<% IssueDate = "1/26/04" IssueCategory = "Entertainment" %>

Entertainment

Coming to Your TV: The Season of the Golden Naked Guy By Ernest Barteldes

31 Days of Oscar, Turner Classic Movies, February 1st to March 2nd 2004 Complete listings: http://www.turnerclassicmovies.com Oscar Season is here again, and while bets are being set to see who will be taking the golden naked guy home (The Academy Awards air Feb 29th on ABC), Turner Classic Movies will be running a retrospective past Oscar films in their annual 31 Days of Oscar, which will feature as many as 345 films during the month of February and also March 1 and 2. Here is a partial preview of favorites of mine(if you wanted to read about all of them, you would have purchased a book on the topic) that are scheduled for the festival. Many of them you might have seen at least 10 times, but some will spark a fond memory or two. One of Steven Spielberg's most underrated movies is 1977's Close Encounters of The Third Kind (February 1, 8:00 PM ET). I can still remember the disturbing image of Richard Dreyfuss trying to make that cone-shaped mountain out of a pile of mashed potatoes. Spielberg (who was nominated for Best Director that year) brings some of the Bermuda Triangle mysteries to a (fictional) close, and that ending inside the alien spaceship is something of cinematic genius. Jack Lemon and Tony Curtis in the classic comedy Some Like It Hot Alfred Hitchcock never won an Academy Award for any of his films (he did get an honorary award later in life), but several of his works received nods. The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956 - February 4, 10 PM) won Best Song for Que Sera Sera, in a breathtaking scene in which Doris Day performs the song as a way to find her missing son. The great Billy Wilder gave us several gems during his long career, but in one of his best moments he made one of his most timeless works, Some Like It Hot (1959 - February 5, 8 PM ET), winner of best costume design (Black and White). Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis found great chemistry as two prohibition-era musicians on the run from mobsters. Having witnessed a hit, the duo finds shelter with a Florida girl band. The only problem: they have to dress as women. The film also features Marilyn Monroe in one of her most memorable roles as Sugar Kane Kowalczyk and George Raft, once again appearing as a mobster, a type of role performed throughout his career. Impossible to forget is the very tongue-in-cheek line at the end of the film, when Joe/Josephine (Lemmon) reveals to millionaire Osgood (Joe E. Brown) his true identity: "You don't understand, Osgood! Aaah... I'm a man!" , to which he responds, "Well, nobody's perfect!" Jack Nicholson won the Best Actor Oscar for his portrayl as Melvin Udall and Greg Kinnear was nominated for Best Supporting Actor as a gay painter in James L. Brooks' As Good As It Gets Few recent films received more Oscar hype than 1997's Titanic, it was a surprise when Helen Hunt nabbed Best Actress that year for As Good As It Gets (February 14, 10 PM) instead of fellow nominee Kate Winslet. Jack Nicholson (who won best actor that year for the third time in his career) is Melvin Udall, an obsessive-compulsive New Yorker who verbally abuses anyone in his sight, especially his gay neighbor (Greg Kinnear) and Carol (Hunt), a waitress who seems to be the only person in the world who is able to take his crap... and get loved in return. Humphrey Bogart was the star in John Huston's The Treasure of The Sierra Madre (1948 - 11 PM, February 20), but it was Huston's father who took an award home for his role as the aging prospector with a heart more golden than the metal that the three down-on-their-luck Americans sought in the hills of Mexico. The film also won Best Director and Best Writing, losing best picture to Laurence Olivier's impeccable rendition of Hamlet. Gregory Peck played many roles over the years, but the one everyone remembers is his turn as Atticus Finch in the Depression-era adaptation of Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird (1962- February 24, 8 PM) which earned him a Best Actor award. The film needs no introduction, and it is a favorite everywhere. Pay attention to Boo, Robert Duvall's wordless role as the feared brain-damaged man who ends up saving the day. The first major studio film to seriously deal with AIDS was Philadelphia (February 24, 10: 15 PM). Tom Hanks solidified his career as a dramatic actor and also earned his first Oscar (he won again the following year for Forrest Gump), as a successful lawyer who is fired from his job after his firm dismisses him due to his condition. Gregory Peck (left) and Brock Peters fight injustice in To Kill a Mockingbird He then hires a homophobic lawyer (Denzel Washington), who is at first reluctant to take the case but later changes his mind and goes against the system. Watch for strong roles from Jason Robards, Joanne Woodward and Antonio Banderas, who plays the unlikely un-macho role of Hanks' male lover. Philadelphia also won Best Song for Bruce Springsteen's poignant Streets of Philadelphia. Woody Allen is one of the brightest moviemakers of our day, and although his latest films haven't really gone anywhere (which prompted self-mockery from the Woodman himself during the 2002 awards), it was with the great Annie Hall (1977, February 27 1 AM), one of his poems of love for New York, that he swept the awards. Not only the film win best picture and best director, but costar Diane Keaton (then his wife) also took the statuette home for Best Actress. Katherine Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart in The African Queen There are many other films worth mentioning, such as The African Queen (1951, Feb 9 8 PM), Singing in The Rain (1952, February 12 11:30 PM ET), Raging Bull (1980 - February 24 12:30 AM) and Bonnie & Clyde (1967, February 13 10 PM) and many others, but due to space constraints (and respect to readers' attention span and patience) we cannot mention them all, but here's hoping this will be helpful for everyone's enjoyment. Happy viewing.

For More ... Related Stories Catching Up with the Oscar Contenders Shirley MacLaine: Tuesdays in November Rita Hayworth: Behind Her Hollywood Image Related Sites Turner Classic Movies Academy Awards

---