From over at Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule comes Mr. Shoop’s Surfin’ Summer School Midterm. I say, why not.
1) Favorite quote from a filmmaker
“I don’t make pictures to make money. I make money to make more pictures.” – Walt Disney
2) A good movie from a bad director
Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring. Oh yes, I went there.
3) Favorite Laurence Olivier performance
Perhaps Maxim from Hitchcock’s Rebecca.
4) Describe a famous location from a movie that you have visited (Bodega Bay, California, where the action in The Birds took place, for example). Was it anything like the way it was in the film? Why or why not?
I can’t really think of ever being at a famous movie location, aside from some soundstages and various general places in LA and NYC. Maybe some day I’ll go to that diner from Heat and sit where Pacino and De Niro have their big scene.
5) Carlo Ponti or Dino De Laurentiis (Producer)?
Carlo Ponti
6) Best movie about baseball
Baseball Bugs, the 1946 short where Bugs Bunny takes on the Gashouse Gorillas all by himself.
7) Favorite Barbara Stanwyck performance
Stella Dallas
8) Fast Times at Ridgemont High or Dazed and Confused?
Probably Dazed and Confused, but I’d be lying if I said I had strong feelings towards either one.
9) What was the last movie you saw, and why? (We’ve used this one before, but your answer is presumably always going to be different, so…)
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer. I guess because I’d read good things, was a fan of Tykwer’s Lola Rennt, and vaguely try to watch movies while they’re still being discussed.
10) Whether or not you have actually procreated or not, is there a movie you can think of that seriously affected the way you think about having kids of your own?
I can’t think of one, but I’d be surprised if it hasn’t happened.
11) Favorite Katharine Hepburn performance
I’ve seen so very few.
12) A bad movie from a good director
North by Northwest. I so disliked it that I almost gave up on going any further into Hitchcock’s filmography.
13) Salo: The 120 Days of Sodom– yes or no?
Yes and no.
14) Ben Hecht or Billy Wilder (Screenwriter)?
I’d be lying if I said I had an opinion.
15) Name the film festival you’d most want to attend, or your favorite festival that you actually have attended
Well I quite enjoyed the 2003 Edinburgh International Film Festival, but I had an industry pass allowing me to get into virtually any screening. I think I’d like to go back there.
16) Head or 200 Motels?
I’ve seen neither…
17) Favorite cameo appearance (Try visiting here and here for some good ideas! This question was inspired by Daniel Johnson at Film Babble)
Bill Murray in Little Shop of Horrors as the deranged man with a fetish for receiving painful dental treatment.
18) Favorite Rosalind Russell performance
I’ve seen so very few…
19) What movie, either currently available on DVD or not, has never received the splashy collector’s edition treatment you think it deserves? What would such an edition include?
Eyes Wide Shut, uncensored, and with both Kubrick’s preferred 1.37 aspect ratio and the 1.85 that Warner Bros. screened it in for American theaters. Let viewers decide. Throw in the censored version of the orgy sequence as an extra for historical reference. Hopefully the forthcoming DVD release rectifies the censorship issue. If memory serves correctly, WB has long been saying it would be. I very much doubt though that we’ll get two aspect ratios.
20) Name a performance that everyone needs to be reminded of, for whatever reason
The titular Iron Giant. I dare you to not to tear up upon his last line.
21) Louis B. Mayer or Harry Cohn (Studio Head)?
It’s so terribly difficult to like a studio head.
22) Favorite John Wayne performance
Once again, I’ve seen so very few.
23) Naked Lunch or Barton Fink?
Despite loving Cronenberg, I think I’d take Barton Fink. Gotta love what John Turturro and John Goodman bring to the table, along with the fantastic supporting cast.
24) Your Ray Harryhausen movie of choice
If push came to shove, Jason and the Argonauts.
25) Is there a movie you can think of that you feel like the world would be better off without, one that should have never been made?
Does the E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial 20th Anniversary Edition count? The computer-generated creature is awfully distracting, and the digital replacement of guns with walkie-talkies really doesn’t need to be expounded upon. Ugh.
I’m not sure if it’s a more or less cheeky answer than the above, but I’d also mention the Spider-Man movies. I can’t wait for 10-15 years to go by when even fans will realize that they’re silly, poorly cast and not worthy of the comics. Then maybe we can get a Batman Begins type re-imagining.
24) Favorite Dub Taylor performance
I’ve seen so very few…
25) If you had the choice of seeing three final movies, to go with your three last meals, before shuffling off this mortal coil, what would they be?
That’s tough. Maybe start with Akira, go into Ghostbusters, and end with Videodrome. “Long live the new flesh.”
26) And what movie theater would you choose to see them in?
I don’t have a personal connection to any theater, but I do like that new Landmark in West Los Angeles. *shrug*
