1985 DONE + Year #15: 1940

Alright boys and girls, we're knocking these movies down left and right and things are moving well again with our little challenge. We've finished our two movies from the wonderful year of 1985 and are now moving on to our next year. First, the results...

We watched my pick first, The Breakfast Club. If somehow you've managed never to see this movie before, please find the time to watch it. It's nothing special in itself, but it is a great little flick and pretty much one of the most culturally significant movies of the 1980s. It's a little cheesy at times, but it is a great study of high school stereotypes and what happens when different "types" of kids get together for a Saturday detention. We both had a nice time watching it, and I think we'd both have been happier watching The Breakfast Club as Best Picture than Out of Africa. But that's not saying much.

Then we watched The Color Purple, which was a pretty excellent film. It's about this poor uneducated little girl (who eventually grows up to be Whoopi Goldberg) who is abused by her father growing up and then sold to evil Mr. Danny Glover to be his wife. Her only true friend is her sister, who is separated from her by Glover. The movie then follows her relationship with Glover into adulthood, eventually finding her way back to her sister. Kim felt this movie deserved to be Best Picture 1985, and I won't disagree with her. Whoopi and Glover were great, plus I was suprisingly impressed by Oprah Winfrey's role as well. This movie may not have been good enough to win Best Picture every year, but in 1985 it should have been no contest.

So now we move on to our 15th year of the challenge (only about 65 to go!): 1940. This was the year of Alfred Hitchcock's ONLY Best Picture movie. No, it wasn't Psycho. Not The Birds. Not Vertigo. Not Rear Window either. (Did I miss any other Hitchcock gems that should have won Best Picture???) Yes, my friends, it was Rebecca. 15 years before Hitchcock became a staple in the mystery genre, he made this film based on a classic book by Daphne du Maurier. And while we might think some of those later Hitchcock films may have been better, Rebecca was no slouch. This was a creepy movie. It stars Sir Laurence Olivier as Maxim de Winter, a rich widower who takes in a second bride, known only as the Second Mrs. de Winter. Then there is the really creepy house maid, Mrs. Danvers, who is right up there with Nurse Ratchett from Cuckoo's Nest in terms of female nut cases. She tries to turn the Second Mrs. de Winter into the deceased First Mrs. de Winter, Rebecca. Speaking of which, what exactly happened to Rebecca? Don't worry, I won't give it away! I gave the movie a 4, while Kim scored it a 4.5, giving it a respectable 8.5. Now, you ask, what did we select?

Adam: PASS (yea, another one...6 used, 4 to go)
Kim: The Great Dictator

My passes are running out quickly. Oh well. I looked through 1940 and couldn't find jack that I wanted to watch. Kim found The Great Dictator, a Charlie Chaplin film that parodies Hitler. Good times! We already have the movie in our possession and will be watching it soon!

In the meantime, has anyone out there seen Rebecca or The Great Dictator? Which did you like better? Any other movies from 1940 worth watching? We'll talk to you all soon!