The Great Alphabet of Films—O is For
Once Upon a Time in the West As a Scorsese loyalist, much like any made man, I can never pay respect to a film that robbed a Best Director Oscar ( 1980 Academy Awards ) from Marty for his tremendous work on Raging Bull. The criminality of the Academy's heinous decision wreaks of the sordid criminality present in Henry Hill's breach of omertá in Goodfellas . The mafia doesn't look too kindly on Ordinary People . I'm sorry Robert Redford. As much as I love your work, especially in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, I can't grant you my "O" spot. Kurt Russell's performance in Overboard is priceless, but the film is far from flawless. For the record, I'm a big fan of Steven Soderbergh's Ocean's films (especially the first), but they don't garner placement either. So that leaves us with a double whammy of Once Upon a Times from Sergio Leone— Once Upon a Time in the West and Once Upon a Time in America— the irreverent One Flew Over...