Blind Spot: The Spirit of the Beehive (1973)

Ana.

Directed by Víctor Erice
Produced by Elías Querejeta
Written by Víctor Erice, Ángel Fernández Santos and Francisco J. Querejeta
Starring Fernando Fernán Gómez, Teresa Gimpera, Ana Torrent and Isabel Tellería

Best Film Editing: 2000s

2000: Girl on the Bridge (Joëlle Hache)

Oscar winner: Traffic (Stephen Mirrione)

Was this nominated?: No

Review: Spring Breakers (2013)

"Spring Break... forever."

Directed by Harmony Korine
Produced by Charles-Marie Anthonioz, Jordan Gertner, Chris Hanley and David Zander
Written by Harmony Korine
Starring Selena Gomez, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Benson, Rachel Korine and James Franco

I'm Back!

After an 8-day hiatus, I'm happy to report that I'm feeling much better and am making excellent progress in my recovery. With that in mind, I wanted to say thanks again for all of the nice comments and tweets I received. You guys are awesome!

I'm also pleased to announce that I'll return to posting this week, but I'm also going to go through my blogroll and catch up on a week and a half's worth of stuff I've missed. So, I might only get another couple of posts up this week. Expect a return to routine within the next couple of weeks.

Also, it's unfortunate that I missed the start of the 2013 LAMMY nominations voting period, which ends on April 3, but I'll be casting my ballot soon. At the risk of campaigning, I'll just quickly remind you of the categories in which I'm eligible, in case you want to consider me for anything.

Thanks again. It's good to be back!

A Temporary Hiatus

Dear Wonderful Readers:

Since late last week, I've been out of the movie blogging world, and, unfortunately, I'm going to have to take a longer break. I'm currently recovering from oral surgery that I had this past Thursday. With both of my jaws broken, and being restricted to a liquids-only diet for a few weeks, I still don't have the energy to catch up on what I've missed and keep things going here. So, I won't be posting for a while, at least one to two weeks realistically. If I feel inspired, I might get a post or two up, but I'm taking things slowly. Stay awesome, guys. Look forward to coming back very soon.

Josh

Best Film Editing: 1990s

1990: Goodfellas (Thelma Schoonmaker)

Oscar winner: Dances With Wolves (Neil Travis)

Was this nominated?: Yes

Ultimate Oscar Ballot

Lawrence of Arabia is in 4 categories, but did it "win" anything?

With the exception of the documentary and short categories, I've compiled my top 5 favorite Oscar wins in each category. Obviously I haven't seen every Oscar-winning film, but here are my picks anyway. "Winners" are underlined, pictured and in bold.

Reaction: The Killing (1956), Rocco and His Brothers (1960) & Equus (1977)

The Killing (dir. Stanley Kubrick)

Best Film Editing: 1980s

1980: Raging Bull (Thelma Schoonmaker)

Oscar winner: Raging Bull (Thelma Schoonmaker)

Martin Scorsese's Film School Curriculum

I stumbled upon last year's Fast Company interview with the Oscar-winning director, film historian, and preservationist Martin Scorsese, who names 85 films that have inspired him. Given the man's impressive knowledge of film, I'm eager to finish off the titles I haven't seen yet. There are several on here I love, and many that I need to see. If you want to know about film, Scorsese recommends these, and I don't think you can go wrong with this director's introductory "film school". Check out the list below.

Double Feature: Cleopatra (1963) & How the West Was Won (1963)

Cleopatra (1963) - **1/2

Starring Elizabeth Taylor as the iconic queen, this lengthy epic covers the highs and lows of Cleopatra's reign over Egypt and her relationships and alliances with two powerful Roman figures: Julius Caesar (Rex Harrison) and Marc Antony (Richard Burton). It is a technical marvel, and the film's set pieces are a spectacular achievement for the period it was produced. Of course, the performances are also worth mentioning, as they carry the weight of the material. Taylor, unfortunately, is overshadowed by her male co-stars, with Harrison and Burton delivering more interesting takes on their characters. But the only performance I'd call more than acceptable would be Roddy McDowall's small role as Octavian, the fierce rival of Marc Antony. Even though the story is interesting, the film is just too long. Epics can be over 4 hours long, but they can also be much better than this. Still, it's easy to see why the film was lavished with so many Oscar nods at the time.

Oscar Oddity #9: Argo's Best Picture Win

"And the stats just keep on comin'."

Films I Saw in February

Kim Hunter and David Niven in A Matter of Life and Death (1946).

The Best:
1. A Matter of Life and Death - ****
2. Night and Fog - ****
3. The Rules of the Game - ****
4. L'Atalante - ****
5. Port of Shadows - ****
6. Sherlock, Jr. - ****
7. Eraserhead - ****
8. Five Graves to Cairo - ****
9. Side Effects (x2) - ***1/2
10. Opening Night - ***1/2

More after the cut.

Best Film Editing: 1970s

1970: M*A*S*H (Danford B. Greene)

Oscar winner: Patton (Hugh S. Fowler)

Was this nominated?: Yes