1. What was the last movie you watched in theaters?
The Hunger Games. Thought it was okay. Looked pretty much how I thought it would, probably because I read the book after seeing the previews. At least I had the wherewithal to know that Cinna and Rue were dark skinned characters.2. What was the first movie you ever remember watching in a theater?
Don Bluth’s animated masterpiece “The Land Before Time”. I can still remember the smell of the plastic “Petrie” puppet I got at pizza hut after and took to school with me. To this day I have never seen any of the sequels and that is as it should be.
3. Top 5 movies.
I won’t rank them, but I consider 1993-1995 to be the apex of american filmmaking… following the “last in” phenomena of a medium producing its best and most sophisticated work right before it becomes eclipsed by new technology.
“LEON-The Professional” 1994 Directed by Luc Besson. From cinematography to score, to overall entertainment value, I consider this to be an all around perfect movie.
“The Lion King” 1994 Directed by Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff. The Lion King is the crowning achievement of Disney’s second golden age of animation, which happily coincided with my pre-adolescence. All around perfect movie.
“Toy Story” 1995 Directed by John Lasseter. Saturday morning cartoons started to die when Congress passed the Sensible Advertising and Family Education Act of 1990, but animated features held on until this CG juggernaut arrived in the mid ninetees, which I now consider the best years of my life. All around perfect movie.
“Forest Gump” 1994 Directed by Robert Zemekis. Brings a tear to my eye everytime. There is something truly cathartic about the journey of an externally handicapped guy which makes us all want to be a little better than we are. Lots of movies have since tried to emulate the “full retard” but with cringe inducing results. Also the first movie to really take advantage of the digital revolution. AAPM.
“Jurassic Park” 1993 Directed by Stephen Spielberg. I think Spielberg is a hack who ruins his own movies by overindulging in cheap hysteria. Notable exceptions are Raiders of the Lost Arc and Jurassic Park. I would actually rank Raiders slightly higher, but it opened in 1981, so it would be the outlier in my 1994 was the best year ever argument Both AAPM.
4. Top 5 directors.
Orson Wells.
Akira Kurosawa.
Robert Zemekis.
Barry Levinson.
Luc Besson.
5. A favorite adapted movie.
“The Big Sleep” 1946 Dir. Howard Hawkes. Bogie is probably my favorite actor and this is one of his best movies, although I’ve never actually read the Raymond Chandler story its based on. If you are looking for a movie I’ve actually read the book for; I’d have to go with “The Hunt for Red October” which was a beautifully crafted adaptation of a pretty complicated novel.
6. Your best experience on going to the movies.
I think the only time I ever walked out of the theater in tears was after seeing Irwin Winklers 2001 film “Life as a House”. I don’t know why, the film wasn’t particularly memorable, something about the dad dying of cancer, but it had an effect on me all the same. I had a similar experience with “Mr and Mrs. Smith” in 2005, I went back to see it 3 or 4 times, though that was escapism at its purist, it had nothing to do with the film and everything to do with my life falling apart and desperately needing a distraction.
7. A guilty pleasure.
I’ve always thought “The Highlander” movies were terrible, and yet I always watch them when they are on TV. Sean Connery makes it all worthwhile with pithy dialogue like “If a woman needs a slap then by god I’ll give it to her” and “Everyone knows its the dark haired girls who like to sit on gentleman’s faces”
8. An overrated movie.
“Dog Day Afternoon” 1975 Directed by Sidney Lumet. Who robs a bank for a sex change operation? Call it personal taste but I consider most of the gritty, dysfunctional, and cynical movies to come out of the 70’s to be total crap… yeah they are a reflection of the culture at that time, but I was never a part of that culture nor do I want to be.
9. An underrated movie.
“Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves” for some reason people point to this film as an example of Hollywood butchering a classic story, and they ridicule Kevin Costner’s accent, but I’ve always had a soft spot for it; from Morgan Freeman’s Moorish sellsword to Alan Rickmans Sheriff of Nottingham to Brian Adams “Everything you do”…to Sean Connery’s cameo as Richard the Lionhart (See #7) hell even Christian Slater’s good in this. And its 1000 times better than the Russell Crowe version.
10. A movie that not many have heard that you’ve seen.
Most of what I consider “Obscure” would probably be well known by cinephiles. I like old action movies like “Wages of Fear” which is about two South American truckers driving a shipment of nitroglycerin up a mountain, or “The Naked Jungle” which is the Charleton Heston movie about man eating ants in the Amazon.
11. A movie you watched mainly for an actor.
Anything with Natalie Portman in it. I was mesmerized/obsessed with her performance in “Leon”… yet sadly she has yet to equal that. Most of her subsequent efforts consist of ugly crying and hyperventilating. It’s really true that an actor can make a career out of one role.
12. Top 5 actors.
Daniel Day Lewis
Humphrey Bogart
Lee J. Cobb
Ben Foster
Armin Mueller Stahl
13. Top 5 actresses.
Ava Gardner
Lauren Bacall
Anne Baxter
Vanessa Redgrave
Joan Plowright
(I don’t know, I like actresses with husky voices. My contemporary favorites change from month to month).
14. VHS, DVD or Blu-Ray?
VHS. In my book most of the best movies were from the late 80’s early 90’s, because thats when I started watching them in earnest. Many of these I first saw on VHS, and I get nostolgic for the audible whine of the magnetic tape.
15. Favorite Disney movie (not PIXAR!).
Well I listed the Lion King as the technical ”best”, but all of the animated films from the early 90’s have a special place in my heart. I had a girlfriend in kindergarten named Ariel Fox and our favorite playground game was to play little mermaid… obviously she played the titular mermaid and I was her trusty sidekick Flounder.
Beauty and the Beast was another fantastic, and emotionally jaring film. I was already in an emotionally elevated state when I learned that my grandmother had passed away while coming home from the theater. The whole thing was surreal.
Apart from those I would have to go with “Disney’s ‘The Fluppy Dog’s’” a cancelled pilot which aired as a TV movie in the mid 80’s.
16. A tearjerker.
See #6
17. A movie that you know is bad but you can’t help but love it.
See #7
18. Favorite Movie Soundtrack.
Are we talking original score or soundtrack? I’m tempted to say anything John Williams, or John Barry.. but I think I’ll go with Henry Mancini’s theme from Love Story
19. Favorite quote from a movie.
I used to do a Gregory Peck impersonation where I’d walk around the house and say “Hello, my name is Gregory Peck”. I don’t know if thats actually a quote from a movie, but my mother always thought it was funny.
The other quote that comes to mind is one I used as my facebook status a few days ago. “I have a competition in me. I want no one else to succeed. I hate most people.” spoken by Daniel Plainview in “There Will be Blood”. Its not as catchy as “I drink you’re milkshake”, but it does a great job of defining a really complicated character, and it really resonates with me. Obviously DDL’s delivery is everything.
20. A movie that was better than the book.
The Lord of the Rings was better than “Tom bidly bomba dee didly bomba dillo”
21. First adult film you watched (thematically speaking not R-rated).
I don’t know what a “Thematically adult” movie is. I’ll go with “Saving Private Ryan”, because that was the only time I was ever turned away for being too young. However, I think the first R movie I saw was T2: Judgement Day.
22. A kids movie you always watch.
Well I don’t really watch my favorite movies often because that would cheapen the experience, I do enjoy watching the Harry Potter films whenever they are on TV.
23. Favorite Science Fiction movie.
I’m going to go with “Contact” 1997 Directed by Robert Zemekis. I like Blade Runner as well, but mostly for the cinematography. Like “Forest Gump”, “Contact” has great but subtle visual effects, and really delivers on the “It was all in your head” mind fuck. I also like 2000’s “Mission to Mars”, which I personally think is Brian DePalmas best film
24. Favorite Comedy.
I’m really not a big fan of comedy. I guess we’ll go with “Get Shorty” or something of that ilk.
25. Favorite Fantasy.
As a child of the 80’s “The Labyrinth” was a big part of my childhood. I was also a huge fan of “Willow” though I don’t remember it well. And then of course there are the big franchises like LOTR and Harry Potter. Truthfully I think fantasy plays better in literature than on film.
26. Favorite Love Story.
Love story, wtf constitutes a love story? All my favorite films have elements of a love story, which I like. But in terms of straightforward romance? I’d have to go with “Love, Actually”, or “Notting Hill”.
27. A movie you hate.
Nothing comes to mind. I’ve seen plenty of bad movies, some vertigo inducing stinkers like “The Chronicles of Riddick”. I wouldn’t recommend them, but I can’t say I hate them either. I’m sure there is one out there that I can’t think of at the moment and I want to keep this space reserved.
28. Favorite animated movie.
See #’s 3, 15, and 22.
29. A movie from your favorite director you didn’t like.
If my I ever saw something I didn’t like, then they probably wouldn’t be my favorite director now would they? Luc Besson puts his name on a lot of crap, but the ones he actually directs are always par excellent!
30. Favorite comic book movie.
Batman Returns, Spiderman 2, The Avengers (cause I’m in it)
31. Three movies you’re expecting excitedly!
I never excitedly expect anything. I go to the theater when I am bored, and if nothing looks good then I am dissapointed.
32. A book you read for a movie.
My mother made me read the novelization of “Batman Forever” before she would take me to see it… It was a bad experience all around.
33. Favorite Musical.
Technically “The Lion King” is a musical, though I think of it strictly as an animated film. I think the gold standard for musicals is 1952’s ”Singing in the Rain”, Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds, Cyd Charisse. Following my “last in” premise, I think that film is the pinnacle of the studio system and everything that represents. Its also referenced in “Leon”, another of my favorite films.
34. Favorite fictional character.
Forrest Gump
35. A movie you wished they never made.
When I heard that Michael Bay is reimagining The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as Fighting Green Space Aliens, my first thought was “Oh hell, no”, followed by “Well, it really can’t be any worse than TMNT III can it?”.
36. Favorite remake.
I’m going to go with “The Ten Commandments”, 1956, directed by Cecil B Demille. A contemporary favorite would be ”3:10 to Yuma” with Russell Crowe, Christian Bale and Ben Foster.
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