Friday, May 26, 2006

Professor Brainerd's Movie Quiz

After finishing the Van Helsing quiz, I pulled up this one and found, to my surprise, that I had already finished most of it. I guess I put it aside to work on the more recent quiz. I've finished it up, so here are my answers:

1) Describe the moment when you knew you loved the movies:
I'd say the first time I went to the Drive-In to see Song of the South. I remember one time, probably not long after that, when I was hanging out at my cousins' house, and I got it into my head that we should go see a movie. I kept saying "I want to see a movie." One of my cousins turned on the TV, flipped around and found a movie playing and said "look, there's a movie." Like that's the same thing!

2) What prop or costume from a film do you most covet?
The Ro-Man costume from Robot Monster.

3) Take a famous role and recast it (for example, Audrey Hepburn instead of Andie McDowell in Four Weddings and a Funeral):
A better League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Peter O'Toole as Quatermain, Alec Guiness as Jeckyl, Peter Sellers as Griffith, Omar Sharif as Nemo, Christopher Lee as Moriarty, cameo by Peter Cushing as Sherlock Holmes.

-or-

John Cleese as Quartermain, Michael Palin as Jeckyl, Eric Idle as Griffith, Terry Jones as Mycroft Holmes.

But those are really more like new movies than recastings, so how about Jack Nicholson as Han Solo (chosen after considering Burt Reynolds and Steve McQueen). Seriously, think about Han's early dialogue with Luke, as 70's Jack might recite it.

4) Charlton Heston or George Kennedy?
That's an odd pairing. I honestly can't decide. Heston is such the obvious choice, but Kennedy is a great character actor, probably better at what he does than Heston is at what Heston does. But then again, Heston can kick ass on post-apocalyptic jive-talkin' mutants, Roman pagans, and African army ants, then go toe-to-toe with General Ursula. But then again again, there is Police Squad...

5) Best performance in an otherwise terrible movie:
Obvious, but I'll go with Ian McDiarmid in Revenge of the Sith.

6) Worst performance in a famously revered or otherwise great movie:
This one gets mentioned a lot, but Keanu really stinks up Coppola's Dracula.

7) Christopher Lee or Peter Cushing?
You know what? I'm not that big a Christopher Lee fan. I like him, but he's not one of my favorites. So Cushing. Peter is utterly badass.

7) Favorite Walter Hill movie:
The Warriors. I remember that trailer scaring me as a kid. First the baseball gang with the bats--that just struck me as so brutal, using a bat as a weapon--and then the shot of the gang hanging off the bus chasing the Warriors, that was so frightening! I love the sort of epic journey of that movie through NYC, and the idea of all these gangs dressing up in theme costumes.

8) Favorite musical score from a movie:
PeeWee's Big Adventure, by Danny Elfman. I like Mancini's A Touch of Evil score, too.

9) Describe the most scared you’ve ever been in a theater, or the scariest moment you recall seeing in a movie:
This movie gets a lot of shit, but The Blair Witch Project is really the scariest movie I've ever seen. Part of it is that you never really see anything, but I think even more it's the amount of time you spend with the characters before things start going wrong. By the end, I wasn't in a theater watching a movie, I was lost in the woods with the Blair Witch chasing me.

10) Ingrid Pitt or Barbara Steele?
Barbara Steele (although I agree with Paul--I want to write in Caroline Munro!)

11) Favorite Holiday Movie (doesn’t have to be Christmas oriented):
I guess this is the obvious answer, but It's A Wonderful Life is as good as it gets.

12) Worst Holiday movie (doesn’t have to be Christmas oriented)
Ron Howard's How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Which may be the worst movie, period.12) Your all-time favorite hammy actor:Brian Blessed. The energy he puts into "Flying blind on a rocket cycle?" could power New York.

13) Favorite Federico Fellini movie:
I'm just starting to get into Fellini, and I've only seen 3 of his films, and I'm not sure what I'd pick between 8 1/2 and La Dolce Vita. I guess I'll go with La Doce Vita.

14) Your favorite film critic:
FX Feeney. Honorable mention to Danny Peary for his early influence.

15) Jason Lee or Jason Mewes?
A little Mewes goes a long way. Lee.

16) Best use of a natural location setting in a movie:
The temple of Angor Wat in In The Mood For Love.

17) Worst squandering of a natural location setting in a movie:
The temple of Angor Wat in Tomb Raider. There are a lot of natural treasures that movie squandered.

18) Favorite song from a movie:
"Science Fiction Double Feature" from The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Film geeks' national anthem.

19) Madeline Kahn or Teri Garr?
Madeline Kahn all the way.

20) Favorite Roger Corman Movie:
Top 10:
1. Deathrace 2000
2. Rock-n-Roll High School
3. Caged Heat
4. X: The Man With X-Ray Eyes
5. Psych Out!
6. Masque of the Red Death
7. Bikini Beach
8. It Conquered The World
Well, that's enough, right?

21) Director you’ve always felt deserved more attention than he/she ever got or has gotten up to this point, and a highlight for you from his/her career:
Ralph Bakshi, and I point to the highly underapreciated Fritz the Cat, as well as the insane Streetfight.

22) Michelle Yeoh or Ziyi Zhang?
Michelle Yeoh. Police Story III is the proof.

23) If the movies’ were to give you a Christmas gift, or a gift for 2006, what would it be? (I mean “the movies” in the most general sense—the film industry, the actors, a director making a certain film, whatever)
Since I'm already getting my Beyond the Valley of the Dolls DVD, I ask that Allyson Hannigan be given a lead role in a real movie, preferebly a romantic comedy. And next year, we can talk about getting her hubby an action franchise.

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