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
Episodes
48 episodes
The Moonlight Awards: 1975
Was 1975 the best year ever for movies? Everybody says 1939, but you can make a very strong case that film hit its peak right here. Tarkovsky triumped with Mirror; Steven Spielberg dropped Jaws; Stanley Kubrick returned with Barry Lyndon; Dog O...
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Season 5
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Episode 6
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1:17:06
The Moonlight Awards: 1974
What's the best year ever for a director? Victor Fleming co-directed Gone With The Wind and The Wizard of Oz in 1939; Ingmar Bergman released Wild Strawberries and The Seventh Seal in 1957; and Steven Spielberg dropped both Jurassic Park and Sc...
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Season 5
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Episode 5
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1:16:06
The Moonlight Awards: 1973
It's 1973, and it's a rough time in world and U.S. history. The Vietnam War is still raging, there's a massive oil shortage, and crime is rampant - even in the White House. So it's no surprise that our top films of '73 share a sort of unease ab...
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Season 5
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Episode 4
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1:15:20
The Moonlight Awards: 1972
Some years are easier than others. This time, we're tackling 1972, a year that has always been dominated by The Godfather. But while Brando and company are likely to take gold this time, it's still a fascinating battle for second - including a ...
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Season 5
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Episode 3
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58:24
The Moonlight Awards: 1971
The New Hollywood movement has been on the rise for the last few years, and by 1971 it's dominant. From directors like Altman, Friedkin, and Bogdanovich to actors like Bridges, Beatty and Hackman, we're now encountering all the stars that will ...
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Season 5
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Episode 2
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56:40
The Moonlight Awards: 1970
1970 is a transition year for world history, and the movies are no different. With the studio system era in the rear view mirror and the French New Wave past its peak, the dawn of the 70s brings a whole new generation of filmmakers to center st...
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Season 5
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Episode 1
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1:05:28
The Moonlight Awards: 1969
The 1960s began with the rise of the French New Wave, but it ends with the dominance of the New Hollywood: a new generation of American filmmakers, inspired by their French counterparts, freed from the oppressive Hays Code, and reacting to a pe...
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Season 4
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Episode 10
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58:46
The Moonlight Awards: 1968
1968 is the year of the genre film! "2001: A Space Odyssey" and "Planet of the Apes" pioneered in science fiction, "Rosemary's Baby" is a horror classic, "Night of the Living Dead" practically invented the zombie trope, and "Once Upon a Time in...
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Season 4
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Episode 9
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1:13:43
The Moonlight Awards: 1967
It's 1967, and the film world is about to be conquered by the New Hollywood: a new generation of young American actors and directors, influenced by the French New Wave, galvanized by tumultuous cultural and political movements, and liberated by...
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Season 4
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Episode 8
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1:40:54
The Moonlight Awards: 1966
Welcome to 1966, a year of tremendous turmoil worldwide, with the Cold War at its peak, the Vietnam War still on the rise, anti-colonial upheaval across the globe, and rapidly advancing movements for racial justice, gender equality, and sexual ...
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Season 4
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Episode 7
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1:21:41
The Moonlight Awards: 1965
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, Resnai...
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Season 4
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Episode 6
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1:08:04
The Moonlight Awards: 1964
Here we are in 1964: one of the best years ever for movie musicals, with classics from Hollywood and Europe, and the breakout year for legendary directors like Sergio Leone and Stanley Kubrick. The French New Wave is rippling worldwide, the Col...
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Season 4
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Episode 5
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1:01:28
The Moonlight Awards: 1963
It's 1963, and the Cold War is at its peak - and luckily for us, so is cinema. Alfred Hitchcock continues his run with another horror classic, Jean-Luc Godard and Federico Fellini unveil masterpieces of their own, and Luchino Visconti returns w...
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Season 4
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Episode 4
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1:09:26
The Moonlight Awards: 1962
Welcome to 1962, a year of geopolitical tension, rising anticolonialism, and (at least in the US) an urgent push for racial justice. In the theaters, the French New Wave hits its peak, David Lean attempts the biggest epic ever, and American fil...
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Season 4
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Episode 3
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1:02:25
The Moonlight Awards: 1961
It's 1961! Cold War tensions are at a fever pitch, the anti-colonial movement is rising, and in theaters, the French New Wave is at its peak. In Hollywood, moviegoers are getting their first looks at Audrey Hepburn's little black dress - and th...
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Season 4
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Episode 2
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58:00
The Moonlight Awards: 1960
We've arrived at the 1960s, and the decade begins with a bang: 1960 brings us five of the most indelible, acclaimed, celebrated, homaged, and influential movies ever made. In Europe, Jean-Luc Godard, Michelangelo Antonioni, and Federico Fellini...
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Season 4
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Episode 1
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1:06:30
The Moonlight Awards: 1959
We've arrived at the end of our third decade! And it's a busy, transformative period for the movies. The French New Wave has kicked into high gear; the Hays Code is finally in decline; and Alfred Hitchcock is in the middle of (arguably) the gre...
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Season 3
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Episode 10
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56:42
The Moonlight Awards: 1958
We're nearing the end of the 1950s, and it's an exciting period for the movies. The French New Wave is stirring, Eastern European artists are emerging, and Alfred Hitchcock, already far and away our most acclaimed director, is about to have an ...
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Season 3
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Episode 9
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58:20
The Moonlight Awards: 1957
In film history, there are certain years that stand out. 1939 may be the most famous example, but there are some years that shine even brighter than that. We've arrived at 1957, arguably the best year ever for movies - with two classic war movi...
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Season 3
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Episode 8
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58:23
The Moonlight Awards: 1956
Thus far in our journey through cinema history, we've nominated a lot of "genre" films - but very few have won. So far we only have one sci-fi/horror winner, 1935's Bride of Frankenstein, and no Western winners at all. But 1956 gi...
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Season 3
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Episode 7
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52:23
The Moonlight Awards: 1955
Are you ready for a three-way showdown? 1955 brings us several classics, including a suspenseful French thriller and a Danish masterpiece that Sight & Sound cited as one of the 25 best films ever made. But it's all going to come do...
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Season 3
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Episode 6
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53:30
The Moonlight Awards: 1954
The year 1954 gives us several of the greatest films of all time. Leading the pack are Akira Kurosawa's epic Seven Samurai and Alfred Hitchcock's iconic Rear Window - but 1954 also gives us Federico Fellini's first master...
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Season 3
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Episode 5
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48:29
The Moonlight Awards: 1953
The 1950s is a great period for movies - but not so much for American movies, as the Red Scare is driving many great artists out of the business. European and Japanese filmmakers are thriving, though, so this year they dominate the spotlight. W...
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Season 3
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Episode 4
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46:16
The Moonlight Awards: 1952
The year 1952 is a great one for the movies: it's the age of the Western, with Gary Cooper facing a whole gang of bad guys (and some criminals too); it's the peak of Japanese cinema and Italian neo-realism, with timeless entries from Akira Kuro...
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Season 3
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Episode 3
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51:17
The Moonlight Awards: 1951
It's a time of transition for the movies: Marlon Brando is hitting the screen with an all-new acting style, the European and Japanese film industries are reemerging after the devastation of World War II, and in America, Cold War paranoia is giv...
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Season 3
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Episode 2
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59:12