Week 2: Octavius Gives Me Anxiety

My movie-watching pace slowed significantly in Week 2. It included only the following:

• Cleopatra (nominated 1962)
• Annie Hall (won 1977)

Being a sucker for epic period pieces, and despite its length at four hours, I was excited to watch "Cleopatra."  But I understand now why it's more famous for its production issues than for the contents of the film itself, which are simply not very good. 

Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton give impressive performances, sure, but I actually found Rex Harrison's Caesar and Roddy McDowell's Octavius to be more interesting. (Unfortunately, the Ides of March is probably less than halfway into the movie.) The scale of the movie is daunting, especially considering this was long before CGI. I haven't researched the number of extras used in this film, but it must have set some kind of record. There's a spectacular naval battle scene about 3/4ths into the film, and the scene of Cleopatra entering the Forum is pretty amazing. Apart from that, most of the movie is boring and gets somewhat lost in its own bombast, and the No. 1 emotion I experienced while watching was impatience.

I gave "Cleopatra" a 4.6. If nothing else, I now have a better appreciation for Bill Murray's impression of Richard Burton from "Scrooged." Compare below:

Comparatively, "Annie Hall" felt like it was 5 minutes long. I have less to say about this film, other than that I found it heartwarming and thoughtful, but probably less so than most people did when it came out. Hindsight is everything with this movie. We can look back now on Alvy Singer as a trope, and the fact that he frequently breaks the fourth wall in presenting the narrative of his on-again, off-again relationship with Annie was probably bolder in 1977. Still, giving credit where due, we probably don't have "500 Days of Summer" and countless other movies without "Annie Hall."

This was the "Best Picture" winner in 1977. Strange, as decades later we now know that "Annie Hall," though a fine film, is absolutely dwarfed by "Star Wars" in terms of historical significance. Another great example of why this project is so interesting. I gave "Annie Hall" a 6.8.