Post a Comment On: Cinema Viewfinder

by Tony Dayoub

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Dennis Cozzalio is back with one of his exciting cinephilic questionnaires, posted at Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule. Visit his site to post your own answers. My answers appear after the jump.


1) Classic film you most want to experience that has so far eluded you.
All About Eve (1950)

2) Greatest Criterion DVD/Blu-ray release ever
The recent blu-ray of The Red Shoes is transcendent.

3) The Big Sleep or The Maltese Falcon?
The Big Sleep, mostly because of Bacall.

4) Jason Bateman or Paul Rudd?
I've followed Bateman's career since he was a kid. He showed great potential then, which is starting to yield some results now. That being said, Rudd seemed to spring into view fully formed, and he's got both comedic and dramatic chops. So I'll go with Rudd, for now.

5) Best mother/child (male or female) movie star combo
Janet Leigh and Jamie Lee Curtis

6) Who are the Robert Mitchums and Ida Lupinos among working movie actors? Do modern parallels to such masculine and no-nonsense feminine stars even exist? If not, why not?
I think the end of the studio system also ended the stereotyping of actors, meaning contemporary actors fight to get a variety of types to play at the expense of creating a consistent persona. Of those that do stick with a persona (like a Tom Cruise), there are none who fill Mitchum or Lupino's shoes I can think of.

7) Favorite Preston Sturges movie
Acckk! Don't excommunicate me from the brotherhood, but I've never seen one.

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8) Odette Yustman or Mary Elizabeth Winstead?
Mary Elizabeth Winstead is one of the most beautiful AND talented actresses I've EVER seen.

9) Is there a movie that if you found out a partner or love interest loved (or didn't love) would qualify as a Relationship Deal Breaker?
I wish I could say Forrest Gump, but my wife did love it. I stuck with her, but I'm making progress in convincing her how bad it really is.

10) Favorite DVD commentary
Ronald D. Moore and Michael Taylor's commentary on the blu-ray for Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. Moore grew up as a fan of the original series, and later sold a spec script to The Next Generation, rising to become a producer on the show, subsequent spinoffs, and eventually spearheaded the reboot of the new Battlestar Galactica. Taylor worked with him on all of those shows and is more of a casual Trek fan. It is fun to hear one geek out and defend the film as the other more moderate one pokes some holes in his boss's case.

11) Movies most recently seen on DVD, Blu-ray and theatrically
DVD: Murder, My Sweet, Blu-ray: Solitary Man, Theater: The American

12) Dirk Bogarde or Alan Bates?
Alan Bates

13) Favorite DVD extra
David Lynch sitting at a bar with Kyle MacLachlan and Madchen Amick discussing Twin Peaks on the "Definitive Gold Box Edition" DVD set[Image].

14) Brian De Palma’s Scarface— yes or no?
Like Peter Nellhaus, I lived in Miami (Coconut Grove), and saw Scarface[Image] play out in my reality over the years. It may be wrong to say this as a Cuban, but despite Pacino's often risible accent, he's pretty much on target in his performance. And much like The Godfather for Italians, Scarface is a touchstone for many Cubans, for better or worse.

15) Best comic moment from a horror film that is not a horror comedy (Young Frankenstein, Love At First Bite, et al.)
"Chaos reigns."

16) Jane Birkin or Edwige Fenech?
Edwige Fenech

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17) Favorite Wong Kar-wai movie
Chungking Express

18) Best horrific moment from a comedy that is not a horror comedy
Carl's death by wood-chipper in Fargo.

19) From 2010, a specific example of what movies are doing right…
The American, The Ghost Writer, I Am Love... all examples which rely less on dialogue and more on visuals to tell their respective stories.

20) Ryan Reynolds or Chris Evans?
Both are douches. I look forward to seeing Evans prove to be more than that as Captain America. I don't expect the same of Reynolds in any of his upcoming films.

21) Speculate about the future of online film writing. What’s next?
A lot of film writers, both fledgling and experienced, have been hoping to make a go of it online with little to no pay. As income becomes a growing concern for them, we're going to see a lot of good writers, and thankfully some bad ones, go away... maybe for good.

22) Roger Livesey or David Farrar?
David Farrar

23) Best father/child (male or female) movie star combo
Kirk and Michael Douglas

24) Favorite Freddie Francis movie (as Director)
It's been so long since I saw any of them, the only one I remember is Trog and mostly for it being so bad. But I remember liking the Tales from the Crypt omnibus.

25) Bringing Up Baby or The Awful Truth?
You're gonna kill me... still haven't seen either.

26) Tina Fey or Kristen Wiig?
Tina Fey

27) Name a stylistically important director and the best film that would have never been made without his/her influence.
Nicholas Ray's films (most specifically, Bigger Than Life) has a great influence on David Lynch's work (most specifically, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me)

28) Movie you’d most enjoy seeing remade and transplanted to a different culture (i.e. Yimou Zhang’s A Woman, a Gun and a Noodle Shop.)
There Will Be Blood might work in Africa.

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29) Link to a picture/frame grab of a movie image that for you best illustrates bliss. Elaborate.
Barbarella discovers the pleasures of physical love.

30) With a tip of that hat to Glenn Kenny, think of a just-slightly-inadequate alternate title for a famous movie. (Examples from GK: Fan Fiction; Boudu Relieved From Cramping; The Mild Imprecation of the Cat People)
Evening of the Living Dead