PROFESSOR CHIPPING’S BACK TO SCHOOL QUIZ

aka PROFESSOR ARTHUR CHIPPING’S MADDENLY DETAILED, PURPOSEFULLY VAGUE, FITFULLY OUT-OF-FOCUS BACK TO SCHOOL MOVIE QUIZ


Another great quiz by Dennis Cozzalio.







1) WHAT'S THE BIGGEST ISSUE FOR 

YOU IN THE DIGITAL VS. 

FILM DEBATE?
I'm generally not against digital but I am 

against movie theaters upgrading to 

crappy digital projectors to 

save a buck.

Wait until they're bright and clear enough 

to at least be near the same quality as 

35mm projectors. Ideally I wish all theaters 

would keep at least one 70mm and one 35

 projector on hand to do revivals of old 

movies that don't have digital prints yet.

  

2) 

WITHOUT MORE THAN ONE MINUTE'S 

CONSIDERATION, NAME THREE 

GREAT FACES FROM THE MOVIES
Monroe, Loren, and Wong

3) 

MOVIE YOU THINK COULD BE 

INTERESTING IF REMADE AS 

A MOVIE MUSICAL
nudge nudge, wink wink-- I have a 

treatment for a musical riff on 

METROPOLIS (1927).

4) 

LAST MOVIE YOU SAW 

THEATRICALLY, ON 

DVD/BLU-RAY, 

STREAMING
in theaters: 

Kirby Dick's THE INVISIBLE WAR
bluray: 

the INDIANA JONES trilogy
streaming: 

THE TALL MAN

5) 

FAVORITE MOVIE 

          ABOUT WORK
Chaplin's MODERN TIMES

6) MOVIE YOU LOVED AS 

A CHILD THAT DID NOT 

HOLD UP WHEN SEEN 

THROUGH ADULT EYES
Spielberg's HOOK (1991).

7) 

FAVORITE "ROAD" MOVIE
TWO-LANE BLACKTOP (1971)

8) 

DOES EASTWOOD'S APPEARANCE 

AT THE RNC CHANGE OR CONFIRM 

YOUR PERSPECTIVE ON HIM AS A 

FILMMAKER/MOVIE ICON? IS THAT 

APPEARANCE RELEVANT 

TO HIS LEGACY AS A 

FILMMAKER?
No.. I'm generally able to separate the artist 

from the art. A lot of old macho dudes like 

that have antiquated ideas about everything. 

Not just politics.

9) 

LONGEST-LASTING MOVIE 

OR MOVIE-RELATED 

OBSESSION
I'm obsessed with visiting locations from Western 

movies! both domestically and abroad. I love the 

Monument Valley areas John Ford shot at. You don't 

even need to build sets. It's already a darn painting 

out there.

My wife and I want to travel to Italy and Spain 

soon to see some of those locations as well.

10) FAVORITE ARTIFACT 

   OF MOVIE EXPLOITATION
Larry Cohen just as a person.

11) 

HAVE YOU EVER FALLEN 

ASLEEP IN A MOVIE 

THEATER? IF SO, WHEN 

AND WHY?
Was having some emo teen mental health probz 

during 2005 and my doctors were prescribing me a 

lot of different meds that made me mega drowsy. 

During that stressful period, sometimes I would doze 

off during movies; Regardless of quality. A friend of 

mine tells me I fell asleep during a late school night 

showing of SERENITY (2005) at Grapevine Mills 

AMC. I fell asleep across those cushioned seats on 

the back row they used to have.

(We were some of the only people in there though, so my 

being back there was not disruptive)

12) 

FAVORITE PERFORMANCE 

BY AN ATHLETE IN A MOVIE
still Schwarzenegger in TERMINATOR

13) 2ND FAVORITE 

RAINER WERNER 

FASSBINDER MOVIE
MARRIAGE OF MARIA BRAUN 

14) 

FAVORITE FILM OF 1931
Chaplin's CITY LIGHTS.

15) 

2ND FAVORITE RAOUL WALSH
THE ROARING TWENTIES 

16) FAVORITE FILM OF 1951
THE STEEL HELMET.

17) 2ND

FAVORITE WONG KAR-WAI
CHUNGKING EXPRESS (1994)

18) 

FAVORITE FILM OF 1971
MCCABE & MRS. MILLER.

19) 2ND FAVORITE 

HENRI-GEORGES CLOUZOT 

MOVIE
QUAI DES ORFEVRES (1947)

20) 

FAVORITE FILM OF 1991
Yang's A BRIGHTER SUMMER DAY

21) 

2ND FAVORITE JOHN STURGES
THE GREAT ESCAPE (1963)

22) 

FAVORITE CELEBRITY BIOPIC
Personally, it's Mann's ALI (2001)

23) 

A GOOD SCRIPT IDEA WHICH 

WAS LET DOWN EITHER BY 

THE DIRECTOR OR CIRCUMSTANCES 

OF PRODUCTION
There's too many examples of this to name them all! 

Just a few that come to mind immediately; LEVIATHAN 

(1989), any of the film adaptations of Alan Moore, 

THE HUNGER GAMES, DREAMCATCHER (2003), 

the first STAR WARS prequel, THE DARKEST 

HOUR (2011).

and many more I can't remember

 right now.  

24) HEAVEN'S GATE

         -- YES OR NO?
Very much yes. A fascinating epic.

 wish it hadn't been such a colossal flop.

25) FAVORITE PAIRING OF 

    MOVIE SEX SYMBOLS
Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni
in YESTERDAY, TODAY, & TOMORROW.

& Jennifer Tilly & Gershon in BOUND 

26) 

ONE WORD THAT YOU COULD SAY 

WHICH WOULD INSTANTLY EVOKE 

IMAGES AND MEMORIES OF YOUR 

FAVORITE MOVIE. (NAMING THE MOVIE 

IS OPTIONAL---MIGHT BE MORE FUN 

TO SEE IF WE CAN GUESS WHAT IT 

IS FROM THE WORD ITSELF)

"INTERSTELLAR"

27) NAME ONE MOMENT WHICH TO 

YOU DEMARCATES A SIGNIFICANT 

CHANGE, FOR BETTER OR WORSE, 

ON THE LANDSCAPE OF THE MOVIE 

OVER THE LAST 20 YEARS
I have 3 moments! 

but they're part of a thematic whole.

One big thing for me was around 2005 when I started 

to notice all the affordable digital HD cameras 

becoming available. Before that we always just had 

to shoot on MiniDv or rent 16mm cameras. The first 

professional digital camera I got to play with was the 

Sony HDC 950 in '05 during a visit with my dad to 

"Texas Filmmakers Coalition" in Denton; And then 

from about 2008 to now it's all been about the Red 

cameras and jailbroken/modified SLRs.

Early 2008 is when I also simultaneously noticed 

Netflix launching their streaming service and many 

of the older filmmakers I followed started using 

Kickstarter to ask for money for their projects. Those 

3 things; Streaming, cheaper cameras, and online 

crowdfunding have all been the most significant from 

what I can tell. And all mostly good for the medium. 

A lot more young artists are able to shoot movies 

nowadays.

The only potential downside to that being eventually 

there's just an over-saturation of cheap content on the 

market. Great films could get lost in the shuffle 

+ you'd have to dig a lot longer to find gems.

One of the worst things about films becoming digitally 

available is audiences not wanting to go to the theater 

anymore. More and more people will know they can 

get the same content at home if they just wait. Online 

rentals could never make up the amount of money 

ticket sales made. Now throw piracy on top of that 

conundrum and you've got a slowly tightening noose 

on the industry. 

Since about 2006 to now I've seen that 

take the biggest toll.

28) 

FAVORITE PRE-CODE TALKIE
Browning's FREAKS (1932)

29) OLDEST FILM IN YOUR

PERSONAL COLLECTION
I think Chaplin's THE KID (1921)??

though I may own something older.

30) LONGEST FILM IN YOUR

PERSONAL COLLECTION
Tarr's SATANTANGO (1994)

7 hours and 30 minutes.

31) HAVE 

YOUR MOVIE COLLECTION 

HABITS CHANGED IN THE 

PAST 10 YEARS? IF SO, HOW?
I actually buy much more currently, even 

though my living space has gotten smaller. 

About 7 blurays every month.. I need to 

cut back.

32) 

WACKIEST, MOST UNLIKELY 

"DIRECTED BY" CREDIT 

YOU CAN NAME
POPEYE (1980) for Robert Altman!

I love the movie but if I had been around back when 

he announced that was going to be his next project it 

would've blown my mind.

33) BEST DOCUMENTARY 

YOU'VE SEEN IN 2012 (MADE 

IN 2012 OR ANY OTHER YEAR)
Jafar Panahi's THIS IS NOT A FILM.

34) WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE "(THIS 

STAR) WAS ALMOST CAST 

IN (THIS MOVIE)" 

ANECDOTE?
DiCaprio almost being Dirk in 

BOOGIE NIGHTS ('97).

35) 

PROGRAM 3 NIGHTS OF 

DOUBLE BILLS AT A REVIVAL 

THEATER THAT MIGHT BEST 

ILLUMINATE YOUR LOVE 

OF MOVIES

LAURA (1944) 

and ACROSS 110TH STREET (1972).

INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN ('57) 

and ALIENS (1986).

and finally;
THE WARRIORS (1979) 

and KUNG FU HUSTLE (2004).

36) YOU HAVE BEEN GRANTED PERMISSION TO INVITE ANY 

THREE PEOPLE, ALIVE OR 

DEAD, TO YOUR HOUSE TO 

WATCH THE OSCARS. 

WHO ARE THEY?
Alex Cox, Hannibal Buress, and Sarah Silverman.

and we would just laugh 

at the whole show.

37) 

FAVORITE MR. CHIPS. 

(CAREFUL...)
GOODBYE, MR CHIPS (1939) 

- Robert Donat!