Tag Archives: Billy Wilder

Sam Mendes Lists His Movie Inspirations

Sam Mendes won the Inspiration Award at the Jameson Empire do last night, and the Skyfall director gave a fantastic speech in which he listed the films and scenes that have inspired him.

And as we thought it was such a great collection of movie moments, we’ve transcribed the speech for your reading pleasure:

“I want to thank Stanley Kubrick for the war room in Dr. Strangelove, Billy Wilder for C.C. Baxter in The Apartment, Kurosawa for the death of the king in Throne of Blood, Martin Scorsese for panning a camera down an empty corridor in Taxi Driver, Joel and Ethan Coen for the last scene between Marge and Norm in bed at the end of Fargo, Paul Thomas Anderson for the deafening of H.W. Plainview in There Will be Blood, Bergman for the visit of B.B. Anderson to Liv Ullman in the dead of night in Persona, Francis Coppola for the killing of Fredo Corleone in The Godfather II, David Fincher for the first scene of The Social Network, Bob Fosse for the audition sequence at the beginning of All That Jazz, Quentin Tarantino for Christopher Walken’s speech about the watch in Pulp Fiction, Woody Allen for the fireworks over Manhattan, Clint Eastwood for making it rain at the end of Unforgiven, Michael Powell for the moment Moira Shearer steps into the ballet of The Red Shoes, David Lynch for the car journey with Frank Booth in Blue Velvet, Mike Nichols for Benjamin in the swimming pool in The Graduate, Francois Truffaut for the moment the boy looks into the lens at the end of 400 Blows, and Wim Wenders for the moment Harry Dean Stanton sees Nastassja Kinski after all those years at the end of Paris, Texas.”

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at IGN Movies

Retirees today leave behind a historians' treasure trove of documentation

By hnn

NO one will confuse typical retirees today with the Emperor Augustus, who constructed a huge mausoleum to celebrate his life for eternity. And yet they belong to the first generation of elders within easy grasp of something once so rare and valuable that relatively few historic figures could enjoy it until now: virtual immortality.

Where their grandparents may have left behind a few grainy photos, a death certificate or a record from Ellis Island, retirees today have the ability to leave a cradle-to-grave record of their lives. Their descendants will be able to witness births and first steps, Pee Wee football games and grade school dance recitals, high school graduations, wedding ceremonies, first homes, vacations and family reunions. They will also be able to read their opinions on politics and religion, know that they loved the music of Junior Kimbrough, the films of Billy Wilder, the New York Yankees and mint chocolate chip ice cream.

Ancestors from the distant past are, at best, names in the family Bible. Fifty, 100, even 500 years hence people will be able to see how their forebears looked and moved, hear them speak, learn about their aspirations and achievements and that sizzling ski trip to Vermont….

Source:
NYT

Source URL:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/13/business/retirementspecial/hey-at-least-you-can-be-virtually-immortal.html?pagewanted=all

Date:
3-13-13

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at History News Network – George Mason University