The Sting- BMP 1974

The 1974 Academy Award for Best Picture was by no means an easy win, against nominees American Graffiti, The Exorcist, A Touch of Glass, and Cries and Whispers.

The Sting, however, blew them all out of the water in this adventure comedy about a pair of 1930s con-men trying to find revenge and fortune in a bigwig card player.  If nothing else, the film stars Paul Newman and Robert Redford (arguably two of the greatest actors since the invention of the camera).  This duo portray Henry Gondorff and Johnny Hooker, respectively: two drifters who design a faux horse race and entrap Doyle Lonergen (Robert Shaw) into a handsome payout.  Director George Roy Hill uses film effects from the Depression Decade, incorporates anecdotal scenes from real-life gangsters, and flawlessly utilizes 1930s era decor, costumes, and music.  The effect is a 1970s film that brings you straight back to a Nickelodeon rooting for the ‘bad guys.’

The Sting overwhelmed the 46th Oscars, securing 10 nominations and 7 wins.  The movie won awards for best score, editing, costume design, set decoration, writing, directing, and Best Picture.

Queen B loved this film and thinks it deserves a spot in the Top 10 Best Picture Winners of all time.

No Country for Old Men- BMP 2008

No Country for Old Men, the Best Motion Picture choice for 2007, showed impressive acting, costumes, cinematography, and music.  While the nominees for this year provided great competition, Queen B understands why this film won Best Motion Picture over all the rest.

This movie follows the path of Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) as he discovers the abandoned scene of a drug deal gone wrong and the 2 million dollars seemingly forgotten near the corpses.  Moss takes the millions for himself, securing a spot on the top of Anton Chighur’s (Javier Bardem) kill list.  We watch as Moss stays one step ahead of Chighur throughout Texas and Mexico, and attempt to devise a way out of his self-conflicted predicament.

Directors Ethan and Joel Cohen deliver a well-crafted drug film built not on suspense or action, but rather on strategy and emotion.  While the film drags at some parts, the reliance on dialogue and plot rather than edge-of-your-seat showdowns and violence makes this an interesting outlier in a long list formulaic action films.

In 2007, No Country for Old Men beat out Juno, Atonement, Michael Clayton, and There Will Be Blood to secure its position as the Best Motion Picture of that year

Ethan and Joel Cohen additionally won awards for both directing and writing, and Javier Bardem won the award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role.

Overall, Queen B gives the film a 7.5/10.