The Winner of the Academy Award for Outstanding Picture

Bird man

In time for Oscar Weekend, my own little piece about the Academy Award winner for Outstanding Picture--

William Wellman's 1927 epic Wings won in 1929, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science's very first awarding ceremony, and you can see the thinking behind the choice: it's a boxoffice hit that capitalized on the aviator craze (Lindbergh had just crossed the Atlantic); it's big in terms of scope (furious aerial dogfights and sprawling ground battles) and emotional scale (Patriotic sacrifice! Love triangles! Brotherly love!).

The Heartbreak Kid (Elaine May, 1972)

Shoot the moon

(Warning: plot, surprise twists, and finale discussed in detail)

Elaine May's The Heartbreak Kid (1972), about Jewish up-and-comer Lenny Cantrow (Charles Grodin) and his schemes to put aside newlywed wife Lila Kolodny (Jeannie Berlin, the director's daughter) in favor of WASP coed Kelly Corcoran (Cybill Shepherd), has been compared to Mike Nichols' classic The Graduate (1967) for obvious reasons: both Nichols and May have been longtime comic collaborators; both their pictures (his first, her second) feature societal outsiders trying to wriggle their way inside; both pictures are comedies, instagram photos of the American milieu they are set in--'60s California, '70s New York and Minnesota (with a brief detour through Miami Beach) respectively. 

Birdman (Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, 2014)

Stagestruck

(Warning: Inarritu's latest discussed in detail, with plot twists and surprises mentioned and perhaps picked apart. In other words, if you haven't seen the film--watch it first!) 

In an interview I did of the late filmmaker Mario O'Hara I asked what foreign films he's seen, and he mentioned Citizen Kane.

"What did you think?" 

"It's so radio!"

He was right, of course. Welles introduced the radio sound to cinema: the aural effects that evoke atmosphere and spatial depth (hushed voices, reverberations), the musical and verbal transitions running into the next scene, accelerating narrative pace. 

Had a similar reaction watching Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance): after ten minutes I wanted to stand up and yell "it's so theater!"

Blackhat (Michael Mann, 2015)

The Professionals

With an opening worldwide weekend gross of $6 million and at best mediocre reviews from critics, Michael Mann's $70 million Blackhat--despite the presence of Thor star Chris Hemsworth--is poised to become the director's biggest commercial and critical disaster to date. 

Hard to Be a God (Trudno byt' bogom, Aleksei German, 2013)

I, Mud

Aleksei German's adaptation of the Strugatsky Brothers' 1964 novel is to put it mildly a labor of love: six years actual shooting (from 2000 to 2006), another six of post-production, with German himself dying in 2013 (the film was completed under the supervision of his wife and son); more, it's possible he'd been thinking of adapting the book through the length of his long if sparse career (five feature films, from 1967 onwards)--perhaps longer (shortly after the book's publication, if you believe some folks).

Best Films of 2014: Four Lists

Best films of 2014: four lists

First:

The Babadook, Birdman, Boyhood, Gone Girl, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Interstellar, Nightcrawler, Selma, Under the Skin--the usual suspects--are not all bad films (when talking 'bad' two titles in particular come to mind), but for one reason or another the flaws felt more significant than the virtues.

Plus said titles have no shortage of supporters and even less need for further promotion. If they happen to be nominated or win the Golden Dildo, more power to them, whatever. No feelings for or against their victory--such as it is--whatsoever.

Last Christmas (Paul Wilmshurst, Doctor Who Christmas Special)

Badass Santa

(WARNING: story and plot twists discussed in explicit detail, so--watch the episode first!)

And finally after ten years of Whovian Christmas Specials (the only thing I actually look forward to when the season rolls by) the Big Man himself shows up. And when he makes his entrance (I mean a proper entrance, unlike the earlier rooftop scene where he attempted to remain incognito) it has to be in style. An explosion takes out a wall; tangerines roll (like bowled grenades?) across the floor; Slinkies march forth, followed by regiments of toy robots. The Big Man himself strides in in the guise of Nick Frost wearing a luxurious white beard and red suit, levels at the camera (at us in effect) his most 'I'm not taking any crap from you' Robert Baratheon glare and growls: "what seems to be the problem?"