Here are my answers to the latest installment in the always fun/frustrating movie quizzes posted on one of my favorite film blogs, Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule.
Name a musician who
never starred in a movie who you feel could have been a movie star or at least
had a compelling cinematic presence?
Other than appearing in a few music-related shorts in the '70s, Robert Wyatt has never done any acting or publicly expressed any interest in acting, but his music and lyrics are so vivid and imaginative, he's such a lively and cantankerous interview subject, and he has such a cinematic face that I think he would have made for a compelling onscreen presence.
Other than appearing in a few music-related shorts in the '70s, Robert Wyatt has never done any acting or publicly expressed any interest in acting, but his music and lyrics are so vivid and imaginative, he's such a lively and cantankerous interview subject, and he has such a cinematic face that I think he would have made for a compelling onscreen presence.
Akira or Ghost in the Shell *
I love the way Akira looks, but I found Ghost in the Shell's story more compelling. Can I go with Ghost in the Shell 2 as a wild card choice?
Charles Lee Ray or Freddy Krueger? *
Robert Englund does a great job, but Freddy is a child molester. Also, Charles Lee Ray is just as funny while working much harder than Freddy. His victims are awake, and he has a serious height disadvantage. I gotta go with Chucky.
Most excruciating moment/scene you've ever sat through in a film
I want to make a snarky comment about several Oliver Stone movies here, but the honest answer is the multiple rape scenes in I Spit on Your Grave.
Henry Cavill or Armie Hammer?
Armie Hammer is in movies I actually want to see, so it's him. He seems way more twisted, too, or maybe it's just the characters he plays.
Name a movie you introduced to a young person, one which was out of their expressed line of interest or experience, which they came to either appreciate or flat-out love
I can't recall this happening to me, but I have a secondhand account
from my brother. He worked for an independent neighborhood video store in the
early 2000s, and a group of children would hang out in the store like it was
their own personal day care on weekends and summer days. He told them he was
going to put Raiders of the Lost Ark on
the store's TV, and the kids loudly complained that they didn't want to see an
"old" movie. A few seconds in, they were hooked and watched quietly
to the end.
Second favorite Robert Rossellini film
Voyage in Italy aka Journey to Italy
Second favorite Robert Rossellini film
Voyage in Italy aka Journey to Italy
What movie shaped your perceptions of New
York City, Los Angeles and/or Chicago before you ever went there and
experienced the cities for yourself.
So many
movies shaped my perceptions of New York City, particularly Taxi Driver and Basket Case (I was always drawn to grit, perversity, grime, and
sleaze, even as a child), but that pre-Giuliani New York was mostly gone by the
time I got to visit the city in person. All the '80s comedies and thrillers set
in Manhattan high-rises were a bit more representative of what I saw.
Name another movie that shaped, for better or worse, another city or location that you eventually visited or came to know well.
Name another movie that shaped, for better or worse, another city or location that you eventually visited or came to know well.
My wife's grad school years brought us to Austin in 2000,
and I'd seen Slacker multiple times
before ever knowing I'd move there. That movie really captures both the ghost
of an earlier city that is mostly gone and an atmosphere and approach to life
that is still very much a part of the city today. I also ended up getting to
know several of the locals who appeared in the film through my day job, the
music scene, and my wife's work.
Bela Lugosi or Christopher Lee? *
I love both actors so much, but Christopher Lee gets the nod. His range was greater (though Lugosi is an underrated actor) and his extensive filmography is even more impressive than Lugosi's (though they were both in a lot of fascinatingly terrible and just-plain-terrible movies, too).
Bela Lugosi or Christopher Lee? *
I love both actors so much, but Christopher Lee gets the nod. His range was greater (though Lugosi is an underrated actor) and his extensive filmography is even more impressive than Lugosi's (though they were both in a lot of fascinatingly terrible and just-plain-terrible movies, too).
Elizabeth Debicki or Alicia Vikander?
I have yet to see any of their movies, so it's a tie.
The last movie you
saw theatrically? The last on physical media? Via streaming?
Theatrically: Queen of Diamonds (Nina Menkes) at the Austin Film Society, Physical media: Stop Making Sense (Jonathan Demme), Streaming: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Tobe Hooper)
Theatrically: Queen of Diamonds (Nina Menkes) at the Austin Film Society, Physical media: Stop Making Sense (Jonathan Demme), Streaming: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Tobe Hooper)
Who are the actors, classic and contemporary you are always glad to see?
Barbara Stanwyck, Ida Lupino, Harry Dean Stanton, Warren Oates, Sissy Spacek, Hannah Schygulla, Gottfried John, Jean Arthur, Robert Mitchum, Shelley Duvall, William Powell, Myrna Loy, Kaycee Moore, Jeff Bridges, Laura Dern, Jack Nance, Grace Zabriskie, Lakeith Stanfield, Janelle Monae, John Goodman, M. Emmet Walsh, Michael Moriarty, Allen Garfield, Willem Dafoe, Juliet Berto, Dick Miller, Jean-Pierre Leaud, Isabelle Huppert, Geraldine Chaplin, Lily Tomlin, Juliette Binoche, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Joe Spinell, Peter Falk, Gena Rowlands, Ben Gazzara, John Cassavetes, Seymour Cassel, Val Avery, Pam Grier, Ray Sharkey, Suzanne Fletcher, James Gandolfini, Edie Falco, Lon Chaney Sr, Conrad Veidt, Joan Crawford, Sterling Hayden, pretty much everyone on Deadwood
Second favorite Federico Fellini film
I Vitelloni
Tessa Thompson or Danai Gurira *
I'm a fan of both, but I'm going to give the slight nod to Tessa Thompson for being in Sorry to Bother You and the Janelle Monae videos
The Black Bird or The Two Jakes?
I have not seen either one.
Your favorite movie title
Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-o-Rama
Second favorite Luchino Visconti film
Rocco and His Brothers
Given the recent trend, what's the movie that seems like an all-too-obvious candidate for a splashy adaptation to Broadway?
Mad Max: Fury Road, a tap-dancing extravaganza
Name a director you feel is consistently misunderstood
Lars von Trier is mostly written off these days as Grandpa Edgelord, and his interviews and promotional gimmicks don't do him any favors, but I think he's an exciting, funny, and serious filmmaker who is one of the only directors to accurately translate into images and film style the way depression feels (or at least depression as I experience it).
Chris Evans or Chris Hemsworth? *
I find them
both equally dull
What's the film that
most unexpectedly grew in your estimation from trivial, or unworthy, or simply
enjoyable, to a true favorite with some actual meat on its bones?
I had to see Blade Runner three times before it finally clicked for me as a great movie. I always loved the way it looked, but it seemed hollow and inert on the first couple of viewings.
I had to see Blade Runner three times before it finally clicked for me as a great movie. I always loved the way it looked, but it seemed hollow and inert on the first couple of viewings.
I Am Curious (Yellow), yes or no?
Maybe? I haven't seen it.
Maybe? I haven't seen it.
Second favorite Lucio Fulci film
The Beyond
Are the movies as we now know them coming to an end? (http://collider.com/will-streaming-kill-movies/)
Everything
as we now know it is coming to an end.
