A Shocking Best Picture Oscar Quiz!

This is an original Oscar Trivia Quiz that's all about Best Picture.  There's so much fiendishly good history in this category that this is far from a complete representation.


Maybe I'll make this an annual game.  This year, it's the Best Picture Shockers!  (Much of that is tongue-in-cheek...)


We'll look at incredible choices, snubs, a few fun facts, and finally a gruesome look at the images some Best Picture Winners have offered their viewers.  Who said the Academy was a group of intellectual snobs?


I'll post the results in an upcoming post.  Feel free to put your guesses in the comments, or send them to me via e-mail (on my Full Profile).


Enjoy!

1. Which of the following Actors/Actresses has NEVER appeared in an Oscar-Winning Best Picture?
___Katherine Hepburn
___Spencer Tracy
___Susan Sarandon
___Heath Ledger
___Jeff Bridges
___Helena Bonham-Carter
___Glenn Close
___Denzel Washington
___Nicole Kidman

2. Which of the following performers, all of whom became famous from their TV appearances, went on to appear in an Oscar-Winning Best Picture?
___Mary Tyler Moore
___Tony Danza
___Danny DeVito
___Woody Harrelson
___Sally Field
___Donna Reed

3. What is the only Oscar-Winning best Picture with no speaking parts for women?

4. Which Best Picture Winner features a scene in which the lead characters appear briefly as animated cartoons?

5. I counted 3 Best Pictures in which one man kisses another man on the mouth.  Name the films. 

6. What was the first year that all (5) Best Picture nominees were in color?

7. What was the last year that more than one black-and-white film competed for Best Picture?

8. The late John Cazale, a well-known actor from the 1970's, appeared in only five (5) movies before his untimely death at age 43 in 1978.  What do these films have in common?




9. After 1932 only one film has won for Best Picture whose Director was not nominated.  Name the film (and the Director for meaningless extra credit!)

(The following is not for the faint-hearted.)

10. And now....For those who cite this year's Best Picture race as evidence that Oscar is always too genteel, I disagree.  Especially in the last few decades, the Motion Picture Academy has shown itself to have a rabid appetite for the Grand Guignol! 

To prove that Oscar does not always go for  "feel-good" ,  I have compiled a list of horrendous, or just plain gross, images that have been dished up by Best Picture winners for the delectation of Oscar fans the world over.  We Oscar-film devotees have been subjected to cumulative trauma!  Name the Oscar-Winning Best Films in which these intense images and sequences have appeared..... 

A--The title character smashes his pet mouse against a wall
B--An old man is beaten and has a telephone receiver stuffed into his toothless mouth
C--The lead character is drawn and quartered
D--A woman's face is disfigured with a knife
E--The leading lady is bludgeoned to death while the killer's dog looks on (HINT: this was actually the last 
       G-rated Best Picture winner!)
F--The protagonist is attacked and almost eaten by an enormous spider
G--The heroine attempts a suicidal pill overdose on Christmas Eve
H--A man's thumbs are cut off, without anesthesia, by a nurse
I--A wife beater is strangled to death--he kicks in a car windshield during the struggle
J--The hero's eyelid wound is lanced, as blood spurts
K--The leading lady attempts to chew out her own tongue
L--While the hero pleads with him to come home, the hero's best friend shoots himself in the head
M--To settle an old score, the main character slices an old man's stomach with a knife
N--The romantic lead drowns in an icy ocean
O--The protagonist, weak from a bloody gunshot wound, turns toward the camera and vomits
P--A mobster casually waves a corpse's severed hand
Q--A little boy jumps into and swims through a pile of excrement
R--Another little boy hides in a latrine chest-deep in excrement

...Is it any wonder that Oscar may embrace something more comforting this year? 

Oscar's Most Beautifully Unusual Win

A film is defined as feature-length if it has a running time of 40 minutes or longer.  That is according to the Motion Picture Academy, and both the American and British Film Institutes.


In 1956 a fanciful children's film with a running time of only 34 minutes was imported from France and released on U.S. screens.  It told a simple story of a 5-year-old boy exploring the streets of Paris with his new friend, having adventures, encountering prejudice, enduring tragedy, and achieving ultimate freedom. 


The film featured beautiful photography of its Parisian locations (many of which no longer exist due to decay and demolition). It had a stirring and lovely musical score.  Not a silent film, it had ambient location sound.


It had no dialog.  And it won the 1956 Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.

Of course, I am talking about Albert Lamorisse's "The Red Balloon."


TCM featured this classic film as part of its "31 Days of Oscar". I knew I had my topic for tonight.


Never before, nor since, has a short subject, or a film without dialog, won an Oscar for Screenplay.  What was it about this movie that inspired such enthusiasm for its writing? 


I tried to find a copy of the screenplay (written, I would assume, in French) and was not successful.  I would expect that it reads soaringly, like a philosophical children's story.


In spite of not having dialog, the film tells a simple but symbolic story about coming of age, about kindness given (and returned), and about mindless hate.  It ends in an image of such benevolence and poetry that I can hardly describe why it affected me so powerfully.


"The Red Balloon" has much action and incident, and it really moves.  The film requires complex transitions between scenes, and some incredibly difficult technical challenges: that balloon is not a computer-generated image.  All of that complexity had to be conceived first and foremost on the page.

In the Screenplay category that year, "The Red Balloon" triumphed over the following nominated films: "The Bold and the Brave" (a WWII battle drama); "Julie" (a thriller starring Doris Day); "The Ladykillers" (an Ealing comedy with Alec Guinness); and "La Strada" (the classic circus tale by Federico Fellini).  An uneven slate to be sure;  but "The Red Balloon" was so charming, so moving and unforgettable, that Oscar had to recognize it.


In the course of the film, little Albert rescues the Red Balloon from where it is tied to a lamp post.  Soon the Balloon follows the boy, exhibiting a "mind" of its own and the mischief of a little dog.  They bond, as they go to Albert's home (the Red Balloon waits, floating loyally, outside the boy's balcony), ride the streetcar "together", meet a little girl with a romantic Blue Balloon, get in trouble at school, get thrown out of a church, and encounter a cruel mob of boys with slingshots. 


What follows is an incredible extended shot, as heartbreaking as the dying swan; and a final, extraordinary image that reduced me to sobs of joy and regret. 


For a long time, I was so mixed in my emotions by the film's finale, that I was not entirely sure what caused this reaction.  I concluded that it was a deep sadness at the end of innocence, the loss of a faithful friend, and the escape from the world of cruelty to that of beauty and grace.  It is the same primal emotion I feel at "The Yearling", or even "Black Swan".


What an extraordinary final image.

I can't recommend this more. 

For those who have seen "The Red Balloon", did the climactic flight seem as profound to you?  

What, in your view, is the most unusual Oscar victory ever?

Westminster Dog Show--The Big Winner; and a Well-Balanced Bassett

The gentle, dignified Scottish Deerhound won Best in Show earlier this week at the Westminster Dog Show. The Deerhound is not a household name among dog owners in America, but now with the spotlight on this good-natured sight-hound, more people will want to bring one of these friendly creatures into their homes. 

Deerhounds are bred to run after rabbits and red deer.  They are happiest with a yard where they can run, and once they have had sufficient exercise, they are content to stretch out on the floor, happy to just sleep.

These dogs, which resemble wire-haired greyhounds, are docile and eager to please.  And, being dogs, they are refreshingly honest...Case in point, Hickory, the five-year-old who was the surprise winner at Madison Square Garden.

At this time of year, we are surrounded by images of celebrities inundated by countless interviews, photographers, and scrutiny, and we hold our breath for our favorites lest they stumble, or appear tired. 

So it was great fun to learn that, after the Dog Show when Hickory was the subject of post-victory news conferences, she finally had enough, and simply walked off the stage, to the secret delight of Angela Lloyd, Hickory's handler.

POSTSCRIPT: A WESTMINSTER IMAGE I COULD NOT RESIST:

Westminster contestant Nicole, a Basset Hound from Chehalis, Washington, poses for a photograph in the lobby of the Hotel Pennsylvania Saturday Feb. 12,  in New York.

This is a difficult trick for these comically unbalanced dogs.  And I love the protective ear-gear, which would be a hit on any red carpet.

One may reinvent his purpose in life, or adjust to the changes in technology to remain relevant, or completely change the course of his career or residence.  But I can promise you, that in spite of all of the changes, I am grateful that dogs are so wonderfully predictable, that I have no choice but to love these creatures forever.

Some Favorite Paintings at the Art Institute

If any of you make it to Chicago, we would be proud to have you as our guest to the Art Institute.  As a follow-up to yesterday's photo album of a Chicago Sunday afternoon, here's a look at a few paintings in the Art Institute's collection that captured my imagination, and inspired me to better creative effort.

There is one gallery on the top (third) floor, "European Modern Art, 1900-1950".  These include some of the Impressionists, the Cubists, and Surrealists, artists like Picasso, Dali, Magritte, and others less familiar to me.  I can't wait to keep on as a student of this period, the paintings of which I love on a basic level, which give me a feeling of pleasure and balance.  


As with any form of art, knowing more about it, its construction, its intent, its place in history, can explain why I feel so happy in the company of these artists in this magical and remote gallery of the Art Institute.

FRANZ MARC, "The Bewitched Mill", 1913

A quote next to the painting reads: "Is there a more mysterious idea than to imagine how nature is reflected in the eyes of animals?" Is there a more perfect reason for me to connect with this work?  Notice the deer drinking and a variety of birds. 

GEORGES BRAQUES, "The Little Harbor in Normandy," 1909

I am less familiar with Braque than with Picasso, even though they worked closely together and together established the Cubist style.  I like his work, and this one is especially interesting to me.

PABLO PICASSO, "The Old Guitarist", 1903-04

The Art Institute has a huge collection of Picasso, including a miniature rendering of his famous sculpture in Daley Plaza.  This is a wonderful portrait of a homeless man from Picasso's "blue period".

SALVADOR DALI, "Inventions of the Monsters", 1937

Dali fascinates me with his extremely clear images, that sometimes appear to be melting or bending. His subjects often are brightly lit with long shadows that emphasize their desolated isolation. An unnatural combination of objects and parts of the human anatomy are startling. The pictures always seem to be on the verge of burning. Here is Dali's mysterious interpretation of impending war: the artist and his wife are seated at the table on the left.

RENE MAGRITTE, "Time Transfixed", 1938

This is the painting that inspired me to visit the wonderful third floor gallery. I enjoy the clarity of images that are placed together incongruously, violating the rules of space.  Magritte wanted to "stab" the viewer with the train. 

JOAN MIRO, "Personages With Star", 1933

One of a large collection of Miro, who I find playful..like a child's rendering of Dali.

In later journal entries, I will also offer some favorites by Paul Klee, Juan Gris, and many others...  While my quest for reinvention may not include taking up the brush myself, you never know how enthusiasm, borne of a love of any art form, may manifest itself! For now, I will try to paint with words, and learn enough to teach others some day, perhaps.

Spring Promise on a Chicago Sunday--Friday Photo Journal

Last Sunday was perfect for an excursion to the city for creative renewal and to emerge from winter hibernation.

The early part of our afternoon was spent at the Chicago Art Institute.  Regular visitors to this Journal have accompanied me here, to one of my favorite places in the city.  It was quiet in the galleries until later in the day. 

A lack of winter tourists to Chicago ensures that local folks like Mark and me have leisurely access to the Art Institute's beauty, and plenty of space to quietly immerse ourselves in the warm embrace of the various rooms, which are themselves works of art, with their carefully selected pedestals and frames, and much natural light.

Possibly the museum was quieter than usual because it seemed like everyone who lived downtown was outside.  Compared to the crushing snows and bitter cold of just over a week ago,  the near-40-degree day was like a promise of spring, an invitation to hoard all of the fresh air your lungs could take in, and enjoy the wonder of the lakefront and the architecture once again.

Of course there was still plenty of snow, but over half of the blizzard-dump had melted. What remained made for some amusing images.

After the museum we joined the throngs at Millennium Park on the lakefront.  Ice skaters entertained onlookers while the loudspeakers played '80's music for nostalgic adults. 

In the background, past the rink, is the Chicago Cultural Center, a grand old building whose interior walls are covered with beautiful mosaics.  This is where the Governor of Illinois signed the Civil Unions Bill into law. On Sunday, a classical concert was performed in the upstairs auditorium.

One of the marvels of the Park is "The Bean", the name given by Chicagoans to sculptor Anish Kapoor's three-story reflective-steel piece called CloudGate.  Made of 168 steel plates welded together, there are no visible seams, and the curves of the surface produce compelling and provocative reflections.  The privately-funded piece cost about 23 million dollars, and posed some challenges in its year-long construction.  It awakened my long-dormant photographic muse.

Coming up, some of my favorite paintings from the 3rd Floor Gallery of European Art...among them, the Cubists, and the Surrealists.