griggs's - Oscar-winning films: Best Picture List

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When Michael (Robert De Niro), Steven (John Savage) and Nick (Christopher Walken) are captured by the Vietcong, they are forced to play Russian Roulette by their brutal captors, who make bets on their survival.

The experience of capture leaves them with terrible physical and spiritual wounds, and when Michael returns to Saigon to fulfill an old promise to one of his friends, he makes an unexpected, horrific discovery. Also featuring astonishing performances from Meryl Streep as the woman both Michael and Nick fall in love with, and John Cazale as their unhinged and insecure friend Stan, 'The Deer Hunter' is widely acknowledged as one of cinema's great masterpieces and contains some of the most memorable scenes in film history.

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Alvy Singer (Woody Allen), is one of Manhattan's most brilliant comedians, but when it comes to romance, his delivery needs a little work.

Introduced by his best friend, Rob (Tony Roberts), to the ditzy but delightful nightclub singer, Annie Hall (Diane Keaton), no sooner is Alvy in love, when his own insecurities sabotage the affair, forcing Annie to leave Alvy for a new life - and lover (Paul Simon) - in Los Angeles. Knowing he may have lost Annie forever, Alvy's willing to go to any lengths - even driving L.A.'s freeways - to recapture the only thing that ever mattered...true love.

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This is the film that catapulted Sylvester Stallone into the international spotlight and launched one of the most successful series of films in movie history, This is the story of a loser, a two bit boxer from Philadelphia, who gets a second chance in life by being offered an impossible shot at the

heavyweight title. Stallone's performance is as powerful as his character's punches in the ring. This is one of the most exciting action movies you will ever see. Rocky is the simple story of a man whom fate chooses for a shot at glory in what has otherwise been an ordinary life. And while this subject matter is nothing new, it was unusual for Hollywood to release an old-fashioned 'feel-good' movie in the seventies, a decade whose films were mostly unconventional in attitude and anti-establishment in tone. Rocky is, of course, a fairy tale, but by grounding its characters in an everyday reality, the filmmakers were able to make them seem real and alive. And making the major contribution to that sense of reality was Sylvester Stallone, an out-of-work actor/writer whose faith in himself took him from utter obscurity to world-wide fame and fortune virtually overnight.....

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When free-spirited petty crook Randle P. McMurphy (Jack Nicholson) arrives at the state mental hospital, his contagious sense of disorder jolts the routine. He's on the side of a brewing war, soft-spoken, coolly monstrous Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher) on the other.

At stake is the fate of every patient on the ward.

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Al Pacino heads the star cast as Michael Corleone, heir to the criminal empire established by his Mafioso father, the late Don Corleone.

The time is mid-1940's: Michael is now in charge of all gambling activities in Nevada, making certain that any and all political or mob enemies are quickly bought off, compromised, or disposed of. Throughout the film, Michael's travels are paralleled with the early experiences of his father, played in flashbacks by Robert DeNiro.

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Set in the 1930's this intricate comedy caper deals with an ambitious small time crook (Robert Redford) and a veteran con man (Paul Newman) who seeks revenge on the vicious crime lord (Robert Shaw) who murdered one of their gang.

How this group of charlatans puts "the sting" on their enemy makes for the greatest double-crosses in movie history, complete with an amazing surprise finish.

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In late 1940's New York, Mafia 'Godfather' Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando) gathers his three sons around him for daughter Connie (Talia Shire)'s wedding; the hot-headed Sonny (James Caan), ineffectual Fredo (John Cazale) and war hero Michael (Al Pacino), who chooses to distance himself from the

family 'business'. When Vito is shot and wounded for refusing to sanction a rival family's heroin sales on his territory, Sonny temporarily takes over and embarks on bloody gang warfare. This results in him being killed in an ambush, and Michael finds himself nominated to succeed the ailing Vito.

New York City detectives "Popeye" Doyle (Gene Hackman) and Buddy Russo (Roy Scheider) hope to break a narcotics smuggling ring and ultimately uncover 'The French Connection'. But when one of the criminals tries to kill Doyle, he begins a deadly pursuit that takes him far outside the city limits.

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A critically acclaimed film that won a total of eight 1970 Academy Awards (including Best Picture), 'Patton' is a riveting portrait of one of the 20th century's greatest military geniuses. One of its Oscars went to George C.

Scott for this triumphant portrayal of George Patton, the only Allied general truly feared by the Nazis. Charismatic and flamboyant, Patton designed his own uniforms, sported ivory-handled six-shooters, and believed he was a warrior in past lives. He outmaneuvered Rommel in Africa, and after D-Day led his troops in an unstoppable campaign across Europe. But he was as rebellious as well as brilliant, and as 'Patton' shows with insight and poignancy, his own volatile personality was one enemy he could never defeat.

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Dustin Hoffman gives an unforgettable performance as Ratso Rizzo, a scrounging, sleazy small-time con man with big dreams. Jon Voight is magnificent as Joe Buck, the good-looking, naively charming Texan 'cowboy' who is convinced that he is the salvation of many lonely, love starved New York Women.

These two characters are drawn together in this powerful and compassionate film.

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Young Oliver Twist (Mark Lester) is an orphan who escapes the cheerless life of the workhouse and takes to the streets of 19th-Century London.

He's immediately taken in by a band of street urchins, headed by the lovable villain Fagin (Ron Moody), his fiendish henchman Bill Sikes (Oliver Reed) and his loyal apprentice The Artful Dodger (Jack Wild). Through his education in the fine points of pick-pocketing, Oliver makes away with an unexpected treasure...a home and a family of his own.

In the Deep South, homicide detective Virgil Tibbs (Sidney Poitier) becomes embroiled in a murder investigation. When the bigoted town sheriff (Rod Steiger) gets involved, both he and Tibbs must put aside their differences and join forces in a race against time to discover the shocking truth.

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Sir Thomas More (Paul Scofield), England's Roman Catholic Chancellor, is forced into a difficult position when corrupt King Henry VIII (Robert Shaw) demands his approval to divorce his wife and marry his mistress.

Torn between his conscience and duty to the crown, Sir Thomas chooses to say nothing, sparking the rage of the king. What unfolds is a battle of wills packed with palace intrigue, political brinkmanship and the fate of man, church and country. In the end, his silence spoke loudest of all.

The magical, heart-warming story, which has become the most popular family film of all time, tells the story of a spirited young woman, Maria (Julie Andrews), who leaves the convent to become governess to the seven children of the autocratic Captain von Trapp (Christopher Plummer).

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Rex Harrison reprises his signature role of Henry Higgins, the supremely assured phoneticist who wagers that under his tutelage, cockney flower girl Eliza Doolittle can pass for a duchess at the Embassy Ball. In one of her best-loved roles, Audrey Hepburn plays Eliza.

If ever there were a face that the professor could grow accustomed to, it's hers. In Hartford, Heresford and Hampshire (and elsewhere) no one's fairer than 'My Fair Lady' on of the most irresistible musicals ever.