Cinema Cemetery

“All I wanted was to sing to God. He gave me that longing... and then made me mute. Why? Tell me that.”  Amadeus tells the tale of “dueling” composers Mozart and Salieri.  As Salieri seeks to gain fame and glory with hard work and political gamesmanship, the former child prodigy Mozart eclipses him at every turn, while trying to avoid his own demons.  This piece of historical fiction takes a drama...

Operator: I have an emergency phone call from Mrs. Aurora Greenway in Houston, Texas, for Mrs. Emma Horton. - Sam Burns: Oh no! - Emma Horton: No, she always does this when the lines busy. It's fine.” Welcome to the dysfunctional relationship of Aurora and Emma.  Terms of Endearment follows the relationship of a mother and daughter through marriage, moving, Jack Nicholson, and cancer.  Starri...

Brigadier: You don't think we're just going to walk out of India!   Gandhi: Yes. In the end, you will walk out. Because 100,000 Englishmen simply cannot control 350 million Indians, if those Indians refuse to cooperate.   Cinema Cemetery is finally back after a brief summer hiatus.  This week, join us as we follow the life of Mohandas Gandhi as he goes from a life as a simple attorney to...

“If I can't win, I won't run! “If you won't run, you can't win”. Long before Michael Scott said Wayne Gretzky said you miss 100% of the shots you never take, there was Chariots of Fire. This 1981 Best Picture explores two competing runners in the lead-up to the 1924 Olympics as they struggle with everything from form and faith to religion and regulations.  As Harold Abrahams st...

“Maybe you were stronger.  Have you ever considered that? That maybe you were the stronger one?”  While main character may have been stronger, this movie is just Ordinary.  Ordinary People that is.  This 1980 film tells the tell of a family coping with the loss of a child, as the parents and brother react in vastly different ways.  Featuring against-type performances from Mary Tyler Moore and Judd...

“ I came home to share with my wife one of the five best days of my life, and she tells me that she doesn't want to live with me anymore! Do you know what she's done?” “ Yes, she loused up one of the five best days of your life.”  Kramer vs. Kramer tells the story of Ted and Joanna Kramer, and their son Billy.  After Joanna leaves the family, Ted and Billy are forced to adjust, but when...

“I don’t really think about one shot anymore Mike.” “It’s all about one shot, the deer has gotten be taken out in one shot.  I keep trying to tell people that.”  Welcome to your one shot to see the best film of 1978: The Deer Hunter starring Robert DeNiro, Christopher Walken, and Meryl Streep.  Set in a small Pennsylvania town, this tale follows three Russian-American friends as they navigate life...

“I don't want to move to a city where the only cultural advantage is being able to make a right turn on a red light”.  Welcome to Annie Hall and the world according to Woody Allen.  Part comedy, part romance, part tragedy, part animated film, and all neurosis, this classic film reimagines what a comedy can be.  Starring Diane Keaton as the eponymous Annie Hall, and Woody Allen as Alvie Singer...

“He doesn’t know it’s a show, he thinks it’s a damn fight!” It’s the Bicentennial, America’s Biggest Birthday, and Apollo Creed, the heavyweight champion of the world has given Rocky Balboa a shot at the title.  Rocky, a part-time boxer, part-time loan shark lackey suddenly finds himself with a chance to “go the distance”.  With no true shot at winning, will Rocky seize the opportunity, or squande...

“You guys complain how much you hate it here, and then don't even have the guts to leave! You're all crazy!” Randle Patrick McMurphy finds himself living large at a mental institution as he feins insanity to avoid hard labor.  There, he finds himself against the sociopathic Nurse Ratched. As McMurphy attempts to rally the inmates to find some humor and freedom in their lives, Ratched see...

“My offer is this: Nothing”. Welcome to another visit with the Corleone Family; this first sequel to ever win Best Picture explores the past and future of Michael, Vito, and the rest.  As Vito Corleone flees for his life from turn-of-the-20th-Century Sicily, he seeks not only to survive in a new country, but make something better for his family and people.  Meanwhile, Michael remains unsatisfied w...

“What was I supposed to do - call him for cheating better than me, in front of the others?”  Welcome to the Big Con; a world of high stakes, pigeon drops, Lucky Dans, and stacked decks. Robert Redford, as a young Johnny Hooker, seeks help from established grifter Henry Gondorff to help him pull off a Big Con on Doyle Lonnegan after his partner is killed by Lonnegan’s cartel.  As Gondorff and Hooke...

“I’m gonna make him an offer he can’t refuse.” The year is 1945.  Fresh off an Allied victory in the Second World War, a young Michael Corleone returns home for his sister’s wedding.  Here, he finds the “family business” is still alive, and well as friends and enemies alike line up to meet with the eponymous Godfather.  Things, however, are about to take a turn as the Five Families struggle to dea...

“Just answer me this: Do you…still pick your feet in Poughkeepsie?” A valid question and concern asked repeatedly by the one and only Popeye Doyle.  This unconventional cop with a great intuition…at least most of the time…follows his next big lead as he tracks down a big drug deal in the making.  With the support of his partner, and the begrudging help of his superiors, Popeye played by Gene Hackm...

“No bastard ever won a war dying for his country.  He won it by making some other poor bastards die for his country”.  Meet General George Patton; three-star general and five-star loose canon on a mission to not only win the war but battle as much as possible.  A skilled military tactician, but a without a shred of political skill, Patton’s complex characteristics were both invaluable and disastro...

“I’m not a f’real cowboy, but I’m one helluva stud!” The year is 1969 and movies have changed more in the past decade than 1929-1939.  Midnight Cowboy tells the story of two misfits trying to make their way in an unforgiving world. Joe Buck ventures to New York City with the “dream” of making it as a male hustler, but finds himself completely clueless in a world that has long since passed by the i...

Boy: “This sausage is moldy!” Fagin: “Shut up and drink your gin.” Time for some “reviewing the situation” with 1968’s Oliver! The last of the five musicals over the past decade to take the top prize, this show asks you to “consider yourself at home” with the story of Oliver in his journey from rags to more rags, to riches, to rags, to riches again. Part showstopper, part social commentary, part d...

“They Call Me…MR. TIBBS!” Welcome to our second season of Cinema Cemetery as we enter the age of New Hollywood.  As younger directors explore a grittier direction and more realistic tone, we say farewell to the musical and roadshow style productions of the past.  First up: In The Heat Of The Night! A tale of murder, race, and some of the worst police work ever captured since the Keystone Cops.  St...

“I would cut down all the laws in England to get to the devil!” “And when the devil turned round on you, where would you hide with all the laws now lying flat?”. In our final episode of Season 1, Cinema Cemetery reviews A Man For All Seasons , the dramatization of Thomas More’s final days during the tumultuous reign of Henry VIII.  As More attempts to navigate politics while refusing to compromise...

“Sol: a needle pulling thread.  La: a…uh…note to follow sol.”  It’s not always Shakespeare, but The Sound of Music keeps the lyrical tradition going with this 1965 musical.  Starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer, this somewhat true story tells the tale of young Maria, a failing nun-candidate charged with bringing order to an Austrian Captain’s household (seven children and all) as war loo...

“It was dumb! It was obvious! It was pointless! It was…short.  We loved it!’  Hopefully, you’ll feel that way about this week’s special Christmas Bonus episode about the holiday favorite The Muppet Christmas Carol. Released in 1992, the Muppet’s fourth major film adds a musical, and Muppet-filled take on the Charles Dickens classic.  Michael Caine stars as Scrooge while Gonzo and Rizzo take the au...

“No, you didn’t ‘siiiie’ it.  You didn’t even ‘say’ it.”  Cinema Cemetery returns to another 60s musical as My Fair Lady takes center stage.  The movie based on the musical based on the play based on the myth, this show tells the tale of Prof. Henry Higgins and his efforts to train a poor flower girl to speak (and act) like a lady.  Despite Higgins’ self-proclaimed brilliance at language, he finds...

“Well, there’s another one gone!”  Tough talk for a cemetery but reflective of this 1963 Best Picture winner Tom Jones.  In a complete departure from last year’s Lawerence of Arabia, Tom Jones is part comedy, part experiment, part history, and all bizarre.  Albert Finney stars are the eponymous Tom, a low-born adopted son in a wealthy house.  When accessed wrongly of a crime, Tom sets out to make...

“I like to be in America. Okay by me in America. Everything free in America. …for a small fee in America.” Welcome to the West Side as the Jets and Sharks take their feud from the playground to the dance floor, to…another playground.  This contemporary Romeo and Juliet tells the tale of Tony and Maria, two star-crossed lovers who attempt to bridge the gap between two warring groups of immigrants i...

“The wrong key? No wonder I couldn’t get into the executive washroom this morning.” “The executive washroom? I couldn’t get into my apartment!” In a pre-Air BNB world, Mr. Baxter currently boosts his career loaning use of his apartment out to his superiors looking for a convenient place to hide out from their real lives.  While advantageous to his career, Baxter realizes he has a tiger by the tail...