Monthly Archives: July 2010
Movie Quote of the Day – Ghost, 1990 (dir. Jerry Zucker)
Sam Wheat: It’s amazing, Molly. The love inside, you take it with you.
Oscar Vault Monday – A Clockwork Orange, 1971 (dir. Stanley Kubrick)
I first saw this film as a midnight movie my sophomore year at Berkeley. It scared the crap out of me. Walking home in the dark afterwards I was scared to death, even though I’d gone to a lot of midnight movies that semester and walked home each and every time. I think I was scared because the haunting atmosphere of A Clockwork Orange was still with me. When a movie can affect my immediate perception of the world around me, I know I’ve seen something quite brilliant. The film was nominated for four Academy Awards – Best Film Editing, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Picture. Three of the four of those nominations were for Kubrick as he wrote, directed and was sole producer of the film. It did not win a single award. It was up against Fiddle On The Roof, Nicholas and Alexander, The Last Picture Show and winner The French Connection. Confession: other than that one great car chase, The French Connection bored me to death.
Movie Quote of the Day – Planet of the Apes, 1968 (dir. Franklin J. Schaffner)
George Taylor: You Maniacs! You blew it up! Ah, damn you! God damn you all to hell!
Leonardo DiCaprio – His Best Roles
I thought it would be timely to write about DiCaprio this weekend considering he’s just had his biggest film opening ever. The Christopher Nolan penned and helmed Inception has already made $60.4 mil (that’s more than 2006’s Blood Diamond made in its entire run) and has landed at the top of the box office. 2010 has really been DiCaprio’s year; he’s starred in two of the best films of the year and has given two of the best performances of his career. I’m going to go over some of my favorite and, in my opinion, best roles he’s played over the years.
Movie Quote of the Day – To Have and Have Not, 1944 (dir. Howard Hawks)
Slim: You know you don’t have to act with me, Steve. You don’t have to say anything, and you don’t have to do anything. Not a thing. Oh, maybe just whistle. You know how to whistle, don’t you, Steve? You just put your lips together and. . .blow.
19 Best Picture Winners Available On Instant Netflix
I’ve seen 11 of these films and love most of them. The other eight I intend to watch Instant Netflix and so can you!
Three Contenders: Shutter Island, Toy Story 3 and Inception
I feel like 2010 has been a relatively slow year for movies. It’s almost universally acknowledged that this has been one of the worst movie summers ever. There are only about two or three films that have already been released this year that I’ve yet to see that I actually really want to see. That being said, there has also only been three films released this year that are even close to Best Picture quality: Shutter Island, Toy Story 3 and Inception. If the Academy is really going to keep having ten slots in that category, Hollywood is going to have to do a lot better than only three great films in a matter of seven months. I love all three of these films. Toy Story 3 made my whole family cry, including my 59-year-old father. I still can’t decide if I liked Shutter Island more or Inception more. The thing is both movies are full of great performances, but Shutter Island is really about Leo’s performance, whereas Inception felt like a true ensemble piece. I think I’m going to have to see Inception one more time before I can make that decision.
Spoilers may lurk after the cut.
Movie Quote of the Day – Wicker Park, 2004 (dir. Paul McGuigan)
Lisa: Take my picture. I’m feeling beautiful tonight.
Movie Quote of the Day – Girl, Interrupted, 1999 (dir. James Mangold)
Instructor: Now what kind of a tree can you be, Janet, down there on the floor?
Janet: I’m a fucking shrub, all right?
Trailer For Ben Affleck-Helmed “The Town”
I really love his directorial debut, 2007’s Gone Baby Gone, and this looks to be equally as good. It’s got an amazing ensemble cast including Affleck, Jon Hamm, Rebecca Hall, Blake Lively, Pete Postlethwaite, Jeremy Renner and Chris Cooper.
You can see the trailer here over at Apple. The film hits theaters on September 17th, 2010.
the diary of a film history fanatic 