Author Archives: Marya E. Gates
Movie Quote of the Day – Kansas City Confidential, 1952 (dir. Phil Karlson)
Joe Rolfe: Hey Tony, I know a sure cure for a nosebleed: a cold knife in the middle of the back.
Movie Quote of the Day – The Big Knife, 1955 (dir. Robert Aldrich)
Dixie Evans: I don’t care if I do see a snake. I’m sure I’d much rather see a snake than a Hollywood producer.
Movie Quote of the Day – Sorry, Wrong Number, 1948 (dir. Anatole Litvak)
Leona: I like you, that’s a different thing, too.
Henry: Like me, like you. Come on, we’re both acting like a couple of kids playing cat and mouse. Besides, what does a dame like you want with a guy like me?
The Horror, The Horror: October 2012 in Films
The bulk of this month was spent watching B-horror films, some of which I really love, others were okay for what they were and a few were downright awful. I also watched a handful of 2012 releases, one of which I will write a little bit more about after the cut. I added a new feature to the site called: Books on Film this month. Speaking of books, the Lew Ayres biography I wrote the foreword for should be out in bookstores/on Amazon today; if you would like to buy it (you should buy it!) you can do so here. If I ever meet you in real life, I will sign it for you. I wasn’t able to do much film watching outside of my one horror movie a day this month, but I did shoot a short film (once it is fully edited, I will post it for y’all to watch) and wrote 92 pages of a feature screenplay, so I think I am doing pretty well all things considered. Oh! I almost forgot, I also got to see Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure and Beetlejuice, as well as the 1979 sexy Frank Langella Dracula at the Castro theatre (other than the Lugosi one, my favorite Dracula) and Something Wild at the Roxie. Yay! for rep theatres!
Movie Quote of the Day – The Postman Always Rings Twice, 1946 (dir. Tay Garnett)
Cora Smith: It’s too bad Nick took the car.
Frank Chambers: Even if it was here we couldn’t take it, unless we’d want to spend the night in jail. Stealing a man’s wife, that’s nothing, but stealing a man’s car, that’s larceny.
Books on Film: Silhouettes From Pop Culture
This book is way too cool. It’s a collection of Victorian-style silhouettes made by artist Olly Moss of, you guessed it, famous characters from 20th century pop culture.
The subjects range from classic cinema to cartoons to cult cinema to television to contemporary cinema. There are even a few that I couldn’t recognize, which is fun as well as frustrating because the book doesn’t come with a guide, so if you can’t guess who the silhouette is of, you are out of luck. I’ve created a gallery of some of my favorites, but it’s only a fracture of what’s in store for you with this great book.
Disclaimer: This review is based on a review copy given to me by Titan Books, though the opinions are all my own.
Movie Quote of the Day – Uncle Buck, 1989 (dir. John Hughes)
Buck Russell: I don’t think I want to know a six-year-old who isn’t a dreamer, or a sillyheart. And I sure don’t want to know one who takes their student career seriously. I don’t have a college degree. I don’t even have a job. But I know a good kid when I see one. Because they’re ALL good kids, until dried-out, brain-dead skags like you drag them down and convince them they’re no good. You so much as scowl at my niece, or any other kid in this school, and I hear about it, and I’m coming looking for you! Take this quarter, go downtown, and have a rat gnaw that thing off your face! Good day to you, madam.
Books on Film: Lew Ayres Hollywood’s Conscientious Objector
This isn’t actually a review. It’s just me being excited because I wrote the foreword to this book and I just got my contributor’s copies and I want to share it with y’all. Please, pre-order a copy here; you’ll love it!
Movie Quote of the Day – Au revoir les enfants, 1987 (dir. Louis Malle)
Julien Quentin: You scared?
[pause]
Jean Bonnet: All the time.
Oscar Vault Monday – The Exorcist, 1973 (dir. William Friedkin)
My mother wouldn’t let me see this movie when I was a kid. She did, however, give the local rental store permission to allow me to rent rated R films. This was mostly for action pictures and such. One time, when I was about twelve years old, I went to the rental store with my friend Tiffany to rent movies for her birthday party and we all wanted to see The Exorcist, but it was rated R. Needless to say, I rented it for her. We watched it. It scared the shit out of us. My mother found out that I rented it and was very angry. That was my first experience with the movie. I didn’t see it again until I was 18 and I went to see it as a midnight movie the night before Halloween. That was one of the worst decisions I ever made in college. So many nightmare that night. I’d only seen it those two times, so I decided to rewatch it again in order to write about it now. After the cut are my thoughts. The film became the first horror film to be nominated for Best Picture, racking up 10 Academy Award nominations, winning two: Best Sound (won), Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, Best Film Editing, Best Adapted Screenplay (won), Best Supporting Actor Jason Miller, Best Supporting Actress Linda Blair, Best Actress Ellen Burstyn, Best Director William Friedkin and Best Picture. The other films nominated for Best Picture that year were: American Graffiti, Cries and Whispers, A Touch of Class and winner The Sting.
the diary of a film history fanatic 