oscars challenge
Items in this hypelist
Movies
The Color Purple
Steven Spielberg 路 1985
An epic tale spanning forty years in the life of Celie, an African-American woman living in the South who survives incredible abuse and bigotry. After Celie's abusive father marries her off to the equally debasing 'Mister' Albert Johnson, things go from bad to worse, leaving Celie to find companionship anywhere she can. She perseveres, holding on to her dream of one day being reunited with her sister in Africa.
The Big Chill
Lawrence Kasdan 路 1983
Seven old college friends gather for a weekend reunion after the funeral of one of their own.
Terms of Endearment
James L. Brooks 路 1983
Aurora, a finicky woman, is in search of true love while her daughter faces marital issues. Together, they help each other deal with problems and find reasons to live a joyful life.
Ordinary People
Robert Redford 路 1980
Beth, Calvin, and their son Conrad are living in the aftermath of the death of the other son. Conrad is overcome by grief and misplaced guilt to the extent of a suicide attempt. He is in therapy. Beth had always preferred his brother and is having difficulty being supportive to Conrad. Calvin is trapped between the two trying to hold the family together.
Julia
Fred Zinnemann 路 1977
At the behest of an old and dear friend, playwright Lillian Hellman undertakes a dangerous mission to smuggle funds into Nazi Germany.
Nashville
Robert Altman 路 1975
The intersecting stories of twenty-four characters鈥攆rom country star to wannabe to reporter to waitress鈥攃onnect to the music business in Nashville, Tennessee.
Dog Day Afternoon
Sidney Lumet 路 1975
Based on the true story of would-be Brooklyn bank robbers John Wojtowicz and Salvatore Naturile. Sonny and Sal attempt a bank heist which quickly turns sour and escalates into a hostage situation and stand-off with the police. As Sonny's motives for the robbery are slowly revealed and things become more complicated, the heist turns into a media circus.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Milo拧 Forman 路 1975
A petty criminal fakes insanity to serve his sentence in a mental ward rather than prison. He soon finds himself as a leader to the other patients鈥攁nd an enemy to the cruel, domineering nurse who runs the ward.
Chinatown
Roman Polanski 路 1974
Private eye Jake Gittes lives off of the murky moral climate of sunbaked, pre-World War II Southern California. Hired by a beautiful socialite to investigate her husband's extra-marital affair, Gittes is swept into a maelstrom of double dealings and deadly deceits, uncovering a web of personal and political scandals that come crashing together.
American Graffiti
George Lucas 路 1973
A couple of high school graduates spend one final night cruising the strip with their buddies before they go off to college.
A Clockwork Orange
Stanley Kubrick 路 1971
In a near-future Britain, young Alexander DeLarge and his pals get their kicks beating and raping anyone they please. When not destroying the lives of others, Alex swoons to the music of Beethoven. The state, eager to crack down on juvenile crime, gives an incarcerated Alex the option to undergo an invasive procedure that'll rob him of all personal agency. In a time when conscience is a commodity, can Alex change his tune?
The French Connection
William Friedkin 路 1971
Tough narcotics detective 'Popeye' Doyle is in hot pursuit of a suave French drug dealer who may be the key to a huge heroin-smuggling operation.
M*A*S*H
Robert Altman 路 1970
The staff of a Korean War field hospital use humor and hijinks to keep their sanity in the face of the horror of war.
Hello, Dolly!
Gene Kelly 路 1969
Dolly Levi is a strong-willed matchmaker who travels to Yonkers, New York in order to see the miserly "well-known unmarried half-a-millionaire" Horace Vandergelder. In doing so, she convinces his niece, his niece's intended, and Horace's two clerks to travel to New York City.
Anne of the Thousand Days
Charles Jarrott 路 1969
Henry VIII of England discards his wife, Katharine of Aragon, who has failed to produce a male heir, in favor of the young and beautiful Anne Boleyn.
The Lion in Winter
Anthony Harvey 路 1968
Henry II and his estranged queen battle over the choice of an heir.
Funny Girl
William Wyler 路 1968
The life of famed 1930s comedienne Fanny Brice, from her early days in the Jewish slums of New York, to the height of her career with the Ziegfeld Follies, as well as her marriage to the rakish gambler Nick Arnstein.
Alfie
Lewis Gilbert 路 1966
A young man leads a promiscuous lifestyle until several life reversals make him rethink his purposes and goals in life.
Doctor Zhivago
David Lean 路 1965
The life of a Russian physician and poet who, although married to another, falls in love with a political activist's wife and experiences hardship during World War I and then the October Revolution.
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
Stanley Kubrick 路 1964
Convencido de que los comunistas est谩n contaminando los Estados Unidos, un general ordena, en un acceso de locura, un ataque a茅reo nuclear sorpresa contra la Uni贸n Sovi茅tica. Su ayudante, el capit谩n Mandrake, trata de encontrar la f贸rmula para impedir el bombardeo. Por su parte, el presidente de los EE.UU. se pone en contacto con Mosc煤 para convencer al gobierno sovi茅tico de que el ataque no es m谩s que un est煤pido error. Mientras tanto, el asesor estadounidense, un antiguo cient铆fico nazi, el doctor Strangelove, confirma la existencia de la 芦M谩quina del Juicio Final禄, un dispositivo de represalia sovi茅tico capaz de acabar con la humanidad para siempre.
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Richard Brooks 路 1958
An alcoholic ex-football player drinks his days away, having failed to come to terms with his sexuality and his real feelings for his football buddy who died after an ambiguous accident. His wife is crucified by her desperation to make him desire her: but he resists the affections of his wife. His reunion with his father鈥攚ho is dying of cancer鈥攋ogs a host of memories and revelations for both father and son.
Gigi
Vincente Minnelli 路 1958
A home, a motorcar, servants, the latest fashions: the most eligible and most finicky bachelor in Paris offers them all to Gigi. But she, who's gone from girlish gawkishness to cultured glamour before our eyes, yearns for that wonderful something money can't buy.
Peyton Place
Mark Robson 路 1957
In the outwardly respectable New England community of Peyton Place, shopkeeper Constance McKenzie tries to make up for a past indiscretion -- which resulted in her illegitimate daughter Allison -- by adopting a chaste, prudish attitude towards all things sexual. In spite of herself, Constance can't help but be attracted to handsome new teacher Michael Rossi. Meanwhile, the restless Allison, who'd like to be as footloose and fancy-free as the town's "fast girl" Betty Anderson, falls sincerely in love with mixed-up mama's boy Norman Page.
The King and I
Walter Lang 路 1956
Widowed Welsh mother Anna Loenowens becomes a governess and English tutor to the wives and many children of the stubborn King Mongkut of Siam. Anna and the King have a clash of personalities as she works to teach the royal family about the English language, customs and etiquette, and rushes to prepare a party for a group of European diplomats who must change their opinions about the King.
Sunset Boulevard
Billy Wilder 路 1950
A hack screenwriter writes a screenplay for a former silent film star who has faded into Hollywood obscurity.
Father of the Bride
Vincente Minnelli 路 1950
Proud father Stanley Banks remembers the day his daughter, Kay, got married. Starting when she announces her engagement through to the wedding itself, we learn of all the surprises and disasters along the way.
All About Eve
Joseph L. Mankiewicz 路 1950
From the moment she glimpses her idol at the stage door, Eve Harrington is determined to take the reins of power away from the great actress Margo Channing. Eve maneuvers her way into Margo's Broadway role, becomes a sensation and even causes turmoil in the lives of Margo's director boyfriend, her playwright and his wife. Only the cynical drama critic sees through Eve, admiring her audacity and perfect pattern of deceit.
A Letter to Three Wives
Joseph L. Mankiewicz 路 1949
A letter is addressed to three wives from their "best friend" Addie Ross, announcing that she is running away with one of their husbands - but she does not say which one.
All the King's Men
Robert Rossen 路 1949
A man of humble beginnings and honest intentions rises to power by nefarious means. Along for the wild ride are an earnest reporter, a heretofore classy society girl, and a too-clever-for-her-own-good political flack.
Miracle on 34th Street
George Seaton 路 1947
Kris Kringle, seemingly the embodiment of Santa Claus, is asked to portray the jolly old fellow at Macy's following his performance in the Thanksgiving Day parade. His portrayal is so complete that many begin to question if he truly is Santa Claus, while others question his sanity.
Great Expectations
David Lean 路 1946
In this Dickens adaptation, orphan Pip discovers through lawyer Mr. Jaggers that a mysterious benefactor wishes to ensure that he becomes a gentleman. Reunited with his childhood patron, Miss Havisham, and his first love, the beautiful but emotionally cold Estella, he discovers that the elderly spinster has gone mad from having been left at the altar as a young woman, and has made her charge into a warped, unfeeling heartbreaker.
Mildred Pierce
Michael Curtiz 路 1945
A hard-working mother inches towards disaster as she divorces her husband and starts a successful restaurant business to support her spoiled daughter.
Since You Went Away
John Cromwell 路 1944
In 1943, several people enter, re-enter, and exit the difficult life of a Midwestern family whose patriarch has been called up to war, leaving behind his wife and two teen daughters.
Double Indemnity
Billy Wilder 路 1944
A seductive housewife draws an insurance salesman into a plot of adultery and crime to collect on her husband's life insurance.
Heaven Can Wait
Ernst Lubitsch 路 1943
Spoiled playboy Henry van Cleve dies and arrives at the entrance to Hell, a final destination he is sure he deserves after living a life of profligacy. The devil, however, isn't so sure Henry meets Hell's standards. Convinced he is where he belongs, Henry recounts his life's deeds, both good and bad, including an act of indiscretion during his 25-year marriage to his wife, Martha, with the hope that "His Excellency" will arrive at the proper judgment.
For Whom the Bell Tolls
Sam Wood 路 1943
Spain in the 1930s is the place to be for a man of action like Robert Jordan. There is a civil war going on and Jordan鈥攚ho has joined up on the side that appeals most to idealists of that era鈥攈as been given a high-risk assignment up in the mountains. He awaits the right time to blow up a crucial bridge in order to halt the enemy's progress.
All This, and Heaven Too
Anatole Litvak 路 1940
When lovely and virtuous governess Henriette Deluzy comes to educate the children of the debonair Duc de Praslin, a royal subject to King Louis-Philippe and the husband of the volatile and obsessive Duchesse de Praslin, she instantly incurs the wrath of her mistress, who is insanely jealous of anyone who comes near her estranged husband. Though she saves the duchess's little son from a near-death illness and warms herself to all the children, she is nevertheless dismissed by the vengeful duchess. Meanwhile, the attraction between the duke and Henriette continues to grow, eventually leading to tragedy.
The Maltese Falcon
John Huston 路 1941
A private detective takes on a case that involves him with three eccentric criminals, a beautiful liar, and their quest for a priceless statuette.
Citizen Kane
Orson Welles 路 1941
Newspaper magnate Charles Foster Kane is taken from his mother as a boy and made the ward of a rich industrialist. As a result, every well-meaning, tyrannical or self-destructive move he makes for the rest of his life appears in some way to be a reaction to that deeply wounding event.
The Grapes of Wrath
John Ford 路 1940
Tom Joad returns to his home after a jail sentence to find his family kicked out of their farm due to foreclosure. He catches up with them on his Uncle鈥檚 farm, and joins them the next day as they head for California and a new life... Hopefully.
Rebecca
Alfred Hitchcock 路 1940
Story of a young woman who marries a fascinating widower only to find out that she must live in the shadow of his former wife, Rebecca, who died mysteriously several years earlier. The young wife must come to grips with the terrible secret of her handsome, cold husband, Max De Winter. She must also deal with the jealous, obsessed Mrs. Danvers, the housekeeper, who will not accept her as the mistress of the house.
Wuthering Heights
William Wyler 路 1939
The Earnshaws are Yorkshire farmers during the early 19th Century. One day, Mr. Earnshaw returns from a trip to the city, bringing with him a ragged little boy called Heathcliff. Earnshaw's son, Hindley, resents the child, but Heathcliff becomes companion and soulmate to Hindley's sister, Catherine. After her parents die, Cathy and Heathcliff grow up wild and free on the moors and despite the continued enmity between Hindley and Heathcliff they're happy -- until Cathy meets Edgar Linton, the son of a wealthy neighbor.
Stage Door
Gregory La Cava 路 1937
The ups and downs in the lives and careers of a group of ambitious young actresses and show girls from disparate backgrounds brought together in a theatrical hostel. Centres particularly on the conflict and growing friendship between Terry Randall, a rich girl confident in her talent and ability to make it to the top on the stage, and Jean Maitland, a world weary and cynical trouper who has taken the hard knocks of the ruthless and over-populated world of the Broadway apprentice.
In Old Chicago
Henry King 路 1938
The O'Leary brothers -- honest Jack and roguish Dion -- become powerful figures, and eventually rivals, in Chicago on the eve of its Great Fire.
The Great Ziegfeld
Robert Z. Leonard 路 1936
At the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, sideshow barker Florenz Ziegfeld turns the tables on his more-successful neighbor Billings, and also steals his girlfriend. This pattern repeats throughout their lives, as Ziegfeld makes and loses many fortunes putting on ever-bigger, more spectacular shows
Top Hat
Mark Sandrich 路 1935
Showman Jerry Travers is working for producer Horace Hardwick in London. Jerry demonstrates his new dance steps late one night in Horace's hotel room, much to the annoyance of sleeping Dale Tremont below. She goes upstairs to complain and the two are immediately attracted to each other. Complications arise when Dale mistakes Jerry for Horace.
The Gay Divorcee
Mark Sandrich 路 1934
Seeking a divorce from her absentee husband, Mimi Glossop travels to an English seaside resort. There she falls in love with dancer Guy Holden, whom she later mistakes for the corespondent her lawyer hired.
Cleopatra
Cecil B. DeMille 路 1934
The queen of Egypt barges the Nile and flirts with Mark Antony and Julius Caesar.
The Barretts of Wimpole Street
Sidney Franklin 路 1934
Remarkable poet Elizabeth Barrett is slowly recovering from a crippling illness with the help of her siblings, especially her youngest sister, Henrietta, but feels stifled by the domestic tyranny of her wealthy widowed father. When she meets fellow poet Robert Browning in a romantic first encounter, her heart belongs to him. However, her controlling father has no intention of allowing her out of his sight.
A Farewell to Arms
Frank Borzage 路 1932
A tale of the World War I love affair, begun in Italy, between American ambulance driver Lt. Frederic Henry and British nurse Catherine Barkley. Eventually separated by Frederic's transfer, tremendous challenges and difficult decisions face each as the war rages on.
42nd Street
Lloyd Bacon 路 1933
A producer puts on what may be his last Broadway show, and at the last moment a chorus girl has to replace the star.
Shanghai Express
Josef von Sternberg 路 1932
A beautiful temptress re-kindles an old romance while trying to escape her past during a tension-packed train journey.
Wings
William A. Wellman 路 1927
Two young men, one rich, one middle class, both in love with the same woman, become US Air Corps fighter pilots and, eventually, heroic flying aces during World War I. Devoted best friends, their mutual love of the girl eventually threatens their bond. Meanwhile, a hometown girl who's the lovestruck lifelong next door neighbor of one of them pines away.
Little Women
1933
