The Moonlight Awards
by Aaron Keck
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
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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 One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest swept the Oscars…
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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 Schindler's List in 1993. They're all contenders, but...
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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 about the present, channeled into horror (The Exorcist)...
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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 resurgence of European films, which had been lacking...
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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 define the industry for the next generation. But the...
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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 stage. For the second year in a row, the year's top…
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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 period of war, transformation, and social upheaval. The...
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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 the West" ranks among the greatest Westerns ever…
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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 the collapse of the stifling Hays code. This year,...
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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 liberation. That's all reflected on screen too: the...
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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, Resnais, and all the rest. Maybe the most influential…
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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 Cold War is as hot as it will ever be, and the Beatles...
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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 with a lavish historical epic that only he could have...
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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 filmmakers tackle racism, paranoia, and the whereabouts…
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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 their first listen to the musical genius of (the late,...
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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 are changing the game; in the States, Billy Wilder…
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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 greatest run of films a director's ever had. But which…
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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 incredible run that (arguably) tops everything that's...
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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 movies, possibly the greatest courtroom drama of all…
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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 gives us one film that's often described as the greatest Western ever...
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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 down to a battle between three movies, featuring an iconic film...
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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 masterpiece, plus two American classics that stand on opposite sides of the Red...
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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. Will we have our first non-English-language winner…
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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 Kurosawa and Vittorio De Sica; and of course the year…
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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 giving rise to the golden age of science fiction. It all...
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The Moonlight Awards: 1950
We're officially entering our third decade, and this year is a big one: All About Eve won the Oscar, but Sunset Boulevard is a bona fide classic - and Akira Kurosawa also released Rashomon in 1950 too. All three have stood the test of time, no doubt - but which of the three has best stood the…
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The Moonlight Awards: 1949
We've come to the end of our second decade, and it's a pretty good year for films: Alec Guinness breaks out with a multi-role tour de force; Orson Welles delivers another memorable star turn; and a pair of Japanese directors deliver two very disparate postwar classics. But which one film has best...
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The Moonlight Awards: 1948
"Awards? We don't need no steenkin' awards!" 1947 was a rough year for movies, but the film industry picked back up in '48 with an Italian neo-realist classic, a lavish Technicolor dance fantasy, Alfred Hitchcock's one-shot experiment, and an iconic, quixotic Mexican treasure hunt - and that's…
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The Moonlight Awards: 1947
Fun fact: for every year from 1930 to 2009, there's at least one movie that shows up on at least one well-known critics' list of the "100 greatest films of all time." Every year with one exception, that is: 1947. You could argue that this is the worst year ever for motion pictures! But out of…
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The Moonlight Awards: 1946
We've finally arrived in the post-war era! Hollywood has firmly established itself as the capital of the film world, but moviegoers have a lot of diverse options, from the dark grittiness of noir to the candy-coated optimism of Capra-corn. It's a great year for film - but which one film has best...
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The Moonlight Awards: 1945
The Moonlight Awards is back after our 2020-imposed hiatus! And we're resuming with a banner year in movie history - highlighted by a Joan Crawford showstopper, a raw and gritty noir masterpiece, a quintessentially British drama, and a pair of European classics filmed, almost miraculously, amidst...
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The Moonlight Awards: 1944
We were in the midst of a world war, but there was still a lot of great film being produced - film noir, mostly, but 1944 also saw some classic musicals, another Sergei Eisenstein masterpiece, and a thriller that gave us new insights (and a new term) in human psychology. But which one film has…
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The Moonlight Awards: 1943
Less to choose from this year as World War II ravages the globe, but 1943 did bring us another Hitchcock classic, the birth of Italian neo-realism, a new masterpiece from Carl Theodor Dreyer, a highly influential silent short from Maya Deren, and (some say) the most quintessentially British film...
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The Moonlight Awards: 1942
The world is at war, but Hollywood is still churning out great films: an innovative early horror masterpiece, another Disney animated classic, more Orson Welles virtuosity, a black comedy about actors putting one over on the Nazis - and of course "Casablanca," one of the most beloved movies of…
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The Moonlight Awards: 1941
We tend to associate this year with one movie in particular, but 1941 also saw the birth of film noir, two great Preston Sturges comedies, and another Disney classic - all living under the shadow of Citizen Kane. Which one film from 1941 best stands the test of time? Join Rachel Schaevitz and…
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The Moonlight Awards: 1940
Our second decade starts with a bang: a Chaplin masterpiece, iconic Disney, Hitchcock's only Oscar-winner, a Depression-era classic, and one of the greatest romantic comedies of all time - and those are just the films we were able to nominate. Which one film from 1940 best stands the test of…
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The Moonlight Awards, Episode 12: The 1930s
Before moving ahead to the 1940s, Rachel Schaevitz and Aaron Keck take a quick look back at the previous ten years in movie history. What defines the '30s in film? What sorts of movies stand the test of time? What are our favorite films of the decade? Which films stood out among our expert...
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The Moonlight Awards, Episode 11: 1939
Here's the one we've been waiting for! The year 1939 is widely recognized as one of the greatest in film history and we're still watching, loving, and wrestling with these works of art today - but when all is said and done, which one film from 1939 has best stood the test of time? Join Rachel...
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The Moonlight Awards, Episode 10: 1938
World War II is on the horizon, and the movie world is getting ready. In Russia they're looking back to past heroes who fought the Germans. In Britain they're banding together to help a fellow Brit who's also a spy. And in America they're...raising pet leopards? Join Rachel Schaevitz and Aaron…
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The Moonlight Awards, Episode 9: 1937
We've got five nominees, but it's a two-film race this year. One is widely acclaimed as one of the greatest films ever made; the other is one of the most beloved, with a massive influence on popular culture. Both movies are deserving - but which one will win? Join Rachel Schaevitz and Aaron Keck…
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The Moonlight Awards, Episode 8: 1936
It's 1936 and the movie industry is in transition. Directors like Alfred Hitchcock are leading a rise in suspense and noir, while the song-and-dance extravaganzas of the early '30s are on their way out. But the olden days aren't dead yet - and this year, the big winner might well be a silent…
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The Moonlight Awards, Episode 7: 1935
Every year so far, it's come down to a choice between two clear front-runners. But this year, it's not so easy. Do we recognize Hitchcock? Or the Marx Brothers? Or Astaire and Rogers? Or the greatest of the Universal monster movies? They're all deserving - but who will win? Join Rachel Schaevitz...
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The Moonlight Awards, Episode 6: 1934
The Oscars may have "Happened One Night," but Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert face a strong challenge from the poetic beauty of Jean Vigo, the banter of Nick and Nora, another star turn from Marlene Dietrich, and an early classic about race in America. Will we agree with the Oscars, for the…
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The Moonlight Awards, Episode 5: 1933
Busby Berkeley has his biggest year, Greta Garbo bursts back into the spotlight, the Marx Brothers tackle politics and war, and the Empire State Building meets its match - and all that in a single year. Join Rachel Schaevitz and Aaron Keck as we discuss the year in cinema, escapist musicals,...
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The Moonlight Awards, Episode 4: 1932
Romantic con artists, charismatic murderers, vampires, freaks, and Marlene Dietrich - what more could you want from a single year in film? Join Rachel Schaevitz and Aaron Keck as we discuss the year in cinema, antiheroes, special effects, and the "Lubitsch touch." And then we'll award the the…
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The Moonlight Awards, Episode 3: 1931
A Charlie Chaplin classic, a harrowing German social thriller, a Prohibition-era gangland drama, and two of the most iconic horror films of all time. No doubt, 1931 was a great year for the movies - but which one of those great films deserves to win the Moonlight? Join Rachel Schaevitz and Aaron...
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The Moonlight Awards, Episode 2: 1930
The nominees have been announced: L'Age D'Or, All Quiet on the Western Front, Animal Crackers, Anna Christie, and The Blue Angel. But which of those classic movies deserves to be honored as the best picture of 1930? Join Rachel Schaevitz and Aaron Keck as we discuss 1930 in cinema, the looming…
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The Moonlight Awards, Episode 1: Pilot
The Oscars' Best Picture choices often look odd or incorrect in hindsight - so why not wait for the hindsight and then give the award? Introducing the Moonlight Awards, where we go back through movie history and recognize the best films of each year - now that enough time has passed to know for...
About this show
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
Hosted by
Aaron Keck