Reel Life Blog

Movie quote from: Lust for Life (1956) – Anton Mauve (Noel Purcell)

Early in the movie Lust for Life, young Vincent Van Gogh consults the Dutch artist Anton Mauve for advice on how to achieve excellence in the field of art.  Mauve recognized the honest emotion of Van Gogh’s crude but interesting drawings.  He reminds Vincent that ‘passion’ is not enough if he wants to excel in his field, he must also become more skilled in the pure craft of artistic expression.  His advice is sound – excellent work is usually a combination of strong skills and a love of the occupation.  However, he missed one key component for achieving professional genius, a characteristic that Van Gogh draws upon throughout the movie.

TIME magazine has chosen YOU as their annual Person of the Year.  Each of us controls the emerging Information Age.  We control the way our own lives unfold.  We control the planet - one person at a time.  We are the director and star of our own lives.  I'm not sure what took TIME so long to come to this understanding.  Movies have been telling us this for quite a while.  Here are five movie quotes about TIME's Person of the Year - YOU.

Mel Gibson keeps re-inventing himself.  From Mad Max to Riggs to Braveheart to Passion producer, Mel delivers the stories the public seems to want.  His newest film, Apocalypto, earned $14.1 million in its opening weekend, despite subtitles, excessive violence and a hangover from his drunken Gibstein experience.  Here are the top five wisest things ever said by Mel Gibson in a movie.

Movie Quote from: Munich (2005) – Golda Meir (Lynn Cohen)  

In Steven Spielberg’s thought-provoking movie Munich, Golda Meir is not the role model we’d like for our children.  She commissions a retaliatory team to murder the 11 perpetrators of the Olympic massacre in 1972.  She recognizes that her decision compromises Israeli values.  A counselor would tell her that there are consequences to compromising values.  Consequences include confusion, apathy, rage, doubt, disconnectedness, remorse, dishonor, and shame.  These effects are found in individuals and in nations.

Movie quote from: Forrest Gump (1994) - Mrs. Gump (Sally Field)

In the movie Forrest Gump, Forrest asks his mother what his destiny will be.  She responds with the now-famous line, "Life is a box of chocolates, Forrest.  You never know what you're gonna get."  Forrest is unsure of this perspective.  It differs from what he has heard from Lieutenant Dan - a man who believes, "We all have a destiny.  Nothing just happens, it's all part of a plan."  Choice or destiny - what most shapes our lives? Who would have thought the answer would arrive later in this same movie.     

Movie quote from: Anne of the Thousand Days (1969) – Thomas Boleyn (Michael Hordern)

If you want to see what happens when you give a child anything he/she wants, watch King Henry VIII’s behavior in the film, Anne of the Thousand Days.  His character, as played by Richard Burton, is an arrogant boor whose lust for Anne Boleyn is fueled by her disinterest in him.  Not capable of adapting himself, Henry sets about changing the world to get what he wants.  We don’t do a child or a king any favors when we cater to their every need.  Henry VIII would not survive in a world with as much change and diversity as ours.  Neither will a spoiled child.

Movie quote from: The Weather Man (2005) - Robert Spritz (Michael Caine)

The Weather Man features Nicolas Cage as a TV personality who does not value the person he has become.  Compared to his father, a Pulitzer Prize winning author, his life seems insignificant.  He spends his day making hopeless attempts to impress his disappointed father, his two troubled children, and his embittered ex-wife.  His search for meaning is focused in all the wrong places.    

Movie quote from: 200 Cigarettes (1999) - Kevin (Paul Rudd)

Never say that things don't change.  Even the Germans have decided to recognize the problems of second-hand smoke.  Cigarettes will still be allowed in the pubs and bars but politicians have conceded that perhaps smoking in schools and public sites is not good for the health of the nation.

Movie quote from: A Prairie Home Companion (2006) - G.K. (Garrison Keillor)  

In his movie, 'A Prairie Home Companion' (2006), Garrison Keillor casually comments that, "Every show is your last show. That's my philosophy." This is a wise way to view the world. Once you appreciate that nothing lasts forever, you are more likely to make sure you get full value out of each remaining day.

Movie quote from: The Bad and the Beautiful (1952) - Georgia Lorrison (Lana Turner)

In Vincente Minnelli's 1952 classic, 'The Bad and the Beautiful', a producer's ruthless professional practices have left many former colleagues unwilling to work with him. This proves fatal, as life circumstances unfold where their support is required. It is a classic movie supportive of the old adage, "What goes around, comes around."