Quote of the Day- Anthony Hopkins

We conclude our series of quotes from actors who have played real-life American presidents with a comment from the Welsh actor Anthony Hopkins, 74, who played Richard M. Nixon in the Oliver Stone film "Nixon" (1995).

Hopkins is not the only actor from the United Kingdom who has played Nixon on film as Robert Lisden played the president at the center of the Watergate scandal in the cinematic comic book adaptation "Watchmen" (2009).

American actor Frank Langella played Nixon in the exceptional film "Frost/Nixon" (2008); Philip Baker Hall also portrayed him in the Robert Altman film "Secret Honor" (1984).

Nixon has been played in an opera as James Maddalena played him in the opera "Nixon in China," which debuted in Houston, Tex., on Oct. 22, 1987, and the New York Metropolitan Opera debuted the opera last year with the actor reprising his role.

That opera is the subject of an excellent article in Sept. 2012 issue of "Mental Floss," which also said the best time for blogging is 9:30 a.m. Well, it is about that time in Dubai where we are presumably very popular?!

Here is the quote from Hopkins, who won an Oscar for his role as Hannibal Lecter, a serial killer, in the film "Silence of the Lambs" (1991), which made him the first actor to win the Academy Award for playing a murderer. Yes, we forgot about Marlon Brando who played a gangster in "The Godfather" (1972):

"I am able to play monsters well. I understand monsters. I understand mad men."

PS_ We will start blogging on the 2012 London Olympics tomorrow.

http://www.mentalfloss.com

Frost/Nixon My Best Film of the Year

Here are my 20 favorite films of 2008. This is different than the original list which I posted in December, and it is very similar to the list I sent for the Film Comment Reader's Survey. As always, I post without commentary:


1. Frost/Nixon

2. Taxi to the Dark Side (doc)

3. The Edge of Heaven (Germany/Turkey)

4. The Flight of the Red Balloon (France/Taiwan)

5. Slumdog Millionaire (UK)

6. The Wrestler

7. Doubt

8. In Bruges

9. Elegy

10. The Visitor

11. Milk

12. Gran Torino

13. The Dark Knight

14. The Last Mistress (France)

15. Paranoid Park

16. Let the Right One In (Sweden)

17. Tell No One (France)

18. Man on Wire (doc)

19. Vicky Christina Barcelona

20. Takva: Fear of God (Turkey)*

*-Released in Turkey in 2006. Not released theatrically in US, but is available on dvd

Quote of the Week Special Edition- Richard Nixon

"A man is not finished when he is defeated. He finished when he quits," Richard M. Nixon.

I heard a great hour-long documentary about the 1968 presidential election on NPR last night!

Of course, everyone knows there is the new movie "Frost/Nixon," which my friend Mark Burger, a film critic in Winston-Salem, NC, who writes columns for "Yes Weekly!" has called the best film of the year!