As we head into Oscar-bait season, I’m reminded that for two decades, Damien Bona and Mason Wiley’s INSIDE OSCAR has sat dog-eared on my shelf as my go-to reference work on the Academy Awards. Well, it’s time for it retire, usurped by Robert Osborne’s 80 YEARS OF THE OSCAR: THE OFFICIAL HISTORY OF THE ACADEMY AWARDS.
You know Osborne — he’s the genial, gray-haired host of Turner Classic Movies who introduces the films with historical perspective and occasional bits of behind-the-scenes gossip. He makes the flicks that follow better because he gets you in the correct frame of mind. He’s an authority.
Which is why 80 YEARS benefits from his steering. There have been some miserable hosts for the Oscar telecasts over the years, but Osborne is an excellent host through and through in this historical time capsule. Year by year, the coffee-table book takes us back through the annual awards, four pages at a time (or two for the initial events, when the proceedings weren’t so bloated).
In the first two-page spread for each, Osborne gives a brief overview of the year that was; in the second, you’ll find a complete list of nominations and winners. And all it is illustrated with posters from each Best Picture victor, plus more than 700 movie stills, in both color and black-and-white.
It’s a must-have for the serious film fan and a wish-list item for trivia buffs, but note that it’ll set you back the cost of a few Blu-rays. With Osborne at the helm, though, rest assured it’s a class act. —Rod Lott
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