The 73rd Academy Awards (2001)
Nominations: 5
Wins: 0
There’s a strange allure to “bad” movies that get nominated for Best Picture. Now, Chocolat isn’t bad. In fact, I was on board for about forty minutes, but it’s far from the caliber you’d expect for the most prestigious award in all of cinema. The year 2000 alone had Gladiator, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Erin Brockovich, and Traffic—all movies that are well-liked and still discussed today. Then there’s Chocolat.
62nd Academy Awards (1990)
Nominations: 1
Wins: 1
I’ve come to the conclusion that Italy is my favorite country when it comes to international cinema. Sorry, Japan. From neorealism to spaghetti westerns to Giallo, there’s a rich tapestry of genres and subgenres that both pay homage to the medium and subvert it. How does Cinema Paradiso fit into this epiphany? Let’s find out.
The 53rd Academy Awards (1981)
Nominations: 6
Wins: 4
Every year when we do our “Oscar’s Fortnight” or “March to Ten Wins,” or whatever we call it now, I find myself tiptoeing around the 1980s. In the five years we’ve done this segment, I’ve only reviewed one 1980s film: Dangerous Liaisons (still can’t spell that word). This isn’t an accident.
The 33rd Academy Awards (1961)
Nominations: 5
Wins: 3
Three years ago, I watched Burt Lancaster in the 1968 film The Swimmer and was blown away. There’s something about Burt’s raw physicality and charisma, but also his vulnerability, that captivated me in that performance. His character, Ned Merrill, is this charming, handsome, confident guy, but as we delve deeper, we discover he’s actually a scared, depressed, and much darker figure than we were led to believe.
The character of Elmer Gantry is similar in that he projects confidence and thoughtfulness, but the real Elmer is conniving and self-centered. It’s a façade that we see through right from the beginning, as do many of the characters in the film, yet people can’t seem to look away. He creates a “cult of personality,” which makes watching this film in 2025 eerily relatable.
Before Fe-Burt-uary, I had been dismissive of Burt Reynolds’ film career. I even went so far on a recent podcast as to unfavorably compare Burt to Dwayne Johnson, as two actors who care more about their celebrity than being artists. I was wrong. As a Millennial, the only Burt performances I was familiar with for most of my life were Deliverance, which is celebrated more as an ensemble piece than a Burt vehicle, and Boogie Nights, where Burt is great, but his performance is overshadowed by being another notch in film auteur Paul Thomas Anderson’s belt.
This month, I’ve learned that Burt did care about being an artist. He was never one to turn down a big paycheck for a dumb action flick, but he was also interested in telling good stories and broadening himself as a performer. Just this month, I’ve learned about Burt the action star, Burt the comedian, Burt the dramatist, and now, Burt the director. Where do we start? What better place than with The End?
I’m going to a bachelor party today, and since I’ll be spending the entire weekend with my dudes, I needed to find the dudeliest Burt flick around. I think I’ve found it… and his name is Hooper.
It’s a special week for Fe-Burt-uary! Not only is it Valentine’s Day, but this week also marks what would have been Burt Reynolds’ 89th birthday—his birthday was February 11th. Sadly, Burt passed away from a heart attack in 2018, leaving behind a rich legacy of 20ish box-office hits, a successful sitcom Evening Shade (CBS, 1990–1994), seven Golden Globe nominations and two wins, two Emmy nominations, and a single Oscar nomination. After watching Starting Over, I would argue that it should have been two Oscar nominations.
