“That's the way things go: you think you got a great yarn, and something comes along and messes up the finish - and there you are.”

But nothing messed up this one. The granddaddy (and grandma) of American Romantic Comedy still delivers.

“My, what a big bat!”

Or, the Big Movie Cat takes a bite out of Dracula!

Why did women talk about Dorian Gray in Whispers?

(Spoiler: It wasn’t just women…)

Victorian scandals, murder, dwarf prostitutes, and deals with the Devil…this one has it all. Oh yeah…and Angela Lansbury.

“Good grief! My own dog has gone commercial!”

Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown…and thank you for over a half century of holiday spirit.

Don’t expose your Mogwai to bright light, don’t let him get wet, and whatever you do, don’t feed him after midnight.

also

Don’t let your 10 year-old watch this unless you want to traumatize her for life.

“Could it be that some of you are not acquainted with the story of Rudolph?”

also

“Donner! You should be ashamed of yourself!”

Ok…we know Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is a TV movie. But it’s Christmas.

“You know, I had a dream. I dreamt I was home. I've had that same dream hundreds of times before. This time, I wanted to find out if it's really true. Am I really home?”

A tough and timeless tribute to the challenges and triumphs of our veterans.

“Well I ain't sorry for you no more, ya crazy, psalm-singing, skinny old maid!”

also…

“By the authority vested in me by Kaiser William the Second I pronounce you man and wife. Proceed with the execution.”

“I’m a big girl.”

“Yeah…in all the right places.”

also

“That’s funny…that plane’s dustin’ crops where there ain’t no crops.”

1984 is a good movie. 1984 has always been a good movie.

also…

“It’s a beautiful thing…the destruction of words.”

1984 is in fact a very good movie and reasonably faithful to Orwell’s book.

What do you do for fun?”

“I go to funerals.”

Harold and Maude is a lot of things: dark comedy, social commentary, and romance. It is also very good.

“Shoot straight, you bastards. Don't make a mess of it!”

Complex. Controversial. Challenging.

War puts good men and women in unimaginable positions. Choices are forced, character challenged, and loyalties tested. Breaker Morant is a study in miniature of war and the people who fight it.

“Flash, Flash, I love you…but we only have fourteen hours to save the Earth!”

Ming the Merciless, Flash Gordon, Dale Arden, Hans Zarkov, and the music of Queen. What’s not to love?

Flash Gordon isn’t the best sci-fi film ever made. It’s not in the top hundred. But it is a lot of fun.

A president with record high disapproval numbers. An economy in the tank. Fear of Russian influence. Mysterious deaths. And a secret plot by the military, members of Congress, and the media to take over the country.

Sound familiar? If it does we hope it is because you’ve already seen Seven Days in May.

Who’s the black private dick that’s a sex machine to all the chicks?

When you watch the opening scene of Shaft, with the camera zooming in from the sky to the street and Isaac Hates’ infectious theme booming, you know right away that you are in for something different.

“This is not a war for the independence of one or two colonies, but for the independence of a nation.”

The American Revolution has received a far amount of attention over the last decade or two, with solid books by Joseph Ellis (American Creation) and David McCullough (1776), television series like Turn and John Adams, and even a musical - Hamilton. But there haven’t been a whole lot of big screen movies on it.

“We’re marching south to the sea. And we’ll smash everything they put against us.”

There are epics and there are epics. Some movies get that title because they are long. Some because they attempt (often poorly) to cover a rich story that sweeps across time and space. Some claim it because of the raw star power of their cast. And some because of the impact they had on society and culture.

“When You’ve Seen One Stradivarius, You’ve Seen Them All.”

The Pink Panther, grandcat to a franchise that ran for 30 years, might not have the legs of a Stradivarius, but it still plays pretty well.

“You Fight for the Lost Causes Harder Than any Other”

Fake News. Deep State Collusion. Corruption. Police Abuse. Alternative News…and Alternative Facts.

In 1939.

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is one of the best known Frank Capra and Jimmy Stewart films that no one has watched (unless they were fortunate enough to be in my 8th grade civics class).