Blog Archives
Oscar Vault Monday – The Hustler, 1961 (dir. Robert Rossen)
This is one of those films that sucks you into its world and doesn’t let up for a moment until it’s over. Then afterwards you realize you’ve forgotten to breathe for two and a half hours. This is definitely one of Paul Newman’s best performances, though pretty much all of Paul Newman’s performances are his best because, like Jack Lemmon, Newman is always good. The Hustler was nominated for nine Academy Awards, winning two: Best B&W Art Direction (won), Best B&W Cinematography (won), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor Jackie Gleason, Best Supporting Actor George C. Scott, Best Actress Piper Laurie, Best Actor Paul Newman, Best Director and Best Picture. The other films nominated for Best Picture that year were Fanny, The Guns of Navarone, Judgement at Nuremberg and winner West Side Story.
Movie Quote of the Day – Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, 1958 (dir. Richard Brooks)
Margaret “Maggie” Pollitt: You know what I feel like? I feel all the time like a cat on a hot tin roof.
Brick Pollitt: Then jump off the roof, Maggie. Jump off it. Cats jump off roofs and land uninjured. Do it. Jump.
Margaret “Maggie” Pollitt: Jump where? Into what?
Brick Pollitt: Take a lover.
[beat]
Margaret “Maggie” Pollitt: I don’t deserve that.
Movie Quote of the Day – The Hustler, 1961 (dir. Robert Rossen)
Fast Eddie: Boy, you better, you tell your boys they better kill me, Bert. They better go all the way with me, ’cause if they just bust me up, I’ll put all those pieces back together again, then so help me. . .So help me God, Bert, I’m gonna come back here and I’m gonna kill you.
My Summer Under The Stars – 46 Movies in 31 Days on TCM
I actually watched 68 new-to-me movies in August altogether, which I believe is a record for me. 46 of them, however were on Turner Classic Movies’s Summer Under The Stars. There were several days where I watched between four and six films all in a row on TCM. There were even some days where in the midst of watching new-to-me films I watched some old favorites as well. I discovered at least one old film star I’d never known about and now love. I finally watched some essential classic films that had somehow escaped me up until now. I watched a few films that were pretty forgettable and I discovered some films that I will love forever. Overall, it was a wonderful journey of film immersion for someone who loves film down to her bones, and now I don’t know what do to with my life until next August.
Oscar Vault Monday – Cat On A Hot Tin Roof, 1958 (dir. Richard Brooks)
This is one of my favorite classic films. It’s a masterful adaptation of Tennessee Williams’ play of the same name. Like many a Williams play, it is hot and steamy and filled with tension. Richard Brooks is such an amazing director and he hits every note of the film perfectly. Somehow this masterpiece lost the Best Picture award to the overblown, boring musical adaptation Gigi. I watched Gigi recently I was aghast that it had won nine Oscars. I thought it was absolutely one of the most boring, overwrought films I’d ever seen. Then to add insult to injury I discovered it beat Cat On A Hot Tin Roof. This is definitely a case of pomp winning over substance. Cat On A Hot Tin Roof was nominated for six Academy Awards, but didn’t win a single one: Best Actor – Paul Newman, Best Actress Elizabeth Taylor, Best Color Cinematography, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Director – Richard Brooks and Best Picture. Aside from the two acting categories, it lost all the awards to Gigi. The other nominees for Best Picture that year were Auntie Mame, Separate Table and The Defiant Ones.
the diary of a film history fanatic 