GREAT MOVIE QUOTES — by Steve Nadis
But first a little background: Lately I’ve been getting a lot of DVDs from the local library, which has greatly expanded its collection of late. Libraries, it seems, have finally picked up on the fact that people have stopped reading books. If they want to stay in business, they need to go whole hog into the video market. If not, NetFlix may soon replace our public libraries in addition to replacing the swiftly vanishing neighborhood video store. As I was saying, I get a number of DVDs from the library, about five per week (which is the limit); since they’re free, I grab things somewhat indiscriminately and only get around to one or two of the five, at most. When I don’t know much about the movie, I check out reviews online at places like Movies.com. Here are some good (I mean “great”) quotes from reviews I’ve recently found there:
Under the heading, “MIXED REVIEWS FOR THE WORLD’S FASTEST INDIAN,” here’s what Newsday (21⁄2 stars out of 4) had to say: “… so amiably unrelenting in its quest to disarm, it sometimes feels like someone tickling your belly with a feather while holding a knife to your throat.” Here’s a so-called “mixed review” for the latest(?) Godard film, “IN PRAISE OF LOVE” from the New York Times: “the decorous prose, graceful penmanship and impressive paper stock cannot disguise the banality of what is written.” If that passes for “mixed,” I’d hate to be panned in the Times.
I returned “THE NOTEBOOK” sight unseen after reading this from Rolling Stone (1 star out of 4): “there’s no way to endure the movie without earplugs and a blindfold.” The Times was only slightly more charitable: “the movie veers between unbleached sugar and artificial sweetener. “
Well, that’s it for Great Movie Quotes this week. Be sure to come back for our next session of Great Movie Quotes. Until then, the balcony is closed. Kindly remove all candy wrappers, popcorn boxes, syringes, and used condoms.
A bit digressive - but I must ask: Does the library allow 5 free rental DVDs per week if you take out a book or no book required? I’m just curious about this (new?) public library add-on.
Thanks FW for the perceptive question. You don’t need to take out any books at all. I try to check out at least one, as a face-saving gesture, to let them know that I haven’t yet forgotten how to read a book. Of course, what you do with the book after you check it out is up to you. I often use it as a placeholder for my remote control.
TRE BANAL
Right again, Z. Did I say “Great Movie Quotes”? What was I thinking? I meant to say “Banal Movie Quotes.” Thanks for catching that typo.