Peter Sarstedt

Artist: Peter Sarstedt

LP: As Though It Were a Movie

Song: "As Though It Were a Movie"

[ listen ]

The 2011 Oscar Nominations have been announced! Along with some good films like THE TREE OF LIFE, MIDNIGHT IN PARIS, and MONEYBALL, the Academy continued its trend of voting itself into irrelevance in the minds of anyone who actually still takes movies seriously by littering their list of Best Picture contenders with irritating, contrived melodrama (EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE), heavy-handed Spielbergian schmaltz (WAR HORSE), and simple-minded drivel (THE DESCENDANTS and THE HELP) that purports to address important social and political issues, but ends up pandering to the lowest common denominator at the multiplex instead. Meanwhile, Oscar voters once again ignored some of the year's most satisfying, challenging, and intelligent films—like 50/50, MELANCHOLIA, BEGINNERS, MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE, and DRIVE to name a few, and a couple of Werner Herzog documentaries to name a few more. Both HUGO and THE ARTIST are smart, enjoyable films that reach back to the motion picture industry's early days to relay stories that prove once and for all that movies are indeed as important to human life as water and air. This message resonates especially well with voting members of the Motion Picture Academy, and both films were amply rewarded by landing atop the Oscar heap with a total of 21 nominations between them. You can find a complete list of the 2011 Oscar nominations here. Anyway, in honor of this momentous day, I've posted something from a 1969 cinema-themed Peter Sarstedt LP that I picked up in Washington, DC a few months ago. The inside record sleeve features lots of people dressed up like famous Hollywood celebrities, so I've thrown together a little trivia exercise to see if you actually know your movie stars as well as you think you do. Good luck!

[ Can you spot the REAL Jimmy Stewart? ]

[ Which of these women is Marlene Dietrich? ]

[ "The Little Tramp" vs. a regular tramp. Can you tell the difference? ]

[ Will the real Jean Harlow please stand up? ]

[ Who can identify the REAL Walter Huston? ]

[ Which of these men is only pretending to be Lionel Barrymore? ]

[ Can you tell which of these beauties is NOT Lee Remick? ]

[ One of these hunks isn't really Joe Dallesandro...but which one? ]

[ Can you spot the REAL Edward Andrews? ]

[ Which of these men is comedian Bob Hope? ]

[ Peter Sarstedt sitting amongst the stars. ]