Film & TV Lunch Club: February 2024 - The Big Five
Film & TV Lunch Club: February 2024 - The Big Five
It Happened One Night, Seven Beauties, Kramer vs. Kramer
Are you ready for a chunky slice of film history? As mentioned at the end of the January club post, It Happened One Night celebrates 90 years on 27th February this year and was the first film to win ‘The Big Five’ at The Oscars: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (or Actor in a Leading Role), Best Actress (or Actress in a Leading Role), and Best Screenplay (original or adapted). This, along with the fact that this year’s Oscar nominations were just announced, is the inspiration for February’s watchlist - as well as other films that have won, been nominated for or come close to these five awards.
This multi-award accolade is no easy feat! In fact, it’s only ever been done by three films:
It Happened One Night (1934)
One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest (1975)
Silence of the Lambs (1991)
…and these are the films that were nominated for all five and missed out on the Big Five by a single award:
Gone with the Wind (1939)
Mrs. Miniver (1942)
Annie Hall (1977)
American Beauty (1999)
This year, Oppenheimer and Poor Things have dominated in terms of the number of Oscar nominations received, but neither film has a shot at The Big Five because there are nominations missing in the acting roles - Cillian Murphy got the acting nomination for Oppenheimer but there was no female counterpart to his character that even came close to a leading part - the roles of the women in the film were fragmented and tokenistic at best. Emma Stone was rightfully nominated for the acting award for her performance in Poor Things, while the other acting nom went to Mark Ruffalo for Best Supporting Actor, who played one of her many suitors in the film. If everything was right with the world we’d see the monstrously snubbed Barbie with all of the Big Five nominations, but that’s an entirely. different blog post…
In terms of nominations, the closest a recent film has come to winning The Big Five is La La Land (2016). Damien Chazelle picked up Best Director, Emma Stone won Best Actress, but they fell short of the other three categories (though they did win six in total, out of a nominated 14!). But even more recent than that, Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022) won four of the four ‘Big Five’ awards it was nominated for at the 2023 Academy Awards, and seven in total (also meaning that it holds the record with six above-the-line awards):
Best Motion Picture of the Year
Best Achievement in Directing (Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert)
Best Original Screenplay (Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert)
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role (Michelle Yeoh)
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role (Jamie Lee Curtis)
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role (Ke Huy Quan)
Best Achievement in Film Editing (Paul Rogers)
You may or may not have noticed that for all of the films listed here, not one of them is directed by a woman. In fact, when I was looking through the stats, none of the 43 films in a list of the films nominated in all five of the categories were directed by a woman - not one in the history of the Academy Awards. To further my point with a slightly better known fact, only eight (8!) women have ever been nominated for the Best Director Oscar. And this year will be the 96th Academy Awards.
So although film history is intwined with accolades and critical reception, try to remember that it’s also all very arbitrary and part of an imbalanced and inequitable system.
With that in mind, here are this month’s picks:
🎞 February Selection 🎞
Kramer vs. Kramer Trailer | Dir. Robert Benton
It Happened One Night (1934; Dir. Frank Capra)
The first film to win ‘The Big Five’ at The Oscars: A renegade reporter trailing a young runaway heiress for a big story joins her on a bus heading from Florida to New York, and they end up stuck with each other when the bus leaves them behind at one of the stops.
Rent or buy on Apple TV, Amazon or the Sky Store.
Seven Beauties (1975; Dir. Lina Wertmüller)
The first woman nominated for Best Director: The defense of honor, a strong value in Neapolitan society, and its effects on the life of everyman Pasquale Frafuso.
Stream on Kanopy or purchase physical media.
Kramer vs. Kramer (1979; Dir. Robert Benton)
Stars Meryl Streep, who is the most nominated performer in the acting categories, with 21 nominations and 3 wins: After his wife leaves him, a work-obsessed Manhattan advertising executive is forced to learn long-neglected parenting skills, but a heated custody battle over the couple's young son deepens the wounds left by the separation.
Stream on Prime or rent with all usual online stores.
🎬 The Long List: Optional Extras 🎬
Other notable films suggested for the theme (as mentioned above plus all other 8 films directed by a woman with a Best Director nomination):
One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest - In the Fall of 1963, a Korean War veteran and criminal pleads insanity and is admitted to a mental institution, where he rallies up the scared patients against the tyrannical nurse.
Silence of the Lambs - A young F.B.I. cadet must receive the help of an incarcerated and manipulative cannibal killer to help catch another serial killer, a madman who skins his victims.
Gone with the Wind - A sheltered and manipulative Southern belle and a roguish profiteer face off in a turbulent romance as the society around them crumbles with the end of slavery and is rebuilt during the Civil War and Reconstruction periods.
Mrs. Miniver - A British family struggles to survive the first months of World War II.
Annie Hall - Alvy Singer, a divorced Jewish comedian, reflects on his relationship with ex-lover Annie Hall, an aspiring nightclub singer, which ended abruptly just like his previous marriages.
American Beauty - A sexually frustrated suburban father has a mid-life crisis after becoming infatuated with his daughter's best friend.
Oppenheimer - The story of American scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer and his role in the development of the atomic bomb.
Poor Things - The incredible tale about the fantastical evolution of Bella Baxter, a young woman brought back to life by the brilliant and unorthodox scientist Dr. Godwin Baxter.
La La Land - While navigating their careers in Los Angeles, a pianist and an actress fall in love while attempting to reconcile their aspirations for the future.
Everything Everywhere All at Once - A middle-aged Chinese immigrant is swept up into an insane adventure in which she alone can save existence by exploring other universes and connecting with the lives she could have led.
The Piano - In the mid-19th century a mute woman is sent to New Zealand along with her young daughter and prized piano for an arranged marriage to a farmer, but is soon lusted after by a farm worker.
Lost In Translation - A faded movie star and a neglected young woman form an unlikely bond after crossing paths in Tokyo.
The Hurt Locker - During the Iraq War, a Sergeant recently assigned to an army bomb squad is put at odds with his squad mates due to his maverick way of handling his work.
Lady Bird - In 2002, an artistically inclined 17-year-old girl comes of age in Sacramento, California.
Promising Young Woman - A young woman, traumatized by a tragic event in her past, seeks out vengeance against those who crossed her path.
Nomadland - A woman in her sixties, after losing everything in the Great Recession, embarks on a journey through the American West, living as a van-dwelling modern-day nomad.
The Power of the Dog - Charismatic rancher Phil Burbank inspires fear and awe in those around him. When his brother brings home a new wife and her son, Phil torments them until he finds himself exposed to the possibility of love.
Anatomy of a Fall - A woman is suspected of her husband's murder, and their blind son faces a moral dilemma as the main witness.
🔜 Next Month 🔜
The theme for MARCH will be INSPIRING INCLUSION. To celebrate International Women’s Day, we will be sharing films that coincide with this year’s official IWD theme. Feel free to give me your thoughts about this post or the next one in the comments or on Insta!