1) Second-favorite Coen Brothers movie.
Tough one as so many of them are my faves but if I had to narrow it down, I'd say Miller's Crossing. The visual palette - all of the greens and chocolate-y browns are incredible as is the snappy gangster speak: "Now take you flunky and dangle!"
2) Movie seen only on home format that you would pay to see on the biggest movie screen possible? (Question submitted by Peter Nellhaus)That's an easy one, my fave film of all-time: Blue Velvet. I'm ashamed to say that I've never had a chance to see this on the big screen. Something I hope to rectify some day. To see Frederick Elmes' masterful widescreen compositions on the big screen has been a dream of mine ever since I first saw it on laser disc.
3) Japan or France? (Question submitted by Bob Westal)
Japan. If only for Sonny Chiba and Kinji Fukasaku's blood-soaked Yakuza films.
4) Favorite moment/line from a western.
This is a hard one to narrow down as I could pick so many from The Good, The Bad and The Ugly alone. I would say the bit where Tuco guns down a hapless desperado trying to catch him unawares in the tub and offers the pithy retort, "When you have to shoot, shoot, don't talk."
5) Of all the arts the movies draw upon to become what they are, which is the most important, or the one you value most?
I would say music. The way a song or a musical cue can make you feel during a giving scene or married with a specific image is undeniable.
6) Most misunderstood movie of the 2000s (The Naughties?).
The Way of the Gun. People were either repulsed by this film or simply ignored it but I thought it was a masterful attempt to recapture the gritty, bloody Peckinpah crime film from the 1970s. You could debate how successful it was but I like how it flew in the face of a lot of Quentin Tarantino wannabes.
7) Name a filmmaker/actor/actress/film you once unashamedly loved who has fallen furthest in your esteem.Nicolas Cage. What happened to this guy? He used to be pretty reliable for turning in outrageous, unpredictable performances but ever since he won an Academy Award, it's been a slippery slope towards Hacksville. That being said, his new Bad Lieutenant film does look promising and a return of the wild man of yore.
8) Herbert Lom or Patrick Magee?
Patrick Magee.
9) Which is your least favorite David Lynch film (Submitted by Tony Dayoub)
Oh man, tough call as I like most of his films but if push came to shove I would say The Elephant Man. I respect its craft but it puts me to sleep and I would actually watch Dune over it.
10) Gordon Willis or Conrad Hall? (Submitted by Peet Gelderblom)
Gotta go with the Prince of Darkness on this one: Gordon Willis, for his work with Alan J. Pakula alone!
11) Second favorite Don Siegel movie.
Charley Varrick. Great film with a rock solid, no-nonsense performance by Walter Matthau.
12) Last movie you saw on DVD/Blu-ray? In theaters?On DVD: True Believer. In theaters: Public Enemies.
13) Which DVD in your private collection screams hardest to be replaced by a Blu-ray? (Submitted by Peet Gelderblom)
Tough one. I would have to say The Godfather. I would love to see that on Blu-ray.
14) Eddie Deezen or Christopher Mintz-Plasse?
Eddie Deezen. If only for his small but insanely memorable bit part in WarGames.
15) Actor/actress who you feel automatically elevates whatever project they are in, or whom you would watch in virtually anything.
Actor: Jeff Bridges. The man has appeared in countless incredible films, from Cutter's Way and The Fabulous Baker Boys, to American Heart and The Big Lebowski. I find him to always be watchable no matter what he's in.
Actress: Jennifer Jason Leigh. I've been a fan of hers since Fast Times at Ridgemont High. No matter the film, I will give it a chance if she's in it. From small roles in films like The Hitcher, to ones like Georgia and Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle, where she dominates the screen like no other.
16) Fight Club -- yes or no?
Yes!
17) Teresa Wright or Olivia De Havilland?
Olivia De Havilland.
18) Favorite moment/line from a film noir.
Double Indemnity and the first meeting between Walter Neff and Phyllis Dietrichson. There opening exchange crackles with noirish intensity and heat quite unlike any other film in the genre.
19) Best (or worst) death scene involving an obvious dummy substituting for a human or any other unsuccessful special effect(s)—see the wonderful blog Destructible Man for inspiration.
The deer o' death from The Long Kiss Goodnight.
21) Van Johnson or Van Heflin?
Van Heflin for 3:10 to Yuma.
22) Favorite Alan Rudolph film.
Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle. Quite possibly Jennifer Jason Leigh's finest performance in a very distinguished and varied career. Also, the film most worthy of Rudolph's tutelage under Altman. Love this film.
23) Name a documentary that you believe more people should see.Comic Book Confidential. Ron Mann's highly original look at the history of comic books with some of the legends from the field (Will Eisner, Jack Kirby, Frank Miller) reading from their own work with the artwork animated (sort of). It is a great primer and wonderful to watch as several of the older creators are no longer with us. Great stuff.
24) In deference to this quiz’s professor, name a favorite film which revolves around someone becoming stranded.
Ripley and the Colonial Marines being stranded on a desolate planet infested with nasty xenomorphs in Aliens is probably my fave.
26) Ann Sheridan or Geraldine Fitzgerald? (Submitted by Larry Aydlette)
Ann Sheridan.
27) Do you or any of your family members physically resemble movie actors or other notable figures in the film world? If so, who?
When I was younger I kinda sorta resembled Henry Spencer (Jack Nance) in Eraserhead.
28) Is there a movie you have purposely avoided seeing? If so, why?
Salo - Probably for its notorious reputation and repellent imagery.
29) Movie with the most palpable or otherwise effective wintry atmosphere or ambience.
Beautiful Girls really nails that bitterly cold, chill-to-your-bones feeling that always reminds me of winters in Canada. And the small-town vibe reminds me a bit of the places where I grew up.
30) Gerrit Graham or Jeffrey Jones?
Jeffrey Jones, if only for his performances in Beetlejuice (love it) and The Hunt for Red October (he has a small amount of screen time in this one but makes the most of it).
31) The best cinematic antidote to a cultural stereotype (sexual, political, regional, whatever).
How Asians and their culture are portrayed in Big Trouble in Little China. The film dispenses with the stereotypical Chinese music and also has the Chinese sidekick turn out to be the hero who does most of the heroic stuff!
32) Second favorite John Wayne movie.The Searchers.
33) Favorite movie car chase.
To Live and Die in L.A. The car chase that starts of at an underpass and ends up with our (anti)heroes speeding through oncoming traffic on a freeway is the most insane car chase I've seen in a film. Friedkin somehow manages to top the one he pulled off in The French Connection.
34) In the spirit of His Girl Friday, propose a gender-switched remake of a classic or not-so-classic film. (Submitted by Patrick Robbins)
I always thought that it would be great to remake Reservoir Dogs and keep the dialogue exactly the same but cast all women in the various roles.
35) Barbara Rhoades or Barbara Feldon?
Barbara Rhoades.
36) Favorite Andre De Toth movie.
House of Wax, my fave 3-D movie of all time!
37) If you could take one filmmaker's entire body of work and erase it from all time and memory, as if it had never happened, whose oeuvre would it be? (Submitted by Tom Sutpen)
Brett Ratner. Man, I really can't stand any of his films, esp. Red Dragon. And don't even get me started on the Rush Hour films!!
38) Name a film you actively hated when you first encountered it, only to see it again later in life and fall in love with it.
The Family Stone. When I first saw it, I thought it was an awful, mean-spirited film but gave it another chance and the film has grown on me over the years and now I really like it. Go figure.
39) Max Ophuls or Marcel Ophuls? (Submitted by Tom Sutpen)
Max Ophuls.
40) In which club would you most want an active membership, the Delta Tau Chi fraternity, the Cutters or the Warriors? And which member would you most resemble, either physically or in personality?
Oh, that's an easy one. The Delta Tau Chi frat if only for the wild parties and a chance to hang out with Otter and the boys.
41) Your favorite movie cliché.The veteran cop he always says at one point, "I'm getting too old for this shit."
42) Vincente Minnelli or Stanley Donen? (Submitted by Bob Westal)
Vincente Minnelli for the incredibly vibrant colors on display in so many of his amazing films.
43) Favorite Christmas-themed horror movie or sequence.
Wind Chill is good one from recent memory as two college students take a short-cut down a back-road during the dead of winter and get stuck.
44) Favorite moment of self- or selfless sacrifice in a movie.
Spock taking one for the team in Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan ranks right up there.
45) If you were the cinematic Spanish Inquisition, which movie cult (or cult movie) would you decimate? (Submitted by Bob Westal)
The one that supposedly supports Showgirls.
46) Caroline Munro or Veronica Carlson?
Caroline Munro! Loved her in Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter.
48) Favorite ambiguous movie ending. (Original somewhat ambiguous submission---“Something about ambiguous movie endings!”-- by Jim Emerson, who may have some inspiration of his own to offer you.)
Almost anything by David Lynch but if I had to narrow it down I'd say Lost Highway.
49) In giving thanks for the movies this year, what are you most thankful for?
I'm thankful for Hollywood managing to not screw up the Star Trek reboot. Amazing!
50) George Kennedy or Alan North? (Submitted by Peet Gelderblom) George Kennedy. Loved him in Cool Hand Luke!
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