81 Days With Oscar And Me

Every Academy Award-Winning Movie, Back to Back, Starting With the First

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Entries Tagged as 'Paramount Studios'

Chariots of Fire

October 12th, 2009 · No Comments · 1981, Bible Verse: 2 Kings 6:17, Chariots of Fire, Christianity, Color, Drama, Eric Liddell, Isaiah 40:28-31, John Gielgud, Original Screenplay, Paramount Studios, Vangelis

My wife is getting that look on her face again. It’s the same look she got when she watched The Sound of Music. It’s a look that hovers somewhere between unbridled joy and undeniable tears. I think she gets overwhelmed with emotion when she watches movies that are important to her. She is a musician, […]

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Ordinary People

October 11th, 2009 · No Comments · 1980, Adaptation, Color, Composer: Marvin Hamlisch, Drama, F-Word, Mary Tyler Moore, Ordinary People, Paramount Studios, Robert Redford, Swearing

I’ve always liked Mary Tyler Moore. She was incredible as Laura Petrie in The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961-1966), and she was superb in her own series, the highly acclaimed The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970-1977). To be honest – and, let’s face it, who isn’t honest when he blogs? – I had a crush […]

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Godfather: Part II, The

October 5th, 2009 · No Comments · 1974, Adaptation, Al Pacino, Color, Composer: Nino Rota, Diane Keaton, Drama, Francis Ford Coppola, Godfather: Part II, John Cazale, Paramount Studios, Robert De Niro, Talia Shire

Just when you thought the saga of the Corleone family was over, along comes the sequel to The Godfather, The Godfather: Part II, which also won an Oscar for Best Picture. Part II opens with the backstory of Vito Corleone, an orphaned lad in Sicily who comes to American and later grows up to become […]

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Godfather, The

October 3rd, 2009 · No Comments · 1972, Adaptation, Color, Composer: Nino Rota, Diane Keaton, Drama, Francis Ford Coppola, Godfather, John Cazale, Marlon Brando, Paramount Studios, Talia Shire

Other Best-Picture Oscar winners have been longer. But none are bigger. Very few movies, save perhaps for Casablanca, have become part of pop culture the way The Godfather has. All Marlon Brando has to do is raise his eyebrows or look pained and I chuckle. His portrayal of Don Vito Corleone is priceless. Endlessly parodied, […]

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Greatest Show On Earth, The

September 13th, 2009 · 1 Comment · 1952, Cecil B. DeMille, Charlton Heston, Color, Composer: Victor Young, Drama, Greatest Show On Earth, Jimmy Stewart, Original Screenplay, Paramount Studios

There are a few things you should know about The Greatest Show On Earth before you commit to spending 152 minutes of your life watching it: 1. The acting and dialogue are some of the most cringe-worthy I’ve ever seen in my life. 2. James Stewart co-stars in the movie but does so throughout the […]

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Going My Way

September 5th, 2009 · No Comments · 1944, Bing Crosby, Black and White, Going My Way, Leo McCarey, Musical, Original Screenplay, Paramount Studios

I was tempted to write a three-word assessment of the movie: No, I’m not. Casablanca this isn’t. It’s not even The Broadway Melody. I’m sitting here watching this film with my wife and a college buddy of mine. About an hour and a half into it I asked, “What is this movie about?” My buddy […]

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Wings

August 20th, 2009 · 7 Comments · 1927-1928, Black and White, Clara Bow, Gary Cooper, Not Released In United States, Original Screenplay, Paramount Studios, Silent Film, The 1920s, War, Wings

FADE IN: Popcorn. Movie candy. A darkened room. A wide-screen TV. I could say “Lights! Camera! Action!” But I won’t. What I will say (er, write) echos the beginning of Charles Dicken’s classic book, A Christmas Carol: There is no doubt that Marley was dead. This must be distinctly understood, or nothing wonderful can come […]

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