oh Lord, please don't let us screw up

Five great movies that I enjoyed from start to finish, which really could not be more different from each other. Put them on your list!

The Cowboy and the Lady (1938) - "A lonely socialite masquerades as a maid and meets an unpretentious, plain-spoken cowboy who is unaware of her true identity."
Source: streamed on Amazon Prime
I watched it because: Gary Cooper is the best
IMDB: 6.6/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: N/A% Audience: 70%

notable quote: "I had some once; ain't bad."
story: sweet & clever
costumes, hair & makeup: a couple of cute plot points between Merle Oberon and Cooper 
acting: Cooper had such depth - the ability to be a strong, alpha cowboy while also conveying shyness, affection, and vehemence

intangibles: fun, humorous, romantic, and sweeping. This is a nice movie.
Academy Award winner: Best Sound, Recording
Academy Award nominee:
• Best Music, Original Song

• Best Music, Original Score
overall: recommended

Filth (2013) - "A corrupt, junkie cop with bipolar disorder attempts to manipulate his way through a promotion in order to win back his wife and daughter while also fighting his own inner demons."
Source: streamed on Amazon Prime
I watched it because:  James McAvoy is very good, and the premise was diverting
IMDB: 7.1/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 66% Audience: 67%

notable quote: "See, every time a woman drops her trousers: promotion. Every time a man drops theirs: disciplinary action. Where's the equality in that?!"
story: deceptively simple and profoundly strange
visuals: loovely Scotland
costumes, hair & makeup: gorgeous
acting: McAvoy (Bruce Robertson) is a stunner, and he pours just enough wildness into the character to be as mad as he is appealing. I couldn't take my eyes off him.

intangibles: aptly titled, this is the most sordid film I've seen in a very long time. "Rated R for strong sexual content, graphic nudity, drug use, language and some violence." If that were all....
overall: recommended—with the warning that if anyone complains to me about it being too filthy, I'll laugh in your face

The Candidate (1972) - "Bill McKay is a candidate for the U.S. Senate from California. He has no hope of winning, so he is willing to tweak the establishment."
Source: I borrowed the DVD from my parents' collection
I watched it because: the cover art got to me
IMDB: 7.0/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 88% Audience: 74%

notable quote: "Can't any longer play off black against old, young against poor. This country cannot house its houseless, feed its foodless...."
story: son of a politician, Bill McKay (Robert Redford) has no intention of getting into the family business, until he is recruited—though the purpose is not immediately clear.
visuals: lovely California setting
acting: Redford is hit-or-miss for me and I thought this one suited him perfectly. A nice blend of smart, timely politics and irony about his good looks.

intangibles: worth seeing anytime but particularly during US election seasons
Academy Award winner: Best Writing, Story and Screenplay Based on Factual Material or Material Not Previously Published or Produced
Academy Award nominee: Best Sound
overall: recommended

Space Cowboys (2000) - "When retired engineer Frank Corvin is called upon to rescue a failing satellite, he insists that his equally old teammates accompany him into space."
Source: I borrowed the DVD from my parents' collection
I watched it because: I had heard of it but didn't know the premise and was curious
IMDB: 6.4/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 78% Audience: 53%

notable quote: "I'm going to go to my room now and cry"
story: based upon the thoroughly unrealistic idea that a retired civilian could hijack a NASA mission to feed his own ego and that of three friends, this still somehow works as an adventure story
visuals: undeniably spectacular
costumes, hair & makeup: y'know...space....
acting: Donald Sutherland (Jerry O'Neill) is becoming one of my favorites. He plays it straight but just twisted enough to dissolve into character. The strained buddy relationship between Frank Corvin (Clint) and Hawk Hawkins (Tommy Lee Jones) is laughably realistic, too; it reminds me of a few guys I know in that general age range. 

intangibles: I liked it
Academy Award nominee: Best Sound Editing

overall: recommended

Marty (1955) - "A middle-aged butcher and a school teacher who have given up on the idea of love meet at a dance and fall for each other."
Source: I borrowed the DVD from my parents' collection
I watched it because: to be honest, it was the next one on the list. I knew nothing about it (had not even heard of it) but was open to whatever it might be.
AFI: 100 Years... 100 Passions (2002) #64

IMDB: 7.7/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 98% Audience: 87%

notable quote: "All my brothers and brothers-in-law tell me what a good-hearted guy I am. You don't get to be good-hearted by accident. You get kicked around long enough, you become a professor of pain."
story: butcher Marty Piletti (Ernest Borgnine), like all his 30-ish single Italian friends, lives with his mother. He longs for something more—and then one night at the dance hall, he meets Clara Snyder (Betsy Blair).

visuals: simple, understated, with no distraction from the purpose of the film
costumes, hair & makeup: just right for the characters
acting: Marty and Clara discuss their plain- or even uglyness at length. They may even be so on the surface. But as the movie goes on, and as more is revealed about the characters, the easier it is to see that they are both pretty amazing.

intangibles: every once in a while, a film comes along that I knew nothing about, and it knocks me back and reminds me again why I love movies. This is a "quiet" film that can find its way under your barriers and into your heart. 
Academy Award winner:
• Best Picture

• Best Actor—Borgnine

• Best Director—Delbert Mann

• Best Writing, Screenplay—Paddy Chayefsky
Academy Award nominee:
• Best Supporting Actor—Joe Mantell (Angie)

• Best Supporting Actress—Blair

• Best Cinematography, Black & White

• Best Art Direction—Set Decoration, Black & White
overall: highly recommended

[the title quotation is from Space Cowboys]