On February 27th, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will present their annual awards, the Oscars.  Here is the list of winners for Best Picture. 1927-1927 Wings 1928-1929 The Broadway Melody 1929-1930 All Quiet on the Western Front 1930-1931 Cimarron 1931-1932 Grand Hotel 1932-1933 Cavalcade 1934 It Happened One Night 1935 Mutiny on the Bounty 1936 The Great Ziegfeld 1937 The Life [...]

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Topsy Turvy is a delightful film which portrays the creative duo of Gilbert and Sullivan during their collaboration of The Mikado.  It deservedly won Oscars for Best Costume Design and Best Makeup by bringing the world of theater in the late 19th Century to life.  The movie starts out in the mid 1880s, during a time in which Gilbert and [...]

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Before Clint Eastwood became a household name as a director with such hits as Million Dollar Baby, Unforgiven, Mystic River, Flags of Our Fathers, and Letters From Iwo Jima, he brought us Bird, which pays tribute to one of the greatest artists in a genre of music close to Eastwood’s heart.  Charlie “Bird” Parker, one [...]

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Does anyone remember how The Last Emperor dominated the Oscars in 1987?  It won nine Academy Awards including Best Costume Design, Cinematography, Art Design, Sound, Film Editing, Musical Score, Adapted Screenplay, Director (Bernardo Bertolucci), and finally, Best Picture.  Despite this gaudy resume, The Last Emperor tends to fly a bit under the radar.  This is unfortunate because it is [...]

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When I watched The Red Violin for the second time a couple of weeks ago, it had been a few years since my first viewing.  I can say with certainty that it will not be that long before I watch it again.  In fact, I enjoyed it so much, I’m thinking about watching it this [...]

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The Mission is a beautiful, yet heart wrenching movie which not only won an Oscar for Best Cinematography, but was also nominated for six others, including Best Picture, Director, Film Editing, Costume Design, Art Direction, and Original Score.  It tells the story of the 18th Century struggle between the South American native tribes, most notably the Guarani, and the Spanish [...]

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The Usual Suspects might be the most underrated film of the 1990s.  That’s not to say that it got bad reviews.  In fact, it was lauded by critics when it was released, and even won two Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actor (Kevin Spacey) and Best Original Screenplay.  I just can’t get over how many [...]

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Glory is the true story of the 54th Massachusetts Regiment during the Civil War, which, other than the officers, was the first regiment composed entirely of African American soldiers.  Obviously, in a movie such as this, the issue of race is front and center.  Not only were the African American soldiers fighting for their freedom, [...]

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