Call me crazy. Call me inspired. Call me a man on a mission. I am going to watch every Academy Award-winner for Best Picture and talk about it here. I have no credentials to do this besides an ISP, a love of film and my very small amount of amateur stage performances. I'm just a twenty-something English major that sees the oft-quoted blue curtains and sees the symbolism. Most people just see the curtains. Perhaps that is my main motivation. Hollywood has always fallen into ruts since its inception. Noir, westerns, police procedurals, superhero films, Big Dumb Action Movies and their ilk and then their sequels. It truly is those lone souls with a vision and a lens that transcend the pop commercialism of movies and make resounding cinema. Movies are now a widely accepted art form, and I believe only stand up as such only if prodded, examined, critiqued and speculated upon justly.
This is quandary I have with the Academy Awards; with the intention of appearing esoteric they avoid the vast majority of films that have affected the state of cinema and pop culture in general, and it seems every time they do they get it wrong. Crash over Brokeback Mountain? Annie Hall over Star Wars? To be fair, the Academy can knock it out of the park. Chicago, Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, The Godfather. Not only the Best Picture of the year, but the ones we will pass on and say, "This was the state of our culture this year. This is who were are, who we see our selves as, and who we wish to be." That is the magic of movies and that is why I wish to fully examine each one. Each picture will be a step further back in time. I will start the most recent winner, Argo, and travel all the way back to 1927 with Wings, one film, one week, one step at a time. The historical significance, the social commentary/reflection, and the merits as film and its entertainment value. Besides isn't that the point?
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