List: Five movies about presidents

Posted on February 18, 2008 at 8:00 am

Why have there been no great films about George Washington? And why are there so many films featuring Abraham Lincoln? From the John Ford classic Young Mr. Lincoln, starring Henry Fonda, to Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, there is something about the tall man with the wry sense of humor that is very cinematic.
Five great movies for President’s Day:
1. Young Mr. Lincoln Long before he ran for President, we see Abe Lincoln mourn his first love and defend his first clients.
2. Independence Day Bill Pullman is a former fighter pilot who leads America and the world after an alien attack.
3. Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb This cold-war farce has Peter Sellers in three roles, including President of the United States. His conversation with his counterpart in the USSR is a masterpiece. (Some mature material).
kisses%20for%20my%20president.jpg 4. “Kisses for My President” Not available on DVD or video, this all-but forgotten 1964 film features Polly Bergan as the nation’s first female President, but in this pre-feminist era its focus is on the problems faced by her husband, played by Fred McMurray. It is every bit as silly as its title suggests and you will never believe how it all gets resolved. (Guesses welcome)
5. Air Force One Harrison Ford is the President as action hero. When Air Force One is captured by terrorists, it’s a good thing that the man who played Han Solo and Indiana Jones is on hand.

List of lists — metaphors, bad dates, movies about movies, writers, and insurance adjusters

Posted on February 16, 2008 at 8:00 am

Mental Floss has a very intriguing list of 8 movie metaphors worth puzzling over. Yes, there’s the knight playing chess with Death in “The Seventh Seal” in the intro, but the list also has some unexpected and thought-provoking items, including the dying fish in Badlands and the pudding in Punch-Drunk Love. The list is rich and rewarding, with some marvelous clips, some thoughtful comments, and a wonderfully insightful quote from Roger Ebert about a dancing chicken.

And from the sublime to the (intentionally) ridiculous: Cinematical’s list of the worst first dates on film, from the funny (“License to Drive”) to the horrifying (“Hard Candy” and “Taxi Driver”). I’d add Ben and Elaine’s first date in “The Graduate,” the awkward but heart-warming date in “Marty,” and, of course, “Sixteen Candles.”

Entertainment Weekly has a great list in honor of next week’s “Be Kind Rewind” — movies about making movies. You can’t do better than Singin’ in the Rain and Sullivan’s Travels, two of the greatest films ever made. I was glad to see the list include neglected gems Living in Oblivion and The Big Picture. Movie fans have spent hours speculating on the inspirations for some of the characters and situations satirized in those films. Francois Truffaut’s lovely film Day for Night is another great choice. I would add to EW’s list the David Mamet film State and Main and the movie about the making of “Citizen Kane,” RKO 281 – The Battle Over Citizen Kane.

They also salute the end of the writer’s strike with a list of movies about writers. It’s hard to make a compelling film about someone staring at a blank page and pounding on a typewriter, but movies are, after all, written by writers, and writers love to write about what they know best. So, there are a lot of movies about writing movies and the people who write them. The list includes In a Lonely Place with Humphrey Bogart, “The Muse” with Albert Brooks and Sharon Stone, and Nicolas Cage as twin brothers with very different approaches to writing in Adaptation.

The Insurance Information Institute has issued its list of the best movies featuring insurance agents and adjusters. They’ve got classics like Double Indemnity and Memento, but what about The Incredibles? Who can forget Mr. Incredible’s ignoring the rules to help a client get her claim paid?

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Q&A with The Movie Mom

Posted on February 2, 2008 at 8:00 am

More recent questions and answers. Thanks to all who wrote!
I am looking for the title to a movie from late 70s or 80s about a group of US teenagers on field trip to Europe (I think a French class to Paris) that get embroiled in a spy plot where the male protagonist/classmate gets mistaken for an agent and plays the hero’s role– a comedy action film.
Angelinonsf was right on this one — it is “If Looks Could Kill” with Richard Grieco.
The 1985 movie <a href="Gotcha! with Anthony Edwards had him involved with a spy but not mistaken for one. Thanks, Angelinonsf!
I can’t find the name of the TV show or name of the judge that had court cases on tv in the 80’s or early 90’s. He was an older male, bald, and was once a referee in an Evander Holyfield championship boxing match. He himself was once a boxer.
That is Judge Mills Lane. (Thanks to my son the boxing expert for the assist on that one.)
What is the name of the movie with the little boy who writes letters to “his father” who is on a “ship.” His mom answers his letters and mails them back to him. When the ship “his dad is on” is scheduled to dock in their town, the boy gets really excited about meeting his dad. So she puts an ad in the paper to hire someone to pretend to be the boy’s dad for the duration of the ship’s stay. I saw the trailer once and forgot the name. I think it is a couple of years old. Anyhow, she ends up really liking the guy. I don’t know what happens next because I have not seen the movie. Can you help me find out the name of the movie so I can finally rent it?
dear%20frankie.jpg That lovely movie is <a href="Dear Frankie” with Emily Mortimer and Gerard Butler. Enjoy!
What is the name of the family movie from the 80’s (I think) where a little boy kept seeing bubbles in an old flooded quarry and the “monster” turned out to be an old piece of machinery?
That is a 1986 movie called <a href="The Quest” with Henry Thomas, who was the star of “E.T.”
There was a movie in which some kids attempt to teach a bully a lessen. He drowns by accident and they panic and cover it up he drowns in a river on a boat trip after playing truth or dare, I think.
That movie is Mean Creek (2004). Very sensitively done, with beautiful performances.
What is the name of the movie where a little boy is chasing someone saying “where’s my $2?”
That movie is 1985’s Better Off Dead with John Cusack.

(more…)

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Beliefnet salutes 2008 movies and the all-time top Westerns

Posted on January 31, 2008 at 8:34 am

This is my third year as one of the nominators for Beliefnet’s annual awards that pay tribute to the most spiritually nourishing and inspiring films of the year. Each of the candidates is presented with pro and con statements (mine is the pro for Emile Hirsch’s performance in “Into the Wild”), with the awards to be decided by Beliefnet voters. Please visit the site and let us know what you thought about the nominated films and performances.
And I enjoyed Idol Chatter’s list of the 10 Most Inspiring Westerns. Westerns are epic and mythic. They present stark contrasts — cowboys and Indians, outlaws and sheriffs, ranchers and herders, railroads and farmers, gamblers and solid citizens, dancehall girls and prim schoolteachers. I do not agree with all of the choices (especially “Maverick” and “Tombstone”), but endorse with enthusiasm the selection of Silverado as the top choice. This year’s 3:10 to Yuma is worth including. But why limit the list to recent films? Classics like The Searchers, High Noon, My Darling Clementine, How the West Was Won, How the West Was Won, and Red River should be seen by everyone.

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Remembering Heath Ledger

Posted on January 23, 2008 at 9:47 am

Heath Ledger’s death is a terrible loss. He was an actor of great sensitivity and commitment. Most of the appreciations and obituaries focus on his Oscar-nominated performance in Brokeback Mountaintribute that emphasizes Ledger’s willingness to take risks in character roles. In the best of his performances, he played young men who were struggling with their feelings and struggling even more with their inability to express them. His brief appearance in Monster’s Ball was the foundation of everything that followed. Not many people saw his superb performance in the Australian film Candy, as a drug addict.

Today, though, I want to think of him in his lighter films. He made the silly but irresistible rock-jousting movie A Knight’s Tale a delight. He was proud that the director used his suggestion of David Bowie’s “Golden Years” song for the dance number. And he was a spirited modern-day Petruccio in 10 Things I Hate About You, strutting the tiers of the school’s football stadium as he sang “Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You.” Cat (Julie Stiles) realized she could not resist him at that moment and audiences felt the same way.

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