I can’t give you anything but more film-related questions, Baby…!
According to the calendar summer is not officially over, but on the SLIFR campus the end of summer is always marked by the Labor Day Weekend, a three-day celebration of the fruits of the workers who have helped to shape this country. Well, I can’t say that the quizzes here at SLIFR have ever had anything so lofty as a tribute to the human spirit in mind, but the quizzes themselves are often laborious undertakings. As so it is with this latest edition, created and administered by SLIFR zoology expert and casual cross-dresser Professor David Huxley, who when he is not roaming the countryside decked out in a frilly bathrobe while searching for his bone can be found assembling the most fascinating skeletal structures of prehistoric creatures right here in the main lobby of the SLIFR Student Union and Geological Museum. Professor Huxley realizes that one is theoretically supposed to devote Labor Day to a scaling back of actual labor in favor of traditional fun and relaxation—it always meant carnival rides and demolition derbies when I was a kid. But with great education comes great responsibility, or great holiday sale prices, or something like that, and so Professor Huxley has decided that the students under his gilded wing are best left off spending their time with their noses to the grindstone. The following quiz has been composed to occupy your moments of relaxation and turn that idle Labor Day time into a teeth-gnashing, sweat-wringing marathon of mental effort. It’s either this of watching the Jerry Lewis Telethon.A couple of procedural notes before we begin. First, No. 2 pencils only. If you are submitting your answers via computer, Professor Huxley has stated that he will accept your answers only if graphite from a No. 2 pencil is first smeared onto your fingertips before typing each response. Second, since Blogger has imposed a 4,096-character limit on responses, please do not feel that this translates into restricting your answers to short, easily consumable bites. The more the detail in your answers, the greater is Professor Huxley pleased, and you definitely want to make sure the guy swinging the jawbone of a triceratops is kept well pleased. Please feel free to break up your answers into two or more comment posts. If you have your own blog, you may also provide a link to your answers there. But whatever you do, please remember to cut and paste the questions and create your answers underneath the questions to that we all may more immediately see to which question your answer relates.
My own tardiness vis-a-vis these quizzes has never known bounds of any kind. The fact that I have yet to submit my own answers to the last quiz (and I had a couple of doozy answers which nobody has yet duplicated) speaks to my slovenliness and in no way should be taken as an acceptable example for quiz participation. I promise I will try to answer those last questions and these questions in a timely fashion… before Christmas. For the rest of you, as far as I am concerned there is no such thing as a late submission. Professor Huxley may feel differently, but if he does he has not yet expressed as much to me, so I feel like we’re in the clear here. Besides, I think right now he’s languishing in jail with that sprightly force of nature Susan Vance anyway, so what does he care if you’re a little late?
All right, No. 2 pencils at the ready. Open your Blue Books! Begin! (And many thanks to regular SLIFR reader Robert Fiore for suggesting some of the questions on this new quiz.)
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1) Classic film you most want to experience that has so far eluded you.
2) Greatest Criterion DVD/Blu-ray release ever
3) The Big Sleep or The Maltese Falcon?
4) Jason Bateman or Paul Rudd?
5) Best mother/child (male or female) movie star combo
6) Who are the Robert Mitchums and Ida Lupinos among working movie actors? Do modern parallels to such masculine and no-nonsense feminine stars even exist? If not, why not?
7) Favorite Preston Sturges movie
8) Odette Yustman or Mary Elizabeth Winstead?
9) Is there a movie that if you found out a partner or love interest loved (or didn't love) would qualify as a Relationship Deal Breaker?
10) Favorite DVD commentary
11) Movies most recently seen on DVD, Blu-ray and theatrically
12) Dirk Bogarde or Alan Bates?
13) Favorite DVD extra
14) Brian De Palma’s Scarface— yes or no?
15) Best comic moment from a horror film that is not a horror comedy (Young Frankenstein, Love At First Bite, et al.)
16) Jane Birkin or Edwige Fenech?
17) Favorite Wong Kar-wai movie
18) Best horrific moment from a comedy that is not a horror comedy
19) From 2010, a specific example of what movies are doing right…
20) Ryan Reynolds or Chris Evans?
21) Speculate about the future of online film writing. What’s next?
22) Roger Livesey or David Farrar?
23) Best father/child (male or female) movie star combo
24) Favorite Freddie Francis movie (as Director)
25) Bringing Up Baby or The Awful Truth?
26) Tina Fey or Kristen Wiig?
27) Name a stylistically important director and the best film that would have never been made without his/her influence.
28) Movie you’d most enjoy seeing remade and transplanted to a different culture (i.e. Yimou Zhang’s A Woman, a Gun and a Noodle Shop.)
29) Link to a picture/frame grab of a movie image that for you best illustrates bliss. Elaborate.
30) With a tip of that hat to Glenn Kenny, think of a just-slightly-inadequate alternate title for a famous movie. (Examples from GK: Fan Fiction; Boudu Relieved From Cramping; The Mild Imprecation of the Cat People)
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1) Classic film you most want to experience that has so far eluded you.
ReplyDeleteNapoleon
2) Greatest Criterion DVD/Blu-ray release ever
The Leopard
3) The Big Sleep or The Maltese Falcon?
The Big Sleep
4) Jason Bateman or Paul Rudd?
Bateman
5) Best mother/child (male or female) movie star combo
Catherine Deneuve/Chiara Mastroianni
6) Who are the Robert Mitchums and Ida Lupinos among working movie actors? Do modern parallels to such masculine and no-nonsense feminine stars even exist? If not, why not?
Mario Bello. Mary McCormack on "In Plain Sight." Anthony Wong. Johnny Hallyday in "Vengeance."
7) Favorite Preston Sturges movie
The Lady Eve
8) Odette Yustman or Mary Elizabeth Winstead?
Mary Elizabeth Winstead (but not in Scott Pilgrim Is Terrified of Girls But Hopes Someday to Man Up Enough to Kick Jeff Wells' Ass).
9) Is there a movie that if you found out a partner or love interest loved would qualify as a Relationship Deal Breaker?
The Lady Eve
10) Favorite DVD commentary
Kim Morgan Roadhouse/Arlo Guthrie Alice's Restaurant
11) Movies most recently seen on DVD, Blu-ray and theatrically
Hannie Caulder, never seen a Blu-Ray, Machete
12) Dirk Bogarde or Alan Bates?
Please. Alan Bates. If I want masochism, there's always John Hurt.
13) Favorite DVD extra
I can't say.
14) Brian De Palma’s Scarface— yes or no?
No
15) Best comic moment from a horror film that is not a horror comedy (Young Frankenstein, Love At First Bite, et al.)
Lance Henriksen coughing up bullet in "Near Dark," sticking spent slug in shooter's shirt pocket and saying "Souvenir."
16) Jane Birkin or Edwige Fenech?
Jane for la la la. Edwige for l'amour.
17) Favorite Wong Kar-wai movie
Chungking Express
18) Best horrific moment from a comedy that is not a horror comedy?
Anything with Amy Adams.
19) From 2010, a specific example of what movies are doing right…
The American
20) Ryan Reynolds or Chris Evans?
Fabian.
21) Speculate about the future of online film writing. What’s next?
Revenge of the Nerds crossed with Lord of the Flies.
22) Roger Livesey or David Farrar?
Who?
23) Best father/child (male or female) movie star combo
Orson Welles and Tim McIntire
24) Favorite Freddie Francis movie
as DP? The Elephant Man
25) Bringing Up Baby or The Awful Truth?
BUB
26) Tina Fey or Kristen Wiig?
Wiig
27) Name a stylistically important director and the best film that would have never been made without his/her influence.
Karl Freund/"Citizen Kane"
28) Movie you’d most enjoy seeing remade and transplanted to a different culture (i.e. Yimou Zhang’s A Woman, a Gun and a Noodle Shop.)
Seduced and Abandoned, a merciless attack on the Church, paternalism, sexism, in an Islamic country. (The New York Times refused to let me say that in a review of S&A.)
29) Link to a picture/frame grab of a movie image that for you best illustrates bliss. Elaborate.
This is it.
30) With a tip of that hat to Glenn Kenny, think of a just-slightly-inadequate alternate title for a famous movie. (Examples from GK: Fan Fiction; Boudu Relieved From Cramping; The Mild Imprecation of the Cat People)
Bunny Lake Is Fishing
) Classic film you most want to experience that has so far eluded you.
ReplyDeleteExperience or simply watch? If you mean experience, I wish I was Mark Damon going down on Christiane Kruger in Little Mother by Radley Metzger. As far as watching a classic film, I'm still hoping someday to see It's Trad, Dad once during my lifetime.
2) Greatest Criterion DVD/Blu-ray release ever
As far as I'm concerned, nothing I've seen from Criterion holds a candle to AnimEigo's DVD release of Imamura's Black Rain. Colored subtitles, lots of notes, an alternate ending, and an interview with Takashi Miike who was an assistant to Imamura.
3) The Big Sleep or The Maltese Falcon?
The Maltese Falcon.
4) Jason Bateman or Paul Rudd?
Slightly more enthusiasm for Rudd.
5) Best mother/child (male or female) movie star combo
Prof. Huxley, please be more precise. Are we talking on screen or biological mothers and children? On screen: Josephine Siao and Jet Li. Biological: Jane Birken and Charlotte Gainsbourg.
6) Who are the Robert Mitchums and Ida Lupinos among working movie actors? Do modern parallels to such masculine and no-nonsense feminine stars even exist? If not, why not?
Chow Yun-Fat and Michelle Yeoh.
7) Favorite Preston Sturges movie
Christmas In July
8) Odette Yustman or Mary Elizabeth Winstead?
Mika Nakashima
9) Is there a movie that if you found out a partner or love interest loved (or didn't love) would qualify as a Relationship Deal Breaker?
It happened during an argument with some guy about Citizen Kane. Not a serious relationship, but the young woman who was friends with us both tried to end the argument by saying, "It's just a movie".
10) Favorite DVD commentary
Renny Harlin on Driven, explaining how he edited Sylvester Stallone out of what was suppose to be his movie.
11) Movies most recently seen on DVD, Blu-ray and theatrically
DVD: Man in the Moon (Basil Dearden - 1960). Theatrically: I Hate Luv Storys.
12) Dirk Bogarde or Alan Bates?
Bogarde.
13) Favorite DVD extra
Alternate endings.
14) Brian De Palma’s Scarface— yes or no?
I believe this was asked previously, Prof. Huxley. I lived in Miami Beach, all Scarface, all the time. I prefer the Hawks version.
15) Best comic moment from a horror film that is not a horror comedy (Young Frankenstein, Love At First Bite, et al.)
The moment in Psycho when you're not sure if the car will sink.
16) Jane Birkin or Edwige Fenech?
ReplyDeleteFenech.
17) Favorite Wong Kar-wai movie
In the Mood for Love
18) Best horrific moment from a comedy that is not a horror comedy
The dropped baby in C.R.A.Z.Y..
19) From 2010, a specific example of what movies are doing right…
The Good, the Bad, and the Weird got a theatrical release in the United States.
20) Ryan Reynolds or Chris Evans?
Gene Evans
21) Speculate about the future of online film writing. What’s next?
I'll be writing about Asian horror movies on my blog in October. If I get a press pass and screeners, I'll be writing about the Starz International Film Festival in November.
22) Roger Livesey or David Farrar?
Oh, like I watch Michael Powell movies for the men?
23) Best father/child (male or female) movie star combo
On screen: John Huston and Faye Dunaway. Biological: John Mills and Hayley Mills.
24) Favorite Freddie Francis movie (as Director)
Dr. Terror's House of Horrors
25) Bringing Up Baby or The Awful Truth?
Bringing Up Baby
26) Tina Fey or Kristen Wiig?
Margaret Cho
27) Name a stylistically important director and the best film that would have never been made without his/her influence.
Powell and Pressburger's The Red Shoes has influenced several filmmakers. Not quite his best, but an influence on Dario Argento's Tenebre.
28) Movie you’d most enjoy seeing remade and transplanted to a different culture (i.e. Yimou Zhang’s A Woman, a Gun and a Noodle Shop.)
I think Walsh's A King and Four Queens, essentially a comedy of manners in cowboy garb, offers some possibilities.
29) Link to a picture/frame grab of a movie image that for you best illustrates bliss. Elaborate.
I think this speaks for itself: an all time favorite scene.
30) With a tip of that hat to Glenn Kenny, think of a just-slightly-inadequate alternate title for a famous movie. (Examples from GK: Fan Fiction; Boudu Relieved From Cramping; The Mild Imprecation of the Cat People)
You mean like Gone with the Breeze?
1) Classic film you most want to experience that has so far eluded you.
ReplyDeleteStill determined not to see Kwaidan until I can see it on a big screen.
2) Greatest Criterion DVD/Blu-ray release ever
Lubitsch Musicals. Most impressive application of the Criterion treatment would be Mr. Arkadin. Heretical as it may sound, as a producer of premium DVD packages I'm actually a bit more impressed with Warner Bros. when they give it the full Monty.
3) The Big Sleep or The Maltese Falcon?
Much as I revere Raymond Chandler, The Maltese Falcon just snaps and glows.
4) Jason Bateman or Paul Rudd?
Paul Rudd is about the only youth-appeal actor of the last 30 years or so that I'd be interested to watch grow to adulthood; Bateman to me is a cipher.
5) Best mother/child (male or female) movie star combo
Janet Leigh and Jamie Lee Curtis.
6) Who are the Robert Mitchums and Ida Lupinos among working movie actors? Do modern parallels to such masculine and no-nonsense feminine stars even exist? If not, why not?
I don't think they'll ever make another Robert Mitchum. Pity they didn't make him make more good movies. For Ida Lupino, Janeane Garofalo when she's not full of herself.
7) Favorite Preston Sturges movie
Sullivan's Travels.
8) Odette Yustman or Mary Elizabeth Winstead?
Winstead for being in Death Proof.
9) Is there a movie that if you found out a partner or love interest loved (or didn't love) would qualify as a Relationship Deal Breaker?
Admiration or even tolerance of anything from the Chris Columbus oeuvre would be a definite red flag.
10) Favorite DVD commentary
Ricky Gervais does a very good commentary. Kenneth Smith's are usually better than the movie itself.
11) Movies most recently seen on DVD, Blu-ray and theatrically
DVD: Rififi (not chronologically the first crime procedural but it makes you feel as though it was). High Definition: Reds on HD DVD (a truly epic ego trip) and Cemetery Junction in Blu-ray (bit of an echo of Billy Liar but worth seeing). Theatrically: Peter Pan (best of the postwar-while-Walt-was-still-alive animated features, I think).
12) Dirk Bogarde or Alan Bates?
Alan Bates, for Butley alone.
13) Favorite DVD extra
On the Singin' in the Rain DVD they have clips of the original appearance of the songs used in the film, which turns into a trip through old weird and sometimes wonderful movie musicals. I bought the Criterion F for Fake primarily to get One Man Band, the documentary on Welles' lost years. Favorite overall extras package would probably be the Special Edition of Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
14) Brian De Palma’s Scarface— yes or no?
The thing that really strikes me comparing the Hawks and De Palma versions is that where once you had Jews pretending to be Italians, you now have Italians pretending to be Cubans. The DePalma Scarface I find to be shrill and overwrought.
15) Best comic moment from a horror film that is not a horror comedy (Young Frankenstein, Love At First Bite, et al.)
Dr. Polidori's homunculi in The Bride of Frankenstein.
11) Movies most recently seen on DVD, Blu-ray and theatrically
ReplyDeleteDVD: Rififi (not chronologically the first crime procedural but it makes you feel as though it was). High Definition: Reds on HD DVD (a truly epic ego trip) and Cemetery Junction in Blu-ray (bit of an echo of Billy Liar but worth seeing). Theatrically: Peter Pan (best of the postwar-while-Walt-was-still-alive animated features, I think).
12) Dirk Bogarde or Alan Bates?
Alan Bates, for Butley alone.
13) Favorite DVD extra
On the Singin' in the Rain DVD they have clips of the original appearance of the songs used in the film, which turns into a trip through old weird and sometimes wonderful movie musicals. I bought the Criterion F for Fake primarily to get One Man Band, the documentary on Welles' lost years. Favorite overall extras package would probably be the Special Edition of Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
14) Brian De Palma’s Scarface— yes or no?
The thing that really strikes me comparing the Hawks and De Palma versions is that where once you had Jews pretending to be Italians, you now have Italians pretending to be Cubans. The DePalma Scarface I find to be shrill and overwrought.
15) Best comic moment from a horror film that is not a horror comedy (Young Frankenstein, Love At First Bite, et al.)
Dr. Polidori's homunculi in The Bride of Frankenstein.
16) Jane Birkin or Edwige Fenech?
Birkin on a record, Fenech in a pinup shot.
18) Best horrific moment from a comedy that is not a horror comedy
Burt Cort's self-immolation in Harold and Maude is hilarious and horrifying at the same time.
19) From 2010, a specific example of what movies are doing right…
Well, what they're doing half right is turning out stunning spectacles, but what's half wrong about them is the emptiness inside them (Inception, Avatar).
20) Ryan Reynolds or Chris Evans?
Ryan Reynolds is an entity, though not by much; Chris Evans is a non-entity.
21) Speculate about the future of online film writing. What’s next?
ReplyDeleteFragmentation, but that's the nature of it.
22) Roger Livesey or David Farrar?
Roger Livesey, no question.
23) Best father/child (male or female) movie star combo
If you anted to be symmetrical, Tony Curtis and Jamie Lee Curtis. Broadened beyond movie star to movie figure I'd say Walter Huston and John Huston. Father/child director combo is Max and Marcel Ophuls.
24) Favorite Freddie Francis movie (as Director)
I think I might have seen Dracula Has Risen From the Grave, or maybe the title is such a grabber that I just imagine I've seen it.
25) Bringing Up Baby or The Awful Truth?
The Awful Truth might be my favorite Cary Grant movie of all.
26) Tina Fey or Kristen Wiig?
Tina Fey.
27) Name a stylistically important director and the best film that would have never been made without his/her influence.
Charlie Chaplin and A Nous La Liberte, and then Rene Clair and Modern Times.
28) Movie you’d most enjoy seeing remade and transplanted to a different culture (i.e. Yimou Zhang’s A Woman, a Gun and a Noodle Shop.)
It's too late, but Goyokin as a Clint Eastwood western.
29) Link to a picture/frame grab of a movie image that for you best illustrates bliss. Elaborate.
http://tinyurl.com/2cbsa5z
If it needed elaboration it wouldn't best illustrate bliss, would it?
30) With a tip of that hat to Glenn Kenny, think of a just-slightly-inadequate alternate title for a famous movie. (Examples from GK: Fan Fiction; Boudu Relieved From Cramping; The Mild Imprecation of the Cat People
Faster Dr. Kevorkian! Kill! Kill! (Demon Seed makes a good Spoonerism.)
1) Classic film you most want to experience that has so far eluded you.
ReplyDeleteI'd say either Out 1 or The Nun, by Rivette. Probably more The Nun since I'm more certain I'd have the patience for it.
2) Greatest Criterion DVD/Blu-ray release ever
I'd go with Fanny and Alexander, for releasing a film I was very eager to see, and providing both versions as well as Bergman's documentary.
3) The Big Sleep or The Maltese Falcon?
I'm not a huge fan of either, but The Maltese Falcon has Peter Lorre.
4) Jason Bateman or Paul Rudd?
Vanilla vs. vanilla? I'll go with vanilla. (This is more a question of my taste than either of their abilities as an actor. No offense, guys.)
5) Best mother/child (male or female) movie star combo
I can't think of any combos with two that I really like.
6) Who are the Robert Mitchums and Ida Lupinos among working movie actors? Do modern parallels to such masculine and no-nonsense feminine stars even exist? If not, why not?
Clint Eastwood doesn't really play the bad guy roles that Mitchum got, but he might be the closest I can think of. I don't know Ida Lupino's works very well, but I'm having a hard time thinking of a contemporary "no-nonsense feminine star." On some level I feel pretty un-pc even trying to think of one.
7) Favorite Preston Sturges movie
I've only seen Sullivan's Travels.
8) Odette Yustman or Mary Elizabeth Winstead?
I don't know either one, or any of their films.
9) Is there a movie that if you found out a partner or love interest loved (or didn't love) would qualify as a Relationship Deal Breaker?
I'm a film snob, but this is too much for me. I hope it would take more than this to make me not want to be with someone.
10) Favorite DVD commentary
I don't listen to these any more, but I really liked Julie Taymor's commentary on Titus. I'd probably listen to her commentary of The Tempest when it comes out on DVD.
11) Movies most recently seen on DVD, Blu-ray and theatrically
On DVD: José Luis Guerín's Train of Shadows.
In the theater: Paula Hernández's Rain.
I don't have a Blu-ray player, so I'll go with streaming instead: Orson Welles' Chimes at Midnight.
All of them were well worth seeing.
12) Dirk Bogarde or Alan Bates?
Probably Bogarde, since I've been meaning to see Death in Venice and might someday watch The Night Porter. I'd never heard of either of them, though.
13) Favorite DVD extra
In principle, or a specific one? I'll assume in principle. The only extras I really get excited about are short films by the same director as the feature film.
14) Brian De Palma’s Scarface— yes or no?
I found it to be a pretty stupid film, to be blunt. I don't have any principled stand against watching it, though.
1) Classic film you most want to experience that has so far eluded you.
ReplyDeleteI'd say either Out 1 or The Nun, by Rivette. Probably more The Nun since I'm more certain I'd have the patience for it.
2) Greatest Criterion DVD/Blu-ray release ever
I'd go with Fanny and Alexander, for releasing a film I was very eager to see, and providing both versions as well as Bergman's documentary.
3) The Big Sleep or The Maltese Falcon?
I'm not a huge fan of either, but The Maltese Falcon has Peter Lorre.
4) Jason Bateman or Paul Rudd?
Vanilla vs. vanilla? I'll go with vanilla. (This is more a question of my taste than either of their abilities as an actor. No offense, guys.)
5) Best mother/child (male or female) movie star combo
I can't think of any combos with two that I really like.
6) Who are the Robert Mitchums and Ida Lupinos among working movie actors? Do modern parallels to such masculine and no-nonsense feminine stars even exist? If not, why not?
Clint Eastwood doesn't really play the bad guy roles that Mitchum got, but he might be the closest I can think of. I don't know Ida Lupino's works very well, but I'm having a hard time thinking of a contemporary "no-nonsense feminine star." On some level I feel pretty un-pc even trying to think of one.
7) Favorite Preston Sturges movie
I've only seen Sullivan's Travels.
8) Odette Yustman or Mary Elizabeth Winstead?
I don't know either one, or any of their films.
9) Is there a movie that if you found out a partner or love interest loved (or didn't love) would qualify as a Relationship Deal Breaker?
I'm a film snob, but this is too much for me. I hope it would take more than this to make me not want to be with someone.
10) Favorite DVD commentary
I don't listen to these any more, but I really liked Julie Taymor's commentary on Titus. I'd probably listen to her commentary of The Tempest when it comes out on DVD.
11) Movies most recently seen on DVD, Blu-ray and theatrically
On DVD: José Luis Guerín's Train of Shadows.
In the theater: Paula Hernández's Rain.
I don't have a Blu-ray player, so I'll go with streaming instead: Orson Welles' Chimes at Midnight.
All of them were well worth seeing.
16) Jane Birkin or Edwige Fenech?
ReplyDeleteJane Birkin, for everything from The Swimming Pool to La Belle noiseuse.
17) Favorite Wong Kar-wai movie
In the Mood for Love. Chungking Express was also really good, but I couldn't really connect with 2046.
18) Best horrific moment from a comedy that is not a horror comedy
This is out of left field again, but the death of the nun at the beginning of Buñuel's The Criminal Life of Archibaldo de la Cruz. It's fairly shocking, at least for a Buñuel comedy, and the rest of the film, even with a couple of other deaths, feels light in comparison.
19) From 2010, a specific example of what movies are doing right…
The only 2010 film I've seen is Alice in Wonderland, and it did a whole lot wrong. I'll say (out of left field) Lav Díaz making three of his films available directly from him.
20) Ryan Reynolds or Chris Evans?
Well, I'd actually heard of Ryan Reynolds before seeing this question. But for me, he's kind of meh in his films. And I don't know if I can commit to that.
21) Speculate about the future of online film writing. What’s next?
I've seen a lot of good criticism on some harder to find films that's impressed me a lot. Hopefully there is an increased focus on highlighting the non-canonical. I don't have much desire to hear interminably about the latest Christopher Nolan film (though there is some very good writing on his and other contemporary films).
22) Roger Livesey or David Farrar?
I've seen a David Farrar film. Nothing by Livesey. Never heard of either one until now. (And I'll probably forget about them after.)
Off topic: why are these always actors? Why not between directors? (Selfish reasons, since I'd be better able to answer, and hopefully get a better grade.)
23) Best father/child (male or female) movie star combo
I liked Ryan and Tatum O'Neal in Paper Moon a whole lot.
24) Favorite Freddie Francis movie (as Director)
I do not know his career. I'd see Dracula Has Risen from the Grave based on the title alone.
25) Bringing Up Baby or The Awful Truth?
I hated Bringing Up Baby (sorry professor), and haven't seen The Awful Truth.
26) Tina Fey or Kristen Wiig?
I don't know Wiig's career at all, but I have nothing against Tina Fey.
27) Name a stylistically important director and the best film that would have never been made without his/her influence.
I wonder what Night of the Hunter would have looked like without the influence of Fritz Lang. Lang's career and the Laughton film are both masterful, and I really wish Laughton had been allowed to make more.
28) Movie you’d most enjoy seeing remade and transplanted to a different culture (i.e. Yimou Zhang’s A Woman, a Gun and a Noodle Shop.)
Off the top of my head, I'd be interested in seeing Angelopoulos do with American history what he does with Greek history. Maybe the American Alexander the Great, or something along those lines.
29) Link to a picture/frame grab of a movie image that for you best illustrates bliss. Elaborate.
I'm sure our proctor will agree with this. The conversation surrounding the three lower and right-hand shots here: http://www.claudiacardinale.co.uk/filmography/eightandahalf/eightandahalf.htm
30) With a tip of that hat to Glenn Kenny, think of a just-slightly-inadequate alternate title for a famous movie. (Examples from GK: Fan Fiction; Boudu Relieved From Cramping; The Mild Imprecation of the Cat People)
Greenaway already did this: 8 1/2 Women. I don't know, maybe, Aguirre, Lost in the Amazon.
1) Classic film you most want to experience that has so far eluded you.
ReplyDeleteI'm waiting to see Dr. Zhivago on the big screen. That's how I first saw Lawrence of Arabia, and I know it's going to make all the difference.
2) Greatest Criterion DVD/Blu-ray release ever
Dazed and Confused. Seriously. With this release, D&C was hauled out of the "stoner classic" ghetto and recognized as a true achievement for capturing an era's outlook. Other Criterion films are already recognized as classics; their decision to bring out D&C forced people to reevaluate the movie and give Richard Linklater the credit he so richly deserved.
3) The Big Sleep or The Maltese Falcon?
When the Big Sleep goes to sleep, the Maltese Falcon is the stuff its dreams are made of.
4) Jason Bateman or Paul Rudd?
Rudd. Both are great at being the guy caught in a ridiculous situation, but Rudd gives me the impression that it wouldn't be a good idea to push him too far, and I like that bare hint of danger.
5) Best mother/child (male or female) movie star combo
Ingrid Bergman / Isabella Rossellini
6) Who are the Robert Mitchums and Ida Lupinos among working movie actors? Do modern parallels to such masculine and no-nonsense feminine stars even exist? If not, why not?
I say no. Think of it - were there any "young Robert Mitchums" in the '50s or '60s, let alone today? They carved their own roles, using their own personalities - any attempts to fill those roles are flattery at best, mockery at worst.
7) Favorite Preston Sturges movie
The Palm Beach Story. Fun like nothing else, with bursts of true romanticism that can catch you off guard.
8) Odette Yustman or Mary Elizabeth Winstead?
Hubba! Ahem. I mean, Odette.
9) Is there a movie that if you found out a partner or love interest loved (or didn't love) would qualify as a Relationship Deal Breaker?
A fiancee who likes An American Carol is no fiancee of mine.
10) Favorite DVD commentary
I learned a lot listening to Wes Anderson talk about The Royal Tenenbaums.
11) Movies most recently seen on DVD, Blu-ray and theatrically
DVD: Fool For Love. Altman sticks to Sam Shepard's script and still finds ways to tell the story that I'll bet never occurred to Shepard.
Blu-ray: N/A
Theatrically: Crazy Heart, some six months ago. Been a bit of a dry spell for me...
12) Dirk Bogarde or Alan Bates?
Tough one... I'll say Bogarde today.
13) Favorite DVD extra
The Muppet Movie has footage of Kermit and Fozzie in the countryside - basically a test to see if Muppets could work outdoors - and Jim Henson and Frank Oz were just riffing back and forth, cracking everyone up. It's just so much fun.
14) Brian De Palma’s Scarface— yes or no?
I appreciate its place in film history, but Howard Hawks's Scarface excited me much more. So, no.
15) Best comic moment from a horror film that is not a horror comedy (Young Frankenstein, Love At First Bite, et al.)
In Texas Chainsaw Massacre, when the guy runs back to the house to turn off the porch light and save energy. Runner-up: Norman Bates's expression when the car stops sinking.
16) Jane Birkin or Edwige Fenech?
ReplyDeleteJane. I'm a sucker for big eyes.
17) Favorite Wong Kar-wai movie
Pass.
18) Best horrific moment from a comedy that is not a horror comedy
"AND WHEN THEY PULLED THE DRIVER'S BODY... FROM THE TWISTED, BURNING WRECK... IT LOOKED LIKE THIS!!" - Large Marge, Pee Wee'd Big Adventure
19) From 2010, a specific example of what movies are doing right…
Splitting the last Harry Potter book into two movies was NOT a cynical ploy to get more money. I'd rather spend twenty bucks on a complete story than ten on a story with a third missing.
20) Ryan Reynolds or Chris Evans?
That's Mr. Scarlett Johansson to you.
21) Speculate about the future of online film writing. What’s next?
How about this: A screenplay is developed by an online community, who then raise enough money to get it made.
22) Roger Livesey or David Farrar?
Pass.
23) Best father/child (male or female) movie star combo
Henry / Jane Fonda
24) Favorite Freddie Francis movie (as Director)
I've seen none of his directed movies and several where he was director of photography. So I'll cheat and say The Straight Story.
25) Bringing Up Baby or The Awful Truth?
BUB > TAT
26) Tina Fey or Kristen Wiig?
Tina Fey singlehandedly changed the perception that Saturday Night Live was a glorified boy's club, first as writer and then as performer. She deserves the crown for that.
27) Name a stylistically important director and the best film that would have never been made without his/her influence.
Hitchcock and "Blow-Out" is too obvious, but I'll be damned if I can think of any better answers.
28) Movie you’d most enjoy seeing remade and transplanted to a different culture (i.e. Yimou Zhang’s A Woman, a Gun and a Noodle Shop.)
I'd love to see what Hayao Miyazaki would do with the Wizard of Oz.
29) Link to a picture/frame grab of a movie image that for you best illustrates bliss. Elaborate.
Harold blowing bubbles after a night in bed with Maude. Never before or after would he be as free of the touch of death.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3440/3277476308_57e59aeb42.jpg
30) With a tip of that hat to Glenn Kenny, think of a just-slightly-inadequate alternate title for a famous movie. (Examples from GK: Fan Fiction; Boudu Relieved From Cramping; The Mild Imprecation of the Cat People)
I can't decide between the Peter Cellers classic "Being Somewhere Other Than Here" and Quinten Tarrantinno's "Inglourious Assholes."
1) Classic film you most want to experience that has so far eluded you.
ReplyDeleteToo many to mention, but after having browsed the IMDb top 250 for suggestions, I suppose the biggest crime is that I still haven’t watched a Chaplin film (I think I’m more of a Keaton guy, though).
2) Greatest Criterion DVD/Blu-ray release ever
I would say Seven Samurai, but I haven’t seen it on Blue-ray yet. And given that I have already purchased the two different Criterion edition of the film, it will probably be while before I do.
3) The Big Sleep or The Maltese Falcon?
The Big Sleep for teaching us that, in Marlowe’s world, even the booksellers and taxi drivers are drop dead gorgeous.
4) Jason Bateman or Paul Rudd?
I’ll say Rudd. I just re-read The Great Gatsby, and I’m interested in his take on Nick Carraway in the most recent movie version.
5) Best mother/child (male or female) movie star combo
The only one that comes to mind is Janet Leigh and Jamie Lee Curtis, and I haven’t even seen Halloween H20.
6) Who are the Robert Mitchums and Ida Lupinos among working movie actors? Do modern parallels to such masculine and no-nonsense feminine stars even exist? If not, why not?
As soon as I read “No-nonsense feminine”, I immediately thought of Christina Hendricks.
7) Favorite Preston Sturges movie
I’ve only seen Sullivan’s Travels, so that will have to be it.
8) Odette Yustman or Mary Elizabeth Winstead?
Winstead, whose eyes kind of stay with you after watching the Scott Pilgrim trailer.
9) Is there a movie that if you found out a partner or love interest loved (or didn't love) would qualify as a Relationship Deal Breaker?
It wasn’t a movie, but there was one girl I knew that told me she didn’t find anything remotely funny with Bugs Bunny or any of the old Looney Tunes. That’s just odd.
10) Favorite DVD commentary
John Carpenter and Kurt Russell on The Thing. Not only is it fun and interesting to listen to, they sound like they’re having a great time themselves.
11) Movies most recently seen on DVD, Blu-ray and theatrically
I have yet to watch a Blu-ray movie, so that’s out. In theaters: Inception. On DVD: This is not a Test, which is a forgotten little no-budget, Cold War End-of-the-World movie.
12) Dirk Bogarde or Alan Bates?
Alan Bates, for Gosford Park (Though I have to mention how when I was younger and first saw a movie with the young Bogarde, my first thought was “Since when is Ricky Ricardo British?”)
13) Favorite DVD extra
Too many to mention, though I have a special affection for the dozen or so old trailers on the Jackie Brown special edition. That was a feature in and of itself.
14) Brian De Palma’s Scarface— yes or no?
Yes, but just the once.
15) Best comic moment from a horror film that is not a horror comedy (Young Frankenstein, Love At First Bite, et al.)
The aforementioned The Thing where the head sprouts legs and we get the immortal line “You have got to be fucking kidding me!”
16) Jane Birkin or Edwige Fenech?
Don’t know enough about either.
17) Favorite Wong Kar-wai movie
Again, only seen In the Mood for Love, so that will have to be it.
18) Best horrific moment from a comedy that is not a horror comedy
The whole “Movie” series (Epic Movie, Dance Movie, etc.) is one, long horrific moment.
19) From 2010, a specific example of what movies are doing right…
I haven’t seen much in the theaters this year, but I’ll maintain my support for Inception. If nothing else, at least one of the top money earners of the summer wasn’t a sequel or based on a previous property.
20) Ryan Reynolds or Chris Evans?
Chris Evans, for any number of reasons.
Blogger is being twitchy today. Here's the rest:
ReplyDelete21) Speculate about the future of online film writing. What’s next?
Hopefully not paywalls.
22) Roger Livesey or David Farrar?
Farrar for Black Narcissus.
23) Best father/child (male or female) movie star combo
How about Martin and Charlie Sheen in Hot Shots! Part Deux: “(simultaneously) I loved you in Wall Street!”
24) Favorite Freddie Francis movie (as Director)
Oddly enough, after seeing his resume, the only film of his I’ve seen (The Deadly Bees) is one that was featured on Mystery Science Theater 3000. For what it’s worth, I though it was one of the least bad films that had ever used.
25) Bringing Up Baby or The Awful Truth?
The Awful Truth.
26) Tina Fey or Kristen Wiig?
I’ll go with Fey.
27) Name a stylistically important director and the best film that would have never been made without his/her influence.
I’ll go the obvious route with Kurosawa and his contribution to the careers of both Sergio and Clint with Yojimbo.
28) Movie you’d most enjoy seeing remade and transplanted to a different culture (i.e. Yimou Zhang’s A Woman, a Gun and a Noodle Shop.)
Ever since my wife introduced me to P.G. Wodehouse (and subsequently the Hugh Laurie/Stephen Fry TV adaptations), I’ve often wondered if those characters couldn’t be transplanted to modern day America. I still haven’t worked it out exactly, but perhaps some upper crust prep school where one of the students actually has a valet. It’s a little crazy, but given some of the other crap Hollywood deems to remake, it’s worth a shot.
29) Link to a picture/frame grab of a movie image that for you best illustrates bliss. Elaborate.
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_-niu-AOlwrA/TGrangTAnII/AAAAAAAAAs0/41vttCFJ0wg/s1600/Hudsucker+Proxy.jpg
The beginning of Hudsucker Proxy starts with some basic title cards on black featuring the Coen’s names, then we cut from black to a nearly black image with the faint outline of a city skyline at night during a gentle snowfall. The image comes up right as the first note of the main title theme sounds. A few seconds later, we hear the wonderful voice of Bill Cobbs speak “New York City”. And we’re off. It’s an incredibly gentle introduction, but it’s one that always gives me goose bumps. It reassures me that the perfection I have viewed before has not changed or gone anywhere. It’s right here, and we can enjoy it all over again.
30) With a tip of that hat to Glenn Kenny, think of a just-slightly-inadequate alternate title for a famous movie. (Examples from GK: Fan Fiction; Boudu Relieved From Cramping; The Mild Imprecation of the Cat People)
I’ll steal from the resume of Troy McClure and say Dial M for Murderousness.
I'm getting that weird "Too big a URl message" so if this is a repeat I apologize.
ReplyDelete1) Classic film you most want to experience that has so far eluded you.
ReplyDeleteGreed
2) Greatest Criterion DVD/Blu-ray release ever
Fanny and Alexander
3) The Big Sleep or The Maltese Falcon?
The Big Sleep
4) Jason Bateman or Paul Rudd?
Rudd
5) Best mother/child (male or female) movie star combo
Ingrid Bergman and Isabella Rossellini
6) Who are the Robert Mitchums and Ida Lupinos among working movie actors? Do modern parallels to such masculine and no-nonsense feminine stars even exist? If not, why not?
Not many suitable candidates spring to mind, certainly not in leading parts, and that's a damn shame.
7) Favorite Preston Sturges movie
The Lady Eve
8) Odette Yustman or Mary Elizabeth Winstead?
Mary Elizabeth Winstead.
9) Is there a movie that if you found out a partner or love interest loved (or didn't love) would qualify as a Relationship Deal Breaker?
It wouldn't necessarily be a deal breaker, but I'd be disappointed if Powell and Pressburger or Max Ophuls films left them cold.
10) Favorite DVD commentary
Apocalypse Now. Francis Ford Coppola provides excellent commentaries on all of his films.
11) Movies most recently seen on DVD, Blu-ray and theatrically
DVD – The Son's Room
Blu-Ray – Privilege
Theatrically – Buried
12) Dirk Bogarde or Alan Bates?
Bogarde
13) Favorite DVD extra
I like the behind-the-scenes extras that take a soup to nuts approach, such as the King Kong Production Diaries or the extras on Superman Returns and Magnolia
14) Brian De Palma’s Scarface— yes or no?
No, it's ghastly.
15) Best comic moment from a horror film that is not a horror comedy (Young Frankenstein, Love At First Bite, et al.)
Willem Dafoe wrestling with a crow in Antichrist
16) Jane Birkin or Edwige Fenech?
Birkin
17) Favorite Wong Kar-wai movie
In the Mood for Love
18) Best horrific moment from a comedy that is not a horror comedy
Mr Creosote in Monty Python and the Meaning of Life
19) From 2010, a specific example of what movies are doing right…
Alamar – a filmmaker using a tiny budget and limited means to make something touching, beautiful and true
20) Ryan Reynolds or Chris Evans?
After enjoying Buried this week, I'll say Reynolds.
21) Speculate about the future of online film writing. What’s next?
Just a lots more of it, hopefully with some quality stuff managing to shine through.
22) Roger Livesey or David Farrar?
Ooh, tough one. I'm going with Farrar. Mainly for Black Narcissus, but he also gives a fantastic performance in The Small Back Room
23) Best father/child (male or female) movie star combo
Kirk and Michael Douglas
24) Favorite Freddie Francis movie (as Director)
Dead of Night
25) Bringing Up Baby or The Awful Truth?
Bringing Up Baby
26) Tina Fey or Kristen Wiig?
Tina Fey
27) Name a stylistically important director and the best film that would have never been made without his/her influence.
Ozu and Still Walking
28) Movie you’d most enjoy seeing remade and transplanted to a different culture (i.e. Yimou Zhang’s A Woman, a Gun and a Noodle Shop.)
Derek Jarman's Blue, remade anywhere.
29) Link to a picture/frame grab of a movie image that for you best illustrates bliss. Elaborate.
http://www.afilmcanon.com/storage/blogUnknownWoman_2_400.jpg?__SQUARESPACE_CACHEVERSION=1221728265291
The lovely train ride scene in Letter From an Unknown Woman
30) With a tip of that hat to Glenn Kenny, think of a just-slightly-inadequate alternate title for a famous movie. (Examples from GK: Fan Fiction; Boudu Relieved From Cramping; The Mild Imprecation of the Cat People)
The Bicycle Borrowers
Wow, already enough bathroom reading for a weekend!
ReplyDeleteAll, Blogger is indeed being "twitchy," as someone already noted. If you get that "Request Too Large" screen, your comment has likely gone through. It's just awaiting moderation. But the program was acting up in other ways this afternoon too, so I do appreciate your patience, and all the great responses so far!
I'm not sure anyone but the professor will care, but I do want full credit, so here are my answers that went missing in the cut and paste process.
ReplyDelete12) Dirk Bogarde or Alan Bates?
Probably Bogarde, since I've been meaning to see Death in Venice and might someday watch The Night Porter. I'd never heard of either of them, though.
13) Favorite DVD extra
In principle, or a specific one? I'll assume in principle. The only extras I really get excited about are short films by the same director as the feature film.
14) Brian De Palma’s Scarface— yes or no?
I found it to be a pretty stupid film, to be blunt. I don't have any principled stand against watching it, though.
15) Best comic moment from a horror film that is not a horror comedy (Young Frankenstein, Love At First Bite, et al.)
There are a couple of shots in Clouzot's Diabolique (that's a horror film, right?) that struck me as funny, though I don't think they were supposed to be. One is the expression on Delasalle's face when he "emerges" from the bath tub, and the other is Vera Clouzot's reaction to seeing him again, with her subsequent heart attack. I feel bad about finding them funny, particularly the latter, but I just can't help it.
The blissful moment was the (real) arrival of Claudia in 8 1/2. I could watch her conversation with Guido in the ruins on endless loop.
Here is the link to my responses over at my blog "The Most Beautiful Fraud in the World".
ReplyDeletehttp://themostbeautifulfraudintheworld.blogspot.com/2010/09/professor-david-huxleys-laborious.html
Shoot, I still haven't responded to the last one! But this one's shorter, so here goes:
ReplyDelete1) Classic film you most want to experience that has so far eluded you.
Well, I checked my Netflix queue, and it looks like it would be The Awful Truth -- which explains my lame answer to # 25.
2) Greatest Criterion DVD/Blu-ray release ever
Haven’t seen that many, but I really enjoyed the additional elements on Sansho the Bailiff.
3) The Big Sleep or The Maltese Falcon?
The Maltese Falcon is one of my all-time favorites. It has a different kind of edge to it from the book, but the edge is there, and I didn’t feel it as much in The Big Sleep.
4) Jason Bateman or Paul Rudd?
I have trouble getting excited over either one, but a slight advantage to Bateman for Arrested Development.
5) Best mother/child (male or female) movie star combo
Blythe Danner and Gwyneth Paltrow (mainly for Danner!).
6) Who are the Robert Mitchums and Ida Lupinos among working movie actors? Do modern parallels to such masculine and no-nonsense feminine stars even exist? If not, why not?
Shoot, I can’t really think of one for either. Closest female performance I can come up with is Carice van Houten in Black Book.
7) Favorite Preston Sturges movie
He’s not one of my favorites, for some strange reason, but I did love The Palm Beach Story.
8) Odette Yustman or Mary Elizabeth Winstead?
I saw Live Free or Die Hard, so I guess it’s Winstead.
9) Is there a movie that if you found out a partner or love interest loved (or didn't love) would qualify as a Relationship Deal Breaker?
I can’t afford to be ditching girlfriends based on their tastes in film! That said, the tried and true Triumph of the Will might do it.
10) Favorite DVD commentary
I listen to a lot of them, but I can’t say that any really stick out.
11) Movies most recently seen on DVD, Blu-ray and theatrically
DVD: Dial M for Murder. I wish more filmmakers could find ways to do things with shadows the way Hitchcock does.
Theater: Salt, which was thoroughly silly but still enjoyable.
12) Dirk Bogarde or Alan Bates?
Alan Bates, because I did not spend two hours in a movie theater watching him mope around Venice ogling Italian boys and then die.
13) Favorite DVD extra
“Fruity Oaty Bars make a man out of a mouse …” (Serenity)
14) Brian De Palma’s Scarface— yes or no?
I saw the first hour of it – not really interested in seeing the rest.
15) Best comic moment from a horror film that is not a horror comedy (Young Frankenstein, Love At First Bite, et al.)
I can’t really think of one, but once in college I went to bed while my housemates watched The Believers, and I woke to find that my stuffed bunny rabbit had been involved in a ritual sacrifice.
16) Jane Birkin or Edwige Fenech?
ReplyDeleteI’m sure this is entirely the wrong justification for a decision, but I liked A Soldier’s Daughter Never Cries, so Birkin.
17) Favorite Wong Kar-wai movie
The Lady from Shanghai -- Rita Hayworth was great in that!
18) Best horrific moment from a comedy that is not a horror comedy
“I will not abide another toe!” (The Big Lebowski)
19) From 2010, a specific example of what movies are doing right…
Inception -- a mass appeal thriller that’s also intelligent and fun to think about even after you’ve left the theater, and that doesn’t involve 3D.
20) Ryan Reynolds or Chris Evans?
I’ve only seen Evans in Cellular, where I found him surprisingly likeable and entertaining. Reynolds had an OK bit part in Dick.
21) Speculate about the future of online film writing. What’s next?
I’m looking forward to The Third Man Uncut, based on the procedures employed here, but with submissions from some really good bloggers:
http://www.starwarsuncut.com/watch
22) Roger Livesey or David Farrar?
I liked Livesey in I Know Where I’m Going!, and Farrar was good in Black Narcissus, and that’s my entire basis for choosing. Slight edge to Livesey.
23) Best father/child (male or female) movie star combo
Kirk and Michael Douglas are hard to beat.
24) Favorite Freddie Francis movie (as Director)
I haven’t seen any of his directorial efforts. As cinematographer, maybe The Elephant Man.
25) Bringing Up Baby or The Awful Truth?
I still have not seen The Awful Truth, but I love Bringing Up Baby.
26) Tina Fey or Kristen Wiig?
I can’t really place Kristen Wiig, but Tina Fey is a better Sarah Palin than Sarah Palin.
27) Name a stylistically important director and the best film that would have never been made without his/her influence.
I can’t really think of any dead pan mockumentaries before Woody Allen, and there have been several that have come since, my favorite being Waiting for Guffman.
28) Movie you’d most enjoy seeing remade and transplanted to a different culture (i.e. Yimou Zhang’s A Woman, a Gun and a Noodle Shop.)
I’d be interested in seeing I Am a Cat thoughtfully set in modern America (although I suppose I’m thinking of the idea more than plot).
29) Link to a picture/frame grab of a movie image that for you best illustrates bliss. Elaborate.
The last picture on this page that includes a dog: http://www.freemooviesonline.com/magazine/cinema/characters/lassie-the-worldas-most-famous-dog.html
30) With a tip of that hat to Glenn Kenny, think of a just-slightly-inadequate alternate title for a famous movie. (Examples from GK: Fan Fiction; Boudu Relieved From Cramping; The Mild Imprecation of the Cat People)
A Bummer of an Ending Now (or should that be “soon”?)
And to the esteemed Mr. Concannon, I can only counter that DePalma's Scarface is an amazing film BECAUSE it is ghastly.
ReplyDeleteI posted my answers at my site, here.
ReplyDeleteI hate to do this, but I've tried posting in the usual way three times now, so either blogger hates me, or Dennis hates my answers.
ReplyDeleteIn either case here's a link.
http://thingthatdontsuck.blogspot.com/2010/09/voight-kampff-test-3.html
PART 1
ReplyDeleteQ1) Classic film you most want to experience that has so far eluded you.
A1) 'Cause I'm a giallo fanatic, I'm going to say Footsteps on the Moon, and mean it!
Q2) Greatest Criterion DVD/Blu-ray release ever
A2) Videodrome.
Q3) The Big Sleep or The Maltese Falcon?
A3) The Big Sleep. Such an amazing and confusing flick. It's actually the Noir that taught me how to watch the genre... forget about following the details of the story and just experience it. Fan-tastic!
Q4) Jason Bateman or Paul Rudd?
A4) Bateman's great, but Rudd is so damn likable (attractive) and funny. Rudd, I say, Rudd!
Q5) Best mother/child (male or female) movie star combo
A5) Daria Nicolodi and Asia Argento.
Q6) Who are the Robert Mitchums and Ida Lupinos among working movie actors? Do modern parallels to such masculine and no-nonsense feminine stars even exist? If not, why not?
A6) Try though I might, I just can't come up with modern equivelants. That leads me to say that Hollywood during the Mitchum/Lupino era was a differnt place and a different time, and Hollywood as we know it today just isn't the same "breeding ground".
Q7) Favorite Preston Sturges movie
A7) I've only seen one, but it's a doosie! Sullivan's Travels.
Q8) Odette Yustman or Mary Elizabeth Winstead?
A8) Winstead -- 'Cause of Pilgrim (yet to see it) and Death Proof.
Q9) Is there a movie that if you found out a partner or love interest loved (or didn't love) would qualify as a Relationship Deal Breaker?
A9) Not really. But liking Forrest Gump, Dances With Wolves or Pretty Woman would make me think that we wouldn't be going to many movies together.
Q10) Favorite DVD commentary
A10) Doris Wishman on A Night to Dismember.
Q11) Movies most recently seen on DVD, Blu-ray and theatrically
A11) DVD: I Spit on Your Grave ('77); Theatre: The Last Exorcism ("Would you like a blowing job?" Now that's comedy!).
Q12) Dirk Bogarde or Alan Bates?
A12) Bates. Did you see what he did with Oliver Reed in Women in Love?!
Q13) Favorite DVD extra
A12) Trailer! I don't really need much more than that.
Q14) Brian De Palma’s Scarface— yes or no?
A12) Yes.
Q15) Best comic moment from a horror film that is not a horror comedy (Young Frankenstein, Love At First Bite, et al.)
ReplyDeleteA15) See Anewer 11 for a fine moment, though not my fave. That would probably be The Omen. I'll never understand that flick's popularity, despite a few good scenes, and effective score and an appealing exploitation concept. Its execution is too high and mighty and silly at the same time for my taste. However, said comedy moment occurs during the terrific scene early in the flick when Damien's nanny hangs herself dring the child's birthday party. Among the horrified party guests is a clown, who stares in shock. The shot of the clown during all that horror always hits my funny bone.
PART TWO
ReplyDeleteQ16) Jane Birkin or Edwige Fenech?
A16) I LOVE Fenech, and she's just become a Facebook friend! Queen of the Giallo!
Q17) Favorite Wong Kar-wai movie
A17) Chungking Express.
Q18) Best horrific moment from a comedy that is not a horror comedy
A18) Charles Napier murdering Sheri Eubank in the bathroom in Supervixens!
Q19) From 2010, a specific example of what movies are doing right…
A19) You know, this is the first year where I can't really thing of ANYTHING I'd put on a best of the year list... So sadly, I'm going to say that the best thing movies are doing circa 2010 is continuing to make movies.
Q20) Ryan Reynolds or Chris Evans?
A20) Reynolds. He has the best torso in the biz.
Q21) Speculate about the future of online film writing. What’s next?
A21) You mean beyond stealing ideas? I guess the opportunity for collaboration is immense.
Q22) Roger Livesey or David Farrar?
A22) I hate it when people pass on these questions, but I don't think I've actually seen either of these gents in anything, so...
Q23) Best father/child (male or female) movie star combo
A23) Lon Chaneys Sr & Jr.
Q24) Favorite Freddie Francis movie (as Director)
A24) Tales from the Crypt ('72)
Q25) Bringing Up Baby or The Awful Truth?
A25) Bringing Up Baby is, bar none, my favourite comedy. I've got The Awful Truth DVD waiting to view, but Bringing Up Baby is my answer, sir. Afterall, the love impulse in the male frequently reveals itself in terms of conflict! Or something like that.
Q26) Tina Fey or Kristen Wiig?
A27) I really enjoy 'em both, but I'm going with Fey.
Q27) Name a stylistically important director and the best film that would have never been made without his/her influence.
A27) Hitchcock! And, off the top of my head, Dressed to Kill, but the potential answerless are almost limitless... any thriller since The 39 Steps!
Q28) Movie you’d most enjoy seeing remade and transplanted to a different culture (i.e. Yimou Zhang’s A Woman, a Gun and a Noodle Shop.)
A28) Red Dawn made in Russia. Seriously. I'd enjoy watching that. Or maybe Goin' Down the Road, the qintessential Canadian film, rre-made in the US of A.
Q29) Link to a picture/frame grab of a movie image that for you best illustrates bliss. Elaborate.
A29) To me Hitchcok IS the movies, and movies are bliss. This is one of his best moments. To see pure cinema, follow this link: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Alfred_Hitchcock's_Strangers_on_a_Train_Trailer_Tennis_Walker.png
Q30) With a tip of that hat to Glenn Kenny, think of a just-slightly-inadequate alternate title for a famous movie. (Examples from GK: Fan Fiction; Boudu Relieved From Cramping; The Mild Imprecation of the Cat People)
A30) Fatter, Pussycat! Eat! Eat!
Another of your fine and fun movie quizzes, Dennis. As usual, I've posted my answers here. Thank you for this.
ReplyDelete1) Classic film you most want to experience that has so far eluded you.
ReplyDeleteLooking at my list of holy-grail films, I can't really consider any of them "classic." But I do know that I would do many illicit things if it meant a copy of Adolfas Mekas's The Double-Barreled Detective Story or Joseph Mawra's Mme. Olga's Massage Parlor would magically fall into my hands.
2) Greatest Criterion DVD/Blu-ray release ever
The two Brakhage sets are pretty terrific, and the Brazil box is unassailable as well. But when I look for a set that expresses, truly, the level of care that goes into a Criterion disc, I always end up pointing to Equinox. Seriously - they pulled out all the stops for a silly, homemade creature feature, and against all odds the film's kind of worth it.
3) The Big Sleep or The Maltese Falcon?
Both, goddammit. (Okay, fine, The Big Sleep by a hair.)
4) Jason Bateman or Paul Rudd?
Jason Bateman is funny, but Paul Rudd is funnier and more versatile, methinks. (Plus, I had a lady tell me the other day that I look like him. So, bonus points for me!)
5) Best mother/child (male or female) movie star combo
Ingrid Bergman & Isabella Rossellini. Any family whose lineage encompasses both Casablanca and Blue Velvet, Notorious and The Tulse Luper Suitcases, Autumn Sonata and "Green Porno" has got to be pretty tough to beat.
6) Who are the Robert Mitchums and Ida Lupinos among working movie actors? Do modern parallels to such masculine and no-nonsense feminine stars even exist? If not, why not?
I've maintained for the longest time that Jason Statham is this generation's version of Lee Marvin and he just has to find a director who can use him as such. (Not that I don't lovelovelove his work with Neveldine/Taylor...) The closest I've seen him get to that sort of type was The Bank Job, and I'd very much like to see him explore more roles in that vein. And while we're on the subject of that film, Connie Nielsen could certainly mesh well with a Lupino-type role... but then, she can mesh well with anything, since she has a Zeligesque ability to change herself into whatever she wants.
Also, has anyone said Holly Hunter yet? Because, yeah. Holly Hunter.
7) Favorite Preston Sturges movie
The Lady Eve has Barbara Stanwyck at her hottest, Henry Fonda at his aw-shucksest, a long-con plot, breakneck pacing, phallic references galore, Hitler jokes and an endless tide of laughs. Most directors will work their entire careers and never make a film half as good.
8) Odette Yustman or Mary Elizabeth Winstead?
Did you see Operation: Endgame? Or The Unborn? Odette Yustman isn't qualified to be set against a stapler. Winstead wins by default.
9) Is there a movie that if you found out a partner or love interest loved (or didn't love) would qualify as a Relationship Deal Breaker?
I watch chintzy slasher flicks and '70s cheerleader movies for fun. I've officially seen more films by Byron Mabe than I have Orson Welles. I have no business critiquing the tastes of others.
10) Favorite DVD commentary
Tom Green's commentary on Freddy Got Fingered is a work of art. It confirms damn near everything I thought he was doing with the film (a far smarter and cannier flick than most will give it credit for), plus it ends with him howling, "MOOOMMMMMMY!!!!" What's not to love?
PART TWO:
ReplyDelete11) Movies most recently seen on DVD, Blu-ray and theatrically
Theatrically: Machete, which was more fun than I expected it to be. Maybe I'm just a Rodriguez apologist, I dunno. But I like the guy's energy and enthusiasm, even if he's got more of that than he does actual talent.
DVD: Burton's Alice in Wonderland, which was... awful. Ick.
BR: 2012 several months ago, since the only time I watch anything on Blu-ray is when I'm at my brother-in-law's house and his tastes trend more towards big/dumb/loud.
12) Dirk Bogarde or Alan Bates?
I like Dirk Bogarde. I like him a lot. But I've never used him as an avatar. I have used a shot of Alan Bates in The Shout as an avatar. So Bates wins.
13) Favorite DVD extra
The trailers/short films/posters on any given Something Weird DVD. (I don't watch most DVD extras, I'll admit.)
14) Brian De Palma’s Scarface— yes or no?
I'll let you know when I finally get around to seeing it.
15) Best comic moment from a horror film that is not a horror comedy (Young Frankenstein, Love At First Bite, et al.)
Clearly, the answer is this.
16) Jane Birkin or Edwige Fenech?
Edwige Fenech! 90% of the films she appeared in are terrible, but they all benefit from having Ms. Fenech in them.
17) Favorite Wong Kar-wai movie
Fallen Angels was the first film of his I saw, and I haven't seen one better yet.
18) Best horrific moment from a comedy that is not a horror comedy
Elliot Gould, shell-shocked and covered in his wife's blood, numbly riding the subway near the end of Little Murders. Though one could debate that, by that point, Little Murders is no longer a comedy.
19) From 2010, a specific example of what movies are doing right…
What do Inception and The Human Centipede have in common? They got people talking about them, thinking about them, discussing and debating them.
20) Ryan Reynolds or Chris Evans?
Ryan Reynolds has, over the past few years, won me over. (The flash point was Blade: Trinity, oddly enough.)
PART 3:
ReplyDelete21) Speculate about the future of online film writing. What’s next?
I can barely predict what I'm going to have for lunch tomorrow.
22) Roger Livesey or David Farrar?
I'll pick David Farrar because he was in Black Narcissus and Black Narcissus is awesome.
23) Best father/child (male or female) movie star combo
Kirk & Michael Douglas. Why? Well, why the hell not?
24) Favorite Freddie Francis movie (as Director)
I'll go with Girly. Not that I've seen it, but it just became available on Netflix Instant and it's a film I've meant to see for some time now.
25) Bringing Up Baby or The Awful Truth?
Bringing Up Baby, but not by much.
26) Tina Fey or Kristen Wiig?
Kristen Wiig didn't write Mean Girls, so she has that going for her.
27) Name a stylistically important director and the best film that would have never been made without his/her influence.
No Douglas Sirk, no Blue Velvet (or at least probably not as it currently exists).
28) Movie you’d most enjoy seeing remade and transplanted to a different culture (i.e. Yimou Zhang’s A Woman, a Gun and a Noodle Shop.)
I would like to see a gender-flipped version of Twilight made in Thailand, on the condition that all the vampires are replaced by phi kraseu.
29) Link to a picture/frame grab of a movie image that for you best illustrates bliss. Elaborate.
Bliss? Bliss, you say? I got your bliss.
30) With a tip of that hat to Glenn Kenny, think of a just-slightly-inadequate alternate title for a famous movie. (Examples from GK: Fan Fiction; Boudu Relieved From Cramping; The Mild Imprecation of the Cat People)
The Texas Chain Saw Threatening, With Occasional Murder.
1) Classic film you most want to experience that has so far eluded you.
ReplyDeleteVisconti's "The Leopard." Actually, I've eluded it. I bought the Criterion DVD when it came out. And it's still sitting there, unwatched.
2) Greatest Criterion DVD/Blu-ray release ever
"The Magnificent Ambersons." Oh, wait, that was CAV LaserDisc. WHY isn't it on DVD/Blu-ray?
3) The Big Sleep or The Maltese Falcon?
"The Big Sleep."
4) Jason Bateman or Paul Rudd?
Bateman for TV ("Arrested Development" is a masterpiece), Rudd for movies. Not that there's any significant difference today. (I mean that as a complement to the visual sophistication of made-for-television material.)
5) Best mother/child (male or female) movie star combo.
Vanessa Redgrave, Natasha Richardson.
6) Who are the Robert Mitchums and Ida Lupinos among working movie actors? Do modern parallels to such masculine and no-nonsense feminine stars even exist? If not, why not?
I can't think of any.
7) Favorite Preston Sturges movie
"The Lady Eve"
8) Odette Yustman or Mary Elizabeth Winstead?
I don't know who those people are.
9) Is there a movie that if you found out a partner or love interest loved (or didn't love) would qualify as a Relationship Deal Breaker?
Disliking "Nashville" would be a deal-breaker, as would liking "Mississippi Burning."
10) Favorite DVD commentary
Steven Soderbergh, "Out of Sight." Or maybe Jack Nicholson, "The Passenger." Or possibly Pitt, Norton and Fincher, "Fight Club."
11) Movies most recently seen on DVD, Blu-ray and theatrically
DVD: "Soul Kitchen" (for work). Blu-ray: "North By Northwest." Theater: "The Kids are All Right."
12) Dirk Bogarde or Alan Bates?
Bogarde -- mainly for Losey & Pinter's "The Servant" and "Accident."
13) Favorite DVD extra
The doc about all the special effects in "Zodiac" -- which looks like there are very few special effects in it. Wrong!
14) Brian De Palma’s Scarface— yes or no?
Noes. I liked it when I first saw it (everybody was all up in arms and legs about the chainsaw scene) but I've never been able to sit through the whole thing again. And I've tried. I've tried. (Does "New Jack City" count?)
15) Best comic moment from a horror film that is not a horror comedy (Young Frankenstein, Love At First Bite, et al.)
Brundlefly spits up, then realizes: "Oh, that's disgusting." Cronenberg's "The Fly."
(Pt. 2 next)
16) Jane Birkin or Edwige Fenech?
ReplyDeleteBirkin. Because I know who she is.
17) Favorite Wong Kar-wai movie
None.
18) Best horrific moment from a comedy that is not a horror comedy
David Brent (Ricky Gervais) tells Dawn that she's fired, as a "joke." And then he becomes paralyzed, not knowing how to end it. Then again, maybe the BBC version of "The Office" IS a horror comedy.
19) From 2010, a specific example of what movies are doing right…
The John Slattery-directed episode of "Mad Men": "The Rejected." Some television surpasses most movies at being "cinematic." The opening scene (the four-way phone conversation in Don's office) and the penultimate one (Peggy and Pete exchanging looks between layers of glass). That's moviemaking.
20) Ryan Reynolds or Chris Evans?
I don't know who these people are.
21) Speculate about the future of online film writing. What’s next?
See Part 2 of Paul Brunick's Film Comment piece on the subject: http://j.mp/btdMBd
22) Roger Livesey or David Farrar?
Roger Livesey is the title character in one of my favorite movies, "The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp."
23) Best father/child (male or female) movie star combo
John and Anjelica Huston.
24) Favorite Freddie Francis movie (as Director)
Have I seen one? As a cinematographer, I'll go with "A Room at the Top."
25) Bringing Up Baby or The Awful Truth?
Baby.
26) Tina Fey or Kristen Wiig?
Fey -- though Wiig in "Knocked Up" slays me.
27) Name a stylistically important director and the best film that would have never been made without his/her influence.
Josef von Sternberg. Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds."
28) Movie you’d most enjoy seeing remade and transplanted to a different culture (i.e. Yimou Zhang’s A Woman, a Gun and a Noodle Shop.)
I want to see the American version of "Coup de Torchon."
29) Link to a picture/frame grab of a movie image that for you best illustrates bliss. Elaborate.
Robert DeNiro, "Once Upon a Time in America": Opium obliterates everything: http://j.mp/95BMCt
30) With a tip of that hat to Glenn Kenny, think of a just-slightly-inadequate alternate title for a famous movie. (Examples from GK: Fan Fiction; Boudu Relieved From Cramping; The Mild Imprecation of the Cat People)
This was a Twitter meme one evening several months ago and it was hilarious. I wish I could remember some of the ingenious titles.
With a nod to "South Park": "Casa Bonita."
1) The Terror, Roy Del Ruth's spooky house movie, the first all-talking film. Now lost. But I want to listen to the Vitaphone discs!
ReplyDelete2) Haven't seen all of them. But I'll say Playtime.
3) Tough, but I'll go for Big Sleep. Today.
4) My girlfriend fancies Rudd, so I better say Rudd.
5) Marlene Dietrich and Maria Riva in The Scarlet Empress.
6) Fashions have changed, I guess.
7) Sullivan's Travels, today.
8) Dunno Yustman.
9) No, one invents excuses.
10) Commentaries should not exist.
11) The Great Gambini, A Single Man, Scott Pilgrim.
12) Bates, just.
13) Newsreel of Legs Diamon's gal on Little Caesar disc.
14) No.
15) Maybe Kurt Russell's response to the head-monster in The Thing.
16) Birkin.
17) Chungking Express, but I'm no expert.
18) Maybe the mechanical feeder in Modern Times. Genuinely disturbing.
19) Scott Pilgrim
20) Don't know them.
21) More, better, video essays?
22) Livesey, no contest. Farrar only great in Small Back Room, bits of Black Narcissus. Livesey ALWAYS great.
23) Orson and Beatrice Welles (she plays a boy) in Chimes at Midnight.
24) Tough choice, but The Innocents probably edges out Elephant Man.
25) Awful Truth. Can only watch BUB if I skip the first half hour.
26) Don't know Wiig. Like Fey.
27) Powell & Pressburger. Black Swan.
28) I'd like to see any Stallone movie remade at the time of the Black Death.
29) He's a happy fellow! http://theerrantaesthete.com/2009/05/22/halcyon-heroes/
30) I Lung Huckabees
PART I
ReplyDelete1) Classic film you most want to experience that has so far eluded you.
Orson Welles CHIMES AT MIDNIGHT (1965). How 'bout it, Criterion?
2) Greatest Criterion DVD/Blu-ray release ever.
It's hard to argue with the recent restored Blu-ray of THE RED SHOES. There are films I've loved instantly (SEVEN SAMURAI), films I've come to love over time through repeated viewings (SLACKER, THE RULES OF THE GAME), but this iteration of THE RED SHOES makes me realize that despite having seen the film, I actually never saw the film before, you know?
3) The Big Sleep or The Maltese Falcon?
Next to CASABLANCA, there's no better Bogart performance in my mind than Sam Spade in THE MALTESE FALCON. Tough, cynical, tortured and hilarious - sometimes all in the same scene. And as much as I love THE BIG SLEEP, it suffers from a serious lack of Peter Lorre/Sidney Greenstreet awesomeness.
4) Jason Bateman or Paul Rudd?
I think Paul Rudd's got more range as an actor, but no one can turn a phrase quite like Bateman. He can make a dozen more films like THE EX and he still won't lose the good grace gained from three perfect seasons of Arrested Development.
5) Best mother/child (male or female) movie star combo
Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher. Wait, whaddya mean he's not her son?! (I kid, I kid...how about Ingrid Bergman and Isabella Rossellini)
6) Who are the Robert Mitchums and Ida Lupinos among working movie actors? Do modern parallels to such masculine and no-nonsense feminine stars even exist? If not, why not?
Right now it doesn't appear like anyone out in Hollywood is even remotely interested in having or nurturing a career like either Mitchum or Lupino. Leonardo DiCaprio comes close I guess, but "close" in this case is still a long way off.
7) Favorite Preston Sturges movie
SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS (1941), though I admit my exposure is only that and ALL ABOUT EVE, which is also great.
8) Odette Yustman or Mary Elizabeth Winstead?
Mary Elizabeth Winstead just needs that "one" film and she's going to explode. One more shame SCOTT PILGRIM didn't do better at the box office.
9) Is there a movie that if you found out a partner or love interest loved (or didn't love) would qualify as a Relationship Deal Breaker?
C'mon, honestly? Of course not. Different strokes, folks...it's what makes the world go 'round. That being said, if my wife didn't at least appreciate CASABLANCA, she'd need to sleep with one eye open.
10) Favorite DVD commentary
All of the GODFATHER commentaries by Francis Ford Coppola are fantastic, as are Martin Scorsese's commentaries for older films like THE RED SHOES and THE SET-UP. So let's split the difference and say THE THIEF OF BAGHDAD, which besides being one of my favorite films features both on the commentary. Once again, all hail Criterion!
11) Movies most recently seen on DVD, Blu-ray and theatrically
DVD: MOTHER, Blu-ray: THE RED SHOES, Theater: PIRANHA 3D
12) Dirk Bogarde or Alan Bates?
Alan Bates
13) Favorite DVD extra
Kevin Smith's hour-plus presentation of deleted scenes from DOGMA.
14) Brian De Palma’s Scarface— yes or no?
Sure, though I don't have any strong feelings for it one way or the other.
15) Best comic moment from a horror film that is not a horror comedy (Young Frankenstein, Love At First Bite, et al.)
Ken Foree completely pimped out with a fur coat in DAWN OF THE DEAD.
PART II
ReplyDelete16) Jane Birkin or Edwige Fenech?
Jane Birkin
17) Favorite Wong Kar-wai movie
CHUNGKING EXPRESS (1994)
18) Best horrific moment from a comedy that is not a horror comedy
When I was a kid the rabbit in MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL scared the hell out of me.
19) From 2010, a specific example of what movies are doing right…
Crime films are getting good again, and making it to more theaters: THE SQUARE, A PROPHET, ANIMAL KINGDOM...
20) Ryan Reynolds or Chris Evans?
Chris Evans hasn't been in any shitty romantic comedies (that I recall), has been in a great Danny Boyle film (SUNSHINE), and will play my favorite comic book character. 'Nuff said.
21) Speculate about the future of online film writing. What’s next?
As more and more people find a voice online, it's going to get harder to write about film for a living, or to even get paid for it. For every fresh, articulate voice that rises with something to say and the means to intelligently express it, there will be a greater number of uninformed, ill-mannered and childish squawks that will strive to drown those voices back into the fetid stream of the underground. Let's hope they fail.
22) Roger Livesey or David Farrar?
Have you seen Davids Farrar's entrance in BLACK NARCISSUS? So ridiculous it instantly becomes awesome.
23) Best father/child (male or female) movie star combo
No jokes. Kirk and Michael Douglas.
24) Favorite Freddie Francis movie (as Director)
Shame to say I've never seen any of his films, but I just added CRAZE (1974) to my Netflix queue based on its description (Jack Palance sacrifices women to an African Doll. Anyone interested: look under Freddie Francis and add SLASHER CINEMA).
25) Bringing Up Baby or The Awful Truth?
BRINGING UP BABY.
26) Tina Fey or Kristen Wiig?
Tina Fey.
27) Name a stylistically important director and the best film that would have never been made without his/her influence.
Kurosawa may still have made it, but without the films of John Ford we might have a very different SEVEN SAMURAI.
28) Movie you’d most enjoy seeing remade and transplanted to a different culture (i.e. Yimou Zhang’s A Woman, a Gun and a Noodle Shop.)
TAXI DRIVER transplanted to Brazil, a la CITY OF GOD.
29) Link to a picture/frame grab of a movie image that for you best illustrates bliss. Elaborate.
http://bit.ly/bTBHZv Rather than the obvious Christ reference, I prefer to see the final shot of Hal Ashby's wonderful BEING THERE (1979) as the visual representation of Chance the Gardener's state of mind, which seems to be as close to bliss as my admittedly tired mind can fathom.
30) With a tip of that hat to Glenn Kenny, think of a just-slightly-inadequate alternate title for a famous movie. (Examples from GK: Fan Fiction; Boudu Relieved From Cramping; The Mild Imprecation of the Cat People)
BRIDESMAID OF FRANKENSTEIN.
Goodnight, folks! Remember to tip your waitress!
My answers to these queries are posted here at http://filmicability.blogspot.com/2010/09/my-answers-to-professor-david-huxleys.html
ReplyDelete1) Classic film you most want to experience that has so far eluded you.
ReplyDeleteI've been trying to find this musical that Danny Peary writes about in his Cult Films book, called Dance, Girl, Dance. I've never heard of it outside of Peary's book, and it doesn't seem to be on DVD. They showed it on TCM last month, but I was out of town, and my TiVo had deleted it by the time I got back.
2) Greatest Criterion DVD/Blu-ray release ever
My favorite is probably Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Beautiful cover, three great commentaries, insane amount of extras, even the menu is cool! I like the Dazed and Confused disc too. Honorable mention: Beastie Boys Video Anthology.
3) The Big Sleep or The Maltese Falcon?
Awww...I'll give it to Falcon, cuz it has Peter Lorre, Sidney Greenstreet, Elisha Cook, and the script more or less makes sense. Close, though.
4) Jason Bateman or Paul Rudd?
I think Bateman is used for evil more often. Actually, even without that factor, I think I just like Rudd better. They're both everymen, but Rudd is an everyman with character.
5) Best mother/child (male or female) movie star combo
I'm sure there's a great answer that I'll think of once I hit "publish."
6) Who are the Robert Mitchums and Ida Lupinos among working movie actors? Do modern parallels to such masculine and no-nonsense feminine stars even exist? If not, why not?
There are certainly actors as "masculine" as Robert Mitchum today: Russell Crowe, Mickey Rourke, Danny Trejo. Of course, Crowe is boring to watch (imo), and Rourke and Trejo aren't exactly traditional leading men, so they're not perfect analogies, but let me ask you this: who was like Robert Mitchum in Robert Mitchum's day? Nobody, that's who!
7) Favorite Preston Sturges movie
I really like The Great McGinty. It's like a slightly more cynical version of Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. I really need to see it again, because I can't remember much about it other than I really enjoyed it.
8) Odette Yustman or Mary Elizabeth Winstead?
I barely know Yustman, so Mary Elizabeth Winstead it is.
9) Is there a movie that if you found out a partner or love interest loved would qualify as a Relationship Deal Breaker?
No. Glass houses, glass houses...
10) Favorite DVD commentary
The RZA's commentary (with Andy Klein) on 36 Chambers of Shao Lin. Actually, no, the commentaries on the Evil Dead movies are my favorites for being both extremely entertaining and informative about the ins and outs of making a low-budget horror movie. Gilliam's commentaries are always great, too.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete11) Movies most recently seen on DVD, Blu-ray and theatrically
ReplyDeleteTheatrically, That's Exploitation documentary with Lenny Bruce's gangster film Dancehall Racket at the New Beverly. Lenny's film wasn't as great as I'd hoped (it's not really A LENNY BRUCE FILM, but it does have the most footage of Lenny on film that you can see outside of that one performance where he just reads his court record).
In regular release, Scott Pilgrim. On DVD, we had the projector out last night watching Pagan Island (got bored and took it out about halfway through), Black Dynamite and Frank Zappa's Dub Room Special.
The night before, I rewatched Shortbus. There's one really old guy in it playing a character that's apparantly based on Ed Koch. He only has about 5 minutes of screentime, but he just fucking KILLS IT. I looked him up, and it's the same guy that plays Rabbi Marshak in A Serious Man.
12) Dirk Bogarde or Alan Bates?
Pass.
13) Favorite DVD extra
The shitty cartoon version of Mr. Incredible and Frozone on the Incredibles disc.
14) Brian De Palma’s Scarface— yes or no?
Oh hell yeah! Sheer over-the-top lunacy. Even if you don't like it, you should be glad it exists just to get that stuff out of the gangster movie genre's system. It gives the target audience exactly what they want, so that Scorsese or whoever doesn't have to make their gangster movies that nuts. Besides, without Scarface, there would be no MTV Cribs.
15) Best comic moment from a horror film that is not a horror comedy (Young Frankenstein, Love At First Bite, et al.)
"Unscrewing" the dead body in The Abominable Dr. Phibes.
16) Jane Birkin or Edwige Fenech?
Pass.
17) Favorite Wong Kar-wai movie
Only seen a couple, but I love In the Mood for Love. Kind of dreading writing about it, though (assuming I continue with my Best of the 00's list). I'm not sure I'm up to the task.
18) Best horrific moment from a comedy that is not a horror comedy
Everyone is going to say Large Marge, aren't they? I might say the scalping in Nurse Betty, but is that really a comedy?
19) From 2010, a specific example of what movies are doing right…
That they're letting Edgar Wright do whatever the fuck he wants, and that most movies are still not in 3-D.
20) Ryan Reynolds or Chris Evans?
I don't think I like either one of them.
21) Speculate about the future of online film writing. What’s next?
ReplyDeleteThe next generation will begin publishing their blogs as photocopied fanzines. This will be done not so muh for an appreciation of the printed page, but to give their writing an ironic "retro" feel.
22) Roger Livesey or David Farrar?
I'm just passing on all these.
23) Best father/child (male or female) movie star combo
Walter and John Huston, on opposite sides of the camera in The Treasure of Sierra Madre.
24) Favorite Freddie Francis movie
The Straight Story (as cinematographer--I haven't seen any of the films he directed, never having been that big a Hammer buff).
25) Bringing Up Baby or The Awful Truth?
Hmmm, never seen TAT.
26) Tina Fey or Kristen Wiig?
I really dislike Kristen Wiig. Her characters are too broad, to the point of being grotesque (I have a similar problem with Amy Sedaris and the British show Little Britain). Having said that, though, I enjoyed Wiig in Whip It, and over the last couple decades I've noticed that generally nobody comes off well on SNL. I mean, Horatio Sanz is hilarious. He was on SNL for years without doing anything noticably good. Kevin Nealon is great on Weeds. How many seasons was he useless on SNL? Even Will Ferrell was rarely funny on SNL. So who knows, maybe Kristen Wiig is great outside of that horrible studio.
27) Name a stylistically important director and the best film that would have never been made without his/her influence.
Every time I watch a Sam Fuller movie, I realize how much modern directors take from him (for good reason), especially Tarantino. I know Tarantino steals from everybody, but on the most basic level, the way he writes dialogue, structures a scene, sets up a shot, Sam Fuller is really the main influence. Best movie that would not exist without Sam Fuller: Seijun Suzuki's Youth of the Beast.
28) Movie you’d most enjoy seeing remade and transplanted to a different culture (i.e. Yimou Zhang’s A Woman, a Gun and a Noodle Shop.)
I'd like to see Battle Royale set in the world of Glee and High School Musical. I just saw in Entertainment Weekly that the Zhang Yimou movie is real--I thought Dennis had made that one up!
29) Link to a picture/frame grab of a movie image that for you best illustrates bliss. Elaborate.
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Ic06yijpqLE/TIMlDblgA3I/AAAAAAAAAeU/uBItXBmqhng/s1600/y-tu-mama-tambien-screenshot.jpg
This is not entirely for the obvious reasons. Just that environment, the restaurant on the sparsely-populated beach, lit by Christmas lights, seems so inviting. That's where I want to live. I used this scene as the model for my backyard tiki bar.
30) With a tip of that hat to Glenn Kenny, think of a just-slightly-inadequate alternate title for a famous movie. (Examples from GK: Fan Fiction; Boudu Relieved From Cramping; The Mild Imprecation of the Cat People)
It's not a movie, but I've always wondered if Hemingway's story would be as well regarded if it had been called "The Old Man and the Fish."
1) Classic film you most want to experience that has so far eluded you.
ReplyDeleteCHILDREN OF PARADISE
2) Greatest Criterion DVD/Blu-ray release ever
SALO (?) REBECCA (?) CITIZEN KANE (?) (I haven't seen anywhere near enough of them to judge; all the ones I've seen have been excellent).
3) The Big Sleep or The Maltese Falcon?
THE BIG SLEEP.
4) Jason Bateman or Paul Rudd?
Paul Rudd is charming and surprising. Jason Bateman has done well for himself, and he always seems to be working a bit too hard at it. Not that I'm knocking him--he just doesn't have that certain je ne sais quoi.
5) Best mother/child (male or female) movie star combo
Er, I dunno...June Lockhart and Anne Lockhart: both cute and sexy.
6) Who are the Robert Mitchums and Ida Lupinos among working movie actors? Do modern parallels to such masculine and no-nonsense feminine stars even exist? If not, why not?
The closest I can come, off the top of my head, are George Clooney and Laura Linney. They both have the courage to look foolish, and to possibly fail.
7) Favorite Preston Sturges movie
THE LADY EVE
8) Odette Yustman or Mary Elizabeth Winstead?
I've never seen a single movie either of them were in, as far as I know, but based on the photos online, I'll pick Odette.
9) Is there a movie that if you found out a partner or love interest loved (or didn't love) would qualify as a Relationship Deal Breaker?
Heaven forbid! If there were such a movie, I'm sure I'd never have had any relationship. But still...if my love interest had not responded to REAR WINDOW, I'd have thought twice.
10) Favorite DVD commentary
Yours and mine, on our podcast for ANIMAL HOUSE. Other than that, Christopher Lee's egotistical rantings on anything.
11) Movies most recently seen on DVD, Blu-ray and theatrically
Polanski's MACBETH on DVD, SHUTTER ISLAND on Blu-Ray (when my eyes weren't shutting), and PIRANHA in 3D theatrically.
12) Dirk Bogarde or Alan Bates?
Alan Bates was, as I remember, memorably naked emotionally as well as physically in that scene where he's walking through the brush in WOMEN IN LOVE. I doubt Bogarde would've had the guts to play that scene at all, though I think he was a fine actor.
13) Favorite DVD extra
Hitchcock's jokey, teasing preview of PSYCHO.
14) Brian De Palma’s Scarface— yes or no?
Hell, no! I hate that piece of shit.
15) Best comic moment from a horror film that is not a horror comedy (Young Frankenstein, Love At First Bite, et al.)
At the moment, poor Jerry O'Connell's penis bouncing up into the frame and being eaten, then spit out by a CGI piranha in PIRANHA.
16) Jane Birkin or Edwige Fenech?
Jane Birkin...oh yeah.
17) Favorite Wong Kar-wai movie
Eh? Sorry, I must claim complete ignorance of this person and his films.
More to come...
I feel very proud - I only took 5 days to do this! I have posted answers at my blog.
ReplyDeleteLong time reader, first time commenter. Here you go:
ReplyDeletePart I:
1) Classic film you most want to experience that has so far eluded you.
There's a lot of the foreign classics that I have yet to experience. For example, the only film by Andrei Tarkovsky I've seen is Solaris.
2) Greatest Criterion DVD/Blu-ray release ever
I should probably pick something arty or foreign to show my bona fides, but really the answer is the epic Dazed and Confused two disc edition that I waited 10 years for.
3) The Big Sleep or The Maltese Falcon?
I adore both, but The Big Sleep is sexier and not beholden to logic, therefore it wins.
4) Jason Bateman or Paul Rudd?
If it's television, Bateman's the answer, but Rudd's performance in Wet Hot American Summer was one of the greatest comedic turns of the last decade.
5) Best mother/child (male or female) movie star combo
Janet Leigh and Jamie Lee Curtis are the first to come to mind.
6) Who are the Robert Mitchums and Ida Lupinos among working movie actors? Do modern parallels to such masculine and no-nonsense feminine stars even exist? If not, why not?
There are no other Robert Mitchums or Ida Lupinos and there will never be. Timothy Olyphant has displayed the ability to play similar head strong masculine tropes as Mitchum, however, his most impressive work has been in television (Deadwood and Justified). I can't think of any parallels even that tenuous to Lupino, and for that, we are lesser people.
7) Favorite Preston Sturges movie
Sullivan's Travels is my favorite overall. The Miracle at Morgan Creek is the one that elicits the most laughs.
8) Odette Yustman or Mary Elizabeth Winstead?
While I hear her work as "Socialite" in Transformers was a performance for the ages, I have no recollection of her from that atrocity nor her role in Cloverfield. Winstead's the winner, she's cuter too.
9) Is there a movie that if you found out a partner or love interest loved (or didn't love) would qualify as a Relationship Deal Breaker?
I had a girlfriend whose taste aligned almost perfectly with mine. It end disastrously. My wife and I have as much common interest (film noir, Hitchcock, Barbara Stanwyck, Almodovar, etc) as we do differences (my love of horror, European genre fare; her taste in Jane Austen adaptations and romantic comedies), and it really doesn't matter. So the answer is no.
10) Favorite DVD commentary
I've always been fascinated with The Limey's commentary where screenwriter Lem Dobbs repeatedly berates director Steven Soderbergh for removing pages of back story. And for comedic purpose, I also recommend the Step Brothers track which is 90% comprised of Adam McKay, Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly singing to a live score by composer Jon Brion, plus an appearance from Los Angeles Clipper Baron Davis.
11) Movies most recently seen on DVD, Blu-ray and theatrically
DVD: The Crimson Kimono
Blu-Ray: Enter the Dragon
Theatre: Soul Kitchen, however, Labor Day weekend was a great movie watching weekend for me as I saw two double features at the New Beverly (Deep Red & Suspiria; Tell Them Willie Boy is Here & Ulzana's Raid) and Machete at the Vista (the manager taking tickets was in costume as the titular character)
12) Dirk Bogarde or Alan Bates?
Dirk, for The Servant alone.
13) Favorite DVD extra
Well I usually clamor most for those exciting Interactive Menus, but a close second place would be the "Love Conquers All" edit of Brazil and the two hour documentary about the making of the film also included in the Criterion DVD.
Part II:
ReplyDelete13) Favorite DVD extra
Well I usually clamor most for those exciting Interactive Menus, but a close second place would be the "Love Conquers All" edit of Brazil and the two hour documentary about the making of the film also included in the Criterion DVD.
14) Brian De Palma’s Scarface— yes or no?
I, like pretty much every teenage boy, loved it at the time. Now I consider it second-tier DePalma, but how can you say no to chainsaws, cocaine mountains, and Pacino's Cuban accent? And hopefully it will serve as a gateway to more intriguing DePalma like Blow Out for future teenage boys. Besides, where would the development of rappers and ESPN commentators be without it?
15) Best comic moment from a horror film that is not a horror comedy (Young Frankenstein, Love At First Bite, et al.)
"My art...keeps me sane."--Scanners
16) Jane Birkin or Edwige Fenech?
Both please!
17) Favorite Wong Kar-wai movie
Chungking Express is the one I have the greater connection to, though I admit In the Mood for Love is probably his most accomplished.
18) Best horrific moment from a comedy that is not a horror comedy
Ray Liotta's character in Something Wild takes a sweet comedy and turns it on it's head.
19) From 2010, a specific example of what movies are doing right…
Mother--the effective balance of suspense, horror, comedy, character study and emotional impact.
20) Ryan Reynolds or Chris Evans?
Don't feel particularly passionate either way about them.
21) Speculate about the future of online film writing. What’s next?
Hopefully we get to a point where people stop confusing box office receipts with quality for starters.
22) Roger Livesey or David Farrar?
I will skip this since I had to look at IMDB to find out who these gentlemen are. I guess the theme of this question is supporting players of Powell/Pressburger films?
23) Best father/child (male or female) movie star combo
How about, Walter Huston to John Huston, and John Huston to Angelica and Danny Huston?
24) Favorite Freddie Francis movie (as Director)
Tales From the Crypt is the only I've seen, but I loved it.
25) Bringing Up Baby or The Awful Truth?
Bringing Up Baby, due to the fact I've never seen The Awful Truth, which is I guess could be another possible answer to question 1.
26) Tina Fey or Kristen Wiig?
Fey.
and finally part 3-D
ReplyDelete27) Name a stylistically important director and the best film that would have never been made without his/her influence.
While Italians made westerns before Sergio Leone's A Fistful of Dollars, and probably would have made more without it, I don't think the genre would have flourished with out the film, meaning no The Great Silence, Django, etc. Not to mention the impact it would have had on the careers of composer Ennio Morricone and star and future filmmaker Clint Eastwood.
28) Movie you’d most enjoy seeing remade and transplanted to a different culture (i.e. Yimou Zhang’s A Woman, a Gun and a Noodle Shop.)
Well since his career was jump started with a homage to City on Fire, it's only fair that Quentin Tarantino allows Jackie Brown (or Elmore Leonard's source novel Rum Punch) to be adapted in Asia, with Maggie Cheung (slight aging makeup applied) as the titular character and Chow-Yun Fat in the Max Cherry role.
29) Link to a picture/frame grab of a movie image that for you best illustrates bliss. Elaborate.
(it's a pic of Rosario Dawson from Death Proof, see my blog for more)
While Death Proof is probably my least favorite Tarantino joint (though still very good) this still of Rosario Dawson's face as it transforms from terror to excitement perfectly captures the bliss we find when we experience the remarkable.
30) With a tip of that hat to Glenn Kenny, think of a just-slightly-inadequate alternate title for a famous movie. (Examples from GK: Fan Fiction; Boudu Relieved From Cramping; The Mild Imprecation of the Cat People)
Apocalypse Five Minutes Ago
The Gangster Whose Visage is Slightly Besmirched by a Scar
The 4 Year Old Virgin
1) Classic film you most want to experience that has so far eluded you.
ReplyDeleteAt first I was only mildly interested in seeing Letter from an Unknown Woman, but its obstinate lack of availability from all possible venues has borne within a me a burning desire to get a hold of it.
4) Jason Bateman or Paul Rudd?
Paul Rudd is my number one crush. My boyfriend fully understands this and knows that if Paul Rudd were to proposition me, he cannot interfere.
6) Who are the Robert Mitchums and Ida Lupinos among working movie actors? Do modern parallels to such masculine and no-nonsense feminine stars even exist? If not, why not?
I think the stars of today are more vulnerable - it comes across as fake if they're not. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but I think Mitchum and Lupino were products of their time and wouldn't really fit in today.
7) Favorite Preston Sturges movie
There's only 12 possible answers, you know. He's hit or miss with me, but I liked The Lady Eve.
9) Is there a movie that if you found out a partner or love interest loved (or didn't love) would qualify as a Relationship Deal Breaker?
Nothing would be an ACTUAL deal breaker, but there'd be a rift between us if he didn't find The Emperor's New Groove funny.
11) Movies most recently seen on DVD, Blu-ray and theatrically
Theatrically: The American
DVD: The Thing
Blu-ray: Can't remember, but um...I watched Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow off my DVR and ordered Barry Munday from On Demand
13) Favorite DVD extra
I'm not really into extras, but I can usually be convinced to watch a featurette on awesome special effects, even if I'm lukewarm on the film itself. The ones for King Kong (1933 version), The Abyss, and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button were great.
17) Favorite Wong Kar-wai movie
It's been a while since I've seen In the Mood for Love, which appears to be the "correct" answer, so I'm gonna give a shoutout to Happy Together.
19) From 2010, a specific example of what movies are doing right…
The fact that studios are panicking and seeking original material
20) Ryan Reynolds or Chris Evans?
I did quite enjoy Reynolds on the forgotten sitcom "Two Guys, A Girl, and a Pizza Place" (later just "Two Guys and a Girl"). Evans, however, has the charm and humor of a dozen men and elevates whatever he's in. Plus he's from my hometown of little Sudbury, MA, so now when people inevitably say they haven't heard of the town I can proudly declare that we gave the world its Captain America.
26) Tina Fey or Kristen Wiig?
Fey does one shtick incredibly well, while Wiig is a chameleon. With awesome women so scarce in entertainment, we need em both.
27) Name a stylistically important director and the best film that would have never been made without his/her influence.
Robert Wiene, for a single film: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. Directors as varied as Fritz Lang and Tim Burton owe a lot to it.
28) Movie you’d most enjoy seeing remade and transplanted to a different culture (i.e. Yimou Zhang’s A Woman, a Gun and a Noodle Shop.)
I recently read Jim Thompson's pulp novel Pop. 1280, which was made into the French film Coup de Torchon. I haven't seen it, but the story seems so quintessentially American to me that I'd love to see it done here. Does that count?
29) Link to a picture/frame grab of a movie image that for you best illustrates bliss. Elaborate.
No link necessary - Gene Kelly singin' in the rain.
30) With a tip of that hat to Glenn Kenny, think of a just-slightly-inadequate alternate title for a famous movie.
Permanent Resident Kane.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete1) Classic film you most want to experience that has so far eluded you.
ReplyDeleteThere are many, but the ones that come to mind are Tokyo Story (all of Ozu, for that matter), They Were Expendible, Nosferatu and Faster Pussycat Kill Kill.
2) Greatest Criterion DVD/Blu-ray release ever
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Seven Samurai
3) The Big Sleep or The Maltese Falcon?
They are both particular favorites, but the black bird gets the nod.
4) Jason Bateman or Paul Rudd?
Rudd, by degrees
5) Best mother/child (male or female) movie star combo
Tippi Hedren and Melanie Griffith
6) Who are the Robert Mitchums and Ida Lupinos among working movie actors? Do modern parallels to such masculine and no-nonsense feminine stars even exist? If not, why not?
No parallels exist. The world was a different place back when they were working. Clint Eastwood, perhaps, could stand in for Mitchum in front of the camera. Grand Turino is a working class picture if ever there was one. You might be able to think of a 2-ought actress to play some of the roles that Ida Lupino played, but she was without peer behind the camera.
7) Favorite Preston Sturges movie
Currently, The Palm Beach Story. Last week, it was Hail the Conquering Hero.
8) Odette Yustman or Mary Elizabeth Winstead?
This is tough. Odetta was a wonderful folk singer. I saw her perform at the Newport Folk Festival back in 1964, and I still remember that performance. But Mary did The Maltese Falcon and Elizabeth has those beautiful eyes. So, I dunno.
9) Is there a movie that if you found out a partner or love interest loved (or didn't love) would qualify as a Relationship Deal Breaker?
Forrest Gump, instantly. Followed by Natural Born Killers.
10) Favorite DVD commentary
Have yet to listen to one
11) Movies most recently seen on DVD, Blu-ray and theatrically
Star Trek; [N/A]; Inception
12) Dirk Bogarde or Alan Bates?
Bates, for wrestling naked and dancing with Zorba
13) Favorite DVD extra
All the extras on the Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle DVD
14) Brian De Palma’s Scarface— yes or no?
I hate this movie. Over-the-top violence, poorly acted and well directed. It insults the Cuban American community. For that reason alone, Scarface is a pimple on the fat behind of American cinema.
15) Best comic moment from a horror film that is not a horror comedy (Young Frankenstein, Love At First Bite, et al.)
The obvious one: Ella’s screaming in The Bride of Frankenstein
16) Jane Birkin or Edwige Fenech?
ReplyDeleteBirkin, and not just as an actress
17) Favorite Wong Kar-wai movie
Days of Being Wild
18) Best horrific moment from a comedy that is not a horror comedy
Where’s Poppa. The tush scene alone is worth the price of admission.
19) From 2010, a specific example of what movies are doing right…
I look in the papers for a movie, and can find nothing I particularly want to see. Especially in Manhattan, home of the cell phone and blackberry. I look forward to new films from Anderson, Eastwood, Wong Kar-Wei and a few others.
20) Ryan Reynolds or Chris Evans?
I’d screw Ryan Reynolds but I’d kiss Chris Evans.
21) Speculate about the future of online film writing. What’s next?
Another blogathon, more screen captures, a few arguments and another Sergio Leone quiz. Followed by a nap.
22) Roger Livesey or David Farrar?
I’ve never seen any of their pictures, though Black Narcissus is on my list.
23) Best father/child (male or female) movie star combo
Lloyd Bridges and his boys.
24) Favorite Freddie Francis movie (as Director)
Trog, with a performance by Joan Crawford that should have earned her a second Oscar
25) Bringing Up Baby or The Awful Truth?
Bringing Up Baby
26) Tina Fey or Kristen Wiig?
Sarah Palin
27) Name a stylistically important director and the best film that would have never been made without his/her influence.
Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai and Sturges’ The Magnificent Seven. But also Yojimbo and all those Sergio Leone/Clint Eastwood films. Bow to the Master.
28) Movie you’d most enjoy seeing remade and transplanted to a different culture (i.e. Yimou Zhang’s A Woman, a Gun and a Noodle Shop.)
I’d like to see Audition remade as an episode of Mad Men.
29) Link to a picture/frame grab of a movie image that for you best illustrates bliss. Elaborate.
There’s a picture on here somewhere of Joan Crawford having a Pepsi with Trog. Don’t know where it is, though.
30) With a tip of that hat to Glenn Kenny, think of a just-slightly-inadequate alternate title for a famous movie. (Examples from GK: Fan Fiction; Boudu Relieved From Cramping; The Mild Imprecation of the Cat People)
Tears of Endurement
1) Classic film you most want to experience that has so far eluded you.
ReplyDeleteThere are many, but the ones that come to mind are Tokyo Story (all of Ozu, for that matter), They Were Expendible, Nosferatu and Faster Pussycat Kill Kill.
2) Greatest Criterion DVD/Blu-ray release ever
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Seven Samurai
3) The Big Sleep or The Maltese Falcon?
They are both particular favorites, but the black bird gets the nod.
4) Jason Bateman or Paul Rudd?
Rudd, by degrees
5) Best mother/child (male or female) movie star combo
Tippi Hedren and Melanie Griffith
6) Who are the Robert Mitchums and Ida Lupinos among working movie actors? Do modern parallels to such masculine and no-nonsense feminine stars even exist? If not, why not?
No parallels exist. The world was a different place back when they were working. Clint Eastwood, perhaps, could stand in for Mitchum in front of the camera. Grand Turino is a working class picture if ever there was one. You might be able to think of a 2-ought actress to play some of the roles that Ida Lupino played, but she was without peer behind the camera.
7) Favorite Preston Sturges movie
Currently, The Palm Beach Story. Last week, it was Hail the Conquering Hero.
8) Odette Yustman or Mary Elizabeth Winstead?
This is tough. Odetta was a wonderful folk singer. I saw her perform at the Newport Folk Festival back in 1964, and I still remember that performance. But Mary did The Maltese Falcon and Elizabeth has those beautiful eyes. So, I dunno.
9) Is there a movie that if you found out a partner or love interest loved (or didn't love) would qualify as a Relationship Deal Breaker?
Forrest Gump, instantly. Followed by Natural Born Killers.
10) Favorite DVD commentary
Have yet to listen to one
11) Movies most recently seen on DVD, Blu-ray and theatrically
Star Trek; [N/A]; Inception
12) Dirk Bogarde or Alan Bates?
Bates, for wrestling naked and dancing with Zorba
13) Favorite DVD extra
All the extras on the Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle DVD
14) Brian De Palma’s Scarface— yes or no?
I hate this movie. Over-the-top violence, poorly acted and well directed. It insults the Cuban American community. For that reason alone, Scarface is a pimple on the fat behind of American cinema.
15) Best comic moment from a horror film that is not a horror comedy (Young Frankenstein, Love At First Bite, et al.)
The obvious one: Ella’s screaming in The Bride of Frankenstein
Hi, Dennis.
ReplyDeleteHeather Noel and I tackle a few of your Labor Day Quiz questions in this week's episode of our podcast DVD AFTERNOON. It's the first segment of the show, which you can find here:
http://mgoer.blogspot.com/2010/09/dvd-afternoon-podcast-25-encounters-at.html
And if you stick around for the rest of the show, you can hear what we thought of MY SON, MY SON, WHAT HAVE YE DONE and AFTERSCHOOL. Hope you like our responses!
Here are my answers:
ReplyDeletehttp://rheaven.blogspot.com/2010/09/professor-david-huxleys-laborious.html
My answers:
ReplyDeletehttp://theendofcinema.blogspot.com/2010/09/professor-david-huxleys-quiz-answered.html
A few weeks late to the party, but...
ReplyDeleteMy answers here!
As always, I love these quizzes and am already looking forward to the next one...