Reviews and Other Features: “October Birthdayz” Blogathon

I haven’t been part of a Blogathon for quite a while now. In the past I’ve really enjoyed being part of features like the Back to School, The Top 10 Most Iconic Female Character and Song and Screen series ones, but I have been too busy for any ones recently. However, when Nuwan Sen suggested some flexibility for his October Birthdayz Blogathon I just had to contribute. And I knew just who to choose when selecting someone with a film background and an October birthday. Born on 9 October 1940, Lennon was in films such as Help, A Hard Day’s Night and Yellow Submarine, as well as numerous documentaries released posthumously such as The US v John Lennon. Here are eight of the most memorable quotes from a man who spread peace his whole life.

Advertisement

Line(s) of the Day #Network

I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore.

The definitive and oft-quoted line from the anarchistic speech by Howard Beale (Peter Finch) in Network (1976). Set in the fictional UBS network, the film tells how a unstable newsreader’s explosive ramblings are exploited for profits and ratings. The film won four Academy Awards, including Best Actor for Finch. I was also lucky enough to see a fantastic recent adaptation in the National Theatre with Bryan Cranston in the lead role.

Line(s) of the Day #Deadpool

You don’t need to be a superhero to get the girl. The right girl will bring out the hero in you.

Wade Wilson / Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) in the action comedy superhero Deadpool (2016). The wise-cracking eponymous character is hell-bent on finding the man who made him a superhero with drastic consequences.

Film Quizzes: American Presidents

With everyone still discussing the American Presidential election and the inevitable consequences of Donald Trump’s victory, it seemed a good time to take a look at who has taken the Oval Office in Hollywood. Some relate to real presidents, while others are entirely fictional. How many of the 12 can you get?

 1. (1970s)

 2. (1990s)

 3. (1990s)

 4. (1990s)

 5. (1990s)

 6. (1990s)

 7. (1990s)

 8. (1990s)

 9. (1990s)

 10. (1990s)

 11. (2000s)

 12. (2000s)

 13. (2000s)

 14. (2010+)

 15. (2010+)

Answers Below

Line(s) of the Day #Bridget Jones’s Diary

I don’t think you’re an idiot at all. I mean, there are elements of the ridiculous about you. Your mother’s pretty interesting. And you really are an appallingly bad public speaker. And, um, you tend to let whatever’s in your head come out of your mouth without much consideration of the consequences… But the thing is, um, what I’m trying to say, very inarticulately, is that, um, in fact, perhaps despite appearances, I like you, very much. Just as you are.

Mark Darcy (Colin Firth) in adorable romcom Bridget Jones’s Diary (2001). The latest instalment in the tales of Bridget and her romantic adventures will be out later this week.

TV Quiz: Political TV Shows

With the European news being dominated by the UK’s decision to leave the EU, I thought it was only fitting to do a politically-themed quiz. So with the shockwaves of Brexit still being felt, here are 15 past and present TV shows that capture different moods, mavericks and mindsets within the political landscape. It is one of the tougher ones I will do, so no worries if you struggle. While my picture quizzes are usually film-based, for those interested I have also done TV ones before, with American drama and cartoons.

  1.

  2.

  3.

  4.

  5.

  6.

  7.

  8.

  9.

  10.

  11.

  12.

  13.

  14.

  15.

Answers below

Line(s) of the Day #TheUsualSuspects

Who is Keyser Soze? He is supposed to be Turkish. Some say his father was German. Nobody believed he was real. Nobody ever saw him or knew anybody that ever worked directly for him, but to hear Kobayashi tell it, anybody could have worked for Soze. You never knew. That was his power. The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist. And like that, poof. He’s gone.

Verbal Klint (Kevin Spacey) in the hugely thrilling The Usual Suspects (1995). Winner of an Academy Award for Spacey as well as for Best Original Screenplay, it features one of cinema’s most famous endings.

 

Line(s) of the Day #PathsofGlory

If those little sweethearts won’t face German bullets, they’ll face French ones!

General Mireau (George Macready) in the classic anti-war film Paths of Glory (1957).

Line(s) of the Day #MontyPythonsLifeofBrian

All right, but apart from the sanitation, the medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, the fresh-water system, and public health, what have the Romans ever done for us?

Reg (John Cleese) in the religious satire Monty Python’s The Life of Brian (1979)

Line(s) of the Day #TheThirty-NineSteps

There are 20 million women in this island and I get to be chained to you.

Richard Hannay (Robert Donat) in the Alfred Hitchcock thriller, The Thirty-Nine Steps(1935).