This time we're taking on the Oscar winners from 1941 and 1994 as we move chronologically from Oscars first years forward and most recent year backwards. Eventually we meet in the middle (the 1960s).
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Mike: This episode of Best Pictures from the Outside In is a milestone in the admittedly brief (in entries, if not in time) history of this series. For the first time, gone is the middling crap we're often forced to discuss. Instead, fate has allowed us to pair two earth-shattering films, films that redefined the very art of cinema in their respective eras. From 1941 we have a movie that's topped countless lists of the greatest films ever made. Its spectacular cinematography spawned countless imitators, and its labyrinthine plot still has few equals. From 1994 we have what is arguably its modern equivalent, a film whose brilliant dialogue, fragmented plot structure, and countless historical references spawned countless imitators, including some by this film's own director. Dear readers, it is my pleasure to present the Best Picture winners from 1941 and 1994, Citizen Kane and Pulp Fiction.
[Would that his fantasy were reality. But no, the Academy selected How Green Was My Valley and Forrest Gump as the Best Pictures. What a world. The Academy can knock you over with a feather sometimes]
