Cinememe

Found at The Sickness' Cinema.

1) Best transition from movies to TV (actor, actress, producer/director, movie/show)?

I used to work with a guy who said he lost all respect for movie actors who moved to television or did voiceovers in commercials. I never cut myself off from being entertained that way. I guess I'd have to say right now that certainly Christopher Eccleston heading to TV to star in Doctor Who was an excellent choice with fantastic results. But you knew I'd probably say that.

2) Living film director you're most missing seeing on the cultural landscape regularly?

That's a harder question, mostly because I find that the directors I like tend to get old and sucky rather than just disappear. For example, I used to love Brian De Palma, now he's old and sucky. And a lot of my favorite living directors, like Dario Argento and Werner Herzog and Woody Allen, are still working and making great, sometimes underrated movies. So, I don't have much of an answer, I guess.

3) Eugene Pallette or Charles Coburn?

Sentimental choice: Eugene Pallette. For The Adventures of Robin Hood alone.

4) Fill in the blank: “I pray that no one ever turns _____________ into a movie.”

I don't think there's any such thing as an unfilmable book, but then, I don't demand absolute fidelity to source material. That's a short-sighted sort of madness, and I don't purposely set out to be cranky and disappointed. So I don't have an answer for that one, either.

5) Jane Greer or Veronica Lake?

I don't care much for either, to be perfectly honest, but Veronica Lake photographs better.

6) What was the last movie you saw in a theater? On DVD? And why?

The last movie I saw in the theater was Iron Man because, come on, it looked frigging cool. I still very much want to get out to see Prince Caspian and Indiana Jones. The last movie I watched on DVD was actually three movies: I watched the first three Indiana Jones movies on my new TV to get in the mood for the new one.

7) Name an actor you think should be a star.

I wouldn't wish stardom on anyone. Stardom is, 90% of the time, the beginning of suckitude. I hate to see actors worrying about their careers instead of their jobs, if you get me.

8) Foxy Brown or Coffy

Well, Coffy is the color of your skin, and Coffy is the world we live in. Gotta go with Coffy.

9) Favorite TV show still without its own DVD box set.

So many of the ones I hoped for have finally hit DVD. I'd still like to see Parker Lewis Can't Lose again, though.

10) Jack Elam or Neville Brand

Definitely Jack Elam.

11) What movies would top your list of movies you need to revisit, for whatever reason?

I don't really know. I'm coming across very dull on this meme. I see so many movies, and when I feel the need to revisit I revisit, but I don't have anything that I very consciously want to go back to right now.

12) Zodiac or All the President’s Men

I thought Zodiac was a flawed but compelling movie; I'd like to see the director's cut. On the other hand, I saw All the President's Men many years ago and it bored the shit out of me (Alan J. Pakula tends to do that to me). I'd like to see it again because I barely have any memory of it except for being bored, and I felt that way about other movies (Serpico, big example) that I now love.

13) Using our best reviewer-speak, what is an “important” film comedy? And what is to you the most important film comedy of the last 35 years?

I must be long out of reviewer-speak mode, because I don't consider very many films "important" at all, even in the relative sense of being important to the medium or various genres. 35 years is a long, long time to say one comedy is better than all the others, but I have to say that I think National Lampoon's Animal House is the funniest in all that time. It's the one I laugh at the most without feeling stupid for doing so, and that cuts a lot of ice.

14) Describe the ideal environment for watching a movie.

I like to watch movies at home on my TV and stereo, but I'm old and cranky.

15) Michelle Williams or Eva Mendes?

I think Michelle Williams has a lot of promise to fulfill.

16) What’s the worst movie title of all time?

I think anything that ends in "movie" (Scary Movie, Date Movie, Epic Movie, Superhero Movie), in an exclamation point (Mafia!) or tells you to meet somebody (the Spartans, maybe, or the Parents) is indicative of the extremely low level of thought being put into those movies.

17) Best movie about teaching and/or learning?

I used to love School of Rock. Then I started teaching. Now I want to come to school with a rusty railyard spike. Now I have no favorite movie about teaching and/or learning. Those movies assume far too often that children secretly appreciate being taught. I guess I'll default to The Paper Chase.

18) Dracula (1931) or Horror of Dracula (1958)

Horror of Dracula. It's not boring.

19) Why do you blog? Or if you don’t, why do you read blogs?

I have no idea why I blog anymore. No life, maybe. Or to work out my frustrations or something.

20) Most memorable/disturbing death scene.

Well, I was five when I saw Raiders of the Lost Ark, so the melting faces has always been my comparison.

21) Jason Robards or Robert Shaw?

Jason Robards was very good, don't get me wrong, but Robert Shaw could be tremendously exciting. Based on A Man for All Seasons, it's got to be Shaw.

22) A good candidate for Most Blasphemous Movie Ever.

Who cares?

23) Rio Bravo or Red River?

Rio Bravo is the stronger movie.

24) Werner Herzog is remaking Bad Lieutenant with Nicolas Cage—that’s reality. Try to outdo reality by concocting a match-up of director and title for a really strange imaginary remake.

I liked Bad Lieutenant and don't really see the point of remaking it; Nicolas Cage will never be as good as Harvey Keitel was, but I don't think Herzog is a very strange choice to direct it. That seems right up his alley. Werner Herzog directing Wee Willie Winkie would be more of a surprise.

25) Bulle Ogier or Charlotte Rampling?

I just do not like Charlotte Rampling.

26) In the Realm of the Senses— yes or no?

Haven't seen it yet, but it's on my Netflix queue.

27) Name a movie you think of as your own.

The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. I've shown it to very few people who've liked it, and most people I wanted to share it with wouldn't give me the time of day. That was disappointing. I'm the guy in the family who tries to recommend great movies to everyone else and gets ignored, so I don't really try to share movies with my family anymore.

28) Winged Migration or Microcosmos?

Both are wonderful.

29) Your favorite football game featured in a movie.

The one in Horse Feathers. Cracks me up every time.

30) Wendy Hiller or Deborah Kerr?

Deborah Karr.

31) Dirtiest secret you have that is related to the movies?

I don't know, I'm pretty open about my likes and dislikes, I don't know if I have a dirty secret. Dirty secrets and guilty pleasures are for people who put way too much stock in what their likes say "about" them.

32) Name a favorite film and describe how it is illuminated and is enriched by another favorite film.

Yeah, I've got nothing there.

33) It’s a Gift or Horsefeathers?

I love the Marx Brothers; Horse Feathers it is. That said, I love W.C. Fields, too, but I've not seen It's a Gift.

34) Your best story about seeing a movie at a drive-in?

I went to the drive-in a few times as a kid, but I don't have any great stories about it. I was 14.

35) Victor Mature or Tyrone Power?

I find Tyrone Power extremely boring. But I loved Victor Mature in My Darling Clementine.

36) What does film criticism mean to you? Where do you think it’s headed?

I can't even read film criticism anymore, really. There's not much out there anymore that's very smart and informative, and too many critics act the part of doing the audience's thinking for them. It seems like too many of the pros are just pulling out as much snark as they can and not really committing to their opinions. I don't see much that's genuine and not precious. That's why I just review what I've seen anymore. I used to get paid for criticism, man.