holiday quiz

1) Favorite unsung holiday film

 METROPOLITAN or HOLIDAY AFFAIR ('49)

2) Name a movie you were surprised to have liked/loved

I think I'm surprised by how much I love MARTYRS now.

3) Ned Sparks or Edward Everett Horton?

Ned Sparks is fun, but E.E. Horton's gotta take the cake here.  Such a good sport in so many flicks.

4) Sam Peckinpah's Convoy-- yes or no?

Haven't seen it sadly...

5) What contemporary actor would best fit into a popular, established genre of the past

 Hmm not entirely sure.  Michael Shannon would probably make a great noir lead/villain (or make a great anything for that matter)

6) Favorite non-disaster movie in which bad weather is a memorable element of the film’s atmosphere

THE TURIN HORSE is a great answer.  GROUNDHOG DAY, as well.  I'll go with KEY LARGO though.

7) Second favorite Luchino Visconti movie

LA TERRA TREMA (first is ROCCO AND HIS BROTHERS).

8) What was the last movie you saw theatrically? On DVD/Blu-ray?

Theatrically: BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOR and loved it.

Blu-ray: re-watched THE WORLD'S END and loved it even more a second time around.

DVD: re-watched GRAND ILLUSION and still think it's the greatest movie ever made.

9) Explain your reaction when someone eloquently or not-so-eloquently attacks one of your favorite movies (Question courtesy of Patrick Robbins)

 Brandon's response was perfect, so I'll just go with that.

10) Joan Blondell or Glenda Farrell?

Joannie's my girl.  God, I love her.

11) Movie star of any era you’d most like to take camping

I'll also go pervy here and say, emphatically, Claudia Cardinale circa 1960s. Mmhmm.

12) Second favorite George Cukor movie

THE MARRYING KIND or DAVID COPPERFIELD (first has to be HOLIDAY).

13) Your top 10 of 2013 (feel free to elaborate!)

Not yet.

14) Name a movie you loved (or hated) upon first viewing, to which you eventually returned and had more or less the opposite reaction

INCEPTION seems to get worse each time I see it.  I never hated AU HASARD BALTHAZAR, but I was indifferent to it the first time I saw it as a teen.  I just didn't get Bresson's technique.  Now I think it's a masterpiece and worship everything Bresson.

15) Movie most in need of a deluxe Blu-ray makeover

Many, many, many.  THE DECALOGUE on blu through Criterion would be amazing (and extremely expensive, I'm sure).  PHANTOM LADY, the Boetticher/Scott westerns, DIARY OF A COUNTRY PRIEST!

16) Alain Delon or Marcello Mastroianni?

Alain Delon.  I wish I could be him.

17) Your favorite opening sequence, credits or no credits (provide link to clip if possible)

Ah, too difficult.  I'm not sure.  The virtually silent opening sequence of THERE WILL BE BLOOD is incredible too.  I'll have to think harder on this one.

18) Director with the strongest run of great movies

Hitchcock, Ozu, Bresson, Ford, Kubrick, Lubitsch, Ophuls, PTA, Scorsese, Kieslowski, etc. You know, the greats.

19) Is elitism a good/bad/necessary/inevitable aspect of being a cineaste?

Again, can't say it better than Brandon already has.  I agree.

20) Second favorite Tony Scott film

Can't say that I'm a fan of any of the dude's movies or have seen enough of them.  TRUE ROMANCE would have to be my first and second favorite.

21) Favorite movie made before you were born that you only discovered this year. Where and how did you discover it?

This could be any number of great older films I've seen this year.  I guess Pierre Etaix's YOYO wasn't on my radar at all, until I randomly watched it for my 1965 top ten list.  It's a masterpiece.  Discovered this summer on Hulu's Criterion channel (God bless that thing).

22) Actor/actress you would most want to see in a Santa suit, traditional or skimpy

Veronica Lake in the skimpy and Orson Welles in the traditional.

23) Video store or streaming?

Streaming because of the convenience, but I do miss spending hours in a video store and taking home a bunch of gems.  A lot of my movie education was fostered that way.

24) Best/favorite final film by a noted director or screenwriter

L'ARGENT, THAT OBSCURE OBJECT OF DESIRE, AN AUTUMN AFTERNOON, L'ATALANTE, LOLA MONTES, EYES WIDE SHUT

25) Monica Vitti or Anna Karina?

As an actress, Karina.  As eye candy, I have a bigger crush on Vitti.

26) Name a worthy movie indulgence you’ve had to most strenuously talk friends into experiencing with you. What was the result?

I think I was trying to get college friends to watch IRREVERSIBLE with me, and they rightly declined.

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

Haven't seen Hitchcock's THE PARADINE CASE yet.  I've seen all of Bresson's now and a good chunk of Ozu's.  I'm dying to see Bunuel's NAZARIN.

28) Favorite horror movie that is either Christmas-oriented or has some element relating to the winter holiday season in it

No idea.

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

Rosebud?

30) Best holiday gift the movies could give to you to carry into 2014

Being able to see INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS, THE WOLF OF WALL STREET, and HER before 2014 is all I can really ask for.