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Bishop T.D. Jakes on the Repercussions of Slavery
Last night I watched Oprah Winfrey’s interview with Dallas mega-church pastor Bishop T.D. Jakes. Having lived in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area for nine years and driven by The Potter’s House (Jakes’s...
View ArticleSidney Poitier on “That Slap”
“If he slaps me, I’m going to slap him back. You will put onto paper that the studio agrees the film will be shown nowhere in the world with me standing there taking the slap. [...] I knew I would have...
View ArticleLambs Trump Gigolos
My film students get to choose next week’s film… Students: So what’s American Gigolo about? Me: Young, hot-ish Richard Gere running around naked, involved in a murder. Students: Yeah, we’ll go with The...
View ArticleThe Stage: Life Cannot Compete (Quote of the Day)
This entry is part 28 of 29 in the series Quote of the Day. You know there is one thing about acting that I miss. I was in love with an actress. Beautiful, talented actress. And when we were together...
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Being Warren Beatty (Quote of the Day)
This entry is part 24 of 29 in the series Quote of the Day. “And that became our central problem: I wanted to be Warren Beatty, not love him.” – Diane Keaton, Then Again (2011)
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“You’re Not Special,” Commencement Speaker (Accurately) Notifies Graduates
This entry is part 24 of 29 in the series Quote of the Day. Fly, fly away, little caps, and remember: you're not special. You are not special. You are not exceptional. Contrary to what your soccer...
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Matthew Perry Takes Down Idiotic Men (Quote of the Day)
This entry is part 23 of 29 in the series Quote of the Day. While I watched the 2012 Comedy Awards, this speech from Matthew Perry stuck out: “This year we saw many hilarious performances by women, as...
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The Director, the Set, the Star, and Her Vibrator: Hollywood Lore from...
This entry is part 22 of 29 in the series Quote of the Day. Lucille Bremer hiding something in Yolanda and the Thief? Vincente Minnelli’s emphasis on visual effects and props sometimes led him to...
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Why Steve Carell and I Dislike DVD Commentaries (Quote of the Day)
This entry is part 23 of 29 in the series Quote of the Day. Why not have a drink, you two? If someone asks me How do you go about [creating that joke or nailing that scene]? I find it very difficult to...
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Backstage Musicals: For People Without Balls (Quote of the Day)
This entry is part 21 of 29 in the series Quote of the Day. Any of you have the balls? The main reason why most film and TV musicals are backstagers is simple: it provides a ready-made excuse for...
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I’m Not Impressed: Elaborate CGI vs. Old-Fashioned Planning (Quote of the Day)
This entry is part 20 of 29 in the series Quote of the Day. Don't fall, little fella. The opening pre-title-card sequence in Hugo (Martin Scorsese, 2011) takes us through all the mechanisms of all the...
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Woody Allen’s Smoking Hot Body (Quote of the Day)
This entry is part 18 of 29 in the series Quote of the Day. I was in love with him before I knew him. He was Woody Allen. Our entire family used to gather around the TV set and watch him on Johnny...
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What, An Erotic Judy Garland? Burn the Negative! (Quote of the Day)
This entry is part 17 of 29 in the series Quote of the Day. Since I’m currently infatuated with certain sensual scenes/shots from The Pirate (Vincente Minnelli, 1948), here are a couple of...
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Woody Allen on Double Indemnity (Quote of the Day)
This entry is part 25 of 29 in the series Quote of the Day. “It has all the characteristics of the classic forties film as I respond to it. It’s in black and white, it has fast badinage, it’s very...
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The Movie Ratings System and Jack Valenti’s Delusions
This entry is part 17 of 29 in the series Quote of the Day. On this day in 1968, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) put into effect its self-imposed ratings system. The initial categories...
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Orson Welles “Apologizes” for War of the Worlds (Quote of the Day)
This entry is part 16 of 29 in the series Quote of the Day. I'm not apologizing to you nitwits. IT'S FICTION! “I’m extremely surprised to learn that a story, which has become familiar to children...
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Good and Bad in The Maltese Falcon (Quote of the Day)
This entry is part 15 of 29 in the series Quote of the Day. Brigid O’Shaughnessy: I haven’t lived a good life. I’ve been bad, worse than you could know. Sam Spade: You know, that’s good, because if you...
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Thank You, Vince Gilligan, for Listening to Billy Wilder (Quote of the Day)
This entry is part 14 of 29 in the series Quote of the Day. There’s the old saying attributed to Billy Wilder, who said, “If you give the audience two plus two, and you let them add it up so it equals...
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Penis Jokes and Hollywood Comedy (Quote of the Day)
This entry is part 13 of 29 in the series Quote of the Day. Penis jokes have been laced throughout virtually every type of film in the last decade or two. [...] Psychoanalysis stresses the significance...
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Thanks for Taking That Calligraphy Class, Steve Jobs (Quote of the Day)
This entry is part 12 of 29 in the series Quote of the Day. “Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country. Throughout the campus every poster, every label...
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