Blog Archives
Movie Quote of the Day – Shadow of the Vampire, 2000 (dir. E. Elias Merhige)
F.W. Murnau: Frankly, Count, I find this composition unworkable. Could you return to your original mark, please? If it’s not in frame, it doesn’t exist.
Female Filmmaker Friday: Making Mr. Right, 1987 (dir. Susan Seidelman)
After I watched Desperately Seeking Susan a few weeks back, multiple people said I needed to follow it up with this little gem of a sci-fi romantic comedy.
Oscar Vault Monday – Places in the Heart, 1984 (dir. Robert Benton)
I can’t remember the first time I saw this movie, but it must have been a few years before 1997. I know this because in 1997 Con Air was released and at the time my favorite actors were Nicolas Cage (this was due to early viewings of his 80s films, and early 90s rom-coms), John Cusack and John Malkovich, thus I thought they made that movie just for me (it even had a Trisha Yearwood theme song!). The reason I loved Malkovich so much was this movie, so I would be lying if I didn’t say most of this piece is going to be about his performance. Places in the Heart was nominated for seven Academy Awards, winning two: Best Costume Design, Best Supporting Actor John Malkovich, Best Supporting Actress Lindsay Crouse, Best Actress Sally Field (won), Best Original Screenplay (won), Best Director and Best Picture.
Movie Quote of the Day – Shadows and Fog, 1991 (dir. Woody Allen)
Clown: We’re not like other people, we’re artists. You know: with great talent comes responsibility.
Oscar Vault Monday – The Killing Fields, 1984 (dir. Roland Joffé)
This is one of the most harrowing films I have ever seen. I think director Roland Joffé handled the film deftly, not being too sentimental or too hard. The film was nominated for seven Academy Awards, winning three: Best Cinematography (won), Best Film Editing (won), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor Haing S. Ngor (won), Best Actor Sam Waterston, Best Director and Best Picture. The other films nominated for Best Picture that year were A Passage To India, Places In The Heart, A Soldier’s Story and winner Amadeus.
Secretariat Trailer
I wasn’t too excited for this film until I saw the trailer this weekend when I saw Toy Story 3 (my thoughts on that film will come soon, I swear). After seeing the trailer, though, October 8th cannot come soon enough.
Trailer and info after the cut.
Trailer for “Red”
This film looks like it’ll be a lot of fun. It’s based on the comic book series of the same name by Warren Ellis and helmed by German director Robert Schwentke. The cast list reads like a dream: Bruce Willis, Mary-Louise Parker, John Malkovich, Morgan Freeman, Helen Mirren, Karl Urban, Brian Cox, Julian McMahon, Richard Dreyfuss and Ernest Borgnine. I love that Borgnine is still making films! And Helen Mirren wielding a machine gun? Priceless.
Trailer and synopsis after the cut.
the diary of a film history fanatic 