Wednesday, July 29, 2009

MID-SUMMER MOVIE QUIZ

The always interesting Dennis Cozzalio over @ Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule throws these cinematic aptitude tests together every now & again for nerdy film types. This one is titled PROFESSOR SEVERUS SNAPE'S SORCERER-TASTIC, MUGGALICIOUS MID-SUMMER MOVIE QUIZ.. The questions & responses always make for an amusing read. 
Here's mines.










1) 
2ND-FAVORITE 
        KUBRICK FILM?
DR. STRANGELOVE (1968)
Coming only after 
the SPACE ODYSSEY (1968).










2) MOST SIGNIFICANT - 
IMPORTANT - INTERESTING 
TREND IN MOVIES OVER 
PAST DECADE, FOR GOOD 
OR EVIL?
Didn't know if this meant on the technical 
front or something more contextual; but I'd 
say Digital filmmaking in general. 
Completely CG rendered enviros, green 
screen/blue screen, mo-cap, HDV replacing 
celluloid, etc.. So depending on how they're used: 
some good. Some very lazy + toxic to creativity. 
Therefore evil.











3) BRONCO BILLY 
(CLINT EASTWOOD) OR 
BUFFALO BILL CODY 
(PAUL NEWMAN)?
Buffalo Bill... sorry, Clint.
(take that, Dick Schickel!)












4) 
BEST FILM OF 1949?
THE BICYCLE THIEF. Technically a 1948 release in 
Europe, but it’s '49 in the States. Best American film 
of that year was King Vidor’s BEYOND THE FOREST.
1949 at 24fps













5) JOSEPH TURA (JACK BENNY) 
OR OSCAR JAFFE 
(JOHN BARRYMORE)?
Def John Barrymore













6) 
HAS HAND-HELD SHAKY-CAM DIRECTORIAL STYLE BECOME 
VISUAL CLICHE?
Only in the hands of certain filmmakers.













7) WHAT WAS THE 1ST 
FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM 
YOU EVER SAW?
CINEMA PARADISO (1989), that I can remember. 
& Even though I couldn't read yet, I believe it was easy 
enough for me to follow the story. At least the 
childhood parts













8) CHARLIE CHAN (WARNER OLAND) 
    OR MR. MOTO (PETER LORRE)?
These character's are both very racially 
offensive to me. Yet Peter Lorre somehow 
hammed it up to such a degree as the 
stereotype that it's sort of a guilty pleasure
 to me that cracks me up from time to time. 
Lorre was such an odd odd little man.













9) FAVORITE WWII DRAMA 
            (1950-1970)?
THE GREAT ESCAPE (1963).. 
No doyeeeee!














10) 
FAVORITE ANIMAL MOVIE STAR?
That pig from BABE because 
he could talk.













11) WHO OR WHATEVER IS 
TO BLAME, NAME AN IRRESPONSIBLE 
MOMENT IN CINEMA
Even if some of the things she shot have a 
shallow aesthetic brilliance to them, Leni 
Riefenstahl’s propaganda films for the 
Nazi party are particularly troubling... 
Also, BIRTH OF A NATION (1915)














12) BEST FILM OF 1969?
Peckinpah's WILD BUNCH 
Lol "69"












13) LAST MOVIE YOU SAW 
THEATRICALLY, AND ALSO 
ON DVD OR BLU-RAY
Theatrically: BRUNO
Dvd: CORALINE
Blu ray: FOR ALL MANKIND














14) 
2ND-FAVORITE ALTMAN FILM?
NASHVILLE (1975)










15) FAVORITE INDEPENDENT OUTLET 
FOR READING ABOUT MOVIES, 
EITHER ONLINE OR IN PRINT?
Sight & Sound magazine in print. Slant Magazine online.













16) 
ANGELA MAO OR MEIKO KAJI?
Meiko Kaji is more my type <3













17) MONA LISA VITO (MARISA TOMEI) 
OR OLIVE NEAL (JENNIFER TILLY)?
A tough one. But I'm gonna go with Marisa Tomei. 
Especially in MY COUSIN VINNY. She’s adorable.. 
(Even though she didn't deserve her Oscar that year)













18) FAVORITE MOVIE THAT 
FEATURES A CARNIVAL 
SETTING OR SEQUENCE?
Hitchcock’s STRANGERS ON A TRAIN 












19) BEST USE OF HIGH-DEFINITION 
VIDEO ON THE BIG SCREEN TO DATE?
MIAMI VICE (2006). Those wide vistas of the city 
skyline would not have looked the same without it. 
Digital is perfect for shooting urban settings at night..














20) 
FAVORITE MOVIE THAT IS EQUAL 
PARTS GENRE FILM AND A 
DECONSTRUCTION OR 
CONSIDERATION OF THAT SAME 
GENRE?
MCCABE & MRS. MILLER (1971).. 
my favorite Altman.













21) BEST FILM OF 1979?
ALL THAT JAZZ. 1979 at 24fps












22) MOST REALISTIC OR SINCERE 
DEPICTION OF SMALL-TOWN LIFE?
John Sayles does small-town communities better than 
anybody. Favorite being LONE STAR (1996)












23) BEST HORROR MOVIE CREATURE? 
(NON-GIANT DIVISION)

George Romero-style slow zombies. And if those don’t 
count as “creatures”, than the ALIEN (1979) xenomorph.













24) 
2ND-FAVORITE FRANCIS COPPOLA?
THE CONVERSATION (1974)













25) NAME A ONE-OFF MOVIE 
THAT COULD HAVE PRODUCED 
A FRANCHISE YOU WOULD 
HAVE WANTED TO SEE
THE INCREDIBLES (2004)














26) FAVORITE 
DE PALMA SEQUENCE?
Though not his best, the BATTLESHIP 
POTEMKIN stairwell shoot-out from the 
climax of UNTOUCHABLES (1987) 
always gives me chills.












27) FAVORITE 
MOMENT IN TECHNICOLOR
The "Munchkin Parade" Medley & "Follow the Yellow 
Brick Road" numbers from  WIZARD OF OZ (1939).. 
Elation.












28) 
FAVORITE 
ALAN SMITHEE FILM?
They are all pretty terrible. But SUPERNOVA (2000) had 
the most potential & was most tolerable of what I've seen.













29) CRASH DAVIS (COSTNER) 
OR MORRIS BUTTERMAKER 
(MATTHAU)?
Walter Matthau 
in BAD NEW BEARS. Any day.












30) BEST POST-CRIMES & 
MISDEMEANORS WOODY 
ALLEN FILM?
BULLETS OVER BROADWAY












31) BEST FILM OF 1999?
Kubrick's EYES WIDE SHUT
1999 at 24fps














32) 
FAVORITE MOVIE TAG LINE?
“THIS SUMMER; GO APE-SHIT!” from 
Tim Burton’s 2001 remake of PLANET OF THE APES..

Just kidding. In all seriousness, 
"THE ULTIMATE TRIP" from the ads for 
Kubrick's SPACE ODYSSEY (1968). 
Because it was the truth.














33) 
FAVORITE 
B-MOVIE WESTERN?
THE SHOOTING (1967) 
by Monte Hellman.














34) OVERALL, THE AUTHOR 
BEST SERVED BY MOVIE 
ADAPTATIONS OF HER
 OR HIS WORK?
Elmore Leonard, 
off the top of my head.













35) SUSAN VANCE 
(KATHARINE HEPBURN) 
OR IRENE BULLOCK 
(CAROLE LOMBARD)?
Hepburn in BRINGING UP BABY. 
Still hilarious.













36) FAVORITE MUSICAL 
CAMEO IN A NON-MUSICAL 
MOVIE?
“Knights of the Round Table” sequence from 
MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL (1975). 
haha











37) 
BRUNO (THE CHARACTER, 
IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE 
MOVIE, OR THE FILM, IF 
YOU HAVE): SUBVERSIVE 
SATIRE OR PURVEYOR OF STEREOTYPING?
I think it’s mostly really calculated satire.. 
It's funny regardless.











38) FIVE FILM FOLKS, LIVING 
OR DECEASED, YOU WOULD 
LOVE TO HAVE A 
CONVERSATION WITH

Living: 
Werner Herzog, George A. Romero, Agnes Varda, 
Christiane Kubrick, Terrence Malick

Deceased: 
Stanley Kubrick, Ingrid Bergman, Samuel Fuller, 
Orson Welles, Chris Farley

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