Double Feature: Heaven Can Wait (1978) and The Accidental Tourist (1988)

Note: Out of the 496 films nominated for the Best Picture Oscar, I'm down to 148 left to see.

Heaven Can Wait:

When he is prematurely sent to Heaven, quarterback Joe Pendleton (Warren Beatty) is forced to inhabit the body of a recently-deceased millionaire. He meets idealist Betty Logan (Julie Christie), falls in love with her, and buys a football team in an attempt to play in the Super Bowl. But he must leave the body, as per the deal he made, and inhabit another - a football player's. As a quarterback once again at the end of the film, he must play until the game is over and try to get Betty back in the guise of a complete stranger. This film is so likable that it's easy to see why the Academy honored it.

The film received nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor (Jack Warden), Best Supporting Actress (Dyan Cannon), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, and Best Original Score. It took home one statuette for Best Art Direction.

The Accidental Tourist:

Lawrence Kasdan's adaptation of a noted bestseller features William Hurt as Macon Leary, a travel guide author. After his wife Sarah (Kathleen Turner) divorces him, he meets Muriel Pritchett (Geena Davis), a dog carer/trainer, as he leaves his dog at a kennel so that he can go away for work. Of course, he is reluctantly taken in by the woman and her son when he returns, and he grows to love them. Then his wife shows up to reconcile their marriage upon the finality of their divorce. Will he choose to go back to his wife or start a new one with Muriel? You probably know the answer, but it doesn't change the enjoyable aspects of the film. A.M.P.A.S. likes movies that go down easy, and this one certainly does.

The film received nominations for Best Picture, Best Supporting Actress (Davis), Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Original Score. Davis won a deserved Oscar for her scene-stealing performance.

Warren Beatty Making Heaven Wait

Name that bad pun, readers only!

Okay, so one of Hollywood's most identifiable icons is returning from a quasi- self-imposed retirement.  Warren Beatty, or Mr. Annette Bening, began his career opposite a sexually curious Natalie Wood in Splendor in the Grass, and, 14 Oscar nominations later his last film was Town & Country.  Beatty is one of a very small group of people to have twice earned four Oscar nominations for the same film.  As Producer, Leading Actor, Director, and screenwriter he was nominated for Heaven Can Wait and Reds, pulling in his only win for directing the latter.  His most famous performances include Dick Tracy, Bonnie and Clyde, Reds, Heaven Can Wait, Bugsy, Bulworth, and notable flops such as Town & Country and Ishtar.

But he's back.  And, staying true to form, Beatty is on board to star, write, produce, and yes, direct the new untitled comedy.  Though I personally have never gone gaga over Beatty, it's nevertheless thrilling to see a legend return to his craft.  Paramount chairman Brad Grey talks it up below:

"Warren's script is quintessential Beatty, elegantly written and wonderfully entertaining," enthused Paramount chairman Brad Grey. "It is our privilege to have one of the great artists in the history of cinema come home to Paramount."

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