And check out Part 1 for more Oscar winners now streaming on your favorite services…
Welcome to Field of Streams, Cinapse’s weekly guide of what’s playing on your favorite streaming services. What’s new on Netflix and Amazon Prime? What do we recommend on Kanopy, Fandor, and Shudder? We’ve got it all. From monthly roundups, to curated top 5 lists, to reviews of our favorites available now… it’s here. We built it for you, so come and join us in the Field of Streams.
The Oscars are getting even closer and while the controversy surrounding the crop of this year’s nominees has only somewhat quieted down, it’s sure to be back in full swing come the big night this upcoming Sunday. Like any true cinephile, I’m going to be missing out on watching the big show (although you can bet I’ll be checking the live updates). Instead, I’ll be streaming a collection of past Oscar winners, all of which are always worth revisiting.
While the first part of this special Oscar-themed edition of Field of Streams looked at some beloved winners from the 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s, this time around we take a look at the four subsequent decades and some of the titles which managed to journey from the Oscar stage to become bona fide movie classics.
DANGEROUS LIAISONS (Hulu)
If there was ever a lesson in how to move a play from the stage to the screen in the most seamless of ways, it was Stephen Frears’s 1988 film version of Christopher Hampton’s play, Dangerous Liaisons. The film told the story of a pair of bored, scheming 18th century French aristocrats (Glenn Close and John Malkovich) who spend their time playing mind games with members of high society for their own amusement. However the game changes when their latest target (Michelle Pfieffer) unexpectedly drives a wedge between them. Period pieces may be the vegetables of the film world, but Dangerous Liaisons might as well be dessert. The film is so rich in great banter, complex emotions and dark human behavior, that every scene proves a standout, no matter what’s taking place. There’s an electrifying wickedness to the whole film which never lets up until the movie’s end when the consequences of what has transpired between the three leads catches up to all of them. While Malkovich’s career-best turn was ignored by the Academy, Close and Pfeiffer scored Best Actress and Supporting Actress nods, respectively, while the film also found itself nominated for Best Picture. In the end, Dangerous Liaisons took home wins for Set Direction, Costume Design and Adapted Screenplay in one of the most entertaining and secretly moving period dramas ever made.
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (Disney+)
Toy Story 3 may be the most revered entry in its series thanks to the surprise Oscar nomination it got for Best Picture, but many forget that it followed in the footsteps of this other Disney classic. In what is perhaps the most fairy tale-esque of the studio’s releases during this era, the story dealt with a fearsome beast trapped by a curse and the beautiful, good-natured young woman who falls in love with him. The second of Disney’s unbelievable run of future classics from the late 80s/early 90s, Beauty and the Beast was a perfect follow-up to the seemingly uptoppable Little Mermaid thanks to its themes of redemption and inner-beauty. More of a “lesson” movie than other Disney fare of the day, Beauty and the Beast avoided being preachy thanks to its incredible assortment of songs, including “Belle,” “Be Our Guest,” (both Oscar nominated) and the movie’s title song which ended up taking home the top prize, along with a second trophy for Alan Menken’s sumptuous score. The computer designs mixed with the hand-drawn animation beautifully (giving a hint of the innovations to come) and all the side characters were so carefully crafted, from the lovable Mrs. Potts, to the villainous Gaston. A milestone for Disney and one of the most enduring Best Picture nominees in film history.
ALMOST FAMOUS (Prime)
It took some time, but most folks eventually came around to this film about a 17-year-old aspiring rock journalist (Patrick Fugit) who is commissioned by Rolling Stone to follow a popular band on the road for the summer. A life-changing adventure soon takes place as the young reporter finds himself wowed by the band’s frontman (Billy Crudup) and the free-spirited blonde (Kate Hudson) by his side. More “Alice in Wonderland” than traditional coming of age fare, Almost Famous benefits from it’s 1970s setting, colorful characters (Frances McDormand as the main character’s mother is a riot) and a true curiosity about the rock and roll landscape during that time. The movie’s script is written in such a lyrical way that scenes oftentimes end up unfolding in ways that aren’t the easiest to predict, rarely letting the story down. Based on writer/director Cameron Crowe’s early years at Rolling Stone, it’s no surprise that Almost Famous managed to take home the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay, while earning a nom for Best Editing and double noms in the Best Supporting Actress category for McDormand and Hudson (in a truly star-making performance). One of the top movies of 2000 that remains the hallmark of Crowe’s career, Almost Famous is pure, story-driven filmmaking at its finest.
THE HATEFUL EIGHT (Netflix)
Four years later and fans of Quentin Tarantino remain divided about the director’s 2015 effort. The filmmaker offers up a twist on the standard western as he traps a motley gang of characters in a snow covered inn in the middle of nowhere including a pair of bounty hunters (Samuel L. Jackson and Kurt Russell), a woman on her way to be hanged for murder (Jennifer Jason Leigh) and the new sheriff of a neighboring town (Walton Goggins), among others. As the weather conditions worsen and the group finds themsevles stranded, it becomes clear that someone among them isn’t who they say they are. The Hateful Eight’s origins have taken it from stage form to novel form, but it’s the film which remains the most debated incarnation. Some detractors claimed the whole movie was too stagey to be enjoyable, while others applauded the cat and mouse-like atmosphere Tarantino created in such closed quarters. The entire cast, which also includes Michael Madsen, Tim Roth and Bruce Dern, is indispensable and everyone gets their moment to shine. That Tarantino playfulness and mischief is alive and well here and even if the director lets the proceedings play out longer than necessary, there’s just too much fun to be had. As split as everyone who saw The Hateful Eight was, even Oscar couldn’t help but show it some love, bestowing on it nominations for Best Supporting Actress and Cinematography. Come the big night however, The Hateful Eight would take home only one award; for Ennio Morricone’s pulsating score, which earned the composing maestro his first Oscar.
There are countless services to explore and great things to watch on all of them. Which ones did we miss that you would suggest to us? And, as always, if you’ve got thoughts on titles we’re missing out on or new services to check out, leave a comment below.
Till next week, stream on, stream away.