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Movie Quote of the Day – Running On Empty, 1988 (dir. Sidney Lumet)
Lorna: You are certifiable! What is this? Some sort of smart-ass joke? You’re taking cooking?
Michael: I want to learn how to cook.
Lorna: Yeah, right. You have some burning desire to learn how to make apple brown betty. . .
Michael: What are you doing here if you think so highly of it?
Lorna: Well, they wouldn’t let me take auto mechanics, and I didn’t have time to take the issue to the Supreme Court.
Moving, Jobs and Birthdays: June 2013 in Films
As I stated in last month’s end-of-the-month wrap-up, I moved to Los Angeles (North Hollywood to be specific) to start a job with the Warner Archive Collection at Warner Bros. in Burbank. I officially started on the 7th of June and it’s been a great few first weeks. We even got to go to the Saturn Awards last week (I met an Ewok and talked to Joss Whedon!!!). As far as cinema-going goes, I’ve gone to the ArcLight Sherman Oaks and the Laemmle NoHo 7 (several times). I also saw Some Like It Hot at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery as part of Cinespia, I saw Dial M For Murder at the Academy in 3D (amazing, Hitchock really used it as part of his storytelling tools) and finally got to see Boxing Day at the L.A. Film Fest, which co-starred my friend and teacher Matthew Jacobs. Yesterday was my 27th birthday and I am looking forward to a new year and another six months of unfettered cinematic love.
RIP Sidney Lumet, Master of Cinema
I am the first to admit I have not seen as many Lumet films as I would like; I’ve only seen six of his films. But I loved all six of those films. I also recently finished reading his book Making Movies and realized there were so many of his films that I need to see. I would recommend that book to anyone who just likes watching movies and especially to anyone who is thinking of going into filmmaking. He was a passionate filmmaker and if you couldn’t tell that from his films, that book removes any doubt. So I’m going to talk about those films that I have seen, as well as a few I have but that were nominated for Academy Awards. Lumet himself was nominated for Best Director four times and Best Original Screenplay once. Sadly, he never won a competitive Academy Award, although he received an Honorary Oscar in 2005.
the diary of a film history fanatic 