The Latest on DVD: And the Winners Were ...

At first glance, these four films may seem to have little in common, but in fact, they were all Best Picture nominees. And while only one ultimately claimed the top prize, they each won at least one Oscar:

• Guess Who's Coming to Dinner: 40th Anniversary Edition- Although it was Spencer Tracy's last film, it was Katharine Hepburn who won for her lead performance. William Rose's original screenplay also took home the gold.
• Midnight Express: 30th Anniversary Edition- Oliver Stone won his first Oscar for the script of this harrowing drama, as did Giorgio Moroder for his groundbreaking electronic score.
• Tootsie: 25th Anniversary Edition- In the year of Gandhi, Sydney Pollack's gender-bending comedy had to settle for the Supporting Actress trophy for Jessica Lange.
• The Apartment: Collector's Edition- Billy Wilder won three Oscars for his classic satire: Best Director, Best Original Screenplay (with I.A.L. Diamond) and Best Picture.

Click on the titles above for more information and to purchase the DVDs from Amazon.com. For more of this week's latest on DVD, see the Amazon widgets located in the sidebar to your right.

Oh Happy Day!

Every February I look forward to this day, the day which I get to pick up the Film Review Year in Review Yearbook. I first got this back in 2001 (is that long enough ago to even say 'back in'?), when I was seriously getting into film due to taking a GenEd Film class while studying fashion. I missed the 2005 issue (grr!!), but otherwise have all issues since then and plan on always getting them.

It's a magazine from the UK, so the release dates are completely different than here in Canada, which is one reason I like to get the issues in succession. I also love that it doesn't feel the need to bow down to Hollywood films and says what is what. It goes without saying that it is a great resource for UK films. Out of all the reviews, I often add their 5/5 reviews to the every growing 'must see list'. There were only 27 5/5 reviews (excluding re-releases) so I think I'll consider picking out some of the 4/5's this year.It is also a great resource to hear about films that haven't gotten a lot of coverage here, this issue had 113 films I've never heard of which floored me considering I write about new releases every week!

It's one of the best days there is, I love to read though the reviews with tea and highlighter in hand, plotting and planning and listing away!

31 Days of Oscar: The Sterile Cuckoo

If you have only seen Liza Minnelli in Cabaret or the tabloids, then do yourself a favor and catch her Oscar nominated performance in The Sterile Cuckoo tomorrow on Turner Classic Movies (6:00 PM EST).

Liza was able to show off some impressive dramatic chops as Pookie Adams, a quirky, damaged soul who latches onto shy nerd Wendell Burton in college, resulting in a tender, awkward romance that is both realistic and heart breaking.

The film, directed by Alan J. Pakula, also features the haunting ballad "Come Saturday Morning" (performed by The Sandpipers), which was also nominated for an Oscar.

Cinematic Crush: Javier Bardem

Movie Dearest continues the month long countdown to the Oscars with two of our weekly signature features -- Cinematic Crush and Women We Love -- spotlighting our favorites of this year's acting nominees:

Crush object: Javier Bardem, actor.

- Congrats, friendo: Nominated for Best Supporting Actor this year for his cold-blooded assassin Anton Chigurh in No Country for Old Men; has already won the Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild Award and several critics groups' prizes for the unforgettable role.

- Oscar nominated previously for his powerful performance as Cuban poet Reinaldo Arenas in Before Night Falls; he was the first Spanish actor to receive an Academy Award nomination.

- He should have also been nominated for The Sea Inside for his heart-breaking turn as assisted-suicide activist Ramón Sampedro.

- Also starred this past year in Love in the Time of Cholera and Goya's Ghosts; other notable films include Jamón, Jamón (which co-starred his now current girlfriend, Penélope Cruz); The Dancer Upstairs and Collateral.

- Future projects include Woody Allen's Vicky Cristina Barcelona and Rob Marshall's film version of the Tony Award winning musical Nine (now back in production), itself based on the Fellini classic 8½.

It's Big! It's Gay! ...

It's The Big Gay Sketch Show!

The second season of the LOGO original comedy series starts tomorrow, so tune in for more hilarity from the likes of Fitzwilliam (the boy who wants a vagina), lesbian musical duo Sappho's Lips, Elaine Stritch and the "LOGO Life Tips" duo of Chad Michael and Michael Chad.

New this season: Gay Facts of Life, Chastity Bono, the real Elaine Stritch and Maya Angelou reads Craigslist.

31 Days of Oscar: Wings

I have been an Oscar-watcher for some time now, and have even made it a point to see every movie ever nominated for an Academy Award (yeah, still working on that one). One film that has so far eluded me is Wings, the very first Best Picture (then called "Best Picture, Production"); now I finally have a chance, as Turner Classic Movies will be airing it tomorrow as part of their "31 Days of Oscar" celebration.

The war-themed silent (the only silent to win the Big Prize) stars Clara Bow, Charles "Buddy" Rogers and Richard Arlen, who, according to The Celluloid Closet, share some homoerotic subtext decades before "Don't Ask, Don't Tell". Also, keep an eye out for a young Gary Cooper in one of his first significant roles.

Wings airs at 8:00 PM EST tomorrow night on TCM, followed by the other BP winner from the Academy's first year, Sunrise (which one "Best Picture, Unique and Artistic Production"). This film, one of the great silent dramas, stars Janet Gaynor, who won the very first Best Actress Oscar for her touching, tragic performance.

Frankly My Dear in D-Flat

Maragaret Mitchell's Gone With the Wind will be the next weighty tome (following Nicholas Nickleby and Les Misérables) that Trevor Nunn will bring to the London stage ... and as musical no less.

Current Curtains star Jill Paice will step into the curtain dress made famous by Vivien Leigh as Scarlet O'Hara, opposite former Pop Idol Darius Danesh, who has the unenviable task of taking on Rhett Butler, Clark Gable's most memorable role.

The new epic tuner will open in London's West End this April.