Review-O-Sphere

  To see part 1, click  here . Louisiana Story Suite~Louisiana Story - Virgil Thomson Starting this year, the Academy Awards ceremony was moved to a private theater that was owned by the Academy itself as opposed to previous years when they would be hosted at theaters owned by major studios. This was done because of “rumors” that studios were putting pressure on Academy members to fix the votes so the Academy wanted to make things more above-board. You and I both know that this probably accomplished jack and squat but, nevertheless, this sort of internal pressure would do a lot to explain why a British film finally won the Academy Award for Best Picture this year. Anyway, this is another one of those years where the winner was such a clear runaway that it can be a little difficult ascertaining what was the biggest competitor and also what could have and/or should have won in the place of Hamlet . But we’re not letting it go down without a fight. If you’ve been following ...

  Funeral March~Hamlet - Sir Neville Marriner Laurence Olivier’s Hamlet is considered a landmark in 1940s cinema and is notable as being both the only time a Shakespeare adaptation won the Oscar for Best Picture and also the first time that a British film won the big award. As we’ve covered in previous blogs, British cinema really blew up during and after World War II. After several years in a row where British movies were notable snubs, this is the first time that our neighbors across the pond finally won the big award. It would be many more years (literally decades) before they actually gave the award to a film in a foreign language but, hey, we’ll give credit where it’s due. For those who have never read or heard of this story that’s over 500 years old, Hamlet is set in Denmark during the medieval times. The crown prince, Lord Hamlet (Laurence Olivier), is moody and trying to come to grips with his new lease on life as his father, King Hamlet (also Olivier), has died and the...