1998: Summer Hits

We've seen Wild Things and Wilde things, so let's get on to blockbusters - not just action ones, but comedy, too!

The Winners of the 1962 Retro Hollmann Awards

Wrapping things up with the winners of the 1962 Retro Hollmann Awards. Make sure you refer back to the nominations for full context, as well as the Top Ten for further insight.

Let us begin:

Best Ensemble

The End of Summer

2. Long Day's Journey Into Night; 3. The Connection; 4. Billy Budd; 5. Victim

Every character, no matter how brief their turn, is perfectly performed. Not just the sisters and their father, but the aunt who shows up in two scenes, the mistress's daughter and her American boyfriend, the potential suitor, the woman who runs the bar, the two farmers at the end: all of them have their own stories happening off-screen, and the glimpse we get makes them just as compelling as our leads.

The remaining 17 categories after the jump...

Nominees for the 1962 Retro Hollmann Awards

I screened 69 movies for the 1962 retrospective:

Advise & Consent

Billy Budd

Billy Rose's Jumbo

Birdman of Alcatraz

Blast of Silence

Bon Voyage!

The Cabinet of Caligari

Cape Fear

The Case of Patty Smith

Carnival of Souls

The Connection

Confessions of an Opium Eater

Creature from the Haunted Sea

Damn the Defiant!

David and Lisa

Days of Wine and Roses

Divorce Italian Style

Electra

The End of Summer

Experiment in Terror

Eyes Without a Face

Fallguy

A Flame in the Streets

Freud

Gigot

Girls! Girls! Girls!

Hatari!

Horror Hotel

In Search of the Castaways

The Interns

Jack the Giant Killer

Jules and Jim

Last Year at Marienbad

Lawrence of Arabia

Lolita

Long Day's Journey Into Night

The Longest Day

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

The Manchurian Candidate

The Miracle Worker

Mr. Arkadin

Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation

Mothra

Murder She Said

The Music Man

Mutiny on the Bounty

Peeping Tom

Period of Adjustment

Phaedra

The Phantom of the Opera

Premature Burial

The Road to Hong Kong

Satan Never Sleeps

State Fair

Sweet Bird of Youth

Tales of Terror

Taras Bulba

A Taste of Honey

Tender is the Night

That Touch of Mink

Through a Glass Darkly

To Kill a Mockingbird

Tower of London

Two for the Seesaw

Victim

A View from the Bridge

Walk on the Wild Side

What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?

The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm

From that batch of films comes this slate of nominees - 32 films in 18 categories, all after the jump:

My Top Ten of 1962

A month late it may be, but I think that extra reflection gave me a more accurate read on which movies really knocked my socks off. Some faded a little after the initial excitement, while others that just wouldn't leave me be. Apologies to the nine that just missed out: Blast of Silence, The Connection, In Search of the Castaways, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, The Miracle Worker, Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation, Mothra, Phaedra, and Taras Bulba.

Now, without further blah-blah: my top ten films of 1962, in alphabetical order:

Cinema '62: Best Adapted Screenplay

All five Best Picture nominees were adaptations, yet the Adapted Screenplay category is a better side-by-side match with Best Director. The only exception is Divorce Italian Style, an original screenplay, which we'll discuss later. Otherwise, all the best-directed films also appear to be among the best-written, with Lolita in the fifth slot.

"How did they ever make a movie of Lolita?" That was the original ad copy, and it was a fair question - this was, after all, the controversial novel about a middle-aged pedophile defending his lust for his stepdaughter. The discerning reader can see Nabakov's disdain for his subject, as well as his distress at the elements that enable their exploitation. And he does it all with a dark, sly sense of humor - Stanley Kubrick proved a perfect match for that sensibility.

Anyway, the nominees:

Casting Coup: Lolita

*This is from the first 'audience pick' I ever did. I wound up doing all of them, of course, but this (understandably) got the most votes. It is also my favorite novel. Few votes, due to the small number of LJ readers I had at the time. Pics are different now, since some of the hot-links I used then are no longer in service.*

VOTES
Lolita: 3 (2 on lj, 1 in person)
Ethan Frome: 2 (1 on lj, 1 on facebook)
Breakfast at Tiffany's: 2

Becca's helpful and comprehensive list was the berries. I think everyone should do that from now on.

So, Lolita is clearly the winner.

On with the show then!

RITA
Who is She: "A woman in her mid-20s with whom Humbert has an affair".
My Choice: Christina Ricci (Sleepy Hollow, Black Snake Moan)



MISS PRATT
Who is She: The headmistress of the "progressive" Beardsley School for Girls.
My Choice: Elaine Stritch (Small Time Crooks, Monster-in-Law)



MONA DAHL
Who is She: A friend of Lolita's, who may or not know the "real deal" about Humbert.
My Choice: Emma Stone (Superbad, Archie: The Motion Picture Epic)



JEAN FARLOW
Who is She: One of Charlotte's friends in Ramsdale, a neighbor lady who crushes on Humbert.
My Choice: Cheryl Hines (Waitress, "Curb Your Enthusiasm")



JOHN FARLOW
Who is He: Jean's husband; on the surface, they are the Cleavers.
My Choice: Dylan Baker (Across the Universe, Spider-Man 3)



CHARLOTTE HAZE
Who is She: A religious woman, mother of Lolita, throws herself at Humbert, generally unpleasant.
My Choice: Felicity Huffman (Transamerica, Magnolia)



CLARE QUILTY
Who is He: A popular playwright, a producer of child pornography.
My Choice: Philip Seymour Hoffman (Capote, The Savages)



LOLITA
Who is She: The titular character, a nymphet, a young girl that drives men crazy, the lover of Humbert Humbert.
My Choice: AnnaSophia Robb (Bridge to Terabithia, Charlei and the Chocolate Factory)



HUMBERT HUMBERT
Who is He: Our protagonist, "a middle-aged scholar with an obsession for nymphets."
My Choice: Colin Firth (Love Actually, What a Girl Wants)



SPECIAL CAMEO: VIVIAN DARKBLOOM
Who is She: Quilty's writing partner and companion.
My Choice: Maggie Gyllenhaal (Donnie Darko, Stranger Than Fiction)