TOP TEN FILM FAVES
MOST MEMORABLE MOMS
May 1, 2016
May 1, 2016
Moms have it all – the love, the hate, and the unshakable belief that they're always right. Whether encouraging, enabling, or just plain enjoyable, here are our picks for Most Memorable Moms.
Kathy Bates as Delores Claiborne
Delores Claiborne, 1995
Director: Taylor Hackford
Screenplay: Tony Gilroy
Kathy Bates wins first place, hands-down, for a performance reaffirming that a mother will do anything to protect her daughter – even murder.
Dolores Claiborne: "If you wanna know what kind of life a person had, just look at their hands."
Delores Claiborne, 1995
Director: Taylor Hackford
Screenplay: Tony Gilroy
Kathy Bates wins first place, hands-down, for a performance reaffirming that a mother will do anything to protect her daughter – even murder.
Dolores Claiborne: "If you wanna know what kind of life a person had, just look at their hands."
Joan Crawford as Mildred Pierce
Mildred Pierce, 1945
Director: Michael Curtiz
Screenplay: Ranald MacDougall
Joan sparkles in this black-and-white Oscar jewel about a misguided mom and her love for a thankless cur of a child.
Ida: "Personally, Veda's convinced me that alligators have the right idea. They eat their young."
Mildred Pierce, 1945
Director: Michael Curtiz
Screenplay: Ranald MacDougall
Joan sparkles in this black-and-white Oscar jewel about a misguided mom and her love for a thankless cur of a child.
Ida: "Personally, Veda's convinced me that alligators have the right idea. They eat their young."
Juanita Moore as Annie Johnson
Imitation of Life, 1959
Director: Douglas Sirk
Screenplay: Elanor Griffin/Allan Scott
Heartbreaking protrayal of a devoted mother who is helpless in the face of her daughter's self-hatred.
Annie: "How do you tell a child that she was born to be hurt?"
Imitation of Life, 1959
Director: Douglas Sirk
Screenplay: Elanor Griffin/Allan Scott
Heartbreaking protrayal of a devoted mother who is helpless in the face of her daughter's self-hatred.
Annie: "How do you tell a child that she was born to be hurt?"
John Travolta as Edna Turnblad
Hairspray, 2007
Director: Adam Shankman
Screenplay: Leslie Dixon
Moms don't come any brighter than this wallflower who busts out of her dress and dull life in this wonderful remake of the John Water's film classic.
Wilbur Turnblad: [to Tracy] "This is America, babe, you gotta think big to be big."
Edna Turnblad: "Big ain't the problem in this family, Wilbur."
Hairspray, 2007
Director: Adam Shankman
Screenplay: Leslie Dixon
Moms don't come any brighter than this wallflower who busts out of her dress and dull life in this wonderful remake of the John Water's film classic.
Wilbur Turnblad: [to Tracy] "This is America, babe, you gotta think big to be big."
Edna Turnblad: "Big ain't the problem in this family, Wilbur."
Halle Berry as Khaila Richards and
Jessica Lange as Margaret Lewin
Losing Isaiah, 1995
Director: Stephen Gyllenhaal
Screenplay: Naomi Foner
Halle Berry and Jessica Lange tussle with eachother and tug at our heartstrings as a pair of mothers fighting for the same child.
Margaret Lewin: "Any dog can give birth. That doesn't make it a mother."
Khaila Richards: "Are you calling me an animal? If you think you're going to just take my baby from me, you got another thing coming, lady!"
Jessica Lange as Margaret Lewin
Losing Isaiah, 1995
Director: Stephen Gyllenhaal
Screenplay: Naomi Foner
Halle Berry and Jessica Lange tussle with eachother and tug at our heartstrings as a pair of mothers fighting for the same child.
Margaret Lewin: "Any dog can give birth. That doesn't make it a mother."
Khaila Richards: "Are you calling me an animal? If you think you're going to just take my baby from me, you got another thing coming, lady!"
Paz Vega as Flor Moreno
Spanglish, 2004
Director/Screenplay: James L. Brooks
Paz Vega's delicate yet determined struggle wins everyone over in this film. She plays an immigrant mother hammering away at the seductive assimilation of her daughter to a truly foreign culture.
Flor Moreno: "Is what you want for yourself to become someone very different than me?"
Spanglish, 2004
Director/Screenplay: James L. Brooks
Paz Vega's delicate yet determined struggle wins everyone over in this film. She plays an immigrant mother hammering away at the seductive assimilation of her daughter to a truly foreign culture.
Flor Moreno: "Is what you want for yourself to become someone very different than me?"
Nathan Lane as Albert Goldman
The Birdcage, 1996
Director: Mike Nichols
Screenplay: Elaine May
Nathan Lane steals the show and our hearts in this parable about staying true to your values - and your sexual orientation!
Albert: "Maybe it is too much to introduce me as his mother on the first visit. Could you tell him I was a relative who dropped in? Val's uncle, Uncle Al!"
Armand: "Oh, what's the point? You'd be Val's gay Uncle Al."
The Birdcage, 1996
Director: Mike Nichols
Screenplay: Elaine May
Nathan Lane steals the show and our hearts in this parable about staying true to your values - and your sexual orientation!
Albert: "Maybe it is too much to introduce me as his mother on the first visit. Could you tell him I was a relative who dropped in? Val's uncle, Uncle Al!"
Armand: "Oh, what's the point? You'd be Val's gay Uncle Al."
Anjelica Huston as Morticia Addams
The Addams Family, 1991
Director: Barry Sonnenfeld
Screenplay: Caroline Thompson
Angelica Huston proves that Harriet Nelson isn't the only apple-pie mom...well, sort of!
Morticia: "Children, what are you doing?"
Wednesday: "I'm going to electrocute him."
Morticia: "But we're late for the charity auction."
Wednesday: "But, Mother..."
Morticia: "I said no."
Pugsley: "Pleeaaaase?"
Morticia: "Oh, all right."
The Addams Family, 1991
Director: Barry Sonnenfeld
Screenplay: Caroline Thompson
Angelica Huston proves that Harriet Nelson isn't the only apple-pie mom...well, sort of!
Morticia: "Children, what are you doing?"
Wednesday: "I'm going to electrocute him."
Morticia: "But we're late for the charity auction."
Wednesday: "But, Mother..."
Morticia: "I said no."
Pugsley: "Pleeaaaase?"
Morticia: "Oh, all right."
Toni Collette as Tara Gregson
United States of Tara, 2009
Created/Written: Diablo Cody
Showtime Cable Network
This cable winner examines what we already know about moms, that they're pretty multi-faceted!
Tara:( as Alice) "Kate, I know you aren't fond of me, but I'm concerned about your development as a young woman, just like your mother Tara. You're promiscuous. You aren't guarding your flower."
Tara: (as 'T') "Dude, I have been digging around in your closet for an hour and I can't fuckin' get to Narnia."
Tara: (as Buck) "What do you want to watch on the idiot-box? We got UFC or porn."
United States of Tara, 2009
Created/Written: Diablo Cody
Showtime Cable Network
This cable winner examines what we already know about moms, that they're pretty multi-faceted!
Tara:( as Alice) "Kate, I know you aren't fond of me, but I'm concerned about your development as a young woman, just like your mother Tara. You're promiscuous. You aren't guarding your flower."
Tara: (as 'T') "Dude, I have been digging around in your closet for an hour and I can't fuckin' get to Narnia."
Tara: (as Buck) "What do you want to watch on the idiot-box? We got UFC or porn."
Faye Dunaway as Joan Crawford
Mommie Dearest, 1981
Director: Frank Perry
Screenplay: Robert Getchell
Faye Dunaway's kitschy take on the late, great Joan Crawford may border on the hysterical, but don't we all know a mom like this one?
Joan Crawford: "Why can't you give me the respect that I'm entitled to? Why can't you treat me like I would be treated by any stranger on the street?"
Christina: "Because I am NOT one of your fans."
Mommie Dearest, 1981
Director: Frank Perry
Screenplay: Robert Getchell
Faye Dunaway's kitschy take on the late, great Joan Crawford may border on the hysterical, but don't we all know a mom like this one?
Joan Crawford: "Why can't you give me the respect that I'm entitled to? Why can't you treat me like I would be treated by any stranger on the street?"
Christina: "Because I am NOT one of your fans."
COPYRIGHT 2012/2017. Paulette Reynolds. All CineMata Movie Madness blog articles, reviews, faux interviews, commentary, and the Cine Mata character are under the sole ownership of Paulette Reynolds. All intellectual and creative rights reserved.
