The Oscars Project: Belated Week 15 — The Godfather

For 82 years, the Academy Awards have purported to choose the year’s best film. For the next year, with the help of the fine folks at Casablanca Video and the Calgary Public Library, I’ll be watching one best picture winner per week, starting 52 years ago and working up to tonight’s winner. Some of the … Continue reading

The Oscars Project: Week 14 — The French Connection

But efficiency and action don’t usually translate into a Best Picture. If they did, Taken would have brought home a trophy last year (which, for the record, would have been awesome). So, how did The French Connection manage to win?

The Oscars Project: Week 13 — Patton

For 82 years, the Academy Awards have purported to choose the year’s best film. For the next year, with the help of the good folks at Casablanca Video and the Calgary Public Library, I’ll be watching one best picture winner per week, starting 52 years ago and working up to The Hurt Locker. Some of … Continue reading

The Oscars Project: Week 12 — Midnight Cowboy

For 82 years, the Academy Awards have purported to choose the year’s best film. For the next year, I’ll be watching one best picture winner per week, starting 52 years ago and working up to The Hurt Locker. Some of the films are rightly regarded as classics. Others, decidedly less so. But each of them … Continue reading

The Oscars Project: Week 11 — Oliver!

The era of the honest, straightforward musical has passed. It’s like we’ve somehow forgotten their language. The idea of crowds bursting into song has been parodied so often, audiences can’t accept it as anything but ridiculous. In a way, it’s a mixed blessing — it means that the next Dr. Strangelove or The Hustler won’t be beaten by My Fair Lady or West Side Story (and that’s not mentioning 2001, which came out the same year as Oliver! and didn’t even get a nomination), but it’s like a whole avenue of cinema has been cut off.

The Oscars Project: Week 10 — In the Heat of the Night

For 82 years, the Academy Awards have purported to choose the year’s best film. For the next year, I’ll be watching one best picture winner per week, starting 52 years ago and working up to The Hurt Locker. Some of the films are rightly regarded as classics. Others, decidedly less so. But each of them … Continue reading

The Oscars Project: Week 9 — A Man For All Seasons

For 82 years, the Academy Awards have purported to choose the year’s best film. For the next year, I’ll be watching one best picture winner per week, starting 52 years ago and working up to The Hurt Locker. Some of the films are rightly regarded as classics. Others, decidedly less so. But each of them … Continue reading

The Oscars Project: Week 8 — The Sound of Music

For 82 years, the Academy Awards have purported to choose the year’s best film. For the next year, I’ll be watching one best picture winner per week, starting 52 years ago and working up to The Hurt Locker. Some of the films are rightly regarded as classics. Others, decidedly less so. But each of them … Continue reading

The Oscars Project: Week 7 – My Fair Lady

For 82 years, the Academy Awards have purported to choose the year’s best film. For the next year, I’ll be watching one best picture winner per week, starting 52 years ago and working up to The Hurt Locker. Some of the films are rightly regarded as classics. Others, decidedly less so. But each of them … Continue reading

The Oscars Project: Week 6 – Tom Jones

For 82 years, the Academy Awards have purported to choose the year’s best film. For the next year, I’ll be watching one best picture winner per week, starting 52 years ago and working up to The Hurt Locker. Some of the films are rightly regarded as classics. Others, decidedly less so. But each of them … Continue reading