On this day in 1929, the very first Academy Award for Best Picture was awarded to William Wellman's
Wings, a big budget silent spectacle ($2 million) about two World War I pilots in love with the same woman....and another plucky woman, played by Clara Bow, who is in love with one of the men and who follows the pilots into war. Released just before the "Code," the film flashed a nude Bow breast, but Wellman had been an aviator in the Great War, and the film was more notable for its dog fights.
And on that note, do not pass GO, go directly to the dog that's roaring on to movie screens this weekend. Here are a few excerpts from Anthony Lane's review of the movie based on a boardgame,
Battleship:
The whole thing makes Michael Bay look like Ken Loach. Needless to say, the noise level is indescribable. If “Battleship” proves such a hit that Berg can be persuaded to take on “Scrabble,” prepare to block your ears as giant letter tiles are slammed onto a rack.
Apparently, our film foe this go-round are aliens who desperately need sunscreen yet choose to land in Hawaii. Lane says, What they want from us is not us, the film suggests, but the use of our technology, and we repeatedly see them ignoring the characters in order to gaze longingly at intricate pieces of hardware.
Oh, well. It's summertime, when the living is easy and the movies are lousier than ever.
Here's the link to Lane:
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/culture/2012/05/battleship-review.html
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