Awful Academy Award Films

23. Around the World in 80 Days (1956) Anderson A retelling of the Jules Verne novel full of cameo appearances by Hollywood's greatest stars. David Niven plays the lead. Pros:Some great photography and the occasional funny cameo. Niven isn't bad. Cons: Script, slack pace. Summary: An endless, bloated travelogue. Maybe its better on the big screen but I doubt it. Rating **

24. Gentleman's Agreement (1947) Kazan. Gregory Peck takes on anti-semitism in this 1947 snooze fest. Another sermon from Hollywood in movie form. Its very serious and responsible, they just forgot the "entertainment" part. Peck pretends to be Jewish in the film - and does about well as you'd expect. On the plus side: Garfield is excellent. Summary: Too dull, dated and self-righteous. Rating **

25. You Can't Take it with You (1938) Capra Painfully long and unfunny Capra comedy. With Jimmy Stewart and Jean Arthur. Love all three - but not in this movie.I came to laugh but fell asleep instead. Full of Capra corn, hokey, and slow. I'd write more but I couldn't finish it.Rating **

26. Midnight Cowboy (1969) Schlesinger Imagine "Dumb and Dumber" as an X-rated drama and you have "Midnight Cowboy" Pros: Acting, atmospheric NYC Locations. ConsScript and story. Voight and Hoffman are two street characters in 1969 NYC. One's a naive gay prostitute the other his sickly friend. Both struggle to survive. Both are incredibly stupid. Summary: Two great performances wasted in a pointless, dishonest story. Rating *

27. All the King's Men (1949) Rossen. From Robert Penn Warren's pretentious, boring novel about a fictional Huey Long comes this pretentious, boring movie about a fictional Huey Long. Like George Wallace, Long was someone everyone in elite America disliked. So of course Hollywood had to make a "brave" - but low budget - movie attacking him. Lots of hokum about "power corrupts." Summary: The plot is predictable, Crawford is arrogant and full of bluster. and everyone else is boring or charmless. BTW, the real Huey Long could charm the birds off the trees and had some good ideas as well as some bad ones.Rating **1/2

28. Life of Emile Zola (1937)- Dieterle, Another boring, 1930s prestige pictures put out by WB and rewarded with an Oscar. Frankly, I didn't know much about Zola before watching this and now - I've decided to stop while I'm ahead. Dreyfus, Zola, it all seems as unimportant and Boring as the 1858 Tariff debate. Muni fills the screen with his usual brand of owlish importance and wears a beard. Rating **

29. Terms of Endearment (1983) Brooks Manipulative, shallow, chick flick. Like Kramer v Kramer, it reminded me of a Lifetime TV movie of the week. Jack and Shirley overact shamelessly. Maybe, I wasn't the target audience for this film Rating **

30. Driving Miss Daisy (1989) Besresford She's a rich Jewish lady of the South, high-toned, spoiled, stubborn to a fault, He's a black illiterate chauffeur, wise, patient and in need of a job. And me, I was bored silly.Rating *