Goodbye Summer (Film School): Knock Out

As the majority of the awards blogoratti has begun writing the tale of the 90th Oscars and its preceding awards season, here at Awards Wiz I have been contemplating the end of my Summer Film School series. Back in the day I used to feel a strong sense of jealousy as my peers would discover films such as Alexander Payne's "Downsizing," Greta Gerwig's "Lady Bird," and Guillermo Del Toro's "The Shape of Water." Today, I don't feel quite the same. I get to discover Oscar contenders in a manner all my own.

Having moved back to the South, press screenings are a thing of past. Holiday screeners are a life saver, same with the Indie Memphis Film Festival, Redbox (counting the days until I can see "The Big Sick" and "Baby Driver") and the good old fashioned movie theater. Things might change one day. I would love to get back to the Hamptons International Film Festival, but this isn't going to be the year for that either.

I have managed to see "Detroit" and "Dunkirk," as well as "Wonder Woman" and "Guardians of the Galaxy 2" but the majority of my summer was consumed with other things. "Game of Thrones" and "Orphan Black" took the majority of my "extra" time. While the Awards Wiz Summer Film School didn't turn out to be the 31 films in 4 months as intended, I'm still calling it a success. I just had to drop the majority of the classes in order to pass the ones I took. The first being "Bette and Joan" and now, "Knock Out."

The idea for this "course" in the Awards Wiz Summer Film School came from two seeds. The first being the International Film Magazine Sight & Sound poll from 2012. From the byline: "846 critics, programmers, academics and distributors have voted – and the 50-year reign of Kane is over. Our critics’ poll has a new number one."

That new #1 film was Alfred Hitchcock's "Vertigo." Until this series, the only Hitchcock films I had seen were Best Picture winner "Rebecca" and "Psycho." And as for "Citizen Kane?" I guess you can say I watched it. It was playing one night, and I was in the room. But to be honest, I didn't really pay much attention.

I'm not going to declare here whether or not "Vertigo" is a better film than "Citizen Kane," but I will say that "Vertigo" affected me in a very different way than "Citizen Kane." "Vertigo" spoke to my heart while "Kane" spoke to my head.

Watching it again, there is even more to enjoy. Looking at the layers in Kim Novak's performance--without giving too much away, you truly believe each tortured moment, even on that second viewing. Hitchcock truly delivers a masterpiece here.

With "Kane" I was left with memories of specific moments. The scene near the beginning of the film where Kane's mother decides to send him away is one in particular, specifically the shot of Agnes Moorehead coldly embracing her son before he leaves childhood forever. And the scene near the end of the film where Kane, as a behemoth Kong of sorts, destroys his surroundings. It feels incredibly voyeuristic to to watch, and it is one of the most human moments of the film.

The technical aspects were not quite lost to me, although they were simply that. Welles and cinematographer Gregg Toland may not have invented "deep focus" cinematography or low angle shots, but "Kane" certainly popularized them.

I have never believed the Academy to vote against a film, only for the one they love. So, they must have loved "Valley." We know they loved John Ford, the film's director, who to this day maintains the record for most Best Director wins, with 4.

Where "Citizen Kane" received 9 nominations, "Vertigo" received 2. I honestly can't imagine anyone being better than Bel Geddes for Supporting Actress or Novak for Actress. But of the 10 nominated actresses, the only performance I have seen is Elizabeth Taylor's in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof." I would love to watch all of those films as well! (This series could honestly go on forever, couldn't it?!)

I also thought it would be good to include another dual from my Oscar heyday. While "Brokeback Mountain" versus "Crash" seemed a good choice (especially considering I have wanted to revisit "Crash" for years...initially liking it, despising it a few months later, reviling it as the years progressed), in the end it seemed a bit too "extra" as the kids say, for the summer.

After a bit of pondering I came up with "Saving Private Ryan" v/s "Shakespeare in Love." I hadn't seen either of those films since the year they won their Oscars (although I might have watched "Shakespeare in Love" again. I know the VHS sat on my shelf for years to come, whether I watched it or not.): "Shakespeare in Love" winning screenplay and Picture as well as Actress and a few other awards and "Saving Private Ryan" winning Director, Cinematography, both sound awards and Editing.

When the films were released I was completely enamored by "Shakespeare" and only truly impressed by "Ryan"'s opening war scene. I remember sitting on the front row for Spielberg's war epic, feeling a bit nauseous once that scene ended. (Front rows weren't quite as close as they are now.) I felt immersed in the scene...in a way that I never had before.

"Vertigo"'s second scene, with James Stewart and Barbara Bel Geddes is suspenseful, natural, sexually charged, and a mere hint of what's to come. Once Kim Novak enters the story, the film is utterly electric. Watching Stewart's Scottie examine Novak's Madeleine, through confusion and fascination all the while falling in love with her is mesmerizing. Having managed to stay away from all spoilers for the film, I was immediately hooked in the story, unaware of any twists and turns that were coming and uninterested in trying to "figure things out," something that often happens with a lesser thriller. The film is not only incredibly directed and acted, it is shot spectacularly, with San Francisco playing an equal role to Scottie and Madeleine.

When it comes to the Oscars, neither film won. I almost considered watching "How Green Was My Valley" to get a sense of what the Academy might have been thinking, but alas, I didn't take the time to do that.

One of the things that really bothered me this go around was his use of slow motion to express how Tom Hanks's Captain Miller was shell shocked. It felt so tired. Watching the "Beyond the Wall" episode of "Game of Thrones" and its use of slow motion made me think..."See...that's how you do it." But "Saving Private Ryan" came out almost 20 years ago. And I don't remember it bother me then.

The sentimentality on the other hand bothered me then and bothers me now. Amongst other things. Particularly the bookending Arlington scenes. Why, oh why couldn't Spielberg have let the film's guts speak for themselves?

That being said, the film has moments. Of course the first battle is a stunner as well as the last one. When Giovanni Ribisi's medic dies, it is so heartbreaking. Same with Adam Goldberg's Mellish. Even if it only happened because the Jeremy Davies character couldn't "brave up." Something that I found a bit unbelievable. A character sacrifice necessary for a "moment" I guess.

With "Shakespeare" I was immediately drawn into the 90s. First of all, the previews, something I still love to watch when popping in a dvd, brought me back to the golden age of Miramax. "The English Patient," "Good Will Hunting," "Cold Mountain," "Serendipity" (still need to see that one)...all right in my wheelhouse.

There are so many great things about this film. First of all, not only is it funnier than I recall, it's also LESS "on the nose." A tribute to Mark Norman and Tom Stoppard's Oscar winning screenplay. Ben Affleck gives a great performance. As does Judi Dench. The love scenes between Gwyneth Paltrow and Joseph Fiennes are truly lovely. Paltrow is so uninhibited in them, although I couldn't help think, yeah...this is the 90s as we see almost none of Fiennes when it comes to nudity.

As wonderful as the whole film is, it's the last 25 minutes, once the play begins, that are utter magic. I wonder if the 9 months I played Romeo in "Romeo and Juliet" play a part in this nostalgia. I guess it would have to, but I stand by my opinion from that year. "Shakespeare in Love"is a better film than "Saving Private Ryan" and absolutely deserved the Oscars it won.

SO...thanks again for your patience readers. Maybe one day I will see all those new wave films I promised to watch, but not today. Oscar season is at hand, and although I am going to ease my way in, I promise you this. It's going to be a good season.