Best Pictures: Dances With Wolves & The Lost Weekend

It's been nearly six months since the last episode of the tri-blog series Best Pictures From the Outside In. At this rate we'll be done in 2021! Literally. "Stay tuned!!!" Nevertheless we're finally back with a new installment pairing 1990's Dances With Wolves & 1945's The Lost Weekend.

Read it @ NICK'S FLICK PICKS

and comment on that discussion there.

Since those conversations are rarely about the Oscar field but just the winners, I thought I'd share a few quick words on 1990 and 1945 right here. I've noticed in my own lists over the years that the further back in time I go the more I agree with Oscar's choices. I'm guessing this is not a case of Oscar once having better taste (i.e. mine - haha) but simple math. I've seen more films from the modern era so the chance of disagreeing grows. For instance, Oscar's best picture field for 1990 was composed of...

• Awakenings
• Dances With Wolves
• Ghost
• The Godfather Part III
• Goodfellas

Which was almost nothing like my list at the time (though I hadn't seen Goodfellas) which went like so back in the day...

• Edward Scissorhands *winner*
  
• Ghost
• The Grifters
• Longtime Companion
  
• Postcards From the Edge

I'm not sure I could stand by the Ghost cheese 20 years later or Longtime Companion (I don't remember it well) but the other three have had staying power in my brain and in movie culture, too.

My decrepit ancient copy of Inside Oscar is filled with color markings -- I once used the book to track my film viewing. Certain years have highlight markings all over the film titles. The 40s are my weakest decade but strangely 1945 is all marked up. I'd rank the Best Picture nominees like so

1. Mildred Pierce (Such a goodie. Watch it before the Kate Winslet remake arrives)
   
2. Spellbound
3. Anchors Aweigh
4. The Lost Weekend
5. The Bells of St. Marys (the first sequel nominated for Best Picture and the only BP nominee from '45 that I haven't seen. But I didn't really care for Going My Way so I'm in no rush)

I love those first three so I'm fine with Oscar's list. But is that because I've seen so little else from '45? I wonder, if I saw 100 films from each film year before my time, would my taste rarely align with Oscar's? Have you ever wondered about the same thing? A "yes" answer means hidden gems and new favorites await you in every single film year should you only start to look for them.

Now, read our boozy bender with Kevin Costner over at Nick's Flick Picks.
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Sometimes I doubt your commitment to Sparkle Motion

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JA from MNPP here, doing the 2001 thing, briefly noting a flick from the year that left a bit of an impression on lil' ol' me. Yes, Richard Kelly's Donnie Darko. I can and have - seriously I have, click here to see - list a bunch of reasons why I believe this movie's too cool for school, but it really, the essence, it all boils down you see to that delightful line uttered there above. Sometimes Beth Grant doubts our commitment to Sparkle Motion. Sometimes I doubt our collective commitment to Sparkle Motion.


But then I pop in a cassette tape of "Head Over Heels" by Tears For Fears and I contemplate how exactly one does suck a fuck or what the sex lives of Smurfs are all about or if "feces" means "baby mice" or whether "cellar door" might just be the most beautiful phrase in all of the English language and so I poke my finger into a hole in the eyeball of a metal-faced rabbit-man that represents the fabric of space and time itself and I feel a little more, a little less, complete. Why am I wearing this funny man suit anyway? It's like child-proselytizer Jim Cunningham put it best:

"Is that all the gusta you can musta?"

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"Happy Mother's Day" ~Bad Mommy / Good Mommy

Would you rather...

• Campaign for office with Mrs. Iselin (Angela Lansbury in The Manchurian Candidate)?
• Study the bible with Mrs. White (Piper Laurie in Carrie)?
• Compete for a man with Mrs. Robinson (Anne Bancroft in The Graduate)?
  
• Be cared for when you're sick by Mrs. Fitzgerald (Margo Martindale in Million Dollar Baby)?
• Do household chores with Ms. Crawford (Faye Dunaway in Mommie Dearest)?

I'm sure your mom is closer in spirit to the following fierce moms / mother figures. Which would you want in your corner during a crisis?

Would you rather...

• Deal with mental illness under Mrs. Darko's steady wet-eyed watch (Mary McDonnell in Donnie Darko)?
• Enter mainstream society, despite your debilitating freakishness, with Mrs. Boggs at your side (Dianne Wiest in Edward Scisshorhands)?
• Travel to hostile planets with only Lt. Ripley to protect you (Sigourney Weaver in Aliens)
• Let Mrs. Pierce put up with all of your shit and take the fall for your crimes (Joan Crawford in Mildred Pierce)? Harsh! But then it is Joan Crawford and she's on the other list, too. So...
  
• Battle illness with Mrs. Greenaway handling the medical staff (Shirley Maclaine in Terms of Endearment)
  

Bonus points to whoever makes the most compelling arguments for their answers in the comments. Make your case!

UPDATE: The normally chatty TFE readers were quiet about this teeny contest (Must have been visiting your mothers instead of commenting here. Good for you!)... but the winner is The Medwenitsch. He gets to help me with the next banner --- e-mail me for details, TM.
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