And The Oscar Goes To.....

My wife and I have begun renting all the Academy Award winning movies from 1960 forward (not in order, as Netflix just sends them as they choose). We came up with this idea after attending a wine dinner at the Alamo Drafthouse Movie Theatre (Film Noir and Pino Noir!), where they showed the movie "The Apartment". This 1960 Academy Award winner was quite fun, and they served wine from the MacMurray Vineyards (Actor Fred MacMurry was one of the stars of the movie). Additionally, all the food served at dinner were what the characters in the movie at during the show.

Since then we have seen about 5 of these old classic Oscar winners. While all interesting, the most amazing thing is the slow pace of some of these movies. We have to remind ourselves with each movie that Hollywood has matured over the past forty years, and the styles that made a good flick in the 1960s are just different today.

Last night we watched "Lawrence of Arabia", the 1962 Best Picture. I had seen this one before (we are skipping the ones we have BOTH seen....and therefore will NOT have to repeat viewing of my least favorite, "The English Patient"!). Lawrence of Arabia is nearly four hours long, and while the cinematography is phenomenal, we both fell asleep with about 45 minutes left. Any movie that has an intermission built in should not be viewed in one sitting!

Still, even at four hours long this film ran circles around "The French Connection" (1971) and "Tom Jones" (1963). Not that these were bad movies, they are just a crystal clear example that our culture has changed and our expectations of entertainment have become more demanding of constant action and stimulation.

Have A Great Weekend.

thom