Blog Archives
Female Filmmaker Friday: Ravenous, 1999 (dir. Antonia Bird)
I actually haven’t seen this film in several years, but I wanted to feature a horror film directed by a woman since it’s Halloween and this one a) is on Netflix and b) I remember relatively well. That said, this will mostly be a discussion of blood and hot men.
Movie Quote of the Day – L.A. Confidential, 1997 (dir. Curtis Hanson)
Johnny Stompanato: You want an autograph? Write to MGM.
Ed Exley: Since when do two-bit hoods and hookers give out autographs?
Johnny Stompanato: What’d you say to me?
Ed Exley: LAPD. Sit down.
Lana Turner: Who in the hell do you think you are?
Jack Vincennes: Ed…
Ed Exley: Take a walk, honey, before I haul your ass downtown.
Johnny Stompanato: You are making a large mistake.
Lana Turner: Get away from our table!
Ed Exley: Shut up! A hooker cut to look like Lana Turner is still a hooker.
Johnny Stompanato: Hey!
Ed Exley: She just looks like Lana Turner.
Jack Vincennes: She *is* Lana Turner.
Ed Exley: What?
Jack Vincennes: She *is* Lana Turner.
Zero-Time Academy Award Nominees – 20 of the Best Contemporary Actors Who’ve Never Been Nom’d For Oscar
I decided to do this list in alphabetic order, by last name. These are some 20 contemporary actors who have yet to be nominated for an Academy Award and who, in my opinion, deserve to be.
Oscar Vault Monday – L.A. Confidential, 1997 (dir. Curtis Hanson)
This film is one of the all-time great ensembles out there. It features stellar performances from so many great actors. It also is so wonderfully stylized, from the costumes to the sets to Jerry Goldsmith’s phenomenal score. The film was nominated for 9 Academy Awards in 1997. Although it lost Best Picture to Titanic, Kim Basinger walked away with the Best Supporting Actress award as did the Adapted Screenplay by Brian Helgeland and Curtis Hanson.
(500) Days of Summer and 9 Other Great Films the Academy Completely Ignored This Decade
I was really shocked that (500) Days of Summer was completely ignored by the Academy this year. It was on several critic’s top ten lists. It had won several critic awards for its screenplay. I really thought, at the very least, it would get nods for Original Screenplay and Editing (hello, that Expectations vs. Reality scene was fucking awesome). I even had it on my predictions for Best Picture.
Alas, this was not the case and was probably, for me, the biggest disappoint of Tuesday’s announcements. However, this is not the first time an amazing piece of cinema has gone completely un-lauded by the Academy. I’ve picked one film from each year of this past decade that also has zero Oscar nominations to its name.
the diary of a film history fanatic 
