Surprisingly, the very first motion picture to win the Academy Award for Best Picture Unique and Artistic Production (the only one, in fact) is not readily available on DVD.  Luckily for us it’s airing on TCM tonight as this month’s first Sunday silent … and that’s just one of my picks for April.

Where has the year gone?  We’ve already come to the end of the first quarter and yet this is my first “didja ever notice” post of 2008!  For the eleventh edition, I’ve picked a fairly easy topic – one that’s not quite as challenging as usual – in order to reinvigorate this blog series.  Since Pepe (1960) airs tomorrow morning on TCM, what better subject for this year’s first entry than “fish out of water” movies?

Happy Easter!  Sins (vs. virtues) are certainly an appropriate topic for today, eh?  Since they are also popular subjects for movie stories and their characters’ failings, particularly those dastardly screen villains, I thought it might be fun to start with the so-called seven deadliest transgressions and list several of cinema’s corresponding explorations.

Last month, TCM concluded their primetime 31 Days of Oscar celebration of the 1940’s (Tuesday nights) by airing The Talk of the Town (1942) and, since I’d listed this essential comedy drama among my picks for January, it was a great way for the channel to conclude their salute to the decade.  Watching it again reminded me how great Jean Arthur was; she had been TCM’s Star of the Month last January (2007).  But since I failed to recognize the fact and highlight the actress then, I hope that you’ll indulge me this brief reflection now.

I’ve been gathering bits and pieces for quite some time now:  ideas for this blog that aren’t fully formed or researched, which haven’t been completed and probably never will.  So I thought that I’d use this week’s space to get a few of them “off my chest” and onto the page, even as embryonic as they are.

TCM’s annual 31 Days of Oscar ends tonight, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t plenty of gems on the rest of this month’s schedule.  In addition to the countless classics to be found among the more than 350 movies that will air “uncut and commercial free” during March, there are several  that are being shown for the first time in years, and most of these aren’t yet on DVD (which means that watching TCM is the only way to see them)!  Today also marks 75 years since the New York premiere of King Kong (1933).

While there have been quite a number of budding actors and actresses that have received Academy recognition – e.g. a nomination or even an Oscar – for their very first movie roles, some non-actors have also been rewarded similarly.  Although it doesn’t happen very often, over the years there have been persons with unique talents and/or attributes that have been chosen – for their excellence in another (artistic) field or even plucked from obscurity – to play a needed part in a given film.  Additionally, there have been others whose sole contribution to moviemaking has been recognized or was unforgettable in some way.

Fans of Turner Classic Movies know that February is the channel’s 31 Days of Oscar month (and that, because of the leap year, only the first two days of March are included in this year's celebration). Perhaps the biggest highlight (for me) among those on the 2008 schedule was Wings (1927), a TCM premiere; it was the first and only winner for Best Picture, Production – a category that has since become known as Best Picture – and the only silent film to win that award.  However, there are still dozens of classics one will never see during these “31 Days” because they didn’t manage to receive a single nomination in any category!

There’s that tagline from Jaws 2 (1978) – “just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water” or from The Godfather: Part III (1990) – “just when I thought I was out … they pull me back in”; both describe the irresistible force that causes actors and studios to go back and revisit their most iconic roles and biggest hits in hopes of reliving their glory days and recapturing the monumental money that Hollywood’s action blockbusters can garner.