mon Amour.

Best Art Direction:
Ben-Hur.

Best Costume Design:
Black Orpheus.

Best Makeup:
Some Like It Hot.

Best Visual Effects:
Ben-Hur.

Best Sound Design:
Ben-Hur.

Best Original Score:
Bernard Herrmann - North by Northwest.

Best Original Song:
"My Rifle, My Pony, and Me" - Rio Bravo.

Best Choreography:
Ben-Hur.

Will admit that the much-discussed chariot race in Ben-Hur very much held up for me despite the mega-expectations. So, so good. Also, unless something just blows me away in 1960, it'll make three years in a row where Herrmann is my score winner (and in a Hitchcock film nonetheless).

Anyway, will watch Psycho as my Halloween night movie to kick-start me into 1960 (which is already a top 20 ever movie for me, love it), and just need to re-watch The Apartment, Peeping Tom, Breathless, and The Magnificent Seven, but the rest is wide open. So send over those recs.

Also an FYI: I'm planning to try and watch as many '60s horror films as I can so that I don't have to pass them over when I get to those years and wait until next October (1960 alone has a ton: The Little Shop of Horrors; 13 Ghosts; Black Sunday; Eyes Without a Face; House of Usher - and I plan to watch them all if I can find them all). So feel free to also send over your horror recs for the decade too so I don't pass them over when I go through the decade!