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PROFESSOR JULIUS KELP'S ENDLESS SUMMER CHEMISTRY TEST
I don't know what the weather is like where you you are, but here in the aggressively sunny, and dry, and brown-baked paradise that is Southern California it is, shall we say, unpleasantly warm. This is not the cheery picture of the SoCal lifestyle our civic leaders would like us to promote-- no images of bare-cheeked Coppertone kids frolicking on miles of unspoiled, sun-splashed beach, no peachy pictures of teens cruising with the top down, the summer breeze mussing their Brylcreem and Aqua-Net-sculptured hairdos, shall be propagated from this site. No, sir, I'm here to tell you that Los Angeles in summer is a hell-like place to be, good only for seeking out air-conditioned spots like libraries, movie theaters and indoor swimming pools during the day, and the breezy, multi-colored beauty of sunset over the San Gabriels as seen from the top deck of Dodger Stadium at night.
It's also good for pasty-faced professors with lawsuit-worthy dental work to head to the basement laboratory (it's cooler down there, you see) and concoct more head-scratching challenges for you, the faithful SLIFR reader. And though the main faculty is off for the summer months (none of that multi-track nonsense at this institute of higher learning), some of our fine staff have stayed on in order to serve the student population who choose to indulge in some hopefully air-conditioned film studies, in full anticipation of returning to a full curriculum in the fall.
One such teacher is the man who is at the helm of this latest SLIFR quiz, head of the Department of Ineffable Chemistry and Star Quality at SLIFR U. He is the famous (some might say infamous, some might say simply disturbed) Professor Julius Kelp, whose Endless Summer Chemistry Test it is my pleasure now to present.
The rules are the same as they always have been-- that is, there are no rules, there are no "right answers," and the more verbiage you feel like pouring into the answers you submit the better. I always enjoy reading the most long-winded of responses, which shouldn't really surprise anyone familiar with my terse, hard-boiled, economical prose style.
The only thing I ask is that, when you do submit your answers, you remember to attach the question number and the question itself to the beginning of each of your responses. The quiz is long enough that it is sometimes hard to remember, especially for some of the more oblique answers, just what the question was.
As usual, I'll let this play out for a month or two, probably into September, and then come back and assess whether I'll have another nice, handy roundup of answers ready for you at the back end or whether we'll be staring down the barrel of yet another professorial cop-out. We shall see.
But for now, sharpen your number twos, prep your beakers and your Bunsen burners and roll out your element charts. The Professor Julius Kelp Endless Summer Chemistry test begins... now!
1) Does film best tell the truth (Godard) or tell lies (De Palma) at 24 frames per second? (Thanks, Peet)
2) Ideal pairing of actors/actresses to play on-screen siblings
3) Favorite special effects moment
4) Matt Damon or George Clooney?
5) What is the movie you’ve encouraged more people to see than any other?
6) Favorite film of 1934
7) Your favorite movie theater*
8) Jean Arthur or Irene Dunne?
9) Favorite film made for children
10) Favorite Martin Scorsese Movie
11) Favorite film about children
12) Favorite film of 1954
13) Favorite screenplay written by a writer more famous for literature than screenplays
14) Walter Matthau or Jack Lemmon?
15) Favorite character name
16) Favorite screenplay adapted from a work of great literature, either by the author himself or by someone else
17) Favorite film of 1974
18) Joan Severance or Shannon Tweed?
19) jackass: the movie-- yes or no?
20) Favorite John Cassavetes Movie
21) First R-rated movie you ever saw
22) Favorite X-rated film (remember that, while your answer may well be a famous or not-so-famous hard-core film, the "X" rating was once also a legitimate rating that did not necessarily connote pornography)
23) Best film of 1994
24) Describe a moment in a movie that made you weep
25) Ewan McGregor or Ewan Bremner?
26) One of your favorite line readings (not necessarily one of your favorite lines) from this or any year
27) What, if any, element in a film, upon your hearing of its inclusion beforehand, would most likely prejudice you against seeing that film or keeping an open mind about it?
28) Favorite Terry Gilliam Movie
29) Jean Smart or Annie Potts?
30) Is it possible to know with any certainty if you could like or love someone based partially on their taste in movies? If so, what film might be a potential relationship deal-breaker for you, or the one that might just seal that deal?
* This is a repeat from one of the first quizzes, but so many new folks are participating that Professor Kelp felt it might be fun to see what those who didn't get a crack at this question before might have to say.
May all the summer blockbusters you encounter be worth every penny and all the under-promoted titles you see shine with a brilliance that belies their relatively meager budgets. Good night, good luck, and God bless! (With apologies to Edward R. Skelton and Red Murrow)
76 comments:
1) Does film best tell the truth (Godard) or tell lies (De Palma) at 24 frames per second?
Film can reveal truths, but the medium is built on manipulation and fabrication, smoke and mirrors.
2) Ideal pairing of actors/actresses to play on-screen siblings
While twiddling my thumbs through Femme Fatale, I kept thinking that Rebecca Romijn looks like Matt Damon. They could play brother and sister, perhaps in a dysfunctional remake of The Innocents, with the kids in their twenties and mentally disabled.
3) Favorite special effects moment
The eyeball flying across the room in Evil Dead 2.
4) Matt Damon or George Clooney?
George has a degree of class and isn’t as annoying. Matt’s a dick.
5) What is the movie you’ve encouraged more people to see than any other?
None in the last five years. Five years ago I recommended The Young Girls of Rochefort to my sister. She bailed out after twenty minutes and called it “garbage.” My ego was sufficiently bruised. Fool me once, and…uh…we won’t get fooled again!
6) Favorite film of 1934
I’m drawing a blank.
7) Your favorite movie theater:
The Uniondale Mini Cinema, Uniondale, NY (no longer in operation); runner-up, The Strand, San Francisco (likewise defunct).
8) Jean Arthur or Irene Dunne?
Jean had spunk.
9) Favorite film made for children
The Terrornauts (1967)
10) Favorite Martin Scorsese Movie
Goodfellas. For years I’ve been waiting for the opportunity to quote Joe Pesci in that movie and tell someone, “Go fuck your mother.”
11) Favorite film about children
Little Ronny Howard tugs at my heartstrings in The Courtship of Eddie’s Father…or am I using that as a lame excuse just to ogle Shirley Jones and Stella Stevens?
12) Favorite film of 1954
Magnificent Obsession.
13) Favorite screenplay written by a writer more famous for literature than screenplays
Raymond Chandler, Strangers on a Train. (Runner up: William Faulker, Land of the Pharaohs.)
14) Walter Matthau or Jack Lemmon?
Walter’s more diverse.
15) Favorite character name
Pussy Galore.
16) Favorite screenplay adapted from a work of great literature, either by the author himself or by someone else
If I were to compile a list of my ten favorites of all time, The Fountainhead would certainly rank among the top five.
17) Favorite film of 1974
Chinatown.
18) Joan Severance or Shannon Tweed?
Let me put on my fez, light a cigar, and mull this one over…
19) jackass: the movie-- yes or no?
Unfamiliar territory.
20) Favorite John Cassavetes Movie
I’m no fan.
21) First R-rated movie you ever saw
A tough call. I saw The Graduate in 1967, but I’m not sure if it carried a rating. If it did, the boob shot would’ve been good for an R. I saw The Wild Bunch in 1969.
22) Favorite X-rated film (remember that, while your answer may well be a famous or not-so-famous hard-core film, the "X" rating was once also a legitimate rating that did not necessarily connote pornography)
Behind the Green Door when it first opened…I can still recall that sultry night.
23) Best film of 1994
Another blank on this…
24) Describe a moment in a movie that made you weep
Trying to commit suicide with Flike in Umberto D.
25) Ewan McGregor or Ewan Bremner?
Who?
26) One of your favorite line readings (not necessarily one of your favorite lines) from this or any year
“Wendy, apple of my eye, light of my life, put down the bat.”
27) What, if any, element in a film, upon your hearing of its inclusion beforehand, would most likely prejudice you against seeing that film or keeping an open mind about it?
My niece lent me the DVD of Brokeback Mountain. It’s been idling on my coffee table for three months. I’m just not into watching gay cowboys pork one another right now. And besides, the sodomy scene in The Dying Gaul may have scarred me for life.
28) Favorite Terry Gilliam Movie
12 Monkeys.
29) Jean Smart or Annie Potts?
Jean does one of the voices on Kim Possible, so she gets my vote.
30) Is it possible to know with any certainty if you could like or love someone based on their taste in movies? If so, what film might be a potential relationship deal-breaker for you, or the one that might just seal that deal?
My better half and I began with radically opposing tastes in film. After nearly twenty-five years of marriage, we’ve learned to bend for one another. As a result, she’s come to love De Sica and Billy Wilder, and I’ve found myself mindlessly entertained by Sandra Bullock and Gwyneth Paltrow comedies.
Flickhead! That's gotta be a world-record response time! Wow! You've set the standard, to be sure! I'm going to have to look up The Terrornauts. And I put in the Cassavetes question more for myself than anything because, like you, I'm not much of a fan-- I like him better when he's "whoring" himself for money in other people's pictures, and I wanted to challenge myself to decide which of his movies I think works best. As for Brokeback, I found it to be a pretty compelling picture, but as I stepped back from it a bit I found the characters much more annoying than I did whilst in the thick of it-- all that emotion blinded me to the fact that, at heart, these guys were pretty selfish and dysfunctional, and I wondered how much sympathy they would engender had they been behaving this way within a heterosexual framework. Thanks so much for firing up on this quiz so quickly! You are an inspiration, the wind beneath my wings! (Did I just type that...?)
D'oh. And here I thought I'd be first. Ah well...
1) Does film best tell the truth (Godard) or tell lies (De Palma) at 24 frames per second? (Thanks, Peet)
I'd have to disagree with the above answer, since I believe that in such a liberal medium as film, despite any deception or manipulation by the filmmakers, every image reveals some sort of truth. Come to think of it, maybe our answers aren't so different...
2) Ideal pairing of actors/actresses to play on-screen siblings
My favorite pairing from an existing film has to be John Turturro and Richard Edson in Do the Right Thing. For years my dream sibling pairing has been Emily Watson and Cate Blanchett.
3) Favorite special effects moment
Even after almost forty years, watching Frank Poole jogging and shadowboxing on the ship in 2001 is still a treat.
4) Matt Damon or George Clooney?
Damon has more promise as an actor, but as a star he can't touch Clooney, so I'd give George the edge.
5) What is the movie you’ve encouraged more people to see than any other?
Back in high school it was Annie Hall. More recently, it's been The New World.
6) Favorite film of 1934
L'Atalante
7) Your favorite movie theater*
Some theatres have better programming, but I feel most comfortable within the cozy confines of Columbus' Studio 35.
8) Jean Arthur or Irene Dunne?
Hollywood in the thirties is kind of a weak point for me, so judging by the handful of roles I've seen from each, I'd have to say Arthur.
9) Favorite film made for children
A Close Shave. You didn't say it had to be a feature.
10) Favorite Martin Scorsese Movie
Taxi Driver, with The Age of Innocence finishing a strong second.
11) Favorite film about children
The 400 Blows, with a shout-out to The Spirit of the Beehive.
12) Favorite film of 1954
The Seven Samurai
13) Favorite screenplay written by a writer more famous for literature than screenplays
Setting aside Graham Greene adapting his own work on The Third Man, I'd go with Double Indemnity, co-written by Raymond Chandler. Although how much is Chandler and how much is Wilder is up for debate.
14) Walter Matthau or Jack Lemmon?
Matthau was lots of fun, but nowhere near Lemmon talent-wise, in my opinion.
15) Favorite character name
Boris Lermontov, The Red Shoes.
16) Favorite screenplay adapted from a work of great literature, either by the author himself or by someone else
The Big Sleep. Not completely faithful to the spirit of the great novel, but wonderful in its own right.
17) Favorite film of 1974
Chinatown.
18) Joan Severance or Shannon Tweed?
Ahem. I, uh, plead the fifth.
19) jackass: the movie-- yes or no?
In the spirit of the occasion- HELL YEAH!
20) Favorite John Cassavetes Movie
Faces.
21) First R-rated movie you ever saw
So far as my parents knew, Rain Man. But really, it was Taxi Driver. More on this in an upcoming piece on my blog. OK, I've shilled enough for one day.
22) Favorite X-rated film (remember that, while your answer may well be a famous or not-so-famous hard-core film, the "X" rating was once also a legitimate rating that did not necessarily connote pornography)
Beyond the Valley of the Dolls.
23) Best film of 1994
Red
24) Describe a moment in a movie that made you weep
Paul C.: There's no way an animated movie could possibly make me cry.
The Iron Giant: Superman.
Paul C.: *sniffle*
25) Ewan McGregor or Ewan Bremner?
McGregor.
26) One of your favorite line readings (not necessarily one of your favorite lines) from this or any year
"I'm beautiful and rich; she's ugly and poor." ~ 8 Women
27) What, if any, element in a film, upon your hearing of its inclusion beforehand, would most likely prejudice you against seeing that film or keeping an open mind about it?
I'm pretty openminded when it comes to movies, in that there are few things I'm predisposed to disliking onscreen. However, we all have our limits. Two of mine: (1) unsimulated murder onscreen done for shock value (as opposed to unsimulated murder that's necessary for the story?), and (2) the presence of Rob Schneider, which might be classified as the unsimulated onscreen killing of the art of comedy.
28) Favorite Terry Gilliam Movie
As director: Brazil. In any capacity: Monty Python's Life of Brian.
29) Jean Smart or Annie Potts?
Potts is a warm presence, to be sure, but Smart's a better actress, so Smart it is.
30) Is it possible to know with any certainty if you could like or love someone based on their taste in movies? If so, what film might be a potential relationship deal-breaker for you, or the one that might just seal that deal?
I've long since given up trying to find a suitable woman whose tastes nicely complement mine. I'm perfectly content with someone who will humor my cinematic obsessions. However, I hope I'm never so unfortunate as to fall for a woman so heartless and steeped in irony to badmouth West Side Story.
(Eighteen-year-old émigré from the Emerson blog’s first contribution.) I was too intimidated to take part in the Van Helsing quiz, and am not familiar enough to answer all of the questions of this one.
1. Does film best tell the truth (Godard) or tell lies (De Palma) at 24 frames per second?
I guess I agree with Godard more, making sure to note that he added (this has been paraphrased so endlessly so I’m not entirely sure) that “every cut is a lie,” which in my opinion is required to make the first part of the statement true.
3. Favorite special effects moment
Too bad the ending of Bridge on the River Kwai isn’t a special effect.
4. Matt Damon or George Clooney?
I would’ve chosen Matt Damon solely for The Talented Mr. Ripley, but Clooney’s involvement in Syriana and GN&GL (for which he’s already gotten plenty of credit), his frequent collaborations with Soderbergh (in particular Solaris), and of course, Three Kings, force me to go with him.
5. What’s the movie you’ve encouraged more people to see than any other?
The correct answer to this, I’m sure, is High Fidelity, since I’ve known it, loved it, and subjected people to it for a comparatively long time at my young age. Other stuff I’ve first seen more recently is probably “better” but doesn’t fit the question. (Paul C. - I chose this closely over Annie Hall as well.)
9. Favorite film made for children
Well, The Night of the Hunter probably isn’t made for children, even though it consists of their nightmares. As far as Disney features go, give me Bedknobs and Broomsticks or The Emperor’s New Groove.
10. Favorite Martin Scorsese Movie
The Last Temptation of Christ. I love in particular how the characters speak. In the DVD commentary, Paul Schrader brilliantly deconstructs the technique of semi-realism in by stating that if the film was not in Aramaic, then Judas might as well have a Brooklyn accent. (Even though Scorsese notes that they stuck to the worn-down “Jesus picture” convention of having the Romans speak with British accents and the Jews with American accents, they do these things as a means of not completely alienating the audience. To some extent film clichés are very comforting.)
11. Favorite film about children
If Night of the Hunter doesn’t work here either, then City of God.
12. Favorite film of 1954
I suppose this has to be Rear Window.
13. Favorite screenplay written by a writer more famous for literature than screenplays
Second easy answer in a row: Graham Greene’s The Third Man. (Paul C pre-empted me on this one, but I think Greene originally wrote it with the intent of it being a film, not a novel in its own right
14. Walter Matthau or Jack Lemmon?
Lemmon for The Apartment.
15. Favorite character name
I am fond of all those ridiculous names in Marx Brothers or W. C. Fields films (Rufus T. Firefly, Egbert Souse, etc.).
16. Favorite screenplay adapted from a work of great literature, either by the author himself or by someone else
Picking a Shakespeare adaptation probably dodges the question, so Taymor’s "Titus” doesn’t work. Yet another too-easy answer is the Maltese Falcon.
17. Favorite film of 1974
Instead of losing sleep over which is better: Chinatown or The Conversation, I will go with Scenes from a Marriage.
23. Favorite film of 1994
However, in this situation, I will be predictable and say Shawshank Redemption.
24. Describe a moment in a movie that made you weep
The ending of Kieslowski’s Dekalog 2. Go watch it first. I don’t think my summary will do it justice but I’ll try. If I make any mistakes, tell me.
Spoiler Warning:
Ok. Kieslowski’s brilliant miniseries, given the ultimate compliment by Stanley Kubrick (that Kieslowski and Piesiewicz had “the ability to dramatize their ideas rather than just talk about them”), uses the Ten Commandments, but isn’t necessarily about them. In my personal favorite, Dekalog 2, a woman confronts the doctor who is operating on her seriously ill husband, wanting to know whether he will live or die. The doctor rejects her pleas; through his many years of experience he has learned not to make such pronouncements. We see that she is anxious, she smokes too much, and she rips apart nearby plants, and meanwhile, he is lonely, in a cold apartment with faded pictures of a missing wife and children, which he overturns when the woman visits. The story of where these relatives are is gradually revealed to the doctor’s housekeeper. The young woman, still seeking a pronouncement on her husband’s life, is forced to reveal to the doctor that she is pregnant and the baby is not her husband’s (he is sterile). She loves both men equally but will have an abortion if her husband lives (which, as her lover makes clear, will mean the end of their relationship).
**In a digression, an example of one of your “cinephiliac moments” for me could be the moment where she has finished telling the doctor her reasons for needing to know her husband’s fate and the doctor responds by explaining his reasons for his “reluctance to give verdicts.” She gives small signs of losing her composure, looks down, and Kieslowski cuts to a close-up of her hands, a lit cigarette in her right that she uses to light a box full of unlit matches in her left. She visually reacts to the chemicals from the matchbox wafting towards her face, then we see the doctor looking at her patiently. A second later when we return to the shot of her face, she has completely regained her composure.**
He again refuses to tell her, and she responds by scheduling an abortion, knowing that this means the end of her relationship with the other man, regardless of whether her husband lives or dies. After this we learn the story of the doctor’s past: as a young man, he returned from work to a “hole where our house was,” presumably destroyed by a bomb or by a fire, killing his wife, two young children, and his father. Later, the young woman charges in to tell the doctor she’s having her abortion, and he says, “Don’t do it. She’s dying,” and swears to it.
Soon, however, we see the husband’s return to consciousness (previously he would focus on the cracked and dripping ceiling of the underfunded hospital, and now his gaze turns to a bee, climbing out of a glass on the back of a spoon). He visits the doctor and they have a conversation about the man’s return “from there.” The moment which opened the floodgates is when he stops abruptly from talking about the sensation of his hands:
Andrzej (the husband): (clasps his hands in front of his face and looks at them, then at the doctor) What’s more, we’re going to have a baby.
Doctor: (solemnly looks down, then glances up with a small smile.. his head does not move) I am glad.
Andrzej: (shot of Andrzej) Do you know what it means… (shot of the doctor) …to have a child?
Doctor: (head in same position, eyes looking very wet but not crying, looks at Andrzej, then to the side, then down, his glasses shaking very slightly in his hand) I do.
(black)
That entry was very long. I generally don’t cry, and this moment is particularly affecting for me because it’s played straightforwardly, and there’s no musical score during the scene where the composer is urgently reminding you that now’s the time. Since I came here by way of Emerson’s blog I should note his article “When Bad Movies Happen To Good People,” which describes how films can make us react in ways they don’t deserve, and by my estimation Dekalog 2 is pretty spare of those sorts of elements. Sure, the moral dilemma might be something familiar to a viewer of soap opera, but I feel that the story is taken seriously enough that I can overlook this. All right, enough time spent on one question.
26) One of your favorite line readings (not necessarily one of your favorite lines) from this or any year
I just watched Waiting for Guffman for the first time last week and adored the moment during the play, “Red, White, and Blaine” when Ron and Sheila Albertson react to the pronouncement of salt water nearby by looking at one another and excitedly stage-whispering, “Hubbub! Hubbub!” It perfectly captured my and a million others’ distinguished local theatre careers.
27. What, if any, element in a film, upon your hearing of its inclusion beforehand, would most likely prejudice you against seeing that film or keeping an open mind about it?
I may have avoided American Psycho had I known about its lame, “It was all a dream” ending. I got the impression from the director’s commentary that Harron had not intended the ending to play this way, but in my estimation if that is true, then the film’s last 20 minutes or so are an utter failure.
30) Is it possible to know with any certainty if you could like or love someone based on their taste in movies? If so, what film might be a potential relationship deal-breaker for you, or the one that might just seal that deal?
I like Ebert’s potential deal-breaker: “How you react to the ending of "Adaptation" will depend entirely on how you react to other movies. Some audience members will get all involved and excited and really care. Others will nod with an ironic smile. I will end this article with a piece of advice. If you attend the movie on a date, and one of you is all worked up at the end and the other has an ironic smile, your relationship is going nowhere.”
Otherwise, I’m stumped.
1) Does film best tell the truth (Godard) or tell lies (De Palma) at 24 frames per second? (Thanks, Peet)
Lies. Damned lies.
2) Ideal pairing of actors/actresses to play on-screen siblings
John and Joan Cusack are pretty touch to beat, but Lily Tomlin and Meryl Streep were great together. And I’m not just saying that because of the relative currentness of their movie pairing.
3) Favorite special effects moment
Nothing’s coming to mind. I’m not a very effects-oriented person.
4) Matt Damon or George Clooney?
Damon, I guess. Clooney is good, but a little overbearing, and Damon has at least avoided overexposure. Besides, he was Tom Ripley.
5) What is the movie you’ve encouraged more people to see than any other?
Might be “Reefer Madness: The Musical”. Not sure.
6) Favorite film of 1934
”The Thin Man”.
7) Your favorite movie theater*
Used to be this hole in the wall theater, but it recently closed, so I guess I’m going with Milwaukee’s Oriental Theater.
8) Jean Arthur or Irene Dunne?
Not terribly familiar with either, but I’ve seen more with Jean Arthur and remember generally liking her.
9) Favorite film made for children
”Mary Poppins”.
10) Favorite Martin Scorsese Movie
I have yet to see one of his I really enjoyed (don’t worry, I haven’t seen that many. But to hell with “Gangs of New York”. There, I said it.)
11) Favorite film about children
”Oliver!”, but the answer would be different if I was including teenagers as children, which I’m not.
12) Favorite film of 1954
I’ll say “Sabrina” for now but I feel like I’m forgetting something.
13) Favorite screenplay written by a writer more famous for literature than screenplays
Pass.
14) Walter Matthau or Jack Lemmon?
Matthau.
15) Favorite character name
Trudy Kockenlocker from “Miracle of Morgan’s Creek”.
16) Favorite screenplay adapted from a work of great literature, either by the author himself or by someone else
”Great” literature? Hrm. The only adaptations coming to mind are recent ones that I liked but aren’t actually that defensible, especially not as “great literature”.
17) Favorite film of 1974
”Phantom of the paradise”.
18) Joan Severance or Shannon Tweed?
Tweed, although I’d argue that neither are that notable.
19) jackass: the movie-- yes or no?
Well, yes, I saw it, but that’s gotta be a no.
20) Favorite John Cassavetes Movie
I’ll let you know when I see one.
21) First R-rated movie you ever saw
”Scream”.
22) Favorite X-rated film (remember that, while your answer may well be a famous or not-so-famous hard-core film, the "X" rating was once also a legitimate rating that did not necessarily connote pornography)
”Beyond the valley of the dolls”.
23) Best film of 1994
”Heavenly Creatures”.
24) Describe a moment in a movie that made you weep
There are so many superlatives on this list. Cry, sure, but weep? Gotta take a pass on this one as well.
25) Ewan McGregor or Ewan Bremner?
I don’t care that McGregor is the more obvious answer. It’s also the right one.
26) One of your favorite line readings (not necessarily one of your favorite
lines) from this or any year
Early in the movie “Labyrinth” Jennifer Connely screams at her baby brother in the most terrifically awkward manner. The emphasis is impossible to recreate in text, but she makes the line “I hate you, I hate you,” into pure gold.
27) What, if any, element in a film, upon your hearing of its inclusion beforehand, would most likely prejudice you against seeing that film or keeping an open mind about it?
Any kind of inspirational story about a sports team.
28) Favorite Terry Gilliam Movie
”Monty Python and the Holy Grail”. Sorry, but his more interesting films are more uneven.
29) Jean Smart or Annie Potts?
Jean Smart. She was Mrs. Dittmeyer and Pickles Oblong.
30) Is it possible to know with any certainty if you could like or love someone based on their taste in movies? If so, what film might be a potential relationship deal-breaker for you, or the one that might just seal that deal?
Please, no one is that shallow. “Like” maybe, but “love”? Although “Dead Poet’s Society” or “Forrest Gump” could be a deal breaker for me, whereas a healthy appreciation of “Noises Off” or “Welcome to the Dollhouse” could sweeten the deal.
Well, I have to say, this quiz is off and running 90 m.p.h. out of the gate. Paul C., Rufus, you guys have got me clicking on all kinds of possibilities for my own answers. Thanks for getting things off on a grand foot! And Rufus, it sure doesn't seem to me that you had much reason to be intimidated!
And damn you, puggyd! You stole Trudy Kockenlocker right out from underneath me! :)
First time posting here -- I've spent the weekend devouring this blog and cursing myself that I haven't found it sooner. Here's my in-brief answers, more detailed answers will appear on my blog later in the week.
1) Does film best tell the truth (Godard) or tell lies (De Palma) at 24 frames per second?
I'd say the best movies tell the truth -- not necessarily "based on actual experience" stories, but that they reveal truths about the human experience.
2) Ideal pairing of actors/actresses to play on-screen siblings
My pick here is Toby Moore and Hilary Swank. These two could be twins. Do a Google image search on Moore and tell me those two weren't separated at birth.
3) Favorite special effects moment
There is a cut in a Buster Keaton film, I think it's [i]Sherlock, Jr.[/i] It is essentially a "fade-to" effect (car parked in front of one house, fade to car parked in front of another house), and Keaton used surveyor's instruments to make sure that the car and himself as driver were in the exact same spot in each frame, so it appears the house in the background in the first shot simply melts into the house in the second shot.
4) Matt Damon or George Clooney?
George Clooney.
5) What is the movie you’ve encouraged more people to see than any other?
I'm really not sure. It's probably [i]The Apartment[/i].
6) Favorite film of 1934
[i]The Thin Man[/i].
7) Your favorite movie theater
The Arclight Cinema and the Egyptian Theatre, both in Hollywood.
8) Jean Arthur or Irene Dunne?
Jean Arthur, but just barely. I love them both.
9) Favorite film made for children
Probably [i]Toy Story[/i].
10) Favorite Martin Scorsese Movie
[i]Goodfellas[/i].
11) Favorite film [i]about[/i] children
[i]The Red Balloon[/i]
12) Favorite film of 1954
[i]La Strada[/i].
13) Favorite screenplay written by a writer more famous for literature than screenplays
[i]Network[/i], written by Paddy Chayevsky.
14) Walter Matthau or Jack Lemmon?
Jack Lemmon.
15) Favorite character name
Dickie Pilager in John Sayles's [i]Silver City[/i]
16) Favorite screenplay adapted from a work of great literature, either by the author himself or by someone else
[i]Throne of Blood[/i] by Akira Kurosawa, adapted from Shakespeare's [i]MacBeth[/i].
17) Favorite film of 1974
Boring answer, [i]Godfather II[/i].
18) Joan Severance or Shannon Tweed?
Yikes. I don't know who either of these people are.
19) Jackass: the movie-- yes or no?
I haven't seen it so I can't say. But I wouldn't say that it'll never end up in my Netflix queue.
20) Favorite John Cassavetes Movie
I've never seen a movie that he directed, and the only one I've seen that he acted in was [i]Mikey & Nicky[/i], which I liked except for Cassavetes's performance. Guess he's not my cup of tea.
21) First R-rated movie you ever saw
It was a double feature, [i]Stripes[/i] and [i]Stir Crazy[/i].
22) Favorite X-rated film (remember that, while your answer may well be a famous or not-so-famous hard-core film, the "X" rating was once also a legitimate rating that did not necessarily connote pornography)
[i]A Clockwork Orange[/i] by Stanley Kubrick.
23) Best film of 1994
[i]Trois Couleurs: Rouge[/i]
24) Describe a moment in a movie that made you weep
"SHAAAANE! COME BAAAACK!!"
25) Ewan McGregor or Ewan Bremner?
I'm going to go with Ewen Bremner, based solely on his performance as Archie in [i]Naked[/i].
26) One of your favorite line readings (not necessarily one of your favorite lines) from this or any year
Khan: "From hell's heart I stab at thee! For hate's sake, I spit my last breath at thee!" Hee, awesome.
27) What, if any, element in a film, upon your hearing of its inclusion beforehand, would most likely prejudice you against seeing that film or keeping an open mind about it?
It's gotta be casting. Certain actors I avoid like the plague and pretty much won't go see a movie if they're in them. On the other hand, I'll go see Clooney in anything.
28) Favorite Terry Gilliam Movie
[i]Brazil[/i].
29) Jean Smart or Annie Potts?
Annie Potts for sure. "Ghostbusters, whaddya want!"
30) Is it possible to know with any certainty if you could like or love someone based on their taste in movies? If so, what film might be a potential relationship deal-breaker for you, or the one that might just seal that deal?
It would be more about a combination of movies rather than a single film. If I can meet a guy who loves [i]8½[/i] and [i]Galaxy Quest[/i] equally, that may well seal the deal.
Whoops, none of my italics tags worked. I formatted it for my own blogging software rather than Blogger. My first post and I'm a screw-up!
1) Does film best tell the truth (Godard) or tell lies (De Palma) at 24 frames per second? (Thanks, Peet)
Right off the bat I'm going to play contrarian and not choose either answer. I'm in such agreement with both statements (and such admiration of both staters), that I'm going to say that film best tells MYTHS at 24 frames per second. The word myth, of course, implies both external falsehood and internal truth.
2) Ideal pairing of actors/actresses to play on-screen siblings
I made this question tougher for myself by thinking you wanted A) films already made, not hypotheticals and B) a brother and a sister in the pair. Rereading the question now I suspect I was overly strict. Anyway, after a lot of effort, I came up with Jenny Agutter and Nic Roeg in Walkabout.
3) Favorite special effects moment
How about in Time Bandits when the intrepid heroes break through the invisible wall? I don't know if it's one of the most technically impressive effects of its era, but it's dramatically like no other scene in cinema, for me.
4) Matt Damon or George Clooney?
Neither one can draw me to a theater on his own power, but George Clooney has been in more films I've liked or loved (and his cameo is enough to align him on the right side of the Saving Private Ryan/Thin Red Line debate for me). Note that I haven't seen Gerry, Stuck on You, or either of the Bourne films.
5) What is the movie you’ve encouraged more people to see than any other?
How does one calculate? The most individual mentions? The most verified successful encouragements? Does writing something on a message board or blog count? Anyway, the answer in recent years is probably either The Company or Pootie Tang.
6) Favorite film of 1934
It's been so long since I've seen L'Atalante that I'm going to go with a more recently-viewed masterpiece: Lubitsch's The Merry Widow. Short subject division: Starewicz's puppet animation The Mascot.
7) Your favorite movie theater*
Though they haven't played one there in over a year now, Oakland's Paramount Theatre is still the most beautiful, luxurious building I've had the pleasure of seeing a film in. I could give a dozen other answers with a dozen other justifications, though.
8) Jean Arthur or Irene Dunne?
I simply haven't seen enough Dunne (The Awful Truth is about it, though she's great in it) and I adore Jean Arthur in Easy Living, Only Angels Have Wings, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, and more (though it's too bad she had to be in my least favorite Billy Wilder film, A Foreign Affair). So it's no contest, I'm afraid.
9) Favorite film made for children
It seems like a slightly paradoxical question to ask an adult, but I'll hazard an answer anyway: Pee-Wee's Big Adventure
10) Favorite Martin Scorsese Movie
After Hours
11) Favorite film about children
I Was Born, But…
12) Favorite film of 1954
Gotta be Rear Window. The Far Country comes a close enough second to mention though. Short subject division: Chuck Jones' Sheep Ahoy.
13) Favorite screenplay written by a writer more famous for literature than screenplays
I don't like judging screenplays apart from the entirety of the film, at least not when I haven't sat down and read the script myself (which is extremely rare). So I'm going to really monkey up the proceedings and say To Have And Have Not based solely on the finished film. How much is William Faulkner, and how much is Jules Furthman or Howard Hawks? Who knows? All we know is it isn't eligible for #16, Hemingway or not.
14) Walter Matthau or Jack Lemmon?
I lean ever-so-slightly Matthau but I don't know why.
15) Favorite character name
I have a personal soft spot for Brian of Nazareth
16) Favorite screenplay adapted from a work of great literature, either by the author himself or by someone else
Besides Shakespeare, what exactly is "great literature" anyway? I think Freidrich Durenmatt's The Visit is a great play, and Djibril Diop Mambéty's adaptation of it in his film Hyenas is outstanding. Not that I've read the actual screenplay (See #13.)
17) Favorite film of 1974
The Conversation, no question. Short subject division: Werner Herzog's The Great Ecstasy of Woodcarver Steiner (I count 45 minutes as short when talking sound-films).
18) Joan Severance or Shannon Tweed?
I've heard the names but I suspect I'm just a tad too young to have been profoundly affected by either in their heyday.
19) jackass: the movie-- yes or no?
I haven't seen it but I would under the right circumstances.
20) Favorite John Cassavetes Movie
I love Faces, but I haven't seen that many.
21) First R-rated movie you ever saw
On television it might be Taxi Driver, which I was shown by a cinephile babysitter when I was in elementary school. She also showed us The Nanny. I don't remember anything else except that she worked at a movie theatre and sometimes got us in for free to revival stuff like The Wizard of Oz (which was more my speed than either of the above at the time). I don't think I actively sought to go to an R-rated film until I was 15. The film? Alien Nation, I'm almost embarrassed to admit.
22) Favorite X-rated film (remember that, while your answer may well be a famous or not-so-famous hard-core film, the "X" rating was once also a legitimate rating that did not necessarily connote pornography)
Pasolini's The Arabian Nights
23) Best film of 1994
For years it was Ed Wood, but I recently caught up with Tsai Ming-Liang's Vive L'Amour and tentatively have placed it on the top of my list, barring another viewing of the Burton film which is fading in memory. Short subject division: Artur Peleshian's End.
24) Describe a moment in a movie that made you weep
I tear up a little at movies on occasion, but the only time in my adult life I can remember coming close to actually weeping was when I was watching the Star Wars Trilogy for the umpteenth time while ill with mononucleosis at age 22. I found the water pouring out of my eyes during the scene in Empire Strikes Back where Yoda raises Luke's X-Wing out of the swamp. The combination of childhood nostalgia, illness exhaustion, frustration that I wasn't able to be with my friends at the summer camp I'd been working at until I was sent home, and John Williams was too much for me to bear.
25) Ewan McGregor or Ewan Bremner?
Not really a fan of either, but McGregor has done more serious damage. Bremmer I still have something of an open mind about, I guess, so he wins.
26) One of your favorite line readings (not necessarily one of your favorite lines) from this or any year
Henry Fonda: "That's remarkable, that's like, telepathy!" The Lady Eve
27) What, if any, element in a film, upon your hearing of its inclusion beforehand, would most likely prejudice you against seeing that film or keeping an open mind about it?
A crotchety grandfather-type who softens after exposure to an impossibly cute child. If I'm afraid a film is going be too much like Kolya, I tend to run in the other direction. Luckily I didn't catch the gist of King of Masks before watching it; it fits the mold but is actually good.
28) Favorite Terry Gilliam Movie
The previously-mentioned Time Bandits still tops 'em all for me.
29) Jean Smart or Annie Potts?
Honestly, I don't follow the career of either actor, but Potts created a memorable character in a movie I loved at age 11 (Ghostbusters, of course), so I'll go with her.
30) Is it possible to know with any certainty if you could like or love someone based on their taste in movies? If so, what film might be a potential relationship deal-breaker for you, or the one that might just seal that deal?
I was recently talking with a friend about how a general aesthetic preference might be a deal breaker (the specific example given was an aversion to black-and-white films) but I don't think there's any single film that a friend or a sweetheart could like or hate that would break the deal, as long as I felt there was a reciprocal respect for my taste.
1) Does film best tell the truth (Godard) or tell lies (De Palma) at 24 frames per second? (Thanks, Peet)
Try to think of this question in terms of considering if the 24 frames per second is occurring during black leader. Then you should be able to ponder the question more profoundly.
2) Ideal pairing of actors/actresses to play on-screen siblings
Twins of course. No, I don't know. This is too hard to think of.
3) Favorite special effects moment
Special effects are for sissies!
4) Matt Damon or George Clooney?
Clooney. (Only because you're making me choose. I don't really care.)
5) What is the movie you’ve encouraged more people to see than any other?
Perhaps Napoléon (1927, Abel Gance, Silent)? Oops. Did I just do it again?
6) Favorite film of 1934
Having analyzed films by individual years I know that going over the list of all the films that were released in any particular year is a ridiculous and gargantuan project. Had you selected one of the years I had already done this for, I could give you an answer, but if you think I'm going to analyze the entire output of 1934 just to give you one favorite for your silly quiz, then you know where you can stuff your quiz and your lit Bunsen burner!!
7) Your favorite movie theater*
If you asked this before, then I probably answered before, so go look it up, buster. I ain't being tricked into answering twice.
8) Jean Arthur or Irene Dunne?
I don't think I know who the second one is. I like Jean Arthur, if it's who I think it is, for Only Angels Have Wings among other films.
9) Favorite film made for children
Bah. I don't care. I hates children.
10) Favorite Martin Scorsese Movie
It really has to be Taxi Driver.
11) Favorite film about children
Bah. Children again.
12) Favorite film of 1954
You're one year off! If you'd picked 1955, I would have willingly participated.
13) Favorite screenplay written by a writer more famous for literature than screenplays
Double Indemnity? I don't know. Screenplays are stupid. I like movies. Reading a screenplay is like banging your head against a brick wall.
14) Walter Matthau or Jack Lemmon?
Matthau I guess. Just for Pirates!!
15) Favorite character name
I have a complete abhorrence for the remembering of character names and consider them entirely without importance.
16) Favorite screenplay adapted from a work of great literature, either by the author himself or by someone else
Bah. Too hard. Seriously, I'd try to participate, but I don't have all day. I have to work.
17) Favorite film of 1974
Again.
18) Joan Severance or Shannon Tweed?
I don't think I know who those are. Is Shannon Tweed the soft-core porn actress?
19) jackass: the movie-- yes or no?
Absolutely not, and if you mention it in a post one more time I'm disassociating myself from your blog forever!
20) Favorite John Cassavetes Movie
As director, Husbands. (followed very closely by Woman Under the Influence.) As actor, I forget. Probably still Husbands or maybe Love Streams.
21) First R-rated movie you ever saw
Oh, shoot. I should know this one.
But I don't. So you're shit out of luck, Kelp!
22) Favorite X-rated film (remember that, while your answer may well be a famous or not-so-famous hard-core film, the "X" rating was once also a legitimate rating that did not necessarily connote pornography)
Midnight Cowboy is pretty good. Even though it's probably the most obvious answer. But everybody's talking at me right now, so I'll have to just go with it.
23) Best film of 1994
Screw you!!
24) Describe a moment in a movie that made you weep
A) I'm not that big of a wuss. I try to only weep at real life.
B) If I had done so, do you think I'd tell you?!? (Owing to the macho posturing established in part A of my answer.)
25) Ewan McGregor or Ewan Bremner?
That's kind of silly. Bremner's pretty limited.
26) One of your favorite line readings (not necessarily one of your favorite lines) from this or any year
Bah. I like a whole movie, not one isolated line reading. Have I given a straight answer to any of your questions? If not, you know where the fault lies, quizmaster!
27) What, if any, element in a film, upon your hearing of its inclusion beforehand, would most likely prejudice you against seeing that film or keeping an open mind about it?
If it were announced that the film's cast included Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, Julia Roberts, or any other particularly horrible star-actors/actresses, that would make me think long and hard before agreeing to see the film. Occasionally their presence can be overcome by other elements, such as the director, but it's rare!
28) Favorite Terry Gilliam Movie
I'd go with Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, but since he is one of the directors of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, no other answer could really be allowable.
29) Jean Smart or Annie Potts?
I don't know who Jean Smart is. I just looked her up and saw she was on 24, so I know her from that only. I'm much more familiar with the oeuvre of Annie Potts, and therefore cannot in good faith give her any sort of endorsement. Instead I must once again assign blame to the quizmaster for positing a question of the form "By which method would you rather perish? Bullet to the brain or knife through the heart?"
30) Is it possible to know with any certainty if you could like or love someone based on their taste in movies? If so, what film might be a potential relationship deal-breaker for you, or the one that might just seal that deal?
I believe Tarantino said, "When I'm starting to get really serious about a girl, I show her Rio Bravo, and she better fucking like it."
The answer to the first part of your question is no. Absent any other indicators, to know solely based on their taste in movies, would not be possible, nor advisable. On the other hand, there are some potential deal-breakers that can help you rule people out. Someone saying, "Ooh, I just love Ron Howard movies" would have to be run off my dating list pretty quickly.
-The Mizte.ree|ous Ad]drean B{heth;ama.x.
1. Both.
2. I always thought Meryl Streep and Annette O'Toole should play sisters.
3. Seeing the original King Kong at age 6.
4. Clooney keeps on getting more interesting.
5. Performance
6. Scarlet Empress
7. Cooper Cinerama Theater in Denver, CO, no longer standing.
8. Jean!
9. Wee Willie Winkie
10. Raging Bull
11. 400 Blows
12. On the Waterfront
13. Hiroshima Mon Amour, screenplay by Marguerite Duras.
14. Lemmon. I saw him live which clinches it for me.
15. Phil Moskowitz
16. Siberian Lady Macbeth
17. Chinatown
18. Joan!
19. I have not seen this.
20. Faces. The film helped me snap out of my depression following my parents' divorce. I was able to tell that to Cassavetes who gave me a hug.
21. I don't remember. Anyways, my mom got me out of school to sit in on the critics' screening of Midnight Cowboy when I was 17.
22. Performance
23. Chunking Express
24. The end of Chaplin's The Circus.
25. McGregor
26. Lugosi as directed by Ed Wood, Jr. "Bevare, bevare!"
27. Remake of a foreign language film.
28. The Fisher King
29. Jean!
30. My S.O. and I usually have conflicting tastes, but bonded over Michael Snow. Go figure.
1) Does film best tell the truth (Godard) or tell lies (De Palma) at 24 frames per second?
The only frames I know anything about involve bowling, the Dude and Walter. But since I greatly prefer DePalma to Godard (the sex scenes are better), I'll go with lies.
2) Ideal pairing of actors/actresses to play on-screen siblings
How about Nicole Kidman and William Atherton? I have no idea why that occurred to me.
3) Favorite special effects moment
The house lifting off the ground in the tornado in The Wizard of Oz, with Margaret Hamilton riding by on her bike with Toto in the basket. Still scares the hell out of me.
4) Matt Damon or George Clooney?
Clooney. This all leads into one of my pet peeves about today's male film stars, which could be boiled down to this: Man or boy? I'll take man.
5) What is the movie you’ve encouraged more people to see than any other?
Don't have a single movie I'm that obsessed by.
6) Favorite film of 1934
IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT. As I said during one of E. Copeland's polls, I'd nominate this as the most deserving film of the Best Picture Oscar ever. Gable, Colbert, the template of the screwball comedy/runaway bride/fast-talking newspaperman genre, the gam as thumb, the Walls of Jericho, the sense of Depression-era America. Gable, Colbert and Frank Capra's finest film.
7) Your favorite movie theater*
Whichever one is closest.
8) Jean Arthur or Irene Dunne?
All in all, I'd rather pick Myrna Loy.
9) Favorite film made for children
I'd say THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK. I'm not trying to be snotty. I've watched it a lot, it provides many pleasures, and none of them requires maturity to process.
10) Favorite Martin Scorsese Movie
Double hmmm. I'd have to go with MEAN STREETS. But am I the only one who believes Scorsese is the great director who's never really made a truly great film? Great sequences, yes. Great performances, yes. Stunning visuals, especially RAGING BULL. But perfection from beginning to end, with a seamless synthesis of script, pacing and performance? I really don't think so, although MEAN STREETS comes closest.
11) Favorite film about children
A CHRISTMAS STORY. You'll shoot your eye out, kid.
12) Favorite film of 1954
RICHARD III. I'm not generally a subscriber to the cult of Olivier, but I do love the man's opening soliloquy here, which I think straddles the line between serving Shakespeare's dramatic intent and showing off what an actor can do with line readings. "I am not in the giving vein today."
13) Favorite screenplay written by a writer more famous for literature than screenplays
Triple hmmm. James Salter, DOWNHILL RACER. Not that it's a great script, but he's my favorite author and any chance I can get to encourage people to read his brilliant novels — A SPORT AND A PASTIME, LIGHT YEARS and his memoir BURNING THE DAYS — I have to take.
14) Walter Matthau or Jack Lemmon?
Matthau, definitely. For CHARADE, CHARLEY VARRICK.
15) Favorite character name
Rufus T. Firefly.
16) Favorite screenplay adapted from a work of great literature, either by the author himself or by someone else
A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE.
17) Favorite film of 1974
Damn you, Dennis. You put this on here just to force me to choose between CHINATOWN and BIG BAD MAMA.
18) Joan Severance or Shannon Tweed?
Shannon. And her little sister wasn't bad, either.
19) jackass: the movie-- yes or no?
Never seen it.
20) Favorite John Cassavetes Movie
Easy. THE FURY, when his head blows up.
21) First R-rated movie you ever saw
Probably BIG BAD MAMA.
22) Favorite X-rated film (remember that, while your answer may well be a famous or not-so-famous hard-core film, the "X" rating was once also a legitimate rating that did not necessarily connote pornography)
I really don't have one. Does Winterbottom's NINE SONGS count? I thought that movie was surprisingly good. The sex wasn't erotic, but I was shocked how much I cared about their relationship by the end of the film. And the music was awesome.
23) Best film of 1994
NOBODY'S FOOL. A beautifully written movie, with surprisingly good acting from Bruce Willis and Melanie Griffith. Newman is terrific. Robert Benton's best film, in my opinion. Perhaps this should be the answer to No. 16, because it really captures the literature-like feel of Richard Russo's characters, but makes them believable for the screen, as well. And it's one of those rare films that captures the mood of a season, where the winter chill seeps into your bones.
24) Describe a moment in a movie that made you weep
PENNY SERENADE, where Cary Grant appears before the judge. I will undergo torture at Gitmo before I will ever watch that film again.
25) Ewan McGregor or Ewan Bremner?
Neither.
26) One of your favorite line readings (not necessarily one of your favorite lines) from this or any year
"Beans...succotash...beans...." Bob Dylan reading the labels off cans in PAT GARRETT AND BILLY THE KID. It makes me laugh.
27) What, if any, element in a film, upon your hearing of its inclusion beforehand, would most likely prejudice you against seeing that film or keeping an open mind about it?
Tom Cruise playing the vampire Lestat. Whoops, already happened.
28) Favorite Terry Gilliam Movie
12 MONKEYS. Only film of his I like.
29) Jean Smart or Annie Potts?
All in all, I'd rather pick Ursula Andress.
30) Is it possible to know with any certainty if you could like or love someone based on their taste in movies? If so, what film might be a potential relationship deal-breaker for you, or the one that might just seal that deal?
I believe love happens, and has little to do with movies. The first movie my soon-to-be wife and I saw together was COOL RUNNINGS, the Jamaican bobsled flick, and I'd hate to think that was an indicator of anything. And when she goes into one of her marathon viewings of DUNE, which drives me straight out of the room uttering imprecations against Muad Dib or whatever, I still love her.
TLRHB: I'm glad that one of us remembered Pat ordering Alias to "give us a good read." That's a great scene.
I agree with you on Scorsese: he's yet to make a picture that works from beginning to end.
Meanwhile, The Empire Strikes Back IS a children's film.
Peter: Performance is, like, my most favorite movie and I clear forgot it was rated X!
1) Does film best tell the truth (Godard) or tell lies (De Palma) at 24 frames per second? (Thanks, Peet)
LIES, BUT THAT'S WHAT WE LIKE ABOUT 'EM.
2) Ideal pairing of actors/actresses to play on-screen siblings
MEG RYAN AND MELANIE GRIFFITH, BUT ONLY IN A SEQUEL TO 'BODY DOUBLE'AND ONLY IF IT'S UNDERSTOOD THAT RYAN WOULD HAVE TO GET KILLED/DRILLED.
3) Favorite special effects moment
LINDA BLAIR SLAMMING UP & DOWN ON HER BED, NECK SWELLING, EYES ROLLING BACK, GROWLING, ETC., IN THAT SCENE FROM 'THE EXORCIST'... SCARED ME BIG TIME.
4) Matt Damon or George Clooney?
GEORGE CLOONEY, DUE TO COEN BROS, 'OUT OF SIGHT', AND INDEPENDENT FLICKS. OH, AND THE DISCOVERY OF 'SOUTH PARK'.
5) What is the movie you’ve encouraged more people to see than any other?
MAYBE 'WELCOME TO THE DOLL HOUSE', THOUGH I'M ALWAYS PUSHING MOVIES AT PEOPLE.
6) Favorite film of 1934
'THE BLACK CAT'.
7) Your favorite movie theater*
THE BLOOR THEATRE IN TORONTO, ONTARIO, FORMER HOME TO THE B-MOVIE FEST AND CURRENT HOME TO RUE MORGUE MAGAZINE'S CINEMACABRE. BIG AND ATMOSPHERIC.
8) Jean Arthur or Irene Dunne?
JEAN ARTHUR, SPECIFICALLY FOR 'MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON'.
9) Favorite film made for children
'DUMBO'.
10) Favorite Martin Scorsese Movie
'TAXI DRIVER'.
11) Favorite film about children
'THE EXORCIST'. I MEAN, THINK ABOUT IT...
12) Favorite film of 1954
EASY.. 'REAR WINDOW', MY FAVOURITE FLICK OF ALL TIME.
13) Favorite screenplay written by a writer more famous for literature than screenplays
DOES THORNTON WILDER'S 'SHADOW OF A DOUBT' SCREENPLAY COUNT?
14) Walter Matthau or Jack Lemmon?
JACK LEMMON.
15) Favorite character name
MUFFY ST. JACQUES (LIZ RENAY) IN JOHN WATERS' 'DESPERATE LIVING'.
16) Favorite screenplay adapted from a work of great literature, either by the author himself or by someone else
'THE LAST PICTURE SHOW'.
17) Favorite film of 1974
'TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE'.
18) Joan Severance or Shannon Tweed?
NEITHER.
19) jackass: the movie-- yes or no?
YES, BEGRUDGINLY AT FIRST, THEN FULL-TILT BOOGIE.
20) Favorite John Cassavetes Movie
'A WOMAN UNDER THE INFLUENCE'.
21) First R-rated movie you ever saw
'THE EXORCIST', AT THE DRIVE-IN, DOUBLE-BILLED WITH JOHN WAYNE'S 'CAHILL, U.S. MARSHAL'. I MADE MY DAD LEAVE HALF WAY THROUGH 'THE EXORCIST', A MOVIE I BEGGED HIM TO TAKE ME TO, AND I MOVIE THAT I LOVE. AT THE AGE OF 12 WAS JUST TOO MUCH, AND I NOW REALISE IT WAS MY INTRODUCTION TO ADULT HORROR MOVIES AND THEMES.
22) Favorite X-rated film (remember that, while your answer may well be a famous or not-so-famous hard-core film, the "X" rating was once also a legitimate rating that did not necessarily connote pornography)
ANYTHING BY RUSS MEYER.
23) Best film of 1994
'PULP FICTION'. FORGET THE BORING BACKLASH THAT ANY INTERESTING MOVIE LIKE THIS EXPERIENCES. WHEN I WALKED OUT OF THE THEATRE AFTER SEEING IT, I REALLY FLET LIKE I HAD JUST SEEN SOMETHING NEW AND EXCITING.
24) Describe a moment in a movie that made you weep
THE ENDING OF THE BRITISH FLICK 'THE LONG DAY CLOSES'. I FELT LIKE I'D BEEN INVITED TO EVESDROP ON SOMEONE'S LIFE.
25) Ewan McGregor or Ewan Bremner?
EWAN McGREGOR, IF HE'LL STOP MAKING CRAPPY ACTION FLICKS AND CRAPPY ROMANTIC COMEDIES.
26) One of your favorite line readings (not necessarily one of your favorite lines) from this or any year
"I'M GOING TO DEE-TROIT TO FIND HAPPINESS WITHIN THE AUTO (PRONOUNCED ODD-OH) IN-DUST-TREE."
- GATOR IN JOHN WATERS' 'FEMALE TROUBLE'.
27) What, if any, element in a film, upon your hearing of its inclusion beforehand, would most likely prejudice you against seeing that film or keeping an open mind about it?
THE INVOLVEMENT OF MEG RYAN.
28) Favorite Terry Gilliam Movie
'BRAZIL'.
29) Jean Smart or Annie Potts?
ANNIE POTTS. YAY, 'CRIMES OF PASSION'.
30) Is it possible to know with any certainty if you could like or love someone based on their taste in movies? If so, what film might be a potential relationship deal-breaker for you, or the one that might just seal that deal?
I THINK IT'S POSSIBLE TO GET A GOOD IDEA OF WHAT SOMEONE IS LIKE, THOUGH IT WOULDN'T BE 100% ACCURATE. A DEAL-BREAKER FOR ME WOULD BE 'FORREST GUMP', AND A DEAL-MAKER FOR ME WOULD BE "RACE WITH THE DEVIL".
1) Does film best tell the truth (Godard) or tell lies (De Palma) at 24 frames per second? (Thanks, Peet)
Well, if Godard goes on to claim that every cut is a lie, then I rather prefer to think of cinema as truth peeking through a bundle of lies. Otherwise, you get Time Code.
2) Ideal pairing of actors/actresses to play on-screen siblings
Connie Nielsen and Saffron Burrows could pass for sisters if it's explained that Burrows is anorexic.
3) Favorite special effects moment
When Lionel straps on the lawnmower at the climax of Dead Alive... well, that's indescribable joy right there.
4) Matt Damon or George Clooney?
I like 'em both, but I think George gets the edge -- he's got two Coen Brothers films to his credit!
5) What is the movie you’ve encouraged more people to see than any other?
Dead Alive, no contest. I saw it on summer break from high school; by the end of that subsequent year, everyone I knew had seen it. More recently, I've exposed an alarming number of people to Audition.
6) Favorite film of 1934
I've seen relatively few from that year, but one of those is It Happened One Night. Few films are better than that.
7) Your favorite movie theater*
Right now, it'd probably be the Jacob Burns Film Center, especially since they've increased their repertory programming.
8) Jean Arthur or Irene Dunne?
I'm gonna hafta pass on this question -- shamefully, I've not seen either actress in action.
9) Favorite film made for children
There's a lot of choices here, but I'm gonna stump for an overwhelming favorite: the first Toy Story film. Pixar could work for another hundred years and not top that.
10) Favorite Martin Scorsese Movie
Probably The King of Comedy, though I'll also defend Gangs of New York to my death. And GoodFellas goes without saying.
11) Favorite film about children
I haven't seen The 400 Blows in years, and I suppose it would be too perverse to pick Eraserhead... so I'm going to single out My Neighbor Totoro, a film just as much about kids as it is for them.
12) Favorite film of 1954
The Seven Samurai.
13) Favorite screenplay written by a writer more famous for literature than screenplays
Raymond Chandler may not have written Double Indemnity alone, but I'll bet the film would have turned out a lot different if he hadn't been involved.
14) Walter Matthau or Jack Lemmon?
I dig Matthau, but he didn't star in The Apartment. Lemmon takes this one comfortably.
15) Favorite character name
There's a character in Can Hieronymous Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humppe and Find True Happiness? whose name is Trampolina Whambang. How awesome is that?
16) Favorite screenplay adapted from a work of great literature, either by the author himself or by someone else
I'd dispute the 'greatness' of Conrad's Heart of Darkness (yeah, I know it's important, but God is it ever an agonizing read), but there's no disputing the leveling impact of Apocalypse Now.
17) Favorite film of 1974
The Conversation. No contest.
18) Joan Severance or Shannon Tweed?
Shannon Tweed was all that and a bag of chips.
19) jackass: the movie-- yes or no?
Oh, HELL yes.
20) Favorite John Cassavetes Movie
I'm currently working through his films -- so far, I've gotten through Shadows and Faces. Of those two, I liked Faces better, but they're both excellent.
21) First R-rated movie you ever saw
I think I saw both Young Guns and No Way Out around the same time.
22) Favorite X-rated film (remember that, while your answer may well be a famous or not-so-famous hard-core film, the "X" rating was once also a legitimate rating that did not necessarily connote pornography)
Since A Clockwork Orange was rated X once upon a time, I'd be remiss if I didn't select it, though I'd also be remiss if I didn't mention my affection for The Opening of Misty Beethoven.
23) Best film of 1994
Pulp Fiction right now. But ask me again when I've finally seen Kieslowski's 'Three Colors' trilogy or Cold Water.
24) Describe a moment in a movie that made you weep
I cry very rarely at films, but when Kirsten Dunst has a certain truth revealed to her in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, that did me in. I also admit to being a pile of rubble throughout the whole of Exotica and good portions of, of all films, The Bride of Frankenstein.
25) Ewan McGregor or Ewan Bremner?
McGregor survived Lucas. Let's give him his due.
26) One of your favorite line readings (not necessarily one of your favorite lines) from this or any year
I love the build on Adam Sandler's reading of Barry Egan's phone-kiosk freakout in Punch-Drunk Love -- it's pitched halfway between a psychotic episode and the birth of confidence.
27) What, if any, element in a film, upon your hearing of its inclusion beforehand, would most likely prejudice you against seeing that film or keeping an open mind about it?
There's a set of actors and actresses whose presence in a film will bias me towards it. I call it Jeanne Tripplehorn Syndrome; sufferers include Andy Garcia, Juliette Lewis, Selma Blair and the aformentioned Ms. Tripplehorn. Jeanne Tripplehorn Syndrome is not to be confused with Paul Walker Syndrome -- the former is confined mainly to people who only get supporting roles in major features, not people who are being stuffed down our throats as so-called 'stars.'
Also, films whose pitch involves the words 'inspirational,' 'triumphant' or 'hankie' often set off my Cynicism Meter.
28) Favorite Terry Gilliam Movie
Braaaziiiiil...
29) Jean Smart or Annie Potts?
Annie Potts did Ghostbusters, so she gets cool points for that.
30) Is it possible to know with any certainty if you could like or love someone based on their taste in movies? If so, what film might be a potential relationship deal-breaker for you, or the one that might just seal that deal?
I've used Monty Python and the Holy Grail as a yardstick for a long time. Conversely, I once knew a girl who tried to get me to watch the remake of The Stepford Wives even though she knew I'd already seen it and considered it only slightly less painful than a root canal. It was then that I understood this wasn't going to go very far. (The fact that she loved Hilary Duff and didn't watch horror movies should have been another clue.)
Aaaah, craaaap... how could I forget Russ Meyer's Up! for #22? Obviously, I suck.
1) Does film best tell the truth (Godard) or tell lies (De Palma) at 24 frames per second? (Thanks, Peet)
There's the line from Being John Malcovich, "There is truth, and there are lies, and art always tells the truth. Even when it's lying.", and while that's clever and everything, there's a bit of truth to it. Literature has always had a duality of truth about it where fiction is always largely based on truth and non-fiction always has an element of fiction to it. But film, due to the fact that it can show us what words could only describe, tends to feel more truthful, since certain films can make us feel like we're watching real life. It's all stylized, though, even verite stuff is edited for effect. As I read the question again, I realize you were looking for what it does best...um, of that I'm not sure.
2) Ideal pairing of actors/actresses to play on-screen siblings
I'll assume we're meant to disregard real siblings and be a bit more creative. I could see a world where Ethan Hawke and John Hawkes are brothers, but maybe that's because they have similar last names and weird little goatees.
3) Favorite special effects moment
Special effects tend to bore me, so I'm tempted to pick one of the many from Citizen Kane, but instead I'll go with the battle in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon when they're both perched atop a bamboo forest, swaying back and forth and waiting for an oportunity to strike. There's a zen-like beauty to the whole thing that makes you forget they're on wires.
4) Matt Damon or George Clooney?
A couple of years ago, I would have said Damon, easily, but Clooney's pairings with Soderberg has really matured him as an actor and I, for one, find him to be a fascinating director. That being said, I like Damon a great deal.
5) What is the movie you’ve encouraged more people to see than any other?
I've encouraged almost everyone I know to see Before Sunset, which is odd because for as much as my own writing shamelessly steals from it, you'd think I'd want to ensure people don't discover how little creativity I really have. More recently, I've been pushing The Best of Youth on everyone who will listen and Sally Potter's Yes on everyone else.
6) Favorite film of 1934
I think I've seen It Happened One Night, and if it's the film I think it is, then I go with that.
7) Your favorite movie theater*
The Strand in Rockland, Maine. I saw my first film there forever ago and a couple of years ago it was renovated and turned into an art house theatre when one can watch the latest foreign film or Oscar shorts in a theatre that feels like something out of Hollywood's golden age and sells adult beverages in the balcony.
8) Jean Arthur or Irene Dunne?
Irene Dunne stole an entire film from Cary Grant. That's good enough for me.
9) Favorite film made for children
Searching for Bobby Fisher
10) Favorite Martin Scorsese Movie
Gee, there's so many good choices. A lot of people might go with Goodfellas here, but I'm old school. Taxi Driver is just brilliant beyond compare.
11) Favorite film about children
I was going to get all pretentious and mention the Up series here until I realized that my answer would actually be The 400 Blows, which is pretentious enough on it's own.
12) Favorite film of 1954
Rear Window is conveniently one of my favorite films anyway. The amount of drama and tension Hitchcock builds without leaving that room is the gold standard for suspense.
13) Favorite screenplay written by a writer more famous for literature than screenplays
This one's harder than I thought, as I'm having trouble thinking of screenplays I like by non-screenwriters. Best I can come up with is Garland's 28 Days Later. He, of course, is a fine novelist who wrote The Beach, a novel that was much better than that awful film indicated.
14) Walter Matthau or Jack Lemmon?
Lemmon always struck me as the more talented of the 2.
15) Favorite character name
There's really 2 ways to go here. Either you can pick something Bond-ish, like Pussy Galore, or a character name that isn't a name at all. Had the scene from the novel High Fidelity been included in the film, the easy answer here would be "The Most Pathetic Man In The World".
16) Favorite screenplay adapted from a work of great literature, either by the author himself or by someone else
I guess it all depends on what you consider to be great literature. Is The Graduate, Being There, or the works of Andre Dubus great literature? Probably not, but they've turned into some fine screenplays. Shakespeare is too boring an answer for these purposes. I'll throw a couple others out, though. I really enjoyed the Coen Brothers riffing on Homer in O Brother, Where Art Thou?, you could make the argument that Kieslowski's Dekalog is adapted from the 10 Commandments (but that's really stretching things), One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest qualifies, the original The Manchurian Candidate is a fine screenplay (but I don't know how great the source material was), but here's an odd one: Slaughter-house five a brilliant novel, produced an intriguing film that, while disjointed and odd, adapted that novel about as well as you could expect. As far as Vonnegut adaptations go, it's one of the better ones.
17) Favorite film of 1974
Yeah, that was a hell of a year. 4 of the 5 Best Picture nominees are fantastic (Godfather II, Chinatown, The Conversation, and Lenny), plus there's Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, Day For Night, and Young Frankenstein. Damn you for making me choose. Argh, Godfather II.
18) Joan Severance or Shannon Tweed?
Unless I happened to catch the Frasier episode Tweed was in, I don't know that I've ever seen either one of them act.
19) jackass: the movie-- yes or no?
not so much
20) Favorite John Cassavetes Movie
I'll plug They Shoot Pictures, Don't They? and go with Husbands, largely because they're link icon is a still from the film.
21) First R-rated movie you ever saw
For the life of me, I can't recall.
22) Favorite X-rated film (remember that, while your answer may well be a famous or not-so-famous hard-core film, the "X" rating was once also a legitimate rating that did not necessarily connote pornography)
My first thought was Midnight Cowboy, the only X-rated Best Picture winner, and that's a good choice, but how can the answer be anything but A Clockwork Orange? It's one of Kubrick's best and has all the controversy you like with a X-rated film.
23) Best film of 1994
Sure, everyone's gonna go with Pulp Fiction and Shawshank, but they're nuts. This one is easy: Kieslowski's Trois couleurs: Rouge.
24) Describe a moment in a movie that made you weep
Pretty much the entire last half hour of In America. There's something about that father storyline that gets me everytime. I must be getting old.
25) Ewan McGregor or Ewan Bremner?
This might have been closer, but I don't recall Bremner ever riding a motorcycle around the world.
26) One of your favorite line readings (not necessarily one of your favorite lines) from this or any year
Bill Murray in Rushmore: "I'm a little bit lonely these days." Also, most of Jeff Daniels in The Squid and the Whale.
27) What, if any, element in a film, upon your hearing of its inclusion beforehand, would most likely prejudice you against seeing that film or keeping an open mind about it?
I read in an article the other day the Kevin Smith initially wanted to film Clerks II digitally, which strikes me as a pretty obvious choice, given the low-budget nature of the first one, but his DP wasn't comfortable shooting digitally, so they went with 35mm. If I'm Smith and my DP tells me that, I do one of two things 1) tell my DP he better start figuring out how to shoot on digital or 2) get a new DP. To me, this is a red flag that takes my interest in the film down to about 0.
28) Favorite Terry Gilliam Movie
Everyone says Brazil here, I bet, or Monty Python, but I much prefer Lost in La Mancha, which obviously isn't a Gilliam film, per se, but in a lot of ways it is.
29) Jean Smart or Annie Potts?
Jean Smart.
30) Is it possible to know with any certainty if you could like or love someone based on their taste in movies? If so, what film might be a potential relationship deal-breaker for you, or the one that might just seal that deal?
I doubt one could seal the deal, but I can't imagine falling in love with someone who didn't have at least an appreciation of Bergman's Scenes From a Marriage or Kieslowski's Trois couleurs or Linklater's Before Sunset. Then again, I've been wrong before concerning love.
Does film best tell the truth (Godard) or tell lies (De Palma) at 24 frames per second? (Thanks, Peet)
This could be the subject of a final exam essay, but I’m turning it into short answer: To take the other part of Godard’s quote about every cut being a lie, I’ll say universal truths are constructed out of a web of lies.
2) Ideal pairing of actors/actresses to play on-screen siblings
Harrison Ford and a parking cone.
3) Favorite special effects moment
For some reason, I still think the morphing effects in Terminator 2 are the coolest thing ever.
4) Matt Damon or George Clooney?
Clooney. I’d like to be him.
5) What is the movie you’ve encouraged more people to see than any other?
Anything by Kurosawa, because I think he’s the most accessible canonical director to an audience with an aversion to subtitles.
6) Favorite film of 1934
I think the only movie from this year I’ve seen is It Happened One Night, so I guess I’ll go with it – not a bad one to have to pick.
7) Your favorite movie theater*
The Oak Street Cinema in Minneapolis. It’s kind of a dump, and to be honest, I didn’t go to it much when it still showed interesting series like film noir and Ozu retrospectives, mainly because DVD is more convenient and my couch is more comfortable. Still, I find it sad that it’s in dire financial straits. It was comforting to know that someplace like that could survive.
8) Jean Arthur or Irene Dunne?
Not too familiar with either one, but from what I’ve seen, I’ll say Jean Arthur.
9) Favorite film made for children
Toy Story 2.
10) Favorite Martin Scorsese Movie
Goodfellas. Now go get your shinebox. Seriously, though, when I first saw it all it did was feed my mafia movie obsession. My last viewings have deepened my appreciation for its artistry and its deconstruction of the mob lifestyle.
11) Favorite film about children
The 400 Blows over Night of the Hunter by a bit. But I have yet to see Spirit of the Beehive, Forbidden Games, and Au Revoir Les Enfants, among others.
12) Favorite film of 1954
Seven Samurai
13) Favorite screenplay written by a writer more famous for literature than screenplays
Sorry to be boring, but I have to go with Chandler for Double Indemnity, too.
14) Walter Matthau or Jack Lemmon?
Lemmon.
15) Favorite character name
A tie (for obvious reasons) between Og Oggilby in The Bank Dick and Ogie Ogilthorpe in Slap Shot.
16) Favorite screenplay adapted from a work of great literature, either by the author himself or by someone else
This might be cheating a bit since it involves multiple works, but I loved how Orson Welles adapted Shakespeare’s Henry plays for Chimes at Midnight.
17) Favorite film of 1974
The Conversation has been getting a lot of love here – and I like it quite a bit, too – but I don’t see how you can say Coppola’s best that year wasn’t The Godfather II.
18) Joan Severance or Shannon Tweed?
I was on the fence until looking them both up on imdb, and seeing that Shannon Tweed’s last movie role was “Lesbian Hitwoman” in Wish You Were Dead. I now give it to Tweed in a landslide.
19) jackass: the movie-- yes or no?
Nope.
20) Favorite John Cassavetes Movie
The Killing of a Chinese Bookie. I’ve only seen the two versions once each, but from what I remember I’ll go with the ’76 over the ’78.
21) First R-rated movie you ever saw
Beverly Hills Cop. My mom and sisters were out of town, and my dad rented it and watched it with me.
22) Favorite X-rated film (remember that, while your answer may well be a famous or not-so-famous hard-core film, the "X" rating was once also a legitimate rating that did not necessarily connote pornography)
If what the above poster said is true, then I’ll go with A Clockwork Orange.
23) Best film of 1994
Pulp Fiction.
24) Describe a moment in a movie that made you weep
Kevin Costner playing catch with his dead father in Field of Dreams.
25) Ewan McGregor or Ewan Bremner?
Well, Bremner played a guy named Mullet in Snatch …
26) One of your favorite line readings (not necessarily one of your favorite lines) from this or any year
“Nice marmot” – The Dude, The Big Lebowski
27) What, if any, element in a film, upon your hearing of its inclusion beforehand, would most likely prejudice you against seeing that film or keeping an open mind about it?
“Directed by Uwe Boll,” “written by Paul Haggis,” or “starring Julia Roberts.”
28) Favorite Terry Gilliam Movie
Brazil.
29) Jean Smart or Annie Potts?
Jean Smart for 24.
30) Is it possible to know with any certainty if you could like or love someone based on their taste in movies? If so, what film might be a potential relationship deal-breaker for you, or the one that might just seal that deal?
I used to think that this was necessary for me to be happy, but the truth is my wife and I watch movies for completely different reasons and it hasn’t caused a problem. As much as I’d love to get her to watch Kurosawa or Renoir films, I’ll have to settle for the occasional victories, like when I convinced her to see Fanny and Alexander (the theatrical version) and Once Upon a Time in the West. God love her, she wants to meet me halfway (sometimes). Likewise, I’ve found myself in the theater watching Just Like Heaven and Eight Below. The key is to find the place where tastes overlap – she and I both like sophomoric comedies like Old School, The Blues Brothers, etc., and some classic Hollywood comedies like Bringing Up Baby. Also, for some reason, I’d never seen It’s a Wonderful Life or Gone With the Wind until she introduced me to them. Thank you, dear.
1) Does film best tell the truth (Godard) or tell lies (De Palma) at 24 frames per second?
Good, we can get the pretentious questions out of the way first… I’ll go with the latter here. Deception is one of the cornerstones of filmmaking. Lighting, makeup, special effects, stunt doubles, body doubles, and many other forms of deception are so central to the process that it would be impossible to create truth out of so many falsehoods. As Marshall McLuhan would say, the medium is the message, and the medium of film relies heavily on deception. Some may argue that these forms of deception may help to enhance “truth with a capital ‘T,’” but I believe those who argue this should be kicked in the groin with a capital “K.”
2) Ideal pairing of actors/actresses to play on-screen siblings
Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito. Clearly.
3) Favorite special effects moment
The fire extinguisher beating in Irrevsersible. It was the moment that allowed me to accept CGI as something positive and useful.
4) Matt Damon or George Clooney?
Clooney in a landslide.
5) What is the movie you’ve encouraged more people to see than any other?
Overall, probably BLACK BELT JONES, but I don’t receommend that film anymore because once people see the film they inevitably pilfer my tape. Nowadays I usually recommend CHALLENGE OF THE TIGER.
6) Favorite film of 1934
DUCK SOUP… Premiered in late ’33 but was released in Europe (and I assume) many parts of the US in ’34, which is close enough for me.
7) Your favorite movie theater*
This is a tie. One is the Enzian Theater, a single (large) screen arthouse in Maitland, Florida with gourmet food served to you while you relax in comfortable couches. The other is the now defunct Georgetown Auto-Sinn in Georgetown, MA, a porno drive-in near where I grew up.
8) Jean Arthur or Irene Dunne?
Jean Arthur.
9) Favorite film made for children
How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
10) Favorite Martin Scorsese Movie
Raging Bull.
11) Favorite film about children
Streetwise
12) Favorite film of 1954
On the Waterfront
13) Favorite screenplay written by a writer more famous for literature than screenplays
The Onion Field by Joseph Wambaugh.
14) Walter Matthau or Jack Lemmon?
Matthau.
15) Favorite character name
Hmmm… Probably Max Cherry (Jackie Brown), Dick Cannon (Challenge of the Tiger), or Alotta Fagina.
16) Favorite screenplay adapted from a work of great literature, either by the author himself or by someone else
Eugenie: The Story of Her Journey into Perversion adapted by Harry Alan Towers from the works of Marquis de Sade.
17) Favorite film of 1974
Too hard to pick one: Cockfighter, Chinatown, Street Law, Lenny, Black Belt Jones, A Woman Under the Influence, and (of course) Naked Yoga.
18) Joan Severance or Shannon Tweed?
Shannon Tweed, even though she got kind of fat toward the end of her run…. Shouldn’t this be Shannon Tweed vs. Shannon Whirry?
19) jackass: the movie-- yes or no?
yes
20) Favorite John Cassavetes Movie
The Killing of a Chinese Bookie
21) First R-rated movie you ever saw
I have absolutely no clue.
22) Favorite X-rated film (remember that, while your answer may well be a famous or not-so-famous hard-core film, the "X" rating was once also a legitimate rating that did not necessarily connote pornography)
Radley Metzger's THE IMAGE and it's not close.
23) Best film of 1994
Pulp Fiction. P.S. The Shawshank Redemption sucks.
24) Describe a moment in a movie that made you weep
In First Blood when Rambo jumps off the cliff to get away from Brian Dennehy, bounces off a tree and lands on some rocks, then gets up and dodges some bullets, then picks up a rock and throws in 50 yards in the air and hits the helicopter, causing Jack Starret to fall out of the helicopter to his death. That was awesome. Also, my contacts were bothering me when the old guy died in In Her Shoes, so my tear ducts had to provide moisture for my contact lenses.
25) Ewan McGregor or Ewan Bremner?
McGregor
26) One of your favorite line readings (not necessarily one of your favorite lines) from this or any year
John Morghen’s “And they ate his genitals” from Cannibal Ferrox, or anything Pam Grier says in Coffy.
27) What, if any, element in a film, upon your hearing of its inclusion beforehand, would most likely prejudice you against seeing that film or keeping an open mind about it?
Whoopi Goldberg
28) Favorite Terry Gilliam Movie
Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
29) Jean Smart or Annie Potts?
This is the best you can come up with? How about Sophia Loren vs. Claudia Cardinale, or Tura Satana vs. Dyanne Thorne?
30) Is it possible to know with any certainty if you could like or love someone based on their taste in movies? If so, what film might be a potential relationship deal-breaker for you, or the one that might just seal that deal?
Not alone, but if a girl loved exploitation movies and wasn’t A) ugly and B) destitute, that would probably do the trick for me. Not many dealbreakers other than something like snuff films or child porn. If she liked Master of the Flying Guillotine I’d probably dig her.
Stennie: Welcome! And I love Ewen Bremner in Naked too. Amazing energy. Improbabably, he makes David Thewlis in that film seem positively placid!
Brian: Myths! I wish I'd written that answer. And I'm glad you raised the question of what "great literature" is. I hope more people address it. I may have have to go back and rephrase #30, though. The question might better be served by adding the word "partially"-- Is it possible to know with any certainty if you could like or love someone based partially on their taste in movies? And thanks also for The Arabian Knights.
TLRHB: I'm with you and Flickhead regarding Scorsese. Obviously he's a major talent, and I'd even argue that he's been more valuable for cinema as a promoter of film preservation and a historian, through his films A Personal Journey through American Cinema... and My Voyage to Italy, than he has been as a director. Heresy, right? But when people start talking about Raging Bull and Goodfellas as some of the greatest movies ever made, well, that's an assessment that sure doesn't reflect my experience with them.
Steve: I think your Connie Nielsen/Saffron Burrows comparison couldn't be more spot on (and I like to think of those two in the same frame too). And I too have led a lot of people to Audition, which has in turn led a lot of people to question me on some pretty fundamental levels... :) Also, excellent call on Totoro, and I'm totally impressed by Trampolina Whambang!
Lucas: Thanks for reminding me, and everyone, about Slaughterhouse-Five, which is an excellent answer. And I think your answer to #30 is my favorite so far.
MAB: You need to relax, get out and see a good movie! May I recommend A Prairie Home Companion?
Ian: Is your complaint about Annie Potts vs. Jean Smart that they're not sexy/beautiful enough, or that they just don't interest you? A look back through the history of these quizzes will reveal that Sophia and Claudia (and Ingrid Pitt and Barbara Steele, and other lovely women) have had their day, so I thought I'd give Clooney and McGregor theirs and feature a little more beefcake this time. Besides, I think Jean Smart and Annie Potts are both terrifically sexy, and damn good actresses too.
Everybody is inspiring me to get on my own answers much more quickly this time! They've all been great and interesting and well observed. Besides, I'm still stinging from the loss of Trudy Kockenlocker. (Though can Trampolina Whambang really be beaten?) I've got a couple of other good ones on deck and I don't want them stolen too, dammit!
Thanks, everyone!
Hey Dennis,
My response was another way of saying that I hadn't heard of either of these actresses ;). Didn't mean to give out negative vibes about the quiz... thought it was interesting on the whole.
Ian: Forgive me if I came off overly sensitive about Jean vs. Annie! I was deliberately going for comparisons this time around centered on actresses less known for their physical attributes-- there were some minor complaints last time around about too much cheesecake-- with the exception being, of course, the inclusion of Severance v. Tweed, which I thought of as a humorous tweak of my own tendencies to indulge in personal favorites in the sex bomb category. (I got plenty of similar question marks when I pitted Barbara Steele against Ingrid Pitt-- there were several who had no idea who these women were.) I wouldn't argue with anyone who would suggest that I'm taking the whole thing too seriously by even talking about it to this degree. But thanks for the suggestion. And I'm gonna have to do some research and find out who Dyanne Throne is--if she's in the same arena as Tura Satana, she must be something else! (Now you've got me thinking about a battle of Russ Meyer babes for next time!) Anyway, thanks for participating. I love Black Belt Jones too, and your reminders of it made something in my brain click to come up with another great character name to replace Trudy Kockenlocker on my list! Thanks!
Ilsa! Boy, is my face red!
I do go on and on a bit ... sorry! So fun to read everyone else's answers too.
1) Does film best tell the truth (Godard) or tell lies (De Palma) at 24 frames per second? (Thanks, Peet)
In my opinion - in terms of human BEHAVIOR - the camera tells the truth. If someone is a phony, or lying, or dissembling, or deflecting - the camera will pick up on it. This is why film acting is different from stage acting. It must be REAL - (and even "lies" can be truthful - if you're lying, then you're lying ... there's a truth to that) - But if you're a phony? If you're a shallow actor, who is just a big fat phony? Or you're tryiing for effect? The camera will tell the truth about you. You can't hide from it.
And yet there's something not quite "real" about what goes on in the movies. People become somewhat mythic or archetypal when they are photographed ... I don't know how that happens ... I just know that it does. Images become solidified, nailed down, chosen ... and there's something inherently artificial about that. I wouldn't call it a lie, though. I'd call it a myth.
2) Ideal pairing of actors/actresses to play on-screen siblings
You mean who haven't already? Or who already have?
My brain immediately went to the beautiful (and completely believable) brother/sister relationship portrayed in Holiday between Katharine Hepburn and Lew Ayres (his best performance - how much do you just LOVE that brother??) I don't find Hepburn all that convincing, actually, in a family setting - she seems too isolated and dominating (which is why her most successful family drama, in my opinion, is Lion in Winter). Even in On Golden Pond, where she was great and everything ... she still is too much of a massive presence (in my opinion) to seem like part of a family. I didn't really buy it - although I enjoyed her performance. But there she is in Holiday - as the loner eccentric sister - and her sloshy decadent brother just GETS her ... in his own slightly sodden way. I completely bought that relationship.
3) Favorite special effects moment
For sheer nostalgia's sake - I have to say the star destroyer taking over the screen at the beginning of Star Wars. I can't tell if it's just because I also remember seeing it in the movie theatre the first time ... and the goosebumps are a memory of my OWN awestruck wonder way back then ... but who the hell cares. That opening sequence kicks some serious intergalactic ass.
4) Matt Damon or George Clooney?
Clooney. I was never really a fan of his on ER - but then came Three Kings and I thought, HUH ... and then came O Brother Where Art Thou and I figured that I needed to re-assess the dude. Then there was the story from Julia Roberts of the filming of Ocean's 11 and how she would come back to her hotel room to find it literally booby-trapped on a nightly basis. The image of Clooney sneaking around - gluing the receiver of the phone down, putting trick snakes in her bathtub, etc. makes me think he would be a huge pain in the ass and also so. much. fun.
5) What is the movie you’ve encouraged more people to see than any other?
Only Angels Have Wings.
6) Favorite film of 1934
I began scanning the list at IMDB and came across this title and wanted to say it was my favorite just BECAUSE. I mean - look at that title!
Gonna have to go with It Happened One Night. One of my favorite movies ever made.
7) Your favorite movie theater
Probably The Music Box in Chicago. Beautiful old movie theatre on Southport. I used to live on the street right behind that theatre so I spent many hours there - watching, oh, documentaries about Kazakhstan, I saw Latcho Drom there - or we would go to see silent films, midnight double-features, whatever! I saw Harold and Maude there for the first time, believe it or not - and began laughing so loudly at the army dude with the missing arm that I had to get up and leave the theatre. I went to go see a couple of different Cassavetes films there when they were having a Cassavetes festival - and I went with a boyfriend of mine at the time (hahaha I love how I have LINKS to my own personal life. I'm such a moron) who was also a huge Cassavetes freak (still is!) - and I remember that we made out during the closing credits to Faces. Geeks. You kind of can't get any geekier than that. We were so swept away by Faces, of all things, that we succumbed to PDA. Totally embarrassing. I saw Crumb there - a movie that I kinda still can't get out of my mind. Uhm - Max? Get off the bed o' nails and stop eating that piece of string or whatever freako thing it is that you do. Thanks so much. The Music Box also has that old-movie glamour - red carpet in the lobby, little niches and nooks with strange decadent little statues in them ... old school buckets of popcorn ... and in the theatre, if you look up - you can see a night sky, with stars glittering, as well as clouds moving across. A cyclorama roof. Oh, and there's a big red velvet curtain that rises before each movie. It's a celebration. No matter WHAT you see there. You could see Porky's: The Aftermath there and feel like you were having a celebratory cinematic experience.
It looks like this.
8) Jean Arthur or Irene Dunne?
Oh, why. Dennis - WHY are you making me make an unmake-able choice?? I can't do it!
I'm leaning towards Irene Dunne. She is one of my favorite actresses - and can we please talk about her 10 minute silent scene in Penny Serenade when she bumblingly tries to give her new adopted baby a bath, as her husband (Cary Grant) and all the men from the newspaper shop stand around watching? It's such an amazing scene ... you can feel her growing panic ... and she finally snaps and starts screaming and crying "WHY ARE YOU ALL LOOKING AT ME? I DON'T KNOW WHAT I'M DOING!" ... but as the scene goes on, it just gets funnier and funnier and funnier. Dunne was Cary Grant's favorite leading lady, and it's easy to see why. She was an actress of such substance, intelligence, reality - her work has barely dated at all.
But ... er .... Jean Arthur was in Only Angels Have Wings so ... I just ... love her for that. Jean Arthur has a sort of ditzy baffled charm - kind of reminiscent of Jennifer Aniston at Aniston's very best. You know those moments (in Friends mostly) when Aniston is CLINGING to the SHREDS of her dignity in the middle of some ridiculous situation that makes her look really really stupid? But she stands there, spluttering, insisting that she is a DIGNIFIED PERSON? It is so funny when it works - and Jean Arthur is so good at that. Watch her in Only Angels Have Wings. I mean, she's also great in her other films - I particularly liked her in Mr. Deeds Goes to Town opposite Gary Cooper - and then she did another really wonderful little movie called The Talk of the Town with Cary Grant again and Ronald Colman (in one of his better performances). I mean, Jean Arthur was in a ton of classic films - but those are the ones I have real affection for. She has some moments in Talk of the Town - when she is running around, and lying to everyone, and getting busted constantly - which make me laugh out loud every time I see them. She's a wonderful comedienne - and a GREAT foil for Cary Grant.
But I'm gonna have to go with Irene Dunne. I do so under gentle protest, because I don't want to have to choose!
9) Favorite film made for children
Hmmm. I have an intense fondness for the movie Bug's Life. For many reasons. One: because of Cashel. We watched that movie together many times, when he was still a diaper-wearing fat-wristed Brooklyn baby, shoving Cheerios in his mouth as he sat on my lap, and I was the babysitting aunt. I can recite the movie by heart. ("HARRY! DON'T LOOK AT THE LIGHT, HARRY!" "Ican'thelpitit'ssobeeeeeeautiful...") But also: I just think it's a really nice film, with a cool message. I like it a lot. I think it's my favorite of the Pixar films, actually.
10) Favorite Martin Scorsese Movie
Probably Goodfellas.
11) Favorite film about children
I never pass up a chance to push the film Children of Heaven. Please! I beg those of you who haven't seen it! SEE IT! Magical film with an ending that made the audience burst out clapping - at least when I saw it.
But then I also want to say Night of the Hunter. Sure - it's about Mitchum and Lillian Gish ... but it's really about those kids. And I can't think about Mitchum's voice saying, off screen, "Chiiiiiiiiildren ..." without my blood running cold. Never has innocence seemed so threatened.
12) Favorite film of 1954
On the Waterfront
13) Favorite screenplay written by a writer more famous for literature than screenplays
The Big Sleep. Based on book by Raymond Chandler. Screenplay by William Faulkner. Didn't have to think about this one at all. In my humble opinion, there can be no valid contest on this one.
14) Walter Matthau or Jack Lemmon?
Walter Matthau.
15) Favorite character name
Sugarpuss O'Shea. Barbara Stanwyck's character name in Ball of Fire
16) Favorite screenplay adapted from a work of great literature, either by the author himself or by someone else
"Great" literature, huh? Does Ordinary People count as "great literature"? I don't think it does - but I read the book - and I am amazed at the effectiveness of the adaptation to the screen.
Oh - and I also REALLY enjoyed Emma Thompson's adaptation of Sense & Sensibility. Yummy.
17) Favorite film of 1974
Chinatown.
18) Joan Severance or Shannon Tweed?
HAHAHAHAHAHA This question so kicks ass. heh heh I'm gonna go with Joan Severance just to be totally contrary.
19) jackass: the movie-- yes or no?
Sure! Why not?
20) Favorite John Cassavetes Movie
Opening Night. I still haven't got up the nerve to actually write an essay about what that movie means to me - it's daunting - but I'll get to it some day. It's almost like I look at that movie and see my whole damn life.
21) First R-rated movie you ever saw
I saw Dog Day Afternoon while babysitting - I was 12. Life-changing moment.
22) Favorite X-rated film (remember that, while your answer may well be a famous or not-so-famous hard-core film, the "X" rating was once also a legitimate rating that did not necessarily connote pornography)
heh. I'll say Midnight Cowboy.
23) Best film of 1994
Forrest Gump. JUST KIDDING. I despise that film.
Hmmm. Many good films that year. In terms of sheer enjoyment, I'd probably have to go with Pulp Fiction.
24) Describe a moment in a movie that made you weep
The last moment in Field of Dreams gets me every time. "Dad?" Oh shit. Just typing that and I felt all choked up.
25) Ewan McGregor or Ewan Bremner?
Oh please. Ewan McGregor always and forever.
26) One of your favorite line readings (not necessarily one of your favorite lines) from this or any year
Diane Keaton saying, "This was a great night for me" in Something's Gotta Give - after they sleep together. You want to see great screen acting - and a great screen ACTRESS - watch her say that line.
However, other favorites:
Cary Grant - and how he says, "Peabody? What Peabody?" in Bringing up Baby
Barbara Stanwyck and how she says, "I love him because he gets drunk on a glass of buttermilk" in Ball of Fire
Anything Kenneth Mars says in ANY MOVIE EVER. The man is a scary GENIUS and we all just have to BOW DOWN and accept it.
27) What, if any, element in a film, upon your hearing of its inclusion beforehand, would most likely prejudice you against seeing that film or keeping an open mind about it?
A certain scrunchy-faced thin-fat actress.
28) Favorite Terry Gilliam Movie
Fisher King. That's another movie that I really need to write a big huge post about.
29) Jean Smart or Annie Potts?
Annie Potts was in the classic Corvette Summer so I will have to go with her.
30) Is it possible to know with any certainty if you could like or love someone based partially on their taste in movies? If so, what film might be a potential relationship deal-breaker for you, or the one that might just seal that deal?
If someone is able to watch What's Up Doc with a stone-face, and not laugh once, then I would really really question whether or not we were compatible. Same with Bringing Up Baby. Silly screwball movies are a great litmus test for compatability.
OH damn - I meant to take out all those personal links, Dennis. I put up a post of my answers on my site - so I linked around to myself - but I didn't mean for them to come through over here!!
Ack!!
This is tough.
1) Does film best tell the truth (Godard) or tell lies (De Palma) at 24 frames per second? (Thanks, Peet): Tell lies.
2) Ideal pairing of actors/actresses to play on-screen siblings: Keira Knightley and Winona Ryder
3) Favorite special effects moment
Robert Patrick reforming from the floor in T2
4) Matt Damon or George Clooney?
Matt Damon
5) What is the movie you’ve encouraged more people to see than any other?
Hmmm...that's tough. I'm always stunned when I find people who haven't seen Casablanca, so it might be that. Or Rules of the Game.
6) Favorite film of 1934
It Happened One Night
7) Your favorite movie theater*
Hmmm...not sure I have any anymore.
8) Jean Arthur or Irene Dunne?
Very tough, because I love them both. I think I'll go Dunne, because I think she was more versatile.
9) Favorite film made for children
The Wizard of Oz
10) Favorite Martin Scorsese Movie
GoodFellas
11) Favorite film about children
Small Change
12) Favorite film of 1954
Rear Window
13) Favorite screenplay written by a writer more famous for literature than screenplays
William Faulkner for The Big Sleep
14) Walter Matthau or Jack Lemmon?
Matthau
15) Favorite character name
Jervis Tetch (I'm stealing from TV -- but that was The Mad Hatter's real name on Batman)
16) Favorite screenplay adapted from a work of great literature, either by the author himself or by someone else
The Age of Innocence
17) Favorite film of 1974
Chinatown
18) Joan Severance or Shannon Tweed?
Neither
19) jackass: the movie-- yes or no?
No
20) Favorite John Cassavetes Movie
I really haven't seen enough to judge.
21) First R-rated movie you ever saw
Animal House
22) Favorite X-rated film (remember that, while your answer may well be a famous or not-so-famous hard-core film, the "X" rating was once also a legitimate rating that did not necessarily connote pornography) Midnight Cowboy by default
23) Best film of 1994
Pulp Fiction
24) Describe a moment in a movie that made you weep
When Emma dies in Terms of Endearment
25) Ewan McGregor or Ewan Bremner?
McGregor
26) One of your favorite line readings (not necessarily one of your favorite lines) from this or any year
"I was misinformed" -- Bogart in Casablanca
27) What, if any, element in a film, upon your hearing of its inclusion beforehand, would most likely prejudice you against seeing that film or keeping an open mind about it? Lori Petty.
28) Favorite Terry Gilliam Movie
Brazil
29) Jean Smart or Annie Potts?
Jean Smart
30) Is it possible to know with any certainty if you could like or love someone based partially on their taste in movies? If so, what film might be a potential relationship deal-breaker for you, or the one that might just seal that deal? If they said they liked "Bio-Dome," it's over.
1) Does film best tell the truth (Godard) or tell lies (De Palma) at 24 frames per second? (Thanks, Peet)
Lies, but ones we want to hear.
2) Ideal pairing of actors/actresses to play on-screen siblings
George Clooney and Frances McDormand. Matt Damon and Scarlett Johanson
3) Favorite special effects moment
E.T.'s bicycle flight
4) Matt Damon or George Clooney?
Clooney is marginally less repulsive
5) What is the movie you’ve encouraged more people to see than any other?
Lately, "Gosford Park".
6) Favorite film of 1934
It Happened One Night. Besides all its already documented wonderfulness, Claudette Colbert wears one of the Best Wedding Dresses Ever in this film.
7) Your favorite movie theater*
General Cinema, Capitol Plaza, Austin, Tx.
8) Jean Arthur or Irene Dunne?
Dunne, by about 1 percentage point. She seemed to often be laughting at herself and seemed the warmer character. Arthur seemed to be fighting against her better side sometimes. But when she thawed, she was wonderful.
9) Favorite film made for children
The Wizard of Oz
10) Favorite Martin Scorsese Movie
The Age of Innocence
11) Favorite film about children
The Sandlot. Oh, how I love this movie. It captures the early '60's so perfectly. No grownups, with the exception of Small's parents and James Earl Jones, just kids pursuing their passion. It veers off into farce a little at times, but still one of my favorites.
12) Favorite film of 1954
Rear Window
13) Favorite screenplay written by a writer more famous for literature than screenplays
This is a hard one. Can you count people adapting their own work? In that case - Larry McMurtry's "The Last Picture Show". What about someone known about equally well for both, like Dorothy Parker?Okay, not Parker. Faulkner's "The Big Sleep".
14) Walter Matthau or Jack Lemmon?
Jack Lemmon, based on a larger body of work only.
15) Favorite character name
Mortimer Brewster
16) Favorite screenplay adapted from a work of great literature, either by the author himself or by someone else
Horton Foote's adaptation of "To Kill a Mockingbird"
17) Favorite film of 1974
18) Joan Severance or Shannon Tweed?
Neither
19) jackass: the movie-- yes or no?
NO
20) Favorite John Cassavetes Movie
Not a fan
21) First R-rated movie you ever saw
The Godfather
22) Favorite X-rated film (remember that, while your answer may well be a famous or not-so-famous hard-core film, the "X" rating was once also a legitimate rating that did not necessarily connote pornography)
23) Best film of 1994
24) Describe a moment in a movie that made you weep
the scene in "Sounder" in which Paul Winfield explains to his son why it's alright for him to leave home to go away to school made me sob so loudly that people were vacating the area around me and my date.
25) Ewan McGregor or Ewan Bremner?
McGregor
26) One of your favorite line readings (not necessarily one of your favorite lines) from this or any year
Hated the movie, but will always love the world-weariness of Tom Hank's rendering of the line "And then I met the President...again."
27) What, if any, element in a film, upon your hearing of its inclusion beforehand, would most likely prejudice you against seeing that film or keeping an open mind about it?
Anti-Catholicism, for the heck of it
28) Favorite Terry Gilliam Movie
Time Bandits. Oddly enough, we walked out of this in the theater and snuck into "Stripes". But it grew on me...
29) Jean Smart or Annie Potts?
Jean Smart is hands down, funnier
30) Is it possible to know with any certainty if you could like or love someone based partially on their taste in movies? If so, what film might be a potential relationship deal-breaker for you, or the one that might just seal that deal?
Yes, you can. In fact, according to this criteria, my daughter's bf and I are soul-mates.
Anyone who thought "The Da Vinci Code" was good is out.
1) Does film best tell the truth (Godard) or tell lies (De Palma) at 24 frames per second?
Truth, though I'd argue that Godard and De Palma are equally manipulative, and that De Palma uncovers greater truths by embracing the heightened reality of film.
2) Ideal pairing of actors/actresses to play on-screen siblings
Tilda Swinton and David Bowie
3) Favorite special effects moment
The reveal of the mother ship in Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
4) Matt Damon or George Clooney?
Clooney.
5) What is the movie you’ve encouraged more people to see than any other?
Probably The Shining, because it's brilliant and because a person's response to it tells me a great deal about the person.
6) Favorite film of 1934
The Black Cat
7) Your favorite movie theater*
The Coolidge in Brookline, MA. Beautiful old movie house, great programming, fun midnight series. Well worth the three-hour drive.
8) Jean Arthur or Irene Dunne? Arthur, for Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.
9) Favorite film made for children E.T., which completely engages a child's capacity for awe.
10) Favorite Martin Scorsese Movie Raging Bull. It's stark, it's visceral, and it's spiritual. And I must admit that the idea that he's never made a great film baffles me - I was under the impression that he'd never made a bad one.
11) Favorite film about children
Small Change. The scene of the teacher talking to his students about the perils of childhood is one of Truffaut's finest moments.
12) Favorite film of 1954
Seven Samurai.
13) Favorite screenplay written by a writer more famous for literature than screenplays
Peter Benchley (with Carl Gottlieb, John Milius, et. al.), Jaws
14) Walter Matthau or Jack Lemmon?
A very tough call. But between Shelley Levene and his heartbreaking monologue in Short Cuts, I'll give the edge to Lemmon.
15) Favorite character name
Bumpy Jonas (Moses Gunn), Shaft.
16) Favorite screenplay adapted from a work of great literature, either by the author himself or by someone else
I have to echo Apocalypse Now.
17) Favorite film of 1974
The Godfather Part II
18) Joan Severance or Shannon Tweed?
Man, I don't even have an opinion.
19) jackass: the movie-- yes or no?
I'm in a generous mood - yes.
20) Favorite John Cassavetes Movie
The only one I've seen is A Woman Under the Influence, and it was great. So there it is.
21) First R-rated movie you ever saw
On video, Halloween. On the big screen, JFK (I was seven, and it was deemed important to see by my grandmother).
22) Favorite X-rated film (remember that, while your answer may well be a famous or not-so-famous hard-core film, the "X" rating was once also a legitimate rating that did not necessarily connote pornography)
A Clockwork Orange (former X, but still).
23) Best film of 1994 Pulp Fiction. It's like naming The Beatles as one's favorite band, but whatever - it's just fun as hell.
24) Describe a moment in a movie that made you weep
There are many scenes in The Elephant Man that reduce me to a blubbering mess. The final scene, scored to Barber's "Adagio For Strings," is the worst. If you haven't seen The Elephant Man, do yourself a favor, skip ahead, and rent the film as soon as possible.
After saying goodnight to the compassionate Dr. Treves, Merrick adds his signature to the model cathedral he has been carefully working on for most of the film. Then, he reclines on his back, ending his own life with normal sleep. The film then dissolves to a limitless field of stars, and the frozen profile of Merrick's mother as we travel through space. Before the film fades to black, we hear Merrick's mother in voiceover, whispering:
"Nothing ever dies."
It's a transcendent moment.
25) Ewan McGregor or Ewan Bremner?
McGregor.
26) One of your favorite line readings (not necessarily one of your favorite lines) from this or any year
"We stop at pancakes house." - Peter Stormare, Fargo
27) What, if any, element in a film, upon your hearing of its inclusion beforehand, would most likely prejudice you against seeing that film or keeping an open mind about it?
The involvement of Chris Columbus, for personal as well as obvious reasons.
28) Favorite Terry Gilliam Movie
Brazil. We're all in this together.
29) Jean Smart or Annie Potts?
Just rewatched Pretty in Pink, so I'll have to go with Annie Potts.
30) Is it possible to know with any certainty if you could like or love someone based partially on their taste in movies? If so, what film might be a potential relationship deal-breaker for you, or the one that might just seal that deal?
Absolutely. Popeye. She liked it. We're married now.
Chicken - well, that's more like it...
I'm a native Texan and live in a huge urban center here that saw an enormous influx of people from up North in the '70's.
Even though it's a story about the universals of love and redemption, when I saw "Tender Mercies" in the theater, you could hear scattered laughter at the parts that only natives would find funny. I found that rather endearing. And I know it's true for other films - there are ethnic/cultural/local things I would surely miss from other areas of the country.
Sorry, didn't know #11 was supposed to be all serious: let me add "To Kill a Mockingbird" to "Sandlot".
I thought of a better answer for special effect: Kermit riding the bicycle in "The Muppet Movie."
1) Does film best tell the truth (Godard) or tell lies (De Palma) at 24 frames per second? (Thanks, Peet)
Honestly, I think both ideas are pretty silly, although the De Palma one sounds catchier (especially if you say it as "Cinema lies 24 times per second"). Equating art with lies has always struck me as a poor use of the resources of the English language. Whatever ends up on film is true--of the world created by the filmmaker(s).
2) Ideal pairing of actors/actresses to play on-screen siblings
I dunno. Maybe Stacy Keach and Tom Sizemore, just because I get them mixed up sometimes.
3) Favorite special effects moment
I was going to say the Cyclops vs. Dragon fight in 7th Voyage of Sinbad, but "moment" seems to imply something more specific, so I pick two moments from the first Evil Dead, when Ash gouges one of the demons' eyes, and when a demon jabs a pencil into Ash's ankle. Both are crude but effective--you can tell they're fake, but that doesn't stop you from cringing.
4) Matt Damon or George Clooney?
I don't really have anything against Damon--he seems like an allright guy doing good work, and he has what is probably the most interesting non-superhero franchise right now--but I can't really get excited about him. Clooney.
5) What is the movie you’ve encouraged more people to see than any other?
There's a few, but I think Dazed and Confused, back when it came out, was the one I was most evangelical about. I just felt like I needed to show everyone that movie, especially people that I knew were from that era.
6) Favorite film of 1934
I was going to pick a Betty Boop cartoon, but I didn't recognize any of the titles from that year (all my favorites seem to be from 1933). So how about Tarzan and His Mate? That's a great movie, with Jane's skinnydipping silhouette and the incredible jungle war climax with Tarzan leading an army of apes and elephants against an army of lions.
7) Your favorite movie theater*
The Egyptian Theater in Hollywood is movie heaven. For first-run movies, my favorite is The Vista in Silverlake.
8) Jean Arthur or Irene Dunne?
Honestly, I'm a little fuzzy on those pre-70's second-tier actresses.
9) Favorite film made for children
The Wizard of Oz. I can't really judge this film objectively. If I was seeing it for the first time now, I probably wouldn't be nearly as impressed by it. But it was imprinted on me at a very early age, and now it's just a part of me.
10) Favorite Martin Scorsese Movie
Afterhours. I almost feel like, as I said in the last quiz with Altman and The Player, that this one is more great for its script than for Scorsese, but I think Marty probably brings out the sense of place in the movie.
11) Favorite film about children
Back in the days when cable channels were just starting to proliferate, I saw this movie on AMC or something, a British movie about a bunch of kids who found an escaped murderer hiding in their barn, and somehow got it in there head that he was Jesus. No idea what it was called, but I liked that one.
12) Favorite film of 1954
GOJIRA!!!!
13) Favorite screenplay written by a writer more famous for literature than screenplays
I like Ray Bradbury's adaptation of Moby Dick. Gets all the great language from the book, but condenses it into version that works as a movie (I think Peck is slightly miscast, but that doesn't effect the screenplay).
14) Walter Matthau or Jack Lemmon?
Lemmon has probably done more great work, but I like Matthau's persona better.
15) Favorite character name
Chest Rockwell.
16) Favorite screenplay adapted from a work of great literature, either by the author himself or by someone else
I like Fear and Loathing for succeeding in putting the book so completely on the screen, L.A. Confidential for taking the material and extracting the vein of story to make it work on film, and Naked Lunch for taking the book as a piece of inspiration and coming up with it's own story.
17) Favorite film of 1974
It's so hard to pick from any year of the 70's. I mean, look at the imdb top 100 for that year! Godfather II, Chinatown, Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, Texas Chainsaw Massacre...then there's Dark Star, a personal favorite of mine, and The Man With The Golden Gun, which was the first "grown up" movie I saw in the theater, and probably had a huge effect on my taste in movies. But I'll pick Caged Heat. So many of those 70's exploitation flicks, and esepcially the Women in Prison movies, promise so much more than they deliver. I mean, sure, you get the shower scenes, cat fights, and sadistic guards, but you rarely get a good movie. Caged Heat, though, is wall-to-wall entertainment from start to finish. One of the best genre films of the 70's, which is certainly saying something.
18) Joan Severance or Shannon Tweed?
Shannon Tweed, just because I know who she is.
19) jackass: the movie-- yes or no?
Yeah, I like it. I think it probably gains points by comparison to that Vin Deisel movie XXX, which feels like sort of a Hollywood attempt to try to market something towards that "xXxtreme Sports Generation!", which fails miserably. Jackass is the kind of thing that nobody of the older (my) generation could possibly have thought up.
20) Favorite John Cassavetes Movie
Honestly, never seen one (well, I saw parts of Faces on TV last night, flipping back and forth between that and Planet of the Vampires). If I had to guess, The Killing of a Chinese Bookie sounds like the one I would like.
21) First R-rated movie you ever saw
You'd think I would know this, wouldn't you?
22) Favorite X-rated film (remember that, while your answer may well be a famous or not-so-famous hard-core film, the "X" rating was once also a legitimate rating that did not necessarily connote pornography)
Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, followed by Fritz the Cat.
23) Best film of 1994
I had to check the imdb for 35, 54 and 74 (although if I really thought about it, I could probably have come up with 74 on my own), but this one I know. Peter Jackson's Heavenly Creatures is not only my favorite movie of that year, but probably my favorite "serious drama" movie of all time. And that's a tough competition year, with Pulp Fiction, Natural Born Killers, Drunken Master II, Fist of Legend (I think), Leon, Ed Wood, The Reflecting Skin, and I don't know what all!
24) Describe a moment in a movie that made you weep
It's not even a movie I like. AI just left me an emotional wreck. There are some emotionally brutal scenes throughout that movie, but it was the "happy" ending that really killed me. Seeing that naked wish fulfillment fantasy up there on the screen somehow just destroyed me. And it's even more embarassing to be wiping tears out of your eyes in the bathroom as you listen to everyone around you talk about how bad the movie you just saw was!
25) Ewan McGregor or Ewan Bremner?
I like them both, but I'll give it to Bremmer since he's the underdog.
26) One of your favorite line readings (not necessarily one of your favorite lines) from this or any year
Wooderson: "It'd be a lot cooler if you did." I also like how he says "You got to do what Randal "Pink" FLOYD wants t'do."
27) What, if any, element in a film, upon your hearing of its inclusion beforehand, would most likely prejudice you against seeing that film or keeping an open mind about it?
This condition was probably transmitted to me by my wife, but if it has a woman being raped and deciding she enjoys it, that's a dealbreaker. Granted, my wife has a much broader definition of what fits into this category (any time a man overpowers a woman and she succumbs, or slaps her or manhandles her before kissing her), but even in my more limited definition, it's frightening how often this trope (is that the right word?) turns up.
28) Favorite Terry Gilliam Movie
God, that's a tough one. Brazil is his masterpiece, of course, but that doesn't necessarily make it my favorite. And 12 Monkeys may be my favorite scifi film. I'd probably say Fear and Loathing, although I really have a soft spot for Munchaussen.
29) Jean Smart or Annie Potts?
I'm surprised to hear myself say that I like them both (I still think of them both primarily as castmembers of Designing Women), but I think I like Annie Potts better. She should get more work.
30) Is it possible to know with any certainty if you could like or love someone based partially on their taste in movies? If so, what film might be a potential relationship deal-breaker for you, or the one that might just seal that deal?
Yeah, I don't really subscribe to that idea. There's just more important things to take into account than taste in film (or other art).
Chris,
the title to your #11 is "Whistle Down the Wind". It starred a very young Hayley Mills.
1) Does film best tell the truth (Godard) or tell lies (De Palma) at 24 frames per second?
For me, the best films always tell the truth about the way the world really works, and, especially, the truth about being human. All movies are, literally, lies, because you only see what the director wants you to see, and the stories told are never 100% “true stories,” but the information they convey is most resonant when it gives you insight into the real world and human behaviour.
2) Ideal pairing of actors/actresses to play on-screen siblings
Meryl Streep and Glenn Close. They may not look much like each other, but they are close in age and are such good actresses that I’m sure they could generate the necessary chemistry to convince us that they grew up together. If time travel was allowed, I would love to see a movie from around 1964 with John Cassavetes and Martin Landau playing brothers.
3) Favorite special effects moment
I have so many, but I guess the now-easily-mocked shot of the huge Imperial cruiser going endlessly by from underneath in the opening scene of Star Wars was such a “wow” moment that I still remember the thrill of it nearly 30 years later.
4) Matt Damon or George Clooney?
Pretty close, but Clooney gets the edge for graduating from starring on TV to major Hollywood player – as difficult a feat as there is in the biz.
5) What is the movie you’ve encouraged more people to see than any other?
One of the few movies I’ve found myself trying to persuade people to see is Ridley Scott’s The Duellists, if only because it’s a relatively obscure film that I think everyone should see at least once, for the incredible visuals and for Harvey Keitel’s utterly convincing portrayal of an arrogant Napoleonic army officer.
6) Favorite film of 1934
The Thin Man, in a walk. The chemistry between Loy and Powell sparked numerous remakes, none of which truly recaptured the magic of this effort. In addition, it’s one of the most faithful adaptations of a book in Hollywood history, with scenes and dialog lifted directly from the page where the masterful Hammett first gave them life.
7) Your favorite movie theater*
Tough choice, but I’ll go with the Arclight Cinema in Hollywood, California, which offers, in addition to very comfortable seats in spacious theaters, no pre-movie commercials, a perk that is, sadly, worth the extra dough.
8) Jean Arthur or Irene Dunne?
Irene Dunne. Five Oscar nominations. Sexy.
9) Favorite film made for children
This is very difficult, but I’m going to choose Mary Poppins, on the strength of the loveliness of Julie Andrews and the fact that, with two children, I’ve seen the film at least 50 times and I still like all the songs; heck, I still get “Spoonful of Sugar” stuck in my head, and I haven’t seen the movie in three years. A few years from now, I’m likely to change my answer to The Incredibles, assuming it stands up to mega-repeated viewings, as I think it will.
10) Favorite Martin Scorsese Movie
Another difficult choice, but I’ll go with Goodfellas. It draws me in so completely from the first frame and I always wish there was more after it ends.
11) Favorite film about children
I like most of the choices already posted, but I'm going to go with Big.
12) Favorite film of 1954
I’m going to choose Seven Samurai, which was released in Japan in ’54 (but not in the U. S. until ’56). I’ve seen this film on screens large and small, and it never seems long, despite it’s 3+ hours. Magic.
13) Favorite screenplay written by a writer more famous for literature than screenplays
I’ll go with Chandler for Double Indemnity, though I know he had help, and not everyone considers his work to be “literature.”
14) Walter Matthau or Jack Lemmon?
They’re both great actors with a capital G, but I prefer Matthau’s low-key delivery to Lemmon’s manic stutter.
15) Favorite character name
Indiana Jones. Scans beautifully and just screams “hero!”
16) Favorite screenplay adapted from a work of great literature, either by the author himself or by someone else
Emma Thompson’s adaptation of Sense and Sensibility breathes life into Austen’s work of great literature.
17) Favorite film of 1974
Yet another tough choice, but for me Chinatown gets the nod, because it’s set in a time period of Los Angeles that fascinates me.
18) Joan Severance or Shannon Tweed?
Gentlemen may prefer blondes, but I’m no gentleman. Joan Severance.
19) jackass: the movie-- yes or no?
No.
20) Favorite John Cassavetes Movie
I’m ashamed to say I’ve never seen one that he’s directed, so I’ll go with Rosemary’s Baby for his acting.
21) First R-rated movie you ever saw
My parents started taking me to movies with little regard to the MPAA ratings before I turned 2 in 1970. It’s quite possible that I don’t remember the first R-rated movie I saw. I think the first one I remember seeing was Blazing Saddles. I was six years old, and I saw it at Grauman’s Chinese Theater. I was startled at the end to see the movie action switch to that very location, and when the heroes entered the theater on screen, I looked behind me, as if I could see them walking in.
22) Favorite X-rated film (remember that, while your answer may well be a famous or not-so-famous hard-core film, the "X" rating was once also a legitimate rating that did not necessarily connote pornography)
I was going to pass, but upon being reminded that A Clockwork Orange counts, I choose it, even though it contains my bugaboo, a rape scene.
23) Best film of 1994
Wow, so many choices! I’ll go with The Shawshank Redemption, as I have found myself utterly absorbed in this movie even after a dozen viewings. There is something mesmerizing in the pacing of the film, and the soothing tone of Morgan Freeman’s narration, that prevents me from looking away.
24) Describe a moment in a movie that made you weep
I’m not much of a weeper, but Albert Finney’s death scene at the end of Big Fish had me wiping tears from my cheeks.
25) Ewan McGregor or Ewan Bremner?
Bremner is good, but McGregor is as convincing an actor as anyone working today. McGregor by a mile.
26) One of your favorite line readings (not necessarily one of your favorite lines) from this or any year
One movie that I find a fountain of lovable line readings is Breaker Morant. Choosing one almost at random, I will say I love when Rod Mullinar, as Major Bolton, says to Lord Kitchener (in re: the Germans’ intentions in South Africa): “They lack our altruism, sir.” The tone of his voice, his facial expression, is the perfect portrait of a man hiding a sarcastic comment in plain sight. All Kitchener can say in response is “quite.”
27) What, if any, element in a film, upon your hearing of its inclusion beforehand, would most likely prejudice you against seeing that film or keeping an open mind about it?
A rape scene. Rape is one reality of human existence that I have an extremely hard time viewing, even with the full knowledge that its existence in a film is, of course, simulated.
28) Favorite Terry Gilliam Movie
Brazil, by a mile. I believe it’s one of the finest films ever made, and more relevant twenty-plus years later than when it was released.
29) Jean Smart or Annie Potts?
Potts by a nose for making her bit part in the Ghostbusters movies so memorable despite, or perhaps because of, being surrounded by comedic giants.
30) Is it possible to know with any certainty if you could like or love someone based partially on their taste in movies? If so, what film might be a potential relationship deal-breaker for you, or the one that might just seal that deal?
I suppose someone with eclectic enough tastes to enjoy films from every conceivable classification would have a better chance of earning my respect for their non-movie-related opinions than someone who dismissed a particular genre out of hand (i.e. “I don’t like Musicals”).
1) film best tell the truth (Godard) or tell lies (De Palma) at 24 frames per Does second? (Thanks, Peet)
Both/And. To be honest, I can’t make sense of either one.
2) Ideal pairing of actors/actresses to play on-screen siblings
Matt Damon and Hilary Swank, Frankie Muniz and Lindsay Lohan
3) Favorite special effects moment
Jumping into the sidewalk art in Mary Poppins
4) Matt Damon or George Clooney?
Damon’s got a little more talent, Clooney’s got more charisma. I’m not a big fan of either.
5) What is the movie you’ve encouraged more people to see than any other?
Probably Sunset Blvd.
6) Favorite film of 1934
It Happened One Night, with a runner up It’s a Gift
7) Your favorite movie theater*
The Castro in San Francisco
8) Jean Arthur or Irene Dunne?
Very tough, but Irene Dunne by a skosh
9) Favorite film made for children
The Wizard of Oz
10) Favorite Martin Scorsese Movie
Goodfellas, followed by King of Comedy and After Hours
11) Favorite film about children
Little Fugitive
12) Favorite film of 1954
What could be better than Rear Window? The Seven Samurai.
13) Favorite screenplay written by a writer more famous for literature than screenplays
Night of the Hunter by James Agee
14) Walter Matthau or Jack Lemmon?
I like them both, but I’ll say Walter Matthau
15) Favorite character name
I have to say Prof. Quincy Adams Wagstaff. It’s in my contract.
16) Favorite screenplay adapted from a work of great literature, either by the author himself or by someone else
The Grapes of Wrath
17) Favorite film of 1974
Chinatown
18) Joan Severance or Shannon Tweed?
Joan Severance
19) jackass: the movie-- yes or no?
Yes – those guys work hard for a laugh.
20) Favorite John Cassavetes Movie
So far, I like him more as an actor, but I haven’t seen enough.
21) First R-rated movie you ever saw
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
22) Favorite X-rated film (remember that, while your answer may well be a famous or not-so-famous hard-core film, the "X" rating was once also a legitimate rating that did not necessarily connote pornography)
Was A Clockwork Orange originally rated X? If not, then probably Midnight Cowboy or a Russ Meyer Pic.
23) Best film of 1994
Crumb or True Lies. I haven’t seen Hoop Dreams
24) Describe a moment in a movie that made you weep
The same part of Dumbo that made Robert Stack tear up.
25) Ewan McGregor or Ewan Bremner?
McGregor
26) One of your favorite line readings (not necessarily one of your favorite lines) from this or any year
“When you have to shoot, shoot, don’t talk.”
27) What, if any, element in a film, upon your hearing of its inclusion beforehand, would most likely prejudice you against seeing that film or keeping an open mind about it?
Vampire chic, or really heavy Catholic stigmata thriller shit
28) Favorite Terry Gilliam Movie
Holy Grail, or if solo Baron Munchausen
29) Jean Smart or Annie Potts?
Annie Potts
30) Is it possible to know with any certainty if you could like or love someone based partially on their taste in movies? If so, what film might be a potential relationship deal-breaker for you, or the one that might just seal that deal?
Nothing is a deal-breaker really, but if you find yourself a girl who loves Sergio Leone, then bind her to you with a band of gold, I always say.
And finally, because I'm a schmuck who procrastinated and never answered Van Helsing's quiz: Showgirls- hell yeah!
1) Does film best tell the truth (Godard) or tell lies (De Palma) at 24 frames per second? (Thanks, Peet)
Lies. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. In fact, down here in Noth Cackalackee, and elsewhere throughout The South, a popular euphemism for lying is “telling a story.” So I’d just turn that around and say that the best films (and other entertainments) done right tell lies artfully and authentically to deliver a larger, hopefully universal, truth.
Also, where would cinematic storytelling be without persistence of vision and suspension of disbelief? We need films to lie because—wait for it—we can’t handle the truth! (I just had to say it.)
2) Ideal pairing of actors/actresses to play on-screen siblings
I’ve confused Josh Lucas for Matthew McConaughey enough times that they must surely qualify.
Erika Christensen and Julia Stiles. Something the producers of THE UPSIDE OF ANGER should have figured out.
Also, Chris Cooper and Chris Mulkey actually look more like brothers than any of the Bridges, Quaids, or Wilsons. Speaking of which, has anyone noticed that Owen and Luke Wilson have never played siblings? And Joan and John Cusack almost never have (SAY ANYTHING might be the exception.)
Bonus answer to an unasked question: Tommy Lee Jones and Josh Hartnet really need to do some kind of father/son thing.
Worst squandering of actors who could be siblings but appeared in a movie together without playing siblings: Tom Sizemore and Michael Madsen in WYATT EARP.
3) Favorite special effects moment
The view of the stars stretching into a million shafts of light out the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon as it made the jump to light speed in STAR WARS. A moment of pure cinematic joy.
The tracking shot that goes along the driveway, up a ladder, through the window and into the open screaming mouth of Florence Arizona in RAISING ARIZONA comes a close second.
4) Matt Damon or George Clooney?
George Clooney is the man. Damon’s no slouch (he and Clooney have the same number of Oscars, remember) and I really like what he’s done with the Jason Bourne character. Tom Ripley was a tour-de-force. But Clooney, instead of coasting on good looks and charm, is on a creative roll right now and he just seems to be getting better and better—particularly behind the camera—something I would never have predicted before THREE KINGS and OUT OF SIGHT. But don’t count Damon out. A lot can happen in 10 years.
5) What is the movie you’ve encouraged more people to see than any other?
A toss-up between OUT OF SIGHT and THE RIGHT STUFF.
Lately, I’ve noticed a lot of people, here and elsewhere, voicing appreciation for OUT OF SIGHT. So I guess my efforts are starting to pay off. I’m sure Soderberg’s thank-you is in the mail. :^)
6) Favorite film of 1934
THE THIN MAN. I appreciate the beauty and the complexity and the artistry of IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT. But I love THE THIN MAN.
7) Your favorite movie theater*
I know it’s a bit hayseed of me, but I was truly awestruck by Mann’s (Grauman’s) Chinese Theater on Hollywood Boulevard. It proved that the proper venue could elevate something so quotidian as, say, DAYS OF THUNDER to—ah, who am I kidding? That was crap on a cracker, Robert Towne or not. But walking down the aisles at Chinese really did take me back to Golden Age Hollywood. Truly a cathedral with a silver screen for an altar.
Similarly, I love/d the Neptune in Seattle. Not quite a movie palace, but pitch-perfect nautical kitsch (the concession stand was a glass-bottomed boat turned sideways) and just the right balance of originality and restoration. (Basically, they updated the sound system and put in seats with cup holders. What else do you need?)
8) Jean Arthur or Irene Dunne?
You know those moments in Looney Tunes when the aroma of a fresh baked pie (or roasted carrots) wafts by and Bugs or whoever floats along behind it in a dreamy trance? That was me from the first moment I saw Irene Dunne in THE AWFUL TRUTH. Can’t really explain it. Total rapture.
9) Favorite film made for children
CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG.
Basically it’s James Bond meets (and presumably shags) Mary Poppins. All those great Bond/Fleming gizmos, gags, and punny names (not to mention a Bond stalwarts like Desmond Llewelyn and Gert Frobe) all bustling through a fun story about a really bitchin’ car. It’s one of three musicals I’ll admit publicly to loving, not least for the subversive and occasionally ribald streak that runs through nearly all the songs. “…’cause what we do with the ol’ bamboo makes everyone go daft!”
Runners-up: THE JUNGLE BOOK, the entire Pixar oeuvre.
10) Favorite Martin Scorsese Movie
GOODFELLAS for all the obvious reasons, but with the disclaimer that by naming a favorite to answer the question, I’m not claiming Scorsese to be the ne plus ultra of modern filmmaking. To me, this is the movie of his that holds together the best, and that I enjoy watching the most. I especially like the kinetic fluidity of it.
Also, though, I have to offer up some praise for THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST. After seeing it I was baffled by all the hubbub—after all, the story ends basically validating and confirming the message(s) of the Gospels. A testament to the (unfortunate) power of groupthink.
11) Favorite film about children
STAND BY ME because it’s a beautifully and truthfully observed coming-of-age story. It gets extra points for being set (and shot) in Oregon. I’ve actually ridden the train that almost squashed the boys on that trestle. “Chopper, sic BALLS!”
I’m not sure if it qualifies, but I can’t help but watch BIG every time it shows up on cable.
12) Favorite film of 1954
I’m gonna have to go with REAR WINDOW by default. (Shameful confession: I have yet to see ON THE WATERFRONT or THE SEVEN SAMURAI. I know, I know.) The only other film that I’ve seen from ’54 is THE GLENN MILLER STORY, which I liked a lot, too.
13) Favorite screenplay written by a writer more famous for literature than screenplays
I’m totally having to crib off somebody else for this one. The only thing I can come up with on my own is THE LAST TYCOON, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and I never saw it. I like how you’re figuring out how to IMDb-proof these questions, Dennis.
What about James Dickey for DELIVERANCE?
14) Walter Matthau or Jack Lemmon?
As an onscreen team, they’re nearly impossible to top; individually, though, Lemmon runs away with it. Matthau is a great character actor. Lemmon is just a consummate actor who creates characters. Add Shelly ‘The Machine’ Levene to the list of great roles already mentioned.
15) Favorite character name
General Buck Turgidson, DR STRANGELOVE
It perfectly splits the difference between obvious (Gen. Jack D. Ripper) and patently absurd (Col. Batguano “…if that is your real name.”).
Honorable mentions:
Biggus Dickus (and don’t forget his wife, Incontinentia Buttocks)
H.I. McDonnough (“Call me ‘Hi.’”)
Inigo Montoya (“Ju keel my father; prepahr to die.”)
16) Favorite screenplay adapted from a work of great literature, either by the author himself or by someone else
A toss-up between TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD and A ROOM WITH A VIEW. I also recall enjoying the ’98 remake of GREAT EXPECTATIONS quite a bit. I know it probably doesn’t count as great lit, but I always thought THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION was a faithful but not slavish adaptation of a great short story/novella.
I’m sure everyone’s getting a bit weary of my undying devotion to THE RIGHT STUFF, and the source material was much more proto-creative-non-fiction than anything aspiring to literary. Yet I’m always impressed by the clever ways Kaufman breathed cinematic life into Tom Wolfe’s prose.
17) Favorite film of 1974
YOUNG FRANKENSTIEN. You said favorite. I know: THE GODFATHER PART II, CHINATOWN, THE CONVERSATION, yes, yes, yes. It might not have been the most important or even the best movie of the year, but it is the most enduringly entertaining, thirty years and literally hundreds of viewings later. In fact, after thinking about it, I’d like to go ahead and change my answer to the question from the last quiz about the best thing to come out of the early ‘70s. This is Brooks and Wilder at their individual and collaborative peaks. They set a standard for genre parody that has yet to be equaled or bested, even by them. “Taffeta, sweetheart” “Taffeta, darling.”
18) Joan Severance or Shannon Tweed?
At first, I was going to pick Shannon Tweed for her seminal performance opposite David Naughton in HOT DOG, which my Army roommate dragged me to no less than three times. At least he paid. But then I finally figured out who Joan Severance is, so I’m going with her. Way classier.
19) jackass: the movie-- yes or no?
If it weren’t for your post a few weeks ago, Dennis, I probably would have said No outright. But god DAMN I laughed so hard at that trailer for NUMBER TWO, despite myself. It’d have to be one of those misses-takes-the-man-cub-to-her-grandmother’s occasions. But absolutely, yes. The Jackass crew is/are the Three Stooges of our generation: Pure, unabashed guilty pleasure for men; a phenomenon that’s utterly lost on [most] women.
20) Favorite John Cassavetes Movie
Haven’t seen anything he directed (yet). I love him in THE TEMPEST, though.
21) First R-rated movie you ever saw
During my days as an apprentice projectionist, I saw most (thought thankfully not all) of DELIVERANCE, as well as THE REINCARNATION OF PETER PROUD, HARRY AND TONTO. Can’t recall which was first. The first R-rated movie I saw from the auditorium of a theatre was probably SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER before the PG recut.
22) Favorite X-rated film (remember that, while your answer may well be a famous or not-so-famous hard-core film, the "X" rating was once also a legitimate rating that did not necessarily connote pornography)
I’m gonna cop out and go with MIDNIGHT COWBOY, with the proviso that I’d like to watch LAST TANGO IN PARIS again without the teenager-sneaking-a-look-at-porno expectations. ‘Cause on that basis, it was a bit of a letdown.
23) Best film of 1994
Probably PULP FICTION, followed closely by THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION. (And try not to make too much of the fact that both stories feature sodomy rather prominently.) But while everyone argues about the respective merits of those, let’s not forget about BULLETS OVER BROADWAY and THE HUDSUCKER PROXY. Both delightful, not least for their refreshing lack of anal rape.
Quick question, Professor:’34, ’54, and ’74 asked for “favorites”; this one is “best.” Was that intentional? If so, wouldn’t FORREST GUMP be the only answer? Heh.
24) Describe a moment in a movie that made you weep
The end of A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT took me completely by surprise.
It’s just an elderly man working a trout stream under Robert Redford’s narration:
“…In the Arctic half-light of the canyon, all existence fades to a being with my soul and memories and the sounds of the Big Blackfoot River and a four-count rhythm and the hope that a fish will rise. Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it.”
But somehow all the drama and pathos and nostalgia of the entire story came crashing down on me in that last line.
Of course, Kevin Costner ‘having a catch’ with his dad in FIELD OF DREAMS.
Oh, and, my god, the scene in THE KID where they’re taking Jackie Coogan away from Charlie Chaplin…seriously owns me. I can’t even see the screen at the moment… talk amongst yourselves…
25) Ewan McGregor or Ewan Bremner?
McGregor, but purely on the strength of familiarity. And he was Obi-Wan.
26) One of your favorite line readings (not necessarily one of your favorite lines) from this or any year
“We’re gonna need a bigger boat.” But it’s the build-up to Scheider delivering the line that makes it so memorable: The shark breaching out of the water, Brody popping into the reverse-angle shot like a shooting-gallery target, his entranced, backward shuffle to the pilot house, never taking his eyes off the wake. Then the words sort of leak out of his mouth with perfect deadpan dread.
All of Alec Baldwin’s sales-meeting monologue in GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS, but especially:
“Put. That coffee. Down. Coffee is for closers. Do you think I’m fucking with you? I am not fucking with you.”
27) What, if any, element in a film, upon your hearing of its inclusion beforehand, would most likely prejudice you against seeing that film or keeping an open mind about it?
“Based on the bestselling novel by Nicolas Sparks.”
A numeral—Roman or Arabic—in the title. I’ve softened some on this, owing in large part to Dennis’ intercessions, but I’m still wary. For every GF II or TESB, there’s a hundred HIGHLANDER II: THE QUICKENINGs. It’s like the man said: Fool me twice, can’t get fooled again.
28) Favorite Terry Gilliam Movie
TIME BANDITS. I know BRAZIL is the more quintessentially Gilliam film, but what can I tell you? It’s like my answer to #17 (fave of ’74): I’ll take enjoyable over important any day.
29) Jean Smart or Annie Potts?
Um, hello? Annie Potts was in CORVETTE SUMMER. I don’t see how Jean Smart could ever hope to best that. (Good call, too, to whoever mentioned PRETTY IN PINK.)
30) Is it possible to know with any certainty if you could like or love someone based on their taste in movies? If so, what film might be a potential relationship deal-breaker for you, or the one that might just seal that deal?
It’s not so much a question of a particular film or genre, but a matter of how someone feels about movies. I know I’m verging on HIGH FIDELITY snobbery here, but I couldn’t be with someone for whom films (or books or music or art or even food, for that matter) are mere filler, something to be consumed passively or with indifference.
In this regard, I’m greatly blessed. My first date with my wife was RAISING ARIZONA; a mutual enthusiasm for movies has been a part of our relationship ever since.
Even though we each have our favorites, we happen to like and love a lot of the same movies, though usually for different reasons. She’s really expanded my appreciation for classic Hollywood. I owe my love of THE THIN MAN, TEST PILOT, MY MAN GODFREY, and a whole raft of classic Hollywood fare to her.
I’m always impressed and delighted when she quotes a movie; she gets a lot of satisfaction out of me knowing who Wallace Beery and Billie Burke are and what movies they’re in.
As for potential deal-breakers, see question 27. After 18+ years together, though, I think we’re probably in the clear.
1) Does film best tell the truth (Godard) or tell lies (De Palma) at 24 frames per second? (Thanks, Peet)
It can do either, but lying is much easier to do.
2) Ideal pairing of actors/actresses to play on-screen siblings
My friend casually mentioned that Cary Grant looked a lot like George Clooney, if we could get some sort of time machine that would probably be it.
3) Favorite special effects moment
King Kong’s Fight with the Tyrannosaurus in the original, the way they move is so organic, and I especially love the point when Kong plays with the jaw of the dead dinosaur in an act of child-like curiosity. It’s a level of dedication that was not needed to make it the blockbuster it was, but it is sorely appreciated now.
4) Matt Damon or George Clooney?
George Clooney by a whole bunches of lots.
5) What is the movie you’ve encouraged more people to see than any other?
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921) is a great silent film that seems to have been lost through the ravages of time. I’m not sure why it isn’t more popular then it is, after all it is the movie that cemented Rudolf Valentino as the heart-throb of the decade.
Besides that it has excellent directing from Rex Ingram and a wonderful screenplay based on a best-selling book. Unfortunantly it isn’t even available on DVD except as an extra to a documentary on Rudolf Valentino. I was lucky enough to catch it on Turner Classic Movies twice.
6) Favorite film of 1934
Before I elaborate, I have to say that 1934 has one of the biggest gaps in my movie watching experience, It Happened One Night, but barring that I would have to say The Thin Man, which I went into expecting a detective story and came out laughing my head off. The chemistry between William Powell and Myna Loy cannot be understated. A fine, fine, film.
7) Your favorite movie theater*
I am lucky enough to live near the AFI silver theatre, that’s where I watch the majority of my outings to the theater.
8) Jean Arthur or Irene Dunne?
Dunne is great, but I’d have to go with Arthur.
9) Favorite film made for children
This is a tough one. There are so many quality films that although the primary audience is children, are great artistic accomplishments. I’m torn between the old classic The Wizard of Oz and the modern masterpiece Spirited Away. I’ll actually give the edge to Spirited Away for now, but I haven’t seen The Wizard of Oz for a year or two, so maybe it will win upon re-watching.
10) Favorite Martin Scorsese Movie
There is really no question for me, Taxi Driver. I was hooked all the way through. Do you know what won the Oscar that year? Rocky. Rocky, a fine film when you are in a certain mindset, but it’s Plan 9 compared to such masterpieces as Taxi Driver, Network, and All the Presidents Men made that year.
Taxi Driver has marvelous performances, great direction and a great script. What more could you ask for? The moment that sticks out most for me is when, while talking to his friends, our “hero’s” attention is transfixed to the glass of water with Alka-Seltzer dropped in. The camera slowly zooms in on a birds eye view of the glass, until all we see is the liquid and all we hear is the sizzling of the Alka-Seltzer.
11) Favorite film about children
How do you define “children?” for teenagers it’s Rebel Without a Cause, no doubt. That movie has so much raw emotion and social signifigance that it’s hard not to be utterly, hopelessly captivated for the two hours.
For younger it’s Night of the Hunter, although I guess you can claim that it’s more the preacher’s story then the children’s. This movie has a wonderful slow dreamlike quality to it, but keeps the sense of terror that is so vital to the story. And of course, again, great acting. Of the two I’d give the edge to Night of the Hunter though it’s a terrible thing making me choose
(funny, both of these were made in 1955)
12) Favorite film of 1954
Although Rear Window gives a valiant fight, in the end The Seven Samurai reigns supreme in this battle.
13) Favorite screenplay written by a writer more famous for literature than screenplays
Didn’t Raymond Chandler at least Co-Write To Have and Have Not? If so, that’s my choice. (Although Arthur C. Clarke wrote the 2001 screenplay, it seems to me that 2001 is more of a directors movie then a screenwriters.)
14) Walter Matthau or Jack Lemmon?
Jack Lemmon is one of the greatest comic geniuses of the 50’s so, yeah I choose Jack.
15) Favorite character name
You can’t go wrong with a Groucho Marx name. I’ll be boring and choose Rufus T. Firefly for the moment.
16) Favorite screenplay adapted from a work of great literature, either by the author himself or by someone else
Bride of Frankenstein is only loosely based on the novel Frankenstein. (I do love Bride though, it’s like awesome in a film canister) so I’ll say The Godfather, of which I doubt I have to say anything.
17) Favorite film of 1974
And here we get to the other Godfather, Godfather part II, another masterpiece that is arguably better then the first (me, I’m not sure either way).
18) Joan Severance or Shannon Tweed?
Not a fan of either.
19) jackass: the movie-- yes or no?
Haven’t seen it, but judging from the TV show, no.
20) Favorite John Cassavetes Movie
I’m sorry to say that I haven’t seen any, but I have Faces saved on my Tivo.
21) First R-rated movie you ever saw
I’m not sure, when I saw it wasn’t a big deal, I don’t pay attention to ratings.
Oh wait I remember! (keep in mind that I am currently 16 years old)
It was Sin City. I really liked it and was surprised when it wasn’t nominated for something at the academy awards. It was my favorite of the year until I saw History of Violence.
22) Favorite X-rated film (remember that, while your answer may well be a famous or not-so-famous hard-core film, the "X" rating was once also a legitimate rating that did not necessarily connote pornography)
Haven’t seen any that I know of.
23) Best film of 1994
Another big gap in my movie experience is Pulp Fiction. But I have seen Shawshank Redemption and thought it was great. Not 2nd greatest movie of all time great (I’m looking at you IMDB) but still pretty dang great.
24) Describe a moment in a movie that made you weep
I’ll go with the weird choice: The Fly, Cronenburg version. That movie is absolutely emotionally devastating, from horror to disgust to tragedy. It’s one of my favorites.
25) Ewan McGregor or Ewan Bremner?
Not familiar with Bremner so this wouldn’t be fair (not a particular fan of McGregor though)
26) One of your favorite line readings (not necessarily one of your favorite lines) from this or any year
The Stairway scene of The Shining is one of my favorite scenes of all time, and wouldn’t have been the same without good ol’ Jack.
Also “There are more woman of anything else in the world, except insects” from Gilda. A terrible misogynist statement pulled off by Glen Ford.
27) What, if any, element in a film, upon your hearing of its inclusion beforehand, would most likely prejudice you against seeing that film or keeping an open mind about it?
I try to keep my politics away from my movie watching, but when I hear that it’s a revenge fantasy I tend to be wary of it.
28) Favorite Terry Gilliam Movie
Does co-directing count? If so then Monty Python and the Holy Grail. This used to be my favorite movie of all time and remains in at least my top fifty. In middle school I used to speak almost entirely out of Holy Grail quotes.
29) Jean Smart or Annie Potts?
N/A
30) Is it possible to know with any certainty if you could like or love someone based partially on their taste in movies? If so, what film might be a potential relationship deal-breaker for you, or the one that might just seal that deal?
Although I’m shallow enough to (partially) take movie tastes into account when making friends (though I do have friends with oppisite tastes in movies) but it’s more of a entire aste thing more then an individual movie thing.
I think I have to redo #24, because I named a movie and not a moment.
i can't remember a moment in the Fly, so I'll use Bride of Frankenstien. The blind hermit scene. There, I said it.
Dennis, first time commenting. Love the blog!
1) Does film best tell the truth (Godard) or tell lies (De Palma) at 24 frames per second? (Thanks, Peet)
Interesting phrasing. Not just does it tell, but does it BEST tell the truth or tell lies. It best tells the truth, that is it's greatest function. But film can only express truth to do the degree that filmakers are capable of telling it and depicting it, and so mostly film lies. How's that for a boring oversimplification?
2) Ideal pairing of actors/actresses to play on-screen siblings
Lukas Haas and a young Kermit the Frog.
3) Favorite special effects moment
When Dr. Grant and co. (and the audience) see the brachiosaurus (?) for the first time in Jurassic Park. I was ten. It was awesome.
4) Matt Damon or George Clooney?
Clooney.
5) What is the movie you’ve encouraged more people to see than any other?
The Usual Suspects.
6) Favorite film of 1934
Twentieth Century
7) Your favorite movie theater*
Don't have one. The local theater growing up was a converted warehouse, terrible in every respect. And now it's just bland multiplexes as far as the eye can see.
8) Jean Arthur or Irene Dunne?
Jean Arthur, one of my favorites.
9) Favorite film made for children
Babe
10) Favorite Martin Scorsese Movie
Casino
11) Favorite film about children
Oliver!
12) Favorite film of 1954
Rear Window.
13) Favorite screenplay written by a writer more famous for literature than screenplays
Mario Puzo, Superman: The Movie
14) Walter Matthau or Jack Lemmon?
Lemmon.
15) Favorite character name
Captain Gladys Stotepamphlet. It's not from a movie, and, really, it's not even the name of a character, but it's my favorite name ever.
16) Favorite screenplay adapted from a work of great literature, either by the author himself or by someone else
Glengarry Glenross
17) Favorite film of 1974
It's The Conversation, without a doubt, but since that's already been mentioned, how about a little love to California Split or Bring Me The Head of Alfredo Garcia?
18) Joan Severance or Shannon Tweed?
Joan Severance
19) jackass: the movie-- yes or no?
Yes.
20) Favorite John Cassavetes Movie
A Woman Under the Influence
21) First R-rated movie you ever saw
Terminator 2.
22) Favorite X-rated film (remember that, while your answer may well be a famous or not-so-famous hard-core film, the "X" rating was once also a legitimate rating that did not necessarily connote pornography)
Not being able to think of many off hand, and having not seen most of the titles previously mentioned here, I'll go with Last Tango in Paris. (Really ought to get around to watching Beyond the Valley of the Dolls)
23) Best film of 1994
Bullets Over Broadway.
24) Describe a moment in a movie that made you weep
The ending of Elephant Man is a great call, but I'm going to go with the ending of Godzilla 1985. If memory serves (and since I was four or five when I saw it, it really might not), Godzilla, who has shown a fondness for birds and their songs throughout the film, is lured to his death when the humans pipe bird calls through speakers and Godzilla follows them right into an active volcano. Absolutely destroyed me at the time.
25) Ewan McGregor or Ewan Bremner?
Ewan McGregor. What kind of choice is that, anyway?
26) One of your favorite line readings (not necessarily one of your favorite lines) from this or any year
My favorite line and line reading, from O Brother Where Art Thou?: "Well, of course, there are all manner of lesser imps and demons, but everyone knows that the great Satan hisself is red and scaly with a bifurcated tale, and he carries a hayfork."
27) What, if any, element in a film, upon your hearing of its inclusion beforehand, would most likely prejudice you against seeing that film or keeping an open mind about it?
Sandra Bullock
28) Favorite Terry Gilliam Movie
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
29) Jean Smart or Annie Potts?
Jean Smart
30) Is it possible to know with any certainty if you could like or love someone based partially on their taste in movies? If so, what film might be a potential relationship deal-breaker for you, or the one that might just seal that deal?
Nah. I mean, yes, I've broken up with girls for their taste in movies, but that was never the real reason, and I've never really stayed in a relationship because of taste in movies. It might help, and it might indicate how other aspects of a relationship will play, but in and of itself I doubt it really means that much.
To anonymous - Thanks for the knowledge.
To Red - I came very close to posting the same answer--almost word-for-word--to number 6!
1) Godard is right because all good art tells the truth, especially the truth of the human condition.
2) Can't think of anyone off the top of my head.
3) So many over the past ten years...I'll go with the "Pod Race" scene from "Phantom Menace". Not only are the visuals amazing, but Lucas is a master of aural sound effects. Those engine noises trick you into believing you are watching real space ships instead of CGI.
4) Matt Damon, although I like both as actors I think I would enjoy hanging out more with Matt.
5) Recently I recommend "Oldboy" to anyone who will listen because:
a) most people won't normally go see a Korean film without some prodding;
b) it is one the most original and amazing films I've seen in a long time.
6) I doubt I've seen a single film from 1934.
7) The Music Box here in Chicago. Grand old theater...I went to a 25th Anniversary celebration there for Siskel and Ebert that was magical.
8) Don't know either.
9) Probably "Finding Nemo" although "Monsters, Inc." would be a close second.
10) "Raging Bull"
11) "Ponette" -- some of the most amazing performances ever by child actors.
12) Nothing comes to mind.
13) Faulkner for "The Big Sleep".
14) Jack Lemmon...his performance in "The Apartment" was perfect.
15) Luke Skywalker
16) Doug McGregor's version of "Emma" comes to mind, but I wonder if there is something better I'm not thinking of...
17) "Chinatown"
18) I remember when Shannon Tweed was Playmate of the Year! Not even close.
19) I haven't even seen the movie and I say "yes".
20) "Gloria"
21) I'm almost positive it was "North Dallas Forty" which I would have seen at the tender age of 10...what was my Dad thinking!
22) Probably the first "Buttman" movie, as John Stagliano was the one of the first porn directors to pioneer 'gonzo' porn, which is now the gold standard.
23) "Ed Wood"
24) I cried when Matt Damon finally breaks down in Robin Williams arms in "Good Will Hunting".
25) I go with a young Obi-Wan Kenobi.
26) Nothing pops in my head.
27) A film based on history that gets the history wrong.
28) "Brazil"
29) Huh?
30) I think a preference for mindless entertainment would be worrying in someone, although not a deal breaker.
1) Does film best tell the truth (Godard) or tell lies (De Palma) at 24 frames per second? (Thanks, Peet)
Glad you put the easy questions first... sheesh. which? best? I say: Both. We surrender to the lies, and we FEEL the truth. Their power is equal, IMO. Which motivation on the individual viewer's part is better, is another question entirely.
2) Ideal pairing of actors/actresses to play on-screen siblings
Helen Hunt & Leelee Sobieski
3) Favorite special effects moment
Don't have one.
4) Matt Damon or George Clooney?
Neither. I have no interest in defending one or the other.
5) What is the movie you’ve encouraged more people to see than any other?
"Harold and Maude"
6) Favorite film of 1934
"Triumph of the Will"? The original "Imitation of Life"? "The Man Who Knew Too Much"? "Treasure Island"? Good god -- "It Happened One Night"?!? Much as I love these, I gotta give it to a movie I loved before I knew I loved movies -- "Babes in Toyland," with Laurel and Hardy. Indelible.
7) Your favorite movie theater*
I wish I still had one. When I was a kid: The Elmira (now the Clemens Center, in Elmira, N.Y.). It still has the plush red seats, the classic '20s architectural theatre details, but only shows movies once a year now (a silent feature with theatre organ; they finally got around to Mel Brooks this year).
8) Jean Arthur or Irene Dunne?
Lovely as Miss Jean Arthur is (was), I vote Irene, for the hilarious 'The Awful Truth' and for singing 'Smoke Gets In Your Eyes'
9) Favorite film made for children
"Alice in Wonderland" (1933), which i remember being VERY disturbing.
10) Favorite Martin Scorsese Movie
Tough one. I love Taxi Driver, so that wins out... but Casino is also great, and My Voyage to Italy and Martin Scorsese's Journey Through American Films are as indispensible as any of his features.
11) Favorite film about children
"Millions."
12) Favorite film of 1954
I expect Bogie and Brando may get more love in the poll, but I prefer "Rear Window."
13) Favorite screenplay written by a writer more famous for literature than screenplays
"Beyond the Valley of the Dolls"!
14) Walter Matthau or Jack Lemmon?
Jack!
15) Favorite character name
I loved that the guy in "Open Water" was named Kintner, and that we only find this out at the end, in a dual direct reference to a certain Spielberg film from '74 ...
Before I saw that movie a couple months ago, my answer might have been 'Rufus T. Firefly'.
16) Favorite screenplay adapted from a work of great literature, either by the author himself or by someone else
"The Razor's Edge" (1982)
17) Favorite film of 1974
Like '34, what a year!! "The Conversation" and "Blazing Saddles" over "The Godfather, Part II" and "Young Frankenstein," this is so painful! not to mention "The Great Gatsby," "Amarcord" and "Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia."
But ... "The Conversation" it is.
18) Joan Severance or Shannon Tweed?
That's like forcing a choice between Sylvia Kristel or Kari Wuhrer!
19) jackass: the movie-- yes or no?
ummmm.... no.
20) Favorite John Cassavetes Movie
"Gloria"
21) First R-rated movie you ever saw
If memory serves: The Longest Yard (in a theatre) or Mean Streets (on HBO)
22) Favorite X-rated film (remember that, while your answer may well be a famous or not-so-famous hard-core film, the "X" rating was once also a legitimate rating that did not necessarily connote pornography)
Again: "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls"!
23) Best film of 1994
The choice for me was down to ... "Ed Wood" and "The Hudsucker Proxy" -- after discounting "Chungking Express" - "Muriel's Wedding" and "Clerks" as, while great, not as big for me as those two. So ... "Ed Wood". It's magical, very sweet, and doesn't have a false note in it.
24) Describe a moment in a movie that made you weep
The end of "Antarctica," when the scientists return and find most of their dogs still alive. I still love that it touched me so deeply, and because of that, I will never see the Disneyfied version of the story ("Eight Below"). I sure hope Vangelis' score had nothing to do with my reaction... but who can say?
25) Ewan McGregor or Ewan Bremner?
McGregor! Singing "Beyond the Sea" in "A Life Less Ordinary" did it for me. And how many movies have
26) One of your favorite line readings (not necessarily one of your favorite lines) from this or any year
"What's the rumpus?" in "Brick."
27) What, if any, element in a film, upon your hearing of its inclusion beforehand, would most likely prejudice you against seeing that film or keeping an open mind about it?
Will Ferrell.
28) Favorite Terry Gilliam Movie
"Mum! Dad! Don't Touch It! It's Eeeee-vil!"
"Time Bandits," forever.
29) Jean Smart or Annie Potts?
Annie Potts, for thighs going up in flames in "Pretty in Pink" and for being the sexiest thing in "Texasville."
30) Is it possible to know with any certainty if you could like or love someone based partially on their taste in movies? If so, what film might be a potential relationship deal-breaker for you, or the one that might just seal that deal?
Yes - although it would be unwise to base that decision on only the one great or horrible movie on their list. A LOT of them, maybe. The last woman I found myself attracted to revealed that she loved 'State and Main,' 'I Heart Huckabee's' .... and it was very promising. Then she blew it by saying 'The Goonies.' Besides, her boyfriend was sitting next to her at the time. (True story!)
1) Does film best tell the truth (Godard) or tell lies (De Palma) at 24 frames per second? (Thanks, Peet)
I think it has the potential to do both, depending on the director.
2) Ideal pairing of actors/actresses to play on-screen siblings
I’m selecting from existing films, and because I can’t think of any ideal, I’ll pick the most outlandish: character actor Bruce McGill and Michelle Pfeiffer in INTO THE NIGHT.
3) Favorite special effects moment
David Naughton’s on-screen werewolf transformation in John Landis’s seminal AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON, courtesy of make-up artist Rick Baker.
4) Matt Damon or George Clooney?
I appreciate Clooney, but on the basis of STUCK ON YOU alone, I’ll go with Damon.
5) What is the movie you’ve encouraged more people to see than any other?
There’s been quite a few, but most recently, the second (and last) Fibber McGee and Molly feature film HERE WE GO AGAIN (auteurists will take note that it’s helmed by Allan Dwan).
6) Favorite film of 1934
Jean Vigo’s L’ATALANTE
7) Your favorite movie theater*
Any (and all) drive-ins.
8) Jean Arthur or Irene Dunne?
I love THE AWFUL TRUTH, but I’ll have to go with Jean Arthur on the strength of her work with Capra and in ONLY ANGELS HAVE WINGS (one of my very favorite films).
9) Favorite film made for children
TROLL II
10) Favorite Martin Scorsese Movie
AFTER HOURS. I could have also answered #5 with this title.
11) Favorite film about children
SMALL CHANGE
12) Favorite film of 1954
REAR WINDOW
13) Favorite screenplay written by a writer more famous for literature than screenplays
It’s hard to tell who wrote what, but Jim Thompson and his work on Kubrick’s PATHS OF GLORY.
14) Walter Matthau or Jack Lemmon?
Coming from such a CHARLEY VARRICK aficionado, I can only answer Matthau, although I’ll add the caveat that Lemmon had more range.
15) Favorite character name
Walter Paisley!
16) Favorite screenplay adapted from a work of great literature, either by the author himself or by someone else
I wouldn’t consider it a piece of great literature, but I want to limit this to screenplays I’ve actually read, so I’ll say the work done on the Paul Theroux novel SAINT JACK, by both Peter Bogdanovich and Howard Sackler.
17) Favorite film of 1974
Such a great year, but COCKFIGHTER would have to be it.
18) Joan Severance or Shannon Tweed?
Joan Severance, for at least she started out with some credibility.
19) jackass: the movie-- yes or no?
I haven’t seen it in ages, so I’ll have to pass on this one, although you’ll see which way I’m leaning when I say that I’m looking forward to the sequel, especially after thinking Johnny Knoxville had placed the show behind him.
20) Favorite John Cassavetes Movie
HUSBANDS, which could be, again, yet another answer for #5!
21) First R-rated movie you ever saw
My parents didn’t really place restrictions on any films when I was growing up, save for nudity or raunchy sex scenes, so I honestly can’t remember.
22) Favorite X-rated film (remember that, while your answer may well be a famous or not-so-famous hard-core film, the "X" rating was once also a legitimate rating that did not necessarily connote pornography)
Somebody else had said that PERFORMANCE was rated X originally, so that’d have to be my answer.
23) Best film of 1994
ED WOOD
24) Describe a moment in a movie that made you weep
I’ve described it on my blog, but a certain moment in John Ford’s THE WINGS OF EAGLES comes to mind: John Wayne coming to terms with the fact that he’ll never serve his country again, as he’s being escorted off of a service ship.
25) Ewan McGregor or Ewan Bremner?
26) One of your favorite line readings (not necessarily one of your favorite lines) from this or any year
“Next time I let it out is gonna be in a sailboat!”
- Peter Falk is rebuffed in bed by a woman he picked up at an English casino.
27) What, if any, element in a film, upon your hearing of its inclusion beforehand, would most likely prejudice you against seeing that film or keeping an open mind about it?
- I hate to act like an old stodgy, but a heavy reliance or a rumor of bad CGI would surely be enough reason for me to second-guess seeing a movie.
-
28) Favorite Terry Gilliam Movie
- THE FISHER KING
-
29) Jean Smart or Annie Potts?
- Annie Potts, on the basis of both CORVETTE SUMMER and TEXASVILLE.
-
30) Is it possible to know with any certainty if you could like or love someone based partially on their taste in movies? If so, what film might be a potential relationship deal-breaker for you, or the one that might just seal that deal?
To get personal for a moment, something I rarely do, I must confess in lucking out in meeting a woman who is as major a film enthusiast as I am, and that her love of classical Hollywood certainly didn’t harm any matters in the getting-to-know-you stage.
These are such a joy to fill out that I wish I had more time in expanding on my answers and to get a bit long-winded, but plans for a summer trip are underway and that’s been occupying all my time recently.
Always a pleasure, Professor!
1) Does film best tell the truth (Godard) or tell lies (De Palma) at 24 frames per second? (Thanks, Peet)
Ha! The only right answer to that is:
Film tells the truth at 24 lies a second. It’s all about the truth WITHIN the lie.
From my Plausibles article: “The truth can be revealed in the most accurately visualized naturalistic detail, just as much as it can in the most wildly imaginative allegory. In the most interesting cases, film does both at once. Of all the arts, cinema is unique in its ability to simultaneously capture the world as it is and the way we interpret it, juxtaposing objective and subjective points of view in a curious blend of fact with personal ideology.”
2) Ideal pairing of actors/actresses to play on-screen siblings
John and Joan Cusack. Hey, what can I say, this is THE ideal choice!
3) Favorite special effects moment
Snob answer: the drop-dead gorgeous matte painting in BLACK NARCISSUS when Sister Clodagh rings the bell on a mountain top.
Geek answer: The flying saucer crashing right in front of the unimpressed Men in Black.
4) Matt Damon or George Clooney?
George Clooney, because of his charm and versatility.
5) What is the movie you’ve encouraged more people to see than any other?
Probably BIRTH.
6) Favorite film of 1934
Pass.
7) Your favorite movie theater*
The Imperial in Copenhagen.
8) Jean Arthur or Irene Dunne?
This is from way before my time and I don’t receive TCM.
9) Favorite film made for children
Whenever I like one, the boys play it to death at home until I like it a little less. THE NEVERENDING STORY or SPIRITED AWAY perhaps.
10) Favorite Martin Scorsese Movie
TAXI DRIVER.
11) Favorite film about children
THE BROOD.
12) Favorite film of 1954
REAR WINDOW, I guess.
13) Favorite screenplay written by a writer more famous for literature than screenplays
SPOORLOOS aka THE VANISHING, adapted by Dutch author Tim Krabbé from his own novel. He despises the remake, as do I.
14) Walter Matthau or Jack Lemmon?
When they’re together: Walter. When they’re apart: Jack.
15) Favorite character name
Gloria Revelle.
16) Favorite screenplay adapted from a work of great literature, either by the author himself or by someone else
Paul Verhoeven’s DE VIERDE MAN aka THE FOURTH MAN, adapted by Gerard Soeteman from a novella by Gerard Reve. It actually expanded on the basic premisse of the original work to encapsulate all of Reve’s major themes.
17) Favorite film of 1974
THE GODFATHER II and THE CONVERSATION. Somebody was on a roll there.
18) Joan Severance or Shannon Tweed?
Joan Severance. Aren’t you forgetting Sybil Danning, Dennis, or is that the next quiz?
19) jackass: the movie-- yes or no?
I’m not in a hurry to see it, but I’ll tell you when I do.
20) Favorite John Cassavetes Movie
Damn, you beat me to it, Little Round-Headed Boy: THE FURY.
21) First R-rated movie you ever saw
Too long ago to remember.
22) Favorite X-rated film (remember that, while your answer may well be a famous or not-so-famous hard-core film, the "X" rating was once also a legitimate rating that did not necessarily connote pornography)
Schlesinger’s MIDNIGHT COWBOY. Honestly.
23) Best film of 1994
On two opposite sides of the spectrum: PULP FICTION and Chabrol’s L’ENFER.
24) Describe a moment in a movie that made you weep
The ending of RUNNING ON EMPTY reduced me to a blubbering pool of tears, even after I rewinded and watched it again. When River Phoenix has to choose between going along with his parents (“Get in the car!”) or staying with the love of his life, with the consequence of never seeing the other again, and there’s this look of forgiveneness on his father’s face, I... I… I… it’s beyond words, really.
25) Ewan McGregor or Ewan Bremner?
Without a doubt: Ewan Bremner! He did one marvelous commercial for a Dutch insurance company, featuring Bill Clinton doing a speech on television and Ewan with a voodoo doll in a museum, and as soon as you’ve seen Ewan doing what he does to Clinton without ever knowing it, you’re convinced he’s the funniest actor of his generation.
26) One of your favorite line readings (not necessarily one of your favorite lines) from this or any year
I have so many, but I’m especially fond of Kevin Spacey as Williamson in Glengarry Glen Ross, saying: “Will you go to lunch? Go to lunch. WILL you GO to LUNCH?”
27) What, if any, element in a film, upon your hearing of its inclusion beforehand, would most likely prejudice you against seeing that film or keeping an open mind about it?
When the posters says: “Directed by Stephen Sommers.”
28) Favorite Terry Gilliam Movie
Gilliam has so incredibly much potential, but his films always leave me a tad disappointed for one reason or another. I’m afraid I’ll have to go with LOST IN LA MANCHA.
29) Jean Smart or Annie Potts?
I don’t know either.
30) Is it possible to know with any certainty if you could like or love someone based partially on their taste in movies? If so, what film might be a potential relationship deal-breaker for you, or the one that might just seal that deal?
Keith Gordon’s WAKING THE DEAD would seal the deal. I’m a hopeless romantic and this one just really gets to me.
Professor: A correction to no. 15: Jaws was 1975, not '74 -- that was a guess; although I used Wikipedia for the "best of the year" questions and cross-referenced against both IMDB and Pauline Kael's "5001 Nights at the Movies," a recent buy that will keep my Netflix queue full for years to come.
(This WAS an open-book test, right??)
Also, in No. 25, I cut myself off. It should have read ..."How many movies have a scene as great as the one with Tony Shalhoub telling Ewan, 'She'll be in some heaven for glamorous pussy, while you'll spend eternity mopping toilets in hell."
And Machinegun, I LOVE that you answered "Walter Paisley!" to no. 15. One of the greatest running B-picture in-jokes of all time.
This is drastically edited for space; my full answers are at http://thewrongbox.blogspot.com/2006/07/new-slifr-quiz.html
(And by the way, Dennis, as much as I hate asking for credit, I devoted a lot of time to your last quiz and was disappointed that you didn't mention me among the respondents. :( Oh, well.)
1) Let's just say that we should always be suspicious of the "truths" that come from films, because while films can be used to tell the truth, most of the time, they aren't.
2) Among men: Dylan McDermott and Dermot Mulroney, John C. McGinley and John C. Reilly, Keith David and David Keith. (Yeah, I know that the latter are different races.) I would add Vince Vaughn and Vincent d'Onofrio, but I'm pretty sure that's been done.
Among women: The Nicole Kidman/Naomi Watts pairing is obvious but deserves mention. Aside from that ... Amy Sedaris and Amy Poehler. Or how about Susan Strasberg and Susan St. James?
3) IMO, the best special effects moments are the ones where you don't notice that it's a special effect. That said, I'll go with the closing shot of Dead Ringers (1989), just because I still have no idea how it was done.
4) Clooney.
5) There are way too many candidates to list here, since I spend a significant portion of my life recommending movies to people, but I guess I'll go with Open Your Eyes (1997).
6) Unless there's something I'm overlooking, It Happened One Night.
7) Same answer as I gave last time: The Stanford Theater (not affiliated with the school) in Palo Alto.
8) Arthur, for Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, You Can't Take It With You, and of course Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. Did you know that she was billed above her leading men (Gary Cooper and James Stewart) in all three of those films? I can't believe that such a big star and unique screen presence has been so completely forgotten.
9) Probably Finding Nemo.
10) The Last Temptation of Christ, though I think that After Hours is underrated.
11) Fahrenheit 9/11. Oh, I'm sorry - that's my favorite film about adults who act like children.
Truffaut's Small Change. Or The Wild Child, though that's only about one child.
12) Rear Window.
13) I'll divide this one into prose writers and playwrights.
Prose: The Fallen Idol, by Graham Green.
Runners-up: Hiroshima Mon Amour (Duras), Last Year at Marienbad (Robbe-Grillet), Spoorloos/The Vanishing (Krabbé), Dario Argento's Sleepless (Lucarelli).
Playwrights: Brazil, co-written by Tom Stoppard.
Runners-up: Pygmalion (Shaw, though he only wrote a small part of it), Sleuth, Frenzy, The Wicker Man (A. Shaffer), Equus (P. Shaffer), The French Lieutenant's Woman (Pinter).
Special Mention: The Last of Sheila, original screenplay by Stephen Sondheim and Anthony Perkins.
14) I suppose the easy answer would be Matthau for comedy and Lemmon for drama, but let's not forget that Matthau was in Fail-Safe. Then again, Lemmon was in Some Like It Hot, so let's just call it a tie.
15) Deliberately avoiding Bond and Marx brothers movies (the official ones, at least), I'm coming up with "Montresor Herringbone" (Peter Lorre) in Tales of Terror and "Mata Bond" (Joanna Pettet) in Casino Royale (1967).
16) A Tale of Two Cities (1935), by W.P. Lipscomb and S.N. Behrman; "The Black Cat" segment of Tales of Terror (1962), by Richard Matheson; and The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, by Jay Presson Allen (adapting Muriel Spark's novel). A longer list can be found on my blog.
17) You're asking me to choose between Chinatown, The Godfather Part II, The Conversation, The Towering Inferno, Phantom of the Paradise, Blazing Saddles, and A Woman Under the Influence? Oh, man. As tough as that choice is, I'll have to go with Chinatown.
18) Is this the leggy brunette vs. busty blonde showdown? If so, I'll have to go with the former, just on principle.
19) No.
20) As director: A Woman Under the Influence.
As actor: The Fury. The perfect embodiment of Shakespeare's claim that "One may smile and smile and be a villain."
Honorable mention: His episode of Columbo, "Etude in Black."
21) Air Force One.
22) I think Medium Cool was originally rated X, though it's a straight dramatic film.
23) You make me choose between Pulp Fiction, Ed Wood, The Shawshank Redemption, Franz Kafka's It's a Wonderful Life, and Red? What a sadist! I guess I'll go with Shawshank, though I'll always have a soft spot for Ed.
By the way, speaking of 1994 films, North was my favorite movie when I was younger. Who knows what I'd think of it now, though.
24) I'll give an incomplete list of three:
* In The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992), Ebenezer Scrooge (Michael Caine) looks back on his childhood and realizes that he spent all of his holidays at school because he had no friends.
* In Remember the Titans (2000), Julius Campbell (Wood Harris) visits the bedside of now-paralyzed teammate Gary Bertier (Ryan Hurst).
* In the documentary The Times of Harvey Milk (1984), seemingly the entire city of San Francisco turns out for the funeral procession of George Moscone and Harvey Milk. It's made even more poignant by knowledge of the White Night Riots that would take place shortly thereafter.
25) McGregor, though I could easily be swayed if I see something of Bremner's that wows me.
26) From Local Hero, when Peter Riegert is drunkenly describing the aurora to Burt Lancaster, and he shouts, "It's gone red all over! IT'S GONE RED ALL OVER!!"
(See my blog for more.)
27)
- The presence of a giant spider.
- Being a remake of a film that does not need to be remade.
- Kathy Bates nudity.
- The director is named "Sofia Coppola."
- The hero is named "Che Guevara."
- Juliette Lewis.
28) Brazil. I loved Twelve Monkeys as well, though, and I liked everything in The Adventures of Baron Munchausen that didn't involve Robin Williams.
29) After the last season of 24, how could I not go with Smart? (Loved her on Frasier as well.)
30) There was a time in my life when this might have been more true, but I guess I don't take movies all that seriously anymore. That said, I would definitely think twice about a relationship with any woman who listed among her favorite movies Pretty Woman, Gone With the Wind, Breakfast at Tiffany's, and/or Amélie. I would also have a serious problem with anyone who was a fan of the films of Jean-Luc Godard. Conversely, I would look favorably on any woman who listed her favorite James Bond movies as the ones starring George Lazenby and Timothy Dalton, or expressed a love of Dario Argento.
Hi Dennis:
I'm a bit overwhelmed with Opening Shots (BTW, I've got frame grabs for "Femme Fatale" and "Yojimbo" to post with your submissions now -- after I clean them up a bit), so I'll have to be brief. Well, as brief as I can be. We'll see...
I deliberately have not looked at any of the submissions you've received so far, so forgive me if I repeat what anyone else has chosen...
1) Does film best tell the truth (Godard) or tell lies (De Palma) at 24 frames per second? (Thanks, Peet)
Ah, this is like that story of the village where everyone tells the truth, and the other village where everyone always lies. You meet a person at a fork in the road between them and try to ask one question that will reveal which village that guy is from. De Palma (and Peet) are most obviously right -- but Godard has a point, too. So, I'll paraphrase Orson Welles: "Art is a lie that tells the truth."
2) Ideal pairing of actors/actresses to play on-screen siblings
Of those who already have, I love Meryl Streep and Lily Tomlin in "A Prairie Home Companion"; Warren Oates and Ben Johnson in "The Wild Bunch"; and Jeremy Irons playing his own brother in "Dead Ringers." But I'd sure like to see Steve Buscemi and Mackenzie Crook (Gareth in the BBC "The Office") as brothers.
3) Favorite special effects moment
Usually they're the ones I don't even notice or think about until afterwards. I think the effects in "2001" -- done with miniatures, matte paintings, and front- and back-projection) still look more convincing and three-dimensional than anything that's been achieved with CGI so far.
But the appearance of the mothership in Spielberg's "Close Encounters," and the appearance of the water tentacle in James Cameron's "The Abyss" stand out as moments when I felt I was seeing something that could only be created and expressed in the medium of movies.
4) Matt Damon or George Clooney?
I'm impressed with Damon in "The Talented Mr. Ripley" and Gus Van Sant's "Gerry." And I think Paul Greengrass's "The Bourne Identity" is the most thrilling action movie of the new century so far. But Clooney really could be a Cary Grant-like movie star. He's convincingly suave, rugged, or schlumpy -- or all those things at once. He's great at comedy, slapstick or sophisticated. And he can do just about anything: "Out of Sight," "Three Kings," "O Brother, Where Art Thou?," "Good Night, and Good Luck.," "Syriana," the "Ocean's" movies...
5) What is the movie you’ve encouraged more people to see than any other?
"Nashville," definitely "Nashville." I've never stopped writing about it, talking about it, and showing it to people.
6) Favorite film of 1934
My handy Cinemania CD-ROM (the movie encyclopedia I edited at Microsoft) made these 19x4 questions a whole lot easier to answer. But how do you choose between "It's a Gift" and "The Scarlet Empress"? (Or, for that matter, "The Thin Man" and "L'Atlante"?) I've seen both of them countless times, and never tire of them. But, as I mention below, "It's a Gift" has one of my all-time favorite line readings, and one of my all-time favorite scenes (when Fields is trying to get to sleep on the back porch).
7) Your favorite movie theater*
Until it stopped being a movie theater: The Market Theater in the Pike Place Market in Seattle, where I booked films in the '80s (and practically lived).
The Samuel Goldwyn Theater at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Beverly Hills, CA. Awesome projection.
The Virginia Theater in Champaign, IL. A beautifully still-in-the-process-of-being-restored movie palace, originally a vaudeville theater (it's said the Marx Bros. actually performed on its stage), which is the home of Roger Ebert's Overlooked Film Festival each spring. The projection and equipment (from high-def video to 70mm to original Cinerama projectors) are astounding.
8) Jean Arthur or Irene Dunne?
I love Irene Dunne (especially in "The Awful Truth" and "Theodora Goes Wild") but I'm in love with Jean Arthur. I did a 12-title, six-week film series devoted to her in college. And she's in two of my favorite movies ever: "Easy Living" (directed by Mitchell Leisen and written by Preston Sturges) and, of course, Howard Hawks' "Only Angels Have Wings."
9) Favorite film made for children
I don't know what's made for children and what isn't, but I'll say "Pinocchio," my very favorite Disney animated feature.
10) Favorite Martin Scorsese Movie
"Taxi Driver" affected me most strongly, but I don't know if I would describe it as a "favorite." (I mean, can anybody really say they "like" a movie as profoundly disturbing as "Taxi Driver"? It still gives me a stomach ache, even if I only see a few seconds of it in passing.) So, I'll say "GoodFellas," which is so exhilarating in every respect that it once helped me and a friend out of an afternoon of paralyzing depression.
11) Favorite film about children
I'll say Spielberg's "E.T.," because it's so much about the process of learning to communicate through language and images. The kids are so much better at figuring out how to communicate with E.T. than the adults are -- just as kids' brains find it easier to learn new languages than adults' do.
Also, the opening moments of "The Wild Bunch," with the kids playing with the scorpions. That has something significant to say about moral development in childhood, too.
12) Favorite film of 1954
The first thing that popped into my head was "Rear Window," natch. But then, when consulting Cinemania, the choices got harder. I was able to rule out "Francis Joins the WACs" (which I have seen -- and my eldest dog is named Frances [she's a girl, unlike the mule]), but as I scrolled down the alphabet I came across "Johnny Guitar," "Magnificent Obsession," "On the Waterfront," "Riffifi" ... but then I hit Kenji Mizoguchi's "Sansho the Bailiff," which is (at any given moment) among the ten or twenty greatest movies (and favorite movies) I've ever seen. I don't believe in any organized-religion concept of God, but if any divine force exists, I see it in "Sansho." (Oh, I like "Suddenly" and "Them!," too.)
13) Favorite screenplay written by a writer more famous for literature than screenplays
The first thing that pops into my mind is "The Servant," written by Harold Pinter. But he wrote a lot of screenplays. So, maybe Raymond Chandler's collaboration with Billy Wilder on the adaptation of James M. Cain's "Double Indemnity." I hate to imagine the writers I'm forgetting right now...
14) Walter Matthau or Jack Lemmon?
I like and identify with Matthau more than Lemmon, but Lemmon's been in more great movies (although Matthau had small parts in some greats, like "A Face in the Crowd" and "Bigger Than Life") -- including Billy Wilder pictures (without Matthau) like "The Apartment," "Some Like It Hot" and (one of my very favorites) "Avanti!". He was also really good in "Glengarry Glenn Ross" and Altman's "Short Cuts," so that gives him a slight edge for me. Although, I must say, I think Matthau was great in Polanski's grossly underrated comedy, "Pirates."
15) Favorite character name
Oh, man -- there are too many. I'm afraid I'm going to forget some of my favorites, just because I don't know where to begin. The first two that popped into my head were, of course, Rufus T. Firefly (Groucho in "Duck Soup") and Wooderson (Matthew McConaughey in "Dazed and Confused"). Then I thought of Nigel Tufnel (Christopher Guest in "This is Spinal Tap") and Corky St. Claire (Guest in "Waiting for Guffman"). Another of my all time favorites is Russ Yelburton, Deputy Chief of the Department (John Hillerman in "Chinatown") -- but all the names in "Chinatown" are great: J.J. Gittes, Evelyn Mulwray, Hollis Mulwray, Ida Sessions, Clyde Mulvihill, Lou Escobar, Kahn, Duffy, Loach, Curly, Mayor Bagby -- and, of course, Noah Cross. The Coen Bros. are great at names, too. In "Miller's Crossing" (their masterpiece) alone, there's Johnny Caspar, Eddie Dane, Bernie Birnbaum, Verna Birnbaum -- and, the key to the whole picture -- Mink (Steve Buscemi).
But if I had to pick a favorite at this moment: Egbert Sousé (accent grave over the "e") -- W.C. Fields in "The Bank Dick," with Larson E. Whipsnade ("You Can't Cheat an Honest Man"), Harold Bissonette ("It's a Gift") and Cuthbert J. Twillie ("My Little Chickadee") close behind. While Fields credited some of his screenplays he wrote to Mahatma Kane Jeeves ("The Bank Dick"), Otis Criblecoblis ("Never Give a Sucker and Even Break") and Charles Bogle ("It's a Gift" and several others), when he played W.C. Fields, aka Uncle Bill or The Great Man, in "Sucker," his most surrealistic adventure, he pitched a hare-brained movie to studio executive Franklin Pangborn that included Mrs. Hemogloben (Margaret Dumont) and her daughter, Ouliotta Delight Hemogloben.
16) Favorite screenplay adapted from a work of great literature, either by the author himself or by someone else
That's hard. Great books and great movies -- they rarely seem to cross paths. I'd say "Naked Lunch," only I think Cronenberg's screenplay and movie is better than Burroughs' book, which I'm not sure I'd consider "great literature." Likewise, I think "Barry Lyndon" is a great film (and a great adaptation) that's far superior to the novel. I'd pick the Michael Winterbottom/Steve Coogan "Tristram Shandy" -- definitely inspired by a great work of literature, but much of it was improvised. I could argue that "Miller's Crossing" is an adaptation of Hammett's "Red Harvest," but it's not "official."
I have many favorite movies adapted from good novels or pulp fiction ("Fight Club," "Carrie," "The Shining"), but adaptations from great literature? I dunno. Maybe I'm just not thinking of the right one. So I'm going to say:
Patricia Rozema's adaptation of Jane Austen's "Mansfield Park" -- and, definitely, Emma Thompson's adaptation of Austen's "Sense and Sensibility."
Plus: Rospo Pallenberg and John Boorman's adaptation of Thomas Mallory's "Le Morte D'Arthur": "Excalibur."
Also: Douglas McGrath's adaptation of Austen's greatest novel, "Emma"
Jane Campion's adaptation of Henry James' "Portrait of a Lady" and
Ruth Prawer Jhabvala's adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro's "Remains of the Day"
17) Favorite film of 1974
Only one of the best years ever (in American movies, at least). But "Chinatown" alternates with "Nashville" (1975) whenever I'm asked my favorite movie. I saw them both, first run, when I was at an impressionable age (16 -- my birthday's in October) and they radically changed my life -- not just about movies, but as philosophical views of the world. The best cinephiliac movie-movie of 1974 is Ettore Scola's "We All Loved Each Other So Much," deliriously in love with film (especially Italian cinema). Best sequel of the year: "The Godfather Part II," the first sequel I can remember that actually improved the original, making it deeper, richer, more expansive and resonant. Best musical: Brian De Palma's "Phantom of the Paradise." Best B&W films: Wim Wenders' "Alice in the Cities" followed closely by Fassbinder's "Effi Briest" and Mel Brooks' "Young Frankenstein." Best Horror movie: Tobe Hooper's "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre." Best romances: Fassbinder's "Ali -- Fear Eats the Soul" and Blake Edwards' "The Tamarind Seed" (which, as a bonus, is also a Cold War espionage thriller -- think "Notorious"). Best paranoid thrillers: Coppola's "The Conversation" and Alan Pakula's "The Parallax View" (featuring a fight on top of the Space Needle!). Best forgotten film: Richard Lester's "Juggernaut," a gripping and entertaining shipboard thriller. Best Altman movie: "California Split," just edging out "Thieves Like Us." Best absolutely unclassifiable movie: Sam Peckinpah's "Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia." And don't forget "A Woman Under the Influence."
18) Joan Severance or Shannon Tweed?
Something tells me I don't watch enough Cinemax. But I will somewhat arbitrarily choose Ms. Severance, if only because it says here that in the year 1994 alone, she starred in movie and TV projects with the titillating titles: "Model by Day," "Possessed by the Night," "Night Fire," "Hard Vice," "Scorned," "Hot Line," "No Contest" and the immortal "Indecent Behavior II." That's a hard-working lady.
19) jackass: the movie-- yes or no?
Yes, but I liked the TV show better than the movie. My favorite was when Bam Margera injured his tailbone and they showed his pelvic x-ray, which freaked everybody out more than their insane stunts because you could see not just his penis, but the crap in his intestines.
20) Favorite John Cassavetes Movie
"Rosemary's Baby," directed by Roman Polanski. (I loved him in Brian De Palma's "The Fury," too -- especially that final series of shots.) Oh, but if you're talking about Cassavettes-directed films, the one that stays with me most vividly is probably "LoveStreams."
21) First R-rated movie you ever saw
I think it was "Serpico" at the late Ridgemont Theater in Seattle, when my friends were 17 but I was still 16. The rape of the black woman near the beginning really freaked me out.
22) Favorite X-rated film (remember that, while your answer may well be a famous or not-so-famous hard-core film, the "X" rating was once also a legitimate rating that did not necessarily connote pornography)
"Beneath the Valley of the Ultra-Vixens," directed by Russ Meyer and co-written (under a pseudonym) by Roger Ebert. A candy-colored American satire of everything from sex to religion.
23) Best film of 1994
Tie between Tim Burton's "Ed Wood" and Krzysztof Kieslowski's "Red." The reason I had to make it a tie was because it isn't a fair comparison -- not so much because they're such different kinds of movies, but because I have no way of knowing how I would have responded to "Red" if I hadn't already seen the previous films in the Three Colors Trilogy, "Blue" and "White." Also: "Exotica," "The Hudsucker Proxy," "Heavenly Creatures," "Spanking the Monkey," "The Secret of Roan Inish" -- and the unforgettable "Pulp Fiction" and "It's Pat."
24) Describe a moment in a movie that made you weep
I confess I was teary eyed through almost all of "The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada" because I couldn't believe how beautiful (in an elegiac, Peckinpah-meets-Bunuel way) it was. (Thank you, Chris Menges, especially.) I thought people had forgotten how to use light and tone and pacing to make a lived-in movie like this. But I really lost it near the end, when Barry Pepper begs, eloquently: "Forgive me, Melquiades, for taking your life." Movies about revenge are a dime a dozen. Revenge apparently fascinates us. But the most profound theme for any work of art, I think, is forgiveness. It's the hardest thing to achieve -- in art and in life.
The movie that probably made me bawl the longest and hardest was when I saw "Since You Went Away," David O. Selznick's answer to Samuel Goldwyn's "The Best Years of Our Lives" -- a long drama about life on the home front during WW II, starring Claudette Colbert, Joseph Cotten, Jennifer Jones, Shirley Temple (as a teen) -- plus Monty Woolley, Lionel Barrymore, Robert Walker, Hattie McDaniel, Agnes Moorehead and Keenan Wynn. I watched it by myself, with a 16mm projector, in my living room, with a bottle (or two?) of wine and I completely lost it. It's a real good movie -- as good as "The Best Years of Our Lives."
25) Ewan McGregor or Ewan Bremner?
Haven't seen enough of Ewan Bremner. Then again, I've probably seen too much of Ewan McGregor (in every sense). But I'll go with McGregor, if only for his fearless performance as Curt Wild, the neo-Kurt Cobain/Iggy Pop/Lou Reed, in Todd Haynes' clever glam musical fantasy "Velvet Goldmine."
26) One of your favorite line readings (not necessarily one of your favorite lines) from this or any year
This is my favorite question. I have so many line readings in my head that I use in ordinary conversation all the time (even in writing) without even realizing I'm doing it. It's not so much what is said, but how it's said (which can really be mystifying to those who don't get the reference in print!). Here are some of my immediate faves:
"It's not hot!" -- Aunt Fanny (Agnes Moorehead, in one of the greatest performances in movies), after collapsing against the water heater in "The Magnificent Ambersons." Her reading is heartbreaking -- I'm tearing up just remembering it.
"I hate you." -- W.C. Fields in "It's A Gift"
"I think you do." -- a nurse in "Nashville," when she enters Barbara Jean's room and finds a soldier (Scott Glenn), who has spent the night there. He bolts for the door and hastily exclaims: "I must have the wrong room." Her unruffled reply, basically to an empty doorway, is like music to me. I don't know why. I just love it.
"Sounds good. Sounds inviting." -- Bill (Allan Nicholls), also in "Nashville." It's a toss-off, you might not even remember it, but I have been infatuated with this line reading since the moment I first heard it in 1975. So much of it has to do with context. A slick political operative, John Triplette (Michael Murphy) has just arrived at the hotel room of Bill and Mary (Christina Raines), two thirds of a trio -- the other member is Tom (Keith Carradine) -- and is making a pitch to get them to perform at a rally at the Parthenon for his presidential candidate, Hal Phillip Walker. Triplette has interrupted the couple in the middle of a fight, which is still going on underneath the scene. The trio is breaking up, Bill and Mary are breaking up, and although Mary is also sleeping with Tom, he's also bedding half the women in Nashville. What we hear in Nicholls' delivery is a) somebody trying to pretend that he's listening, while his mind is in turmoil; b) somebody absolutely willing to sell out and coaxing Triplette to talk him into it; c) somebody desperately trying to pretend that everything's OK, when everyone in the room knows it isn't. It's just amazingly sad and funny.
27) What, if any, element in a film, upon your hearing of its inclusion beforehand, would most likely prejudice you against seeing that film or keeping an open mind about it?
Off the top of my head, I can immediately think of three:
Directed by Alan Parker
Directed by Henry Jaglom
Starring Tom Cruise
I still see Cruise in a movie if there's some other reason to do so (like Spielberg directing "War of the Worlds"), although he grates on my like the proverbial fingernails on a blackboard. The other two: No. Life is too short. I gave up years ago. If I hear they have something new to offer, I might change my mind. But I doubt it.
28) Favorite Terry Gilliam Movie
"The Adventures of Baron Munchausen." (I could have named this as my favorite movie made for children, too.) I think it's a masterpiece -- it takes my breath away, shot by shot, every time I see it. And yet it was dumped and widely viewed as a both a failure and a flop. It's not. It's magnificent.
29) Jean Smart or Annie Potts?
Nothing against Annie Potts, but Jean Smart is my homey (from Seattle), who I first remember seeing in repertory at the legendary, top-class Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland in the mid-'70s. And I recently fell in love with her all over again when she played First Lady Martha Logan (a strong, bruised woman, married to a weak man, struggling to maintain her dignity and integrity -- with just a little Martha Mitchell madness and medication thrown in) on "24."
30) Is it possible to know with any certainty if you could like or love someone based partially on their taste in movies? If so, what film might be a potential relationship deal-breaker for you, or the one that might just seal that deal?
Yes, I think someone's appreciation of movies (or music or literature) is a pretty good indicator of whether you're sympatico. I once became enamored with a woman in the early '90s because she loved The Replacements (the band, not the movie), and you just didn't find girls who loved that band. I suppose the same thing could happen with movies. I can understand why somebody might not like (or "get") some of my favorites, like the Marx Bros., the Coen Bros., W.C. Fields, Monty Python, Sam Peckinpah, "The Office" (BBC), John Waters -- maybe even "SCTV" and "The Dick Van Dyke Show."
I know I'm immediately going to warm up to anybody who has an affection for "Nashville," or for what used to be called the New German Cinema (Herzog, Wenders, Fassbinder, et al.). "Nashville" could be a deal-breaker. So, I think, might "Stranger Than Paradise." If you don't appreciate the humor and just the overall sensibility in that movie, I don't think you'd like me very much. Same with "The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada" -- I'm just not interested in anybody who doesn't have whatever it is within them that would respond to this movie, and cause it to resonate with them.
But if there's anybody who doesn't passionately love Buster Keaton (or, god forbid, prefers the megalomaniacal films of Chaplin), end of conversation. I have nothing to say to them whatsoever.
Oh, jeez, that wasn't very short, was it. (And three hours have gone by!) Gotta go...
-- jim
OK, now that I've looked at what other people have said, I'm not going to go back and supplement my answers. Much. But I do want to say this:
"King of Comedy" IS my favorite Scorsese movie (even though I forgot about it earlier) -- and may be his best. I also lean toward the feeling that MS is a great director without a truly great film.
And about character names: Of course, Preston Sturges is the master of them (and I meant to mention him when I mentioned the Coens, but then I went off on a tangent about the names in "Miller's Crossing").
I feel like Trudy Kokenlocker, searching for Ignatz Ratzkywatzky...
1) Does film best tell the truth (Godard) or tell lies (De Palma) at 24 frames per second?
As much as i hate to agree with Brian.....
2) Ideal pairing of actors/actresses to play on-screen siblings
Wayne Gretzky & Meryl Streep (Ok, I stole that from SNL)
3) Favorite special effects moment
Can't think o' one
4) Matt Damon or George Clooney?
George, because of "3 Kings"...and Damon is a Red Sox fan.
5) What is the movie you’ve encouraged more people to see than any other?
"Aguire - The Wrath of God"....have you seen it?????
6) Favorite film of 1934
Scarlet Empress
7) Your favorite movie theater:
pass
8) Jean Arthur or Irene Dunne?
Jean
9) Favorite film made for children
"The Secret Garden" for the great Roger Deakins cinematography
10) Favorite Martin Scorsese Movie
"Goodfellas" I always wondered why marty only used Ray Liotta the once...
11) Favorite film about children
"The 400 Blows"
12) Favorite film of 1954
"The Long Gray Line" - Not sure about the year...
13) Favorite screenplay written by a writer more famous for literature than screenplays
Drawing a blank here
14) Walter Matthau or Jack Lemmon?
Jack - By a whisker
15) Favorite character name
Has anyone given a Preston Sturges??? Trudy Knockenlocker
16) Favorite screenplay adapted from a work of great literature, either by the author himself or by someone else
"The Scarlet Letter" No wait - it sucks! I'll say William Kennedy's "Ironweed" - I think it's great, anyway.
17) Favorite film of 1974
"The Conversation"
18) Joan Severance or Shannon Tweed?
Oh, Joan - I get a stiffy just thinking of her as Susan Profit on the "Wiseguy" series
19) jackass: the movie-- yes or no?
Ain't seen - Likely won't
20) Favorite John Cassavetes Movie
"The Killing of a Chinese Bookie" - But it's not really a favorite, either.
21) First R-rated movie you ever saw
No idea
23) Best film of 1994
Can't think of one
24) Describe a moment in a movie that made you weep
In "Field of Dreams", when Ray realizes that the catcher is his father. Or else the scene at the gas station at the end of "Umbrellas of Cherbourg"
25) Ewan McGregor or Ewan Bremner?
McGregor
26) One of your favorite line readings (not necessarily one of your favorite lines) from this or any year
Chris Coopers speech about the Mennonites in leavenworth from John Sayles' "Matewan"
27) What, if any, element in a film, upon your hearing of its inclusion beforehand, would most likely prejudice you against seeing that film or keeping an open mind about it?
If someone is playing an accordion, I'm outa there!
28) Favorite Terry Gilliam Movie
12 Monkeys
29) Jean Smart or Annie Potts?
I've always had a thing for Annie Potts
30) Is it possible to know with any certainty if you could like or love someone based on their taste in movies? If so, what film might be a potential relationship deal-breaker for you, or the one that might just seal that deal?
Deal-breaker - Any remake of an old sitcom
deal-sealer - If they laughed at a Woody Allen film
1) Does film best tell the truth (Godard) or tell lies (De Palma) at 24 frames per second? (Thanks, Peet)
It’s all lies, baby.
2) Ideal pairing of actors/actresses to play on-screen siblings
Glenn Close and Meryl Streep
3) Favorite special effects moment
I’m drawing a complete blank on this one. However, I think that for a special effects moment to be, well, special it would have to combine great technical wonder with effective storytelling. The whole purpose of the effect should be to advance the story, not just to show a pretty picture. Too many times it seems the filmmakers have become so enamored of what they could do that they forgot that it needed to serve the story.
4) Matt Damon or George Clooney?
You put this question in just for me, didn’t you, Dennis? George Clooney, of course!!
5) What is the movie you’ve encouraged more people to see than any other?
Boy, I’m drawing a complete blank on this one.
6) Favorite film of 1934
It Happened One Night
7) Your favorite movie theater*
Grauman’s Chinese Theater. Although, I hold a special place in my heart for the theater 1 at the Dayton Mall in Dayton, Ohio. That’s where I saw the first Star Wars in 1977.
8) Jean Arthur or Irene Dunne?
I admit to being rather unfamiliar with their work, but since Irene Dunne is in Life With Father, which I love, I’ll go with her.
9) Favorite film made for children
I’d have to go with Toy Story and Toy Story 2, which I kind see as one movie and not two.
10) Favorite Martin Scorsese Movie
King of Comedy
11) Favorite film about children
Drawing a complete blank on this one.
12) Favorite film of 1954
White Christmas
13) Favorite screenplay written by a writer more famous for literature than screenplays
This question seems to be beyond the scope of my film knowledge.
14) Walter Matthau or Jack Lemmon?
Jack Lemmon
15) Favorite character name
Miss Teschmacher! (as shouted by Gene Hackman’s Lex Luthor in Superman, the Movie.
16) Favorite screenplay adapted from a work of great literature, either by the author himself or by someone else
The most recent adaptation of Pride & Prejudice. It was sublime.
17) Favorite film of 1974
Young Frankenstein
18) Joan Severance or Shannon Tweed?
Joan Severance
19) jackass: the movie-- yes or no?
That would be no.
20) Favorite John Cassavetes Movie
As I haven’t seen many that many, I don’t think I can name a favorite.
21) First R-rated movie you ever saw
I have no idea!
22) Favorite X-rated film (remember that, while your answer may well be a famous or not-so-famous hard-core film, the "X" rating was once also a legitimate rating that did not necessarily connote pornography)
Nothing comes to mind, although I recently added Midnight Cowboy to my Netflix queue.
23) Best film of 1994
Shawshank Redemption
24) Describe a moment in a movie that made you weep
Oh, this is easy. Basically, I cry through the last half hour of Late for Dinner. It’s the story of two hapless saps who end up cryogenically frozen for 30 years (stay with me, now) in Pomona, CA. The brothers-in-law return home determined to get their lives and their families back. The scenes where they reconnect with their family and loved ones are some of the most emotional scenes I’ve ever seen.
25) Ewan McGregor or Ewan Bremner?
I’ll take the McGregor every time.
26) One of your favorite line readings (not necessarily one of your favorite lines) from this or any year
”He was… my boyfriend!!” -- Frau Blücher, Young Frankenstein
27) What, if any, element in a film, upon your hearing of its inclusion beforehand, would most likely prejudice you against seeing that film or keeping an open mind about it?
I refuse to go any where near a Woody Allen film. And my dislike of his movies predates the whole Soon-Yi mess.
28) Favorite Terry Gilliam Movie
Not a fan.
29) Jean Smart or Annie Potts?
Love them both, but Jean Smart has proven herself to be more versatile.
30) Is it possible to know with any certainty if you could like or love someone based on their taste in movies? If so, what film might be a potential relationship deal-breaker for you, or the one that might just seal that deal?
I think that I could be drawn to someone because of their taste in movies, but the opposite is not necessarily so. I think.
1) Does film best tell the truth (Godard) or tell lies (De Palma) at 24 frames per second? (Thanks, Peet)
Lies. If told probably, they'll resemble the truth, but any storytelling medium revolves around lying to the audience in some capacity. Hell, even documentaries lie - the director chooses what the camera shows, how time is passed, what the focus of the film is on. We never see the whole truth, and a lie with the spirit of truth is still a lie.
2) Ideal pairing of actors/actresses to play on-screen siblings
Is it a copout to say Jake and Maggie Gyllenhaal in Donnie Darko? If so, I don't care and am saying it anyway. They were great together.
3) Favorite special effects moment
Any of the car crashes in Adaptation. Sudden, brutal, unstylized, and hells of effective.
4) Matt Damon or George Clooney?
Matt Damon. I find his roles to be a bit more nuanced, and they resonate a bit better with me. In Syriana, for instance, I found his story arc far more compelling than that of Clooney's.
5) What is the movie you’ve encouraged more people to see than any other?
Punch-Drunk Love. My favorite of Anderson's films, and one of my favorites of all time. It's pretty much flawless in my eyes.
6) Favorite film of 1934
Gonna have to hop on the bandwagon and say The Thin Man.
7) Your favorite movie theater*
There's a Landmark theater in Denver called The Mayan that I really dig. Has a (shocking, I know) Mayan theme to it, with a bar on the second floor, which I can totally get behind.
8) Jean Arthur or Irene Dunne?
I haven't seen much Irene Dunne at all, so Jean Arthur wins by default. Which isn't to say I don't like her, just that it's not much of a contest.
9) Favorite film made for children
Iron Giant. "SUPERMAN." Ouch, my heart.
10) Favorite Martin Scorsese Movie
Raging Bull. One of the first movies I saw where I was actively conscious of and impressed by the direction. A quick sidebar on the ending: most of the criticism I've read seems to view the closing scenes as Jake taking steps towards redemption, but I don't see it at all that way. To me, it seems like a denial of his mistakes and a perseverance of his old views, which makes the whole film even more tragic. His reunion with his brother, for instance, isn't driven by tearful apologies but by repeated requests for affection.
11) Favorite film about children
George Washington. Took a couple of viewings to really grow on me, but grow on me it did.
12) Favorite film of 1954
On the Waterfront. (Am I putting this because it is legitimately my answer, or because I talked about Raging Bull just a couple of answers ago? I am full of mystery.)
13) Favorite screenplay written by a writer more famous for literature than screenplays
Using a somewhat looser definition of "literature," I'm gonna go with 28 Days Later, penned by Alex Garland.
14) Walter Matthau or Jack Lemmon?
Tricky. Jack Lemmon, by a nose. But I like Walter Matthau's voice more.
15) Favorite character name
Jeffrey Lebowski.
16) Favorite screenplay adapted from a work of great literature, either by the author himself or by someone else
I'm not really sure if The Orchid Thief counts as "great literature," so don't know if Adaptation is a fitting answer. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, maybe?
17) Favorite film of 1974
There were more significant films released, but "favorite" never has anything to do with significance, does it? So, Young Frankenstein. "Damn your eyes!" "Too late."
18) Joan Severance or Shannon Tweed?
I've not seen anything with either of them.
19) jackass: the movie-- yes or no?
In a social setting, when drunk? Hell yes. Otherwise, eh.
20) Favorite John Cassavetes Movie
Rosemary's Baby, I suppose.
21) First R-rated movie you ever saw
I wish it was something more profound, but in all honesty, it was Predator. How embarrassing.
22) Favorite X-rated film (remember that, while your answer may well be a famous or not-so-famous hard-core film, the "X" rating was once also a legitimate rating that did not necessarily connote pornography)
More bandwagon jumping: Beyond the Valley of the Dolls
23) Best film of 1994
Pulp Fiction. For better or worse, one of the most influential movies of its decade.
24) Describe a moment in a movie that made you weep
When I was in third grade, the ending of Babe made me cry. More recently, the aforementioned Iron Giant, and the end of Ellen Burstyn's story arc in Requiem for a Dream.
25) Ewan McGregor or Ewan Bremner?
Ewan Bremner. He may have been in Alien vs. Predator, but at least he wasn't in Episode One.
26) One of your favorite line readings (not necessarily one of your favorite lines) from this or any year
Phillip Seymour Hoffman's "SHUT! SHUT! SHUT! SHUT! SHUT UP! NOW! Are you threatening me, dick?" Priceless.
27) What, if any, element in a film, upon your hearing of its inclusion beforehand, would most likely prejudice you against seeing that film or keeping an open mind about it?
Uwe Boll's name attached, anywhere, to it.
28) Favorite Terry Gilliam Movie
Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Though the Netflix envelope with Brazil in it is sitting three feet away from me, so that might change in a few hours.
29) Jean Smart or Annie Potts?
Jean Smart has done a bit more that I like, but Annie Potts was in Ghostbusters, one of the absolute staples of my childhood. So, Annie Potts.
30) Is it possible to know with any certainty if you could like or love someone based partially on their taste in movies? If so, what film might be a potential relationship deal-breaker for you, or the one that might just seal that deal?
I've never had anything even approaching a decent relationship with someone who dislikes Wes Anderson. The funny thing is, though, there are many directors I prefer more. But there's just some sort of inexorable tie between how much I'll like a girl and whether or not she digs Wes.
1) Does film best tell the truth (Godard) or tell lies (De Palma) at 24 frames per second? (Thanks, Peet)
Sorry to be so unoriginal, but I agree that film uses lies to tell the truth. Those lies can get people closer to uncomfortable truths than mere facts can.
2) Ideal pairing of actors/actresses to play on-screen siblings
Billy Zane and Bruce Campbell. Two dark haired, strong chinned guys who can chew scenery like nobody's business. I'd love to see them play brothers.
3) Favorite special effects moment
Christopher Reeve catching Margot Kidder then catching the helicopter in Superman: The Movie. Every time I see that I'm transported back to being 10 years old clutching the armrest of the theater seat.
Other than that I'd go with the mothership appearance in Close Encounters. I saw that at the drive in and the ship was so much bigger than our car I remember hiding my face for a minute behind the seat before I could get up the courage to look at it again.
4) Matt Damon or George Clooney?
For now, Clooney. I think Matt Damon's well on his way to passing Clooney though.
5) What is the movie you've encouraged more people to see than any other?
"The Maltese Falcon" is the film I’ve shoved down the throats of many young people who give me the “I don’t like old movies” line. For newer films, I encouraged many people to watch “Equilibrium”.
6) Favorite film of 1934
Wow. So many good movies that year. "Death Takes A Holiday", "Babes in Toyland", "Tarzan and His Mate", "It Happened One Night". My favorite guilty pleasure of that year is "The Black Cat" but if I have to pick just one movie I'll go with "The Thin Man".
7) Your favorite movie theater*
It's a tie between two. Studio 35 for when I want to sit back and enjoy the movie but if I want to study the film or just enjoy a magnificent projection / sound experience it's the Arena Grand. Both are in Columbus, OH.
8) Jean Arthur or Irene Dunne?
Irene Dunn.
9) Favorite film made for children
The Iron Giant.
10) Favorite Martin Scorsese Movie
The Last Temptation of Christ.
11) Favorite film about children
"Stand By Me"
12) Favorite film of 1954
"Creature from the Black Lagoon" or "Them!".
13) Favorite screenplay written by a writer more famous for literature than screenplays
Raymond Chandler for "Double Indemnity".
14) Walter Matthau or Jack Lemmon?
Walter Matthau.
15) Favorite character name
Winslow Leech
16) Favorite screenplay adapted from a work of great literature, either by the author himself or by someone else
Ray Bradbury's "Moby Dick" script.
17) Favorite film of 1974
I have two. The first is "Young Frankenstein". I've never been in such a bad mood that "Young Frankenstein" couldn't cheer me up. The second is "Phantom of the Paradise". I'm a sucker for a tragic love story and who can pass up Paul Williams as the devil?
18) Joan Severance or Shannon Tweed?
Neither
19) jackass: the movie-- yes or no?
No.
20) Favorite John Cassavetes Movie
Rosemary's Baby. You didn't say it had to be one he directed.
21) First R-rated movie you ever saw
When I was seven years old my parents took me to the drive-in and saw "Death Race 2000". I think they expected me to fall asleep before the movie started. I stayed up and loved the movie.
22) Favorite X-rated film (remember that, while your answer may well be a famous or not-so-famous hard-core film, the "X" rating was once also a legitimate rating that did not necessarily connote pornography)
A Clockwork Orange
23) Best film of 1994
The Best Film would be "Pulp Fiction". My favorite film would be a tossup between "Clerks", "Ed Wood" and "Shawshank Redemption"
24) Describe a moment in a movie that made you weep
I'll describe two. The first was the scene in "Longtime Companion" when Bruce Davison is telling his lover that it's OK to let go and die now. The other is from "The Iron Giant" when the giant is speeding towards the oncoming nuclear missle, closes his eyes and whispers "Superman".
25) Ewan McGregor or Ewan Bremner?
Ewan McGregor.
26) One of your favorite line readings (not necessarily one of your favorite lines) from this or any year
I'm going to go with three:
"Ray, when someone asks if you're a God, you say 'Yes'"! - Ghostbusters
"Otisberg?" - Superman
"Sed-a-give!?!" - Young Frankenstein
27) What, if any, element in a film, upon your hearing of its inclusion beforehand, would most likely prejudice you against seeing that film or keeping an open mind about it?
Starring Hillary Duff.
28) Favorite Terry Gilliam Movie
Brazil
29) Jean Smart or Annie Potts?
Annie Potts. Not only for Ghostbusters but for her performances in "Toy Story" and "Pass the Ammo".
30) Is it possible to know with any certainty if you could like or love someone based partially on their taste in movies? If so, what film might be a potential relationship deal-breaker for you, or the one that might just seal that deal?
Someone's movie tastes would not prevent me from loving them. The fact that my wife, on our first three dates, went with me to see "Jailhouse Rock", "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" and "The Godfather" sure did help though.
1) Does film best tell the truth (Godard) or tell lies (De Palma) at 24
frames per second?
Truth
2) Ideal pairing of actors/actresses to play on-screen siblings
All the boys in THE LONG RIDERS, bien sur
3) Favorite special effects moment
The 3 doubles in the first shot of KAGEMUSHA
4) Matt Damon or George Clooney?
Surely you jest: George Clooney
5) What is the movie you’ve encouraged more people to see than any other?
ME AND MY GAL, Raoul Walsh
6) Favorite film of 1934
THE SCARLET EMPRESS ... which is the answer for Best, and possibly Favorite,
though Favorite inclines me toward TWENTIETH CENTURY
7) Your favorite movie theater
For personal nostalgia’s sake, I’ll say the former Edgemont (now Edmonds) in
Edmonds, Washington
8) Jean Arthur or Irene Dunne?
You are cruel. OK, Jean Arthur
9) Favorite film made for children
If GUNGA DIN were an appropriate answer (and it is, for “children of all ages”),
then GUNGA DIN
10) Favorite Martin Scorsese Movie
KING OF COMEDY
11) Favorite film about children
I don’t want to think about it, so I’ll take the museum route and say FORBIDDEN
GAMES
12) Favorite film of 1954
SEVEN SAMURAI
13) Favorite screenplay written by a writer more famous for literature than
screenplays
SHADOW OF A DOUBT
14) Walter Matthau or Jack Lemmon?
Jack Lemmon
15) Favorite character name
Gaston Monsecu
16) Favorite screenplay adapted from a work of great literature, either by
the author himself or by someone else
DAVID COPPERFIELD
17) Favorite film of 1974
CHINATOWN
18) Joan Severance or Shannon Tweed?
Joan Severance
19) jackass: the movie-- yes or no?
The correct answer is “why?”
20) Favorite John Cassavetes Movie
FACES
21) First R-rated movie you ever saw
Whenever they started R ratings -- no big whoop
22) Favorite X-rated film (remember that, while your answer may well be a
famous or not-so-famous hard-core film, the "X" rating was once also a
legitimate rating that did not necessarily connote pornography)
If...
23) Best film of 1994
PULP FICTION
24) Describe a moment in a movie that made you weep
“Men like my father cannot die. They are with me still, real in memory as they
were real in flesh. How green was my valley then.”
25) Ewan McGregor or Ewan Bremner?
Ewan Bremner
26) One of your favorite line readings (not necessarily one of your favorite lines) from this or any year
Leon Russom, “Well I’ll be god-damned,” NO WAY OUT
27) What, if any, element in a film, upon your hearing of its inclusion
beforehand, would most likely prejudice you against seeing that film or keeping
an open mind about it?
the presence of Michael Moore
28) Favorite Terry Gilliam Movie
the accountant pirates prelude to MONTY PYTHON’S THE MEANING OF LIFE
29) Jean Smart or Annie Potts?
Annie Potts (though Jean goes way up thanks to “24”)
30) Is it possible to know with any certainty if you could like or love
someone based partially on their taste in movies? If so, what film might be a
potential relationship deal-breaker for you, or the one that might just seal
that deal?
YOUNG MR. LINCOLN
1) Does film best tell the truth (Godard) or tell lies (De Palma) at 24 frames per second? (Thanks, Peet)
Sweet little lies
2) Ideal pairing of actors/actresses to play on-screen siblings
Hayley Mills and Hayley Mills
3) Favorite special effects moment
When Wyle E Coyote falls off the cliff and there's always that little puff of smoke
4) Matt Damon or George Clooney?
Damon
5) What is the movie you’ve encouraged more people to see than any other?
Deliverance
6) Favorite film of 1934
The black-and-white one with the stage-y acting and wooden dialogue
7) Your favorite movie theater*
The Bagdad on Hawthorne in PDX
8) Jean Arthur or Irene Dunne?
huh?
9) Favorite film made for children
The original Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
10) Favorite Martin Scorsese Movie
The Last Waltz
11) Favorite film about children
12) Favorite film of 1954
13) Favorite screenplay written by a writer more famous for literature than screenplays
Edmond, David Mamet
14) Walter Matthau or Jack Lemmon?
Matthau
15) Favorite character name
Dr. Michael Hfuhruhurr
16) Favorite screenplay adapted from a work of great literature, either by the author himself or by someone else
East of Eden
17) Favorite film of 1974
Chinatown
18) Joan Severance or Shannon Tweed?
Tweed, baby!
19) jackass: the movie-- yes or no?
Eh, why not?
20) Favorite John Cassavetes Movie
Dirty Dozen
21) First R-rated movie you ever saw
Either "The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea" or "Damien: Omen 2"
22) Favorite X-rated film (remember that, while your answer may well be a famous or not-so-famous hard-core film, the "X" rating was once also a legitimate rating that did not necessarily connote pornography)
Either "Midnight Cowboy" or "Anal Asians"
23) Best film of 1994
Ed Wood
24) Describe a moment in a movie that made you weep
Hmm... the end of "Tender Mercies."
25) Ewan McGregor or Ewan Bremner?
I don't know who Ewan Bremmer is, but if he can make it through a movie without showing his private area, I choose him.
26) One of your favorite line readings (not necessarily one of your favorite lines) from this or any year
"There are two people in this world, my friend: those who have loaded guns and those who dig. You dig." Clint Eastwood to Lee Van Cleef in "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly."
27) What, if any, element in a film, upon your hearing of its inclusion beforehand, would most likely prejudice you against seeing that film or keeping an open mind about it? "Directed by Michael Bay."
28) Favorite Terry Gilliam Movie
"Life of Brian"
29) Jean Smart or Annie Potts? No answer
30) Is it possible to know with any certainty if you could like or love someone based partially on their taste in movies? If so, what film might be a potential relationship deal-breaker for you, or the one that might just seal that deal?
No.
I haven't checked in on the comments page for a few days, as I'm up in Eugene, Oregon having a wonderful time (wish you were here). But I have to say how thrilled I am that so many great responses to Professor Kelp's Quiz have already piled up. I can't wait to read them all, but in the interest of not being overly conscious of the other answers I think I won't read any more of them until I've posted my own.
However, I have to say that I'm pretty blown away by the lengths to which everyone seems to have gone to provide really detailed answers, which are, I think, the most fun to read and reveal the most about the writer and his/her tastes. Sincere thanks to everyone for sacrificing the time it takes to give such attention to the professor's questions.
Thom, I'm glad to see Red and Sharon and Rachel in there providing the female touch you were clamoring for. I suspect Jen and Beege will not be far behind, and I was able to give Psaga your message in person this weekend- she promises her answers are on their way!
And I owe a huge apology to The Wrong Box, whom I inadvertantly dissed by exclusion from my comments about the last quiz. His comments were indeed excellent and provocative, and, TWB, I'm glad to see you're not holding my blunder against me by holding back what looks to be another superb entry.
Jim E., so glad to see your answers. You're like me-- I find it hard to rein 'em in when I get going, and I'm happy to see you let your horses run free here. A hearty welcome to Peet too! You were too busy writing your latest brilliant article "Nighthawks" to take part last time, and I'm so glad you're back! And I'm honored to see Richard T. Jameson's name among the commenters-- a sincere welcome to you, sir!
It's great to see everybody that has chimed in since I last was able to check the post. Thanks, Red, Edward, Sal, Bemis, Chicken, Chris Oliver, A. Fan, Wagstaff, Mr. Middlebrow, Cerb Chaos, Josh F., Jeff Singer, Dan Aloi, Thom McGregor, Machine Gun McCain, Rachel, Jeff Duncanson, Sharon, Will Garroutte, Dennis Hughes, and even old friend Loxjet, whom we haven't heard from in quite some time here at SLIFR-- you people have really kept things lively around here the last few days, and I really do appreciate it. Now all I have to do is submit my own answers so I can read all of yours! Sounds like a great activity for my plane ride home!
1) Does film best tell the truth (Godard) or tell lies (De Palma) at 24 frames per second? (Thanks, Peet)
Film is an instrument and can be used to any purpose, it merely depends on the artist. Still the very nature of the frame and the cut can hide more than they reveal...but when they reveal, WOW!
2) Ideal pairing of actors/actresses to play on-screen siblings
Stephen Colbert joining Steve Carell as a squirel sibbling in the inevitable Over the Hedge sequel.
3) Favorite special effects moment
The Star Destroyer enveloping the Tantive IV in the original Star Wars.
4) Matt Damon or George Clooney?
George Clooney can do no wrong (and yes I've seen One Fine Day)
5) What is the movie you’ve encouraged more people to see than any other?
The Wicker Man. The original not the forthcoming remake.
6) Favorite film of 1934
It Happened One Night
7) Your favorite movie theater*
For sentimental reasons the Mann Valley 9, which alas, is no longer standing. Not the best technical facilities, nor the best films presented there but the sheer number of memories make it a priceless location.
8) Jean Arthur or Irene Dunne?
Between the two Irene Dunne, but give me Simone Simon or Barbra Stanwyck any day of the week iver either of them.
9) Favorite film made for children
Mary Popins and Finding Nemo
10) Favorite Martin Scorsese Movie
Casino
11) Favorite film about children
The Devil's Backbone or Time Bandits
12) Favorite film of 1954
Oh man, truly one of the greatest years in film ever. Gotta be Seven Samurai.
13) Favorite screenplay written by a writer more famous for literature than screenplays
Munich by Tony Kushner.
14) Walter Matthau or Jack Lemmon?
JACK LEMMON away from Matthau-The Apartment, Mr. Roberts, Short Cuts, Some Like it Hot, Glengary Glen Ross, Days of Wine and Roses. Not bad eh?
15) Favorite character name
Adam McKay and Will Ferrell give their characters names taht are just too perfect, the topper though is Champ Kind.
16) Favorite screenplay adapted from a work of great literature, either by the author himself or by someone else
The Unbearable Lightness of Being magnificiently adapts an "unadaptable book."
17) Favorite film of 1974
Godfather Part II
18) Joan Severance or Shannon Tweed?
Joan Severance, Shannon Tweed scares me.
19) jackass: the movie-- yes or no?
Yes, a remarkable experiment of cinema verite, plus a guy almost got eaten by an alligator.
20) Favorite John Cassavetes Movie
As a director or actor? As an actor Mikey and Nicky and as a director A Woman Under the Influenece.
21) First R-rated movie you ever saw
Major League
22) Favorite X-rated film (remember that, while your answer may well be a famous or not-so-famous hard-core film, the "X" rating was once also a legitimate rating that did not necessarily connote pornography)
Midnight Cowboy
23) Best film of 1994
The Hudsucker Proxy
24) Describe a moment in a movie that made you weep
25) Ewan McGregor or Ewan Bremner?
McGregor, when used right a devastatingly charismatic cinematic weapon.
26) One of your favorite line readings (not necessarily one of your favorite lines) from this or any year
"I hope this hasn't put you off of flying. Statistically speaking, it's still the safest way to travel. "
27) What, if any, element in a film, upon your hearing of its inclusion beforehand, would most likely prejudice you against seeing that film or keeping an open mind about it?
If Adam Shankman directed it. That or Carrot Top.
28) Favorite Terry Gilliam Movie
Brazil
29) Jean Smart or Annie Potts?
Annie Potts "GHOSTBUSTERS WHADAYA WANT" Priceless.
30) Is it possible to know with any certainty if you could like or love someone based partially on their taste in movies? If so, what film might be a potential relationship deal-breaker for you, or the one that might just seal that deal?
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
1) Does film best tell the truth (Godard) or tell lies (De Palma) at 24 frames per second?
Lies, all lies. For those who disagree, I refer them to the “remote” scene in Michael Haneke’s merciless Funny Games.
2) Ideal pairing of actors/actresses to play on-screen siblings
Here’s a bizarre pairing: Tim Curry and John”Z-man” Lazar as brothers in perversity.
3) Favorite special effects moment
I’m going to go old school and say Moses parting the Red Sea in The Ten Commandments. It’s the first special effect I remember going “wow!” too. Plus, even though obviously dated now, it’s still a pretty cool effect.
4) Matt Damon or George Clooney?
Damon. I‘m sorry, but South Park, got it right: the smug storm from his Oscar acceptance speech is still hovering somewhere over the midwest (and the Red State unwashed), but will hopefully die out over Canada. I think it’s great that Hollywood single handidly solved racism in the US by giving Hattie McDaniel an Oscar (NOTE TO GEORGE: Hattie was not allowed to sit in the audience with the white folk. Also, her acceptance speech had to be pre-approved so as to not say anything offensive.) I’m surprised George forgot to give Hollywood credit for curing smallpox when Paul Muni won Best Actor for The Story of Louis Pasteur.
5) What is the movie you’ve encouraged more people to see than any other?
2001. Nothing was like it before or since. I love it not only for Kubrick’s imagination, but also for his courage. Who else would dare to make such a challenging film that asks the BIG questions, such as man’s role in an endless universe. It is exhilarating, frightening, magnificent.
6) Favorite film of 1934
The Thin Man. William Powell (Nick) and Myrna Loy (Nora) have wonderful, romantic chemistry in this series (Loy in particular is a very sexy, “modern” woman). An example of their chemistry: at a party scene early in the movie, a distraught woman pulls Nick into a bedroom. After she tells him her situation, she collapses into his arms, sobbing. Nora then catches them together. When I first saw this scene I thought “Oh great! She’s going to totally blow this out of proportion and he’ll have to spend most of the rest of the movie telling her it was a big misunderstanding-see any chick flick or Adam Sandler movie made the past 20 years.” Instead, refreshingly, Nick just gives Nora a sly wink, to which she responds with a smug “Oh aren’t you cute!” expression. This brief exhance told me that Nora knew her husband well enough, and was smart enough, not to take what she saw at face value. Modern romance movies could learn something from this brief scene.
7) Your favorite movie theater*
I wish I could remember the name of the place. It was a midnight movie theatre on South Street in Philadelphia. I saw Eraserhead for the first as a midnight movie in that theater. It was the absolutely perfect setting for that film. I have followed Lynch’s career ever since.
8) Jean Arthur or Irene Dunne?
I can’t answer that one.
9) Favorite film made for children
Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Even thought the remake had its charms, I never tire of the original. Many critics of the film complained that it was too mean spiritied and scary for kids, but most people I know who saw it as kids loved the film. They know that the kids who got punished all had it coming. Plus, the garden in the factory is one of the most magical places ever on film. I dreamed of going there one day as a child.
10) Favorite Martin Scorsese Movie
Taxi Driver. One of the best films ever IMHO. I can’t think of another film that so passionately addresses the destruction that loneliness, plus the feeling of being inconsequential, can have on the human psyche. Roger Ebert was correct in saying that Taxi Driver did not so much influence Hinkley as predict him.
11) Favorite film about children
A Christmas Story. People might have gotten burned out from this film from its endless showing around Christmas, but it gets so many small moments right. If you watch it again, just watch it for the joy on Ralphie’s face when he finally gets his rifle-as well as the joy on his father’s face at giving his son the exact present he wanted. It is a very sweet, tender moment in the film that is often overlooked.
12) Favorite film of 1954
Unfortunately, there are two acclaimed films from Japan that year that I have not seen all the way through, The Seven Samurai and Sansho the Bailiff, so perhaps I’m not fully qualiifed to answer. However, this was the year of Rear Window and one of Hichcock’s greatest, most chilling shots ever: Raymond Burr sees the ring, then glares directly at Jimmy Stewart (and the audience). The tables have been turned; the hunter becomes the hunted.
13) Favorite screenplay written by a writer more famous for literature than screenplays
Truman Capote worked on the screnplay for The Innocents. Still one of the scariest movies ever made.
14) Walter Matthau or Jack Lemmon?
Walter Matthau. Jack had the more acclaimed career, but Walter was not a bad actor by any means. No one else but Matthau could have played Buttermaker in the orginal Bad News Bears.
15) Favorite character name
Allow me to cheat and offer the best set of cast names ever: Gen. 'Buck' Turgidson, Brig. Gen. Jack D. Ripper, Col. 'Bat' Guano, Maj. T.J. 'King' Kong, Group Captain Lionel Mandrake, President Merkin Muffley and, of course, Dr. Strangelove
16) Favorite screenplay adapted from a work of great literature, either by the author himself or by someone else
Roman Polanski’s version of MacBeth. I don’t know if filming had already started, but it is the first film he completed after the murder of his wife. I feel he poured much of his heart, his pain, his questioning of the meaning of life, into this film.
17) Favorite film of 1974
In a great movie year, I’m going with The Conversation. It might be Gene Hackman’s best performance in a great career. The last half hour, of which there is very little dialougue, are as brilliant a strech a movie making as you’ll ever see. You see his paranoia, guilt and fear ultimately destroy him (and, cruelly, be used against him). The final shot, his apartment torn to shreds and bare like an open wound, is unforgettable.
18) Joan Severance or Shannon Tweed?
Both would still look great naked-LOL. I’ll go with the lovely Ms. Tweed for being woman enough to stay with a man like Gene Simmons as long as she did.
19) jackass: the movie-- yes or no?
Yes! If you copy anything from this movie and get hurt, it’s your own damn fault. Plus, parts of this movie are laugh out loud funny. If there’s room in the world of cinema for John Waters and Luchio Fulchi, there’s room for Jackass.
20) Favorite John Cassavetes Movie
I’m yet to see anything he has directed. He did fine job as the ambitious, then guilt-ridden husband in Rosemary’s Baby, though.
21) First R-rated movie you ever saw
History of the World Part One. My parents didn’t know it was R, but let me in anyway.
22) Favorite X-rated film (remember that, while your answer may well be a famous or not-so-famous hard-core film, the "X" rating was once also a legitimate rating that did not necessarily connote pornography)
A Clockwork Orange was originally rated X.
23) Best film of 1994
I had to think about this one. I was considering Shawshank or Ed Wood, but decided to go with Pulp Fiction. The dialogue is still so quotable.
24) Describe a moment in a movie that made you weep
Schindler’s List, when he has to leave and they give him the ring. Ben Kingsley, the consceince of the film, looks at him with such pride and love and assures him he did all he could do. Schindler still feels such pain that he couldn’t do more. What a powerful, painful moment.
25) Ewan McGregor or Ewan Bremner?
I don’t know who Ewan Brenmer is.
26) One of your favorite line readings (not necessarily one of your favorite lines) from this or any year
I met him, fifteen years ago. I was told there was nothing left. No reason, no conscience, no understanding; even the most rudimentary sense of life or death, good or evil, right or wrong. I met this six-year-old child, with this blank, pale, emotionless face and, the blackest eyes... the *devil's* eyes! I spent eight years trying to reach him, and then another seven trying to keep him locked up because I realized what was living behind that boy's eyes was purely and simply... *evil*!-delivered perfectly by Donald Pleasence in Halloween
27) What, if any, element in a film, upon your hearing of its inclusion beforehand, would most likely prejudice you against seeing that film or keeping an open mind about it?
If a movie shows Native Americans killing buffalo for food, or if Rover the family dog is offed by the maniac in the first reel of a horror movie, I’m fine with it. However, if a movie is about an animal, particularly a pet, that I know is going to die at the end, I’m likely to avoid the movie. Not that I’m proud of this, but I was absolutely traumatized by The Yearling when I was six. When Old Yeller came on The Wonderful World of Disney one night, I think my mom told me every five minuted that the dog was going to die. I think after The Yearling, she was afraid Old Yeller might drive me to jump off the roof or something.
I’ve heard that My Dog Skip is a terrific little film, but I’ve avoided it because I’m sure I’d be an absolute mess at the end. The same with King Kong, believe it or not.
It just seems wrong of me to feel that way, considering the countless number of humans I’ve seen die on film, but that’s just the way I feel.
28) Favorite Terry Gilliam Movie
Monty Python and the Holy Grail. No need to go into why. I’ll start quoting dialogue or I will reveal my nerdness. I will go away or you will taunt me a second time-oops.
29) Jean Smart or Annie Potts?
Jean Smart because of last season’s 24. She did a great job as the First Lady whom you assumed was batshit crazy, but eventually tuned out to be the true heroine of the “day.”
30) Is it possible to know with any certainty if you could like or love someone based partially on their taste in movies? If so, what film might be a potential relationship deal-breaker for you, or the one that might just seal that deal?
There is a deal breaker for me: Pretty Woman. Two women I was interested in told that Pretty Woman was their favorite movie. That told me that they really had no interest in movies whatsoever. They might as well have told me their favorite restaurant is Taco Bell. It’s not a good movie, not is it even a good “chick flick.” It is phony, pure fluff and stars the wildly overrated (IMHO) Julia Roberts. GAG
If any female bloggers think I’m being too harsh, let me ask you this: would you be as interested in a guy if he told you his favorite movie was Predator?
1) Does film best tell the truth (Godard) or tell lies (De Palma) at 24 frames per second? (Thanks, Peet)
This question is kind of slanted because it implies the truth exists or is knowable, while lies don’t face such an exacting burden. I’m going to go with Godard here, an offer a Godardian aphorism as my justification: any lie is also a truth.
2) Ideal pairing of actors/actresses to play on-screen siblings
Elodie Bouchez and Jennifer Connelly.
3) Favorite special effects moment
Probably the Blue Danube Waltz sequence in 2001: A Space Odyssey.
4) Matt Damon or George Clooney?
I like ‘em both. I guess not knowing what the role is, I’d pick Damon because he’s more versatile.
5) What is the movie you’ve encouraged more people to see than any other?
Once Upon a Time in America
6) Favorite film of 1934
The Scarlet Empress. Simply ravishing.
7) Your favorite movie theater*
The Paramount Theater in Oakland.
8) Jean Arthur or Irene Dunne?
Jean Arthur.
9) Favorite film made for children
The Empire Strikes Back
10) Favorite Martin Scorsese Movie
Taxi Driver, which concerns one of my favorite themes, the volatile interplay between self-loathing and narcissism.
11) Favorite film about children
Au revoir les enfants
12) Favorite film of 1954
Sansho the Bailiff
13) Favorite screenplay written by a writer more famous for literature than screenplays
The Big Sleep (William Faulkner, partial-credit)
14) Walter Matthau or Jack Lemmon?
Dyspepsia over apoplexy: Walter Matthau.
15) Favorite character name
Sugarpuss O’Shea.
16) Favorite screenplay adapted from a work of great literature, either by the author himself or by someone else
Can I say The Big Sleep again?
17) Favorite film of 1974
The Godfather, Part II, although Chinatown is the best film that wasn’t the best of its year.
18) Joan Severance or Shannon Tweed?
Alas, I am unqualified to have an opinion here.
19) jackass: the movie-- yes or no?
I have a rule that’s steered me clear of a lot of pain and suffering. Any movie that needs to include “: The Movie” in its title is probably not worth seeing.
20) Favorite John Cassavetes Movie
A Woman Under the Influence, though I sorely need to see Husbands.
21) First R-rated movie you ever saw
Alien. Thank you for scarring me for life, Uncle Rodney.
22) Favorite X-rated film (remember that, while your answer may well be a famous or not-so-famous hard-core film, the "X" rating was once also a legitimate rating that did not necessarily connote pornography)
Cocksucker Blues
23) Best film of 1994
Pulp Fiction. Yeah, I know. I wanted to be cool and list The Wild Reeds, but I’m being honest here.
24) Describe a moment in a movie that made you weep
The last scene in City Lights just wrecks me.
25) Ewan McGregor or Ewan Bremner?
McGregor, though looking a Bremner filmmographer caused a lot of “oh yeah’s!’
26) One of your favorite line readings (not necessarily one of your favorite lines) from this or any year
Not particularly funny on the printed page, but the way Stanley Davis Jr. says “Bo Derek’s tits!... I like sex!” in Fast Times at Ridgemont High just slays me.
27) What, if any, element in a film, upon your hearing of its inclusion beforehand, would most likely prejudice you against seeing that film or keeping an open mind about it?
Directed by Lars von Trier.
28) Favorite Terry Gilliam Movie
Brazil.
29) Jean Smart or Annie Potts?
Jean Smart.
30) Is it possible to know with any certainty if you could like or love someone based partially on their taste in movies? If so, what film might be a potential relationship deal-breaker for you, or the one that might just seal that deal?
I actually met my wife through an Internet dating service and my first words to her (via e-mail) were a quote from Swingers (which she’d listed as one of her favorite movie). I don’t think there’s anything that would be a deal-breaker, though if her house were littered with posters for Baby Geniuses 2, I know I’d have my work cut out for me.
1) Does film best tell the truth (Godard) or tell lies (De Palma) at 24 frames per second? (Thanks, Peet)
Film always tells the truth, even when the truth revealed winds up a lie.
2) Ideal pairing of actors/actresses to play on-screen siblings
Sean Penn and Michael Rapaport
3) Favorite special effects moment
The first glimpse of Gollum the first time I saw LOTR: Fellowship
4) Matt Damon or George Clooney?
Matt Damon, because of Talented Mr. Ripley
5) What is the movie you’ve encouraged more people to see than any other?
the movie I co-wrote: SPEAK
6) Favorite film of 1934
It Happened One Night
7) Your favorite movie theater*
Film Forum, NYC
8) Jean Arthur or Irene Dunne?
Irene Dunne
9) Favorite film made for children
Watership Down
10) Favorite Martin Scorsese Movie
Goodfellas
11) Favorite film about children
The Innocents
12) Favorite film of 1954
Rear Window
13) Favorite screenplay written by a writer more famous for literature than screenplays
James Agee (Night of the Hunter), William Faulkner (Tarnished Angels), Raymond Chandler (Strangers on a Train)- all based on other people's novels, though
14) Walter Matthau or Jack Lemmon?
Jack Lemmon would take top spot were it not for one movie: The Taking of Pelham 123
15) Favorite character name
Sister Honey from Black Narcissus
16) Favorite screenplay adapted from a work of great literature, either by the author himself or by someone else
The Last of the Mohicans, which improves upon the book
17) Favorite film of 1974
Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore
18) Joan Severance or Shannon Tweed?
No.
19) jackass: the movie-- yes or no?
Hell yes.
20) Favorite John Cassavetes Movie
Woman Under the Influence
21) First R-rated movie you ever saw
Flashdance
22) Favorite X-rated film (remember that, while your answer may well be a famous or not-so-famous hard-core film, the "X" rating was once also a legitimate rating that did not necessarily connote pornography)
Midnight Cowboy
23) Best film of 1994
Heavenly Creatures
24) Describe a moment in a movie that made you weep
Imitation of Life (1959)- Annie's deathbed speech, particularly when she says to give Susie "a real bride-y wedding," or how she still gives the milkman money at Christmas because he was so kind about the bill, Lana Turner saying "Why, Annie, I didn't know you had friends!"- and just when you think this is it, up comes the funeral scene with Mahalia Jackson singing and Sarah Jane throwing herself on Annie's coffin saying "I'm sorry, Mama!"
I'm getting teary just writing this out. Gets me every time.
25) Ewan McGregor or Ewan Bremner?
McGregor
26) One of your favorite line readings (not necessarily one of your favorite lines) from this or any year
Burt Lancaster in Sweet Smell of Success saying "You're dead, son. Go get yourself buried."
27) What, if any, element in a film, upon your hearing of its inclusion beforehand, would most likely prejudice you against seeing that film or keeping an open mind about it?
Directed by Eric Schaeffer
28) Favorite Terry Gilliam Movie
Time Bandits
29) Jean Smart or Annie Potts?
Annie Potts - "We got one!!"
30) Is it possible to know with any certainty if you could like or love someone based partially on their taste in movies? If so, what film might be a potential relationship deal-breaker for you, or the one that might just seal that deal?
I think what's most important is a genuine passion for movies. I once thought Forrest Gump was my dealbreaker, until I found out that it's a favorite of my husband (who loves challenging foreign films, so this surprised me). So Forrest Gump is a part of our lives. I can deal.
I haven’t read any other responses yet so I apologize in advance if this is redundant as all hell!
1) Does film best tell the truth (Godard) or tell lies (De Palma) at 24 frames per second?
Hmm… Godard, I’m sure, could out debate De Palma, but if it came to fisticuffs…
2) Ideal pairing of actors/actresses to play on-screen siblings
It would be hard to top Kermit the Frog and Fozzie Bear playing twin brothers in The Great Muppet Caper.
3) Favorite special effects moment
Oh man, those candelabras lighting themselves in Cocteau’s Beauty and the Beast. It just doesn’t get any better than that.
4) Matt Damon or George Clooney?
George Clooney as Danny Ocean = So. Freakin’. Wow.
5) What is the movie you’ve encouraged more people to see than any other?
Ha, probably Lilo & Stitch.
6) Favorite film of 1934
The Thin Man! Never has alcoholism looked so glamorous!
7) Your favorite movie theater*
Pittsburgh Filmmakers’ Regent Square theater edges out Pittsburgh’s Oaks Theater for reasons of proximity. But I’d also like to give a shout out to two of the late, wonderful theaters of my youth: Zoetropolis (Lancaster, PA) and the Columbia Drive-In (PA).
8) Jean Arthur or Irene Dunne?
Jean Arthur. What’s good enough for Jefferson Smith is good enough for me!
9) Favorite film made for children
Do we consider The Wizard of Oz to be made for children? I’ll throw Spirited Away out there as well.
10) Favorite Martin Scorsese Movie
At the risk of being terribly unpopular I must confess that I’m not in love with any one Martin Scorsese movie, even though there’s no doubt in my mind that he is a truly great director. I suppose Goodfellas is the film I enjoy the most, while Raging Bull is probably the one I consider his best and Taxi Driver the most important. “Favorite,” though?
Can I say The Big Shave? It’s elegant, playful, and absurd. Hell, its simplicity is positively inspiring. Yeah, I’m going to say The Big Shave.
11) Favorite film about children
Hmm… Fanny & Alexander
12) Favorite film of 1954
La Strada. Absolutely devastating.
13) Favorite screenplay written by a writer more famous for literature than screenplays
The Third Man.
14) Walter Matthau or Jack Lemmon?
Do you know what, I’m going to have to say Jack Lemmon to my great surprise. He’s that good in Glengarry Glen Ross.
15) Favorite character name
1. Perfect Tommy
2. Buckaroo Banzai
3. Penny Priddy
Hon. Mention: Jeff Goldblum as New Jersey
16) Favorite screenplay adapted from a work of great literature, either by the author himself or by someone else
The Gospel According to Saint Matthew
17) Favorite film of 1974
I am going to have to go with Blazing Saddles here (cashing in some of those film snob chips from naming one of Martin Scorsese’s student films as my favorite)
18) Joan Severance or Shannon Tweed?
Well, according to IMDb Shannon Tweed has appeared on both “The Dukes of Hazzard” and “Parker Lewis Can’t Lose” so…
19) jackass: the movie-- yes or no?
I’ll abstain from answering this, as I’ve not seen it.
20) Favorite John Cassavetes Movie
I love, love, love Shadows
21) First R-rated movie you ever saw
Oh, wow. Questions like these are hard for those of us who grew up in the VHS/DVD era to answer… could be National Lampoon’s Vacation, but probably edited for television. Starship Troopers was definitely the first R film I saw in a movie theater.
22) Favorite X-rated film (remember that, while your answer may well be a famous or not-so-famous hard-core film, the "X" rating was once also a legitimate rating that did not necessarily connote pornography)
They say that Battle Royale would get an X in the U.S., so I’ll say that.
23) Best film of 1994
I will regard anyone who DOESN’T say Chungking Express with a great deal of suspicion from this moment on…
24) Describe a moment in a movie that made you weep
Embarassing confession time: I can definitely remember crying during the funeral pyre scene in Return of the Jedi. And as a small child I cried hsterically at the scene in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation wherein the cat is executed!
Seriously, though: recently the end of All That Heaven Allows struck me as weep-worthy, even if I did not actually cry.
25) Ewan McGregor or Ewan Bremner?
Ewan! He sings!
26) One of your favorite line readings (not necessarily one of your favorite lines) from this or any year
I really, really liked Denzel Washington’s “Thank you, bank robber.”
Oh, and Stitch: “I like floppy!” from Lilo & Stitch
But how could I not at least mention “We’re going to need a bigger boat.”
And speaking of Roy Scheider, how about “It’s showtime, folks!” The last, most strained and desperate reading.
Oh man, and I just adore the “When the child was a child” refrain in Wings of Desire.
I’ll stop now.
27) What, if any, element in a film, upon your hearing of its inclusion beforehand, would most likely prejudice you against seeing that film or keeping an open mind about it?
Ron Howard.
28) Favorite Terry Gilliam Movie
Definitely, definitely The Crimson Permanent Assurance intro to Meaning of Life.
29) Jean Smart or Annie Potts?
Um, hello? Annie Potts was JANINE MELNITZ! I’m not even going to humor you by answering ridiculous question.
30) Is it possible to know with any certainty if you could like or love someone based partially on their taste in movies? If so, what film might be a potential relationship deal-breaker for you, or the one that might just seal that deal?
Introducing his Opening Shots Project Jim Emerson mentioned his second cardinal rule for movie-watching: “The opening shot (or opening sequence) is the most important part of the movie... at least until you get to the final shot. (And in good movies, the two are often related.)”
Very cagy Mr. Cozzalio! The answer to this last question has a great deal to do with one’s feelings about the first. Film is communication, as honest, as dishonest, as pithy, as clumsy as anything we can say ourselves. And film is an experience, as harrowing and as transatory as anything else a couple might go through together. A person’s taste in movies is a VITAL component of how I feel about them, but it’s not so much a question of a person’s taste in films as they way he or she reacts to them and interacts with them.
I once took a date to an art museum. I was trying to describe my feelings about a paticular painting when she said to me, Why must you always try to describe how you feel about things? Why isn’t it enough just to like them? And at that moment I knew that while my affection and my esteem for this person had not suffered, I also knew that I could never love her.
To watch a film, to read a book is to take a trip to the moon, a journey to the centre of the earth. It’s a voyage of discovery, of the world and of ourselves. It’s immaterial to me in which texts someone finds Truth, in which adventures he or she finds meaning and knowledge. What matters to me is that they’re looking.
All of that said, I don’t know that I could be in a relationship with someone who disliked Groundhog Day!
That would be Ewan McGregor to no. 25.
Quiz time again! OK, let's jump in...
1) I don't think it's quite so either/or; revealing truth and/or telling lies is so much an intrinsic part of the experience, I think they're irrevocably intertwined.
2) no answer comes readily to mind
3) The end of the climatic battle in THE ADVENTURES OF BARON MUNCHAUSEN, when the strongman is whirling the ships around and flings them into the approaching Turks... I know exactly how it was done, but it still just sends chills of delight up my spine.
4) Clooney. For some reason, I've never liked Matt Damon in anything until BROTHERS GRIMM... but then, he's actually doing a character.
5)That would probably be SHOCK TREATMENT (1981)... very few have taken me up on it. After that, it would probably be BRAZIL.
6) No answer to this
7) The Castro, in San Francisco.
8) Am not that familiar with either actress, so... no answer.
9) TIME BANDITS/WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY
10) CASINO. It's not his best work, but it's a good balance of his strenghs and weaknesses.
11) NIGHT OF THE HUNTER
12) Ehhh...
13) THE STEPFATHER by Donald E. Westlake
14) Matthau... Lemmon was always just a bit too antic and neurotic - and I think that Matthau's range was a little wider than Lemmon's.
15) Col. "Bat" Guano from DR. STRANGELOVE
16) THE HAUNTING, adapted by Nelson Gidding
17) THE TAKING OF PELHAM ONE-TWO-THREE
18) ehhhhh...
19) No.
20) Not a Cassavetes fan... his films just don't touch anything in me, except revulsion - he features the type of people that I take great pains to avoid in real life.
21) ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST
22) BEYOND THE VALLEY OF THE DOLLS
23) Eh...
24)THE ELEPHANT MAN - John Merrick's brutalization and his escape aided by the circus folk.
25) Neither...
26) David Clennon's famous line/line reading from THE THING (1982)- best contextural line reading.
27) I don't think that there's any ONE element anymore... for me, it just boils down to "Am I interested in that?" And sadly, more often than not, that answer is "No", at least when it comes to joining the mass frenzy to the box-office.
28) All of them
29) Annie Potts... who seems to share Carol Kane's ability in not appearing to age significantly.
30) I think that it'd help in sharing some common interest in films, but it's definitely no deal-breaker.
That said, it'd sure be nice to find someone of the opposite gender closeby whose tastes in film were similar...
Thanks, Dennis, for another quiz to occupy my time! :)
1) Does film best tell the truth (Godard) or tell lies (De Palma) at 24 frames per second? (Thanks, Peet)*Forgive me for waxing philosophical (it must be the chardonnay talking) but really: what is truth? What is a lie? Only individual perception. What is film? If I've learned anything from Dennis and SLIFR it's that any film is simply a story told from an individual (the director's) perception. Take any film and simply change the director and it could radically alter the story that was told--and the truths or lies it possesses. See, Dennis? And you thought I wasn't paying attention! ;)
2) Ideal pairing of actors/actresses to play on-screen siblings. *I always thought that Rachel Griffiths and Jeremy Sisto as Brenda and Billy Chenowith on "Six Feet Under" was a brilliant casting move. I realize that "Six Feet Under" is a television show, but it's always struck me as being very cinematic in nature. And besides: I'm the mother of a two year old. I only dream of getting to go to the movies these days!
3) Favorite special effects moment: *I know it's rather cheesy, but I always liked the scene in "Independence Day" when they blew up the White House.
4) Matt Damon or George Clooney? Clooney, all the way. He's got class and style and a mystique that Damon may well acheieve someday...but he'll only ever be the heir to the Clooney throne.
5) What is the movie you’ve encouraged more people to see than any other? *Probably "Luther" starring Joseph Fiennes. It was remarkably well-done, had an amazing cast, and was all about Lutherans. There's nothing you can't love about that!
6) Favorite film of 1934: Pass.
7) Your favorite movie theater* I don't really have one specific favorite. I suppose any theater that has comfy, stadium style seating and no crying babies, ringing cell phones, or beeping pagers is right up there on my list.
8) Jean Arthur or Irene Dunne?
9) Favorite film made for children *I'm a huge fan of the Pixar movies. I think they're smart, well done, and entertaining for the entire family. They are proof that a movie doesn't have to ignore the adults in order to hook the kids--a philosophy Warner Brother's invented decades ago.
10) Favorite Martin Scorsese Movie *The only Scorsese movie I can recall seeing is "Age of Innocence" with (I think) Michelle Pfeifer and Daniel Day-Lewis. Now THAT movie taught me about sexy...the scene where Daniel Day-Lewis removes Michelle Pfeifer's glove in the carriage and kisses her fingers...it was more orgasmic than a full-on sex scene.
11) Favorite film about children *OK. I'm a nerd. "Sound of Music". I love it.
12) Favorite film of 1954
13) Favorite screenplay written by a writer more famous for literature than screenplays
14) Walter Matthau or Jack Lemmon? Walter Matthau. There's something glorious about his face...
15) Favorite character name
16) Favorite screenplay adapted from a work of great literature, either by the author himself or by someone else *I enjoyed "Last of the Mohicans"...but I saw the movie before I read the book. The book was a bit different. But then I think about Daniel Day-Lewis running to save Madeline Stowe during the indian attack and I think, "Aw, who cares about accuracy! Just hit 'pause'."
17) Favorite film of 1974
18) Joan Severance or Shannon Tweed?
19) jackass: the movie-- yes or no?
Um...not sure. Haven't seen it. Don't much see the point of it, but then the same could be said of the "American Pie" movies and we own who AP trilogy. Who I am to cast aspersions?
20) Favorite John Cassavetes Movie
21) First R-rated movie you ever saw. *I think it was probably "The Fog". I saw it one night when I was about 8 or 9, while spending the night at a friend's house. The babysitter made us watch it. I still can't walk through fog without sort of getting the heebie jeebies.
22) Favorite X-rated film (remember that, while your answer may well be a famous or not-so-famous hard-core film, the "X" rating was once also a legitimate rating that did not necessarily connote pornography)*Well, once I saw "Playmate of the Apes" the entire genre sort of lost any allure it may have once held for me.
23) Best film of 1994
24) Describe a moment in a movie that made you weep
25) Ewan McGregor or Ewan Bremner? McGregor. Yum.
26) One of your favorite line readings (not necessarily one of your favorite lines) from this or any year
27) What, if any, element in a film, upon your hearing of its inclusion beforehand, would most likely prejudice you against seeing that film or keeping an open mind about it? *Violence. My husband keeps wanting me to watch "American History X" because he thinks it's such a powerful film. I won't watch it. Same with "Schindler's List" or "Munich" or any of those other types of movies. Life is violent enough without my introducing it into my leisure activities.
28) Favorite Terry Gilliam Movie
I have to go with "Holy Grail". That movie is hilarious.
29) Jean Smart or Annie Potts? Damn. Tough call. I think I'll go with Jean Smart though, just because you'd never guess from her days on "Designing Women" that she was capable of the range she's shown in her career.
30) Is it possible to know with any certainty if you could like or love someone based partially on their taste in movies? If so, what film might be a potential relationship deal-breaker for you, or the one that might just seal that deal? *M and I are proof that similar taste in movies is not a necessary component of a happy marriage. He has his movies. I have mine.
1) Does film best tell the truth (Godard) or tell lies (De Palma) at 24 frames per second? (Thanks, Peet)
I'd say that both Godard's and De Palma's assertions are mainly rhetorical gambits. Film simply is. The individual's interpretation determines the truth or falsity of the film.
2) Ideal pairing of actors/actresses to play on-screen siblings
Paul Giamatti and Wallace Shawn.
3) Favorite special effects moment
Something by Harryhausen. Perhaps the bronze statue coming to life in "Jason and the Argonauts."
4) Matt Damon or George Clooney?
Clooney. Though the more you think about him, the less annoying Damon gets.
5) What is the movie you’ve encouraged more people to see than any other?
"Tune in Tomorrow." Great film despite presence of Keanu Reeves.
6) Favorite film of 1934
Have to go with "It Happened One Night" over "The Thin Man."
7) Your favorite movie theater*
Don't have one. Used to be the Biograph, in Georgetown, D.C.
8) Jean Arthur or Irene Dunne?
Dunne.
9) Favorite film made for children
"The Wizard of Oz." In 500 years, if there's still a civilization capable of producing electricity to run film projectors, this movie will still entertain people. Can't be said for many other films.
10) Favorite Martin Scorsese Movie
Eh. GoodFellas, I suppose. I'm not a be Scorsese fan.
11) Favorite film about children
"My Life as a Dog"?
12) Favorite film of 1954
"The Seven Samurai."
13) Favorite screenplay written by a writer more famous for literature than screenplays
"To Have and Have Not," screenplay by William Faulkner and Jules Furman from a story by Hemingway.
14) Walter Matthau or Jack Lemmon?
Matthau by a nose (heh).
15) Favorite character name
Sugar Kane Kowalczyk (MM's character in "Some Like It Hot").
16) Favorite screenplay adapted from a work of great literature, either by the author himself or by someone else
Michael Mann's "Last of the Mohicans"---a truly great screenplay and film derived from an unreadable work of "great" literature.
17) Favorite film of 1974
"Chinatown."
18) Joan Severance or Shannon Tweed?
Severance.
19) jackass: the movie-- yes or no?
Yes, definitely.
20) Favorite John Cassavetes Movie
"Faces."
21) First R-rated movie you ever saw
Was "Lipstick" R?
22) Favorite X-rated film (remember that, while your answer may well be a famous or not-so-famous hard-core film, the "X" rating was once also a legitimate rating that did not necessarily connote pornography)
"Sperms of Endearment."
23) Best film of 1994
Okay, "best" is a slippery adjective, but I'd say "Pulp Fiction," despite the fact that it's had a more deleterious effect on filmmaking in general than, say, "Shawshank" has had. For film I'd most likely to continue watching if I came across it while flipping channels, "Four Weddings and a Funeral."
24) Describe a moment in a movie that made you weep
Closeup of Juliet Stevenson's anguished face in "Truly, Madly, Deeply."
25) Ewan McGregor or Ewan Bremner?
Oy. Bremner.
26) One of your favorite line readings (not necessarily one of your favorite lines) from this or any year
Judi Dench, as Queen Elizabeth, saying "Too late, too late" too her caped courtiers as she treads through a puddle at the end of "Shakespeare in Love."
27) What, if any, element in a film, upon your hearing of its inclusion beforehand, would most likely prejudice you against seeing that film or keeping an open mind about it?
Certain graduates of SNL---Rob Schneider, David Spade especially.
28) Favorite Terry Gilliam Movie
"Brazil."
29) Jean Smart or Annie Potts?
Potts. In both the "Maryann or Ginger?" and "Olivier or Gielgud?" senses.
30) Is it possible to know with any certainty if you could like or love someone based partially on their taste in movies? If so, what film might be a potential relationship deal-breaker for you, or the one that might just seal that deal?
It's possible for me to like someone based partially on movie tastes, but not to love/not love based on those tastes.
I left out an even more correct answer to #5, I realize: It is my life's mission to expose as many people as possible to Don Hertzfeldt's nine-minute masterpiece Rejected. Dead Alive is still probably the all-time champ, but Hertzfeldt deserves mention as well.
Another thing I wanted to add about Jackass: The Movie is that it makes a great double feature with Y Tu Mama Tambien. Viewed together, these two films provide a fantastic amount of insight into the homoerotic nature of male bonding.
Dear Professor Kelp,
First off, I wish to apologize for my tardiness--well, actually, my extended absence from class. You see, I've been out of the state on family business, so I'm hoping to make up the test now. I promise I haven't read any of the other students' answers; in fact, I decided to wait until after I took the test to do so, since reading 72 students' answers would take up all the time I plan to use to write this thing, and more! So, my answers will be both untainted by the work of others and probably hopelessly naive. Anyway, I'd better get to work.
1) Does film best tell the truth (Godard) or tell lies (De Palma) at 24 frames per second? (Thanks, Peet)
Both, I guess. It's hard not to see when actors are lying, or being false, in their performances, so in that way every 24 frames demand truth--but where would we be without the artful lies, or illusions, created by montage? Then there are the lies told by CGI, which are too often easy to see. I'm a little bugged by that, and find myself grateful for older films where people actually had to take some risks to create the illusion--like the chariot race in "Ben Hur."
2) Ideal pairing of actors/actresses to play on-screen siblings
Peter Lorre and Susan Sarandon, in a time warp. That is, Sarandon as she looked back in "Joe," all skinny with those huge eyes, and Lorre as he appeared in "M." They could be in a grown-up version of "Flowers in the Attic."
3) Favorite special effects moment
I dunno...the ones that first come to mind are so dependent on involvement in the story/suspense that though I admire the effects, they aren't so noticeable because I believe them ("Poseidon" is a good example of that). I'll choose the moment in "The Devil's Advocate" that scared the beejesus out of me: Charlize Theron (about the only time I liked her) is trying on clothes in a shop with the gorgeous, bitchy wife of one of the law firm's partners, the wife has already creeped Charlize out by showing her boobs and asking Charlize if she wants to feel them (to see how real they feel), and suddenly the wife's laughing face briefly reveals itself as a terrifying demon. You had to be there--and it's been done endlessly since--but I was so unprepared for it, and it was so horrible and scary, especially right after the disturbingly sexy bit just before it, that it had a big impact on me. I'm sure I'll regret this answer, as countless other, better answers will occur to me soon, but oh well.
4) Matt Damon or George Clooney?
I'm a big Matt Damon fan: he has all kinds of interesting colors as an actor, a boyish attractiveness paired with intelligence and kind of an anxious quality--plus, he goes out on a limb in both his choice of projects and his choices in his performances. Can't believe I still haven't seen that Siamese-twin movie!
I like George Clooney well enough, and admire his choices of difficult, challenging projects, but I've never been too impressed with any single performance. I also have to constantly listen to how gorgeous, sexy, etc., he is from my wife and other women. So he loses!
5) What is the movie you’ve encouraged more people to see than any other?
Man, I really can't think of one. I know there have been some I've fobbed off on people and regretted it later, either because I changed my opinion, or because the groused at me when they didn't like it. I remember steering a lot of people to "Days of Heaven," and most at least liked it. Lately I told a lot of people to watch "Me and You and Everyone We Know," which I loved, but as far as I know no one has heeded my advice, or if they did they hated it and just didn't report back to me.
6) Favorite film of 1934
"Treasure Island," with Wallace Beery and Jackie Cooper. I watched it with my dad when I was a kid, several times, as he had loved it, and I loved it, too.
7) Your favorite movie theater*
Again?! I guess I'll pick a different one this time: my favorite lately is the Bijou in Eugene. I can walk there, it's funky and beautiful, the people are friendly who work there, the popcorn and snacks are yummy and inexpensive, there's a big fat cat sleeping on the chairs in the lobby, they seem to always show movies I want to see, and the presentation is really good--AND it's only five bucks on weeknights, slightly more on weekends! And it's air conditioned now, which has been a nice feature these past several weeks, if an ironic one when Pattie and I saw "An Inconvenient Truth" there last Wednesday night.
8) Jean Arthur or Irene Dunne?
Jean Arthur was funny and charming, and I'm a sucker for that voice. She probably wins, though I'm being unfair to Dunne, whose work I'm less familiar with. I do remember liking her a lot in "I Remember Mama."
9) Favorite film made for children
"The Wizard of Oz" is still fun to watch any old time: any time I happen to catch a bit of it, I can hardly tear myself away. It's especially great to watch when kids are around, since they never fail to glom onto it just as I did as a kid--and still do.
10) Favorite Martin Scorsese Movie
I think "Mean Streets" is great, and I would love to see it again now. I also thought "The Last Temptation of Christ" was very good--but I think I'll pick "Cape Fear," just because it was so suspenseful and vivid, and because it was so damned much fun.
11) Favorite film about children
I haven't seen it for a long time, but my high school French class went on a field trip to the 5th Ave. Cinemas in Portland to see Truffaut's "Small Change," and I thought it was so terrific I wanted to see it again right away.
12) Favorite film of 1954
Good lord! How am I supposed to remember...oh, wait, "Rear Window" came out that year. Definitely my choice!! I just looked up the year, and I have to mention, though it won't change my choice, that I like "20000 Leagues Under the Sea" a lot, too, and "On the Waterfront" is great.
13) Favorite screenplay written by a writer more famous for literature than screenplays
Easy: "Shadow of a Doubt," by Thornton Wilder.
14) Walter Matthau or Jack Lemmon?
I liked Lemmon less as he got older: he got more mannered and self-consciously quirky and sententious. But I love him in early Billy Wilder stuff like "Some Like it Hot" and "The Apartment." So I will pick him. Strangely, I like Matthau as he got older and more grumbly. I haven't seen "Charley Varrick," so maybe when I do I'll change my mind, and maybe I'll fall at this movie's feet in admiration, as you have.
15) Favorite character name
"Scout," the little girl in "To Kill a Mockingbird." I always thought it was great that she had that (nick)name--and "Jem" and "Atticus Finch" are not far behind.
16) Favorite screenplay adapted from a work of great literature, either by the author himself or by someone else
I guess that'd be "Deliverance," by James Dickey, one of those rare cases when a movie is as great as the book (another one being the Mockingbird movie mentioned above). But if some would quibble with the notion that "Deliverance" is great literature, maybe I'll choose the teleplay William Bast wrote for the 1982 "The Scarlet Pimpernel". It's witty, romantic and suspenseful, and the story is told so well that it never loses you despite a complex plot,which I guess incorporates a couple of Baroness Orczy's books.
17) Favorite film of 1974
Stop this!! OK...I'll be calm. I pick "Chinatown." I love it, I loved it when I saw it at the cheapo Cinema V for a 69 cent double feature when I was in high school, and I still do. "The Godfather Part II" and "Young Frankenstein" are hot on its heels, though, and my camp favorite is "Airport 1975" ("An All-Star Cast in a Four-Star Movie!").
18) Joan Severance or Shannon Tweed?
I don't even know who Joan Severance is. I always liked Shannon Tweed, as she's awesomely sexy and has a sense of humor. I like the way her lush mouth turns up at one corner in wry amusement.
19) jackass: the movie-- yes or no?
YES!! Let's watch it again. I can't help myself: it's awesomely funny, and as you've said here, it taps into some I-dare-you guy thing about being gross and stupid and enjoying it.
20) Favorite John Cassavetes Movie
As director? I hated each of the ones I saw except "Gloria," which I loved; to be fair, I ought to see them again, now that I'm technically a grown-up.
As actor? "Rosemary's Baby." "The Fury" a close second.
21) First R-rated movie you ever saw
"John and Mary," with Dustin Hoffman and Mia Farrow. It was playing on a double bill at the Broadway in Portland, and I went with my older brother; the main feature was rated PG, or GP, whichever, so I guess they didn't pay attention to the fact that we were, like, ten and thirteen years old. It was disappointingly mild: I expected close-ups of genitals or something really shocking.
22) Favorite X-rated film (remember that, while your answer may well be a famous or not-so-famous hard-core film, the "X" rating was once also a legitimate rating that did not necessarily connote pornography)
"Last Tango in Paris."
23) Best film of 1994
You will die. (big sigh)...OK: man, looking over that list, I'm struck by how many terrible movies came out that year! My pick will be "Heavenly Creatures," with "Ed Wood" a close second, and honorable mention to "Nobody's Fool." Slim pickings, eh? Oh, and "Ace Ventura, Pet Detective" is a pet favorite of mine, sorry for the pun, it just came out that way.
24) Describe a moment in a movie that made you weep
I often cry in movies. I even cried in "Spider-Man" when kindly old Uncle Ben died and said that thing about "with great power comes great responsibility." To be fair, my own dad had recently died, and I was pretty sensitive about father figures dying in movies--still am, actually.
Here's one that got me real good: in "Kramer vs. Kramer", when Jane Alexander is knocking on the door of Dustin Hoffman's apartment and (as I remember) you don't yet know who won custody of the little monster, but Jane is calling to him to please let her in and then they cut to him and he's sitting slouched in the semi-darkness, with a hand over his eyes, and tells her to please go away--then i knew he'd lost, and the pain of that moment hit me (in 1979, or whenever it was, when I was 20) with such force that I started bawling in the theater. I was sitting between my older brother and his wife, who were understandably flustered and bewildered by this outburst; I think it was actually the first time I realized how it must have felt to my dad to have to move out after the divorce and be separated from his kids.
25) Ewan McGregor or Ewan Bremner?
You gotta be kidding...or else I don't know Bremner very well, which I admit I don't. Ewan McGregor makes me mad, he's so talented, versatile, charming, handsome, generously endowed, and an apparently wholesome family man as well; in other words, he's the best. The other guy's barely on my radar,which certainly isn't his fault.
26) One of your favorite line readings (not necessarily one of your favorite lines) from this or any year
I was just thinking of a little moment in "Annie Hall" when Alvy is in LA and drives that giant car around so awkwardly, and when he gets stopped by a cop after smashing into something, he starts babbling nervously (I think he's brilliant and funny in that scene) but I like how the cop says "Don't tell me your life s--(Alvy drops the license on the ground)--tory, just give me the license, please." It's funny because the cop is distracted mid-word by Alvy dropping the card, then he finishes the word and wraps up the sentence with a "please." Almost certainly, the dropping of the license was an accident in that particular take, and if so the line reading was spurred by it, but after all a lot of the best performances are made up of little spontaneous moments.
27) What, if any, element in a film, upon your hearing of its inclusion beforehand, would most likely prejudice you against seeing that film or keeping an open mind about it?
The name Henry Jaglom.
28) Favorite Terry Gilliam Movie
"Monty Python and the Holy Grail." I'm not really that big a fan, but I keep thinking I'll suddenly become one.
29) Jean Smart or Annie Potts?
Annie Potts is reliably cute and charming and I love her voice. She kind of cheers me up.
30) Is it possible to know with any certainty if you could like or love someone based partially on their taste in movies? If so, what film might be a potential relationship deal-breaker for you, or the one that might just seal that deal?
Yes.
Potential deal-breaker: El Topo, because as I understand it, real animals were hurt/killed for the making of it. I haven't seen it, to be fair, and I'd talk to the person about it--it'd probably become an interesting discussion. But if this is the case and the person didn't think it was important, I wouldn't want much to do with them.
Possible deal-sealer: Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)...won't I ever shut up about that movie?!
Thanks, prof, this was fun, though I'm exhausted now! Hope you have a swell summer.
1) Does film best tell the truth (Godard) or tell lies (De Palma) at 24 frames per second? (Thanks, Peet)
Jeez, philosophy so early? Okay, lets get down! Film may seem best suited for mindless fantasies, but even some of the most mundane films touch on emotions and ideas that are based in truth. Take any lousy studio film and there will be hopefully at least one or two moments that transcend the genre or lousy filmmaking. One example off the top of my head: The Devil Wears Prada. This was, to quote one of its main characters, a sad little person of a film. The actors were game, there were some fine moments, but the director was afraid to go near anything resembling the reality of the situation and was content to craft another in a long line of Rakes Progress stories, in which our hero/heroine puts their ideals aside and sells their soul (evident because her friends, family and lover all tell the protagonist that shes selling her soul). However one moment stands apart and that was the scene where Streep takes Hathaway to task for dismissing fashion as unimportant. Miranda explains harshly and directly how the petty little discussions about what look will be in this fall have a trickle down effect and that every aspect of the Casual Corner outfit that she threw together for work that day had been the result of a three year cycle that began in an office just like theirs. I was engrossed by the dialogue, the acting, and the idea that people and industries we completely take for granted all have a major effect on our lives. The rest of the movie doesnt touch this scene. As for the films that are at the other end of the spectrum, the art films or message movies, I have encountered more worldly truths in their unspooling than in any other art medium, and since I love music, photography and art in general, this is not something I say lightly. Just watch Ikiru thats all Ive got to say bout that.
2) Ideal pairing of actors/actresses to play on-screen siblings?
Hmmm, since it doesnt say living or dead, I get to play what if? How about a dark comedy about two eccentric brothers who live in an old restored Ohio farmhouse/B&B starring John Belushi and Jack Black. Think Arsenic & Old Lace meets The Ladykillers.
3) Favorite special effects moment
Hands down, the moment the bone turns into a space station in 2001: A Space Odyssey. There may be better effects, better CGI and more dynamic transitions, but nobody touches the shocking break into the silent totality of space.
4) Matt Damon or George Clooney?
Matt Damon has been responsible for two huge laughs for me recently, in films he had nothing to do with whatsoever. The beyond retarded Matt Damon doll in Team America that only says, Matt Damon and a throwaway line in The 40-Year-Old Virgin where The Bourne Supremacy is running on a TV and Paul Rudd says, You know, I always thought Matt Damon was kind of a Streisand, but he kicks ass in this one. Theres something about Rudds line delivery that just cracks me up every time I see it. That being said, I can think of some tremendous work that Damon has done: the emaciated drug-addict soldier in Courage Under Fire, the pseudo anti-semite in School Ties, and especially Tom Ripley in The Talented Mr. Ripley. I also love his cameos in the Askew Universe films and smaller role in the Oceans 11/12 flicks.. Im not particulary fond of Good Will Hunting, though. Hes also responsible for the single most unrealistic moment in a film ever: when newly single Mike McDermott turns down Famke Jannsens advances in Rounders. Sure, Im buying that one. But, my choice is easily George Clooney. Hes the only major actor working today who I believe has a chance to be remembered in the same breath as Gable, Grant, and Stewart. Hes not there yet, and Im not saying he will be. But, I knew there was something special about him when I saw an old Roseanne episode where he played her boss. He just had it, and his subsequent work on E.R. built on that. While affected for television, there was something about his manner that allowed him to play the charming rogue in a way I cant recall ever seeing on TV before or since. I even loved him in From Dusk Til Dawn. Once his work for hire phase ended with The Peacemaker, he hasnt looked back. People seem to forget how charming he was in Three Kings, O Brother Where Art Thou and in the vastly underrated Intolerable Cruelty, and I see him in a phase where he moves comfortably between mainstream or dark comedy, drama and more challenging fare like Solaris (not as good as Tarkovskys but a nice try by Soderbergh, anyway). Besides Nicholson and Warren Beatty, I cant think of another actor whos done that as effectively as Clooney in the last three decades.
5) What is the movie youve encouraged more people to see than any other?
Ikiru without a doubt. Its the most amazing film Ive ever seen, and I seem to hit a brick wall when I tell them its a 2+ hour drama about a dying Japanese bureaucrat in the 1950s. Then, they see the final 15 minutes and fall to pieces. See it!!!
6) Favorite film of 1934
It Happened One Night. Besides Gone With The Wind, this is my favorite Gable perfomance. As an early screwball comedy (kind of ur-screwball), it bridged the gap between the broader comedies of the 20s and early 30s with the urbane wit of the later 30s/40s ones. I loved Claudetter Colbert, who is an odd mix of sexy/bitchy/sophistication/vulnerabilty that to be honest, I never saw in anything else she ever did.
7) Your favorite movie theater*
The New Beverly Cinema, on Beverly and LaBrea in Los Angeles. Theyre the only pure revival house left in LA, and they have a new double feature ever 3 days or so. They take suggestions from their patrons, so check it out. Ive seen some great stuff and some odd stuff here. I saw the restored Abel Gance Napoleon print here earlier this year, and seeing The Godfather and Millers Crossing back to back on the big screen was a revelation. I unequivocally deny that I ever had sexual relations with anyone in the back row of this theater, though; its just a rumor and theres no proof. Ha!
8) Jean Arthur or Irene Dunne?
Do I get a third option? Its not that I dont like their work, but Ive never completely gotten either of these actresses. For my money, Id take Constance Bennett over either of them. Since I have to choose, Ill take Dunne, strictly for her work in The Awful Truth. Carole Lombard kicks all their asses, though.
9) Favorite film made for children
Hmmma straight childrens flick or one of those subversive films that was supposedly made for children but carred a secret agenda within? How about one of each: Babe, which has an bit of an agenda but is basically what its supposed to be a film to make you happy about the very unlikely underpig and his mission to be the best sheep pig in wherever it is that its supposed to be set. And I love those singing mice! Subversive: Mary Poppins. I cant explain why, except to say that seeing it on acid made me realize how twisted this little movie is.
10) Favorite Martin Scorsese Movie
Yikes, this is like asking someone their favorite sexual position. Is there a bad one? Well, yeah, my least favorite is Bringing Out The Dead and dont even try to argue with me about it. But, favorite they all have some special meaning to me. I can take the safe route and say Raging Bull or Goodfellas, or I could be a contrarian and choose The King of Comedy, which is just awesome (Jerry Lewis rules in this movie). But, Ill go even more out there and say that for several reasons, Id probably have to say Alice Doesnt Live Here Anymore. I know its not a masterpiece, but this is one of the first adult films I ever saw by myself, in 1976 at the Plaza Theater in Newhall, CA. It was the B portion of the bill, and for some reason, the guy who programmed the theater kept attaching it to all kinds of A movies. And I kept coming back to see Alice week after week (I got in free!). I fell in love with Jodie Foster and her opening line, Hey kid, wanna get high on ripple?, it was the first movie where I learned to hate the oily abusive asshole that only Harvey Keitel can play, and I also fell deeply in love with Ellen Burstyn and the spirit of Kris Kristofferson. Is it Scorseses best? Not by a long shot but its still my favorite!
11) Favorite film about children
Oooh, good one. Well, there was an awful flick called The Children that was on Showtime in the early 80s about zombie children killing people, but I digress. For my money, Ill take The Bad Seed. I realize its kind of stagy and hammy, but theres just something deliciously subversive in what a sociopathic monster little Rhoda is. And I love Patty McCormack, the girl who will get her way and whats owed her regardless of how many people she has to kill to get it. You want creepy watch as she explains calmly to her mother how she beat her classmate to death with her shoes and that the crescent shaped injuries on her hands were caused by her beating his hands with them as he tried to climb back onto the pier from the lake. And her final discussion with her father about her neighbors lovebirds that shes been promised if anything happens to her. Do lovebirds live a long time daddy? I suppose they, do? As long as people? No, not as long as people. The play ends here the studio tacked on a Gods retribution ending in the film where she gets struck by lightning. Apparently, 50s audiences couldnt be trusted to handle an ending where the sociopath wins.
12) Favorite film of 1954
Without a doubt, The Seven Samurai. Like all of Kurosawas films, theres a lot more going on than just swordfighting and bandit killing. It took me a long time to get around to seeing this (late 90s), and boy was I pissed when I saw it. Needless to say, its in semi-permanent rotation in my DVD collection. Does it get any cooler than the quiet swordmaster coming back from his night of bandit assassination, with the look of a guy who just rotated some tires.
13) Favorite screenplay written by a writer more famous for literature than screenplays
Yikes, this is a toughie. How about The Misfits by Arthur Miller. It has Marilyns best (and final completed) performance, Gables last one (and a damned good one, too), a tragic one by Monty Clift (who was wasting away from alcoholism, and an underrated one by Eli Wallach. It gets lost in its Hollywood mystique, but I think its a damned good movie.
14) Walter Matthau or Jack Lemmon?
Jack Lemmon did some great stuff in his career, but I am very partial to Walter Matthau. The Bad News Bears Morris Buttermaker is a genius creation, and I just dont see one of Jacks characters matching him. I also love them together, and theres a funny scene at the end of Buddy Buddy where the hit man played by Matthau is going to kill a mobster who is in a police cordon. I cant remember why exactly, but Lemmon ends up taking the shot with the rifle (theyre in a high-rise hotel room); he cant shoot straight and tells Matthua, Oh no, I think I shot a cop. Matthau leaps at him and screams, You fucker!, not realizing that Lemmon had actually shot the mobster, who was disguised as a police officer. Matthaus reaction is just classic.
15) Favorite character name
Jake Gittes from Chinatown. Theres something about the name that lends itself to condecension, by the cop Escobar, the PI Mulvehill and mostly, by Noah Cross, who cant even be bothered to pronounce it correctly (Mr. Gitts, he calls him). At this point, they should just refer to PIs as Gittes instead.
16) Favorite screenplay adapted from a work of great literature, either by the author himself or by someone else?
Wonder Boys. How is this movie not more beloved? It has everything a great film should have and even a non-annoying Katie Holmes. Talk about a hatchet marketing job by the studio. This should be re-released every year until people finally get it.
17) Favorite film of 1974
Forget it, Jake, it's Chinatown, in a rout. If you want, Ill write all day long about this, what may be my favorite movie of all time (Im still not sure if I could choose The Godfather over it if forced). According to Robert Towne, the screenwriter, Chinatown symbolizes fate in the film, and much like the great classical tragedies, you can see this movie a million times and always pray it ends differently. You know where this runaway train is careening towards, but you cant help but watch it and hope the disaster is averted, just one time. Noah Cross. the chief villian, isnt fire and brimstone evil, hes far more satanic in his brilliant manipulations. And hes played by friendly, nice old John Huston. Let me tell you, if there is a hell and Satan is hanging out there waiting for souls to arrive, he looks and speaks just like Noah Cross. I said in a recent comment on this film that it symbolizes the idea that just when you think youve got it all figured out, you really dont know jack. And in this film, Jack/Jake doesnt know jack. However, there are people who have issues with this film. Check out the message boards on IMDB for Chinatown and read the I Dont Get It posts if you need a good chuckle.
18) Joan Severance or Shannon Tweed?
Shannon Tweed did some beautiful B&W nudes with old pinup photographer George Hurrell, and they were lovely. She was gorgeous back in the day, but unfortunately, both she and Joan have the synthetic look of someone whos made just a few trip too many to the local plastic surgeon. If forced, Ill take Joan she did exceptional work as Mel Profitts sister on the TV Show Wiseguy (Mel was played by Kevin Spacey back when he did crazy for fun and wasnt addicted to winning Oscars).
19) jackass: the movie-- yes or no?
Fuck yeah. Ive only had a few stop breathing, fall on the floor, laugh until your sternums ready to explode moments in my life, and the first time I saw this movie (as well as some select episodes of the show) was one of those times. Why is it funny? I dont know, maybe its the prank calls and stupid things I did in my youth that makes me identify with this insane band of morons. The opening segment, where Johnny Knoxville rents a car and then converts it into a race car, runs it in the destruction derby and then tries to return it to the agency, is pure brilliance. Also, Johnny dressed up in very old man makeup and shoplifting in a convenience store is beyond funny. Partyman dancing in the Japanese department store, Stevo snorting wasabi up his nose, and the last scene where one of the guys sticks a toy car up his ass and then goes to the doctor to complain about the pain hes been having since he passed out at that party (when the MD reviews the X-Ray and finds the car, he speaks to someone in a foreign language on the phone, talking about the gay guy who put a car in his ass). Even my Dad loved this movie, and hes got nowhere near the bad taste that I do.
20) Favorite John Cassavetes Movie
I have to be honest. The only Cassavetes film I can recall seeing is the original Gloria, with Gena Rowlands. While I loved this movie, I have a huge gap in my Cassavetes knowledge. So, I really cant offer up any meaningful insight here. My fave Cassevetes acting performance is of course, Guy Woodhouse in Rosemarys Baby. When I think of the villain of this piece, I dont think of Satan, or Roman & Minnie or the rest of the *yuck* naked middle-aged Satanists, I think of Guy. At least the Satanists had a warped, twisted evil belief system Guy did what he did out of greed and the desire for power and success. His giddiness at his thriving acting career is disgusting when you consider that he knows that one person has gone blind for his action, another died and he has essentially sold off his wifes womb to the Devil in exchange for that career. I just love when he tries to rationalize his actions to Rosemary at the end, and she spits in his face.
21) First R-rated movie you ever saw
I honestly dont remember if this correct, but I know one of the first was One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest. My family let me see anything R-rated from a very early age, so I may have seen something else at the Mustang Drive-In prior to Cuckoos Nest. I dont that we went and saw that movie three times that week.
22) Favorite X-rated film (remember that, while your answer may well be a famous or not-so-famous hard-core film, the "X" rating was once also a legitimate rating that did not necessarily connote pornography)
Well, I'd say Midnight Cowboy, but it was appealed down to an R rating upon re-release, and besides, thats no fun. Ive never seen hardcore porn before, so I consulted my buddy Viz Romanoff. He gave me a list of movies that he recommends, but he says if he has to choose just one, itll probably be The Devil In Miss Jones. Supposedly, its a well made story about a virgin woman who commits suicide and is sentenced to eternal damnation. Before she goes on the her final torment, she is given the opportunity to experience all the pleasures of the flesh. She agrees and the rest of the film is an exploration of numerous sexual fantasies and acts that turn her into a complete nympho. Finally, once shes seen and done it all, the Devil tells her that she must now go into hell. She ends up in a room occupied by a man who she wants to have sex with her, but hes so crazy that he wont touch her. She now realizes the true suffering is the knowledge and extreme desire for something she will never have again. Hmm, sounds cool, Ill have to check it out one of these days. ;)
23) Best film of 1994
Its a tough choice between Pulp Fiction & Heavenly Creatures, but PF wins by a narrow margin. PF may be derivative and an homage to certain old films, but its particular melange is one Ive never encountered before or since. Is there a better soundtrack to take you right into the movie, with songs like the Urge Overkill version of Girl, Youll Be A Woman Soon and Chuck Berrys You Never Can Tell? My favorite thing about PF is what Vincent Vega refers to as the little differences. Weve all seen the film noir about the palooka forced to take a dive and instead fights the mobsters threatening his life; did any of these movies end up with the boxer tied to a chair by refugees from Deliverance, forced to escaped and kill the buggerers with a samurai sword? How many movies kill the only thing resembling a lead protagonist halfway through and then have him come back at the end and still have you care what happens to him? From the throwaway lines, like correctamundo, the Big Kahuna burger discussion, Jimmy talking about the coffee he makes and his preference for oak bedroom furniture, and seasoned hitman Jules telling his boss that you have no idea how explosive this Bonnie situation is, to the deeper spiritual themes running through the film (ask yourself why Vincent really dies? the answers in the final scene if you listen hard enough), PF grabs you and never lets go. Its one of the few films of the 90s, along with Goodfellas, Unforgiven and Heavenly Creatures that I watch 2-3 times every year, without fail.
24) Describe a moment in a movie that made you weep
In Ikiru, the final scene of Watanabe on the swing set, with the smile on his face of a man who is already in heaven. If you dont tear up at that moment, check your pulse. If Im doing a scene that requires crying, thats the one Ill think of. Theres one other scene and its the one Im going to mention in Q.26. The scene is one of the most famous from Unforgiven, and I guess it makes me cry because its one of the first times I ever really felt what killing a person would be like and what the emotional repurcussions would be. It honestly was one of the moments in life that helped turn me from a death penalty supporter to an opponent.
25) Ewan McGregor or Ewan Bremner?
I really do love Ewan Bremner (hes Spud from Trainspotting, for God sake it doesnt get much better than his interview at the travel agency flipping on speed, does it?) and would love him to do more work that we can see over here. He was great in his small but crucial role in Match Point. But theres no way Ewan doesnt get my vote hes so damned underrated, and I hate that more people know him because of Star Wars and Moulin Rouge instead of Trainspotting and Shallow Grave. Mark Renton is such a fascinating character, and I still cant see him as anything else. Renton is the hero of the film, but if you think about it, hes responsible for so many of the bad things that happen in the film. Think about it: if he hadnt swapped out the homemade porn from Tommys collection, his girlfriend wouldnt have dumped him, he wouldnt have tried heroin and he wouldnt have died of AIDS. But regardless, McGregor makes Renton such a lovable rogue that you just cant root against him. Another flick I love McGregor in is one that was summarily dismissed by critics and audiences alike, Down With Love. I just dont understand why nobody gets this movie its a great homage to the Doris Day/Rock Hudson films of the 60s, it has wickedly sharp dialogue, exceptional set direction and David Hyde-Pierces best performance of his career. I think people saw McGregors Catcher Block as a quasi-Austin Powers but I didnt see that at all. I find him to be a quintessential extract of the Playboy Man/Metrosexual types of that era, played so well by Cary Grant and Rock Hudson in all those fluffy movies. McGregor is a daring actor (see: the Pillow Book for a perfect example), and I hope he finally achieves the recognition as such.
26) One of your favorite line readings (not necessarily one of your favorite lines) from this or any year
It's not one line reading but a scene; the scene in "Unforgiven", when The Schoefield Kid has just shot his first man and admits it to Will Munny. The realization of what it really means to kill someone, "all on account of pullin' a trigger" is devastating.
27) What, if any, element in a film, upon your hearing of its inclusion beforehand, would most likely prejudice you against seeing that film or keeping an open mind about it?
If it was designed to portray Scientology in a positive light. Im sorry to offend any Scientology supporters, but I have personal reasons for despising that organization. I didnt base my opinion on media coverage.
28) Favorite Terry Gilliam Movie
Twelve Monkeys. Wow, this movie gets better every time I see it. I love the links to Vertigo, the way that fate, in its Shakespearean cruelty, plays such a role in the end of the film, and the brilliant performances by Bruce Willis, Madeline Stowe and Brad Pitt. I tell people that this movie is sad, from beginning to end, and youd better not expect to walk out of the theater ready to skip down the road. But, I do think it reinforces how important it is to remember that every day could be our last, that love should never be taken for granted, and that sometimes, like in Chinatown, being good, righteous and determined only gets you so far. I love everything about this film: the score, the lighting, the cinematography. It continues to rise on my list of all-time favorites every time I watch it.
29) Jean Smart or Annie Potts?
God, they've both done interesting work. My favorite Potts film is Ken Russell's Crimes of Passion. She plays a frigid wife who drives her husband to visit prostitutes, and her meltdown as she realizes that a horrible sex life, totally unimportant and meaningless to her, has completely destroyed her marriage. Theres a scene where she tries to seduce her husband late in the film, and she tries to bring up their high school sexual exploits and then she just stops, as she realizes that she just doesnt have it in her. The devastation that she exudes is brilliantly portrayed. I love Jean Smart as the slutty white trash mother of Peter Skaarsgaard in Garden State. The way she flaunts her sex life with her sons high school friend (the knight) was just disgusting; Ive known older pothead losers like her before, and the performance was way too close to home. Anyway, I score it a tie.
30) Is it possible to know with any certainty if you could like or love someone based partially on their taste in movies? If so, what film might be a potential relationship deal-breaker for you, or the one that might just seal that deal?
I definitely think that a good start to a relationship would be to have similar tastes to someone in films, but obviously, Ive known plenty of women whove owned more Criterion DVDs than I do who I would never consider dating. For me, if a woman can analyze films (or music or any other cultural area), her taste is not as important as what drives it. However, if someone loved The Godfather, The Graduate, Ikiru and Chinatown as much as I do, then it would be difficult to turn her down. The deal breaker would be if someone told me her favorite film was The Rock and favorite comedy was The Wedding Planner. Oh wait, that already happened to me once. Her love of Escalades and hip hop culture and hatred of sushi were contributing factors, but I just remember thinking the entire time after she told me of her movie tastes, I could never love a woman who thinks those are the pinnacle of 100+ years of film history.
www.myspace.com/tullymox
1) Does film best tell the truth (Godard) or tell lies (De Palma) at 24 frames per second? (Thanks, Peet)
--lies; anyone who really believes they're telling truth with a film is full of it.
-2) Ideal pairing of actors/actresses
to play on-screen siblings
--Shelley Winters & Veronica Lake
3) Favorite special effects moment
--opening the Ark at the end of Raiders
4) Matt Damon or George Clooney?
--Damon; has pulled off Tom Ripley and Jason Bourne. Clooney plays the same guy most of the time, though he plays him well.
5) What is the movie you’ve encouraged more people to see than any other?
--Metropolitan
6) Favorite film of 1934
--Death takes a Holiday
7) Your favorite movie theater*
--Anthology Film Archives
8) Jean Arthur or Irene Dunne?
--Irene Dunne (I remember Mama, the Awful Truth)
9) Favorite film made for children
--Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles:The Movie
10) Favorite Martin Scorsese Movie
--New York, New York, for its naked ambition and how brazenly it succeds and fails at fulfilling it.
11) Favorite film about children
--the 400 Blows
12) Favorite film of 1954
--The Caine Mutiny
13) Favorite screenplay written by a writer more famous for literature than screenplays
--The Big Sleep, William Faulkner
14) Walter Matthau or Jack Lemmon?
--Lemmon
15) Favorite character name
--Clare Quilty
16) Favorite screenplay adapted from a work of great literature, either by the author himself or by someone else
--Nabokov's adaptation for Kubrick's Lolita
17) Favorite film of 1974
--The Last Detail (I'd say Part II but that's too easy)
18) Joan Severance or Shannon Tweed?
--Shannon Tweed, though both are a bit before my time
19) jackass: the movie-- yes or no?
--yes, and twice on sundays
20) Favorite John Cassavetes Movie
--faces
21) First R-rated movie you ever saw
--white men can't jump
22) Favorite X-rated film (remember that, while your answer may well be a famous or not-so-famous hard-core film, the "X" rating was once also a legitimate rating that did not necessarily connote pornography)
--Fritz the Cat
23) Best film of 1994
--barcelonabarcelonabarcelona
24) Describe a moment in a movie that made you weep
--i was watching remember the titans on a transatlantic flight and some combination of cabin pressure, cheap complimentary wine, and pop warner flashbacks made me well up, though i don't remember exactly where in the film it was.
25) Ewan McGregor or Ewan Bremner?
--Ewan Bremner
26) One of your favorite line readings (not necessarily one of your favorite lines) from this or any year
--Mia Farrow in Crimes and Misdemeanors: "What am I going to do with a hand full of putty?"
27) What, if any, element in a film, upon your hearing of its inclusion beforehand, would most likely prejudice you against seeing that film or keeping an open mind about it?
--A positive review from Peter Travers
28) Favorite Terry Gilliam Movie
--Time Bandits
29) Jean Smart or Annie Potts?
--Annie Potts (see: Corvette Summer, Pretty in Pink)
30) Is it possible to know with any certainty if you could like or love someone based partially on their taste in movies? If so, what film might be a potential relationship deal-breaker for you, or the one that might just seal that deal?
--Probably not, though if such a movie did exist, it would be some conflation of Bed and Board, Metropolitan, and the Double Life of Veronique
Upon reflection, I will revise my answer to #26 (One of your favorite line readings (not necessarily one of your favorite lines) from this or any year) to ANYTHING that comes out of Barry Fitzgerald's mouth in Jules Dassin's "The Naked City", i.e. (to a suspect about to jump out his office window after being cornered by the police) "I don't know anything about medicine, doctor, but that's one prescription that never cured anything. "
1) Does film best tell the truth (Godard) or tell lies (De Palma) at 24 frames per second?
True lies.
2) Ideal pairing of actors/actresses to play on-screen siblings
Catherine Deneuve and Francoise Dorleac.
3) Favorite special effects moment
I've always been a sucker for Ray Harryhausen's stop-motion beasties. Probably the Ymir from 20 Million Miles to Earth. I used to practice making its slightly jerky movements while standing on a model railroad set.
4) Matt Damon or George Clooney?
That's like asking: Steven Seagal or Bruce Lee?
5) What is the movie you’ve encouraged more people to see than any other?
I think over the years I've given away more copies of The Umbrellas of Cherbourg than any other. Most people seem to find it kind of weird at first, and over time they come to love it. It becomes something you can refer back to at different points in your life.
6) Favorite film of 1934
L'Atalante.
7) Your favorite movie theater
The Belcourt, Nashville, Tenn. Runners-up: Alamo Drafthouse, Austin; Castro, San Francisco. No longer here: Cinema One, Murfreesboro, Tenn.; Marbro Drive-In, Murfreesboro, Tenn.
8) Jean Arthur or Irene Dunne?
Arthur—unless it's the Dunne of The Awful Truth, in which case we have a tie.
9) Favorite film made for children
The Wizard of Oz, which not even my little girl's 200-plus viewings can diminish.
10) Favorite Martin Scorsese Movie
Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, The King of Comedy, GoodFellas and Gangs of New York are beautiful things. But I think my favorite is The Age of Innocence, which would pretty much qualify also as my favorite Michael Powell movie.
11) Favorite film about children
The Night of the Hunter
12) Favorite film of 1954
Rear Window
13) Favorite screenplay written by a writer more famous for literature than screenplays
Strangers on a Train, co-written by Raymond Chandler. Runners-up: The Killing and Paths of Glory, co-written by Jim Thompson.
14) Walter Matthau or Jack Lemmon?
Matthau. For one thing, I can't imagine Lemmon showing up on the set of Earthquake.
15) Favorite character name
Trudy Kockenlocker from The Miracle of Morgan's Creek. Although all of W.C. Fields' movies have wonderful names—even those used as throwaway gags, like "Carl LaFong" or "Sneed Hearn." Also, as a villain's name, I always appreciated the subtlety of Rocky IV's "Ivan Drago."
16) Favorite screenplay adapted from a work of great literature, either by the author himself or by someone else
The Leopard
17) Favorite film of 1974
Lancelot du Lac, though depending on the day, it could just as well be California Split, The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3 or Cockfighter.
18) Joan Severance or Shannon Tweed?
Tweed suits me. Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death is a classic. No joke.
19) jackass: the movie-- yes or no?
Oui.
20) Favorite John Cassavetes Movie
The Killing of a Chinese Bookie, one of the most humble and mysterious movies ever made about the muck an artist will crawl through in order to create.
21) First R-rated movie you ever saw
Halloween, in 1978. Baptism by fire.
22) Favorite X-rated film (remember that, while your answer may well be a famous or not-so-famous hard-core film, the "X" rating was once also a legitimate rating that did not necessarily connote pornography)
The Brown Bunny
23) Best film of 1994
Pulp Fiction
24) Describe a moment in a movie that made you weep
The "When She Loved Me" montage in Toy Story 2, which depicts the slow fade of Jessie the cowgirl from her owner's life all the way to her final abandonment at a dump. It's the most primal and potent demonstration of the great theme underlying Pixar's work: obsolescence.
25) Ewan McGregor or Ewan Bremner?
McGregor, just for the "Cheers, Here's to Love" number from Down with Love alone. And for singing "Up Where We Belong" and "Your Song" with fearless sincerity.
26) One of your favorite line readings (not necessarily one of your favorite lines) from this or any year
Sheldon Leonard in It's a Wonderful Life: "We don't need no keh-recters givin' the joint et-mosphere!" Also, anything ever spoken aloud by William Demarest.
27) What, if any, element in a film, upon your hearing of its inclusion beforehand, would most likely prejudice you against seeing that film or keeping an open mind about it?
Unfaked animal cruelty.
28) Favorite Terry Gilliam Movie
Brazil, but I'd trade pretty much his entire filmography for the one shot of Uma Thurman waltzing in mid-air from The Adventures of Baron Munchausen.
29) Jean Smart or Annie Potts?
Ooh, you devil. I'd have to say Jean Smart, especially after this year's 24. Grrrrowl.
30) Is it possible to know with any certainty if you could like or love someone based partially on their taste in movies? If so, what film might be a potential relationship deal-breaker for you, or the one that might just seal that deal?
My wife married me despite the fact I howled all the way through Army of Darkness while she kicked her chair in misery. Love excuses a lot of sins.
1) Does film best tell the truth (Godard) or tell lies (De Palma) at 24 frames per second?
In the abstract, film is truth. But specifically (and thanks to technology), film is lies.
2) Ideal pairing of actors/actresses to play on-screen siblings
Jennifer Jason Leigh/Maria McKee
Bernie Mac/Grace Jones
Louis Garrel/Shannyn Sossamon
Antony/Roseanne
3) Favorite special effects moment
In Michael Mann's The Keep, when the dumbass soldiers break through the crypt walls and there's that 600-foot tracking shot through midair.
4) Matt Damon or George Clooney?
Both, please.
5) What is the movie you’ve encouraged more people to see than any other?
Either Alien3 (workprint version) or Pootie Tang.
6) Favorite film of 1934
The Thin Man.
7) Your favorite movie theater*
(defunct) The Dabel in Dayton, Ohio. (operating to the best of my knowledge) UGC Prestige, Champs-Elysees, Paris.
8) Jean Arthur or Irene Dunne?
My unfamiliarity with these actresses precludes my answering.
9) Favorite film made for children
The Neverending Story.
10) Favorite Martin Scorsese Movie
Afterhours.
11) Favorite film about children
George Washington.
12) Favorite film of 1954
Johnny Guitar.
13) Favorite screenplay written by a writer more famous for literature than screenplays
Saboteur - Dorothy Parker et al.
14) Walter Matthau or Jack Lemmon?
Lemmon, just because Matthau was a serial groper.
15) Favorite character name
Internationally-known Freddy Tiffany. (Double Take).
16) Favorite screenplay adapted from a work of great literature, either by the author himself or by someone else
The House of Mirth (Terence Davies version).
17) Favorite film of 1974
California Split.
18) Joan Severance or Shannon Tweed?
What, no Maria Ford or Gail Harris?
19) jackass: the movie-- yes or no?
Yes.
20) Favorite John Cassavetes Movie
Husbands.
21) First R-rated movie you ever saw
Flashdance.
22) Favorite X-rated film (remember that, while your answer may well be a famous or not-so-famous hard-core film, the "X" rating was once also a legitimate rating that did not necessarily connote pornography)
(porn) The Opening of Misty Beethoven. (respectable) either Beyond The Valley of the Dolls or Female Trouble.
23) Best film of 1994
(That I actually saw in 1994) Ed Wood. (Across the board) Satantango.
24) Describe a moment in a movie that made you weep
The entire last act of A Perfect World.
25) Ewan McGregor or Ewan Bremner?
MacGregor, but only because he gets naked at the drop of a hat.
26) One of your favorite line readings (not necessarily one of your favorite lines) from this or any year
"Dirty Dee, you a baddy daddy lamatai tebby-chai!" Pootie Tang, Sine Yo Pitty on the Runny Kine.
"I love him so much." Holly Hunter, Raising Arizona.
"Ain't no damed ninja turtles- that's "That Ass."" Grandma, House Party 3.
"If needy were a turn-on?" Albert Brooks, Broadcast News.
Anytime Phoebe Cates says "Stace" in Fast Times at Ridgemont High.
"I think I'm gonna die, Daddy." little girl, Phat Beach.
27) What, if any, element in a film, upon your hearing of its inclusion beforehand, would most likely prejudice you against seeing that film or keeping an open mind about it?
seeing it was directed by one of Adam Sandler or Will Ferrell's buddies, anything that stars or features Jim Belushi or Edward James Olmos, cinematography by Lance Acord, a trailer that features a Smash Mouth song...
28) Favorite Terry Gilliam Movie
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.
29) Jean Smart or Annie Potts?
(1984 Ghostbusters-1986 Jumpin' Jack Flash) Annie Potts. (All other years) Jean Smart.
30) Is it possible to know with any certainty if you could like or love someone based partially on their taste in movies? If so, what film might be a potential relationship deal-breaker for you, or the one that might just seal that deal?
Dealbreakers: Red Dawn or Halloween III.
Dealsealers: Quick Change, Alien3, Alexander.
1) Does film best tell the truth (Godard) or tell lies (De Palma) at 24 frames per second? (Thanks, Peet)
I think that no film can be entirely lying if it elicits some sort of emotional response, because how we react in itself teaches us about ourselves and about life. In which case, I guess, the intelligence of the individual viewer plays an important part in whether they receive lies or truth. To a perceptive viewer, even an incongruent response, like laughing at a scene that’s supposed to be dramatic, illuminates truth. . . which can be as prosaic as “bad writing sucks.” Wherefore it sucks, however, opens up deep avenues of reflection, and that is why film is best at the truth: no matter what lies it tries to tell, the truth will out.
2) Ideal pairing of actors/actresses to play on-screen siblings
I’ve heard that Tony Shalhoub and Stanley Tucci play brothers in a movie. I can’t think of any better combination.
3) Favorite special effects moment
Right now, all I can think of is the Kraken in its final scene in Pirates of the Caribbean II. It looks too much like whatever the beast was in Return of the Jedi, but it’s an awesome shot because I really wasn’t expecting more than what they had already shown. Plus, any sort of sea monster has an inherent terror factor, “the Kraken” is an awesome name, and the music and slow motion perfectly set up the final shot. Yes, I liked the movie!
4) Matt Damon or George Clooney?
Matt Damon. This is probably not true, but I just get the feeling that Clooney takes himself too seriously and is too self-congratulatory. Two period black-and-white films in two years? On top of Ocean’s 11, 12, and 13?
5) What is the movie you’ve encouraged more people to see than any other?
Probably The Royal Tenenbaums or Frequency.
6) Favorite film of 1934
The first one that pops into my head, and the only one that I happen to know is from 1934, is It Happened One Night. The fact that I actually know the year it was released is a good enough argument in its favor, I think. That and the amazing comic chemistry between Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert, and the hitchhiking scene, and the scene with Gable eating a carrot while Colbert rolls her eyes at him, or the two of them staging a fight in their motel room. . .
7) Your favorite movie theater*
The Englewood Theater, in Independence, Missouri. A beautiful theater with a single 50-foot screen, the roomiest plush red seats ever, and it even still plays (sometimes) the national anthem and a set of cartoons before the feature. Even the street it’s on is straight out of the 1950s. They play old and unusual films, although a lot of the time they also show first-run mainstream films because it’s hard to get the audience for the other films. Even those are fun to watch here though.
8) Jean Arthur or Irene Dunne?
Jean Arthur
9) Favorite film made for children
Toy Story
10) Favorite Martin Scorsese Movie
I’ve never seen a Scorsese movie all the way through, and I’m not really tempted to.
11) Favorite film about children
To Kill a Mockingbird. Or The Sandlot.
12) Favorite film of 1954
Rear Window . . . again, that year is stamped on my heart because of this movie. (Roman Holiday misses it by a year).
13) Favorite screenplay written by a writer more famous for literature than screenplays
14) Walter Matthau or Jack Lemmon?
Walter Matthau was Mr. Wilson, but Lemmon was C.C. Baxter and Jerry/Daphne, so Lemmon.
15) Favorite character name
Inigo Montoya
16) Favorite screenplay adapted from a work of great literature, either by the author himself or by someone else
How about The Princess Bride. But since the book itself may not be considered great literature, I’ll steal someone else’s and say A Room With a View. I would say Sense and Sensibility, but I can’t tell if it’s the screenplay or the great direction that makes this such a great movie.
17) Favorite film of 1974
The Sting, technically 1973 but that’s close enough for me. I’m not very familiar with ‘70s cinema.
18) Joan Severance or Shannon Tweed?
neither
19) jackass: the movie-- yes or no?
What?! No!
20) Favorite John Cassavetes Movie
This is cheating, because I haven’t actually seen any John Cassavetes movies, but I see that Big Trouble (which he directed, not acted in) has Alan Arkin and Peter Falk in it, and any movie that puts those two great actors together must be my favorite. Now I have to go watch it.
21) First R-rated movie you ever saw
Probably Air Force One.
22) Favorite X-rated film (remember that, while your answer may well be a famous or not-so-famous hard-core film, the "X" rating was once also a legitimate rating that did not necessarily connote pornography)
Wait Until Dark
23) Best film of 1994
Quiz Show. Though I also have a soft spot in my heart for Little Women.
24) Describe a moment in a movie that made you weep
I am really a sucker for emotional father-son scenes: Dennis Quaid and Jim Caviezel’s first real conversation on the ham radio, reconnecting across thirty years, in Frequency; Billy Crudup running with Albert Finney in his arms at the end of Big Fish; Igby, just sitting across from his father in the mental home and pushing his hair back as if to say “Here, take a good look at me,” in Igby Goes Down; and Alex meeting his father again for the first time in years in Goodbye, Lenin! Actually, the scene with the Lenin statue was pretty powerful too . . . and the look on his mother’s face as she watches him in her final scene, knowing he has lied to make her happy and pretending she doesn’t know in order to make him happy, made me a little teary-eyed.
25) Ewan McGregor or Ewan Bremner?
Ewan McGregor.
26) One of your favorite line readings (not necessarily one of your favorite lines) from this or any year
From 9 to 5, Lily Tomlin: (surprised) “I’m a doctor!. . . Why the hell am I talking to you?”
Her performance throughout this entire sequence, even just the way she says “Oh my god, oh my god!”, is amazing.
Arghh. . . I was only going to do one, but I just remembered this line from The Baxter, and I have to include it (for the reading, not just the line):
On the wedding theme: “Well, my colors were Tuscan white bean and sea-green asparagus, but yellow and black?!”
And one more: “Hellooo Brooklyn.”
27) What, if any, element in a film, upon your hearing of its inclusion beforehand, would most likely prejudice you against seeing that film or keeping an open mind about it?
There’s a better answer to this, but all I can think of right now is that I’m not interested in seeing movies with an actor who is pretty much doing the exact same thing he’s done in another movie. That’s pretty broad, so I’ll narrow it down to dramas (comedies can sometimes get away with it) and explain where this came from: I was reading about Zach Braff’s upcoming movie The Last Kiss, and setting the story aside, it sounds exactly like Garden State—another movie-with-a-hip-soundtrack-about-a-30-something-trying-to-figure-out-his-life. Garden State was all right, but I want to see Braff in something that takes itself less seriously (I’m talking movies, of course, and preferably something a little more serious than Scrubs). The same goes for Denzel Washington and action movies, which it seems is all he does these days—except that Déjà vu looks like fun, which leads to the codicil that I can be enticed to watch any movie with an element of time travel/time distortion.
28) Favorite Terry Gilliam Movie
Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
29) Jean Smart or Annie Potts?
Jean Smart. “Oh, God bless *you*! A hero!”
30) Is it possible to know with any certainty if you could like or love someone based partially on their taste in movies? If so, what film might be a potential relationship deal-breaker for you, or the one that might just seal that deal?
Well, since you mention it, anyone for whom jackass: the movie represents his typical taste in movies is most definitely not going to be high on the list. Beyond that, I think at least a bare minimum of originality in taste in movies is important.
Okay, after seeing the picture of Clint Eastwood that Dennis posted on his answers to this test, I have to add on to my answer to #2 and say that in a time warp, Clint Eastwood and Hugh Jackman could be twins.
And since I'm editing my answers anyway, I neglected to answer #13, but since I now know that Strangers on a Train fits the bill (for screenplay by a writer more famous for literature), that's definitely it.
Finally, I have to add as a favorite character name "Kingsley Zissou." Especially since that's not even the character's real name, just what it could have been.
And yet another one. My being about ten months late, I know nobody will ever read this stuff, but I’m a sucker for these things . . .
1) Does film best tell the truth (Godard) or tell lies (De Palma) at 24 frames per second? (Thanks, Peet)
The best of them tell the truth BY telling lies.
2) Ideal pairing of actors/actresses to play on-screen siblings
Laurel & Laurel and Hardy & Hardy in „Our Relations“. (I know, it’s a cop-out, but I can‘t think of anyone.)
3) Favorite special effects moment
Hm. John Hurt’s chestburster in „Alien“, maybe?
4) Matt Damon or George Clooney?
Damon has been in so many clinkers that it has to be Clooney.
5) What is the movie you’ve encouraged more people to see than any other?
„Beautiful Girls“
6) Favorite film of 1934
„It’s a Gift“, with „It Happened One Night“ and „The Scarlet Empress“ a close second and third, respectively.
7) Your favorite movie theater*
The Odeon in Berlin, Germany. One of the few theaters in town that show movies in their original version instead of poorly dubbed.
8) Jean Arthur or Irene Dunne?
Jean Arthur – who had an incredible streak between 1936 („Mr. Deeds“) and 1948 („A Foreign Affair“) . Always a pleasure to watch such a great pro doing her job.
9) Favorite film made for children
Does „The Wizard of Oz“ count? If not, it has to be Gerhard Lamprecht’s still charming „Emil und die Detektive“ (1931), based on the Erich Kästner novel and written by Billy (then Billie) Wilder, starring the unforgettable Fritz Rasp (who also appeared in several of Fritz Lang’s and G.W. Pabst’s silent films). Guilty Pleasure: „The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T.“
10) Favorite Martin Scorsese Movie
„Taxi Driver“, with „GoodFellas“ close behind.
11) Favorite film about children
„Streetwise“
12) Favorite film of 1954
„Rear Window“ in a tie with „Sabrina“
13) Favorite screenplay written by a writer more famous for literature than screenplays
Boring answer: „Double Indemnity“
14) Walter Matthau or Jack Lemmon?
Are they separable?
15) Favorite character name
Cuthbert J. Twillie
16) Favorite screenplay adapted from a work of great literature, either by the author himself or by someone else
Well, great literature . . . I dunno. But although a lot of people hated it, I really liked Sean Penn’s „The Pledge“ , based on Friedrich Dürrenmatt’s novel „Das Versprechen“.
17) Favorite film of 1974
Geez, that’s a tough one. ‘74 was such a great year. But I guess I’ll have to vote for, er, „Thunderbolt and Lightfoot.“
18) Joan Severance or Shannon Tweed?
Who the hell is Joan Severance?
19) jackass: the movie-- yes or no?
Hell, no. Am I 14, or what? ;)
20) Favorite John Cassavetes Movie
As a director: „Woman under the Influence.“ As an actor: „The Fury.“
21) First R-rated movie you ever saw
Being German, I’m not sure how any of the movies I saw at the time were rated in the US. The first film with a 16+ rating I – unsuccessfully - tried to sneak into was „Jaws“. The first one they actually let me see was „Rollerball.“
22) Favorite X-rated film (remember that, while your answer may well be a famous or not-so-famous hard-core film, the "X" rating was once also a legitimate rating that did not necessarily connote pornography)
„King of New York“ in a tie with „The Devil in Miss Jones.“
23) Best film of 1994
„Little Odessa“, with, uhm, „Speed“ as a close second.
24) Describe a moment in a movie that made you weep
I cry a lot during movies, either because I’m struck by their sheer brilliance (a Hitchcock crane shot like the one in „Notorious“, ending on the key in Ingrid Bergman’s hand, usually does the trick) or because it grabs me emotionally (since my dad passed away a few years ago, I have a freakin‘ hard time watching anything even remotely touching father-son relationships). But the only time I literally cried my eyes out was when I saw Sal Mineo die in „Rebel without a Cause.“ Just imagine the impact of that film on a 13-year-old with the first stirrings of adolescent „existentialism“ raging in his impressionable mind. I was devastated.
25) Ewan McGregor or Ewan Bremner?
Who the hell is Ewen Bremner?
26) One of your favorite line readings (not necessarily one of your favorite lines) from this or any year
„So they really call me Concentration Camp Erhardt?“
27) What, if any, element in a film, upon your hearing of its inclusion beforehand, would most likely prejudice you against seeing that film or keeping an open mind about it?
If it’s a German comedy, I won’t watch it - „German comedy“ is a contradiction in terms. Same goes if it has a soft ‘n‘ cuddly or „poetic“ title specifically designed to appeal to New Agers and green tea drinkers – films called „The Story of the Weeping Camel“ or „The Scent of the Green Papaya“ are a definite no-no. If Hugh Grant or Klaus Maria Brandauer’s in it, that might be a problem. Or if it was written and/or directed by Lars von Trier, Wim Wenders or any of the Wayans family. As for content, I guess I’m fairly unprejudiced.
28) Favorite Terry Gilliam Movie
„The Meaning of Life“
29) Jean Smart or Annie Potts?
Annie Potts. For „Wordplay“.
30) Is it possible to know with any certainty if you could like or love someone based partially on their taste in movies? If so, what film might be a potential relationship deal-breaker for you, or the one that might just seal that deal?
Like, yes. Love, well ... I haven’t yet met a woman who’s as much into movies as I am, but I’m pretty happy with the one I’ve got – she’s ready and willing to watch (and like) most of what I do (with the possible exception of hard-core gore – although we have watched a few splatter movies together – and hard-core porn – although we have . . . but that’s none of your businees. ;) )
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