The Moonlight Awards

The Oscars' Best Picture choices often look odd or incorrect in hindsight - so why not wait for the hindsight and then give the award? Welcome to the Moonlight Awards! Hosts Rachel Schaevitz and Aaron Keck journey through film history, one year at a time, nominating five movies from each year and honoring one Moonlight winner - the one film from that year that's best stood the test of time. (It's not just our opinion: we base our choices on critics' lists, general-audience votes, and a survey we're conducting of some of the most renowned film scholars in America.) #whowinsthemoonlight

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The Moonlight Awards

The Moonlight Awards: 1965

April 17, 2022 • Aaron Keck • Season 4 • Episode 6

The 1960s are a great period for the movie musical, with all-time classics like West Side Story, My Fair Lady, Mary Poppins, and more. The era is also defined by the French New Wave, with one iconic film after another by Varda, Truffaut, Resnais, and all the rest. Maybe the most influential French New Wave director was Jean-Luc Godard - but so far, he's never won a Moonlight. Likewise, no musical has won a Moonlight since Singin' in the Rain back in 1952. Will one of those streaks change this year?

Join Rachel Schaevitz and Aaron Keck as they discuss the year in cinema, moviegoers' habits, Shakespeare adaptations, box office sensations, fourth-wall breakers, apartment-wall breakers, sexual liberation and the #MeToo movement - and then we dig into the data and the numbers (and our expert-panel votes) to identify the best film of 1965.

The nominees are Chimes at Midnight, Dr. Zhivago, Pierrot Le Fou, Repulsion, and The Sound of Music. Who wins the Moonlight?