Blog Archives
Movie Quote of the Day – A Soldier’s Story, 1984 (dir. Norman Jewison)
C.J. Memphis: Any man ain’t sure where he belong, gotta’ be in a whole lotta pain.
Movie Quote of the Day – The Russians Are Coming The Russians Are Coming, 1966 (dir. Norman Jewison)
Pete Whittaker: Ask them if they’re Russians!
Walt Whittaker: Peter, be quiet.
Lieutenant Rozanov: [thick Russian accent] Very clever little boy. Very, very clever, to see that my friend and I are foreigners here, but of course not Russian, naturally. What would the Russians be doing on United States of America island, with so many animosities and hatreds between these two countries? It is too funny an idea, is it not? No, we. . .we are of course. . .Norveegans.
Walt Whittaker: Norweigans?
Lieutenant Rozanov: On a small training exercise for the Nyaato countries…
Alexei Kolchin: NATO!
Lieutenant Rozanov: NATO countries, of course, yes. Ah, to reach place of power motorboats it is necessary to make borrowings of automobile, for a short time only, sir.
Walt Whittaker: Uh…uh…may, may I ask you something, please?
Lieutenant Rozanov: Yes, of course.
Walt Whittaker: Are, are there nine of you out there, and are you all Russians with machine guns, and does one of you look like Uncle Ha. . .I meant, look like a wrestler?
Lieutenant Rozanov: Unnnnnnngh. . .I am sorry to, uh, comply with your statement, but misfortunately, all of the answers to these questions are. . .yes.
Oscar Vault Monday – Moonstruck, 1987 (dir. Norman Jewison)
I don’t even remember when I first saw this movie, but it must be over 15 years ago now. I love it so much. I used to own in on VHS, yes VHS, and I’d watch it anytime I needed a pick-me-up. There’s just this wonderful energy about the entire film. It’s a lot of fun and full of heart. It was up for six Academy Awards, winning three: Best Actress – Cher (she won), Best Supporting Actress – Olympia Dukakis (she won), Best Original Screenplay – John Patrick Shanley (he won), Best Supporting Actor – Vincent Gardenia, Best Director – Norman Jewison and Best Picture. It was up against Broadcast News, Fatal Attraction, Hope and Glory and winner The Last Emperor.
1967: The Year Cinema Changed Forever
I know there is at least one book on this subject and I haven’t had a chance to read it yet, but thanks to TCM showing several movies from that year, I have to agree completely. What I mean by Cinema, is Hollywood and American Cinema, because a lot of how it changed was based on things French New Wave directors had already been doing for almost ten years.
One way to see this change is by looking at the five films that were nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars that year. Four of the films are harbingers of the new Hollywood. One is old guard and because of that in addition I want to talk about another film that, although nominated for four Oscars, was not up for Best Picture.
The five films up for Best Picture were Bonnie & Clyde, Doctor Dolittle, The Graduate, Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner and In The Heat of the Night. The film sixth film I’m going to discuss is In Cold Blood.