Forum Overview :: Peter Molyneux's The Movies

The Best Movie of 1945 by Brody Wilder 04/01/2026, 7:47pm PDT WINNER: The Lost Weekend With America's involvement in World War II entering its fourth year, Hollywood was exhausted. Gone was the enthusiastic patriotism of '43 and the cat's-away creativity of '44, by this point they were just ready to be done with it (imagine how the British film industry felt). Still, let's turn this content crisis into an opportunity, by spotlighting some of the oddballs that wouldn't have got a look in last year. Foremost among these has to be Billy Wilder's boundary-pushing study of an alcoholic, The Lost Weekend. Ray Milland plays that rarest of unicorns, a writer character who doesn't feel like a self-insert. This is likely because Wilder had just finished collaborating with Raymond Chandler on the screenplay for Double Indemnity, and his frustration with that legendary pulp novelist's own drinking soaks though onto the screen. Milland buggers off a weekend vacation with his exasperated brother and proceeds to spend the next few days in the gutter, always searching for his next fix, always promising himself he's just about to buckle down and get some real work done. The grandfather of everything from Fear and Loathing to Leaving Las Vegas, it's brisk, eventful, and pairs nicely with rye. House of Sand and Fog: Mildred Pierce A few years earlier or later and Mildred Pierce would've been a weepy melodrama. But made by these people, at this time and in this place, it came out as the hardest of noir. Starring Joan Crawford as a tough single mother, the femme fatale of this story is her own conniving teenage daughter, for whom she'd do anything (to her great detriment). Crawford was a stone-cold bitch in real life who treated acting as a zero-sum game. Her abusive neglect of adopted daughter Christina Crawford served as the basis for 1981's campy tell-all film Mommie Dearest, and her high-profile rivalry with fellow queen of the harpies Bette Davis was adapted into the Netflix series Feud. But boy, could that woman act. If Mildred Pierce was the predecessor to anything, it would have to be 2003's Monster. To Save a Saturday Afternoon: Along Came Jones Gary Cooper made all sorts of movies - romcoms, thrillers, serious dramas - but he was at his best in westerns. The quintessential strong, silent type, Coop could convey a lot of emotion with very few words. In this minor action-comedy, about as far as you could get tonally from the pensive High Noon (though just as cheaply made), Coop plays singing cowboy Melody Jones. When his momogrammed saddle leads to a case of mistaken identity with notorious outlaw Monte Jarrad, you can easily guess everything that happens next. The sort of matinee fare that would've starred Brendan Frasier in the '90s. You could do a lot worse. Seasonal Programming: Christmas in Connecticut Barbara Stanwyck returns to the holiday well with Christmas in Connecticut. Here she plays a single New York lifestyle writer who lends credence to her homemaking advice by pretending to be a married Connecticut farmwife. When her publisher, who knows nothing of the charade, arranges for a wonded war hero and his fiance to join her at home for Christmas dinner, Frasier-esque farce ensues. Babs scrounges up a farm, husband, and even a baby, only to have her hoax further complicated when she falls head over heels for the soon-to-be-wed war hero. Watch it with your nan. (This movie's 1992 made-for-TV remake was the only thing ever directed by Arnold Schwarzenegger. I wonder, was the Jingle All the Way star a longtime fan, or was he just looking for the sort of softball crowdpleaser that's almost impossible to fuck up? Someone should ask him on Twitter.) Situation Normal, All Fouled Up: A Walk in the Sun Of course, war movies were still being made, but you could tell the nation's heart was no longer in it. Director Lewis Milestone - who won the Oscar in 1930 for his landmark anti-war picture All Quiet on the Western Front - leans into the disillusionment with this contemplative story of one veteran platoon's very bad day. With the LT and platoon sergeant dead, Laura's Dana Andrews is forced to step up and lead his men in the assault of an Italian farmhouse currently occupied by some highly-motivated Germans. Two hours of soldiers walking, waiting, griping, and dying. As someone who counts '89's 84 Charlie MoPic among his favourite films, I feel like this was made just for me.

The Best Movie of Every Year by Brody Wilder 03/14/2026, 8:42pm PDT     The Best Movie of 1930 by Brody Wilder 03/14/2026, 8:46pm PDT         Best thread in ages NT by Gaige Grosskreutz 03/15/2026, 1:05pm PDT     Do you have a job/family NT by Mysterio 03/15/2026, 3:16am PDT         God forbid. NT by Brody Wilder 03/15/2026, 8:56am PDT             Is this Tom Chick? NT by mysterio 2 03/17/2026, 11:37pm PDT                 He might honestly be the last person to read and post here. NT by Kenji Carter 03/18/2026, 8:05am PDT     The Best Movie of 1931 by Brody Wilder 03/15/2026, 3:53pm PDT         Holy cow, Caltrops is back! by Mischief Maker 03/15/2026, 4:46pm PDT             Are your motivss pure, Maker of MischIEF? NT by Tomorrow People 03/16/2026, 9:39pm PDT         Re: The Best Movie of 1931 by E. L. Koba 03/19/2026, 5:15pm PDT             Set your expectations for "early talkie" and you should have a good time. by Brody Wilder 03/19/2026, 6:25pm PDT                 Dubbing is actually pretty crucial, when you think about it. by Brody Wilder 03/19/2026, 7:21pm PDT     The Best Movie of 1932 by Brody Wilder 03/16/2026, 6:15pm PDT         Keep 'em coming! NT by MM 03/16/2026, 6:34pm PDT         That's SIR Ian McKellan to you, smart guy. NT by caltrops analyzer 03/17/2026, 6:54am PDT             I gave Sir Ian's knighthood to Charles Laughton, who never got one. by I felt like he deserved it. 03/17/2026, 4:46pm PDT     The Best Movie of 1933 by Brody Wilder 03/17/2026, 4:45pm PDT         Thanks for doing these. by Ice Cream Jonsey 03/17/2026, 8:48pm PDT             Thanks for reading! NT by Brody Wilder 03/17/2026, 8:56pm PDT     The Best Movie of 1934 by Brody Wilder 03/18/2026, 1:06pm PDT     The Best Movie of 1935 by Brody Wilder 03/19/2026, 5:43pm PDT         Hitchcock by Gaige Grosskreutz 03/19/2026, 8:28pm PDT             I like Hitchcock. by Brody Wilder 03/19/2026, 9:22pm PDT     The Best Movie of 1936 by Brody Wilder 03/20/2026, 7:35pm PDT     The Best Movie of 1937 by Brody Wilder 03/21/2026, 7:30pm PDT         We need more movies with electric chairs in them. by Gaige Grosskreutz 03/22/2026, 9:50am PDT     The Best Movie of 1938 by Brody Wilder 03/22/2026, 7:33pm PDT     The Best Movie of 1939 by Brody Wilder 03/23/2026, 4:59pm PDT         I have nothing to contribute, but I love these. NT by Hangman 03/25/2026, 12:58pm PDT         Fukk yes NT by Gary 03/25/2026, 10:02pm PDT             Re: Fukk yes by PICKLES 03/26/2026, 5:47pm PDT         #Beep# NT by Hero detector 03/26/2026, 7:07pm PDT     The Best Movie of 1940 by Brody Wilder 03/26/2026, 7:25pm PDT         YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!! by HES BACK YOU LITTLE SHIITS! 03/26/2026, 8:47pm PDT     The Best Movie of 1941 by Brody Wilder 03/27/2026, 8:02pm PDT         I love Hammett. An actual real-life PI turned author, his writing rings true. by Mischief Maker 03/27/2026, 10:48pm PDT     The Best Movie of 1942 by Brody Wilder 03/29/2026, 8:20pm PDT         I was half-expecting you to be edgy and not pick Casablanca. NT by Mischief Maker 03/29/2026, 9:35pm PDT             I admit, I considered doing Arabian Nights with Maria Montez and Sabu. by Brody Wilder 03/29/2026, 9:57pm PDT                 Wizard of Oz is still good, right? 1939? NT by Gaige Grosskreutz 03/30/2026, 8:39am PDT                     Probably, but it's not my cup of tea. by Brody Wilder 03/30/2026, 4:43pm PDT             I didn't realize these weren't Oscar Best Picture winners until just now by laudablepuss 03/31/2026, 11:43am PDT                 The Academy has rarely selected films of cultural, historical, or aesthetic impo by Brody Wilder 03/31/2026, 5:25pm PDT                     How the hell did "Arthur" wind up being oscar-bait? by Mischief Drunkard 03/31/2026, 5:43pm PDT         Vince Gilligan said the comedic engine of Pluribus is a descendant of Bewitched. by Fullofkittens 03/30/2026, 7:26am PDT             Re: Vince Gilligan said the comedic engine of Pluribus is a descendant by Gaige Grosskreutz 03/30/2026, 8:40am PDT         Ooooh. So Bogart was 43 in Casablanca, not 37 as the script says. I'd chalked it NT by up to the smoking & booze -MM 03/31/2026, 8:53pm PDT             This was supposed to be a reply to the 1944 list. Whoops! NT by MM 03/31/2026, 8:54pm PDT     The Best Movie of 1943 by Brody Wilder 03/30/2026, 9:22pm PDT         I'm cumming!!! NT by 8======D ~ ~ ~ 03/31/2026, 4:48am PDT     The Best Movie of 1944 by Brody Wilder 03/31/2026, 8:20pm PDT         Double Indemnity is the first of these I have seen, and a top 10/15 movie for me by Ice Cream Jonsey 03/31/2026, 9:18pm PDT         Loving these! NT by The entire world 04/01/2026, 5:48am PDT             Justifies ICJ not pulling the plug on this place in 2011. NT by Keister M. Feister 04/01/2026, 7:33am PDT     The Best Movie of 1945 by Brody Wilder 04/01/2026, 7:47pm PDT         Waaaaaaaait a minute! by Mischief Maker 04/01/2026, 9:23pm PDT             Lots of people like that movie! I could be anyone. by Brody Wilder 04/02/2026, 2:49am PDT     The Best Movie of 1946 by Brody Wilder 04/05/2026, 8:36pm PDT         Brody, what makes for good film noir - to you? NT by Ice Cream Jonsey 04/05/2026, 9:33pm PDT             First of all, it has to hate women as much as I do. by Brody Wilder 04/05/2026, 10:46pm PDT                 I'm still working on your question. Thank you for asking it. NT by Ice Cream Jonsey Yesterday, 9:42pm PDT     The Best Movie of 1947 by Brody Wilder Yesterday, 3:24am PDT