Forgotten Hollywood

Manny P. here…

“`Today on my countdown of my favorite cinema of the last twenty years, I present the two movies that just missed the Top 10. This had me thinking… Which movies just missed my Top 50? Here are the five productions (that I happen to love) that bubbled under this list of fifty:

#55  THE BOOK THIEF (2013)  —  #54  DOWNTON ABBEY MOVIE (2019) 

#53  ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI (2020)  —  #52  ON THE BASIS OF SEX (2018)

#51  MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM (2020)

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~ #12 – SIDEWAYS (2004)

“`Sideways drew attention and increased tourism to the Santa Ynez Valley wine-growing region of California’s Central Coast. The film is a celebration of what vineyards do to grow, caress, and distribute that creates an imagination of the palate. Similar productions with a comparative goal include A Walk in the Clouds.

“`Director Alexander Payne establishes a blueprint for a leisurely comedy-drama that unfolds as slowly as you sip on your favorite pinot noir. Nebraska follows this blueprint to perfection a decade later. The delightful score is playful jazz that adroitly adds to the presentation.

“`The always superb Paul Giamatti is offered a rare chance to take the lead in this work and is sensationally supported by Virginia Madsen, Thomas Haden Church, and Sandra Oh. In one of the most romantic moments ever put on celluloid, Madsen describes her take on the existence of a bottle of wine. She brings delicacy, sincerity and soulful strength to a grounded individual and gives the film its emotional integrity.  Madsen and Church earned Oscar attention and the movie garnered additional mentions for Best Picture, Best Director, and winning Best Adapted Screenplay.

“`After the film’s release in October 2004, merlot sales dropped 2% while pinot noir increased 16% in the Western United States. The global effect was a rise in overall wine consumption. In 2013, the Writers Guild of America ranked Sideways as the 90th greatest script ever written.

~ #11 – LINCOLN (2012)

“`During Hollywood’s Studio Era, Paul Muni was an actor known for his tireless preparation for a prestigious stable of characters. Comparisons can be drawn with the recent efforts by Daniel Day Lewis. Displaying a mercurial intensity, he would often remain in character throughout the shooting schedule, even if it affected his health. A historian has suggested that his depiction of the president’s high pitched voice, his awkward mannerisms and even how Lincoln walked was quite accurate. And what would any countdown of modern films be without at least one Steven Spielberg contribution.

“`Tony Kushner’s screenplay was based on Doris Kearns Goodwin’s 2005 biography, Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, and covers the final four months of Lincoln’s life, focusing on his efforts in January 1865 to abolish slavery with passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution.

“`Lincoln  garnered twelve Oscar nods and won two:  Best Actor and Best Production Design. Sally Field, Tommy Lee Jones and longtime collaborator, composer John Williams also received attention by voters. My one complaint, David Strathairn was snubbed for his role as Secretary of State William H. Seward, a powerfully restrained performance.

“`The impact of this production is immeasurable. Even though the Thirteenth Amendment was adopted across the country in 1865,  Mississippi’s formal ratification actually occurred in 1995 and was not considered official because the country’s archivist was never notified.  Mississippi Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann finally declared the ratification official in 2013 just after the release of the biopic. This is a clear case of man-bites-dog in a historically amazing way.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 14th, 2021 at 10:02 pm and is filed under Blog by Manny Pacheco. You can follow any comments to this post through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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