1936 Line-ups.

Certainly a step up from 1935, and the majority of films here are ones I'd love to revisit again in the future. The first two are the closest a film from the 1930s has come to being a 10/10 aside from Grand Hotel, so that's awesome. I'm honestly not sure which I'd really give my BP win to this year, but for now I'm going with Chaplin. So glad I went with Guitry as my wild card pick for my last film to check out as I now have another filmmaker on my map to make up for the lack of Rene Clair available to me. Hoping you all can provide some recommendations about what works of his to seek out as I absolutely adored Story of a Cheat.

Swing Time would also probably be close to a 10/10 as well, but that surprising (at least for me, as I didn't know much about the film other than it was a Fred & Ginger picture) blackface dance sequence seemed completely unnecessary. To make matters worse, it was probably the most well-choreographed and photographed dance sequence in all of the Fred & Ginger films I've seen so far, so it's like... why? Other than that, still crazy to think "The Way You Look Tonight," which is one of my all-time favorite songs, came from this film, and it's used very sweetly.

Sabotage was an awesome Hitchcock, and crazy to think how much of the plot was used for Inglourious Basterds (granted they're very different films), even a clip of this one was used in Basterds. But Secret Agent was such a disappointing one. Other than more awesome use of Peter Lorre's talents (and what a shifty character he was), the script and Gielgud's very not 'gud performance really hindered whatever cool techniques Hitchcock might have had in store.

After the Thin Man is how you do a sequel, and I loved it as much as the first (maybe more, we'll see). Are the rest of the sequels any good? Mr. Deeds was strong, but Cooper kind of won my Actor prize by default. I prefer him in Design for Living personally. Jean Arthur killed it, though. All my acting line-ups this year are super weak (particularly Lead Actress), but Arthur's my one winner I feel worthy enough for the prize. Godfrey was weird, but cute. Petrified Forest would have been better in the hands of a different director who knew how to mobilize the camera more (the acting was great though), and seems like Garbo's not my cup of tea as she's made the latter half of my line-ups three years in a row. I prefer her stuff in the 1920s where I could feel passion in her performance. Now I only see a movie star putting on a show, which is a shame as she's so talented.

Oh, and hey! I liked a Renoir, even though I still can't put my finger on what style he's going for, I liked this one the best out of all his work so far, so maybe it gets better?

Best Picture:
01. Modern Times.
02. The Story of a Cheat.
03. Swing Time.
04. After the Thin Man.
05. Sabotage.
06. Mr. Deeds Goes to Town.
07. My Man Godfrey.
08. The Crime of Monsieur Lange.
09. The Petrified Forest.
10. Camille.
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11. San Francisco.
12. Secret Agent.

Best Director:
01. Charles Chaplin - Modern Times.
02. Sacha Guitry - The Story of a Cheat.
03. Alfred Hitchcock - Sabotage.
04. W.S. Van Dyke - After the Thin Man.
05. George Stevens - Swing Time.

Best Actor:
01. Gary Cooper - Mr. Deeds Goes to Town.
02. William Powell - After the Thin Man.
03. Charles Chaplin - Modern Times.
04. Sacha Guitry - The Story of a Cheat.
05. Leslie Howard - The Petrified Forest.

Best Actress:
01. Sylvia Sidney - Sabotage.
02. Ginger Rogers - Swing Time.
03. Greta Garbo - Camille.
04. Bette Davis - The Petrified Forest.
05. Myrna Loy - After the Thin Man.

Best Supporting Actor:
01. Peter Lorre - Secret Agent.
02. Robert Taylor - Camille.
03. Spencer Tracy - San Francisco.
04. Humphrey Bogart - The Petrified Forest.
05. Jules Berry - The Crime of Monsieur Lange.

Best Supporting Actress:
01. Jean Arthur - Mr. Deeds Goes to Town.
02. Carole Lombard - My Man Godfrey.
03. Alice Brady - My Man Godfrey.
04. Madeleine Carroll - Secret Agent.
05. Jessie Ralph - San Francisco.

Best Original Screenplay:
01. The Story of a Cheat.
02. Modern Times.
03. Swing Time.
04. The Crime of Monsieur Lange.
05. San Francisco.

Best Adapted Screenplay:
01. After the Thin Man.
02. Mr. Deeds Goes to Town.
03. The Petrified Forest.
04. Sabotage.
05. My Man Godfrey.

Best Ensemble:
01. My Man Godfrey.
02. Mr. Deeds Goes to Town.
03. Camille.
04. The Petrified Forest.
05. After the Thin Man.

Best Editing:
The Story of a Cheat.

Best Cinematography:
Sabotage.

Best Art Direction:
Modern Times.

Best Costume Design:
Camille.

Best Makeup:
The Story of a Cheat.

Best Visual Effects:
San Francisco.

Best Sound Design:
Sabotage.

Best Original Score:
Charles Chaplin - Modern Times.

Best Original Song:
"The Way You Look Tonight" - Swing Time.

And of course, leave your recs for 1937. The Awful Truth and Make Way for Tomorrow are my only must-sees, so my options are pretty open to whatever.