Wednesday, March 03, 2010

The Envelope, Please ...

Just in time for the 82nd Annual Academy Awards, comes "Top ten signs your film is not going to win an Oscar", posted by Bob Sullivan at When Falls the Coliseum. My favorite reason is #3.

Lots of Oscar-related 'stuff' on the airwaves ... but my favorite remains the 31 Days of Oscar, which concluded tonight on Turner Classic Movies, a month-long broadcast of Academy Award-winning films - everything from Best Song or Best Editing, to Best Actor/Actress, Best Director and Best Film.

Speaking of 'Best Film,' one of TCM's broadcasts earlier this week was Cecil B. Demille's The Greatest Show on Earth, 1952's Best Film. It's a good movie ... but is it THAT good? The Wikipedia entry for the film notes that critics have labeled GSOE as perhaps the Worst Picture to have ever won the Best Picture award, beating out High Noon, Singin' in the Rain and The Quiet Man. Me? I'd have selected any one of those three ahead of GSOE ... but my ballot from the Academy keeps getting lost in the mail, or something.

2 comments:

Geo said...

You are dead on, Jeff. All three of those movies were better then Greatest Show. What were they thinking?

I haven't read the Wiki entry, but I suspect there must have been something behind the scenes going on that time.

Jeff said...

George, there is. The Wiki entry notes that some critics suggest the spirit of McCarthyism was being felt everywhere ... including Hollywood. Me? All I know is what I like ... and what I like better!