This is getting kind of fun. I love answering movie questions because it really gets people to know who I am as a blogger and my film sensibilities.
This questionnaire in particular (via in so many words …) is a really great one in so much as it is a nice mixture of old and new.
1) Depending on your mood, your favorite or least-loved movie cliche.
As much of a romantic as I am when it comes to my movies I do have a love/hate relationship with the “happily ever after” cliche. It is on one hand satisfying and the other can be ridiculously unrealistic and trite.
2) Regardless of whether you eventually caught up with it, which film classic have you lied about seeing in the past?
I don’t lie; if I haven’t seen it I tell you and wait to see your expression 🙂
3) Roland Young or Edward Everett Horton?
Gonna go with Uncle Willie (Roland Young) from The Philadelphia Story
4) Second favorite Frank Tashlin movie?
5) Clockwork Orange – yes or no?
No. Only because I have not seen it – I think I may have to read the book first though.
6) Best/Favorite use of gender dysphoria in a horror film?
Norman Bates in Psycho? Or is that a severe Oedipal Complex? (Leaning towards the latter).
7) Melanie Laurent or Blake Lively?
Melanie Laurent. Her IMDB filmography looks more interesting.
8 ) Best Movie of 2011 (so far…?)
At the time of this writing I would say Jane Eyre. May change when I see Midnight in Paris this weekend.
9) Favorite screen performer with a noticeable facial deformity.
Cannot think of one of the top of my head.
10) Lars Van Trier?
Given his latest antics I would say no. But at one time I thought I liked Breaking the Waves. A moment of madness, really.
11) Timothy Carey or Henry Silva?
Henry Silva
12) Low-profile writer who deserves more attention from critics and/or audiences.
See #21
13) Movie most recently viewed theatrically, DVD, Blue-ray or streaming.
X-Men First Class
14) Favorite film noir villain.
MALE: Harry Lime as portrayed by Orson Welles in The Third Man (could not help but love his villainy)
FEMALE: Ellen Berent as portrayed by Gene Tierney in Leave Her to Heaven (just down right evil).
15) Best thing about streaming movies.
Instant gratification!
16) Fay Spain or France Nuyen?
France Nuyen
17) Favorite Kirk Douglas film that isn’t SPARTACUS?
Detective Story – if haven’t seen this film – see it!
18) Favorite movie about cars.
Don’t have one. But my favorite car in a movie is the car Grace Kelly drove in To Catch a Thief
19) Audrey Totter or Marie Windsor?
Marie Windsor – Grand Dame of “film noir”
20) Existing Stephen King movie adaptation that could use a remake/re-boot or overhaul?
Too many to name; there are several lame adaptations needing an overhaul.
21) Low-profile director who deserves more attention from critics and/or audiences.
I will focus on audiences – critics are usually students of cinematic history and really appreciated Preston Sturges’ contribution to American cinema but not many contemporary audiences know who he is.
22) What actor that you previously enjoyed has become distracting or a self-parody?
Nicholas Cage – lost patience after Leaving Las Vegas
23) Best place in the world to see a movie?
At home in the dark with grandma’s blanket on the couch and copious amounts of chocolate.
24) Charles McGraw or Sterling Hayden?
Sterling Hayden. I have been fascinated by his life story away from the movies.
25) Second favorite Yasujiro Ozu film?
Have not seen any of his films.
26) Most memorable horror movie father figure?
Jack Torrance in The Shining
27) Name a non-action-oriented-movie that would be fun to see in Sensurround.
Mama Mia – Pierce Brosnan singing in Sensurround – something to stay in for.
28) Chris Evans or Ryan Reynolds?
TOSS UP Edge going to Ryan Reynolds, but after seeing trailer for The Green Lantern I am not so sure.
29) Favorite relatively unknown supporting player, from either or both the classic or the modern era.
I will go with the classic era and pick Dame Mae Whitty; she was excellent in The Lady Vanishes and several other films of the 1930s and 1940s. I would have gone with Thelma Ritter but I think she had SOME notoriety (at least in my mind). Also throw in one for William Bendix.
30) Real-life movie location you most recently visited or saw.
Mount Vernon (NY) East Metro North Station – it is where they shot the train station scenes for Eternal Sunshine on the Spotless Mind
31) Second favorite Budd Boetticher movie.
Nope sorry.
32) Mara Corday or Julie Adams?
Edge to Julie Adams because she was in Creature from the Black Lagoon and it freaked me out when I was a kid.
33) Favorite Universal International western.
Not sure my favorite westerns were made by Universal International
34) Favorite actress of the Silent Era.
Mary Pickford – when I was young I remember seeing a documentary of her life. Don’t remember much about her films but it is pretty cool that Pretty she was a co-founder of United Artists; granted it was alongside the likes of DW Girffith. That said, she is a founding member of many of the institutions of modern Hollywood.
35) Favorite Eugene Pallett performance.
Friar Tuck in The Adventures of Robin Hood (one of my favorite films)
36) What could Multiplex owners do right now to improve the theater viewing experience for movie goers? What could movie goers do?
Owners – bring back real matinee pricing (before 5 or 6PM) so I do not have to be at a movie theater BEFORE IT OPENS to catch a 10:45AM show just so I can pay six bucks.
Moviegoers – find a babysitter, throw your mobile phones in a bin outside the theater before entering, and realize that you are not in your living room watching a movie.
37) What’s the biggest ‘gimmick’ that’s drawn you out to see a movie?
Not sure if it is a gimmick but when following the screening, they have a Q&A session with the people that have worked on the film . Saw a screening of North by Northwest this way (Ernest Lehman and Eva Marie Saint). Also saw Andrea Arnold and Michael Fassbender (Fish Tank) and most recently Joel Wright (Hanna) because of the Q&A sessions.
Castor says
June 7, 2011 at 6:39 pmWow truly random questions there 😉 A lot of Stephen King movie need a reboot. Dreamcatchers, The Langoliers and It on top of my head. Haven’t seen Clockwork Orange either :/
iluvcinema says
June 7, 2011 at 7:27 pm@Castor Very random indeed! It took me a while and I still did not answer all the questions fully.
But I liked the exercise … it allowed me to look back a bit. I generally do not talk too much about classic film on my blog (comes up every now and again but it is not the focus), but that is where my passion for cinema began – watching the old black and whites (and some color).
Jack Deth says
June 8, 2011 at 7:49 amHi, iluv:
You’re really covering all the bases with your random randomness.
I saw ‘Clockwork Orange’ when it first came out. The film worked much better then than it does now for predicting the Punk movement a decade before it came to fruition and scoring violence to classical music.
Prefer Timothy Carey to Henry Silva. Going all the wat back to Kubrick’s ‘The Killing’ and ‘Paths Of Glory’ to his South Dakota Slim character in the Beach Blanket films to ‘The Outfit’ and ‘The Killing Of A Chinese Bookie’. No one plays a tall, intimidating, creepy character than Carey.
Favorite Noir Villain, Male: Richard Conte in ‘The Big Combo’. One of the best, least known Noir films ever made and years ahead of its time. Conte’s Mr. Brown had Harry Lime’s arrogance, but a bit more style and less elegance when dealing with Cornell Wilde’s Detective Lt. Diamond.
Favorite Noir Villain, Female: Toss up between Barbara Stanwyck in ‘Double Indemnity’ and Linda Fiorentino in ‘The Last Seduction’.
Best Non-‘Spartacus’, Kirk Douglas role: (Smooth) Jonathan Shields in ‘The Bad And The Beautiful’. (Gritty) Whit Sterling in ‘Out Of The Past’. Oozed intimidation when controlling Robert Mitchum’s Jeff Bailey.
Favorite film about cars: ‘Thunder Road’, ‘Bullitt’ and ‘Goldfinger’.
Was never much of a Nicholas Cage to begin with, though Tom Cruise is creeping in to self-parody.
Definitely Sterling Hayden! Tall and imposing. Scared me in ‘The Asphalt Jungle’ and ‘The Killing’. Did an admirable cigar rocking Curtis E. LeMay in ‘Dr. Strangelove’ and towered over Al Pacino in ‘The Godfather’.
Relatively unknown supporting player: Eve Arden in ‘Mildred Pierce’. As Ida, Midred’s best friend and business partner. Eve Arden excelled in blunt advice, catty comments and asides.
Second favorite Budd Boetticher film: ‘The Tall T’. Written by Elmore Leonard. With Randolph Scott and Richard Boone reveling in being a bad guy.
Favorite, ‘Ride Lonesome’. Introduced Pernell Roberts and James Coburn.
Mara Corday. For bringing in believable performances in many films, especially ‘The Giant Claw’.
iluvcinema says
June 8, 2011 at 7:55 amJack – I cannot take credit for the randomness 🙂
Yvette says
June 9, 2011 at 5:41 pmOh, oh, I LOVE ‘Happily Ever After’! Oh well, each to his or her own movie cliche. HA!
I wouldn’t mind seeing MAMMA MIA in Sensurround. HAHAHA!!! Although I might need a tranquilizer afterwards. Wasn’t Pierce Brosnan just AWFUL? Well, I’m not one of his biggest fans anyway – there’s just something about him that always makes me prepared to cringe. He is just so damned smug.
I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE the good Damne May Whitty in THE LADY VANISHES.
Haven’t seen the new JANE EYRE yet. I have to put it on my queue. What on earth am I waiting for? Just forgot.
Yeah, Nicholas Cage – good one.
Oh, Gene Tierney in LEAVE HER TO HEAVEN. A very scary lady.
I was never ever a BIG fan of NORTH BY NORTHWEST – I know, what am I crazy? I just could never like Grace Kelly. She gave me the heeby-jeebys. Except in REAR WINDOW. There, I tolerated her.
You did better than I did finding a pix of Eugene Pallett in ROBIN HOOD.
Yvette says
June 9, 2011 at 5:44 pmRoland Young in THE PHILADELPHIA STORY – yeah, there I admit he didn’t give me the creeps. Though he often did.
iluvcinema says
June 9, 2011 at 5:53 pm@Yvette
He (ROLAND YOUNG) had a bit of the dirty old man about him.
The Lady Vanishes was on the other night I DVRed it and watched it last night. It was a joy!
Like I said happily ever after works on two levels for me. Sometimes I really like it other times I think it is too easily used as a “get out of jail” card when a more satisfying conclusion can be devised. I think it also depends on the genre.
Jack Deth says
June 11, 2011 at 9:36 amHi, luv and all:
I had this thought before dropping off to sleep last night.
Movie cliches I can do without: Ever since John Frankenheimer’s ‘The Manchurian Candidate’ back in 1962, Hollywood has felt obliged to indulge in giving its audience a Sniper’s Eye View of an intended target through a graduated scope. Even if said target is less than fifty yards away and easily prosecuted with a rifle’s open sights.
Bending the rules for a troubled cop or hero who has recently lost his partner, wife or mentor. One need look no further than the recent ‘Takers’ to see this cliche taken to levels beyond absurdity. Though Idris Elba is quite good, British accent and all, as one of the bad guys.
The monster or slasher-flick bad guy rising from the ashes during the film’s final reel. It worked magnificently in Carpenter’s original ‘Halloween’ and Cameron’s ‘The Terminator’. It’s also been beaten to near irrelevance in a cottage industry through decades of lesser films.
ruth says
June 14, 2011 at 4:48 pmWhat a great idea, Luv. I’ll keep this in mind when I’m running out of ideas for a post.
iluvcinema says
June 14, 2011 at 6:12 pm@ruth – yeah it got me thinking about doing this every now and again … search the web for movie questionnaires. They are actually rather fun to complete 🙂