by Allan Fish
Best Picture Playtime, France (6 votes)
Best Director Jacques Tati, Playtime (8 votes)
Best Actor Alain Delon, Le Samourai (7 votes)
Best Actress Catherine Deneuve, Belle de Jour (6 votes)
Best Supp Actor Gene Hackman, Bonnie and Clyde (12 votes)
Best Supp Actress Estelle Parsons, Bonnie and Clyde (7 votes)
Best Cinematography Conrad L.Hall, In Cold Blood (5 votes)
Best Score Quincy Jones, In Cold Blood (5 votes)
Best Short Report, USA (2 votes)
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so on to 1968…
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1968
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Best Picture/Director
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Affair in the Snow (Japan…Yoshishige Yoshida)
All My Good Countrymen (Czechoslovakia…Vojtech Jasny)
All the Sins of Sodom (US…Joe Sarno)
Artistes at the Top of the Big Top: Disorientated (West Germany…Alexander Kluge)
Baisers Voles (France…François Truffaut)
Ballad (Sweden…Gösta Agren)
Benjamin (France…Michel Deville)
Les Biches (France…Claude Chabrol)
Big Time Gambling Boss (Japan…Kosaku Yamashita)
Black on White (Finland…Jörn Donner)
The Bookseller Who Gave Up Bathing (Sweden…Jarl Kulle)
The Bridegroom, the Comedienne and the Pimp (West Germany…Jean-Marie Straub, Danièle Huillet)
The Brig (US…Jonas Mekas)
Bullitt (US…Peter Yates)
The Caesars (UK…Derek Bennett)
Capricious Summer (Czechoslovakia…Jiri Menzel)
Carne (Argentina…Armando Bo)
Carry on Up the Khyber (UK…Gerald Thomas)
The Charge of the Light Brigade (UK…Tony Richardson)
Charlie Bubbles (UK…Albert Finney)
China is Near (Italy…Marco Bellocchio)
The Chronicle of Anna Magdalena Bach (West Germany…Jean-Marie Straub, Danièle Huillet)
The Colour of Pomegranates (USSR…Sergei Paradjanov)
Countdown (US…Robert Altman)
The Cremator (Czechoslovakia…Juraj Herz)
Danger: Diabolik (Italy/France…Mario Bava)
Death by Hanging (Japan…Nagisa Oshima)
The Deserters and the Nomads (Czechoslovakia…Juraj Jakubisko)
The Detective (US…Gordon Douglas)
The Devil Rides Out (UK…Terence Fisher)
The Diamond Arm (USSR…Leonid Gaidai)
The Diary of a Shinjuku Thief (Japan…Nagisa Oshima)
Dita Saxová (Czechoslovakia…Antonin Moskalyk)
Dr Glas (Sweden…Mai Zetterling)
The Doll (Czechoslovakia…Wojciech Has)
Dragon’s Return (Czechoslovakia…Eduard Grecner)
L’Enfance Nue (France…Maurice Pialat)
Even the Wind is Afraid (Mexico…Carlos Enrique Taboada)
Faces (US…John Cassavetes)
Farewell to the Summer Light (Japan…Yoshishige Yoshida)
La Gai Savoir (France…Jean-Luc Godard)
Galileo (Italy…Liliana Cavani)
The Girls (Sweden…Mai Zetterling)
Golden Swallow (Hong Kong…Chang Cheh)
Goto, Island of Love (France…Walerian Borowczyk)
The Great Silence (Italy…Sergio Corbucci)
Head (US…Bob Rafelson)
Here Beneath the North Star (Finland…Edvin Laine)
High School (US…Frederick Wiseman)
High School Guerilla (Japan…Masao Adachi)
Hishakaku and Kiratsune: A Tale of Two Yakuza (Japan…Tomu Uchida)
Histories Extraordinaires (France/Italy…Roger Vadim, Louis Malle, Federico Fellini)
Hot Cat! (Finland…Erkko Kivikovski)
The Hour of the Furnaces (Argentina…Fernando Solanas)
The Hour of the Wolf (Sweden…Ingmar Bergman)
The House of Sleeping Virgins (Japan…Kozaburo Yoshimura)
The Human Bullet (Japan…Kihachi Okamoto)
I, the Executioner (Japan…Tai Kato)
I Was Nineteen (East Germany…Conrad Wolf)
If… (UK…Lindsay Anderson)
The Immortal Story (France/US…Orson Welles)
In the Year of the Pig (US…Emile de Antonio)
Inadmissable Evidence (UK…Anthony Page)
Inferno of First Love (Japan…Susumu Hani)
Innocence Unprotected (Yugoslavia…Dusan Makavejev)
Interlude (UK…Kevin Billington)
Isadora (UK…Karel Reisz)
Je T’Aime Je T’Aime (France…Alain Resnais)
Kampf um Rom: Parts I & II (Germany/France…Robert Siodmak)
The Killing of Sister George (UK…Robert Aldrich)
Kuroneko (Japan…Kaneto Shindo)
The Land (Egypt…Youssef Chahine)
The Lion in Winter (UK…Anthony Harvey)
Madigan (US…Don Siegel)
Mandabi (France/Senegal…Ousmane Sembene)
The Man Who Lies (France…Alain Robbe-Grillet)
Man Without a Map (Japan…Hiroshi Teshigahara)
Martin Fierro (Argentina…Leopoldo Torre-Nilsson)
Memories of Underdevelopment (Cuba…Tomas Gutierrez Aléa)
The Milky Way (France/Spain…Luis Buñuel)
Monsieur Hawarden (Netherlands…Harry Kümel)
Monterey Pop (US…D.A.Pennebaker)
The Night of the Living Dead (US…George A.Romero)
The Night They Raided Minsky’s (US…William Friedkin)
Nocturne 29 (Spain…Pere Portabella)
The Odd Couple (US…Gene Saks)
Oliver! (UK…Carol Reed)
Once Upon a Time in the West (US/Italy…Sergio Leone)
One Plus One (France/UK…Jean-Luc Godard)
One Swedish Summer (Sweden…Gunnar Höglund)
The Party (US…Blake Edwards)
Petulia (US…Richard Lester)
Planet of the Apes (US…Franklin J.Schaffner)
Play Dirty (US…André de Toth)
Praise Marx and Pass the Ammunition (UK…Maurice Hatton)
Pretty Poison (US…Noel Black)
The Producers (US…Mel Brooks)
The Profound Desire of the Gods (Japan…Shohei Imamura)
Queimada! (Italy/US…Gillo Pontecorvo)
Rachel, Rachel (US…Paul Newman)
The Rape of the Vampire (France…Jean Rollin)
Reconstruction (Romania…Lucian Pintilie)
Retaliation (Japan…Yasuharu Hasebe)
Romeo and Juliet (UK/Italy…Franco Zeffirelli)
Rosemary’s Baby (US…Roman Polanski)
Secret Ceremony (UK…Joseph Losey)
The Sex Check (Japan…Yasuzo Masumura)
Shame (Sweden…Ingmar Bergman)
Shogun’s Joy of Torture (Japan…Teruo Ishii)
The Shooting (US…Monte Hellman)
Signs of Life (West Germany…Werner Herzog)
Slaves (US…Herbert J.Biberman)
Song of Summer – Delius (UK…Ken Russell)
The Strange Affair (UK…David Greene)
The Swimmer (US…Frank Perry)
Symbiopsychotaxiplasm (US…William Greaves)
Targets (US…Peter Bogdanovich)
Theorem (Italy…Pier Paolo Pasolini)
Thérèse and Isabelle (France…Radley Metzger)
The Thomas Crown Affair (US…Norman Jewison)
Thousand Year Old Fox (South Korea…Shin Sang-okk)
Three Daughters (Czechoslovakia…Stefan Uher)
Three Resurrected Drunkards (Japan…Nagisa Oshima)
The Time of Reckoning (Japan…Tadashi Imai)
Twisted Nerve (UK…Roy Boulting)
2001: A Space Odyssey (UK/US…Stanley Kubrick)
Valley of the Bees (Czechoslovakia…Frantisek Vlacil)
Whistle and I’ll Come to You (UK…Jonathan Miller)
Who Saw Him Die? (Sweden…Jan Troell)
Witchfinder General: International Version (UK…Michael Reeves)
The Witness (Hungary…Pèter Bacso)
The Year of the Sex Olympics (UK…Michael Elliott)
Yellow Submarine (UK…George Dunning)
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Best Actor
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Alan Arkin The Heart is a Lonely Hunter
Albert Finney Charlie Bubbles
Henry Fonda Once Upon a Time in the West
Charlton Heston Planet of the Apes
Rudolf Hrusinsky The Cremator
Ferenc Kallai The Witness
Boris Karloff Targets
Christopher Lee The Devil Rides Out
Jack Lemmon The Odd Couple
Malcolm McDowell If…
Steve McQueen Bullitt
John Marley Faces
Walter Matthau The Odd Couple
Ron Moody Oliver!
Zero Mostel The Producers
Peter O’Toole The Lion in Winter
Anthony Perkins Pretty Poison
Vincent Price Witchfinder General
Cliff Robertson Charly
Frank Sinatra The Detective
Max Von Sydow Shame
Leonard Whiting Romeo and Juliet
Richard Widmark Madigan
Gene Wilder The Producers
Nicol Williamson The Bofors Gun
Nicol Williamson Inadmissable Evidence
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Best Actress
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Bibi Andersson The Girls
Stéphane Audran Les Biches
Mia Farrow Rosemary’s Baby
Katharine Hepburn The Lion in Winter
Anne Heywood The Fox
Olivia Hussey Romeo and Juliet
Patricia Neal The Subject Was Roses
Mariko Okada Affair in the Snow
Mariko Okada Farewell to the Summer Light
Lionella Piolova The Brothers Karamazov
Vanessa Redgrave Isadora
Beryl Reid The Killing of Sister George
Gena Rowlands Faces
Barbra Streisand Funny Girl
Liv Ullmann The Hour of the Wolf
Liv Ullmann Shame
Tuesday Weld Pretty Poison
Joanne Woodward Rachel, Rachel
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Best Supp Actor
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Luther Adler The Brotherhood
Jack Albertson The Subject Was Roses
Ralph Bates The Caesars TV
Sidney Blackmer Rosemary’s Baby
Seymour Cassel Faces
John Castle The Lion in Winter
James Cossins The Anniversary
Tony Curtis The Boston Strangler
Timothy Dalton The Lion in Winter
Maurice Evans Planet of the Apes
Barry Foster Twisted Nerve
Charles Gray The Devil Rides Out
Ian Holm The Bofors Gun
Peter Jeffrey If…
Freddie Jones The Caesars TV
Isao Kamura Affair in the Snow
Roddy McDowall Planet of the Apes
John McEnery Romeo and Juliet
Kenneth Mars The Producers
Daniel Massey Star!
André Morell The Caesars TV
Lajos Oze The Witness
David Warner The Bofors Gun
Jack Wild Oliver!
Norman Wisdom The Night They Raided Minsky’s
Michael York Romeo and Juliet
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Best Supp Actress
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Laura Betti Theorem
Coral Browne The Killing of Sister George
Lynn Carlin Faces
Ruth Gordon Rosemary’s Baby
Pat Heywood Romeo and Juliet
Kim Hunter Planet of the Apes
Shirley Knight Petulia
Sondra Locke The Heart is a Lonely Hunter
Silvana Mangano Theorem
Virginia Maskell Interlude
Jane Merrow The Lion in Winter
Dandy Nichols The Birthday Party
Lee Remick The Detective
Billie Whitelaw Charlie Bubbles
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Best Cinematography
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Ghislain Cloquet Benjamin
John Coquillon Witchfinder General
Pasqualino de Santis Romeo and Juliet
Tonino delli Colli Once Upon a Time in the West
William H.Fraker Bullitt
William H.Fraker Rosemary’s Baby
Erwin Hillier The Shoes of the Fisherman
Kiyomi Kuroda Kuroneko
Oswald Morris Oliver!
Sven Nykvist The Hour of the Wolf
Sven Nykvist Shame
Yoji Okumura Affair in the Snow
Yuji Okumura Farewell to the Summer Light
Nicolas Roeg Petulia
Suren Shakhbazian The Colour of Pomegranates
Leon Shamroy Planet of the Apes
Douglas Slocombe The Lion in Winter
Jaromir Sofr Capricious Summer
Harry Stradling Funny Girl
Frantisek Uldrich Valley of the Bees
Geoffrey Unsworth, John Alcott 2001: A Space Odyssey
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Best Score
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John Barry The Lion in Winter
Paul Ferris Witchfinder General
Lubos Fiser Dita Saxova
Jerry Goldsmith Planet of the Apes
Hikaru Hayashi Kuroneko
Sei Ikeno Affair in the Snow
Krzysztof Komeda Rosemary’s Baby
Michel Legrand The Thomas Crown Affair
Zdenek Liska Valley of the Bees
Ennio Morricone The Great Silence
Ennio Morricone Once Upon a Time in the West
Nino Rota Romeo and Juliet
Lalo Schifrin Bullitt
Lalo Schifrin The Fox
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Best Short
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The Alphabet (US…David Lynch)
Besonders Wertvoll (West Germany…Hellmuth Costard)
The Big Shave (US…Martin Scorsese)
Black TV (US…Aldo Tambellini)
Byt (Czechoslovakia…Jan Svankmajer)
The Dove (US…George Coe, Anthony Lover)
LBJ (Cuba…Santiago Alvarez)
Maxwell’s Demon (US…Hollis Frampton)
Mickey Mouse in Vietnam (US…Lee Savage)
Pas de Deux (Canada…Norman McLaren)
Piknik mit Weismann (Czechoslovakia…Jan Svankmajer)
Snowblind (US…Hollis Frampton)
Surface Tension (US…Hollis Frampton)
Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day (US…Wolfgang Reitherman)
Why Man Creates (US…Saul Bass)
Zahrada (Czechoslovakia…Jan Svankmajer)
Yay for “Report” winning best short in 1967.
I vote “2001: A Space Odyssey” for best film in 1968.
I vote Stanley Kubrick (“2001: A Space Odyssey”) for best director in 1968.
I vote Henry Fonda for best actor in “Once Upon a Time in the West” in 1968.
I vote Mariko Okada for best actress in “Affair in the Snow” in 1968.
I vote Isao Kamura for best supporting actor in “Affair in the Snow” in 1968.
I vote Judith O’Dea for best supporting actress in “Night of the Living Dead” in 1968.
I vote “2001: A Space Odyssey” for best cinematography in 1968.
I vote “Once Upon a Time in the West” for best score in 1968.
I vote “The Alphabet” for best short in 1968.
My Top 5 for 1968:
1. 2001: A Space Odyssey
2. Night of the Living Dead
3. Memorias del Subdesarrollo
4. Once Upon a Time in the West
5. Tres Tristes Tigres
Best Picture: Once Upon A Time in the West
Best Director: Stanley Kubrick (2001: A Space Odyssey)
Best Actor: Peter O’Toole (The Lion in Winter)
Best Actress: Katherine Hepburn (The Lion in Winter)
Best Supporting Actor: Kenneth Mars (The Producers)
Best Supporting Actress: Ruth Gordon (Rosemary’s Baby)
Best Cinematography: Pasquelino de Santis (Romeo and Juliet)
Best Score: Ennio Morricone (Once Upon a Time in the West)
God, so many great films this year. And for me THE PRODUCERS comes within a fraction of a hair of my top choice with these other great films all serious contenders: THE COLOUR OF POMEGRANATES, MEMORIES OF UNDERDEVELOPMENT, ROMEO AND JULIET, SHAME, 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, VALLEY OF THE BEES, OLIVER!, DYSSEY, THE NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, ROSEMARY’S BABY, FAREWELL TO THE SUMMER LIGHT, THE GREAT SILENCE, PLANET OF THE APES, THE DEVIL RIDES OUT, AFFAIR IN THE SNOW, THE LION IN WINTER and PRETTY POISON.
The scores for ROMEO AND JULIET, ROSEMARY’S BABY, THE LION IN WINTER and PLANET OF THE APES come within a hair of Morricone.
Best Short: The Dove
As Joel indicates this one is hysterical. Allan sent me a copy of this years ago, and I’ve been a passionate fan for a very long time. All Bergman fans take note here!!!!
Best Picture: 2001
Best Director: Kubrick
Best Actor: Hrusinsky
Best Actress: Okada, Farewell to the Summer Light
Supporting Actor: Mars
Supporting Actress:Hunter
Cinematography: Okumura, Farewell …
Score: Barry, Lion in Winter
Picture: Shame
Director: Ingmar Bergman, Shame
Actor: Max Von Sydow, Shame
Actress: Vanessa Redgrave, Isadora
Sup. Actor: Jack Albertson, The Subject Was Roses
Sup. Actress: Ruth Gordon, Rosemary’s Baby
Cinematography: Pasqualino de Santis, Romeo and Juliet
Feature: Rosemary’s Baby
followed by:
2. 2001: A Space Odyssey
3. Death by Hanging
4. Yellow Submarine
5. Farewell to the Summer Light
Short: Will withhold vote until there’s a clear winner (if there isn’t, I’ll serve as tiebreaker)
Director: Stanley Kubrick, 2001: A Space Odyssey
Actor: Malcolm McDowell, If…
Actress: Mariko Okada, Farewell to the Summer Light
Supp. Actor: Sidney Blackmer, Rosemary’s Baby
Supp. Actress: Ruth Gordon, Rosemary’s Baby
Cinematography: Geoffrey Unsworth, John Alcott, 2001: A Space Odyssey
Score: Krzysztof Komeda, Rosemary’s Baby
Screenplay: Michinori Fukao, Mamoru Sasaki, Tustomu Tamura, Nagisa Oshima, Death by Hanging
Editing: David Gladwell, If…
Ensemble: Mia Farrow, John Cassavetes, Ruth Gordon, Sidney Blackmer, Maurice Evans, Ralph Bellamy, Angela Dorian, Patsy Kelly, Elisha Cook Jr., Rosemary’s Baby
Scene: Sleeping with Satan, Rosemary’s Baby
Line: “Take your stinking paws off me, you damned dirty ape!”, Rosemary’s Baby
Use of Music: Yellow Submarine
Close calls: DIRECTOR – Roman Polanski for Rosemary’s Baby, Nagasi Oshima for Death by Hanging, SUPP. ACTOR – Roddy McDowall in Planet of the Apes, CINEMATOGRAPHY – Kuroneko, Farewell to the Summer Light.
A couple of the many fascinating short selections this week –
Scorsese’s prizewinning “Big Shave”:
Also, this very amusing parody of Bergman, “The Dove”:
Haven’t seen the others yet (except Lynch’s early short – I recall liking some of the later ones better – and Winnie the Pooh: Allan, you included that as a feature by accident!), but looking forward to it.
Nobody can steal Ruth Girdon’s thunder this year but I should mention Chieko Baisho as a runner-up for her work in I, the Executioner.
I think Lynn Carlin gives the best performance of anyone in any category from this year. Simply amazing.
Yeah, I agree, JOEL…
But, it’s the little details that Gordon embues the character with that simply steal ROSEMARY’S BABY. The lingering she does on word’s, as in the scene where she and Rosemary have their first talk (“He’s sooooo good-looookinnnn”) to the way she turns a dessert fork in her mouth as the two couples get to know each other over dinner. It’s a perfect piece of characterization and Gordon sells it with the detail and makes Minnie Castavet completely real. Going over the list of possibilities in this category only makes you hone in on Gordon more. To be honest, I think Gordon’s performance is not only out right perfect, but is probably the best performance in a film dotted with many of the best performances given by the other actors in it. Certainly, this is Ralph Bellamy’s most remembered turn. Cassavettes never gave one better than this. Blackmer and Evans are spot on in every moment they find themselves in front of the camera. And, let’s not forget the little side jobs by Patsy Kelly, terrific as the face-making Lara Louise, Elisha Cook Jr. as the aloof building manager and the never seen, but definately heard, Tony Curtis, as Donald Baumgart, the actor that loses his sight from the spell that gives Guy his first big break (that’s Curtis on the phone, with Farrow, talking about all the glasses he broke in a single day).
Totally agreed – that’s why I gave the cast my much-coveted ensemble award! I love that you mentioned Gordon rubbing out the knife mark on the floor before. That’s one of my favorite moments in the film.
Jesus, I must be turning into a screaming meanie, but I think Gordon overdoes the twinkling imp bit in ‘Rosemary’s Baby’ just a little She’s adored by cinephiles, especially for her work in ‘Harold and Maude,’ but I’ve always liked her better as a screenwriter. Sorry, but what do I know? Out in la-la land they gave her the Oscar after failing to even nominate Mia Farrow. a major gaffe that year.
I think Gordon does a superb job of transforming a “twinkling” screen persona that had not developed yet (for the audience) into something more sinister. Her mastery comes in those scenes that seem like kindly visits with Rosemary, but are actually manipulative episodes designed to trip up Rosemary’s natural instincts. I still think HAROLD AND MAUDE is her greatest and most loved performance (probably the one I will vote for in its eligible year), but I’m also glad to give this supporting award to her. She deserves it. By the way, has there been a biography written about her? I’d like to read it.
Purely for form, since the voting’s technically over.
Short: Pas de deux
Beautiful.
Best Picture: 2001: A Space Odyssey
Top Five: 1. 2001: A Space Odyssey 2. Rosemary’s Baby 3. Once Upon A Time In The West 4.The Color Of Pomegranates 5. Witchfinder General
What a great year for film. Some of the best to grace every genre and, indeed, some of the best in cinema all around. However, as good as they all were, there is one film that hovers above them all, The influence of this film is so staggering that it defies the limitations of imagination and becomes one of the four or five major game-changers in the history of the medium. Simply put, modern cinema was never the same after it and it’s influence, and the awe it inspires, is felt even to this day.
PICTURE: 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY
Top 5: 1. 2001: A Space Osyssey 2. Once Upon A Time In The West 3. Rosemary’s Baby 4. Shame 5. The Producers
ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST came to me late in life and I cannot come up with enough superlative adjectives in describing the aura that it brings me into every time I see it. Like a visual symphony, its far more than a mere western, though it’s one of the four or five greatest westerns ever made. However, as good as all the films were this year, 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY cannot be displaced because of it’s standing position as one of the most influential and awe inspiring films ever made. More like prophecy than film making, Kubrick introduces techniques that will not be attempted or refined for almost 30 years afterwards with the advent of CGI. The themes of the film are the stuff that no other film-maker in history would dare to attempt, and also succeed in bringing to the screen. It is a film that asks alot of the big questions, stands tall while asking them and never regrets taking the plunge in asking them in the first place. This is high intellect as art and, as such, should be looked upon and revered. Very few films in the history of cinema have even scratched the surface of 2001 in coming close to it’s gargantuan brilliance and scope and it takes Kubrick from being labeled a great film-maker to one of the all time greats. Frankly, it’s his masterpiece.
DIRECTOR: Stanley KUBRICK (2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY)
Runner Up: Sergio Leone (Once Upon A Time In The West)
No contest. As good as Leone, Bergman, Polanski are, there is no extra inning in the game for them to catch up to Kubrick. Stanley is so ahead of everyone with this film as to be looking down from the heavens. The scope of his thinking behind 2001 is so massive and intimidating that it has every other director of this year running for cover. A directors tour-de-force if there ever was one, it boggles my mind that he didn’t grab every prize a director could win for this untouchable tone poem. Here lies the seed for directors like Terrence Malick, Francis Coppola and Ridley Scott.
LEAD ACTOR: Peter O’TOOLE (THE LION IN WINTER)
Runner Up: Alan Arkin (The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter)
Third time was the charm for O’Toole who almost had my vote for LAWRENCE OF ARABIA and BECKETT. However, LION is such a great role for O’Toole as it proved he could transcend his age to play older and wiser, more humanly emotional and, in the process, go toe-to-toe with one of the titans in acting in cinema and never seem fearful. At once questioning and caring, the turn he makes mid-way through the film for his firm and heart-breaking stance proves he is an effortless talent.
LEAD ACTRESS: Katharine HEPBURN (THE LION IN WINTER)
Runner Up: Mia Farrow (Rosemary’s Baby)
Tough, tough, tough call for me here. Mia Farrow delivers a perfect debut performance in one of the trickiest roles afforded an actress at the time. Playing wide eyed innocent that slowly but surely comes unwrapped as her paranoia builds, Farrow exudes pent up hysteria that becomes so infectious that we become just as paranoid as she.
BUT…
She’s squashed by the fire that is Katharine Hepburn. In her finest performance, Hepburn finds delicious conniving in the likes of Elinor Of Acquitaine. Never before has Kate played such a scheming, almost villianous, character, and the grand thespian has a field day doing it. Relishing every poisoned moment, she comes on to the audience and her supporting cast as a ferocious viper looking to sink her talons in you till you bleed to death. While all the while she shushes you like some adorable grandmother and assures you everything will be all right.
SUPP. ACTOR: Gene WILDER (THE PRODUCERS)
Runner Up: Jack Wild (Oliver!)
Was there ever an actor that played hysterical nervous breakdown better than Gene Wilder? Even his sweating in THE PRODUCERS is funny. As the innocent jaded by greed and deception, he’s the emotuional yang to Zero Mostel’s gluttonous ying. The sequence where he nearly passes out because of the loss of his “Blue Blankie” is a moment of such comic vituosity that a comedy legend is born.
SUPP. ACTRESS: Ruth GORDON (ROSEMARY’S BABY)
Runner Up: Sondra Locke (The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter)
It’s not a BIG performance, it’s the little things that do it for Ruth Gordon. Coming off as the perfect Jewish Grandmother in ROSEMARY’S BABY, one marvels at the tiniest flourishes she embues the character of Minnie Castavet with. The finger rubbing the cut in the hard wood floor after she removes the dropped knife, the way she holds the glasses to her face to inspect the prices on groceries Rosemary has just purchased and the way she coughs and chokes the word “CARPET” as she repremands her husband for spilling punch on the new floor coverings mask an almost unbelievable malevolance that smacks the audience in the face in the final reveal at the conclusion of the film. With all the great thinsg Rosemary’s Baby has going for it (tight direction, amazing cinematography and music, a star making turn for the lead actress), Gordon is the secret weapon in helping make the film a classic for all time and one of the greatest horror films ever. Oscar got this category EXACTLY right.
PHOTO: Stanley KUBRICK-assisted by John Alcott and Geoffrey Unsworth (2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY)
Runner Up: Tonino delli Colli (Once Upon A Time In The West)
I don’t care what the “Official” listing is, the facts reamin… Anyone who has ever read a book on the films of Stanley Kubrick or a biography on the great director knows this… STANLEY WAS THE CINEMATOGRAPHER. Period. Yes, he did have those that came in to assist (usually laying down dolly tracks and setting up the shots as he wanted them), but since his legendary scolding of Lucian Ballard on THE KILLING, the great director oversaw and called the shots on every frame of photography for every film since. His work on 2001 is a text book example of breaking all the rules, going wild, and creating otherworldy landscapes. Many have said it in documantaries and scholarly essays on the director: If Stanley never became a great director, he’d have most certainly become the greatest cinematographer in cinema history. His work here is miles ahead of anyone else in 1968.
MUSIC: Ennio MORRICONE (ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST)
Runner Up: Krystoph Komeda (Rosemary’s Baby)
Another category where I have to yell: NO CONTEST!!!!!!
Morricone’s score, that actually characterizes the characters in the film is like a wall to wall symphony of painterly portraits of people, places and situations. The opening theme is one for the record books and seemlessly blends action motifs with character themes and speaks for them all at the same time. If Leone had ever decided to remove the dialogue from ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST, we’d still know EXACTLY what was going on as the true voice of this film is the all encompassing score from this master of the form. Morricone’s best score by a mile and one of the greatest scores in all of motion picture history…
I always enjoy very much your detailed reasoning, Dennis.
Yeah, I find ‘2001’ staggering, too. Every time I watch it I stagger for the exit. lol
LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yeah. Go on and go out of that exit. We don’t want you here.
It’s not my favorite Kubrick’s but still a fabulous masterpiece.
Best Picture: 2001: A Space Odyssey
Best Director: Stanley Kubrick (2001: A Space Odyssey)
Best Actor: Peter O’Toole (The Lion in Winter)
Best Actress: Katherine Hepburn (The Lion in Winter)
Best Supporting Actor: Sidney Blackmer (Rosemary’s Baby)
Best Supporting Actress: Ruth Gordon (Rosemary’s Baby)
Best Cinematography: (Geoffrey Unsworth, John Alcott 2001: A Space Odyssey)
Best Score: Ennio Morricone (Once Upon a Time in the West)
Pic: Once Upon a Time in the West (US/Italy…Sergio Leone)
Director: 2001: A Space Odyssey (UK/US…Stanley Kubrick)
Actor: Malcolm McDowell If…
Actress: Katharine Hepburn The Lion in Winter
Supp Actor: Peter Jeffrey If…
Supp Actress: Ruth Gordon Rosemary’s Baby
Cinematography: Tonino delli Colli Once Upon a Time in the West
Score: Ennio Morricone Once Upon a Time in the West
Short: Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day (US…Wolfgang Reitherman)
Film: ‘Faces’; ‘Shame’; ‘Petulia’
Director: Lindsay Anderson (‘If…’); Richard Lester (‘Petulia’); Ingmar Bergman (‘Shame’)
Actor: George C. Scott (‘Petulia’); Alan Arkin (‘The Heart is a Lonely Hunter’); Max Von Sydow (‘Shame’)
Actress: Liv Ullmann (‘Shame’); Vanessa Redgrave (‘Isadora’); Barbra Streisand (‘Funny Girl’)
S. Actress: Lynn Carlin (‘Faces’); Shirley Knight (‘Petulia’); Jill Bennett (‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’)
S. Actor: Trevor Howard (‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’); Seymour Cassel (‘Faces’); Sidney Blackmer (‘Rosemary’s Baby’)
Screenplay: Lawrence B. Marcus (‘Petulia’); John Cassavetes (‘Faces’); Ingmar Bergman (‘Shame’)
Photography: David Watkin (‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’); Nicholas Roeg (‘Petulia’); Miroslav Ondricek (‘If…’)
And a special award to the designer who dressed Julie Christie in ‘Petulia’. Zowie!!!!
Gee, I’m surprised none of the Kubrickians have voted for Keir Dullea, that wooden space marionette from ‘2001’. Wait, I forgot. To the post-‘Strangelove’ Kubrick auteurist acting isn’t important, Cf. the entire cast of ‘2001,’ O’Neal in ‘Barry Lyndon,’ Nicholson in ‘The Shining,’ etc., etc. The Kubrick imprimatur alone sends them into orgasms. lol
LOL! This is funny Mark. Nice.
I didn’t vote for Dullea, but I did vote for Douglas Rain as Best Supporting Actor for playing the voice of HAL 9000. I thought that was a more appropriate gesture. But you’re right–Kubrick is name enough.
And I also nominated PETULIA for best Costume Design for that very reason, Mark—Julie Christie’s get-ups…
Dean,
I don’t think Christie has ever looked more beautiful than she does in this film.
Agreed!
An incredible year…maybe my favorite year of the decade. Music takes over in a new way, with HEAD, OLIVER!, YELLOW SUBMARINE, MONTEREY POP, WILD IN THE STREETS, SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL, PETULIA, FUNNY GIRL and even THE PRODUCERS. Horror comes into a new age with TARGETS, ROSEMARY’S BABY, HOUR OF THE WOLF, NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, WITCHFINDER GENERAL, and THE DEVIL RIDES OUT. The crime movie is re-imagined with BULLITT, THE DETECTIVE, COOGAN’S BLUFF, PRETTY POISON, MADIGAN, THE SPLIT, THE BOSTON STRANGLER and THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR. But one movie justifiably towers over all. There are many masterpieces surrounding it–in fact, the first 20 movies I list are mandatory viewing. But, for me, this year’s stand-out will always be the best film that’s ever been made.
PICTURE: 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (followed by, in descending order: Once Upon A Time in the West, Targets, Petulia, Oliver!, The Color of Pomegranites, Head, Rosemary’s Baby, If…, Yellow Submarine, Monterey Pop, Night of the Living Dead, Hour of the Wolf, High School, Faces, Bullitt, Shame, Stolen Kisses, WILD IN THE STREETS, Planet of the Apes, Mandabi, HELL IN THE PACIFIC, Les Biches, The Producers, Witchfinder General, The Milky Way, In The Year of the Pig, Rachel Rachel, Pretty Poison, The Swimmer, DARK OF THE SUN, The Lion in Winter, Signs of Life, The Party, Sympathy for the Devil, The Odd Couple, Danger: Diabolik, Isadora, Madigan, Symbiopsychotaxiplasm, COOGAN‘S BLUFF, Romeo and Juliet, THE HEART IS A LONELY HUNTER, The Devil Rides Out, FUNNY GIRL, THE BOSTON STRANGLER, Therese and Isabelle, WHERE EAGLES DARE, The Thomas Crown Affair, GREETINGS, BARBARELLA, PSYCH-OUT, SPIDER BABY)
DIRECTOR: Stanley Kubrick, 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (2nd: Sergio Leone, Once Upon A Time in the West, followed by: Sergei Paradjanov, The Color of Pomegranites; Richard Lester, Petulia; Carol Reed, Oliver!; Roman Polanski, Rosemary‘s Baby)
ACTOR: Boris Karloff, TARGETS (2nd: Henry Fonda, Once Upon a Time in the West, followed by: Alan Arkin, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter; Steve McQueen, Bullitt; Vincent Price, Witchfinder General; George C. Scott, Petulia)
ACTRESS: Mia Farrow, ROSEMARY’S BABY (2nd: Joanne Woodward, Rachel Rachel, followed by: Katherine Hepburn, The Lion in Winter; Liv Ullmann, Shame; Tuesday Weld, Pretty Poison; Vanessa Redgrave, Isadora)
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Gene Wilder, THE PRODUCERS (2nd: Jack Wild, Oliver!, followed by: Douglas Rain, 2001: A Space Odyssey; Seymour Cassel, Faces; Harry Secombe, Oliver!; Roddy McDowell, Planet of the Apes)
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Ruth Gordon, ROSEMARY’S BABY (2nd: Lynn Carlin, Faces, followed by: Kim Hunter, Planet of the Apes; Shirley Knight, Petulia; Sondra Locke, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter; Estelle Parsons, Rachel Rachel)
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Geoffrey Unsworth and John Alcott, 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (2nd: Tonino Delli Colli, Once Upon a Time in the West, followed by: Suren Shakhbazian, The Color of Pomegranites; Laszlo Kovacs, Targets; Sven Nykvist, Hour of the Wolf; Pasquelino De Santis, Romeo and Juliet)
SCORE: Ennio Morricone, ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST (2nd: Krzysztof Komeda, Rosemary’s Baby, followed by: Jerry Goldsmith, Planet of the Apes; Lalo Schifrin, Bullitt; Jacques Lossier, Dark of the Sun; John Barry, The Lion in Winter)
SHORT: WHY MAN CREATES (Saul Bass) (2nd: LBJ (Santiago Alvarez), followed by: Pas de Deux (Norman McLaren), The Big Shave (Martin Scorsese); The Dove (George Coe and Anthony Lover); Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day (Wolfgang Reitherman))
FURTHER:
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Sergio Leone, Sergio Donati, Bernardo Bertolucci, Dario Argento, Mickey Knox, ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST (2nd: Mel Brooks, The Producers, followed by: John Cassevetes, Faces; Peter Bogdanovich, Polly Platt and Samuel Fuller, Targets; David Sherwin and John Howlett, If…; Ingmar Bergman, Shame)
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Laurence B. Marcus and Barbara Turner, PETULIA (2nd: Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke, 2001: A Space Odyssey, followed by: Roman Polanski, Rosemary’s Baby; Neil Simon, The Odd Couple; Eleanor Perry, The Swimmer; Vernon Wells, Oliver!)
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: MONTEREY POP (D.A. Pennebaker) (2nd: High School (Frederick Wiseman), followed by In The Year of the Pig (Emile De Antonio))
ART DIRECTION: 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (2nd: Oliver!, followed by Planet of the Apes; Once Upon A Time in the West; Rosemary‘s Baby; The Lion in Winter)
COSTUME DESIGN: OLIVER! (2nd: The Color of Pomegranites, followed by The Lion in Winter; Romeo and Juliet; Petulia; Planet of the Apes)
FILM EDITING: BULLITT (2nd: Petulia, followed by 2001: A Space Odyssey; Targets; Once Upon a Time in the West; Head; Dark of the Sun)
SOUND: 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (2nd: Bullitt, followed by Monterey Pop; Oliver!; The Party; Planet of the Apes; Where Eagles Dare)
SCORING OF A MUSICAL: John Green, OLIVER! (2nd: George Martin, Yellow Submarine)
ORIGINAL SONG: “Porpoise Song” from HEAD (music and lyrics by Gerry Goffin and Carole King) (2nd: “Springtime for Hitler” from The Producers (music and lyrics by Mel Brooks), followed by “The Windmills of Your Mind” from The Thomas Crown Affair (Music by Michel Legrand, lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman); “The Shape of Things to Come” from Wild in the Streets (music and lyrics by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil; “Circle Sky” from Head (music and lyrics by Michael Nesmith)
SPECIAL EFFECTS: 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (2nd: Where Eagles Dare)
MAKEUP: 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (2nd: Planet of the Apes)
ANIMATED FEATURE: YELLOW SUBMARINE (George Dunning)
I’ll add the Bass to the shorts list when I get a chance later…
did it for you…
PICTURE: Faces
DIRECTOR: Oshima
LEAD ACTOR: I’m going with Zero Mostel, I think; comedy deserves credit.
LEAD ACTRESS: Mia Farrow
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Seymour Cassel (though I’m tempted to say Keith Richards, who knows how to dominate a room, even a room with Mick Jagger in it, without ever seeming to notice the camera – more than anyone will ever say of Mick…)
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Ruth Gordon
SHORT: Saute ma Ville, Chantelle Akerman’s debut
SCORE: Morricone – though which one? there are like five to choose from… Once Upon a Time in the West, I suppose, is the best choice…
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Sven Nykvist, Shame
Plus bonus picks:
Script: The Producers
Music/Sound: One Plus One, pretty obviously. Not that there isn’t plenty of competition (Yellow Submarine; Monterey Pop; The Producers; 2001) , but how do you improve on watching Sympathy for the Devil take form? How do you improve on Sympathy for the Devil?
How do you improve on Sympathy for the Devil?
Ha! You don’t. Quite right there WS methinks!
Sympathy for the Devil is shit. Only those who would watch Godard wank over a photo of himself could find it worthwhile.
Plenty of those people around Fish.
Wellll, to be fair he was saying that One Plus One had the best music or use of music this year. Not necessarily that it was a great movie (although presumably he believes that as well). And both him and Sam were speaking of the song when they wrote “how do you improve on Sympathy for the Devil”. Which, even after one dives into the riches of the Brian Jones/Oldham/early years catalog remains one of their strongest tracks to my ears.
Oddly enough, given my enthusiasm for both Godard and the Rolling Stones, I still haven’t actually seen One Plus One.
Yes, but “Sympathy For The Devil” wasn’t written for the film. Where is the love for The Monkees’ and Bob Rafelson’s HEAD on this thread????
Pic- 2001
Dir- Kubrick
Actor- Max von Sydow – Shame
Actress- Liv Ullman – Shame
Supp. Actor- Seymour Cassel – Faces
Supp. Actress- Lynn Carlin – Faces
Score- Morricone – Once Upon a Time in the West
Cinematography – Unsworth/Alcott – 2001
Best Picture: 2001: A Space Odyssey
Best Director: Roman Polanski (Rosemary’s Baby)
Best Actor: Peter O’Toole (The Lion in Winter)
Best Actress: Mia Farrow (Rosemary’s Baby)
Best Supporting Actor: Jack Wild (Oliver!)
Best Supporting Actress: Ruth Gordon (Rosemary’s Baby)
Best Cinematography: Pasqualino de Santis (Romeo and Juliet)
Best Score: Jerry Goldsmith (Planet of the Apes)
Best Short: The Big Shave
You know it’s funny, for all the talk of how strong a year this is, I find ’69 and ’70 far more compelling. Next year in particular will be a smorgasbord of European and Asian classics, a renewed and edgy Hollywood cinema, and unique items like the Civilisation series. I’d also take a number of early or mid 60s years over ’68, where there are a small handful of films I’m passionate about. Just me I guess.
And apparently I need to see the Leone again; it did not leave much of an impression on first viewing…
You have a very good point there Joel, methinks.
Allan’s top film of 1968 is also ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST.
Yeah Once Upon a Time in the West is slightly befuddling to me. I like but don’t love it.
I completely agree with the above comment. 1969 is going to be one hell of a difficult year. 1967, too, was a really tough year. 1968 is a far less competitive year, in comparison.
I’d have loved to see Satyajit Ray’s Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne (The Adventures of Goopy & Bagha) in the reckoning – its one of my favourite films, though, unfortunately, its not much known or even watched outside Bengal, leave alone India.
My choices for 1968:-
Best Picture: Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne
Best Director: Stanley Kubrick (2001: A Space Odyssey)
Best Actor: Henry Fonda (Once Upon a Time in the West)
Best Actress: Mia Farrow (Rosemary’s Baby)
Best Supporting Actor: Sidney Blackmer (Rosemary’s Baby)
Best Supporting Actress: Ruth Gordon (Rosemary’s Baby)
Best Cinematography: Tonino delli Colli (Once Upon a Time in the West)
Best Score: Satyajit Ray (Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne)
Top 5:
1. Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne (The Adventures of Goopy & Bagha)
2. 2001: A Space Odyssey
3. Once Upon A Time in the Wet
4. Who’s That Knocking at My Door?
5. Je T’Aime, Je T’Aime
Just Missed: Rosemary’s Baby
1969 is a no contest, there’s one film and the rest are battling for the silver and bronze.
On your ballot perhaps. 😉 tbh, E+M won’t even make my top 10. There are even other Yoshidas I prefer. If a Japanese New Wave film was to get my top spot, it would’ve been this year with Death by Hanging. On another day, it might.
I don’t think E+M will make my top five either (though certainly worthy of 10). For me, 1969 is a battle between two other great films.
I agree with Allan that EROS is a very great film. It will make my Top 5 for the coming year, but not in the Top 3.
Ken Loach’s KES will be be my #1 choice. But it’s quite a year.
I haven’t really looked closely at 1969 to say for sure, but Kes is also probably in that 7 to 8 range for me. But whatever, opinions are opinions.
Maurizio, to be honest I don’t expect KES to get any votes other than my own, though I do know Peter Marose loves it. It is my kind of film, it hits me hard on a personal level, and I see it as a poem of a film and Loach’s masterpiece. No doubt there are other very great films in 1969, but KES is the one that connects with me with timeless emotionality, and it’s the film I will be going with. I know you like it, but understand not in the same way. Fair enough. Allan has it at 4.5 or 5.0, as I recall, but he would probably agree with you it’s around Nos. 5, 6, or 7 for this year.
My top five for 1968:
2001: A Space Odyssey – Stanley Kubrick
Faces – John Cassavetes
Once Upon a Time in the West – Sergio Leone
Rosemary’s Baby – Roman Polanski
Shame – Ingmar Bergman
Best Picture: 2001: A Space Odyssey
Best Director: Stanley Kubrick
Best Actor: Peter O’Toole (The Lion in Winter)
Best Actress: Vanessa Redgrave (Isadora)
Best supporting actor: Seymour Cassel (Faces)
Best supporting actress: Lynn Carlin (Faces)
Best Cinematography: Geoffrey Unsworth and John Alcott (2001: A Space Odyssey)
Best Score: Ennio Morriconi (Once Upon a Time in the West)
I voted ‘2001’ in the highest position of any of my choices of this year for the 1960’s poll two years ago at the site. I have since seen Paradjanov’s film. I have seen ‘The Dove’ and love it!
Best Picture: The Color of Pomegranates
Best Director: Sergei Paradjanov (The Color of Pomegranates)
Best Actor: Peter O’Toole (The Lion in Winter)
Best Actress: Katherine Hepburn (The Lion in Winter)
Best Short: The Dove
Best Supporting Actor: Roddy McDowell (Planet of the Apes)
Best Supporting Actress: Kim Hunter (Planet of the Apes)
Best Cinematography: Pasquelino de Santis (Romeo and juliet)
Best Score: Nino Rota (Romeo and Juliet)
Film: The Producers
Director: Kubrick
Actor: Mostel, The Producers
Actress: Hepburn, The Lion in Winter
Sup. Actor: Blackmer, Rosemary’s Baby
Sup. Actress: Gordon, Rosemary’s Baby
Short: The Big Shave
Score: Komeda, Rosemary’s Baby
Cinematography: De Santis, Romeo and Juliet
Sam, I’ll reverse your picks in the two big categories:
Best Picture: 2001
Best Director: Sergio Leone (Once Upon a Time in the West)
Best Actor: Henry Fonda (Once Upon a Time in the West)
Best Actress: Katherine Hepburn (The Lion in Winter)
Best Supporting Actor: Jack Albertson (The Subject Was Roses)
Best Supporting Actress: Ruth Gordon (Rosemary’s Baby)
Best Cinematography: Pasqualino de Santis (Romeo and Juliet)
Best Score: Jerry Goldsmith (Planet of the Apes)
Best Short: The Dove (loved it!)
Dova doody!
Just added 3 Hollis Framptons to the mix.
Thanks for introducing me to The Dove guys!
Best Film: Romeo and Juliet
Best Director: Franco Zeffirelli (Romeo and Juliet)
Best Short: The Dove
Best Actor: Malcolm McDowall (If…)
Best Actress: Katherine Hepburn (The Lion in Winter)
Best Supporting Actor: Gene Wilder (The Producers)
Best Supporting Actress: Ruth Gordon (Rosemary’s Baby)
Best Cinematography: Pasqualino De Santis (Romeo and Juliet)
Best Musical Score: Nino Rota (Romeo and Juliet)
My last ditch effort to get people to see the wonderful WHY MAN CREATES, by one of my ten favorite directors, Saul Bass. It’s an essential piece. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euh0kEU20V4
I’m finishing watching the shorts tonight and then will vote my conscience, since my services as a tiebreaker are not needed with all the love for the Bergman spoof.
I like THE DOVE, but it’s a one-joke piece. WHY MAN CREATES is so original, it’s insane. I wish I were able to steer the vote.
As we get closer to the present (even more than 40 years away), are we going to see diminishing returns on this blog? It strangely seems as if many traditional voters have checked out…
I know it’s too late for my choices to count now but I somehow missed out on this one! So this would have been my choices had I been in time to vote.
Best Picture: 2001; A SPACE ODYSSEY (runners up in an exceptional year would have been SHAME; PETULIA and IF …)
Best Director: Ingmar Bergman for SHAME
Best Actor: Alan Arkin for THE HEART IS A LONELY HUNTER
Best Actress: (a three-way tie): Beryl Reid for THE KILLING OF SISTER GEORGE; Barbra Striesand for FUNNY GIRL and Joanne Woodward for RACHEL RACHEL
Best Supporting Actor: Jack Albertson for THE SUBJECT WAS ROSES
Best Supporting Actress: Ruth Gordon for ROSEMARY’S BABY
Best Cinematography: Nicholas Roeg for PETULIA
Best Score: Ennio Morricone for ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST
Best Short: WINNIE THE POOH AND THE BLUSTERY DAY