My Cinematic Bucket List

Valerie talks about the last Oscar nominated movie she got to watch - the other two are not available for streaming! One day before the big night!

Don't forget to follow along on My Cinematic Bucket List Facebook page starting around 6:45 PM on Sunday, March 11, 2024.

Valerie discusses Greta Gerwig's runaway hit Barbie.

Valerie talks about the dreamy romantic movie, Past Lives, directed by Grace Song.

Valerie sits down and discusses her summer 2023 viewing of Oppenheimer, directed by Christopher Nolan and starring Cillian Murphy.

Valerie talks about Maestro, directed by and starring Bradley Cooper, and Carey Mulligan.

Today's episode is director Yorgos Lanthimos' Poor Things starring Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo, and Willem Dafoe.

Today's episode is about Justine Triet's Anatomy of a Fall, starring Sandra Huller, Milo Machado Graner, and Swann Arlaud.

Each day for the 10 days before the 2024 Academy Awards, one of the nominees for Best Picture will be reviewed. Today's mini-review will be Alexander Payne's The Holdovers, starring Paul Giamatti, Da'Vine Joy Rudolph, and Dominic Sessa.

Valerie watches Edward Yang's epic about a middle-class family in Taiwan and mentions the activity in and around awards season.

Valerie revisits one of the jewels in Martin Scorsese's crown, which stars the late Ray Liotta, and Scorsese's usual suspects.

The long-awaited episode starts off the new year. Happy New Year, everybody! Valerie discusses Kenji Mizoguchi's masterpiece. (TW: Sexual Assault)

The holidays took over Valerie's life, so she decided to talk about a movie that's been on her list for a while, The Muppet Christmas Carol. Everyone talks about it, so Valerie decided she wanted to see what the fuss was about.

Valerie takes a break from the list to talk about what she's been watching during the Halloween season.

Valerie rode the rails to watch #93 on the British Film Institute list, The Leopard, and became a new Burt Lancaster fan.

Love him or hate him, you can't deny that Quentin Tarantino's 1994 breakout movie, Pulp Fiction, made him a household name. Valerie watches the full picture for the first time since she saw it in the theater and has a few revelations.

Back with the first episode of season 2, Valerie watches the 1953 movie ranking at #94 on the BFI list: The Earrings of Madame de..., directed by Max Orphuls and based on the book by Louise de Vilmorin. Valerie discusses the characters' motivations while trying not to butcher the French language severely. Does she succeed? You decide.

Valerie takes the time to rate the movies she watched this season from the BFI, AFI, and 2023 Academy Award Nomination Lists.

Another French film enters the British Film List at #94. This one is based on a true story and Valerie talks about the simplicity of the story while remaining suspenseful.

Valerie watches one of the reasons why she was interested in doing this viewing challenge, The Last Picture Show.

Valerie rewatches the "dangerous" film by Spike Lee and has a bone to pick about Mookie's pizza delivery style. This is the first film on both the AFI and BFI lists.

Back to business: next up on the British Film Institute's list is Apichatpong Weerasethakul's 2004 movie, Tropical Malady. Valerie discusses her experience watching this dreamy and artistic film.

Valerie talks about the nominees and the winner of the Academy Award for Best Score.

Show Notes:

NPR Interview with Volker Bertelmann -

https://www.npr.org/2023/03/03/1161051165/how-volker-bertelmann-created-the-score-for-all-quiet-on-the-western-front

Includes snippets of music from:

Babylon by Justin Hurwitz

The Banshees of Inisherin by Carter Burwell

Everything Everywhere All at Once by Son Lux

The Fabelmans by John Williams

All Quiet on the Western Front by Volker Bertelmann

Valerie talks about her favorite moments at the 95th Academy Awards held Sunday, March 12th, and whether or not she was surprised at who won and who didn't get the Oscar.  

It is 2019 in Los Angeles, and Rick Deckard has been tasked to find and terminate four Replicants that murdered their way to escape an off-world colony.  During his investigation, he meets Rachel, a Replicant who is unaware she is not human.

A young woman from Dakar works for a French family and, after being cut off from her family and familiar surroundings, experiences despair and loneliness, resulting in tragedy.

A first-time watch for Valerie, she ruminates over this 55 min debut from director Ousmane Sembene.  A tough one to shake.

After a performance where famous vaudeville and Broadway entertainer George M. Cohan portrays FDR, he receives a telegram asking him to stop by the White House.  During the meeting with the President, he ends up telling his life story, starting with his birth on the 4th of July.

A railroad engineer is in town to see his lady love, who encourages him to enlist in the war effort against Northern Aggression. Unsuccessful, he sees Union spies steal his beloved locomotive, The General, while unwittingly kidnapping his girlfriend. And he takes chase.

Turns out toys can come to life and communicate with each other when no humans are around.  Andy's favorite doll, a cowboy named Woody, becomes intimidated and envious of a new fancy and modern doll given to Andy on his birthday: Buzz Lightyear, a spaceman who doesn't realize he's a toy.

A Black photographer agrees to a weekend visit with his White girlfriend’s parents at their home, much to his bestie’s dismay. Their visit coincides with an annual gathering that proves to change the course of all of their lives.

As Jesus Christ reaches adulthood, two childhood best friends “break up” – one a Jewish prince, the other a Roman Tribune newly appointed to the region where they grew up. When they have a disagreement, the Tribune exacts his revenge when an unfortunate accident happens.  He throws the prince in jail, along with his innocent mother and sister.  The prince stews over this betrayal while serving as a gallery slave and, due to the kindness of strangers, rises from the ashes to seek vengeance upon his formerly beloved friend.

A little back story about how this podcast was started and what to expect: mini reviews about the 100 greatest movies on the American Film Institute and British Film Institute lists.  Also, discussions about horror movies and other movies as the mood strikes.