 I'm not sure why the last few months have been lacking in the new Oscar winners and nominees joining Netflix, but at least there are a few big ones among the limited selection this month. The picture here is probably a dead giveaway, but this is your chance to catch up on the Lord of the Rings films on Netflix. September 1st Mystic River (2003) - Based on the Dennis Lehane novel of the same name, Mystic River was directed by Clint Eastwood and features an all star cast including Sean Penn, Kevin Bacon, Tim Robbins, and Laurence Fishburn. In the story, three boys who have drifted apart since being best friends as children reunite in adulthood and realize that their former friendship may not be enough to keep them together now that they have other issues to deal with. The film was nominated for six Academy Awards in 2004 including Best Picture and Best Director (Eastwood). Tim Robbins landed the award for Best Supporting Actor while Sean Penn received the Best Actor award.  The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) - The second film in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings series follows multiple different story lines after Frodo and his friends separate at the end of the first film. I have always felt that Jackson did a masterful job of telling Tolkein's stories on screen. The casting was fantastic, and the attention to detail is astounding. The Two Towers brings in elements of other writings that are part of the Middle Earth world, but not necessarily directly related to The Lord of the Rings. As with the first film, The Two Towers received multiple nominations, including Best Picture, Best Art Direction (Grant Major, Dan Hennah, and Alan Lee), Best Sound (Christopher Boyes, Michael Semanick, Michael Hedges, and Hammond Peek), and Best Film Editing (Michael Horton). The film also won the awards for Best Sound Editing (Ethan Van der Ryn and Mike Hopkins) and Best Visual Effects (Jim Rygiel, Joe Letteri, Randall William Cook, and Alex Funke).  The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) - Many balked at the fact that this film ended about 10 times before it was finally over and the immense running time over 3 hours (or 4.5 hours if you're watching the extended cut), but I loved it. There was so much packed into the Lord of the Rings films, and if they had been another 10-12 hours long, it would not have been too long for me. The list of accolades for the three films is so extensive that Wikipedia has a separate article devoted to just the awards for the series. Many other big films have similar articles, but none I have seen have a list of 189 references and citations. Return of the King has the distinction of winning every single category it was nominated for at the Academy Awards. This includes a repeat win for Best Visual Effects (Jim Rygiel, Joe Letteri, Randall William Cook, and Alex Funke) which they won for all three films. Howard Shore received his second Best Original Score award for the series and Peter King and Richard Taylor won their second Best Makeup award for the series after winning for The Fellowship of the Ring. Rounding out the list of awards was Best Film Editing (Jamie Selkirk), Best Sound Mixing (Christopher Boyes, Michael Semanick, Michael Hedges, and Hammond Peek), Best Original Song ("Into the West" by Fran Walsh, Howard Shore, and Annie Lennox), Best Costume Design (Ngila Dickson and Richard Taylor), Best Art Direction (Grant Major, Dan Hennah, and Alan Lee), Best Adapted Screenplay (Philippa Boyens, Fran Walsh, and Peter Jackson), Best Director (Jackson), and of course Best Picture. September 26th The Grandmaster (2013) - This is a film in the tradition of Chinese/Hong Kong action films and is based on the story of Wing Chun grandmaster Ip Man.
The most well known actor in the film is likely Zhang Ziyi. She is best known for her role in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon but has appeared in a number of films including Hero, House of Flying Daggers, Memoirs of a Geisha, and even Rush Hour 2. The film was nominated for Best Cinematography (Philippe Le Sourd) and Best Costume Design (William Chang Suk Ping) but failed to win in either category.
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AuthorI'm just a film buff who wants to watch great movies. Where else to find the best, than the list of those nominated by the Academy each year? Archives
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