Humphrey Bogart @ MindSay

I finally watched Casablanca for the first time. I have had the dvd sitting on my shelf for a few months. What a great movie. A classic in it's entirety, I have recently starting getting some so called classics from Netflix and am surprised at how many of them do not live up to the hype. This movie really surprised me. What surprised me most is how much many of the lines are part of the pop culture of today. Like, 'Here's looking at you, kid." Or, "We'll always have Paris.", "Play it, Sam" (often misquoted as Play it again, Sam), "I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship." I have recently been getting a lot of Bogart's movies. I really think he was the quintessential actor of his day. Other than the quotes, it was one of the few old movies that wasn't hokey to me or overacted. The set design was great and the acting was great. The chemistry Bogart and Bergman had was incredible despite not even talking to each other except when on film.

    So if you are interested to know some of the other movies that I have not considered classics, they would be Raging Bull, Platoon, Animal House, and Scarface. Those are just a few that I have watched over the years and was not impressed with. I am sure I could think of more, but I really don't want to think much on the weekends. I think the above movies were highly overrated, especially Scarface. I don't know why that movie gets the notoriety it gets. It was long, boring, and dull. And had one of the most ridiculous roles ever from Al Pacino. Imagine a movie about Cubans with one Cuban in the whole movie. I mean I live in South Florida and we have a ton of Cubans. Not once have I ever heard anybody with an accent like the ones they have in that movie.

     With that off my chest I am going to go back to watching the extras on the Casablanca disc.

     Daniel Craig (Layer Cake, Road to Perdition) has been selected to take over the legendary role of Agent 007, James Bond, in three movies, starting with fall 2006's Casino Royale. While Craig wouldn't have been my first choice, I'm just glad that a decision has (FINALLY) officially been made. Meanwhile, Warner Bros. has inked a deal to bring the life of James Bond creator-author Ian Fleming to the big screen. The film tells the story of how the author's personal experiences as a spy shaped the creation of Agent 007.

     Sylvester Stallone will direct and reprise his role as Rocky Balboa in the sixth installment of the boxing franchise. In Rocky 6, Balboa comes out of retirement to fight a few low-profile local fights, until he's approached to fight a match with the reigning heavyweight champ.

     Gwyneth Paltrow, Martin Freeman (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy) and Simon Pegg (Shaun of the Dead) have signed on for the comedy The Good Night, which will be directed by Paltrow's brother, Jake Paltrow. Night is about a man's search for perfection in the world.

     Al Pacino, Alicia Witt, Leelee Sobieski and Neal McDonough have signed on to star in the crime drama 88 Minutes. Pacino plays a college professor who moonlights as an FBI forensic psychologist. Witt plays the professor's teaching assistant and romantic interest, while Sobieski portrays a student. McDonough is a death row inmate whom Pacino's character suspects is trying to kill him, which he has been told will happen in 88 minutes.

     George Clooney, Tom Wilkinson, Tilda Swinton and Sydney Pollack are joining forces for the independent legal thriller Michael Clayton. Clooney plays an elite New York attorney known among his colleagues as "The Janitor" due to his working behind-the-scenes to clean up his clients' messy personal problems.

     Jennifer Connelly and Djimon Hounsou (In America, Beauty Shop) are in talks to star opposite Leonardo DiCaprio in Warner Bros. Pictures' dramatic thriller The Blood Diamond, under the direction of Edward Zwick. The adventure tale is set in Sierra Leone circa 1999, when the nation was in the midst of a civil war. DiCaprio plays a smuggler who specializes in "blood diamonds," diamonds used to finace rebellions and terrorists.

     Mike Myers told Entertainment Weekly that there is hope for a fourth installment of the spy spoof Austin Powers franchise.

     Beau Bridges, Miranda Richardson and Mykelti Williamson are joining Sarah Jessica Parker for the film adaptation of Rebecca Gilman's play Spinning Into Butter. In the story, anonymous, racist letters appear on the door of one of a college's few African-American students, and the dean of students (Parker) is forced to question and explore modern feelings about racism.

     Andy Garcia, Jeremy Piven, Ryan Reynolds, Alicia Keys and Ben Affleck are teaming up for Universal and Working Title's action comedy Smokin' Aces. The movie follows an illusionist who snitches on the mob and has hitmen after him. Garcia plays the FBI director who tries to keep the illusionist around long enough to testify.

     Real-life husband and wife Marc Anthony and Jennifer Lopez have signed on for El Cantante, the story of salsa singer Hector Lavoe. Lopez plays Lavoe's wife, Puchi.

     Jason Biggs (American Pie) and Isla Fisher (Wedding Crashers) are teaming up for the indie romantic comedy The Pleasure of Your Company. Biggs plays an unlucky-in-love guy who's forced into proposing to his waitress (Fisher) on a dare. Actor Michael Ian Black (TV's Ed) will make his directorial debut with Company.

     Alan Rickman, Mary Steenburgen, Shawn Hatosy, Eliza Dushku, Bill Pullman and Bryan Greenberg have signed on for Randall Miller's independent family drama Nobel Son. The film follows a son struggling to finish his thesis when his father wins the Nobel Prize in chemistry.

     Marcia Gay Harden, Justin Chatwin, Margarita Levieva and Chris Marquette have signed on for Touchtone Pictures and Spyglass Entertainment's supernatural drama Invisible. Based on a Swedish thriller, Invisible follows a young man (Chatwin) who is attacked and left for dead.

     Movie stars Charlie Chaplin, Humphrey Bogart, Marlon Brando, James Dean and Marilyn Monroe are among the entertainers that Variety has selected as the "Icons of the Century." The list was made to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the entertainment industry newspaper.

     Actor-writer-director Jon Favreau (Swingers, Elf) will be honored with the Director of the Year Award later this month at the 2005 ShowEast Convention in Orlando.

     Angelina Jolie accepted the Global Humanitarian Award from the United Nations Association of the U.S.A. October 11 for her work as a goodwill ambassador for the UN's refugee agency.

     A Midsummer Night's Dream co-star Calista Flockhart will be honored with a humanitarian award by the Los Angeles Commission on Assaults Against Women on October 21.

     Peter Mayhew, the British actor who played Chewbacca in Star Wars, became an American citizen October 10.

     Peter Jackson will release his production diaries for King Kong in the form of a full-color book, four art prints and two DVDs on December 13, the day before the movie hits theaters.

     Warner Independent Pictures is refusing to release the feature film Strangers With Candy, due to concerns that the producers didn't secure the necessary rights.

     An Italian photographer has filed charges against Gerard Depardieu, after the French actor allegedly headbutted him.

     A fire broke out at a warehouse in Bristol, England, reportedly destroying all the props, models, memorabilia and awards from the Oscar-winning Wallace and Gromit short films.

     Italian writer-director Sergio Citti, best known for his work with filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini, died in a hospital near Rome October 11. He was 72.

     Devery Freeman, a screenwriter who helped create the Writers Guild of America, has died. He was 92.