Movies Questionnaire

I got this from Dan!! Love these things.

1. Name a movie that you have seen more than 10 times.

Obviously this meme is already unacquainted with my level of obsession.

Movies I have seen more than 10 times (in no particular order and with a couple photos – again, in no particular order – just scattered thruout):

The Big Sleep

Bring It On

Center Stage

Only Angels Have Wings

Murder by Numbers (a movie I’ve never written about … but one that I love)

— probably The Breakfast Club

Notorious

Apollo 13

His Girl Friday

— probably Blue Crush (including 3 times in the movie theatre.)

Music of the Heart (another favorite – makes me cry every. single. time)

Empire Strikes Back

GI Jane

LA Confidential

Moulin Rouge

Notting Hill

Love and Basketball (which will DEFINITELY be on my “under-rated movies” list – once I get back to it. I LOVE this movie.)

Oh, there are a bazillion more. If I love a movie, I watch it repeatedly. Sometimes I just keep a favorite movie on for background noise as I clean my house or whatever.)

2. Name a movie that you’ve seen multiple times in the theater.

I must copy Dan. Dirty Dancing. I think I saw that 5 times in the movie theatre that summer it came out. Could not get enough.

Also: Star Wars

Also: Ferris Beuller’s Day Off – it almost became a joke I went to go see that movie so much

Breakfast Club

3. Name an actor that would make you more inclined to see a movie.

A live actor? Also – “actor” meaning: actor and actress? Fine.

Jeff Bridges. Russell Crowe. Ewan McGregor. Tommy Lee Jones. Gene Hackman. David O’Hara. Robert Duvall. Meryl Streep. Emma Thompson. Kate Winslet. Diane Keaton.

4. Name an actor that would make you less likely to see a movie.

Robert Wuhl. hahaha Random, I know. But it’s true.

5. Name a movie that you can and do quote from.

Waiting for Guffman “I hate you and your ass-face!”
What’s Up Doc “I don’t have a badge for a Eunice Burns.”
Bringing Up Baby “Alice! I think this one belongs in the tail.”

6. Name a movie musical that you know all of the lyrics to all of the songs

All of them. Seriously. Don’t make me list them.

7. Name a movie that you have been known to sing along with

The first one that comes to mind is my roommate Jen and I watching Stand and Deliver and singing along like banshees with the final-credits song – which is called (ironically) “Stand and Deliver”. We riffed with it, we did bad jazz, we amused ourselves endlessly and annoyed our neighbors relentlessly.

“Sta-and and delivahhhhhhh-ah-ah-ah …”

8. Name a movie that you would recommend everyone see.

Only Angels Have Wings – I can’t think of a person this movie wouldn’t appeal to. It’s got macho adventure, sizzling romance, and also a great script – Rita Hayworth – Cary Grant … atmosphere, humor, great great scenes … See it. If you haven’t already.

9. Name a movie that you own.

Let’s see. I own many but I will choose one randomly.

What’s Eating Gilbert Grape

10. Name an actor that launched his/her entertainment career in another medium but who has surprised you with his/her acting chops.

I thought Eminem was great in 8 Mile – not one false moment where he seemed out of his league. Completely at home in front of the camera, vulnerable, intelligent, committed to difficult moments – he wasn’t trying to protect himself and be a “tough guy” – very good performance.

I also LOVE Eve. Loved her in Barbershop – thought she was a total natural.

11. Have you ever seen a movie in a drive-in? If so, what?

My first time seeing Empire Strikes Back was in a drive-in. Great night. I was in my pajamas, too – it was an outing with all of my cousins – when it first came out.

12. Ever made out in a movie?

Yes – only once, believe it or not. This is horrifying (if you don’t know the context). [Oh, and I should mention that it pre-dates the Seinfeld episode – just so we’re all clear on that] Michael and I made out during Schindler’s List. But in our defense: it was the only movie playing in a town where we were living for 6 weeks – and we had already seen it 6, 7, 8 times – maybe more – we went to go see it 3 times a week on occasion, just to have something to do. The movie theatre was empty (literally), it was a matinee, we had already seen it 10 times, we were nuts about each other – I feel like all we did was read books, eat ice cream and kiss, and so we made out like hungry werewolves as the Jews of Poland were being rounded up. I am so sorry.

13. Name a movie that you keep meaning to see but just haven’t yet gotten around to it.

Way Down East – it’s on the queue!!

14. Ever walked out of a movie?

36 Fillette – boyfriend and I stood up and walked out. I’ve liked Catherine Breillat’s other movies since then, particularly Romance – it’s got an Italian p0rn star in it – a guy I’m a wee bit obsessed with – and he’s cast in a straight part, as an actor but … well. It’s a VERY weird movie. Italian P0rn man was why I saw it, originally – I was like: He’s acting? He has lines? I must see this!! (He’s not bad, either). So I do like Romance and own it – even though you really have to be in the mood for the French-y mood of it … but 36 Fillette really turned us off at the time, can’t remember why.

15. Name a movie that made you cry in the theater.

Titanic. I say it without shame. It was actually the priest saying mass – grabbing hold of a railing as he spoke the words – that started the tears – and I pretty much was a mess until the very end.

Apollo 13 – Jim and I saw it together when it first came out and we both got misty-eyed during the first scene – when they all were watching the moon landing on television – and Jim glanced at me when the scene finished and said, “This is going to be a long movie.”

And I went home and took to my bed after Bridges of Madison County. I think I even called in sick the next day.

I also remember crying at the end of that gloriously campy movie with Demi Moore called The Seventh Sign

16. Popcorn?

Sometimes. No butter though.

17. How often do you go to the movies (as opposed to renting them or watching them at home)?

A couple times a month

18. What’s the last movie you saw in the theater?

What is my problem – I totally can’t remember. Once Upon a Time in America maybe. I thought there was something more recent, though.

19. What’s your favorite/preferred genre of movie?

Probably smart romantic comedies.

20. What’s the first movie you remember seeing in the theater?

Candleshoewas definitely the first movie I ever saw (or – it’s such a vivid memory that if I saw a movie in the theatre before this one, I have no idea what it is). I even remember some of the scenes in the movie from that first viewing alone.

21. What movie do you wish you had never seen?

Wild Orchid II.

Please note the “II”. VERY important distinction, thank you very much. I liked the first Wild Orchid, in all its skeezy soft-core self-important absurdity. Wild Orchid II let me DOWN, man!

22. What is the weirdest movie you enjoyed?

Weird? Weird to who? Define weird.

I loved Magnolia. Lots of people think that movie’s weird. I thought it was one of the best movies of that decade.

23. What is the scariest movie you’ve seen?

Toss up between Rosemary’s Baby, The Exorcist or The Ring (Dan – member our whole joke about the “well chick”? Like – “Hey – if well-chick calls, take a message, okay? I don’t want to talk to her. That bitch CRAZY.”)

(Dan – I’m crazy – I found it. It’s even funnier than I remembered it. We riff about reversing the charges on the “well to house” calls” – “Is it Well Chick?” “Yeah, we have a call coming from the well – want to let the machine pick up?”)

24. What is the funniest movie you’ve seen?

What’s Up Doc has to be at the top of the list.

“How much is it without the Bufferin?”

“YOU CALL THIS A HONEYMOON?”

“Charm …. use your charm …”

“Thieeeeeeeves … robbers …. thieeeeeeves …”

“Snakes, as you know, have a mortal fear of … tile.”

I could keep going. Mere? Jean? Any other fans want to join in?

“I WANT MY BIKE BACK!”
“I’ll give you your bike back. I’ll give you a broken back if you don’t be quiet.”

Rooms begin to burn …”

“I MYSELF HAVE A LITTLE ANNOUNCEMENT TO MAKE WHICH MAY BE OF SOME INTEREST!”

“Because ya look cute in your pajamas, Steve.”

“Is it possible to break a lung?”

“Ya made me smash my lifesavers.”

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31 Responses to Movies Questionnaire

  1. JFH says:

    Michael and I made out during Schindler’s List.

    Obviously, life imitates Seinfeld

  2. Jayne says:

    “You’re upside down.”

    “From now on…I’m gonna try to be the same.”
    “The same as what?”
    “The same as people who aren’t different.”

    “I’m sorry about the room…”
    “…That’s okay, we have lots of others.”

    “Well, Mister Fritz, I fail to see how it could possibly be in here unless it crawled in under its own power.”

    “Oh, I’m not looking for romance, Howard. As the years go by romance fades and something else takes it’s place. Do you know what that is?”
    “Senility?”
    “TRUST!”

    “You’re not going to say ‘Hi, I’m Howard’ – anyone can say that, anyone!”
    “Anyone named Howard.”
    “You are going to walk straight up to him and take his hand in a firm, masculine handshake and say ‘Mr. Larraby, I am Dr. Howard Bannister. It is a privilege to meet you, sir.’ Think you can do that?”
    “I…yes, I think so.”
    “Well, do your best. Be dignified…be solemn but not stuffy…PULL the door open.”

    That’s all I can come up with at the moment – what a great way to begin the day!! :)

  3. red says:

    PULL the door open.

    hahahaha

    “You vill tell her that you vant to make passionate luv to her.”
    “Couldn’t I just kill her?”

  4. red says:

    “Has anyone ever told you you were very very sexy?”
    “Well actually no.”
    “They nevah will.”

    “Yes, we’re just testing a little theory Professor Bannister has about vocal reverberation under spinal pressure.”
    “Vocal reverberation under spinal pressure?”
    “Yeah, you know. VRUSP.”
    “I think I read a monograph on that.”

  5. red says:

    “You’re upside down.”
    “I know.”

  6. Emily says:

    You saw Blue Crush three times in the theater. I love the way you write that with absolutely no shame whatsoever. It’s awesome.

  7. red says:

    Emily – I wouldn’t put Blue Crush on the same level of genius and social relevance as Bring It On – but it’s close. I have no shame about it – even though the movie is so implausible. Like, she’s such a scaredy cat!! Any surfer who needs THAT much encouragement from people – is not a professional level surfer. hahaha But I just freakin’ LOVED it. I think I even went 2 days in a row.

    No shame.

  8. Emily says:

    “I wouldn’t put Blue Crush on the same level of genius and social relevance as Bring It On.”

    Who would?

  9. red says:

    I pity da fool who tries.

  10. Lisa says:

    I think NI and the Middle East would benefit from repeated viewings of Bring It On. Maybe even Darfur.

  11. Marisa says:

    Very funny about the Schindler’s List thing as Seinfeld’s TV family just about disowned him for the exact same offence…

    Love that you have G.I. Jane up there because everyone laughed at me when the DVD first came out and I bought it right away and proceeded to watch the it 20 times in rapid sucession (which had the unfortunate side effect of me quoting the movie’s “Suck my dick.” line to people who had not actually seen it and were left thinking I had a terrible potty mouth and a poor grasp of human anatomy).

    And I, too, love that you have no embarassment over your love of Bring It On or Blue Crush. I have several movies that I find myself apoligizing for when showing a new friend my DVD collection – which is so wrong. I need to follow your example.

  12. Emily says:

    Dude, if Bring It On had been made in 1932, there would have been no Hitler.

  13. red says:

    Marisa – Yes – no apologies!!

    I seriously can think of no better way to unwind after a rough stressful day than to come home and pop in Blue Crush. Or GI Jane. Or Center Stage.

    It’s not that it’s mindless – because I don’t think those movies are mindless. I think they’re quite smart, structurally – and they work. They don’t try to be too clever, or re-invent the wheel – their stories are all formulaic – but they work.

  14. red says:

    Lisa – for some reason, over the last couple of days – I have been unable to open up the comments section on your blog. Not sure why … but anyway … I wanted to tell you I cried at end of Liar Liar too – and I also should have put Liar Liar on the list of movies I’ve seen more than 10 times.

    “The PEN … that I HOLD IN MY HAND …. is rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrOYAL BLUE.”

    “He’s held up a bank. He wants your legal advice.”
    “STOP BREAKING THE LAW, ASSHOLE!”

    etc.

  15. Lisa says:

    Man, I hope it’s on your end, because I am totally blog-retahded and would never in a million years figure out how to fix it. :O Eek!

    “Everyone’s been real nice.”
    “Well, that’s because you’ve got big jugs.”

    BWAH!

  16. red says:

    I love that dame in the elevator! hahahaha

    I love when he goes right at her: “Muh-muh” and makes a suckling noise like he’s a hungry infant? His eyes look so desperate and afraid – like he has no idea why he is behaving like such a lunatic!

    The out-take reel is almost funnier than the real movie. How on earth the other actors kept straight faces with Jim Carrey behaving that way is beyond me.

  17. Doug Sundseth says:

    While I’ll skip most of the list of questions, the movie that came immediately to mind for, “What is the funniest movie you’ve seen?” was Noises Off. Oddly, I’m not usually a fan of slapstick, but the timing was perfect for my mood at the time I first watched it.

  18. dan says:

    Candleshoe! I saw that in the theater too! Clearly we have lived parallel lives.

    Re: Well Chick. check – still terrifying.

  19. red says:

    Parallel lives. Totally.

    Witch Mountain. Sleestaks. Channel 56. And:

    Star of the day
    who will it be?
    Your vote may hold the key …

    I need to watch Candleshoe again.

  20. Dan says:

    One of these days I’m going to rent or netflix all those live action Disney films from the 50s, 60s and early 70s, like Swiss Family Robinson, 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea and Candleshoe, that I grew up on, and watch them. I don’t like modern Disney much but I can remember what a huge deal the TV show was when I was a wee one. May have to be a “Broadcast Kid” essay.

    I will, however, take a pass on The Gnomemobile

  21. red says:

    Dan – God, I remember all of those. And yeah, that TV show … the excitement of seeing Tinkerbell swoop up and knowing the movie was about to start?

    I’ve never been that excited since.

  22. Teresa says:

    Love and Basketball?

    Oooh, a kindred spirit!!

  23. Ken says:

    I cried at the end of The Ninth Gate, but it was over the two hours and many thousands of brain cells I would never ever get back.

  24. DAW says:

    I made out in the theatre during a double feature of “The Onion Field” and “And Justice For All”, which is pretty bad but not as bad as doing it during “Schindler’s List”. But there were other people in the theatre, so maybe it’s worse.

    Shoot me, I was young.

    And in the same era I saw “A Little Romance” about a zillion times in the theatre, which was definitely a joke among those who were aware of it. The only reason I share this is because you are the only person I’m familiar with who is likely to find this interesting, so it’s either write it here, now, or take it to my grave.

  25. Ken says:

    A Little Romance? We had just got cable, and saw that one on The Movie Channel (it may still have been called Star Channel back then, it was still the latter frontier days of cable) several times. I can remember Olivier: “All we had to do was get out of town.”

    And some French comedy called Get Out Your Handkerchiefs, which I also liked. And The Stunt Man, which I saw probably 15 times or something.

  26. red says:

    Teresa – seriously, I feel like I was the only person who saw that movie – but I love it so much!!! Ebert gave it a wonderful review and I think that’s why I originally saw it, but it made me a Sanaa Lathem (sp?) fan forever – she was lovely – and I just LOVED all the scenes between those two actors. Just fantastic.

    I need to write about it. HIGHLY under-rated movie.

  27. red says:

    DAW – hahaha I love that you made out during a double feature. That’s some makeout session!

    And I recall adoring A Little Romance – I haven’t seen it in years, though.

  28. Vincent says:

    Just where was the theater where you made out during “Schindler’s List”? I now have this mental image of someone sitting a row or two back of you, seeing this, and thinking to himself, “That’d be great to put in an upcoming script — and it’s something Jerry’s character would do!” (As opposed to the real-life Jerry Seinfeld.) I bring this up because I went to college (University of Maryland) with one of the “Seinfeld” writers, Peter Mehlman, who went on to create the underrated, shortlived sitcom “…it’s like, you know…” for ABC.

  29. Alex. says:

    Question #2: Diner. What a flick. Saw it many times at the one dollar movie joint in my home town.

    Question #6: My darling bride grew up in Nigeria, and she knows all of the words to all of the movie musicals. Her family had them on tape and watched them over and over and, well, over.

  30. Alex. says:

    Oh yeah, Question #5: The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai, etc.,. “Where are we going?” “Planet 10!” “When?” “Real soon!” Me and my kids toss this off when going on a road trip. My darling bride laughs, as she often does, as it’s easier on her make-up than crying. My youngest does a great Emilio Lizardo impression, btw.

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