1941 Line-ups.

A pretty tame follow-up compared to how awesome last year was, but still some worthy stuff. Though, my favorites were ones I had already seen years ago, but it was nice to know I loved them even more - not less.

If you ask me, Citizen Kane deserves every bit as much of its praise. I might not personally believe it's the greatest film ever made, but it'd still make my top 100 and that's close enough. And it's hard to truly appreciate it until you've watched all the films that have come before it. It was a true game-changer. And in my opinion, most game-changers - like Birth of a Nation - might elevate the film medium, but often at the expense of a truly strong narrative. In this case, Orson Welles managed to do both - and in fact, the narrative is what makes it so game-changing really. Just an absolute masterclass that should be mandatory to study before anyone ever makes movies.

Maltese Falcon is pretty game-changing as well, though to far lesser extents. A huge step in the right direction for film noir, and for Bogart's career. But it's the cinematography, and direction - the numerous use of close-ups which felt very rare for the time - that make it so special. Not the best in the genre from what I've already seen, but a worthy inclusion.

I'd say my biggest surprise was How Green Was My Valley. Mainly because the only reputation it seems to have is "the one that took Best Picture away from Citizen Kane". Yet I can actually see why. It might be an inferior film in the long run, but for its time, it resonated with post-Depression feelings and with a lot of people who had to flee their homes to come to America in order to survive the oncoming rein of terror from the East. And it's very nostalgic in that way - that longing for home. I'd be lying if I said it didn't make me feel some strong emotions about my own home and I think that's the power of it.

Other than that, biggest disappointment would probably be Dumbo. It just felt like, outside of the "Pink Elephants on Parade" sequence, was a pretty tame movie. For how groundbreaking their past three films were, this felt lazy by comparison. Far too little character development and conflict, and the animation felt like a bit of a step down at parts too compared to what they were able to do just one year before. Though I'm sure I'm alone on this opinion.

47 Ronin was great, but the build-up to trying to avenge their master was so anti-climactic it practically ruined my feelings of it. Will see how I feel about it in time. Daniel Webster was so pleasantly surprising and I loved how inventive it was with sound design and its cinematography. And the Preston Sturges pictures were nice, though I was a bit disappointed in how dumb the characters were in Lady Eve. All in all, an okay year, but nothing crazy good about it.

Best Picture:
01. Citizen Kane.
02. The Maltese Falcon.
03. How Green Was My Valley.
04. The 47 Ronin.
05. The Devil and Daniel Webster.
06. Sullivan's Travels.
07. Suspicion.
08. Mr. & Mrs. Smith.
09. Dumbo.
10. The Lady Eve.
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11. Shadow of the Thin Man.
12. The Strawberry Blonde.

Best Director:
01. Orson Welles - Citizen Kane.
02. John Huston - The Maltese Falcon.
03. William Dieterle - The Devil and Daniel Webster.
04. Kenji Mizoguchi - The 47 Ronin.
05. John Ford - How Green Was My Valley.

Best Actor:
01. Orson Welles - Citizen Kane.
02. Humphrey Bogart - The Maltese Falcon.
03. Cary Grant - Suspicion.
04. Chojuro Kawarasaki - The 47 Ronin.
05. Roddy McDowall - How Green Was My Valley.

Best Actress:
01. Joan Fontaine - Suspicion.
02. Barbara Stanwyck - The Lady Eve.
03. Carole Lombard - Mr. & Mrs. Smith.
04. Myrna Loy - Shadow of the Thin Man.

Best Supporting Actor:
01. Sydney Greenstreet - The Maltese Falcon.
02. Walter Huston - The Devil and Daniel Webster.
03. Walter Pidgeon - How Green Was My Valley.
04. Edward Arnold - The Devil and Daniel Webster.
05. Peter Lorre - The Maltese Falcon.

Best Supporting Actress:
01. Mary Astor - The Maltese Falcon.
02. Simone Simon - The Devil and Daniel Webster.
03. Dorothy Comingore - Citizen Kane.
04. Sara Allgood - How Green Was My Valley.
05. Anne Shirley - The Devil and Daniel Webster.

Best Original Screenplay:
01. Citizen Kane.
02. Sullivan's Travels.
03. Mr. & Mrs. Smith.
04. The Lady Eve.

Best Adapted Screenplay:
01. The Maltese Falcon.
02. How Green Was My Valley.
03. The Devil and Daniel Webster.
04. Suspicion.
05. The 47 Ronin.

Best Ensemble:
01. Citizen Kane.
02. The Maltese Falcon.
03. How Green Was My Valley.
04. The Devil and Daniel Webster.
05. The 47 Ronin.

Best Editing:
Citizen Kane.

Best Cinematography:
Citizen Kane.

Best Art Direction:
Citizen Kane.

Best Costume Design:
The Devil and Daniel Webster.

Best Makeup:
Citizen Kane.

Best Visual Effects:
The Devil and Daniel Webster.

Best Sound Design:
The Devil and Daniel Webster.

Best Original Score:
Bernard Herrmann - Citizen Kane.

Best Original Song:
"Baby Mine" - Dumbo.

As for 1942, I just re-watched Casablanca even though I've seen it probably ten times already in my life, but it's just so damn good. It might be my third 10/10 in a row, but I'm not sure yet. Other than that, the year seems pretty lame, so I'm hoping for some surprises.