Oscar Best Picture Winner 1932: Cimarron

BY: ORANGECHAIR

In 1932, the film to win Best Picture was a film by the name Cimarron. A film that crosses vast distances in time and space, Cimarron is set during the expansion of the United States. A film that creates heroes and villains where you least expect it, Cimarron is a thought provoking work of art.

Cimarron is the story of Yancey Cravat (Richard Dix), a man thirsty for adventure. After the United States government opens the Oklahoma Territory for settlement, Yancey brings his wife Sabra Cravat (Irene Dunne) and his son to the settlement of Osage. A lawyer and newspaper editor, Yancey sets up a newspaper and quickly becomes well known around town. Yancey begins to do all he can to help Osage, protecting the town from a group of roughnecks that live there and dispatching a group of outlaws that raid the town. Growing restless, Yancey eventually goes to settle Cherokee Territory, leaving his wife to run the newspaper and fend for herself. The rest of the film follows the Cravat family, now with daughter Donna Cravat (Judith Barrett), as they grow up with their father appearing every couple of years.

This film was a well done film with a great story. First off the character of Yancey Cravat was absolutely fascinating. Yancey is set-up as a hero figure. He chivalrously attempts to save a woman, Dixie Lee (Estelle Taylor), though Dixie ends up stealing Yancey’s horse and his plot of land. Furthermore he saves Osage from bandits on his own and turns the town into a safer place to live. While overall Yancey seems heroic he is not as heroic with his family, constantly leaving them on their own so that he can go out in search of adventure. Yancey has done great things for Osage and the country but is not the husband and father a traditionally “good” character should be which makes it difficult to know how to feel about Yancey.

This film moves through a number of different time periods, showing Yancey and Sabre as they grow older and older. Moving through time serves a larger purpose than just showing the characters grow up. In a film that is based in the expansion and growth of America, moving through time also shows how America grows. We see the settlement of Osage turn into a city and see America expand its borders. Beyond simply growing in size we also get to see how America grows socially. The film touches heavily on the racial issues between the pioneers and the Native Americans. By the end of the film, time has passed and feelings have changed.

Yancey walks with a cowboy-like swagger, moving through the films action scenes with quick hands and a quicker tongue. This film was well written with well developed characters and a structure that allows the film to delve into social issues. In 1931 Cimmaron beat East Lynne, the Front Page, Skippy and Trader Horn for Best Picture. The film also won for Best Art Direction and Howard Estabrook took home the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay. This was a 7 out of 10 film for me, not necessarily what I think of when I think of an Oscar Best Picture winner but a great film all the same.

Looking to Oscar 2015: An Enjoyably Amusing Trip Into the Woods

BY: ORANGECHAIR

I will admit I saw this film almost a full month before I wrote this review. I was not going to write a review of it not because it was a bad film but I was working on other things. I really did not there was much in it that would be nominated for an Oscar but once I again I underestimated the wondrous Actress that is Meryl Streep. This film was pure fun with solid, though not Oscar worthy, performances from every man and woman in it.

Based on a play of the same name, Into the Woods takes a number of famous fairy tales and weaves their stories together to create something wholly unique and entertaining. The story begins with a number of main characters making wishes, the most important wish being made by the Baker (James Corden) and the Baker’s Wife (Emily Blunt). The two wish for a child and it is quickly revealed that they are having such trouble because the Baker’s father angered a Witch (Meryl Streep) who then cast a curse on his house. The Baker and his wife still live in the same house so the curse has been passed down to them. The Witch offers to take away the curse if they bring her “the cow as white as milk, the cape as red as blood, the hair as yellow as corn and the slipper as pure as gold.” The Baker and his wife head into the woods to collect the items. While trying to break the curse the two encounter Cinderella (Anna Kendrick), Rapunzel (Mackenzie Mauzy), Prince Charming (Chris Pine), Little Red Riding Hood (Lilla Crawford), the Wolf (Johnny Depp), Jack (Daniel Huttlestone), Jack’s beanstalk and Jack’s giants.

This was a very well rounded film. Led by the always talented Meryl Streep, the cast of well known actors and actresses proved not only their acting skills but that they could also sing. The most surprising voice was that of Chris Pine who performed one of the two best songs in the film, the hilarious ‘Agony.’ While each character was nearly perfectly cast, the two most remarkable performances came from the youngest of the cast. Daniel Huttlestone, who played Jack, and Lilla Crawford, who played Little Red Riding Hood, commanded the screen as they sang and danced across it. The fact that the two actors came from Broadway explains their comfort with the musical but their ability to hold their own with Emily Blunt, Meryl Streep and many more made them the most engaging and entertaining characters in the film.

This film was very fun to watch but it does not surprise me that it did not get many big nominations. Every member of the cast did their part and the film was well shot but nothing stood out as Oscar worthy much beyond Costume or Production Design. Meryl Streep did earn a nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Her performance did warrant a nomination but I would be shocked if she won. The field is much too strong this season for Meryl’s role and performance to win. This is a 7 out of 10 film. While it is not necessarily an Oscar winning film, it is quite fun and worthwhile to watch.

Desperately Seeking A Friend for the End of the World

BY: ORANGECHAIR

If the title alone does not give you a good idea of what this film is about, the first scene fills you in instantly explaining that an asteroid is on a collision course with Earth. That piece of information launches the rest of the film which revolves around two characters trying to figure out how to spend their last month on Earth. The film is darkly comedic and deeply depressing but has such lovable characters that it does not repel the audience. In fact watching the characters deal with their last days and learn about themselves is oddly rewarding.

When Dodge Peterson (Steve Carell) learns that the world is going to end he does everything he can to keep his life as normal as possible. Despite his wife leaving him, looting, suicides and riots, Dodge still attempts to go to work and do everything he would do in a normal day. When the riots become a danger to Dodge and his building, he and another resident Penny (Keira Knightley) flee the city. Upon learning that the love of his life wrote him a letter after news of the apocalypse, Dodge and Penny head to try and find Dodge’s High School love. As they travel and meet a ridiculous cast of characters waiting out the apocalypse in their own way, Dodge and Penny teach one another what can really be discovered if a month’s time is used correctly.

This film does a remarkable job of balancing deeply depressing material with sharp and witty comedy. The jokes are peppered throughout the film, shining through the darkness at the perfect times to add some light to the hopeless journey. Throughout the course of the film, each new location Dodge and Penny reach contains a quirky, unique side character including appearances by Adam Brody, Rob Corddry and Martin Sheen. The tone of this film is exactly as expected given that its about the end of the world but it is oddly thought provoking from opening lines to closing credits. This is a 7 out of 10 film that is certainly is worth a watch before the asteroid hurtling towards Earth wipes it out of existence.