Quizzical Mornings

Brando, thanks for posting your new quiz. I needed a distraction this morning.

Here goes...

1. What are your top five Spielberg films (ranked)?

I'm guessing that you want films "directed by" rather than "produced by," but I'll give you both lists.

Top 5 Directed by Spielberg (based on how much I'd like to re-watch right now):
1. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
2. The Terminal
3. Catch Me if You Can
4. Jurassic Park
5. Minority Report

Top 5 Produced by Spielberg
1. True Grit
2. Band of Brothers
3. Back to the Future Part III
4. Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
5. The Mask of Zorro

...and so many more. Spielberg is a great director. He's probably an even better executive producer. A special honorable mention goes to Animaniacs and Pinky & the Brain.

2. Have you ever been convinced by a member of Film Club to change your mind about a movie (tell us about it)?

Yeah, Brandon convinced me that Julien Donkey-Boy is much, much better than I was giving it credit for. ;-)

I can't remember if I've ever completely changed my mind. More often, it's a re-evaluation and re-appreciation for films that I only "kinda liked" that Film Clubbers convinced me I should care more about. For example, Brandon and Catch Me if You Can, Jason standing up for the Duplass brothers, Chris getting me worked up about The Simpsons, Ben championing Ink... wait, Ink sucked. Never mind.

3. What is your favorite sub-genre and why?

I don't know. Westerns with stagecoach drivers getting shot in them?

4. Do you enjoy violence in film and if so do you feel bad and if so why?

Yes. And I don't feel bad about it. I'd distinguish between righteous violence and unrighteousness violence, the artistic depiction of each and the sometimes muddy middle, but that's a long, long post that you're not tricking me into writing right now.

5. Tell us about a few of your strangest theater going experiences.

I have a weird memory of someone pulling a gun and storming out of the theater during a screening of Mo' Money, but that probably never happened. I've almost been in fistfights several times. I had underage kids kicked out of R-rated There Will Be Blood because they were making out loudly and giggling at the movie. I have lots of good memories of going to the movies with friends in high school. Ededi Hrupym still makes me laugh out loud. I fell asleep during the Normandy invasion opening of Saving Private Ryan and woke up near the end of the film feeling refreshed. I can't think of anything really strange.

6. Name 5 films that you have been eager to re-watch, perhaps even despite your tepid response some of them.

I don't know. I want to re-watch Cold Weather. I'd like to re-watch Do-Deca-Pentathlon with Abby. Maybe I'm slowly becoming a "mumblecore" man. Then again, I just re-watched Oz: Great and Powerful and I'd watch it again happily. Two more? I've been meaning to re-watch Terror in a Texas Town and Force of Evil and write "My Essentials" posts about them.

7. Name 5 films that you absolutely love or respect that you have no desire to see ever again (going against John’s Letterbox’d rating system).

Yeah, this question is not for me. There are films that I love, including Stalker, for example, that I can only watch when I'm in the right mood. I can't think of anything that I love that I would never want to watch again. Respect, though? In some sense, I respect Spring Breakers and The Comedy, but I'm totally happy never seeing either one ever again (though I have considered re-watching it to seriously interact with it. I am impressed by Alverson after seeing New Jerusalem and The Comedy).

8. What are five films that you really want to see for the first time?

How about my most anticipated 2013 list?
1) Computer Chess (d: Andrew Bujalski)
2) To the Wonder (d: Terence Malick)
3) Upstream Color (d: Shane Carruth)
4) Ain't Them Bodies Saints (d: David Lowery)
5) Much Ado About Nothing (d: Joss Whedon)

9. Name 5 surprising “classic” popular films that you have not seen.

Here are five that I'm embarrassed I still haven't seen.
1. Vertigo
2. Rio Bravo
3. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence
4. Wild Strawberries
5. The Bride of Frankenstein

10. Who are your top five directors of all time (hahahaha)?

1. Tarkovsky
2. Rohmer
3. The Coens
4. Hitchcock
5. Malick

Letterboxd Dump

I'm really far behind.

But, there's not all that much catching up to do because I haven't watched a movie in two weeks now, though I did watch half an hour of Distant Trumpet on Monday morning.

Abby and I finished Parks & Recreation Season 3. I'm afraid that S3 is when the show peaked and that it's all downhill from here. I hope not. Season 3 is really good.

I still haven't made up my mind about Tyrannosaur. I watched it again with the director's commentary on. I don't think it's a great film, but it's a very good one and I'll be following Paddy Considine from now on. That guy's got a lot of heart.

I should write about The Comedy but I won't. I think that it's at least as good as Spring Breakers, if not much better.

I also owe Ben a longer Wise Kids post. I don't care enough about it to put in the effort.

So, one big bleh and some repubbing of crappy Letterboxd content catches me up to the present.

Tyrannosaur 2011
★★★★½ Watched 02 Apr, 2013

I'm still digesting this one. The half-star (that i always try to avoid) marks my indecision as to whether I all-out love this one or if I'm going to let a few tics keep me from fully embracing it. I'm planning on watching it again soon.

Argo 2012
★★★ Watched 25 Mar, 2013 1

I forgot to log this one from last week. I liked it more than Brandon did.

The Comedy 2012
★★ Watched 26 Mar, 2013

Alverson achieves his purpose. It's too bad that this success means a movie that is painfully unfunny in its funny.

The Wise Kids 2011
★★ Watched 24 Mar, 2013 2

I guess I was expecting more. Everything about this film is shallow and right-on-the-nose. There are no characters to care about in this film, only preordained types used to represent ideas.

Spring Breakers 2013
★★ Watched 22 Mar, 2013 1

spring break forever = hell
1 like

Holy Motors 2012
★★ Watched 21 Mar, 2013 1

The emperor has no clothes.
1 like

Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai 2011
★★★ Watched 19 Mar, 2013

Fun to watch. This would be a Hollywood blockbuster if a great English dub and a bold marketing campaign existed for it.