The guys at the wonderful blog Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule have posted another one of their thought-provoking survey-type quiz-type things for movie geeks everywhere. Rejoice!
And my answers to Professor Larry Gopnik’s Post-Hanukkah, Pre-Christmas, Post-Schrodinger, Pre-Apocalypse SLIFR Holiday Movie Quiz below…
1) Favorite unsung holiday film
Well, you didn’t say this holiday, but I’ll play nice.
2) Name a movie you were surprised to have liked/loved
Most recently, Chasing Ice.
3) Ned Sparks or Edward Everett Horton?
Sparks, both for being in Imitation of Life and for getting out while the gettin’ was good.
4) Sam Peckinpah’s Convoy– yes or no?
Christ, I haven’t seen Convoy in probably thirty years. But, you know, Ali McGraw.
Christ, I haven’t seen Convoy in probably thirty years. But, you know, Ali McGraw.
Um, that would be a yes.
5) What contemporary actor would best fit into a popular, established genre of the past
I don’t know why, but the phrase that popped into my head was “I would love to see what James Whale would do with Thomas Jane”.
6) Favorite non-disaster movie in which bad weather is a memorable element of the film’s atmosphere
Se7en. From my recent Great Films take on it: “You finally get some sunshine in this movie and it sets alarm bells off in your head.“
7) Second favorite Luchino Visconti movie
The Stranger, with the codicil that I’ve only seen two.
The Stranger, with the codicil that I’ve only seen two.
8) What was the last movie you saw theatrically? On DVD/Blu-ray?
The Wicker Man and Dororo (which I’m actually half an hour into right now), respectively
9) Explain your reaction when someone eloquently or not-so-eloquently attacks one of your favorite movies (Question courtesy of Patrick Robbins)
9) Explain your reaction when someone eloquently or not-so-eloquently attacks one of your favorite movies (Question courtesy of Patrick Robbins)
In general, I just pass it over and don’t respond for fear of making a total ass of myself. I will generally make an exception if the movie in question is Grave of the Fireflies, because not liking that movie is not allowed.
10) Joan Blondell or Glenda Farrell?
That’s a race?
11) Movie star of any era you’d most like to take camping
Adrienne King. (If you need to look up, why, check out her 1980 output on IMDB. Best camper ever.)
12) Second favorite George Cukor movie
13) Your top 10 of 2013 (feel free to elaborate!)
You’ll find out during the first three days of January. Note: I do a best-I-saw(-for-the-first-time) rather than of the year; I won’t have seen enough 2013 film to do a top ten for movies released in 2013 until, probably, 2016.
14) Name a movie you loved (or hated) upon first viewing, to which you eventually returned and had more or less the opposite reaction
Suspiria is the one I always use as an example there; it took me four tries to really get into it.
15) Movie most in need of a deluxe Blu-ray makeover
15) Movie most in need of a deluxe Blu-ray makeover
Closetland.
16) Alain Delon or Marcello Mastroianni?
Not a huge fan of either, but I didn’t hate Mastroianni in The Law.
17) Your favorite opening sequence, credits or no credits (provide link to clip if possible)
17) Your favorite opening sequence, credits or no credits (provide link to clip if possible)
18) Director with the strongest run of great movies
With the codicil that I have not yet seem Miral, Julian Schnabel.
19) Is elitism a good/bad/necessary/inevitable aspect of being a cineaste?
19) Is elitism a good/bad/necessary/inevitable aspect of being a cineaste?
As someone who prefers terrible horror films to just about anything else, I certainly hope not.
20) Second favorite Tony Scott film
20) Second favorite Tony Scott film
Enemy of the State.
21) Favorite movie made before you were born that you only discovered this year. Where and how did you discover it?
21) Favorite movie made before you were born that you only discovered this year. Where and how did you discover it?
City Lights, and, well, it’s not like I didn’t know about it, I had just never seen it.
22) Actor/actress you would most want to see in a Santa suit, traditional or skimpy
22) Actor/actress you would most want to see in a Santa suit, traditional or skimpy
Tossup between Aida Turturro and Janeane Garofalo.
23) Video store or streaming?
23) Video store or streaming?
Streaming for the convenience and selection of it, but if mom and pop video stores still existed with the kind of crazy eclectic selection you could find in the mid-eighties, I would still hang out there and rent stuff daily.
24) Best/favorite final film by a noted director or screenwriter
24) Best/favorite final film by a noted director or screenwriter
The Turin Horse.
25) Monica Vitti or Anna Karina?
25) Monica Vitti or Anna Karina?
Simone Signoret.
26) Name a worthy movie indulgence you’ve had to most strenuously talk friends into experiencing with you. What was the result?
26) Name a worthy movie indulgence you’ve had to most strenuously talk friends into experiencing with you. What was the result?
I convinced at least half my senior class to see River’s Edge with me at various times. Most of them loathed it.
27) The movie made by your favorite filmmaker (writer, director, et al) that you either have yet to see or are least familiar with among all the rest
27) The movie made by your favorite filmmaker (writer, director, et al) that you either have yet to see or are least familiar with among all the rest
28) Favorite horror movie that is either Christmas-oriented or has some element relating to the winter holiday season in it
See 1., above.
29) Name a prop or other piece of movie memorabilia you’d most like to find with your name on it under the Christmas tree
29) Name a prop or other piece of movie memorabilia you’d most like to find with your name on it under the Christmas tree
The missing twenty-two minutes of footage from The Wicker Man.
30) Best holiday gift the movies could give to you to carry into 2014
30) Best holiday gift the movies could give to you to carry into 2014
The horrific, untimely death of Miley Cyrus.
Popcorn for Breakfast 