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PROFESSOR HUBERT FARNSWORTH’S ONLY SLIGHTLY FUTURISTIC HOLIDAY MOVIE QUIZ
Good news, friends!
It’s the return of the most popular quiz for which there are NO PRIZES, NO GLORY and NO TIME LIMIT! Just in time for the holiday break, the hallowed halls of SLIFR University have regurgitated yet another staff member to unleash a questionably scholastic movie quiz effort for your amusement, delectation and possibly obsessive attention. That staff member’s name is Professor Hubert Farnsworth, and considering his usual field of quantum physics and the fact that he has beamed here from the 36th century specifically to proctor this little enterprise (cheap sci-fi reference), it is, I suppose, only slightly odd that his questions rely so much on the past and not on the future of our most favoritest artistic medium. But then, how much fun would a holiday quiz be that was loaded with the kinds of questions Prof. Farnsworth originally submitted? Some examples culled from his time/space continuum-abusing travels: Favorite recurring digisexual motif of the holographic vibrofilms coming from Antares in the 32nd century? (Hint: It’s a trick question) Or, worst performance by a Neptunian millipede (non-fiction division)? Now you’re glad we made him write all-new questions, aren’t you? Well, if you aren’t now I suspect you soon will be. Professor Farnsworth has been instructed to keep everything more or less related to the human movie-going experience, so the questions should be well within the average viewer’s capability of answering, being as they are as subjective as ever and lacking the one thing found on most college exams: a single true, definitive answer.
As always, the only rules are that when you submit your answers in the comments thread below, you do so having cut and pasted the questions to go along with them. It’s much more fun and far less confusing to read a string of answers if they are preceded by the questions that inspired them. I will also include my now-laughable but also traditional pledge to actually undergo the quizzing process myself, something I once had lots of time and energy to do, both of which have escaped me handily for the last two quizzes. I continue to make the usual bold proclamations regarding my participation—I’M DOING IT THIS TIME, HONEST!!! This while acknowledging that it seems increasingly difficult for me to sit down and submit to the grueling torture I expect you to happily lap up. There’s something wrong there, isn’t there?
Enough blather. Time to press on. So sharpen your #2s (or fire up your LCD Nambrutron laser-etching devices) and get ready for a holiday quiz to end all this year’s holiday quizzes. Equivocations, ramblings and other long-winded type of answers are heartily encouraged. I give you Professor Hubert Farnsworth’s Only Slightly Futuristic Holiday Movie Quiz!
PLEASE NOTE: Blogger is doing something funky when you attempt to post long comment responses right now. You are likely to see a warning asking you if you REALLY want to navigate away from the page without saving changes. I don't know why this is happening, but since I have been forced by spam lately to moderate comments you have no way of knowing that your comments ARE BEING POSTED, even though you are seeing these weird warnings. I will try to be vigilant about moderating and publishing comments so you'll know sooner that your words are there. To everyone who posted multiple times yesterday, before I was aware of the problem (Thanks, Edward!) and could fix it, my apologies. And my apologies too for the bizarre typos in the quiz which caused people to speculate if I ws asking them to declare the winner of Best Director Ever or who was going to die in 2011. Those have been fixed too (Thanks, Marc and Peter!) and all should now be well and sensical in the classroom once again.
1) Best Movie of 2010
2) Second-favorite Roman Polanski Movie
3) Jason Statham or Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson
4) Favorite movie that could be classified as a genre hybrid
5) How important is foreknowledge of a film’s production history? Should it factor into one’s reaction to a film?
6) William Powell & Myrna Loy or Cary Grant & Irene Dunne
7) Best Actor of 2010
8) Most important lesson learned from the past decade of watching movies
9) Last movie seen (DVD/Blu-ray/theater)
10) Most appropriate punishment for director Tom Six
11) Best under-the-radar movie almost no one else has had the chance to see
12) Sheree North or Angie Dickinson
13) Favorite nakedly autobiographical movie
14) Movie which best evokes a specific real-life place
15) Best Director of 2010
16) Second-favorite Farrelly Brothers Movie
17) Favorite holiday movie
18) Best Actress of 2010
19) Joe Don Baker or Bo Svenson
20) Of those notable figures in the world of the movies who died in 2010, name the one you’ll miss the most
21) Think of a movie with a notable musical score and describe what it might feel like without that accompaniment.
22) Best Screenplay of 2010
23) Movie You Feel Most Evangelistic About Right Now
24) Worst/funniest movie accent ever
25) Best Cinematography of 2010
26) Olivia Wilde or Gemma Arterton
27) Name the three best movies you saw for the first time in 2010 (Thanks, Larry!)
28) Best romantic movie couple of 2010
29) Favorite shock/surprise ending
30) Best cinematic reason to have stayed home and read a book in 2010
31) Movies in 2011 could make me much happier if they’d only _______________
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone!
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67 comments:
Of those notable figures in the world of the movies who died in 2011, name the one you’ll miss the most
2011! Does somebody already have the hitlist for next year? Can I post who I hope will be on that list?
1. Certified Copy (though I'm holding off Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives for 2011)
2. Chinatown
3. Crank dat Statham
4. Alien
5. I usually only look that stuff up afterward unless the legend precedes it (i.e. The Magnificent Ambersons). I think it should only factor into the reaction in the sense that you concede setbacks but still judge the film on its own merits
6. Grant and Dunne
7. Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network
8. Never be afraid of completely reversing your opinion. Taste isn't just subjective among people, it's subjective in each person. What was crap a year ago could suddenly be a masterpiece depending on perspective.
9. Black Swan (theater)
10. Drawn and split into six pieces (quartering is too good)
11. N/A. I'm up on all my friends with stuff like Carlos and Certified Copy but they're hardly under the radar.
12. Angie Dickinson
13. If about a director: 8 1/2. If about anyone involved in the production, The Wrestler.
14. Syndromes and a Century's evocation of its rural and urban locales
15. Oliver Assayas, Carlos
16. There's Something About Mary
17. The Muppet Christmas Carol
18. Juliette Binoche, Certified Copy
19. Pass
20. Sally Menke, editor
21. I think Black Swan did a great job of showing how subtly awful and ungraceful ballet is when the music cuts out
22. Aaron Sorkin, The Social Network
23. I'm enthusiastic about Black Swan because of how recently I saw it but The Ghost Writer is the movie I've been pushing on friends all year.
24. If I can bend the rules a bit and pick the worst impersonation, it's easily Brad Johnson's John Wayne voice in Always. Barring that, Keanu Reeves' English voice in Dracula, notch.
25. MIchael McDonough's apocalyptic work on Winter's Bone
26. Olivia Wilde
27. The Intruder, Platform, 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her
28. Jack and Clara, The American
29. Of the year? The double shock of Bluebeard, which brings back Breillat's usual style in the final moments.
30. The Last Airbender
31. I never have anything in mind for what I want from film in general. I'll leave it to the cast and crew to make me happy.
1. There are A LOT I haven't seen, but as of now it is Winter's Bone.
2. Rosemary's Baby
3. Statham
4. The Crying Game
5. Not at all. It shouldn't.
6. Toughie. I think I have to go with Cary and Irene because they weren't basically the same two characters most of the time.
7. Same qualification as No. 1. So far, Kim Hye-ja (Mother)
8. The executives at Hollywood studios continue to fear creativity and taking chances over reusing old ideas and doing them badly at a rate more alarming than anytime in the past.
9. Re-watched Ran on DVD
10. (blushes) Who is Tom Six?
11. Please Give
12 Angie Dickinson
13. Citizen Kane.
14. So many. Of more recent ones, Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist.
15. Billy Wilder
16. I pass.
17. Die Hard.
18. Barbara Stanwyck
19. Joe Don Baker.
20. Dennis Hopper.
21. Believe it or not, I don't think Airplane! would move nearly as well or being nearly as nonstop funny without Elmer Bernstein's great score.
22. Paddy Chayefsky's Network
23. It's not to preach for, it's to preach against The Kids Are All Right and how overrated it is and how a lesser cast would make its deficiencies glaringly obvious.
24. Too many to mention. Pick any Kevin Costner has ever tried. Or Michael Caine in Cider House Rules.
25. Too many great ones to choose from.
26. Don't know the second person is, but I dislike Olivia Wilde so I'll pick the stranger by default.
27. Winter's Bone, Mother and Red Cliff
28. N/A
29. Just because it was ths year and I don't have to think hard and it was so wondefully shot, The Ghost Writer.
30. I have no choice.
31. Install equipment in theaters (assuming I could go) that disabled cellphones and all electronic devices with the users knowing it had been done.
1) Best Movie of 2010
The Social Network. Great performances, a quotable screenplay, and it shows how the mindset of seven years ago has become truly distant. There's as much going on through the film as there is going on in it.
2) Second-favorite Roman Polanski Movie
Chinatown's got to be number one, so I guess Rosemary's Baby's got to be number two.
3) Jason Statham or Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson
I don't get the sense that Jason Statham can poke fun at his image. On the other hand, that means he's never played a tooth fairy. That gives him the edge.
4) Favorite movie that could be classified as a genre hybrid
The teen/noir Brick - but only because I can't convince myself that Duck Soup is a war movie.
5) How important is foreknowledge of a film’s production history? Should it factor into one’s reaction to a film?
F. Scott Fitzgerald said that a writer should write for the youth of today, the critics of tomorrow, and the schoolteachers thereafter. I think the making of a film should be seen the same way. What's on the screen should be what matters to the (usually youthful) audience; what's behind the scenes can be important to the critics. And if the film is to matter to future generations - if it's to teach them anything - then it should be a big enough film that all info about it (casting, production, era, etc.) can contribute to the lessons it has to teach.
6) William Powell & Myrna Loy or Cary Grant & Irene Dunne
I really love the comfort between Powell and Loy. Neither has to make an effort to impress the other, and everyone around them sees why it is they click. Three quarters of a century later, people still want a marriage like that, full of zingers and booze and humor and love.
7) Best Actor of 2010
Jeff Bridges played young, middle-aged and old, and he made it look easy. Too bad he got his old-hat-who's-paid-his-dues-but-never-won-anything Oscar last year.
8) Most important lesson learned from the past decade of watching movies
Just because a movie's a spectacle doesn't mean it needs to be seen on the big screen. More important, just because a movie's driven by character and dialogue doesn't mean you should wait to see it on DVD first.
9) Last movie seen (DVD/Blu-ray/theater)
DVD: Deliverance. The banjo scene never gets old.
Blu-ray: N/A
Theater: HP7, Part 1. The grayest color movie I've ever seen. As the credits rolled, three people around me said, "Seriously?"
10) Most appropriate punishment for director Tom Six
Fame.
11) Best under-the-radar movie almost no one else has had the chance to see
Better Than Sex, a 2000 Aussie film about a couple who have a one night stand and then discuss their growing mutual attraction - sort of cross between About Last Night and Before Sunrise.
12) Sheree North or Angie Dickinson
How many presidents did Sheree North sleep with?
13) Favorite nakedly autobiographical movie
I guess I'll have to go with Almost Famous, if only because I don't think Alfred Hitchcock ever watched his true love fall off a church tower.
14) Movie which best evokes a specific real-life place
The Alaska of Never Cry Wolf is vivid, gorgeous, dangerous, and truly great. Not the cartoon it's become in the past two years.
15) Best Director
I'm guessing you mean of 2010, as with the above. With that in mind, I do so like what Sofia Coppola does.
Always start out figuring I'll answer one or two and leave the rest until later, and always wind up doing it in one fell swoop:
1) Best Movie of 2010
The Social Network. Haven't seen True Grit or The Illusionist yet, but I don't think first place will shift. In fact, if all the Best This and Best That questions below refer to 2010, I think I'd give The Social Network a clean sweep except for Best Actress and Best Romantic Couple (though it would get the nod for Best Knee-Trembler in a Public Toilet).
2) Second-favorite Roman Polanski Movie
Rosemary's Baby. Great movie about the psychology of authoritarianism.
3) Jason Statham or Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson
I see Jason Statham on screen and I feel like I'm about to have my milk money taken away from me. If I ever went to a movie with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson in it I would feel like I was an idiot. Terminal invulnerability cases like Statham leave me cold, but they don't insult my intelligence.
4) Favorite movie that could be classified as a genre hybrid
The Outlaw Josie Wales always seemed to me a samurai movie in the form of a western.
5) How important is foreknowledge of a film’s production history? Should it factor into one’s reaction to a film?
Foreknowledge I would consider almost entirely useless. Knowledge afterwards can enrich your experience of the film.
6) William Powell & Myrna Loy or Cary Grant & Irene Dunne
Cary Grant & Irene Dunne individually are on a higher plane than William Powell & Myrna Loy, and The Awful Truth and My Favorite Wife are on a higher plane than the movies Powell & Loy were in. However, I would allow that Powell & Loy left a deeper impression as a team per se. The impression of Grant & Dunne is more of co-stars cast in the same movie than as a unit.
7) Best Actor of 2010
See No. 1, meaning Jesse Eisenberg. Never liked him in anything else he was in, though. He just needed to find a role that called for a whey-faced punk.
8) Most important lesson learned from the past decade of watching movies
I think I learned most of my lessons from watching movies before the past decade. I'm not a young man anymore.
Part 2
9) Last movie seen (DVD/Blu-ray/theater)
DVD: Who is Harry Nilsson and Why is Everybody Talking About Him? (Streamable on Netflix, by the way.) High Def: The Searchers on HD DVD. Theater: The original Solaris.
10) Most appropriate punishment for director Tom Six
Assuming for the sake of argument he ought to be punished, the appropriate thing would be for the most beautiful, saintly, innocent – well he likes the fellas, doesn't he? – anyway, exquisite and ideal person of whatever gender falls utterly in love with him and he likewise. Then he or she sees The Human Centipede.
11) Best under-the-radar movie almost no one else has had the chance to see
Peter Cook's underrated political satire The Rise and Rise of David Rimmer.
12) Sheree North or Angie Dickinson
Angie in a sweater with no pants on. Or in a movie, if it comes to that.
13) Favorite nakedly autobiographical movie
Citizen Kane.
14) Movie which best evokes a specific real-life place
The Long Goodbye really captures the look and feeling of Los Angeles in the 70s. The historical movie that most made me feel I was seeing what living in a particular period was really like is Topsy Turvy. I think I've used these answers for similar questions in the past.
15) Best Director
From now on if you don't mention a year I'm going to treat it as all time. Ernst Lubitsch.
16) Second-favorite Farrelly Brothers Movie
I laughed pretty hard at Something About Mary the first time I saw it, but I don't think I have enough regard for the Farrelys to have "favorites."
Part 3
17) Favorite holiday movie
Whether you were talking about Christmas movies or movies about holidays in general, Meet Me in St. Louis. The ultimate evocation of MGM's American Eden, and just a thing of beauty altogether. Honorable Mention (Christmas Division): The Shop Around the Corner. Bonus choices for Off the Beaten Track Christmas movies: The Miracle of Morgan's Creek, Brazil, The Ice Harvest.
18) Best Actress
Joan Greenwood.
19) Joe Don Baker or Bo Svenson
Joe Don Baker was in Edge of Darkness. Aside from that among revenge movie heroes he's like what, ninth string? Bo Svenson, is he somebody in pictures?
20) Of those notable figures in the world of the movies who died in 2011, name the one you’ll miss the most
As long as you're finding out who dies in 2011, could you also let me know who wins the World Series so I could get a bet down?
21) Think of a movie with a notable musical score and describe what it might feel like without that accompaniment.
Fantasia. Confusing.
22) Best Screenplay
Sullivan's Travels.
23) Movie You Feel Most Evangelistic About Right Now
Evangelistic is going it a bit strong, but I would say The Warrior's Way is the Speed Racer of 2010.
Part 4
24) Worst/funniest movie accent ever
Worst, Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins. Worst this year, Angelina Jolie in The Tourist. Funniest, Peter Sellers' Inspector Clouseau. The quasi-Southern thing Gary Oldham put on for The Fifth Element was a hoot.
25) Best Cinematography
Sweet Smell of Success.
26) Olivia Wilde or Gemma Arterton
Have to take an Incomplete on this one, Professor.
27) Name the three best movies you saw for the first time in 2010 (Thanks, Larry!)
Suspicion until the last reel, Metropolis with most of the missing bits in, Solaris but I think once will be enough. Well, actually I think The Social Network is better than Solaris.
28) Best romantic movie couple of 2010
Lindsay Lohan and her movie mom in Machete. Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie would have been great if it had been done, say, ten years ago.
29) Favorite shock/surprise ending
Not exactly what you're asking for, but I think the most satisfying and surprising solution to a mystery posed in a movie was the one about the photo booth pictures in Amelie.
30) Best cinematic reason to have stayed home and read a book in 2010
I'd rather have root canal without anesthetic than sit through Yogi Bear. If I had a child who demanded to see it I'd offer a pony instead. But hey, Mr. Filmmaker, here's a tip: The scene in the trailer where Yogi bangs his ass along a picket fence would have been a lot funnier if he had testicles.
31) Movies in 2011 could make me much happier if they’d only _______________
Shut the fuck up. It's about time the movies admit the Talkies are a passing fad.
1) Best Movie of 2010 - Tie, Black Swan/How to Train Your Dragon
2) Second-favorite Roman Polanski Movie - The Pianist
3) Jason Statham or Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson - The Rock
4) Favorite movie that could be classified as a genre hybrid - Guess I'll say Inception for 2010...ever I do not know.
5) How important is foreknowledge of a film’s production history? Should it factor into one’s reaction to a film? - It can be quite important (The Fountain, for example)
6) William Powell & Myrna Loy or Cary Grant & Irene Dunne - Cary Grant and Irene Dunne
7) Best Actor of 2010 - James Franco for 127 Hours
8) Most important lesson learned from the past decade of watching movies - Always have cell phone service, thanks every horror movie of the last decade.
9) Last movie seen (DVD/Blu-ray/theater)- Primer
10) Most appropriate punishment for director Tom Six - For The Human Centipede? Death.
11) Best under-the-radar movie almost no one else has had the chance to see - Not necessarily under the radar, but Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter...and Spring.
12) Sheree North or Angie Dickinson - Angie Dickinson by default, not familiar with Sheree North.
13) Favorite nakedly autobiographical movie -
14) Movie which best evokes a specific real-life place - Escanaba in da Moonlight.
15) Best Director - Best or Favorite? Yikes. Best - Maybe Krzysztof Kieslowski...
16) Second-favorite Farrelly Brothers Movie - Dumb and Dumber
17) Favorite holiday movie - Tie, How the Grinch Stole Christmas/Elf
18) Best Actress - Oh man, throwing out best again? Toss Between Juliette Binoche and Natalie Portman I guess.
19) Joe Don Baker or Bo Svenson - Bo Svenson.
20) Of those notable figures in the world of the movies who died in 2011, name the one you’ll miss the most - In 2010? Richard Attenborough, I suppose.
21) Think of a movie with a notable musical score and describe what it might feel like without that accompaniment. - Singing in the Rain. It would be a musical with a lot of a capella.
22) Best Screenplay - Ever? Far too many, Synecdoche, New York was quite impressive for its extreme use of meta-fiction (within a meta-fiction).
23) Movie You Feel Most Evangelistic About Right Now -
24) Worst/funniest movie accent ever - Any of them in Fargo.
25) Best Cinematography - Colin Watkinson for The Fall.
26) Olivia Wilde or Gemma Arterton - Gemma Arterton for sure.
27) Name the three best movies you saw for the first time in 2010 (Thanks, Larry!) - A Short Film About Killing, Pi: Faith in Chaos, and Dr. Strangelove.
28) Best romantic movie couple of 2010 - not too familiar with these...Pitt and Jolie?
29) Favorite shock/surprise ending - Fight Club's is still pretty cool.
30) Best cinematic reason to have stayed home and read a book in 2010 - the 3D craze.
31) Movies in 2011 could make me much happier if they’d only - not announce things like Ryan Reynolds is playing the Green Latern and Darren Aronofsky is directing Wolverine 2...things like that make me extremely sad.
8) Most important lesson learned from the past decade of watching movies
Internet buzz will render most films obsolete in less than two weeks.
11) Best under-the-radar movie almost no one else has had the chance to see
Bandslam
20) Of those notable figures in the world of the movies who died in 2011, name the one you’ll miss the most
I lost my ability to foretell the future. Blame it on the weed.
21) Think of a movie with a notable musical score and describe what it might feel like without that accompaniment.
Without Bernard Herrmann, Vertigo would be a far less wistful silent movie.
Thanks for this Christmas gift, Dennis!
Q1: Best Movie of 2010
A1: The Social Network (also the cliché “best movie” answer of 2010).
Q2: Second-favorite Roman Polanski Movie
A2: Repulsion.
Q3: Jason Statham or Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson
A3: Statham, ‘cause his movies seems more interesting (not including the Guy Ritchie stuff). Johnson gives good personality though.
Q4: Favorite movie that could be classified as a genre hybrid
A4: Singin’ in the Rain. It’s in my top ten and it’s a musical-comedy-romance-behind the scenes flick.
Q5: How important is foreknowledge of a film’s production history? Should it factor into one’s reaction to a film?
A5: It’s of minimal importance, but it does make some impact.
Q6: William Powell & Myrna Loy or Cary Grant & Irene Dunne
A6: Grant & Dunne, but then, I’d follow Grant anywhere.
Q7: Best Actor of 2010
A7: Ciarán Hinds in Life During Wartime.
Q8: Most important lesson learned from the past decade of watching movies
A8: Sometimes, movies look better in hindsight.
Q9: Last movie seen (DVD/Blu-ray/theater)
A9: DVD – A Night to Dismember (Dir: Doris Wishman), Theatre: The Fighter.
Q10: Most appropriate punishment for director Tom Six
A10: To make a movie that people won’t feel like they’ve already seen as soon as they’ve heard the premise.
Q11: Best under-the-radar movie almost no one else has had the chance to see
A11: The Long Day Closes (Dir: Terence Davies).
Q12: Sheree North or Angie Dickinson
A12: Dickinson for Dressed to Kill, Big Bad Mama I & II, The Norliss Tapes, Pretty Maids All in a Row, Rio Bravo… and Police Woman.
Q13: Favorite nakedly autobiographical movie
A13: The Brood, as it’s reportedly about Cronenberg’s divorce.
Q14: Movie which best evokes a specific real-life place
A14: The Canadian classic Goin’ Down the Road does a great job giving a sense of place to both rural Nova Scotia and urban Ontario.
Q15: Best Director
A15: Of 2010 - David O. Russell.
Q16: Second-favorite Farrelly Brothers Movie
A16: Kingpin.
PART II:
Q17: Favorite holiday movie
A17: Assuming the holiday is Christmas – It’s a Wonderful Life (see comment, A1). If the holiday is Halloween, then the movie is Halloween. Halloween trumps IAWL.
Q18: Best Actress
A18: Of 2010 - Kristen Stewart in The Runaways.
Q19: Joe Don Baker or Bo Svenson
A19: This one’s tough (just like Baker and Svenson), but Svenson for his TV work including Snowbeast, and his work with Tarantino.
Q20: Of those notable figures in the world of the movies who died in 2011, name the one you’ll miss the most
A20: Ingrid Pitt.
Q21: Think of a movie with a notable musical score and describe what it might feel like without that accompaniment.
A21: Psycho comes to mind first, and there’s a ton of writing about the impact of that particular score. Since Herrmann said he wrote a “black and white” score for Hitchcock’s classic, I guess I could best sum it up back saying that Psycho would have been only “white” without those shrieking violins.
Q22: Best Screenplay
A22: Of 2010 – The Social Network.
Q23: Movie You Feel Most Evangelistic About Right Now
A23: Godard’s Bande à part.
Q24: Worst/funniest movie accent ever
A24: Lots of intentionally funny ones thanks to Peter Sellers and Mel Brooks, and I’ll be polite and leave it at that.
Q25: Best Cinematography
A25: Of 2010 – Buried.
Q26: Olivia Wilde or Gemma Arterton
A26: I haven’t seen enough by either of these actresses to justify an answer.
A27: Name the three best movies you saw for the first time in 2010 (Thanks, Larry!)
Q27: Pandora’s Box, Antichrist (2009), Messiah of Evil.
Q28: Best romantic movie couple of 2010
A28: Paul Reubens and Shirley Henderson in Life During Wartime.
Q29: Favorite shock/surprise ending
A29: The endings for both Psycho and Citizen Kane had been revealed to me before I saw them, so I’ll have to say I am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang. That’s film final moments made a major impact on me. Some runners-up: Kiss Me Deadly, Detour, The Third Man, Les Diaboliques, and The Birds, though some of those endings are “shocks” in a non-traditional sense. As an aside, in light of how many people I know actually despise the ending of No Country for Old Men, I’ve come to love it. Any ending that makes people talk about it and question it is a good one. For me, it’s closest in spirit to the ending of The Birds.
Q30: Best cinematic reason to have stayed home and read a book in 2010
A30: The only bad experience I had at the movies this year was seeing “Nine”. We walked out ¾ of the way though; enough was enough. But that was made in 2009.
Q31: Movies in 2011 could make me much happier if they’d only
A31: Forget about 3-D.
1) Best Movie of 2010
The Social Network. Great performances, a quotable screenplay, and it shows how the mindset of seven years ago has become truly distant. There's as much going on through the film as there is going on in it.
2) Second-favorite Roman Polanski Movie
Chinatown's got to be number one, so I guess Rosemary's Baby's got to be number two.
3) Jason Statham or Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson
I don't get the sense that Jason Statham can poke fun at his image. On the other hand, that means he's never played a tooth fairy. That gives him the edge.
4) Favorite movie that could be classified as a genre hybrid
The teen/noir Brick - but only because I can't convince myself that Duck Soup is a war movie.
5) How important is foreknowledge of a film’s production history? Should it factor into one’s reaction to a film?
F. Scott Fitzgerald said that a writer should write for the youth of today, the critics of tomorrow, and the schoolteachers thereafter. I think the making of a film should be seen the same way. What's on the screen should be what matters to the (usually youthful) audience; what's behind the scenes can be important to the critics. And if the film is to matter to future generations - if it's to teach them anything - then it should be a big enough film that all info about it (casting, production, era, etc.) can contribute to the lessons it has to teach.
6) William Powell & Myrna Loy or Cary Grant & Irene Dunne
I really love the comfort between Powell and Loy. Neither has to make an effort to impress the other, and everyone around them sees why it is they click. Three quarters of a century later, people still want a marriage like that, full of zingers and booze and humor and love.
7) Best Actor of 2010
Jeff Bridges played young, middle-aged and old, and he made it look easy. Too bad he got his old-hat-who's-paid-his-dues-but-never-won-anything Oscar last year.
8) Most important lesson learned from the past decade of watching movies
Just because a movie's a spectacle doesn't mean it needs to be seen on the big screen. More important, just because a movie's driven by character and dialogue doesn't mean you should wait to see it on DVD first.
9) Last movie seen (DVD/Blu-ray/theater)
DVD: Deliverance. The banjo scene never gets old.
Blu-ray: N/A
Theater: HP7, Part 1. The grayest color movie I've ever seen. As the credits rolled, three people around me said, "Seriously?"
10) Most appropriate punishment for director Tom Six
Fame.
11) Best under-the-radar movie almost no one else has had the chance to see
Better Than Sex, a 2000 Aussie film about a couple who have a one night stand and then discuss their growing mutual attraction - sort of cross between About Last Night and Before Sunrise.
12) Sheree North or Angie Dickinson
How many presidents did Sheree North sleep with?
13) Favorite nakedly autobiographical movie
I guess I'll have to go with Almost Famous, if only because I don't think Alfred Hitchcock ever watched his true love fall off a church tower.
14) Movie which best evokes a specific real-life place
The Alaska of Never Cry Wolf is vivid, gorgeous, dangerous, and truly great. Not the cartoon it's become in the past two years.
15) Best Director
I'm guessing you mean of 2010, as with the above. With that in mind, I do so like what Sofia Coppola does.
Aww shit. I knew this was coming. Answers next week (can't wait to do more than skim it)!
Happy Holidays to you and yours, Dennis.
24) Worst/funniest movie accent ever
Not an accent, but the name Jekyll in Ulmer's Daughter of Dr. Jekyll is pronouced at least three different ways by the actors.
Professor Farnsworth - a few questions:
1. For questions 15, 18, 22, and 25 - is "for 2010" implied like in question 7?
2. Question 22 - is this really about 2011? Not everyone can see the future like me.
1) Best Movie of 2010
Poetry
2) Second-favorite Roman Polanski Movie
The Tenant
3) Jason Statham or Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson
I will watch Statham in just about anything.
4) Favorite movie that could be classified as a genre hybrid
A King and Four Queens: it looks like a western, but it's really a comedy of manners.
5) How important is foreknowledge of a film’s production history? Should it factor into one’s reaction to a film?
It depends on the film. Sometimes the best part of Orson Welles' films is the production history.
6) William Powell & Myrna Loy or Cary Grant & Irene Dunne
The pair with Asta.
7) Best Actor of 2010
Andy Serkis in Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll
8) Most important lesson learned from the past decade of watching movies
Wait for the DVD.
9) Last movie seen (DVD/Blu-ray/theater)
DVD: Love is a Many Stupid Thing
Theater: The Warrior's Way
10) Most appropriate punishment for director Tom Six
Just ignore him.
11) Best under-the-radar movie almost no one else has had the chance to see
God's Land, an independent film with no distributor at this time.
12) Sheree North or Angie Dickinson
Angie.
13) Favorite nakedly autobiographical movie
Fassbinder's Beware of a Holy Whore
14) Movie which best evokes a specific real-life place
Aaron Katz's new film, Cold Weather, in Portland, comes to mind.
15) Best Director
Ever? Dead or alive? Impossible to answer.
16) Second-favorite Farrelly Brothers Movie
Me, Myself and Irene
17) Favorite holiday movie
Um, which holiday? The Hebrew Hammer.
18) Best Actress
I've got Moon So-Ri on my mind.
19) Joe Don Baker or Bo Svenson
J.D. has a couple of films with Phil Karlson, plus a Peckinpah under his considerable belt.
20) Of those notable figures in the world of the movies who died in 2011, name the one you’ll miss the most
I've missed Arthur Penn well before he died.
21) Think of a movie with a notable musical score and describe what it might feel like without that accompaniment.
I think I would have to watch a film without the score. I do suspect Jaws owes a lot to John Williams.
22) Best Screenplay
Ever? I guess Sweet Smell of Success would be an easy one for its bon mots.
23) Movie You Feel Most Evangelistic About Right Now
I would think more people would be excited about Tomu Uchida finally having some films on English subtitled DVD if they were from Criterion rather than AnimEigo.
24) Worst/funniest movie accent ever
Clouseau!
25) Best Cinematography
Ever? Be more specific, Professor. Possibly John Ford's Wagon Master.
26) Olivia Wilde or Gemma Arterton
Miss Arteron.
27) Name the three best movies you saw for the first time in 2010 (Thanks, Larry!)
Yearning by Mikio Naruse
Underworld by Josef von Sternberg
Docks of New York by Josef von Sternberg
28) Best romantic movie couple of 2010
Sergi Lopez and Rinko Kikuchi in Map of the Sounds of Tokyo
29) Favorite shock/surprise ending
Simon Yam gets the hiccups at the end of Pang Ho-Cheung's Exodus.
30) Best cinematic reason to have stayed home and read a book in 2010
I finally read Eileen Chang's short stories. The best known film from her writings is Ang Lee's Lust, Caution.
31) Movies in 2011 could make me much happier if they’d only _______________
Dear Professor: Anyone looking for movies to make them happy is pretty pathetic. It's got to come from within your own life. Me, I have no regrets about seeing Enter the Void.
1) Best Movie of 2010
BLACK SWAN
2) Second-favorite Roman Polanski Movie
ROSEMARY'S BABY (favorite: THE PIANIST)
3) Jason Statham or Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson
No contest - Statham.
4) Favorite movie that could be classified as a genre hybrid
The Kill Bill movies.
5) How important is foreknowledge of a film’s production history? Should it factor into one’s reaction to a film?
Not very, and no.
6) William Powell & Myrna Loy or Cary Grant & Irene Dunne
No contest - Grant and Dunne
7) Best Actor of 2010
Leonardo DiCaprio in Shutter Island. From reading other comment threads around the internet I gather not everyone is a fan of Mr. DiCaprio's performance stylings these days, but I think he's by far the most talented actor of his generation, and this is one of his best performances.
8) Most important lesson learned from the past decade of watching movies
That you might have to look to unexpected corners of the globe, but there are always great movies to see if you're willing to look for them. Which is good, because the other important lesson is that the American studio system is going through a real creative dry spell, has been for the last several years, and, with the exception of a few reliable filmmakers who have successfully taken over their parts of the asylum, it doesn't look likely to improve anytime soon.
9) Last movie seen (DVD/Blu-ray/theater)
DVD: Anthony Mann's rather dour The Last Frontier
Blu ray: Showgirls
Theater: True Grit, which didn't bowl me over at first but is growing on me as I think it over further. Minor Coen brothers either way - I think - but still quite satisfying.
10) Most appropriate punishment for director Tom Six
Who?
11) Best under-the-radar movie almost no one else has had the chance to see
Boxing Gym. I guess all the cool kids saw it at festivals (as did i), so it got written up a fair amount on-line especially, but it made like $20k total at the box office and with Wiseman's iron grip on his films, God only knows when anyone else will get a chance to see it. Which is a shame because it's really a beautiful movie.
12) Sheree North or Angie Dickinson
Angie Dickinson
13) Favorite nakedly autobiographical movie
8 1/2? i don't know.
14) Movie which best evokes a specific real-life place
Stumped
15) Best Director
Gasper Noe - I thought at least 30 minutes of Enter the Void was so repetitive and dull as to be nearly unwatchable, but then again the first 90 minutes or so represents some of the most dazzling filmmaking I've ever seen. Noe pushes the boundaries of what is capable with digital cinema, and regardless of the overall success of the film (mixed), his directorial work is impossible to ignore.
I've posted my answers on my own blog to save space (and not because I'm a blog whore).
See http://coolbev.blogspot.com/2010/12/twas-quiz-before-christmas.html
Yeee-ikes! I wish I'd seen this sooner! 2010! 2010! I meant 2010! (Thanks, Marc!)
Also, to Peter and all: Those rather generic "Best Director," Best Cinematography" should have had "of 2010" tags on 'em, and now they do. God, I shouldn't pound tequila at 3:00 in the afternoon if I'm going to post one of these quizzes!
Oh, sure: blame it on the tequila!
Correcting those that now have years on them:
7. Best actor of 2010
Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network)
15. Best director of 2010
Debra Grunik (Winter's Bone)
18. Best actress of 2010
Kim Hye-ja (Mother)
22. Best screenplay of 2010
Mother (Park Eun-kyo and Bong Joon-ho
23. Most evangelistic about (addendum)
On the pro side, Alain Resnais' Wild Grass
25. Best cinematography of 2010
Robert Richardson (Shutter Island))
Okiedokie! Best Actress of 2010: Yoon Jeong-hee for Poetry.
Best Screenplay and direction: Lee Chang-dong for Poetry.
Cinematography: Yukontorn Mingmongkon and
Sayombhu Mukdeeprom for Uncle Boonmee
and Benoît Debie for Enter the Void.
The excuse that keeps on giving, Ray! Merry Christmas!
Part 1 is the 4th comment down; here's part 2.
16) Second-favorite Farrelly Brothers Movie
Kingpin. The competition is surprisingly thin, isn't it?
17) Favorite holiday movie
The Ref. I wish Judy Davis and Kevin Spacey could act together in more movies.
18) Best Actress
I'm going with Hailee Steinfeld, in part because I haven't seen the other favorites, in part because she's not the supporting actress they're billing her for, and in part because she's as impressive as she is.
19) Joe Don Baker or Bo Svenson
My, my, my, my Mitchell. Who, let it not be forgot, was excellent in Scorsese’s Cape Fear.
20) Of those notable figures in the world of the movies who died in 2010, name the one you’ll miss the most
I think Dennis Hopper meant more to me than any of the others. Leslie Nielsen made me laugh more, but Hopper meant more on a different level that I'm not sure I can explain. Watch his cameo in "Jesus' Son." Without leaving his chair, without raising his voice, he turns the whole film into something deeper and more powerful. He didn't need to chew scenery to make a difference.
21) Think of a movie with a notable musical score and describe what it might feel like without that accompaniment.
I just saw Taxi Driver again, and I'm trying to imagine that without its music. The word that comes to mind is "oppressive." Intense at the movie is, the music moves through it and gives it space; without that, it would be close to unbearable.
22) Best Screenplay
Social Network. Full of meaning, recognition, and SO many great lines.
23) Movie You Feel Most Evangelistic About Right Now
I was very happy to turn my dad onto the original Vanishing Point. I look forward to my next victim in a big way.
24) Worst/funniest movie accent ever
Rob Morrow's Boston accent in Quiz Show. My LORD, do I resent him for that.
25) Best Cinematography
True Grit. You can't go wrong with that landscape, but you can also go further than right.
26) Olivia Wilde or Gemma Arterton
The one with the nice face.
27) Name the three best movies you saw for the first time in 2010 (Thanks, Larry!)
Social Network, Vanishing Point, and The Narrow Margin (1952).
28) Best romantic movie couple of 2010
Barbie and Ken, Toy Story 3.
29) Favorite shock/surprise ending
Love Story. Spoiler alert - she dies!
30) Best cinematic reason to have stayed home and read a book in 2010
Alice in Wonderland the book has been treasured for over a hundred years. Alice in Wonderland the movie grossed more than one billion dollars, and it'll be lucky to have a shelf life half that long.
31) Movies in 2011 could make me much happier if they'd only...
not have to struggle under anybody's expectations.
1) Best Movie of 2010
Winter’s Bone.
2) Second-favorite Roman Polanski Movie
Rosemary’s Baby.
3) Jason Statham or Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson
Potential: Dwayne Johnson
Actual: Jason Statham
4) Favorite movie that could be classified as a genre hybrid
Evil Dead II.
5) How important is foreknowledge of a film’s production history? Should it factor into one’s reaction to a film?
I don’t think there’s any set in stone rule on this one. 90% of the time I could care less how the sausage gets made, unless it involves a filmmaker I respect leaving/getting booted from the film.
Watchmen is an exception I can think of to this rule. I tend to cut it a bit of slack since it seemed less of a movie and more the equivalent of a kidney stone that I’m just impressed got passed at all.
Even if all the thanks Synder got for his trouble was a shredded urethra.
6) William Powell & Myrna Loy or Cary Grant & Irene Dunne?
Grant over Powell, but Powell and Loy together are never less then magical.
7) Best Actor of 2010
John Hawkes. Uncle Teardrop was the most complex and magnetic character I’ve seen on screen this year.
Can’t help but be fascinated by someone who’s idea of unconditional love includes both being willing to kill and die for a person and leeringly offering them Crystal Meth.
8) Most important lesson learned from the past decade of watching movies ?
A go for broke failure is almost always worth your time. As long as its failure is the result of someone’s fervor rather then timid committee think.
9) Last movie seen (DVD/Blu-ray/theater)
DVD: Waking Sleeping Beauty
Blu Ray: House
Theater: The Fighter
10) Most appropriate punishment for director Tom Six
Being allowed only to watch shock for shock sake movies for the rest of his life. An eternity with only “Shocking Asia” for company is one worth shuddering over.
11) Best under-the-radar movie almost no one else has had the chance to see?
I lurve my copy of Dragon’s Forever. Benny The Jet Rodriguez Vs. Jackie Chan? Yes please.
12) Sheree North or Angie Dickinson?
Dickinson.
13) Favorite nakedly autobiographical movie
Dogma.
14) Movie which best evokes a specific real-life place
Gangs Of New York
15) Best Director of 2010
You know if I’m going to be honest for all the directors I love who made movies this year, Ben Affleck is the one who impressed me most.
Gone Baby Gone could be written off as a fluke. The result of good source material. In The Town Affleck took a novel that was mediocre at best and transformed it into the best crime film since Heat.
16) Second-favorite Farrelly Brothers Movie
Something About Mary. Which never had a moment as glorious as the final fate of Petey The Parakeet.
17) Favorite holiday movie
A Muppet’s Christmas Carol as being one of the traditions shared between myself and my siblings. Nightmare Before Christmas is the only one I give any significant play outside of the holidays.
18) Best Actress of 2010
Michelle Williams. There stands a lady who knows how to bring the pain.
19) Joe Don Baker or Bo Svenson
Baker
20) Of those notable figures in the world of the movies who died in 2010, name the one you’ll miss the most
Sally Menke. I don’t think we really understand the magnitude her untimely death will have on the rest of film history. And we probably won’t for decades.
21) Think of a movie with a notable musical score and describe what it might feel like without that accompaniment.
Streets Of Fire and I… I don’t even want to think about it.
22) Best Screenplay of 2010
The Town if only for the following exchange.
“I need your help. I can’t tell you what it is. You can never ask me about it later and we’re going to have to hurt some people.”
“Whose car are we gonna take?”
23) Movie You Feel Most Evangelistic About Right Now
I’ve been pushing The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 for a long time. It’s probably the most successful blend of comedy and horror (in that the two genres never contaminate one another. It goes from Goofy to grim on a dime).
However since I recently finished up programming my first film series I guess it’d be more accurate to say I’ve been evangelical about Gone Baby Gone, One Two Three, I Walked With A Zombie, The Red Shoes and Gangs Of New York.
24) Worst/funniest movie accent ever
“Iz a jawry Horriday Affer Awl Mawy Popbins!”
25) Best Cinematography of 2010
Shutter Island. Hell as the inside of a Val Lewton picture.
26) Olivia Wilde or Gemma Arterton
Wilde
27) Name the three best movies you saw for the first time in 2010 (Thanks, Larry!)
Winter’s Bone
Somebody Up There Likes Me
(The One I’ll Kick Myself Later For Forgetting)
28) Best romantic movie couple of 2010
Leonardo Di Caprio and the memories in his head. Both A) and B) are correct.
29) Favorite shock/surprise ending
Drag Me To Hell. If only because I was so convinced I was two steps ahead of the film and that it’d be Justin Long who ended up on the expressway to Hades. Nothing like a nice little sucker punch to the smug.
30) Best cinematic reason to have stayed home and read a book in 2010
A Nightmare On Elm Street Remake. Sure I really should have known better but that movie broke something in me. I have about 30% less capacity for Hollywood Assembly line Horseshit now then when I walked into the theater.
31) Movies in 2011 could make me much happier if they’d only…
Take there eyes off the bottom line for two fucking seconds. And while I’m at it a pony sure would be swell.
And in honor of our host I have to say this quiz was pure Dolemite baby!
Always great fun to participate, Dennis. I've posted my answers here. Thanks.
Part two (part one somewhere up-thread):
16) Second-favorite Farrelly Brothers Movie
There's Something About Mary (#1: Kingpin)
17) Favorite holiday movie
It's a Wonderful Life
18) Best Actress
Natalie Portman
19) Joe Don Baker or Bo Svenson
Joe Don is the man.
20) Of those notable figures in the world of the movies who died in 2011, name the one you’ll miss the most
Sally Menke, as I'm not sure Tarantino will be the same without her.
21) Think of a movie with a notable musical score and describe what it might feel like without that accompaniment.
Well, just as a recent example, with Daft Punk's Tron score I'm 100% sure I would've enjoyed a nice nap.
22) Best Screenplay
Black Swan
23) Movie You Feel Most Evangelistic About Right Now
Black Swan
24) Worst/funniest movie accent ever
...
25) Best Cinematography
True Grit (with a tip of the hat to both Valhalla Rising and The American)
26) Olivia Wilde or Gemma Arterton
Wilde
27) Name the three best movies you saw for the first time in 2010 (Thanks, Larry!)
1. The Music Lovers (Russell)
2. Faust (Murnau)
3. Deep End (Skolimowski)
28) Best romantic movie couple of 2010
The two nutjobs in Resnais' Wild Grass.
29) Favorite shock/surprise ending
F for Fake, when Welles reveals (SPOILER!) that the Dali story was entirely made up.
30) Best cinematic reason to have stayed home and read a book in 2010
None that I'm aware of.
31) Movies in 2011 could make me much happier if they’d only
Lots of good ones always helps.
Rock and Roll:
http://microbrewreviews.blogspot.com
/2010/12/meme-leech-criswell-
predicts-future.html
2) Second-favorite Roman Polanski Movie: The Ninth Gate. I like the devil red color scheme throughout, chased with a bit of black. I like how Johnny Depp is a rare book dealer who smokes around rare books (and nobody questions it.) I like the two twin book sellers (Polanski was on this long before Fincher.) I like how Depp's name is a Beat Generation mashup: Dean Corso. I like Frank Langella and his funky aviator glasses. I like Depp's wild pony ride on the devil's steps with Mrs. Polanski. I'd watch this anytime.
24) Worst/funniest movie accent ever: I am not overwhelmed by True Grit, but my favorite part of the movie is how Matt Damon says "Aaaay-dios."
28) Best romantic movie couple of 2010: Emma Recci and Antonio Biscaglia.
27) Name the three best movies you saw for the first time in 2010 (Thanks, Larry!): You're welcome. Metropolis Restored, Hickey and Boggs, Slap Shot.
17) Favorite holiday movie: Elf.
1) Best Movie of 2010
Un prophète.
2) Second-favorite Roman Polanski Movie
Rosemary's Baby.
3) Jason Statham or Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson
Statham. He appears to actually have some talent, or at the least charisma. I haven't seen either from The Rock.
4) Favorite movie that could be classified as a genre hybrid
It depends on how far you want to take that, doesn't it? Is a romantic comedy a genre hybrid?
Probably not though, so I'll go with Brick.
5) How important is foreknowledge of a film’s production history? Should it factor into one’s reaction to a film?
I'm not sure it should factor in, but I know it can. If Gilliam ever makes Don Quichote, the history will definitely influence my reaction to it, and probably my assessment of it.
Even something small like knowing the two leads or the lead and the director are in a relationship can affect my reaction, whether I like it or not.
6) William Powell & Myrna Loy or Cary Grant & Irene Dunne
I haven't seen any of their movies together. I was supposed to watch The Awful Truth this year, but didn't. I hope I won't retroactively fail my course now that I've admitted that.
7) Best Actor of 2010
I don't think I've seen enough to judge. Then again, if The King's Speech and 127 Hours aren't released here until next year, it doesn't matter, does it?
Anyway, from what I have seen, Jesse Eisenberg, I suppose. Although Firth was awfully good in A Single Man (a '10 release where I live).
8) Most important lesson learned from the past decade of watching movies
That auteurism isn't everything: sometimes your own interpretation can take precedence, even when the creator negates it.
9) Last movie seen (DVD/Blu-ray/theater)
At home: Women in Trouble, starring Carla Gugino and a host of other women in skimpy outfits. It had its moments.
Theater: Tonight, I saw L.A. Confidential (roughly the 8th time I've watched it), with a friend who had never seen it. It made me aware of how intricately the story is constructed and laid out, and how hard it must be to follow the first time around. Still a great flick though.
But the last first-run theater visit was The Runaways, which was not great but still a blast. Michael Shannon is now officially on my radar.
10) Most appropriate punishment for director Tom Six
Releasing The Human Centipede here in his home country, which apparently he won't allow, because he "fled" when his first two movies were eviscerated by critics. Because they were awful. I mean, really awful.
11) Best under-the-radar movie almost no one else has had the chance to see
The closest I can think of is Rubber, which was at over a dozen festivals, but is still pretty hard to find I guess. And it's very funny and very weird.
12) Sheree North or Angie Dickinson
See 19.
13) Favorite nakedly autobiographical movie
Au revoir les enfants.
14) Movie which best evokes a specific real-life place
Not that I've ever been there, but Death Valley in Zabriskie Point.
15) Best Director of 2010
I can't choose between Jacques Audiard and Christopher Nolan.
16) Second-favorite Farrelly Brothers Movie
I will go with second-least-risible, which would be There's Something About Mary. Kingpin probably isn't any better, but I have fond memories of watching it in high school, which can make any piece of crap fun to revisit.
17) Favorite holiday movie
Nightmare Before Christmas. (And if we're not talking about Christmas, I'm stumped.)
18) Best Actress of 2010
Of what I've seen so far: Rachel Weisz in Agora.
19) Joe Don Baker or Bo Svenson
The one who starred in Charley Varrick, by default.
20) Of those notable figures in the world of the movies who died in 2010, name the one you’ll miss the most
Sally Menke. No need to choose between her and Hopper, since his best work was likely behind him anyway, several decades maybe. Her best work was only a year old.
21) Think of a movie with a notable musical score and describe what it might feel like without that accompaniment.
Jaws - a lot less scary. 2001 - a lot less impressive. In the Mood for Love - boring, I fear.
22) Best Screenplay of 2010
Sorkin's Social Network.
23) Movie You Feel Most Evangelistic About Right Now
It's too dependent on who I'm talking to. I'd like my dad to see The Social Network, I've gotten one friend to go through most of Fincher's body of work (all except Alien 3) and taken another to see Hedwig and the Angry Inch. If I had to pick one I'd say Let the Right One In.
24) Worst/funniest movie accent ever
I like Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman) playing a German pretending to be American in Die Hard. Sean Connery playing a Russian is slightly less convincing, though. And we can thank John McTiernan for both of those!
25) Best Cinematography of 2010
Inception. But I also loved Lance Acord's work on Where the Wild Things Are, which was a '10 release where I live.
26) Olivia Wilde or Gemma Arterton
Olivia Wilde. She is exceedingly easy to look at.
27) Name the three best movies you saw for the first time in 2010 (Thanks, Larry!)
In no particular order: Inglourious Basterds, Blade Runner, Un prophète.
(Not easy, because the competition is pretty stiff: Once Upon a Time in the West, Lord of the Flies, Walkabout, Ivan's Childhood, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Tin Drum and Kes, among others.)
28) Best romantic movie couple of 2010
Deputy Lou Ford (Casey Affleck) and Joyce Lakeland (Jessica Alba), The Killer Inside Me.
29) Favorite shock/surprise ending
Se7en, for the whole atmosphere. Out of Sight, for the shameless deus ex machina. eXistenZ, for the execution.
30) Best cinematic reason to have stayed home and read a book in 2010
Ticket prices?
31) Movies in 2011 could make me much happier if they’d only _______________
Be released less than six months after the domestic release. More specifically, it'd be nice if I could see all major award contenders before Oscar night (without breaking international copyright laws).
1) Best Movie of 2010: Metropolis Restored. Yes, OK, it came out in 1927, but it was still the most thrilling movie I saw this year. The restorations filled in a lot of gaps, and interestingly enough, made it less of a cold sci-fi movie and more of an emotional, human-scale movie.
Of the movies that came out in 2010, my vote goes to I Am Love.
23) Movie You Feel Most Evangelistic About Right Now: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. I found it to be the Speed Racer of 2010: A visually thrilling and inventive pop movie that didn't get the love that it deserved. I'd seen and moderately enjoyed Shaun of the Dead, but I thought this put him in a whole new league.
1) Mother
2) Rosemary's Baby
3) The Rock
4) Back To The Future
5) Not important. But interesting if the result is striking.
6) Cary Grant & Irene Dunne
7) Clooney in The American
8) "Comic Book Geek Cinema" is really bad for the art of movies.
9) The Kids Are Alright
10) Mr Six should be forced to have videotaped sex with two hot women -- after they have taken laxatives.
11) A Town Called Panic
12) Angie Dickinson
13) About A Boy
14) In The Heat of The Night
15) Polanski
16) Kingpin (after Dumb & Dumber)
17) Bad Santa
18) Emma Stone
19) Bo Svenson
20) Dennis Hopper
21) I think the Third Man without the Zither soundtrack would lose half its charm.
22) Sorkin's
23) Passionately disliked Inception. (I don't care how dream machines work. But I do care how they work inside dreams.)
24) The entire cast of The Last Temptation of Christ.
25) The Ghost Writer
26) Olivia Wilde or Gemma Arterton? Brain. Must. Not. Explode.
27) Fanny & Alexander. The Bicycle Thief. Rashomon. (thanks Netflix)
28) Stiller and Gerwig
29) Before Sunset
30) Unstoppable
31) Ending this 3-D crap.
1)Best Movie of 2010
Red. Don’t hit me please! There was one movie that actually succeeded in bringing fun back to the action genre. Besides, anything bringing Ernest Borgnine in for any length of time has my vote.
2) Second-favorite Roman Polanski Movie
Knife in the Water. Dig that Polish jazz.
3) Jason Statham or Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson
Jason Statham, because when he does a silly movie, he still sells it straight. How else do you explain the Mean Machine?
4) Favorite movie that could be classified as a genre hybrid
5) How important is foreknowledge of a film’s production history? Should it factor into one’s reaction to a film?
I hate to say it, but sometimes you have to make allowances for movies during the heyday of the Hayes code. To call certain film’s creators out on what they did or didn’t do would be cookie crumbles if their choices are limited by the world they created in.
6) William Powell & Myrna Loy or Cary Grant & Irene Dunne
William Powell & Myrna Loy. Have you ever seen Manhattan Murder Mystery? If they can sparkle even in that particular dog turd, they can do anything.
7) Best Actor of 2010
Richard Dreyfuss, Red. For taking a total of twenty or so lines and making it into a multifaceted and interesting character.
8) Most important lesson learned from the past decade of watching movies
Not every piece of our collective childhoods needs a feature film return to form.
9) Last movie seen (DVD/Blu-ray/theater)
DVD: Introducing near strangers to Sweet Smell of Success. Theater: Black Swan, which was a lonely Monday night, which maybe the best way to see it.
10) Most appropriate punishment for director Tom Six
For Human Centipede to be the high point of his filmmaking.
11) Best under-the-radar movie almost no one else has had the chance to see
I caught Just This Once with Janet Leigh and Peter Lawford on TCM a couple of months ago, liked it so much, I wanted to find myself a copy. I learned it’s not on any available format. Broke my heart.
12) Sheree North or Angie Dickinson
Angie Dickenson
13) Favorite nakedly autobiographical movie
Who Are You, Polly Magoo?
14) Movie which best evokes a specific real-life place
Fred Astaire musicals always seem to evoke the most beautiful side of whatever city the backlot is standing in for. Paris in Silk Stockings or New York in Shall We Dance is where I think I’d like to live.
15) Best Director of 2010
Olivier Assayas, on gumption alone.
16) Second-favorite Farrelly Brothers Movie
Kingpin? Perhaps not my second favorite, just however many up from the bottom.
17) Favorite holiday movie
The Apartment. Starts at Halloween, runs through Christmas, ends on New Year’s Eve. Try to beat that.
18) Best Actress of 2010
Natalie Portman, for going from Brothers to Black Swan in one year. 2011 looks even more interesting, going from No Strings Attached to Your Highness to Thor. That is some serious breadth, if not necessarily depth.
19) Joe Don Baker or Bo Svenson
I don’t know if there is any fair matchup against Joe Don Baker.
20) Of those notable figures in the world of the movies who died in 2010, name the one you’ll miss the most
Meinhardt Raabe, the Munchkin Coroner, the final living person with a speaking role in the Wizard of Oz. He was one of the final links to a film, love it or hate it, that is part of our national childhood. I admit, I cried a little.
21) Think of a movie with a notable musical score and describe what it might feel like without that accompaniment.
Silk Stockings would look like a Technicolor Ninotchka with Cyd Charisse and Fred Astaire. Sounds good to me.
22) Best Screenplay of 2010
The Social Network, despite all of my very real Aaron Sorkin issues.
23) Movie You Feel Most Evangelistic About Right Now
Not to sound like a broken record, but damn it, Red. I swear, it’s all the fun you could ever want from a movie. No, really, check it out.
24) Worst/funniest movie accent ever
Tony Curtis, Taras Bulba. Seriously, Ukrainian Cossack, Warrior of the Steps, Tony Curtis. He doesn’t even need to open his mouth before it’s hilarious.
25) Best Cinematography of 2010
I could look around, but the first one I thought of was Love and Other Drugs. Everything ice cold and smooth, I really dug it. I did have to look up who did it, and it was Steve Fierberg. I’ll keep my eye out.
26) Olivia Wilde or Gemma Arterton
Olivia Wilde
27) Name the three best movies you saw for the first time in 2010 (Thanks, Larry!)
Elmer Gantry, Ms. 45, Dressed to Kill
28) Best romantic movie couple of 2010
Carey Mulligan and Andrew Garfield, Never Let Me Go.
29) Favorite shock/surprise ending
The first time I saw the Raggedy Anne doll in Sisters, I flipped out and started screaming at the screen.
30) Best cinematic reason to have stayed home and read a book in 2010
In the form of a question: Is there any particular reason the world needed to see Yogi Bear in glorious 3D?
31) Movies in 2011 could make me much happier if they’d only _______________
Stop trying to make me a better person.
Rather than filling up your comments section with my sometimes wordy responses, you can check out my answers on my blog:
http://www.blogger.com/publish-confirmation.g?blogID=9688582&postID=7021153190515790223×tamp=1293679353069&javascriptEnabled=true
Warning: lots of Dogtooth fawning contained therein.
As always, I love these quizzes! My answers are posted here:
http://kaedrin.com/weblog/archive/001920.html
Finally got myself in gear to play along, http://sugarbang.blogspot.com/2010/12/quiz-show.html
Just finished! My answers (with limited graphic representation) are at:
http://bit.ly/hUJvzY
My answers, posted at my site.
1. Best pic. 2010 - artistic-wise: The Social Network, entertainment-wise: Inception.
2. Knife in thye Water
3. Jason Statham by far! Snatch, and Lock Stock. . . are actually good movies. What has the Rock ever been in that was even decent.
4. Fight Club
5. Foreknowledge of a movie production is interesting filler to include in a review, but it should not skew your view of a movie one way or another. The movie is what it is, whether it had a good or bad preproduction.
6. Powell and Loy! Is this a real debate?
7. Best actor of 2010 is a tough one. There have been a lot of good performances, (Clooney in The American, Whalberg in The Fighter, Ben Affleck in The Town) and Colin Firth is likely to win the academy award for his cartoonish role in The King's Speech. But i'd give it to Jesse Eisenberg for The Social Network. Who could've given that role life except him.
8. Most important leson learned in the last decade? The lesson that, the majority of people that go to the theatres are mainly idiots, and that movie gross means nothing to whether a movie is good or not. We need to find a better way of marketing high quality films over the mind numbing filth that is thrown out there each weekend as "the best films".
9. Last movie seen: on DVD - Sherlock Holmes, on Blu-Ray - Layer Cake, in theatres - Inception.
10. Who is Tom Six? Is that appropriate enough?
11. Are "The Ghost Writer" or "Somewhere" under the radar enough?
12. Angie Dickinson. Is there anyone more gorgeous than her in Point Blank? Not many.
13. "Sweet Smell of Sucess", or if we're actually talking about nakedness, "Gia" with Angelina Jolie.
14. "Taxi Driver" for New York city in the 70's.
15. Best Director - visually - Darren Arronofsky, overall - David Fincher.
16. Second fav Farrelly Bros. movie - IS there a first? I guess that's sugested as dumb and dumber, so the second, if i had to come up with one. . . Do i really have to come up with one? . . . Ok, i guess "Kingpin"
17. Favorite holliday movie? - "Gremlins"
18. Best Actress 2010 - Far and away, Natalie Portman for "Black Swan"
19. Jo Don Baker! One of his movies made the cut on Mystery Science Theatre. How can you beat that?
20. Dennis Hopper will be most missed by me.
21. Inception without its score would be the weirdest experience ever. Like a bowl of fruit loops without milk. Good, but a bit too rough on the tongue.
22. Best Screenplay of 2010? It has to go to SOrkin for "The Social Network" right? Back up option would possibly be "Animal Kingdom".
23. I think my most evangelistic movie this year would be "The Ghost Writer". Even before it got aknowledgment by the brittish film awards, i was posting all over about this movie being overlooked as one of the best ten films of the year. I still include it on all my posts on the best of lists across the internet and hope Polanski gets a nod for his quality film. There is no one out there who can tell me that this movie isn't better than 127 hours or The Kids are Alright, two movies that seem to be destined for that top ten honor by the academy for whatever reason. And as you can see by my long respnse here, i think this qualifies as an evangelistic response.
24. Worst movie accent ever - Leonardo DiCaprio in "Blood Diamond". Funniest - Owen Wilson in "Life Aquatic. . ."
25. Best Cinematography in 2010 - Jeff Cronenweth for "The Social Network" or Matthew Libatique for "Black Swan"
26. Gemma Aterton in "Qantum of Solace" is GORGEOUS!!! and she does play a lot of regal characters, showing of her true beauty. But overall, i'd go with the actual royalty with Oliva Wilde. She is a good looking woman, and quite talented too by the way.
1) Best Movie of 2010
Winter's Bone
2) Second-favorite Roman Polanski Movie
Repulsion
3) Jason Statham or Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson
Jason Statham
4) Favorite movie that could be classified as a genre hybrid
My overall numero uno, the singing, dancing, comedy drama romance of Singin' In the Rain.
5) How important is foreknowledge of a film’s production history? Should it factor into one’s reaction to a film?
I don't know. Except for the bits that show up in reviews, I rarely know any production particulars until after I see a film.
6) William Powell & Myrna Loy or Cary Grant & Irene Dunne
Oooh, this one burns! Powell & Loy on a coin flip.
7) Best Actor of 2010
John Hawkes, Winter's Bone
8) Most important lesson learned from the past decade of watching movies
Just how powerful silence can be in a talkie. I have to keep myself from applauding when it's used well.
9) Last movie seen (DVD/Blu-ray/theater)
The Fighter
10) Most appropriate punishment for director Tom Six
I haven't seen The Human Centipede, and don't plan to. If Mr. Six deserves punishment, I'll leave it to a jury of his peers.
11) Best under-the-radar movie almost no one else has had the chance to see
Animal Kingdom
12) Sheree North or Angie Dickinson
Angie Dickinson
13) Favorite nakedly autobiographical movie
All That Jazz
14) Movie which best evokes a specific real-life place
The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951). Even with the changes of 60 years, it still does a fine job depicting Northwest Washington D.C.
15) Best Director of 2010
Martin Scorcese, Shutter Island.
16) Second-favorite Farrelly Brothers Movie
Dumb and Dumber. (I've only seen two, so 'second-favorite' is an empty title.)
17) Favorite holiday movie
It's A Wonderful Life. One of the few perennials which understands how hard the holidays can be. It still takes my breath away every time.
18) Best Actress of 2010
Jennifer Lawrence or Hailee Steinfeld? A conundrum for the pros.
19) Joe Don Baker or Bo Svenson
Joe Don Baker
20) Of those notable figures in the world of the movies who died in 2010, name the one you’ll miss the most
Sally Menke. My expectations for Quentin Tarantino's future movies have been permanently lowered.
21) Think of a movie with a notable musical score and describe what it might feel like without that accompaniment.
I'd spend the duration blinking at the dialogue dubbing and muttering 'Cut ... Cut ... CUT!' at The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.
22) Best Screenplay of 2010
Aaron Sorkin, The Social Network.
23) Movie You Feel Most Evangelistic About Right Now
Marwencol. 90 minutes at the cinema without the cheap irony that might have been laid on with a trowel if it were a narrative film.
24) Worst/funniest movie accent ever
The Swedish Chef
25) Best Cinematography of 2010
Jeff Cronenweth, The Social Network.
26) Olivia Wilde or Gemma Arterton
Write in: Emma Stone. (I'm short on 3D spectaculars and British imports this year.)
27) Name the three best movies you saw for the first time in 2010 (Thanks, Larry!)
To Have and Have Not, Red Cliff (the longer version), The Last Picture Show
28) Best romantic movie couple of 2010
Tina Fey and Steve Carell in Date Night. I haven't seen a romance I adored since Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and I look askance at them almost as a rule. And I wonder: Am I missing something wonderful? If it were 1940 instead of 2010, would I be avoiding The Philadelphia Story, sight unseen? I hope not, but I can't tell.
29) Favorite shock/surprise ending
The twist at the end of The Mist. Unexpected exhilaration.
30) Best cinematic reason to have stayed home and read a book in 2010
Hot Tub Time Machine. So ugly in so many ways.
31) Movies in 2011 could make me much happier if they’d only
... play out a little less like collections of slug lines.
OK, the link I posted for my responses doesn't seem to work, so here's the real link:
http://opalfilms.blogspot.com/2010/12/my-hasty-dogtooth-heavy-responses-to.html
Dennis, thanks once again for the wonderful film quiz, a highlight of each quarter. I've responded here.
It took me less than two weeks to answer! Answers are posted at my blog...
1) Best Movie of 2010 - I'd probably go for I Am Love.
2) Second-favorite Roman Polanski Movie - Rosemary's Baby. (Chinatown would be my favourite.)
3) Jason Statham or Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson - Statham.
4) Favorite movie that could be classified as a genre hybrid - Alien.
5) How important is foreknowledge of a film’s production history? Should it factor into one’s reaction to a film? - it's of interest, but shouldn't have any bearing on what you think of the actual movie.
6) William Powell & Myrna Loy or Cary Grant & Irene Dunne - pass
7) Best Actor of 2010 - Edgar Ramirez (Carlos).
8) Most important lesson learned from the past decade of watching movies - pass
9) Last movie seen (DVD/Blu-ray/theater) - My Son My Son, What Have Ye Done (rented that one)/Eyes Wide Shut/Tron: Legacy.
10) Most appropriate punishment for director Tom Six - make him watch John Waters' Pink Flamingos and shame him into realising that he's truly an amateur.
11) Best under-the-radar movie almost no one else has had the chance to see - mmm, Guy Maddin's Careful.
12) Sheree North or Angie Dickinson - Angie Dickinson (mainly cos she was in Dressed to Kill.)
13) Favorite nakedly autobiographical movie - pass
14) Movie which best evokes a specific real-life place - Chungking Express.
15) Best Director of 2010 - Luca Guadagnino (I Am Love)/Roman Polanski (The Ghost)
16) Second-favorite Farrelly Brothers Movie - Dumb & Dumber.
17) Favorite holiday movie - Black Christmas (1974 version, obviously.)
18) Best Actress of 2010 - Tilda Swinton (I Am Love)
19) Joe Don Baker or Bo Svenson - Joe Don Baker.
20) Of those notable figures in the world of the movies who died in 2010, name the one you’ll miss the most - Dennis Hopper.
21) Think of a movie with a notable musical score and describe what it might feel like without that accompaniment. - Vertigo (i'd rather not imagine the movie without it.)
22) Best Screenplay of 2010 - Roman Polanski and Robert Harris (The Ghost).
23) Movie You Feel Most Evangelistic About Right Now - The Runaways, one of the best rock movies ever, i think.
24) Worst/funniest movie accent ever - As much as i think Vincent D'Onofrio is a fine actor, i happened to glimpse part of a movie he was in on tv (i think it was Salt on the Skin.) He was trying for a Scottish accent, but to my (Scottish) ears it sounded part, Irish, Welsh, Australian, South African, Scandanavian, and a host of others. But not Scottish.
25) Best Cinematography of 2010 - Pawel Edelman (The Ghost).
26) Olivia Wilde or Gemma Arterton - pass
27) Name the three best movies you saw for the first time in 2010 (Thanks, Larry!)- nothing springs to mind so i'm going to cheat and name three movies i saw the previous year that weren't 2009 films that i saw for the first time; Lizstomania, Inside and The Yards.
28) Best romantic movie couple of 2010 - Jim Carrey & Ewan MacGregor (I Love You Philip Morris.)
29) Favorite shock/surprise ending - the ending of the original Dutch version of The Vanishing absolutely horrified me.
30) Best cinematic reason to have stayed home and read a book in 2010 - i didn't see anything truly ghastly last year, but i could have done without seeing both Nine and Sherlock Holmes.
31) Movies in 2011 could make me much happier if they’d only try for a bit more originality.
I just found this yesterday, and posted my answers on filmicability (excitedly) tonight. Here they are at http://filmicability.blogspot.com/2011/01/more-answers-for-good-professor.html
Fun stuff!
I suppose with all the Holiday Hubbub, I missed seeing this new quiz until just ten minutes ago.
My answers will be forthcoming over the next few days (or weeks since I do procrastinate) - but it is coming.
Woo Hoo.
Better late than never, right?
1) Catfish
2) Chinatown (#1 is Repulsion)
3) Statham
4) Donnie Darko (teen sci-fi romance)
5) No, I would say the film has to stand on its own.
6) Both pairs are pretty great, but I'd have to go with Powell and Loy. I like Grant better with Hepburns (Katharine, Audrey).
7) Stephen Dorff, Somewhere
8) That there are too many great movies out there to waste your time finishing one you're not enjoying.
9) Children Will Listen (DVD); Somewhere (theater)
10) Rather than any "Human Centipede" type scenarios, how about less publicity in 2011? Seems like that would be far more torturous for him.
11) "All I Wanna Do" - cute screwball comedy set at an all-girls' boarding school in the 60s
12) Dickinson
13) Noah Baumbach's Kicking and Screaming. (Honorable mention: his "Squid and the Whale".)
14) Gone Baby Gone for South Boston (I used to teach there, so I can confirm this is accurate.)
15) Darren Aronofsky
16) N/A since I've only seen one of theirs.
17) Elf
18) It's all about the Fannings for this question: Dakota in The Runaways, Elle in Somewhere.
19) Bo Svenson, based solely on his involvement in "Reality Bites"
20) Blake Edwards
21) Almost Famous. I think it would be more of a generic coming-of-age film without the amazing soundtrack/performances.
22) Greenberg
23) I am constantly trying to turn people on to "In a Lonely Place." Also, the delightful Ealing comedy "The Man in the White Suit."
24) Peter Sellars in "The Party"
25) Matthew Libatique, Black Swan
26) Olivia Wilde. She's a princess!
27) Repulsion, Darling and Sur mes Levres
28) Natalie/Mila in Black Swan
29) See no. 1. I mean, I saw some of it coming, but not the whole thing...
30) Remember Me
31) Movies in 2011 could make me much happier if they’d only....have 2-dimensional images and 3-dimensional characters (instead of the other way around.)
http://www.placentaovaries.net/blog/2011/01/movie-quiz-from-slifr.html
http://cinevistaramascope.blogspot.com/2011/01/statham-scorsese-svenson.html
Hope your new year is going swell, Dennis.
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