012. Ben

012. (19 Jan) Ben (1972, Phil Karlson) 15



This is certainly not what one would expect from a film famously about killer rats, with the first half centering on a kid and his love of marionettes. His relationship with Ben doesn't particularly make sense since they share a sandwich and are suddenly best friends. It at least sets up the total tonal disconnect between the weird humor of the marionette scenes to to ominous shots of Ben and his gang to the choppy final action sequence. Ben himself, at least, is very much ahead of his time, promoting an anti-bullying message when his human friend is harassed. Not having seen Willard, it's hard to say if this is merely spoofing that film up until the sewer-set finale. This plays like a dumb comedy, particularly when the rats invade a women's gym, terrorizing a fat woman on a treadmill and sending the ladies in the steamroom into hysteria.

The kid also composes the Oscar-nominated "Ben" on his own, which is fairly insulting to the actual songwriters since it insinuates a six-year-old could have penned it.

224. The Screaming Woman

224. (27 Sep) The Screaming Woman (1972, Jack Smight) 52



There's more than a little novelty to seeing Olivia de Havilland run door to door begging people to help her dig up a woman buried on her property while they pointedly tell her off or call her crazy. The bulk of the runtime is her unsuccessfully soliciting people. There's a fair amount of suspense, due in no small part to an awesome John Williams score, but this is anything but taut.

218. Home for the Holidays

218. (21 Sep) Home for the Holidays (1972, John Llewellyn Moxey) 60



It's more than half an hour before a pitchfork-wielding killer claims the first victim, but the set-up for Home for the Holidays is too enjoyable for that to matter. A young Sally Field, an alcoholic Jessica Walter, and creepy Julie Harris are just a few of the top-notch performers making the most of every moment. They make believable the seriousness of this moody, holiday horror film set on the stormiest Christmas ever. The finale is predictable.

209. The Stone Tape

209. (18 Sep) The Stone Tape (1972, Peter Sasdy) 18



The Stone Tape mistakes loudness and shrillness for scariness, which I suppose is a scary idea in its own right. There's atmosphere here only if stuffiness counts. Stock characters attempting to debunk ghosts makes this like a Scooby-Doo episode without the entertainment value.

149. The Victim

149. (11 Aug) The Victim (1972, Herschel Daugherty) 49



This eerie, but minor telefilm employs a familiar premise where Elizabeth Montgomery is confined to a house while a murderer is on the loose. Unbeknownst to her, her sister's dead body is hidden in the house and she can't leave because of a serious storm that's washed out the road. Eileen Heckart and George Maharis are the only suspects, which essentially makes this as simplistic as an episode of Scooby Doo. It's a too long 70-minute trip to figure out which of them is guilty.

The Final Conclusion - Best Actress 1972

1972

So the much anticipated ranking is:

5. Diana Ross in Lady Sings the Blues

I have very mixed feelings towards Diana Ross' performance as Billie Holiday. On the one hand, Ross is quite strong in some of the scenes and she has a lots of star power, which can be impressive, occasionally. On the other hand, I cannot overlook the fact that in some of the scenes she's very weak and she wasn't mature enough as an actress to play this part.

4. Maggie Smith in Travels with my Aunt

I keep asking myself: is this enough from the great Dame Maggie Smith? Not really. I always kept wanting more and more. I missed Maggie's usual dazzling presence and despite the fact that I was entertained quite well, I still wanted more. Still, I have to say that Dame Maggie Smith is very entertaining and amusing as Aunt Augusta Bertram.

3. Cicely Tyson in Sounder

I have to say that Cicely Tyson gives a beautiful performance as Rebecca Morgan. Tyson adds real emotional depth to this (tiny bit) standard character. Her unique, very interesting presence, her great acting choices result in truly great work. Had she been given more to work with, she would have got my vote for this year, rather easily.

2. Liv Ullmann in The Emigrants

Liv Ullmann is really great as Kristina in The Emigrants. It's not her best performance and it's true that she's the best with Bergman but it would be very unjust to deny her merits in The Emigrants. Although the movie works against her, Ullmann was able to make a lasting impression and have a great effect on me. It's very effective acting by a terrific talent.

1. Liza Minnelli in Cabaret

I could praise Liza Minnelli endlessly for this huge, unforgettable and wonderful performance as Sally Bowles. Liza Minnelli is the heart and soul of this brilliant movie and if I may say so, she gives the best performance ever in a musical. I'm not a fan of the genre but I'm crazy about this one. You can watch Liza over and over again in this movie but you'll have just as much fun and you'll be just as touched as you were for the first time. B-R-I-L-L-I-A-N-T.

So I can proudly announce

that my winner is...

Liza Minnelli

in

Cabaret

Everybody loves a winner... :)

Omissions: 

• Goldie Hawn in Butterflies are Free

Final thoughts: This year was not as fantastic as it seemed to be. Nevertheless, I enjoyed it because I had only seen Liza in advance and it was good to discover new performances. With me, Liza had an easy win. She was way ahead of her competition. I mean, OMG, how was it even a question who the best was? Good God. I wasn't sure about my #2, but I'm glad I went this way. Liv and Cicely were excellent but I wanted to see more of them. Diana is one of the most overrated nominees ever. I really don't see why some think she should have won over Liza. I really need to relax. Maggie is one of the most disliked nominees ever, so I was really interested in her and I can tell you, I have seen much worse. Still, I feel a bit disappointed about her.

Anyway, Anonymous gave correct predictions but after the deadline, so semi-congrats. :)

The ranking of the reviewed years:

1. 1944
2. 1969
3. 1974
4. 1989
5. 1959
6. 2006
7. 1964
8. 1939
9. 1977
10. 2010
11. 1997
12. 2009
13. 1980
14. 1941
15. 1972
16. 1963
17. 1966
18. 1973
19. 1990
20. 1978
21. 1954
22. 1948
23. 2002
24. 1957
25. 1940
26. 1998

About the next year: I will slow down until May 19th but after that everything will be fine. But until then my posts won't be very regular. Sorry about that. But I'll give you clues about the next year:

• I'm saying let's just GIVE THE SHOOOOOOOOOOTTTTTT!

What do you think?

Maggie Smith in Travels with my Aunt

Maggie Smith received her third Oscar nomination for playing Augusta Bertram, an extremely eccentric woman in George Cukor's movie. Poor Maggie didn't have any chance of winning in 1972. She was the only previous winner, the reviews of Travels with my Aunt were quite mixed and I guess everyone was mad or at least disappointed that it wasn't Katharine Hepburn that they saw on the screen. So, I guess Maggie Smith was fifth just like in (I think) 2001. Maggie didn't even attend the ceremony in 1972.

Travels with My Aunt is a movie that I wouldn't recommend even for George Cukor's most dedicated fans. His directing style seems so dated compared to the innovative, exciting movies of the seventies. Had this movie been made a couple of years earlier, it would have been a bigger hit. Or not. This story fits a novel much more than a movie, I think. I don't see how this movie beat Cabaret for Best Costume Design. I really don't. The score is quite good, though. The ending is, however, incredibly predictable. At least, I found it out in the first ten minutes. But that's more of the fault of the writing, I guess.

I so love Dame Maggie Smith. I'm not afraid to say that she's probably the greatest British actress. She's always so utterly brilliant in both comedy and drama. She could play over-the-top, snobbish characters like no one else in this world. This women are reluctant to give up luxury or things they got used to. In Private Function (her greatest performance ever), her character says something like 'I want a future that at least lives up to my past'. In Gosford Park, she's a woman who has to almost beg for some money. All of Maggie's characters have a very dramatic side and it's always so great to see her reveal this side. She does it like flower blossoms. First, you wonder how the ending is possible and then it comes unexpectedly and it's all so beautiful.

In Travels with My Aunt, she plays a somewhat similar character, Aunt Augusta. This time, however, her character feels quite out of place on the screen. Everything is so modern and she wears these gigantic hats, furs and so on. Naturally, this character is ver over-the-top, so it needs a bit exaggerated performing by the actress who plays her. Maggie did so and was very over-the-top and by this she gained quite an amount of haters. This nomination is one of the least liked ones in history? It's true that it's one of Maggie's lesser effort but one of the worst nominations ever? Oh no.

I kept wondering what Maggie thinks of this performance of hers. For me, one word sums up the whole thing: entertaining but nothing much more. I guess that was the intention of Dame Maggie with it. To entertain and not harm anyone. And she did it perfectly. Her performance starts hilariously. Her out-of-tune (and rhytm), horrible singing is just wonderfully funny and amusing.

Kill me, but I felt that Maggie's exaggerated mannerisms worked for this character. I mean, how do play Aunt Augusta subtly? You just can't and shouldn't. All the decisions of Maggie worked quite well. I mean all she had to do was be funny and amusing and she was indeed. Aunt Augusta is very artificial but Maggie wasn't. Her eccentric behaviour is excellently played by the brilliant Dame Maggie.

But I keep asking myself: is this enough from the great Dame Maggie Smith? Not really. I always kept wanting more and more. And not because it's so great that I couldn't get enough. I missed Maggie's usual dazzling presence and despite the fact that I was entertained quite well, I still wanted more. Still, I have to say that Dame Maggie Smith is very entertaining and amusing as Aunt Augusta Bertram. I may have wanted more but she was quite good anyhow.

What do you think?

Liv Ullmann in The Emigrants

Liv Ullmann received her first Best Actress nomination and became an international superstar by playing Kristina, a poor peasant woman in Jan Troell's movie, The Emigrants. I'm sometimes so surprised by the Golden Globes. They usually give their awards to American stars and yet they picked Liv over Diana Ross and Cicely Tyson. As a result, some even predicted Ullmann for the win back then. I think she was third or fourth but I imagine she may have even been second. BTW, if you read her memoir called 'Changes' you can read so many details about the ceremony and her feelings and Diana Ross' crying (she doesn't mention a name).

The Emigrants is a great but a bit long movie that is a bit slower sometimes than it should be. It can get really depressing occasionally like when they get on the boat. It's not great to see people suffering, especially when you know that such things actually happened in real life. I have to admit, though, that the suffering and misery became too much to be taken really seriously after a while. There are so many tragadies that you become a bit neutral eventually. Interesting enough, this was one of Ingmar Bergman's favorite movies. Max Von Sydow gives a great performance and I think he would have deserved a Best Actor nomination for his work here.

Liv Ullmann is one of my favorite actresses. It might also be the fact that Ingmar Bergman is my favorite director and she played in many of his best movies. In fact, I had only seen Ullmann in Bergman movies before I watched The Emigrants. So I was wonderfing if I would love here just as much as I loved her in, say, Autumn Sonata or Persona. The thing I love about her is that she can show so many aspects of human pain and suffering. She's a beautiful woman but whenever we see something bad happening to her, she can be so ugly and painfully ordinary. I love the changes on her face and everything. In short, she's a brilliant actress.

When we first see Kristina, she's a beautiful but somewhat distant young girl on a swing. Ullmann's beauty shines through the screen and it's just a joy to look at her. In many ways, this role is not different from what she usually plays. But Kristina's character is much warmer and more loveable than the character that Liv played with Bergman. Ullmann is one of the least technical actresses. Just like most of the famous European actresses, she's very emotional and a cares more about the emotional aspect of a character. As a result, we get very emotional performances from her. You can see that she shows all the necessary emotions with her body: her lips, fingers and most importantly, her eyes.

The Emigrants consists of two parts. The first part is really terrific, quite harrowing and the second part gets quite boring after a while. There's a parallel between Ullmann's performance and the movie. In the first part, Ullmann is incredible but in the secondd part she gets too much in the background and becomes a bit uninteresting in the end. Actually, she's not even uninteresting, she just doesn't get anything to do after a while. She's not even on the screen, which is a huge mistake as she's the heart and soul of this movie. The Emigrants is an epic movie and even the most talented performers can get lost in an epic. You need an exceptionally interesting character like Scarlett O'Hara to always be effective in an epic. Ullmann's Kristina is not such a character. She's very interesting because how ordinary she is but she's not a huge character enough.

However, a huge actress can replace a huge character to a degree. And Liv Ullmann is an amazing actress. Her performance in the first part (as I said) is just fantastic. All the emotions are handled so well by Ullmann and she's so brilliant at showing Kristina's suffering and pain. There's a very tragic event (the movie gives clues at the beginning) and Liv's reaction is mindblowing. She's very unusual but the whole thing is quite amazing. I was thinking 'OMG! She's brilliant!'. I was totally taken by Liv's effective acting.

But again, she doesn't have enough screentime. There are moments in the second part that are terrific like the one when she's looking for her lost daughter and becomes hysterical. It's also really heartwrenching to see her struggles on the ship where she becomes really sick. As I said, Liv is also brilliant in these scenes but the pieces of the puzzle cannot get together as much as in the first half because the movie doesn't let Liv succeed.

Still, Liv Ullmann is really great as Kristina in The Emigrants. It's not her best performance and it's true that she's the best with Bergman but it would be very unjust to deny her merits in The Emigrants. Although the movie works against her, Ullmann was able to make a lasting impression and have a great effect on me. It's very effective acting by a terrific talent.

This migth seem more than the review might suggest but I think this performance is a strong 4,5.

What do you think? Time for your last predictions! :)

Cicely Tyson in Sounder

Cicely Tyson received her first and to date only Best Actress nomination for playing Rebecca Morgan, a poor woman in Martin Ritt's Best Picture nominated movie, Sounder. 1972 is such a confusing year. I think everyone had at least a fair chance of winning (except for Maggie) and Tyson was the critics' favorite along with Liv Ullmann. I think the third place was between them. Liv won the Globe but Tyson was the American nominee and she played in a movie of social importance. Who knows? But Liza was not as unbeatable as she may seem sometimes.

Sounder is considered a very important movie. And it is really great but it's also a little bit clichéd. Martin Ritt's movies are always trying hard to give some message. He's a filmmaker very much like Stanley Kramer though Ritt is less 'obvious'. Sounder is really the story of David Lee, who comes of age during the Depression when his dad is sent to prisoned. Kevin Hooks is really the lead of the story and I think he's good enough to carry this film. Paul Winfield's lead actor nomination is quite baffling. First, he's so supporting and he's not even that great. He's quite good, though.

Cicely Tyson is a very famous actress but I don't really know her movies. I really liked her cameo in one of my favorite movies, Fried Green Tomatoes but I cannot say any of her other roles that I remember. I guess the fact that she mostly works for television prevented me from seeing much of her. Still, what I saw of her is most certainly impressive. She seems to have a very unique presence that certainly got me.

In Sounder, Tyson plays Rebecca Morgan, a woman who has a lot to worry about in her life. She's a very sympathetic lovely woman, who wins the sympathy of the viewer because she's very real and you believe everything she does. Such characters can be so great in supporting roles but leading is a bit different. However, Tyson is borderline supporting. She has more time and more to do than Winfield but it's not all that much. If this one had been campaigned in supporting, I think Tyson would have stood a better chance. Or is she leading after all? That's a tough question. David Lee is the central character but Rebecca is also a key character in a way. I can easily see why people consider her leading. She's really the heart and soul of the movie.

Sometimes Rebecca is just sitting, standing and (mostly) working in the background while everything else is happening. Still, there's something about Tyson that is magnetic and you look at her even when she doesn't have an interesting scene. In fact, none of her storylines are particularly interesting and yet Cicely injected so much beauty and naturality into them. I felt that each and every movement of hers was real and there was nothing really acted. Cicely really did become Rebecca Morgan, this hard-working mother and wife trying to keep going.

Occasionally, Tyson's performance is incredibly beautiful. The scene where her husband returns is a simply brilliant moment and the rawness of Cicely's acting is wonderful. That scene is so full of emotions and I was totally taken and moved by it. The way she was running and screaming was so heart-breaking and Tyson played those moments terrificly. I'd say it's her best scene, hands down.

However, I have the troubling feeling that Cicely Tyson should have been given much more and then she would have been truly incredible. Although she's always great to watch, the insignificant parts do not become more significant because of her. It's not really her fault but her whole achievement suffers from it and I feel quite sorry about that.

Still, I have to say that Cicely Tyson gives a beautiful performance as Rebecca Morgan. Tyson adds real emotional depth to this (tiny bit) standard character. Her unique, very interesting presence, her great acting choices result in truly great work. Had she been given more to work with, she would have got my vote for this year, rather easily. However, my admiration for her is still great.

A very strong 4,5. Really great work.

What do you think?

Diana Ross in Lady Sings The Blues

Diana Ross received her only Best Actress nomination to date for playing singing legend Billie Holiday. Ross' loss was quite a big loss and it has become kind of legendary. She had a very Oscar movie and she was seemingly quite certain that she would win her Oscar. Liv Ullmann actually wrote about Ross' reaction in her autobiography. Ullmann felt quite sorry for Ross who was crying on the shoulder of Shelley Winters. I am sure though that if it hadn't been for Liza, Diana would have won. But frankly, wasn't it obvious who was the better?

Lady Sings The Blues is... boring. It's really overlong, boring, dull and emotionless. I usually don't go for the movies about the tragic lives of tortured, drug-addicted singers. There are exceptions but this one is not one of them. Watching it was a real torture after a while and I had to force myself to go on watching it. The story is extremely loosley based on Holiday's life. The screenplay nomination is a joke, in my opinion. This movie has about as much to do with Holiday's life as Dreamgirl with Ross'.

Diana Ross is such a fantastic singer. Although I can't think of any of her songs right now, she's so talented. However, acting is much different from singing and I don't really like when singers want to show they can act. I just can't stand it. Ironically, that's the same that happened with Beyoncé when she played (kind of) Diana in Dreamgirls. When a singer plays a singer in a movie, it's almost always Oscar baiting.

I would love to say that it's not the case here but it is, unfortunately. Every single scene says "OSCAR! OSCAR! OSCAR!". However, the only thing standing between the Oscar and Diana is the movie itself. If the movie had been more faithful to Holiday's real life, things would have been much better and it would have landed the Oscar on the actress' lap. But could Ross have played Billie Holiday that way? Her acting talent did not even seem to be enough even for this dumber version of Billie.

I have to say that Ross didn't have the acting experience for this role. I mean playing Billie Holliday is extremely hard, in my opinion. Ross chose to underplay the role and in a way it was the right decision but sometimes that was almost fatal. There's a big scene where Billie is begging for the drug in the bathroom. I didn't feel that she was aggressive enough. I mean, I don't like overacting either (that one also would have ruined the scene), so they needed an actress who had enough talent to keep the balance. While I was watching Diana, I just kept wondering what miracles Diahann Carroll could have done with these role. I don't know why she came to my mind but I feel that she could have done a better, more complex job with this role.

What we have (and it's a positive thing) is the star power and charisma of Diana Ross that carries the movie all the way. She has the kind of personality that makes you always look at her. Her charm kept me going on and not giving up on her. And why exactly? Because she was good enough in some of her scenes. For instance, her big breakdown with her lipstick is actually quite effective and she has a great scene when she's walking and notices a dead man hanging on the tree. The scenes where Billie experiences racism are played very well by Diana and they are indeed memorable. However, once the drug addiction part comes in, everything is ruined and Diana's performance loses its strength.

However, I must say that the chemistry between Ross and Billy Dee Williams works very well and they make a good on-screen couple. The tension between them doesn't burn the screen down but they look quite good together.

I have very mixed feelings towards Diana Ross' performance as Billie Holiday. On the one hand, Ross is quite strong in some of the scenes and she has a lots of star power, which can be impressive, occasionally. On the other hand, I cannot overlook the fact that in some of the scenes she's very weak and she wasn't mature enough as an actress to play this part. They wanted her to do more than she could.

What do you think?

I know I keep changing the background day after day but I may keep it so. Whenever I feel down it will be light and when I feel good it's gonna be dark. :D

Liza Minnelli in Cabaret

Liza Minnelli received her second Best Actress nomination and first Oscar for playing Sally Bowles, an American girl who desperately wants to become a movie star in the movie Cabaret. Liza Minnelli's role in Cabaret is something that equals Oscar and yet Liza's win wasn't as easy and obvious as it seems nowadays. Liza Minnelli had to compete against her good friend Diana Ross who had a biopic, which is a major advantage. However, Liza won, which caused a considerable amount of tears. 1972's Best Actress was a great drama itself.

Cabaret is so great that it's almost painful. I mean, OH-MY-GOD! I was totally blown away by Bob Fosse's achievement. It's such an intense and disturbing experience and tells so much about the world and people. I'm so mad that it was released in the same year as The Godfather (why did I want to write Casablanca, I never know). I think giving Best Director to Cabaret and Best Picture to The Godfather was the best decision the Academy could have made. They split the attention. Naturally, some keep bitching that Coppola didn't win and they are right but Fosse was also VERY worthy. Moreover, I think Joel Grey more than deserved his award (yes, over everyone else in the category).

Every movie has its sould somewhere. Sometimes it's hidden and you have to look for it. However, finding the sould of Cabaret is as easy as it can be. It's Liza Minnelli who keeps the movie together so thrillingly that Cabaret becomes something really special. You can rave about Joel Grey's acting, Michael York's innocence, Marisa Berenson's subtle desperation or Bob Fosse's fantastic direction. When they are compared to Liza Minnelli, who cares about them? Liza Minnelli turns in an earth-shattering performance as Sally Bowles, this young and carefree/careless girl. There's laughter, tear and amazement in Liza Minnelli's performance. Basically, she gives what acting was really made for, charming and moving the audience.

I'm not saying that I'm a big fan of Liza Minnelli but I'm an admirer of her undeniable, huge talent. She can do basically everything. She can sing, dance, act, you name it. She's got show-business in her blood. That's what she inherited from her family. People often make the huge mistake of comparing her to her mother, Judy Garland. Everybody wants to decide who's the more talented. I don't want to make this comparision but Liza as Sally Bowles has the same effect as her mother as Esther Blodgett in A Star is Born. Ironically, this is the role that (as Marlene Dietrich said) let Liza leave the shadow of her mother. She's Liza Minnelli, not Judy Garland's daughter Liza Minnelli. She's Liza Minnelli.

Sally Bowles is a fantastic character. She's very bohemian, careless and always wants to enjoy the present and everything. Yes, she sleeps around, yes, she drinks too much but she likes her life. She's desperate to become a movie star, something that she will probably never be. Liza so brilliantly showed Sally's determination to succeed. I would say that Sally had a really strong willpower and she didn't want to give up her dreams. The fire, the lust, the desire are all in Liza's big eyes. The way she looks at anyone is both hilarious and heartbreaking. You can't help but feeling ambivalent about Sally and it was so great how Liza let us feel that way. You have fun at the stupid things of Sally but you can also feel so sorry for her.

Liza brilliantly found the balance between the comedy and the drama of this character. How could you not laugh your head of when you're listening to her horrible German or when she's playing the femme fatale. The timing and the line readings are all so perfect. That English lesson with the delicate, young woman having a conversation about health and then Liza starting to talk about some rather quite unlpeasent diseases. And then there are moments when you're totally heartbroken like when Sally's father lets her down or when she reaveals the horrible truth in the end. It's really painful to watch her there. Liza got across Sally's misery so thrillingly. Moreover, I also loved when Liza made Sally a bit like Pookie Adams from The Sterile Cockoo. Don't misunderstand me, she's not repetitive at all, except for her brilliance. :)

And the songs! Those songs! From Mein Herr to Cabaret, they are all so fascinatingly performed by the fabulous Liza. Oh, my goodness. In most musicals the characters start singing spontaneously but in Cabaret there's a function for everything. The songs really help you a lot and Liza really rocks in those scenes. I mean, really. Mein Herr or Maybe This Time are fantastic even though my favorite is Cabaret. The amount of emotions that are present there are so overwhelming and gave me chills. Liza goes on acting and adds so much of Sally's pain into that song. She sings slower and slower and it becomes mindblowingly effective.

However, I have to stop at some point because I could praise Liza Minnelli endlessly for this huge, unforgettable and wonderful performance as Sally Bowles. Liza Minnelli is the heart and soul of this brilliant movie and if I may say so, she gives the best performance ever in a musical, in my humble opinion. I'm not a fan of the genre but I'm crazy about this one. You can watch Liza over and over again in this movie but you'll have just as much fun and you'll be just as touched as you were for the first time. B-R-I-L-L-I-A-N-T.

What do you think?

The Next Year

1972

So the nominees were:

• Liza Minnelli in Cabaret
• Diana Ross in Lady Sings the Blues
• Maggie Smith in Travels with my Aunt
• Cicely Tyson in Sounder
• Liv Ullmann in The Emigrants

Wow, a fantastic looking year once again, I'm so excited.

What do you think? How do you pick? What are your predictions for my ranking (the contest is on)?