Best Picture Potentials Offer a Time Capsule of the Current Zeitgeist
Tim Gray, provided by
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Oscars are a time capsule. Though pundits may quibble about nominees or winners, one thing is beyond question: The film choices reflect the year in which they were released.
For example, in 1946, “The Best Years of Our Lives” hit a nerve as people were trying to rebuild their lives after WWII. The 1969 “Midnight Cowboy” captured all the sexual confusion, excitement and fear of that tumultuous decade.
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This year’s contenders similarly reflect the moment we’re living in: a time of racial tension, gender battles, political wars, health issues and an overriding sense of doubt and isolation. A montage of 2020 film highlights would sum up the year just as accurately as newsreel clips.
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In some ways,
Summer Stock feels like an ignobly small-scale end to Garland’s run at MGM. The plot is to quote the film itself pure hokum. Garland is Jane Falbury, a tenacious young woman trying to keep her struggling farm afloat with the help of her no-nonsense housekeeper, Esme (frequent Garland co-star Marjorie Main). Gene Kelly is Joe Ross, the theater director who shows up to rehearse his new musical in the Falbury barn at the invitation of Jane’s flighty kid sister, Abigail (Gloria DeHaven), who just happens to be his girlfriend and star performer. Only it turns out Abigail didn’t clear the plan with Jane first. So tensions (and comedy) flare as a bunch of theater kids try to adjust to life on a farm, while Jane realizes she just might have grease paint in her veins after all.
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just remember him talking and me listening. he d say, i got it, all right, and just put it on you. it danced with you. that s it. his clothes danced with you. we were joined at the hip from then on. it was like my dad in a way because when i was a little girl, my father would give me five costumes every year, and it was a dress from an american in paris. and perfectly made. exactly like for the ladies. and i guess i got into appreciating how clothes could change the way you felt. she dressed only in halston ever. i mean, she still does. yes. liza minnelli. say yes life keeps happening every day and this is halston, who is i
and just put it on you. it danced with you. that s it. his clothes danced with you. we were joined at the hip from then on. it was like my dad in a way because when i was a little girl, my father would give me five costumes every year, and it was a dress from an american in paris. and perfectly made. exactly like for the ladies. and i guess i got into appreciating how clothes could change the way you felt. she dressed only in halston ever. i mean, she still does. yes. liza minnelli. [ cheers and applause ] and this is halston, who is i think the best known name. other designers get upset. you re pretty good, halston.