Oscars 2019: What Makes a Best Picture?

Looking to prepare yourself for your weekend Oscars conversations? Interested in what makes movies "good"? Still holding a grudge that Shakespeare In Love won Best Picture over Saving Private Ryan?

Come join Kellogg's Media and Entertainment Club for equal parts information and discussion about what makes a Best Picture Academy Award. You'll be informed, you'll be entertained -- you'll even be fed!

Want to prepare? Consider this your prep-work:

"No Country For Old Men -- Don't Underestimate the Audience" Lessons from the Screenplay - All great movies must start with great writing, so take a page from Michael at Lessons from the Screenplay and dig into one of the better-written recent Best Picture winners

"Bright: The Apotheosis of Lazy World-Building" Lindsay Ellis - Creating a world that feels rich and believable is one of the hardest things to do, but is something critically necessary to success. Lindsay Ellis does a great job of breaking down a recent film that shows all the hallmarks of bad world-building

"Movie Accent Expert Breaks Down 32 Actors' Accents" Wired - What is a great movie without great acting? Dialect coach Erik Singer breaks down what makes a great accent, highlighting a handful from Best Picture winners such as Philip Seymour Hoffman in Capote

"See With Your Ears: Spielberg and Sound Design" Nerdwriter - Often overlooked, sound design is one of the most critical pieces of a great movie, something that brings the viewer into the narrative and helps point their attention in the appropriate direction. Nerdwriter's excellent breakdown of how Spielberg uses sound in Munich is a great test case

"How to Begin a Movie" & "How to Write a Great Ending" The Closer Look - What's a great movie if it doesn't get off on the right foot, or leave you hungering for more at the end? The Closer Look offers a great examinations of the all-important bookends

"How to do Action Comedy" & "How to do Visual Comedy" Every Frame A Painting - While comedy movies never win Best Picture, a well-executed comedy can give you great insight on what makes a film 'great'. Every Frame a Painting uses Jackie Chan and Edgar Wright to explain just how important the details are in filmmaking