100 Years Young

Getting older in Hollywood isn't always a bad thing.

A century of movie making magic is nothing to scoff at. Being the oldest existing film studio means that not every film is golden, but Paramount Pictures has given us plenty of reasons to smile. You can thank them for Chinatown, the Star Trek film series, Stardust and Friday the 13th, among so many others. Go ahead, look through the DVDs on your shelf and see how many are emblazoned with the majestic mountain; it may take a while.

Starting January 6th, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will honor the studio's contributions by presenting an exhibition, Paramount's Movie Milestones: A Centennial Celebration. They've carefully chosen materials to highlight the iconic films and filmmakers from the studio's first hundred years. See time and technology march on through movie posters, production design and costume sketches and take a peek behind the scenes of movies like Raiders of the Lost Ark. It turns out that Steven Spielberg, like many of the characters he's directed, is pretty iconic.

As part of the shindig, The Academy is showing the 2011 digital restoration of Wings, the first flick to take Best Picture and the only silent film to ever do so (...yet). Follow it up with a viewing of a new Paramount release such as The Adventures of Tintin or the new Mission Impossible movie, and you'll have come full circle and gone on one hell of a ride. And don't miss the updated logo. Like a superhero of celluloid, they like to keep their look fresh, too.

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