10 years of Flick Filosopher: I’d like to thank the Academy...

In the beginning of 1999, I took on an immense task, partly as a gimmick to build traffic and partly as a way to further my film education: I reviewed every film that had won the Oscar for Best Picture, one a day, in the two-months-plus leading up to the Academy Awards that spring. Over the next two weeks before this year’s Oscars -- which will take place on Sunday, February 25 -- I’ll look back at some of those reviews. From my review of Wings, the first Best Picture winner, from 1927/8:

The special effects -- aerial bombing of a French village, German zepplins exploding in midair, spectacular crashes of biplanes -- would be incredible even today, and you'll see the influence of Wings' thrilling dogfights in such movies as Top Gun and Star Wars. The scenes of the Big Push -- the combined air and ground battles of the last big Allied offensive -- are sure to remind you of The Empire Strikes Back's Battle of Hoth and much of Saving Private Ryan.

• review of Wings, posted 01.11.99

(Technorati tags: Wings, Oscar Best Picture)