PROFESSOR JENNINGS’ HOLIDAY MIDTERM

aka PROFESSOR DAVE JENNINGS’ MILTON-FREE, UNIVERSE-EXPANDING HOLIDAY MIDTERM

originally posted
DECEMBER 04, 2006

[old stuff from the now gone "Refined Picture Show" blogspot]



Another great quiz by Dennis Cozzalio.

1) WHAT WAS THE LAST MOVIE YOU 

SAW, EITHER IN A THEATER OR ON 

DVD, AND WHY?
In theaters was Aronofsky's poetic & awesome 

THE FOUNTAIN.

on DVD it was Spielberg's MUNICH 

as to the why; I just love those filmmakers & look 

forward to everything they make.

2) NAME THE CINEMATOGRAPHER 

WHOSE WORK YOU MOST LOOK 

FORWARD TO SEEING, AND AN 

EXAMPLE OF ONE OF HIS/HER FINEST 

ACHIEVEMENTS
2 of my current favorites are Roger Deakins and 

Emmanuel Lubezki! Deakins's finest moment so far is 

this part in last year's JARHEAD where a horse covered 

in oil is stumbling around Kuwaiti petrol fires. It's a 

night shot and the erupting pillars of fire illuminate 

everything & they're reflected perfectly in the horse's 

eyes. Amazing color + contrast.

Lubezki's best moment in my opinion is in 1999's 

SLEEPY HOLLOW. The whole origin sequence of 

the headless horseman in the snow is breathtaking. 

Can't wait to see his lensing of CHILDREN OF MEN 

(2006) later this month.

3) JOE DON BAKER 

          OR BO SVENSON?
Joe Don all the way.

4) NAME A MOMENT FROM 

A MOVIE THAT MADE YOU 

GASP (IN HORROR, SURPRISE, 

REVELATION...)
The part in Night Shyamalan's SIGNS (2002) where 

Gibson opens his eyes in bed and sees the silhouette 

standing on the roof made me audibly gasp. Waking up 

to anyone staring at you is alarming, But waking up to

 that?! 

Would've given me a damn heart attack.

The first time I saw PSYCHO (1960) I gasped at the 

figure suddenly walking into the overhead shot at the 

top of the stairs. Scared the bejeezus outta me.

5) 

FAVORITE MOVIE 

        ABOUT MOVIES
It's still ED WOOD (1994)

6) 

FAVORITE FRITZ LANG MOVIE
Definitely SCARLET STREET (1945)

Though I think METROPOLIS (1927) is probably his best.

7) DESCRIBE THE FIRST TIME 

YOU EVER RECOGNIZED YOURSELF 

IN A MOVIE
Watching E.T.: THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL (1982) on 

cable in the 90s. The older brother character is me. 

Everyone says so & I realize it too. haha. He teases his 

younger siblings the same way & just acts the same 

way I did. & when shit hits the fan he's willing to risk 

life & limb to help family.

Also that smart ass kid in A CHRISTMAS STORY (1983) 

who dares Flick to stick his tongue to the frozen 

flagpole. The scene where he's trying not to laugh in 

class is my entire childhood in a nutshell. And like 

those 2 characters my teeth were always too big for 

my head as a youngster.

8) CAROLE BOUQUET 

     OR ANGELA MOLINA?
Angela.

9) NAME A MOVIE THAT REDEEMS 

THE NOTION OF NOSTALGIA AS 

SOMETHING MORE THAN BANKABLE 

COMMODITY
Not trying to be cute-- Tarkovsky's aptly-titled 

NOSTALGHIA (1983) does this better than any film.

10) FAVORITE APPEARANCE 

BY AN ATHLETE IN AN 

ACTING ROLE
Schwarzenegger in THE TERMINATOR

11) 

FAVORITE HAL ASHBY MOVIE
HAROLD & MAUDE (1971)

12) NAME THE FIRST DOUBLE 

FEATURE YOU'D PROGRAM 

FOR OPENING NIGHT OF 

YOUR OWN REVIVAL THEATER
A 3D double feature of IT CAME FROM 

OUTER SPACE (1953) and HOUSE OF 

WAX (1953).

13) WHAT'S THE NAME OF 

YOUR FANTASY REVIVAL 

THEATER?
I'd call it the "the Atomic Cinema & Cafe"!!
but the sign outside would just read 

"the Atomic"

named for the documentary THE ATOMIC CAFE (1982) and 

it would serve food at your seat just like the Alamo Drafthouse. 

Plus the lobby would be themed after 1950s monster movies!

14) HUMPHREY BOGART 

        OR ELLIOT GOULD?
Bogie... Sorry, Elliot.

15) FAVORITE ROBERT 

            STEVENSON MOVIE
His version of JANE EYRE (1943) 

is good.

16) 

DESCRIBE YOUR FAVORITE 

MOMENT IN A MOVIE THAT 

IS MEMORABLE BECAUSE 

OF ITS USE OF SOUND
A moment from RETURN TO OZ (1985) when Dorothy 

is waiting in the sanatorium room all alone during that 

thunderstorm. The way you can hear rain & thunder 

outside, & when the power goes out you can hear the 

patients in the basement shrieking. The sound design 

is eerie and more effective than any visual effect. 

Also the constant motif of rusty gurney 

wheels squealing and electricity surging 

in the background

17) PINK FLAMINGOS-- 

              YES OR NO?
Yes. Not John Waters' best, but still hilarious.

18) FAVORITE MOVIE 

     SOUNDTRACK / SCORE
John Williams' music for E.T. (1982) is the best score 

Bernard Herrmann never made.

19) FAY WRAY 

      OR NAOMI WATTS?
Naomi.

20) IS THERE A MOVIE THAT 

WOULD MAKE YOU QUESTION 

THE JUDGMENT AND/OR 

TASTE OF A FILM CRITIC, 

BLOGGER OR FRIEND IF 

YOU FOUND OUT THEY 

WERE AN ADVOCATE OF IT?
Not really one that I can think of.. There are 

movies that I think are terrible but someone 

else might see something in them that I don't. 

I'm more interested in why someone 

loves/hates something rather than 

what it is.

21) PICK A NEW CATEGORY 

FOR THE OSCARS AND ITS 

FIRST DESERVING WINNER
I feel like since the early 2000s there should have been 

2 separate cinematography categories. One for 

traditional film and one for digital. Like there used to 

be in the 50s for color cinematography and black & 

white cinematography. At least keep it a separate 

category until video starts to look remotely close to 

true film stock. One of the 1st deserving winners 

would be Anthony Dod Mantle's work for 

28 DAYS LATER (2003).

2004's winner: COLLATERAL d.p. Dion Beebe

2005's winner: BUBBLE d.p. Steven Soderbergh

and Dion Beebe should win that 

category this year for the new 

MIAMI VICE.

22) FAVORITE 

VERHOEVEN MOVIE

ROBOCOP (1987)

23) WHAT IS IT THAT YOU 

THINK MOVIES DO BETTER 

THAN ANY OTHER ART 

FORM?
Synthesizing movement/action. Like a chase 

sequence. Kinesis is a good word to throw 

around. It conveys movement even better 

than live performance or dance in my 

opinion- due to the perspective the camera 

and editing adds. It can be exhilarating.

24) PETER USTINOV 

      OR ALBERT FINNEY?
Albert Finney.

25) FAVORITE MOVIE STUDIO 

LOGO, AS IT APPEARS 

BEFORE A THEATRICAL 

FEATURE
traditional Metro Goldwyn Mayer logo.

complete with roaring lion.

26) NAME THE SINGLE MOST 

IMPORTANT BOOK ABOUT 

THE MOVIES FOR YOU 

PERSONALLY
Negative Space by Manny Farber

27) NAME THE MOVIE THAT FEATURES 

THE BEST TWIST ENDING (PLEASE 

NOTE THE USE OF ANY "SPOILERS"

 IN YOUR ANSWER)

ending to DON'T LOOK NOW (1973).

Still one of the most alarming WTF moments I've 

ever had watching a movie. No spoilers here, just 

watch it.

28) 

FAVORITE TRUFFAUT MOVIE
It's still THE 400 BLOWS (1959)

29) OLIVIA HUSSEY 

       OR CLAIRE DANES?
That darling Hussey 💖, a true angel.

30) YOUR MOST MEMORABLE 

CELEBRITY ENCOUNTER
It was summer 2004. Was visiting the Amoeba 

Records in Hollywood with my Pop and 

little brother and ran into Kieran Culkin 

and Emile Hirsch browsing.

Hirsch was wearing a hoodie so I figured they were 

probably trying to remain inconspicuous. Didn't 

wanna hassle or draw attention to them so I 

whispered "I love you guys!" quietly and shook 

Kieran's hand. Said I was "a big fan, dug

DANGEROUS LIVES," & what not-- then left to 

another section real awkward and fast lol. They 

seemed happy that I even knew who they were 

and also that i wasn't bullying press.

I also talked to Elvis Mitchell recently at AFI Dallas. 

(But Idk if people consider him a celebrity) & he was 

high as fuck.

31) WHEN DID YOU FIRST 

REALIZE THAT FILMS WERE 

DIRECTED?
Very young. Like 3rd or 4th grade is when I learned 

what it was specifically called. I rented a book about 

Steven Spielberg from my school library and it 

explained all the different movies he had worked on. 

Then i got home and found more info on the old 

"allmovie dot com".

The book also distinguished the difference between 

producing a movie and actually directing a movie. It 

had a list of films he had financed, executive produced, 

and a list of the titles he had helmed personally. Before 

that I had always assumed if your name was on before 

a movie in any way that probably meant you made it. 

For instance I thought Spielberg directed 

THE LAND BEFORE TIME (1988)

(Puts hand over forehead)