I have been thinking of the impact of critics and audience awards on the standing of films in the “real world,” that is, the cruel and competitive theatrical market. “Push: Based on the Novel by Sapphire” was the big winner at the recently concluded 2009 Sundance Film Fest, winning both the Audience and Grand Jury prizes at the Dramatic series.  Will the film find an appreciative audience?  Don't count on it.  A study of recent  winners of the Sundance Film Fest reveals that the public's vote has little impact on the box-office. . 

This year we are in the advantageous position of having seen all five finalists for the prestigious 2009 Best Foreign-Language Films. Thus, we run full-length reviews of all five films.

Few people in the industry expected a musical like American in Paris to win the Best Picture Oscar. Within Metro, some executives favored the movie over the other MGM nominees, the historical epic, Quo Vadis and the modest war drama, Decision Before Dawn. However, the frontrunners of the 1951 Oscar race were Kazan's “A Streetcar Named Desire” and George Stevens' “A Place in the Sun,” two prestige dramas based on respectable literary sources with A-list stars like Brando, Liz Taylor, and Monty Clift.

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