Oscars Project Bonus + Poll
(Explanation of the Oscars Project found here. This post and/or the links herein may contain spoilers, so consider yourself warned!)
I accidentally watched an extra movie for the 1980s: Coal Miner's Daughter (1980)
It wound up being a good mistake; that was a really well done movie. Based on the autobiography of Loretta Lynn, the "First Lady of Country Music," this movie tells the story of how she came from a poor family in a coal mining town, married extremely young, and with the support of her husband and a lot of determination, became an extremely popular country music entertainer while raising a family.
Lynn was played by Sissy Spacek (who won Best Actress) and her husband Doolittle was played by Tommy Lee Jones (now I get why my parents knew who he was when The Fugitive came out--well, that, and probably Love Story). There also was a fabulous turn by Beverly D'Angelo as Patsy Cline. According to Filmsite, both ladies did their own singing in the film.
As a side note, I had a difficult time getting this movie. First, I tried at the video store. It took a few tries before I realized the salesclerk was spelling "Coal" as "Cole" and not getting any results. (Must be a music lover?) Even then, it wasn't available, even by mail. The first time I did a request from the library website, the request just sat unanswered for a week. If there's more than one branch that has a copy of an item, the program funnels it to the first branch on the list (alphabetically) that has it available. Let's just say some branches aren't that great with responding to requests. I had to cancel that request and do a new one, on a different DVD in the catalog. Annoying. (Save your fingers about Netflix. I KNOW. I probably will have to sign up once I get to earlier decades; it seems to be getting harder to find these films as I go.)
Side note #2: I had it in my head that this movie had aired on TV when I was a kid, and that I had seen that Loretta had lost either a sister or a daughter who had been playing on the train tracks and was crushed by a train. I kept bracing myself for that scene. . . it never appeared. So what the heck movie was it that scarred me for life? Any ideas? (Update 7/13/2010: See? Somebody else is wondering the same thing.)
Bottom line: I can barely stand country music but I really enjoyed this film. See it if you haven't had the chance to before.
And now for even more fun!
That's the end of the 1980s chapter in Cinematherapy Goes to the Oscars. For the 1970s chapter--subtitled "My Heart Belongs to Daddy Movies"--I've made five selections, but I'd like to let you, dear blogreaders, pick the sixth movie for the set.
I have selected. . .
--The Godfather (reluctantly, but I figure it'll be far less embarrassing to hide my eyes at home than it was in film class)
--One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
--Cabaret
--Fiddler on the Roof
--The Sting
Help me decide on the sixth movie. Your choices are. . .
--The Deer Hunter
--The Sunshine Boys
--Paper Moon
--The French Connection
--Kramer vs. Kramer
The movie with the most votes (or, failing that, the best reason) wins. Please submit your choice in the combox. This is gonna be an interesting chapter!
UPDATE 7/13/2010: The standings as of this evening are. . .
2 for Paper Moon
2 for The French Connection
1 for The Sunshine Boys
I accidentally watched an extra movie for the 1980s: Coal Miner's Daughter (1980)
It wound up being a good mistake; that was a really well done movie. Based on the autobiography of Loretta Lynn, the "First Lady of Country Music," this movie tells the story of how she came from a poor family in a coal mining town, married extremely young, and with the support of her husband and a lot of determination, became an extremely popular country music entertainer while raising a family.
Lynn was played by Sissy Spacek (who won Best Actress) and her husband Doolittle was played by Tommy Lee Jones (now I get why my parents knew who he was when The Fugitive came out--well, that, and probably Love Story). There also was a fabulous turn by Beverly D'Angelo as Patsy Cline. According to Filmsite, both ladies did their own singing in the film.
As a side note, I had a difficult time getting this movie. First, I tried at the video store. It took a few tries before I realized the salesclerk was spelling "Coal" as "Cole" and not getting any results. (Must be a music lover?) Even then, it wasn't available, even by mail. The first time I did a request from the library website, the request just sat unanswered for a week. If there's more than one branch that has a copy of an item, the program funnels it to the first branch on the list (alphabetically) that has it available. Let's just say some branches aren't that great with responding to requests. I had to cancel that request and do a new one, on a different DVD in the catalog. Annoying. (Save your fingers about Netflix. I KNOW. I probably will have to sign up once I get to earlier decades; it seems to be getting harder to find these films as I go.)
Side note #2: I had it in my head that this movie had aired on TV when I was a kid, and that I had seen that Loretta had lost either a sister or a daughter who had been playing on the train tracks and was crushed by a train. I kept bracing myself for that scene. . . it never appeared. So what the heck movie was it that scarred me for life? Any ideas? (Update 7/13/2010: See? Somebody else is wondering the same thing.)
Bottom line: I can barely stand country music but I really enjoyed this film. See it if you haven't had the chance to before.
And now for even more fun!
That's the end of the 1980s chapter in Cinematherapy Goes to the Oscars. For the 1970s chapter--subtitled "My Heart Belongs to Daddy Movies"--I've made five selections, but I'd like to let you, dear blogreaders, pick the sixth movie for the set.
I have selected. . .
--The Godfather (reluctantly, but I figure it'll be far less embarrassing to hide my eyes at home than it was in film class)
--One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
--Cabaret
--Fiddler on the Roof
--The Sting
Help me decide on the sixth movie. Your choices are. . .
--The Deer Hunter
--The Sunshine Boys
--Paper Moon
--The French Connection
--Kramer vs. Kramer
The movie with the most votes (or, failing that, the best reason) wins. Please submit your choice in the combox. This is gonna be an interesting chapter!
UPDATE 7/13/2010: The standings as of this evening are. . .
2 for Paper Moon
2 for The French Connection
1 for The Sunshine Boys
Anyone else want to try to tip the scales?
Comments
My vote is for Paper Moon :)
I can't wait for the 70s--I love almost all of those movies!
As for the death on the train tracks, the only one I recall was in Fried Green Tomatoes (which really, really bothered me). And since that was the brother, not a girl, probably not the one you remember. Sorry!
hmmm as far as voting: Paper Moon is cute!
Kramer vs. Kramer is a good one too.