A Little Bit of Oscar Trivia

The 81st Academy Awards are almost here. I came across an Oscar's Trivia Quiz of 17 questions related to historical wins, the best actors and actresses of the past and today.

I took the quiz, and unfortunately only got 11/17 right. I guess I need to study my Oscar history a little more! Feel free to let me know how you did.

A lot of people have said the Academy has been out of touch with public opinion for awhile. Case in point: no best picture nomination for either "The Dark Knight," or "WALL-E."

I still have not seen "The Reader," so I guess I can't accurately judge, but I don't think it should be nominated. I didn't find the book all that interesting, and was surprised to learn they actually had enough appealing material to make a movie adaptation. Apparently Kate Winslet will win for Best Actress for her acting, so it must not be all that bad.

I do have Chicago Tribune writer, Mark Caro, in support though:

"The folks behind “The Dark Knight” can’t be pleased right now, and best actress non-nominee Sally Hawkins may be riding the bum train, but one party’s Oscar nominations announcement losses tower above everybody else’s: ABC-TV.

How many millions of viewers and advertising dollars did the network lose Thursday morning? The best rated shows have been the ones in which a very popular movie cleans up, such as “Titanic” (1997) and “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” (2003).

“The Dark Knight” probably wouldn’t have won best picture, but it was far and away the year’s most popular film ($531 million domestically, second only to “Titanic”) as well as one of the most acclaimed. “The Dark Knight” tallied 94 percent positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, compared to 60 percent for “The Reader,” which has grossed a total of $7.9 million to date.

Yet “The Reader” is a best picture (and director) nominee, and “The Dark Knight” is not. Yes, the highbrow Holocaust film with lukewarm reviews is in the game!"

It's unfortunate, especially considering they don't really have a category to honor action/thriller films. "The Dark Knight" was one of the best I've seen in a long time.

As I was reviewing the Oscar award categories, I considered how I never have the opportunity to watch any of the nominated short films. On February 19, the Animation Blog posted a rare Oscar-nominated short film called "Guard Dog." The full version is now available online, even though it was made in 2004.

Please Note: It's pretty violent.

Funny Videos Funny Cartoons More Video Clips

And the Academy Award for Best Actor goes to ...

With all the buzz about The Dark Knight (which I really want to see) and Heath Ledger's amazing performance, it got me wondering if the Academy will possibly nominate Ledger for Best Actor or Best Supporting Actor. How unfortunate if he won and wasn't able to celebrate.

To date, Peter Finch has been the only posthumous Best Actor winner for his role in 1976's Network. He died in January of 1977 at age 60. James Dean, Spencer Tracy, and Massimo Troisi are others who were posthumously nominated for best actor; Dean was nominated twice after he died.

There have been other well-known, and in many cases very talented actors & actresses, who have yet to even be nominated for their acting abilities. According to Moviefone, these are some of the Oscar outcasts:

• John Cusack
• Jim Carrey
• Meg Ryan
• Richard Gere
• Sandra Bullock
• Martin Sheen
• Steve Martin
• Kevin Bacon
• Maria Bello
• Jeff Daniels
• Bruce Willis
• Scarlett Johansson
• Matthew Broderick
• Jeffery Wright
• Donald Sutherland
• Ewan McGregor
• Isabella Rosselinni (Ingrid Bergman's daughter)
• Dennis Quaid
• Steve Buscemi
• Maggie Gyllenhaal

Most of these people honestly don't surprise me that much. They're mostly known for a certain movie genre, and don't have any real scope in their acting abilities. Most of them on this list, not all.

What I've always wondered is why Leonardo DiCaprio, Christian Bale and Johnny Depp have yet to win Best Actor Academy Awards. They are all fantastic, and have been in some great movies.

Leave the gun, take the cannoli

Leave the gun, take the cannoli. It is the well-known catch phrase from one of the best movies of all time. It also mimics what my own feelings would be when faced with the decision between a cold, hard weapon, or a delicious Italian dessert.

In a nutshell, I am a lover of movies, and a lover of food. While I do watch the Food Network a bit too obsessively, I find my passion for movies far exceeds anything else. I therefore hope to dedicate this blog primarily to cinema, although I'll also write on an occasional topic that interests me. I do not hope to become the next Roger Ebert by any means (although I can likewise call the University of Illinois my Alma Mater), but would like to simply give you my opinion of various movies I see. I will say, however, I'm one of the harshest critics I know. It takes a lot for a movie to really impress me.

A little more than a year ago, I began a quest to watch what in my mind were the No. 1 movies of all time: the Academy Award Best Picture winners. Here is the comprehensive list, along with the ones I have already seen (****loved, would recommend). Those in red I have yet to watch. As evidenced, my idea of a No. 1 movie list has changed a bit. I did not like all of these movies so far, and found some quite boring. I hope to eventually create my own "Best Picture" list. For now, I have 19 left here to conquer!


1928 (1st) Wings, Sunrise
1929 (2nd) Broadway Melody, The
1930 (3rd) All Quiet on the Western Front
1931 (4th) Cimarron
1932 (5th) Grand Hotel
1933 (6th) Cavalcade
1934 (7th) It Happened One Night****
1935 (8th) Mutiny on the Bounty
1936 (9th) Great Ziegfeld, The
1937 (10th) Life of Émile Zola, The
1938 (11th) You Can't Take It With You
1939 (12th) Gone with the Wind*****
1940 (13th) Rebecca*****
1941 (14th) How Green Was My Valley
1942 (15th) Mrs. Miniver
1943 (16th) Casablanca
1944 (17th) Going My Way
1945 (18th) The Lost Weekend
1946 (19th) The Best Years of Our Lives
1947 (20th) Gentleman's Agreement*****
1948 (21st) Hamlet (1948)
1949 (22nd) All the King's Men
1950 (23rd) All About Eve*****
1951 (24th) An American in Paris
1952 (25th) The Greatest Show on Earth*****
1953 (26th) From Here to Eternity
1954 (27th) On the Waterfront
1955 (28th) Marty
1956 (29th) Around the World in 80 Days
1957 (30th) The Bridge on the River Kwai
1958 (31st) Gigi
1959 (32nd) Ben-Hur
1960 (33rd) The Apartment*****
1961 (34th) West Side Story
1962 (35th) Lawrence of Arabia
1963 (36th) Tom Jones
1964 (37th) My Fair Lady*****
1965 (38th) The Sound of Music*****
1966 (39th) A Man for All Seasons
1967 (40th) In the Heat of the Night
1968 (41st) Oliver!
1969 (42nd) Midnight Cowboy
1970 (43rd) Patton
1971 (44th) The French Connection
1972 (45th) The Godfather*****
1973 (46th) The Sting*****
1974 (47th) The Godfather Part II*****
1975 (48th) One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest*****
1976 (49th) Rocky
1977 (50th) Annie Hall
1978 (51st) The Deer Hunter
1979 (52nd) Kramer vs. Kramer*****
1980 (53rd) Ordinary People*****
1981 (54th) Chariots of Fire
1982 (55th) Gandhi
1983 (56th) Terms of Endearment
1984 (57th) Amadeus
1985 (58th) Out of Africa
1986 (59th) Platoon*****
1987 (60th) The Last Emperor
1988 (61st) Rain Man*****
1989 (62nd) Driving Miss Daisy*****
1990 (63rd) Dances With Wolves*****
1991 (64th) The Silence of the Lambs*****
1992 (65th) Unforgiven
1993 (66th) Schindler's List*****
1994 (67th) Forrest Gump*****
1995 (68th) Braveheart*****
1996 (69th) The English Patient
1997 (70th) Titanic (1997)*****
1998 (71st) Shakespeare in Love*****
1999 (72nd) American Beauty
2000 (73rd) Gladiator*****
2001 (74th) A Beautiful Mind*****
2002 (75th) Chicago*****
2003 (76th) The Lord of The Rings: The Return of The King
2004 (77th) Million Dollar Baby*****
2005 (78th) Crash
2006 (79th) The Departed *****
2007 (80th) No Country for Old Men