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March 1, 2009
Nathan's Oscar Challenge Recap
Hey, look! It's my very first guest blogger! I asked Nathan to recap our Oscar Challenge project, and here he is:
In the week since the 81st Academy Awards ceremony last Sunday evening, I’ve been reflecting on the first year of Kate and my project to watch all of the Best Motion Picture winners, and Kate has invited me to write a guest blog about it. In the twelve months after last year’s Academy Awards, Kate and I watched the first 21 “Best Motion Pictures,” and a number of also rans. In some cases, Gaslight, for example, we felt that pictures that didn’t win were significantly better films than those that won the award. The rather obvious lessons that I take from this observation are two fold: first, tastes have changed as the movie industry matured and filmmaking styles became more sophisticated; and second, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has always had an agenda.
With the first 21 films down, there are 60 more to go. At last year’s rate, we should be caught up about the time of the 2011 Academy Awards in early 2012. Having seen a larger percentage of the next 60 films than I had seen of the first 21, of which I had only seen five previously, I am confident that several of my top 10 from last year’s films will still be in my top 10 in 2012. Casablanca, for example, remains as great a film, in my opinion, as most films that have been made in the ensuing 66 years.
The highlight of the past year, has been the overview that these films provide of the evolution of filmmaking from Wings, at the end of the silent movie era, to an almost completely modern film like The Best Years of Our Lives. Along the way, we saw the archetype of the romantic comedy, It Happened One Night, which contains all of the key plot elements that still define that genre of films. Grand Hotel, likewise, has spawned an entire genre of films and television series, like The Love Boat and Fantasy Island, composed of multiple unrelated sub-plots linked by a common location.
Some of the films seem dated to the modern viewer, yet remain enjoyable to watch, while others are best left in their current obscurity. A prime example of the latter category is Broadway Melody, one of the worst films that I’ve ever seen. Some of the films addressing societal issues, such as The Lost Weekend and Gentleman’s Agreement, are plagued by the heavy handedness that can still afflict modern films with a social message. Contrast those films, however, with The Best Years of Our Lives, which deals with the issues facing veterans returning from World War II with remarkable subtlety and ended up being my favorite among the films that I saw for the first time this year.
While the number of movies left to go can make the project feel daunting, our next movie, All The King’s Men, takes us to the end of the 1940s. Soon, we’ll be moving into the 1950s and 1960s. While the “Best Motion Picture” chosen by the Academy in a given year may not ultimately be what I consider to be the “best” movie made that year, watching the first 21 has been a challenging and enjoyable experience. I’m looking forward to the next 60.
Comments
Nathan, you should blog more.
You guys are awesome.
Posted by: grace at March 1, 2009 5:38 PM