Neighbor Guy

City People. Urban Living. Other Stuff.

The Academy Awards
And the Oscar goes to...City Life!

The Oscars® are upon us, that epic evening of self-congratulation and glitzy, gaudy dress wear. Turner Classic Movies has screened its 31 Days of Oscar, and the red carpet is being dusted off for Sunday night's gala event.

Neighbor Guy, not surprisingly, has his own carefully calibrated list of all-time favorite films. Not surprisingly, cities and portraits of city life figure prominently into the selection process. In the spirit of the season, I've donned my favorite Armani tuxedo with the intention of awarding a handful of virtual 13-inch-high gold statuettes to a handful of deserving cities without which the wonderful world of cinema simply wouldn't be the same.

Best Picture: Metropolis, naturally. Fritz Lang's silent masterpiece mixes sci-fi with politics to explore the ever-strained social contract that exists between workers and owners in a capitalist world. The result is pure movie bliss. Released in 1927, the film was made in a studio - a city within a city - but its timeless themes are urban at their core. German Expressionism has never been so beautifully expressed.

Best Actor/Actress: Neighbor Guy would argue that cities are more than settings. In many films, they are central characters in the telling of the story itself. Can you imagine Moulin Rouge sans its bohemian Parisian backdrop? Or Woody Allen's prized Manhattan being set in, say, St. Louis? Many cities merit consideration in this category, but Neighbor Guy gives the nod to Paris, without which Ratatouille would never have been made. 

Best Visual Effect: San Francisco. I'm not thinking of any particular film; I just happen to think San Francisco is an aesthetic marvel without rival. There's not a special effects team in the business that could render a more eye-popping urban environment.

Lifetime Achievement Award: Ask Woody Allen, Martin Scorsese or Spike Lee where their careers would be without New York, and you have your answer. Hands down, The Big Apple wins!

Lastly, surely we would be remiss without recognizing the city of Los Angeles and environs, Tinseltown included, without which the Academy and the stars it seeks to celebrate on Sunday would have no where to stage their lavish ceremony.