1) Second-favorite Stanley Kubrick film.
Full Metal Jacket, although I must add the proviso that I have not seen all his films.
2) Most significant/important/interesting trend in movies over the past decade, for good or evil.
For good: increased accessibility to a plethora of movies from various non-studio sources via various technologies and the existence of businesses like Netflix.
For evil: the continued success of romantic comedies that are neither romantic nor funny, as well as the casting rules that give us young women partnered with old men.
3) Bronco Billy (Clint Eastwood) or Buffalo Bill Cody (Paul Newman)?
I can't answer, I haven't seen either of these films
4) Best Film of 1949.
The Third Man
5) Joseph Tura (Jack Benny) or Oscar Jaffe (John Barrymore)?
Oscar Jaffe
6) Has the hand-held shaky-cam directorial style become a visual cliché?
I think that would depend on the context in which it is used.
7) What was the first foreign-language film you ever saw?
Le ballon rouge
8) Charlie Chan (Warner Oland) or Mr. Moto (Peter Lorre)?
Mr. Moto
9) Favorite World War II drama (1950-1970).
Catch-22...okay, I cheated, it's not exactly a drama.
10) Favorite animal movie star.
Asta
11) Who or whatever is to blame, name an irresponsible moment in cinema.
Another ongoing complaint from me about romantic comedies - stalking as a romantic act.
12) Best Film of 1969.
Best...I don't know, Midnight Cowboy, maybe. I have a soft spot for Sweet Charity, personally. You could see Fosse the director honing his directorial eye in this one.
13) Name the last movie you saw theatrically, and also on DVD or Blu-ray.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince at the movie theater
The War Zone on DVD
14) Second-favorite Robert Altman film.
The Player
15) What is your favorite independent outlet for reading about movies, either online or in print?
I don't have one, but I'm partial to Self-Styled Siren's blog
16) Who wins? Angela Mao or Meiko Kaji? (Thanks, Peter!)
No clue
17) Mona Lisa Vito (Marisa Tomei) or Olive Neal (Jennifer Tilly)?
Mona Lisa Vito
18) Favorite movie that features a carnival setting or sequence.
The Elephant Man
19) Best use of high-definition video on the big screen to date.
No clue
20) Favorite movie that is equal parts genre film and a deconstruction or consideration of that same genre.
In The Mouth of Madness
21) Best Film of 1979.
All That Jazz is my favorite, if not the best
22) Most realistic and/or sincere depiction of small-town life in the movies.
I like Siren's answer - for some reason, I can only think of horror movies
23) Best horror movie creature (non-giant division).
Maybe this is why? I'm going to go with the Alien from Alien
24) Second-favorite Francis Ford Coppola film.
The Conversation
25) Name a one-off movie that could have produced a franchise you would have wanted to see.
Serenity
26) Favorite sequence from a Brian De Palma film.
I can remember a sequence that showed a man following a woman, but I don't remember which movie it was - I jsut remember feeling a sense of dread as it went on. Otherwise, the only movie of his that I remember explicitly is Carrie, and I guess the dream sequence at the end would be my favorite part.
27) Favorite moment in three-strip Technicolor.
Dorothy opens the door to Oz
28) Favorite Alan Smithee film. (Thanks, Peter!)
don't know
29) Crash Davis (Kevin Costner) or Morris Buttermaker (Walter Matthau)?
Morris Buttermaker - I have problems with Kevin Costner
30) Best post-Crimes and Misdemeanors Woody Allen film.
Bullets Over Broadway
31) Best Film of 1999.
Best is maybe The War Zone...Three Kings was also very good
32) Favorite movie tag line.
Don't Go In The Water
33) Favorite B-movie western.
don't know
34) Overall, the author best served by movie adaptations of her or his work.
don't know
35) Susan Vance (Katharine Hepburn) or Irene Bullock (Carole Lombard)?
Irene Bullock
36) Favorite musical cameo in a non-musical movie.
Meryl Streep singing Amazing Grace at the end of Silkwood
37) Bruno (the character, if you haven’t seen the movie, or the film, if you have): subversive satire or purveyor of stereotyping?
I have't seen the movie, but I suspect a little from column A, a little from column B
38) Five film folks, living or deceased, you would love to meet. (Thanks, Rick!)
Preston Sturges, Alfred Hitchcock, Billy Wilder, George Sanders (if only because of everything I've read about him on Siren's blog), Orson Wells
Ambition this shall tempt to rise, And moody Madness laughing wild Amid severest woe. -from Thomas Gray's "Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College"
Showing posts with label movies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label movies. Show all posts
7/29/2009
4/21/2009
Sort of Reviews of Movies You've Probably Already Seen
1. The Visitor
Richard Jenkins stars as Walter Vale (which Loki tells me is a significant name, although he hasn't explained that yet), a disconnected, insular Economics professor who teaches one class and pretends to work on his book. When he goes to present a paper he "co-authored" (i.e., read) in NYC, he finds that a young couple, Tarek and Zainab, has moved into his apartment - a con man rented it to them.
Maybe it's his extreme loneliness, maybe he just thinks that Tarek (played by Haaz Sleiman) is incredibly hot, which is what I kept thinking every time he was on screen, but Walter insists that the couple stay.
Tarek is a big bowl of life, teaching Walter how to play the dhimmi, taking him out to jazz clubs, practicing his drums in his underwear, whereas Zainab, played by Danai Gurira, seems uptight and reserved; we soon find out that she is justified in her cautious ways, because she and Tarek are in the United States illegally.
Then we enter the Orwellian world of INS, where subcontractors house illegal aliens in a warehouse, where posters declare that immigrants are the backbone of America, etc. Walter, in his detached way, hires an immigration attorney and politely navigates his way through the bureaucracy. Tarek tries to keep his spirits up, but INS keeps moving people and he's scared; poor Zainab can't even take the risk of going to see him. Then Tarek's mother shows up, and she and Walter connect, but ultimately, Tarek gets deported and Mouna, Tarek's mother, goes back to Syria to be with him, knowing that she will not come back.
Great performances all around. Jenkins has been a Hey It's That Guy for years; I didn't know his name until Six Feet Under. Danai Gurira blew me away; Haaz Sleiman is charming as hell. I cried a couple of times during the movie, because I'm a big movie crier, but it also will always astonish me how much our fates rest on where we happen to be born. It's not fair, as Walter yells; it seems like such a childish thing to say, but it's the absolute truth. It's not fair, and it will probably never be fair.
2. Dan In Real Life
I should preface this by saying that I forgot that Starz was having a free preview this weekend, so I found myself tuning in just because it was on Sunday afternoon.
Poor, sad Dan. His wife died and left behind 3 perfectly adorable daughters, who are all adorable in their own perfectly flawed ways. His big fun family gets together in their big beach house, and do adorable things like compete for who gets to the dishes, boys against girls, winner is the gender that finishes the crossword puzzle first. They have talent shows and play touch football, and somehow manage to tolerate Dane Cook. I hate everything about this family, purely out of bitterness and resentment that my own family would look at me like I sprouted 2 additional heads if I suggested we put on a talent show at a family reunion. If I suggested we have a family reunion, they would look at me like it was only 1 additional head. I'm a total dork, so I would love to have a family that did these activities, hence the bitterness.
Dan meets Juliette Binoche when his mother sends him out to get the papers, and he's charmed by her (of course, who wouldn't be?) and tells her his whole life story, and somehow, she is charmed by him even though he strikes me as your perfect NiceGuy(tm), and is clearly feeling very sorry for himself. Which is fine, but it's not something you dump on a gorgeous, lively woman you just met. Lucky for Dan, Marie (Juliette Binoche) is insane and is actually dating his brother Dane Cook. Of course Dane and Marie aren't right for each other, they aren't even the same species. Marie ends up with Dan, inexplicably over her love for the sad sack. Clearly, she's still insane.
Richard Jenkins stars as Walter Vale (which Loki tells me is a significant name, although he hasn't explained that yet), a disconnected, insular Economics professor who teaches one class and pretends to work on his book. When he goes to present a paper he "co-authored" (i.e., read) in NYC, he finds that a young couple, Tarek and Zainab, has moved into his apartment - a con man rented it to them.
Maybe it's his extreme loneliness, maybe he just thinks that Tarek (played by Haaz Sleiman) is incredibly hot, which is what I kept thinking every time he was on screen, but Walter insists that the couple stay.
Tarek is a big bowl of life, teaching Walter how to play the dhimmi, taking him out to jazz clubs, practicing his drums in his underwear, whereas Zainab, played by Danai Gurira, seems uptight and reserved; we soon find out that she is justified in her cautious ways, because she and Tarek are in the United States illegally.
Then we enter the Orwellian world of INS, where subcontractors house illegal aliens in a warehouse, where posters declare that immigrants are the backbone of America, etc. Walter, in his detached way, hires an immigration attorney and politely navigates his way through the bureaucracy. Tarek tries to keep his spirits up, but INS keeps moving people and he's scared; poor Zainab can't even take the risk of going to see him. Then Tarek's mother shows up, and she and Walter connect, but ultimately, Tarek gets deported and Mouna, Tarek's mother, goes back to Syria to be with him, knowing that she will not come back.
Great performances all around. Jenkins has been a Hey It's That Guy for years; I didn't know his name until Six Feet Under. Danai Gurira blew me away; Haaz Sleiman is charming as hell. I cried a couple of times during the movie, because I'm a big movie crier, but it also will always astonish me how much our fates rest on where we happen to be born. It's not fair, as Walter yells; it seems like such a childish thing to say, but it's the absolute truth. It's not fair, and it will probably never be fair.
2. Dan In Real Life
I should preface this by saying that I forgot that Starz was having a free preview this weekend, so I found myself tuning in just because it was on Sunday afternoon.
Poor, sad Dan. His wife died and left behind 3 perfectly adorable daughters, who are all adorable in their own perfectly flawed ways. His big fun family gets together in their big beach house, and do adorable things like compete for who gets to the dishes, boys against girls, winner is the gender that finishes the crossword puzzle first. They have talent shows and play touch football, and somehow manage to tolerate Dane Cook. I hate everything about this family, purely out of bitterness and resentment that my own family would look at me like I sprouted 2 additional heads if I suggested we put on a talent show at a family reunion. If I suggested we have a family reunion, they would look at me like it was only 1 additional head. I'm a total dork, so I would love to have a family that did these activities, hence the bitterness.
Dan meets Juliette Binoche when his mother sends him out to get the papers, and he's charmed by her (of course, who wouldn't be?) and tells her his whole life story, and somehow, she is charmed by him even though he strikes me as your perfect NiceGuy(tm), and is clearly feeling very sorry for himself. Which is fine, but it's not something you dump on a gorgeous, lively woman you just met. Lucky for Dan, Marie (Juliette Binoche) is insane and is actually dating his brother Dane Cook. Of course Dane and Marie aren't right for each other, they aren't even the same species. Marie ends up with Dan, inexplicably over her love for the sad sack. Clearly, she's still insane.
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