Day #24 - January 31

Today's entry is a little different -- I just watched SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK, and I have to say that I loved the movie not only because it was so incredibly well-done but because Sammy would have loved it, too.  All of the Eagles references, the game scene, and the awesome come-back by Jennifer Lawrence's character detailing the wins for both the Eagles and Phillies -- I laughed and cried and had a huge meltdown when the movie ended. If you want to see a movie that makes you remember our Sammy, go see this one.  Seriously.  

And in honor of David O. Russell, who produced and directed SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK, here is Sam's review of I HEART HUCKABEES, also directed by Russell and worked on by Sam as part of Rudin Productions.

I HEART HUCKABEES – "How am I not myself?"
So what if it ends up being about nothing?  Can a combination of small, brilliant moments amount to an enjoyable experience? Absolutely.  Why do I keep asking myself questions and then answering
them?  I don't know.  All I know is this, Mark Wahlberg's name is Tommy Corn.  Geckos.  Fuckabees.  Dixie Chicks.  The Shania story. Human drama.  Caterine Vauban's business card.  Petroleum.  Jessica Lange.  My infinite nature.  Tippi Hedren cursing.  Albert with his
mother.  This is Paris and here's a cheeseburger.  And what about the little cracks between those little particles?

SCENE TO REMEMBER: Every time Bernard (Dustin Hoffman) and Vivian
(Lily Tomlin) part ways, they give each other a passionate,
open-mouthed kiss.

Mom's note: Because Sam worked on this movie and told us how much he loved it, Frank and I actually went to see it in a movie theater, where we proceeded to laugh so hard that people were looking at us...really. 

Day #25 - January 30

SAM ON A WILDLY SUCCESSFUL JUDD APATOW MOVIE

THE 40 YEAR-OLD VIRGIN – "You know how when you grab a woman's
breast...it feels like...a bag of sand."
A lot of this movie was improvised, and you can really tell.  And
even though it's a basically a two hour TV show, it was consistently
the funniest comedy of the year.  You actually care about Steve
Carell's character, which is more than you can say about any of the
other Frat Pack movies (OLD SCHOOL, ANCHORMAN, WEDDING CRASHERS,
etc.).  If nothing else, the running Michael McDonald jokes are worth
the price of admission.

SCENE TO REMEMBER: The Age of Aquarius.

MORAL TO THE STORY: Wait until you're 40 to lose your virginity and
make sure it's with an ice queen like Catherine Keener.

Mom's note: My first Judd Apatow experience was compliments of Sam -- he gave me the FREAKS & GEEKS collection for Christmas one year.  I totally loved the series -- and loved Steve Carrell in this movie.  Glad Apatow moved from Will Ferrell (arrgh) to Steve...

Day #26 - January 29

SAM ON ONE OF THOSE  TIME-BENDING ROMANTIC (?) MOVIES

ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND – "Valentine's Day is a
holiday invented by greeting card companies to make people feel like
crap."

Finally, an honest adult movie about human relationships (the
non-abusive kind).  We have two people who are in love with each
other, but grow tired of each other.  It's not that they don't love
each other; they do.  It's just that there is nothing new and
everything is taken for granted.  When confronted with the prospect of
starting over, going through the misery and the boredom all over
again, what do they resolve?  It's worth it.  All of it.  And yes,
that's very romantic (no sarcasm).

SCENE TO REMEMBER: The look Clementine (Kate Winslet) gives Joel (Jim
Carrey) when she goes up to get her stuff after their "first" night.

Mom's note: Love Kate, hate Jim -- but I did like this movie.  And I actually got to meet Kate at an awards show in New York in January 2008, compliments of Sam's big boss...

Day #27 - January 28

SAM ON HAVING A "MOVIE MOM"...

An email conversation among Sam's tracking group about some movies that I happen to know about -- personally:
SM: MANNEQUIN is one of my favorite movies.
SAM: My mother was an extra in MANNEQUIN.  But she didn't make the final cut.  Sniff, sniff.
SM: Are you serious??? That is the coolest thing I have ever heard! Did she say it was a fun set? Did they play "Mannequin" games?
SAM: She likes to talk more about TRADING  PLACES and DEAD POETS SOCIETY. With those, she appears onscreen, but only with  DEAD POETS do you see her face (she was Meeks' mother, she sits with him in the opening scene).  She always has good things to say about Peter Weir and John Landis.  Michael Gottlieb has never been brought up. But they TOTALLY remember her.
AS: Can we have Sam's mom as a guest speaker for our next get-together? [Note: Was supposed to be a bowling night]
SAM: Well. She used to bowl. In a league. [Poorly at best, I must add.]
SM: I just read this for some reason...you are Hollywood royalty!!! Is that how you got into the Ben & Jerry's short films business? [Note: Sam did a fake ad as Ben in the Northwestern sketch comedy TV show]
SAM: Unfortunately, I had to sleep with the guy who played Jerry.
           Actually, fortunately.

23 years ago...3 gingers in a row. That's why I got the part.

Mom's note: Besides the fact that Sam actually referred to me in a "business" email, I love this one because you really get a sense of Sam's sense of humor.

Day #28 - January 27

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT -- SAM ON HIS BELOVED IGGLES AND HIS REASON FOR THE LATENESS OF 2004'S REVIEWS

The Philadelphia Eagles are in the Super Bowl.  For this reason only,
this list is a week later than normal.  See, I normally type this out
pre-Oscar nominations so as not to be influenced by them.  Influence
means going from not liking a movie to hating it.  It never goes the
opposite way.  I didn't find new appreciation in SEABISCUIT post
nomination time last year.

So I purposely waited a week because I couldn't write this list before
the NFC Championship game because I'd be too jittery.  And I couldn't
write it immediately after the game because I'd either be too
enthusiastic and forgiving or unremittingly depressed, i.e. –
foregoing any top ten list—they all sucked balls and I hate my life,
etc.

For those of you who think it childish that I get so worked up about a
football team—first off, fuck you, YOU'RE childish.  Secondly, I'm
from the Delaware Valley.  Finally, I'm a transplant to Los Angeles.
Watching my teams on TV makes me feel like I'm at home.  I could have
just returned from Wawa or heard the word wutter (water) or overcome
poison ivy.  But then I cough from the bad air, eat good sushi, and
sit outside in a T-shirt on a January day.  It's not that I hate Los
Angeles, it's that I love southeastern Pennsylvania.  Sue me.  Go
Iggles.

Mom's note: This entry was written on the week in between the Division Championships and the Super Bowl, so I thought it only appropriate to include another of Sammy's obsessions as part of the blog, along with the unexpurgated language....

Sam's Eagles Pennant

Day #29 - January 26

SAM SHOWING HIS GEMINI NATURE ABOUT A MOVIE MADE IN PHILLY

IN HER SHOES – "I am talking to – my – friend!
 After seeing how Curtis Hanson incorporated Los Angeles, Pittsburgh,
and Detroit into L.A. CONFIDENTIAL, WONDER BOYS, and 8 MILE,
respectively, I became hopeful that he would eventually make his way
around to setting a movie in Philadelphia.  It was really a pipe
dream.  After all, Real World – Philadelphia was maybe the tenth
season of that show.  I think they did New York twice before they got
around to Philadelphia.  And when they did the show in Philadelphia,
the unions almost shut the production down.  Anyways, I sat down to
watch IN HER SHOES not realizing that half of it was set in my
proverbial hometown.  And I couldn't have been more disappointed with
the use of the city. First of all, no local runs up the Art Museum
steps like Rocky.  Not a single one.  It doesn't happen.  In this
movie it happens twice—and with dogs! (NOTE: I hate dogs.)  Second,
there is an extraordinarily lame conversation about the Sixers in
front of Geno's that is too bewildering to describe.  Third,
everything happens at the Jamaican Jerk Hut.   Okay, all of this
pisses me off because the location scout went on a basic tour of
Philadelphia and incorporated those easy/touristy locations into the
story.  Los Angeles had the sunny sprawl, Pittsburgh had the
preponderance of bridges, Detroit had the burned-out houses.
Philadelphia has the frickin' Rocky steps, a lame sports conversation,
and the Jamaican Jerk Hut.  Maybe this is what is depressing me.
Anyways, the movie is funny, touching, and will make you cry.  And oh
yeah, it's a chick flick for guys, seriously.

SCENE TO REMEMBER: The real story about how they drove to New York
City and bought a dog.
MORAL TO THE STORY: Lose weight and make sure you're literate.

Mom's note: This review truly encapsulates the Gemini that was Sam -- we called his other half his evil twin Damien.  Read all the nasty stuff about how the city wasn't highlighted and then read the last few lines to see that HE LOVED THE MOVIE ANYWAYS (sic - a Sammy word).  This was on his top ten list of the 2005 (year of the depressing movie) movies he loved.
PS--I love Toni Collette... 

Day #30 - January 25

SAM ON A MOVIE THAT MADE LOADS OF MONEY...

NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM – Oh my.  This is the movie that made me
absolutely depressed.  It's an unwatchable movie that did $250 million
domestic.  Reminder.  It's unwatchable.  I spent the entire time with
my jaw dropped, convinced I had just had a lobotomy.

Mom's note: I've never seen this movie because I heard it was so bad from a little bird... but it made some serious bucks.  Except for SOMETHING ABOUT MARY, which I watched through hands to my face and laughed too much, I'm not a big Ben Stiller fan. 

Day #31 - January 24

SAM ON ONE OF MY FAVORITES FROM 2003

DIRTY PRETTY THINGS – "Good at chess usually means you suck at life."

A couple years ago, I praised Audrey Tautou in AMELIE. In the same list, I touted Tom Wilkinson in IN THE BEDROOM as well. Last year in the list that was never sent out, I offered up the idea of having a late night show hosted by Tom Wilkinson with Gollum as his sidekick. Now I offer this. Tom Wilkinson, Audrey Tautou, Gollum, and Chiwetel Ejiofor (the star with Tautou in this movie) in a remake of WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?. Gollum would have to play a woman, but he’s versatile like that. These are the ideas that will become movies, I’m telling you. And yes, I’ve seen worse ideas cross my desk while working in this blessed, this Hollywood. (Some of them have been made!)

SCENE TO REMEMBER: Okwe (Ejiofor) discovering a human heart in one of the hotel’s toilets.

Again, Sam loved Audry Tautou as much as I did??...guess I wasn't paying attention to his review of AMELIE! If you haven't seen this movie, go rent it - it's intense and excellent. 

Day #32 - January 23

SAM ON A GERMAN MOVIE ABOUT SURVEILLANCE

THE LIVES OF OTHERS – Something in German.
For some reason, I got it into my head that this was going to be the
German version of AMELIE.  I was all ready with my popcorn ready to
enjoy a hopelessly romantic foreign film.  Well, it's not AMELIE.
Taking place in East Germany in 1984, it's about a surveillance expert
who decides to protect a playwright from governmental persecution.
Tragedy of course strikes several times over.  For some reason, while
watching this movie, I was reminded of the parody TOP SECRET! since
LIVES is set in 1984 East Germany (TOP SECRET was released in 1984 and
was set in East Germany).  I kept expecting to see Omar Sharif picking
up some phony dog poo ("what phony dog poo?").

SCENE TO REMEMBER: The book dedication.

MORAL TO THE STORY: The fact that you threw away your professional
life is okay because an author you don't know dedicated his book to
you.

Mom's note: First, when did Sam start watching foreign films and liking them????  He always used to trash my indie/foreign film choices. Second, TOP SECRET! was another one of those Cassel movies that we must have watched 20 times...probably Val Kilmer's only comedy role to date.  Third, about THE LIVES OF OTHERS: it came out on video just before Sam died, and I bought the DVD because I'd heard it was really good.  I never watched, however, because friends told me there was a really graphic car crash in it.  To this day, I've never seen it -- maybe it's finally time to remove the cellophane and see how it goes. 

Day #33 - January 22

SAM'S CONFESSION AND HIS TAKE ON A HARRY POTTER MOVIE

HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN – "I solemnly swear that I
am up to no good."

In the summer of 2000, I officially became the first college-aged male
to read and enjoy the Harry Potter books.  I might be the only one in
history.  While the first two movies were faithful to the books, they
didn't work as movies.  The treacly directing of Chris Columbus and
the heavy-handed, ubiquitous John Williams score didn't help matters.
The movies were fine.  Then Alfonso Cuaron (Y TU MAMA TAMBIEN) was
brought in to direct the third entry, which still stands as my
favorite book of the series.  Gone was the stuffiness of the first two
movies; present was the childish wonder that made me enjoy the books
that summer.  The random ménage a trois moments between the three
adolescent kids also helped matters.  Does that make me a pervert or
the first one in line in the Emma Watson fan club?  I'm as disgusted
by that last line as you (and yet the line remains…).  A darker
popcorn movie than THE INCREDIBLES, but a popcorn movie nonetheless.

SCENE TO REMEMBER: When Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) practices "lighting
his wand" under his covers in the middle of the night.

Mom's note: The last movie I saw with Sam was HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX at the big movie theater (can't remember its name) near the LA airport.  I finished reading the series by reading his books in 2008. 

Reading the last book in the series - check out the print behind me

From the McDowells after the Phillies beat the Dodgers on their way to winning the World Series in 2008: a signed print from Philadelphia Inquirer cartoonist Tony Auth.  If you look closely, you can see that to the left of his signature, he wrote, "Thank you, Sam." 

Day #34 - January 21

SAM ON A QUIRKY MOVIE THAT GOT A LOT OF PRESS BACK IN THE DAY

NAPOLEON DYNAMITE – "It's pretty much my favorite animal."

This movie almost reaches BIG LEBOWSKI distinction—great lines,
re-watchability, unique characters.  Where it falls short—and I never
thought I'd praise BIG LEBOWSKI for this attribute—is the story.
There is none.  It doesn't build towards something and has no
beginning, middle, or end.  That being said, this was my giggle movie.
In that, I consistently giggled throughout this movie and still
giggle when thinking about it.  Something to be said for the giggle
factor.  Yes, I'm getting tired writing this.

SCENE TO REMEMBER: Knocking down the Summer piñata.

Mom's note: Did Sam and I make Bob watch this movie?  I think we did -- and he loved it!  Definitely a Cassel movie because we too were giggling throughout. Actually, I think Bob was doing his laughing-so-hard-it-turned-into-a-coughing-fit thing.

Anyway, Sam gave Bob the t-shirt -- pretty obscure for a truck driver to wear.  I'm sure the other guys on the road thought he was a very light-haired Hispanic or something...

Day #35 - January 20

SAM ON GOING TO THE GROVE, AN ULTRA-COOL OUTDOOR MALL/FARMERS MARKET/MULTIPLEX IN LOS ANGELES

I'm going to the Grove to watch the perfect storm that will be:
-the HAIRSPRAY crowd (gay guys)
-the CHUCK AND LARRY crowd (homophobic guys)
-the Harry Potter super fans partying at Barnes & Noble
-the Nordstrom shoppers on the first day of the anniversary sale

This will be like the Five Army battle at the end of The Hobbit (I'm a dork).  My money is on the HAIRSPRAY crowd. 

Mom's note: Sam and I went to movies at the Grove on numerous occasions - the last time I visited him, we also bought an awesome coffee table at Crate and Barrel.  On Bob and my annual visit/pilgrimage to LA and environs, we usually spend Friday afternoon seeing a movie and having dinner at the Grove.  His girlfriend Rhiannon's memorial service was held in one of the movie theaters there.

Day #36 - January 19

ANOTHER REVIEW FROM 2005, THE YEAR OF DEPRESSING MOVIES

BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN – "I wish I knew how to quit you!"

I know the line quoted above is already cliché, but I had to put it
there.  It wouldn't have been right otherwise.  Alright.  Now its time
for a fun movie!  Oh wait.  Mother-
^$#$%&^@^@%$^^%@#%&^#$%#@##@$%

$$#^#$%^&%$#&$#&^%#%^@#%^#%^#%^#$%^&#&^%@@.
Two guys fall in love.  They hide it from everyone.  One guy gets
killed for hitting on the wrong guy.  The other guy seemingly lives a
lonely, sad life from then on. Take your kids, buy some popcorn, and
soak it up, fellas.  This is this year's Best Picture.  Yippie kay
yay.
SCENE TO REMEMBER: Ennis hugs Jack's shirt.
MORAL TO THE STORY: Don't be gay or you will die.

Mom's note: Yet another movie that made both Sam and me cry -- and Anne Hathaway's in this one, too -- was this maybe her first step away from the Princess Diaries?

Day #37 - January 18

SAM COMMENTING ON THE MOVIES OF 2005

Looking over the movies I liked this year, I noticed a common theme—a lot of them are really, really depressing.  I'm serious. Assess-every-aspect-of-your-life depressing. The-sun-isn't-coming-out-tomorrow depressing. Turn-out-the-light-and-whimper-softly depressing.

See, I'm normally such a sunny guy [LOL!!!].  Is this a reflection on me or the movies getting made?  Am I stuck in a post-9/11 world?  Is the world stuck in a post-9/11 world? When will it stop being post-9/11? I've heard some say post-Katrina.  Will some say post-Bush in 2008? Please let me know what I should look out for so that I can be "post-" it.

And his number two choice for this particular year:

CACHE – Something in French.

Finally, a movie that lived up to the "Hitchcockian" moniker.  What I really loved about this movie was that you sit down thinking you're going to watch a self-satisfied French thriller that is going to piss you off because it's a self-satisfied French thriller.  Then you realize that the main character is a Charlie Rose-like character, the epitome of self-satisfied high-minded literati, and that he's a putz.
So you end up enjoying the self-satisfaction of watching a self-satisfied snob squirm.  And then there's some stuff about French/Algerian relations, which I know is on everyone's mind.

SCENE TO REMEMBER: The final shot.
MORAL TO THE STORY: When in doubt, blame everything on the Algerian orphan who briefly stayed with your family during your childhood.

Mom's note: I saw this with my friend Nancy before Sam wrote this review, and we were riveted by that last shot.  What a surprise that, especially during this year, he loved so many of the movies that I loved - I was actually kind of blown away.  I still am. 

PS - He was totally obsessed with Juliette Binoche after The English Patient; maybe that's another reason why he liked this movie...

Day #38 - January 17

SAM ON TOM CRUISE'S NAZI MOVIE

I think the bigger issue with Valkyrie is that EVERY CHARACTER IS A NAZI!!!!!!!!!!  I know they're trying to kill Hitler, but they were, y'know, Nazis for, ahem, three years or so.

Mom note: Short but to the point - so you'll forgive me when I post a longer Sammy rant...!

Day #39 - January 16

SAM ON A SEMI-BIOPIC MOVIE ABOUT  THE AUTHOR OF HIS FATHER'S FAVORITE BOOK ASSOCIATED WITH A SYNDROME

FINDING NEVERLAND – Johnny Depp writes in his book.  He meets kids and
they imagine things.  He writes in his book.  He sees the kids again
and they imagine things.  He writes in his book again.  Kate Winslet
coughs.  He meets the kids and they imagine things.  He writes in his
book.  Kate Winslet coughs some more.  He meets the kids and they
imagine things.  Kate Winslet is on her death bed.  The play which was
based on the kids' imaginations is a success.   Kate Winslet dies.  He
writes in his book.  I hated this manipulative movie that white-washed
a possible pedophile.  Sure it makes everyone cry.  That's what
manipulative movies tend to do.

Insert snarky Sammy comment

 Mom's note: I totally disagree with this review because I loved this movie -- but then again, every once in a while, I like being manipulated, just NOT by any movie based on a Nicholas Sparks novel...

Teacher mom's note: Yesterday I read Sam's bagel rating entry to my 10th grade classes.  Today we were watching Act III of  A Doll's House by Ibsen, and when Torvald (Anthony Hopkins) said, "For a man, there is something immensely reassuring and pleasurable in the knowledge that he has forgiven his wife--forgiven her sincerely, and with all his heart. It seems as if somehow she becomes doubly his possession," one of my girls said, "If I had a bagel, I'd throw it at the screen!"   TOTALLY made my day.

Day #40 - January 15

SAM, THE MASTER OF VERBAL IRONY, COMMENTING ON A MOVIE ABOUT LOS ANGELES, A PLACE WITH WHICH HE HAD A LOVE/HATE RELATIONSHIP

CRASH – It's true!  In Los Angeles we always mention each other's
race when we talk to each other. For example, every conversation with
[my girlfriend] starts like this, "You are really efficient at making good food
you Jesus-denying, Commie."  (She's German/Italian/Jewish/Russian.)

She replies, "Thank you, you efficient lout." (I'm German/Scottish.)
I'm amazed at how accurate this film is. It's true that every woman
who has been felt up by a cop is then saved by the same cop from a
fiery inferno days later.   It's true that we regularly load guns with
blanks on the off chance that a crazy Persian decides to shoot a
Hispanic locksmith whose daughter gets in the way.  It's true that the
other police officer, the one who didn't feel up the woman, would then
bump into the woman's husband after a brief police chase.  It's all
true.  It's not shitty screenwriting at all.  I thank the filmmakers
for being so brave.

Mom's note: I totally love his last line -- I think heard something like that at least twice during the Golden Globes....just sayin'.

Day #41 - January 14

SAM ON QUENTIN TARANTINO CIRCA 2003

****Last night was the Golden Globes, the first big award show of the season.  Quentin Tarantino won for best screenplay for DJANGO UNCHAINED, so I thought it was only fitting to include a Tarantino reference.

KILL BILL: VOLUME 1 – This movie is the definition of self-indulgence.  If you don’t know what that means when it comes to movies, it means this: as you watch the movie, you can hear the director say to himself, “I’m so great.  I’m so great.  I’m really great.”  It really frustrates me that filmmakers who get carte blanche for their movies end up producing self-indulgent crap.  And I haven’t evenstarted on the fact that it’s one movie split in two.  I won’t bother.

Mom's note:  Sam used to be OBSESSED with this man: Reservoir Dogs, True Romance, Pulp Fiction...all posters in his bedroom.  But then came... Jackie Brown.  And then this one....

Day #42 - January 13

SAM ON THE FINAL FILM IN THE LORD OF THE RINGS TRILOGY (INCLUDING THE INCIDENT LEADING TO THE WEARING OF THE INFAMOUS NECK BRACE)

THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING – "I can’t carry the ring for you, but I can carry you."

So I have a strange association with this movie. After I saw it with my family, I got in a car accident. Scary. Ambulance took me away in a stretcher, along with my mother. I guess I should have started these sentences off with I’M OKAY AS ARE MY PARENTS, just some muscle damage and it wasn’t my fault, but I can’t tear this association away from this movie yet. When you’re lying on a stretcher with your neck in a brace wondering whether your body’s adrenaline is masking the true pain you might be feeling, well, talking about story nuances and character arcs just doesn’t exactly come easy. So, in short. Despite everyone’s complaint about the endings, I think this movie finished one of the greatest epics that I’ll ever see put to film.

SCENE TO REMEMBER: Eowyn taking on the Witch King

Mom’s comment:  The effects of the accident lingered….and Sam wore a neck brace off and on for a while, leading to the story told at his funeral:

He’d been called on to come in early every day that his big boss was in the office during the time that he was wearing the brace.  On this particular day, the boss had ordered chicken from El Pollo Loco, and Sam discovered that all the office had were plastic forks and knives, and it was known that the boss would not use them.  So he scrounged around and found a real fork and a larger knife (not a machete, as his boss would later say), and put those on the tray for the boss.  A few minutes later, the boss came out and threw a fit (and a few other items), got into his limo, and left.  Sam was quaking in his boots – he knew he was going to be fired….

His immediate boss’s phone then rang, was answered, and the immediate boss handed the phone to Sam, saying, “It’s for you.”

The big boss then told Sam he’d done a great job for the company  - no firing on that day.

 

Day #43 - January 12

SAM ON HIS CHOICE OF FILM AND STAR/DIRECTOR AT A MOVIE EVENT

To celebrate its 40th anniversary, AFI has assembled a program of pics and stars for a single night at the ArcLight Theater in Hollywood.

The eleven titles are THE SOUND OF MUSIC (Julie Andrews), BONNIE AND CLYDE (Warren Beatty), WHEN HARRY MET SALLY (Billy Crystal and Rob Reiner), SPARTACUS (Kirk Douglas), UNFORGIVEN (Clint Eastwood), THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION (Morgan Freeman), THE BIRDS (Tippi Hedren), BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (Angela Lansbury), STAR WARS (George Lucas), ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST (Jack Nicholson), and ROCKY (Sylvester Stallone)

Dude, this is awesome....the only question is...WHICH FILM?

Me personally - Beauty and the Beast and Lansbury.
Who knew?

Day #44 - January 11

SAM ON FILM CRITICS: (in response to a friend's comment about wanting to throw her bagel at the screen during a viewing of THE NINES)

I would love it if film critics utilized throwing bagels at the screen in their ratings system

**** - Excellent
***   - Good
**     - Fair
Threw my bagel at the screen -- Poor

From NSTV archives

Day #45 - January 10 - nominations announced

So when the Oscar nominations came out, one of Sam's friends wondered what Sam would have thought about this year's nominees.  This got me thinking - why not create a countdown to the Oscars using Sam's comments about random movies?  He was such a funny, smart guy, and he wrote some downright hilarious movie reviews.  So here goes ---

COUNTDOWN TO THE OSCARS IN THE WORDS OF SAM CASSEL - DAY #45 (thanks to the tracking group's collection of Sam's emails)
The worst movie poster ever?
Is it a romantic comedy about cat burglars?
Why is a miniature Philip Seymour Hoffman popping out of Tom Hanks' chest?