Author Archives: Marya E. Gates
Oscar Vault Monday – Dodsworth, 1936 (dir. William Wyler)
I first saw this film as part of TCM’s 31 Days of Oscar in 2011 when I was living in the back of my parents’ house in the midst of a post-college life crisis. I cried a lot. After watching this film, I mean, but also in general. I rewatched it last night and I think I love it more than I had thought possible. It’s such an expertly executed film, from Wyler’s direction, to the script (adapted from Sinclair Lewis’s novel by Sidney Howard, who would go one to write the adapted script for Gone With The Wind), to the performances by the film’s entire cast. It’s just plain perfect. The film was nominated for seven Oscars, winning one: Best Art Direction (won), Best Sound, Best Screenplay, Best Supporting Actress Maria Ouspenskaya, Best Actor Walter Huston, Best Director and Best Picture. The other films nominated for Best Picture that year were: Anthony Adverse, Libeled Lady, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, Romeo and Juliet, San Francisco, The Story of Louis Pasteur, A Tale of Two Cities, Three Smart Girls and The Great Ziegfeld.
Pre-Codes, the 80s and Biblical Epics: March 2013 in Films
March started out pretty good as far as films in theatres go with the Roxie’s annual Pre-Code festival. I saw a few new-to-me films (see below) and I also got to see longtime favorites Shanghai Express, Waterloo Bridge (the original) and Safe In Hell. I only managed to see two films at the Castro this month, though; one of my favorites from last year: Cloud Atlas, and one I’ve been wanted to see on the big screen foreverrrr: The Ten Commandments. Yesterday I rewatched Ben-Hur for the millionth time (I saw it on the big screen a few years back). As you will see when you get to my list for the month, I watched A LOT of films from the 1980s this month. This is because Netflix has an amazing selection of films owned by MGM streaming right now and I just cannot get enough. I saw a handful of 2013 releases (finally), but nothing that I think will last til the end of the year. Anyways, you can see this list below, as well as a look at my favorites for the month.
Movie Quote of the Day – April Fool’s Day, 1986 (dir. Fred Walton)
Arch: How can anyone be serious about anything when some moron can steal a bomb or push a button and nuke us all until our shadows glow?
Movie Quote of the Day – Blue Juice, 1995 (dir. Carl Prechezer)
Sarah: So, which one are you?
Dean: Oh, did Terry tell you about us? What did he say?
Sarah: He said J.C. was a brilliant surfer, but I know you’re not him. Josh was this really big record producer. . .
Dean: Go on.
Sarah: And Dean. . .
Dean: I can take it.
Sarah: He said you had lots of unfulfilled potential.
Dean: Did he? That’s a very nice way of saying I’m a never done anything fuck-up yob.
Sarah: He didn’t say that.
Dean: Well, he should have done. [beat] You gonna be all right on your own?
Sarah: [nods]
Dean: Only I’ve gotta go and fulfill that potential.
Movie Quote of the Day – Splendor in the Grass, 1961 (dir. Elia Kazan)
Wilma Dean: Bud, Bud. . .I just can’t stand it when you’re mad at me.
Bud: Oh, Deanie, I don’t know what’s the matter with me lately. I’m always losing my temper. You’re the only girl in the world for me, don’t you know that, Deanie?
Wilma Dean: I want to be.
Bud: If it weren’t for you. . .If it weren’t for you, Deanie, I’d. . .I don’t know. . .I. . .
Movie Quote of the Day – The Bad Seed, 1956 (dir. Mervyn LeRoy)
Hortense Daigle: I’m unfortunate, that’s all. Drunk and unfortunate, ladies and gentlemen.
Movie Quote of the Day – Clay Pigeons, 1998 (dir. David Dobkin)
Lester: A couple of months from now, after everything dies down, cools off a little, maybe you and old L. L. here can get together.
Clay: Fuck that.
Lester: Maybe go fishing.
Clay: Don’t do this!
Lester: Don’t get sassy, goddamn it! [laughs] You are a wild one. Adios, Amigo.
Movie Quote of the Day – From Dusk Till Dawn, 1996 (dir. Robert Rodriguez)
Seth: What did I tell you? What did I say to you? I said, “Buy the road map and leave.”
Richie: What the fuck am I supposed to do, Seth? He recognized us.
Seth: He didn’t recognize shit.
Richie: Seth, I’m telling you, the way he looked at us–you, especially–I knew he knew.
Seth: Low profile. Do you understand the meaning of the words “low profile”?
Richie: “Hey, Richie, how’s your hand?” “It hurts like a fuckin’ son of a bitch!”
Seth: Let me tell you what “low profile” is not.
Richie: “Thanks for askin’!”
Seth: It is not taking girls hostage. It is not shooting police. It is not setting fire to a building.
Richie: Bitch, bitch, bitch.
Movie Quote of the Day – Thief, 1981 (dir. Michael Mann)
Frank: Did it ever occur to you, to try to work for a living? Take down your own scores?
Unnamed Detective: OK, fuck this guy.
Urrizi: I’ll tell you something, I’m gonna be on your ass so much, you’re gonna get careless. And on that day I’m gonna be in that place.
Frank: And that, is the last place that you wanna be. ‘Cause no matter what happens, I will never, ever take a pinch from a greasy motherfucker like you.
Oscar Vault Monday – The Ten Commandments, 1956 (dir. Cecil B. DeMille)
So I have watched this film every year around Passover for as long as I can remember. I love it dearly. I was lucky enough to see it on the big screen at the Castro Theatre here in San Francisco yesterday in gorgeous restoration (it’s a shame my DVD screencaps below aren’t from the restoration; they pale in comparison to what I saw projected yesterday). The Ten Commandments was the highest grossing film of 1956 and was nominated for seven Academy Awards, winning one: Best Sound, Best Film Editing, Best Color Cinematography, Best Color Art Director, Best Color Costume Design, Best Special Effects (won) and Best Picture. The other films nominated for Best Picture that year were: Friendly Persuasion, Giant, The King and I and winner Around the World in Eighty Days.
the diary of a film history fanatic 