Nothing But the Best: "Dances with Wolves" (1990)

Scene from Dances with Wolves

Welcome to the series Nothing But the Best in which I chronicle all of the Academy Award Best Picture winners as they celebrate their anniversaries. Instead of going in chronological order, this series will be presented on each film's anniversary and will feature personal opinions as well as facts regarding its legacy and behind the scenes information. The goal is to create an in depth essay for each film while looking not only how the medium progressed, but how the film is integral to pop culture. In some cases, it will be easy. Others not so much. Without further ado, let's start the show.

R.I.P. Michael Blake (1945-2015)

Sometimes it takes only one film to make an impact. While Michael Blake may not be the most prolific or recognizable writer in pop culture, his brief resume features the Best Picture winner Dances with Wolves. Following the story of a man who learns to befriend and cooperate with Indians, it was a story of tolerance that would come to define Blake's career following the film. While his IMDb page is sparse, his achievements are very noteworthy and has contributed a lot to the literary world, most recently with the 2011 book "Into the Stars."