Film: The Station Agent (2003)

DVD: Anamorphic


Review: I saw this movie for the first time at the La Paloma Theater. Since I could hear the train go by several times during the running time, it really added to the experience of this great movie about a train-obsessed man who inherits a railway-depot in a small town. Fin, played by Peter Dinklage, is a quiet loner who just wants to be left alone, but since he is a dwarf he is always attracting unwanted attention from those around him. Bobby Carnavale is amazing as Joe, the talkative New Yorker, who runs a small food truck parked on Fin's property. Through sheer force of will, Joe slowly wears down Fin's defenses and becomes his friend.

Quotes:
"It's funny how people see me and treat me, since I'm really just a simple, boring person."

"Hey listen, if you guys do something later, can I join you?"
"We're not gonna do something."
"No, I know, but if you do, can I join you?"
"We're not gonna do something later."
"Okay, but, if you do?"
"Okay."
"Cool."

"You said you weren't going to talk to me if I sat here, Joe."
"I haven't said anything in like twenty minutes."
"Nine."
"You timed me?"
"Mm-hmm."
"That's cold, bro."

"Do they have clubs for you people?"
"What?"
"You know, for train watchers."

"Hey, Olivia, you got a garlic press?!"
"No."
"How can you not have a garlic press?"
"Still no!"
"Alright, you keep talking! I'm gonna go cook without the garlic press!"
"I'm not used to having people in my house... especially loud people."
"It's a nice house."
"Yeah. David bought it as a get-away place... so I moved down here and got away."
"Where did you used to live?"
"Princeton... I know... I didn't get very far. But I just couldn't stay there another minute. Everyone looking at me... the poor woman whose son died... How about you? What made you pick Newfoundland?"
"I wanted to live near Joe."
"Guys! Would you come up here and talk? Seriously, this sucks!"

5 out of 5 Stars

Film: Frantic (1988)

Blu-Ray


Review: One of my favorite thrillers and one of Harrison Ford's best acting roles alongside 'The Mosquito Coast'. The film's title perfectly captures the emotional state of Harrison's character when his wife goes missing from their Paris hotel. Roman Polanski does a masterful job of building tension and slowly revealing details as Harrison struggles to locate his wife with only a few clues in a foreign city.

Quotes:
"Eyes?"
"Blue, both of them."
"Blue. Face?"
"Oval. Look..."
"I know this must seem like annoying bureaucracy, but really, we have to get one of these to the prefecture police when we deal with a missing person."
"I've already been to the police. I filled out of one of the forms. And it's not a missing person. It's a kidnapping!"
"Don't you think that's a bit premature to be so positive?"
"No, I don't think. I have witnesses. My wife was kidnapped. Do you understand what I am saying to you?"
"Yes. Yes, of course. But what would you like us to do exactly?"
"I want you to find my wife."
"Well, you understand, Dr. Walker, ours is basically a liaison function. We can assist you in communicating with the French police. We can put a little pressure on the Ministry of Interior. But this is their country. It's their jurisdiction. We can't just send a posse out after her."

"Shut the door. I want you to tell me what this says."
"It's me. It's Michelle. I'm back. I've made a good trip. I'll see you tonight at the Blue Parrot. Don't forget my money. I kiss you."
-------
"It's her again. She's angry now. She'll wait at the Parrot until it closes, then she'll go to his place."
"What time do the nightclubs close?"
"Four or six, it depends."

"I don't care about the suitcase. I'm looking for her!"
"Who?"
"My wife, god damn it! You put my wife's suitcase in the locker and it didn't have what they wanted in it. But it had my wife's name tag, our telephone number. They came to the hotel and took her."
"Your wife?"
"They kidnapped her!"
"But they want my suitcase. Why did they take your wife?"
"When I find them, I'll ask them."

"Merde, what did you do that for?"
"Put your hands on the wheel!"
"That's good coke! That was 500 francs, at least."
"Keep your eyes on the road and get us where we're going. Jesus Christ!"

"I take only half."
"Why?"
"Instead of the other half, you keep me with you."
"Why?"
"I'm trusting you with my suitcase. I stay with you until you give it to them. I don't want to end up like Dede."
"You better get out of here."
"No, I won't go... Please?"
"I'll come to your apartment as soon as I get this straightened out."
"Promise?"
"Yes, I promise. Now scoot."

"Right, I want you to take this and go behind that truck and don't come out until I tell you."
"Okay, I'm scared. Are you?"
"I'm scared shitless. Go on."
"Merde... In French, it's good luck to say, 'Merde'... You're not supposed to answer."

5 out of 5 Stars

TV: Family Guy - Volume 4 (2005-2006)

DVD: 3 Discs


Review: Another great season! So many classic scenes!

Quotes:
"You like eating red carpet, tough guy?"
"Yes!"
"Say you like eating red carpet!"
"I like eating red carpet."
"Giggity."

"I cook like Betty Crocker... and I look like Donna Reed...
There's plastic on the furniture... to keep it nice and clean...
In the Pine Sol scented air, somewhere that's green...
Between our frozen dinners... and our bedtime, nine fifteen...
we snuggle watching Lucy... on our big, enormous, twelve inch screen...
Oh, his December Bride, Chris Griffin, he knows best...
The kids play Howdy Doody... as the sun sets in the West...
A picture out of Better Home and Gardens Magazine...
Someday I know...
we too will go.............
somewhere that's greeeeeeeeeen."
"Are you dead?"

"Oh, no. I didn't catch the ball in the cup. Oh, wait a minute. It's okay because the ball is on a string and attached to the cup."

"All right, listen up, everybody. I have something to tell you. I'm not quite sure how to say this... I'm fat. Let me give you a minute to absorb that. That's the way it is. It's nobody's fault... MEG!"

"And now back to Jaws V: Fire Island."
"You think we should be this far out?"
"Stop worrying, Mark. We'll be fine."
"Hey, I'm gonna eat you all. I'm gonna eat that hairy leg. I'm gonna eat that one too. Oh, I can see right up them shorts. I got a whole bunch of rows of teeth to chew you with. Dunna, dunna, dunna. Oh, wait a minute. I did have a chubby kid on a raft earlier today. It's okay, though. I've been swimming a lot lately. Mm, yummy. Mmmmm."

"I'll talk to him, Lois, but you know when my father wants something, it's like sex with Kobe Bryant. You can kick and scream all you want, but it's... it's gonna happen."

"Jesus was a miracle worker, of sorts. Um, he would travel from place to place, putting things right that once went wrong and hoping each time that his next leap would be the leap home."
"What do you think you're doing with my wife?"
"Oh, boy!"

"Hey, how's it going?"
"Good."
"Ah, those are huge. Those are huge boobs. And you know what's nice? That you don't have that blue vein up there that some of the bigger ones get... What?! I said you don't have that!"

"All right, Peter. You made it to the bonus round. Congratulations."
"Thanks, Regis."
"Okay, the category is 'Actor and Show'. So we need five consonants and a vowel."
"Uh, okay, Um... Z, 4, Q... another Q. Uh... a third Q. And the Batman symbol."
"Okay, no help there. Fifteen seconds. If you want to take a shot at it, talk it out."
"Is it Alex Karras in Webster?"
"I don't' believe it."
"Oh, my God! I just took a shot in the dark! Holy crap!"

"Hey. Hey, Brian. He's knocking on the back door. What should I do?"
"What?"
"He's knocking on the back door. Should I let him in? I'm scared!"
"Well, you two are busy being nude. So, we'll just head out and... let you be nude."
"Who were those two guys?"
"I don't know."

"Listen, Me. Pewterschmidt. You're a business man. I'm a business man and I've got a proposal that I guarantee you can't refuse. See, I wrote this erotica book and I was hoping for seven billion to publish it."
"How about I loan you five dollars? It's at the bottom of this jar of barbed wire and salt."
"Ow! Ow! Ow! Why do you keep these two things together?"

4 1/2 out of 5 Stars

TV: Adventures of Young Indiana Jones - Volume 2 - The War Years (1992-1995)

DVD: 8 Discs


Review: Based off the childhood opening in "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusades", this TV series, shot on 16mm all over the world, was a great combination of Indiana Jones adventure and intelligent history lessons. I wasn't a fan of the early episodes where Indy was 10 years, but I really like the ones in this set where he is in his late teens during World War I.

Quotes:
"French artillery. Very impressive."
"As good as the Germans."

"Let me be brief. You can not tunnel, the castle's built upon granite. If you try to disguise yourself as a German soldier, you will be shot as a spy. If you attempt to bribe my men, you will be shot as a corrupting influence on German morale. I don't want any trouble from you."

"I was raised a Catholic, I should say something."
"Get it over with."
"Dear God, let this man go to hell."

"I've fooled a lot of people with my French."
"No doubt you have. It is excellent."
"How did you know I was American?"
"My father is a professor of philosophy. During my youth, I met many American scholars. All spoke French fluently, but none perfectly. I recognized your game at once."

"What kind of toilet paper is this?"
"Real toilet paper is about as rare as snowballs in Kalgoorlie. They use whatever comes to hand. Documents, memos, invoices. Once delivered they go straight to the outhouse. It's a tremendous boon for our intelligence purposes."

"She answers all our questions with a tense invitation to go to hell. Infuriating woman."
"She's stubborn, like her mother. Once, on a hunting expedition, just to prove she was braver than the men, she crept up behind a grazing rhinoceros and wrote 'mpumbava' on it."
"She wrote 'idiot' in Swahili on a rhino's butt?"
"In chalk."
"Got to admire that in a young lady."
"Yeah."
"I suppose she'll have to eat."
"I... I'll take it."
"What a fellow. Always ready to sacrifice for his comrades."

"Ashari soldiers saw you struck down by a bad German bullet, Indy. Saw you die, then come back to life. You cough a bullet, spit on ground with much contempt, lead Ashari to victory. Very big magic."
"No, no, no, Barthelemy. The men have it all wrong. It's... it's not magic. I'm just lucky. The bullet struck my locket. See?"
"That is very small target. So your juju very powerful. Little god, he who cannot die!"
"Two promotions in one day. First captain, now god. You amaze me. Ha, Ha!"

"Are you a pilot?"
"No, a photographer?"
"Flying's insane, let alone in wartime with a gang of rowdy American cowboys. I'll take the trench, thank you."

4 out of 5 Stars