Movie trivia quiz!

18 films and ten questions - can you match the movie to the criteria?

As it turns out, they're my favourites - but it made for a fairly random selection of genres and eras. Longtime fans of the blog will notice I've finally started counting Apocalpyse Now and Blade Runner among my favourite movie list, instead of just madly gushing.

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid Hot Fuzz

Zulu L.A. Confidential Guns of Navarone Hero Apocalypse Now Blade Runner

Signs Constantine School of Rock Lost Boys Donnie Darko Brazil

The Godfather Reservoir Dogs Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead

EASY

1 There is only one repeat director on the list - who is he, and which are his films?

2 Spot the only foreign film

3 My favourite directors are Terry Gilliam and M. Night Shyamalan, but I also rate Stanley Kubrick, Quentin Tarantino and Ridley Scott. Which one of the five has no film on the list (and which one of theirs would you recommend I add?)

MEDIUM

1 One is based on a play - one is based on a graphic novel

2 Six are based on books

3 Three have sequels (and one is about to have a sequel)

4 My friends think I watch too many violent movies, and I notice that there's only one film on my list in which no one is killed - which one is it?

HARD

1 Bearing in mind I loved both films for several years before realising, can you spot the only repeat actress on the list? Who is she, and which two films is she in?

2 I have identified four actors on the list who are in more than one film - who are they?

AND FINALLY...

1 Are all my questions correct? Spot anything I missed?

Yippie-kye-ay melon farmer!

I got out of the habit of posting over my AS-levels, so this pile-up of broken thoughts is an attempt to find my flow again. Pardon the mess and irrelevancy

Gary Oldman. Brad Pitt. Quentin Tarantino. Tony Scott. Individually, these are all names which I'd leap at and watch regardless of content. So True Romance was one I just had to see.

And it's wonderful! Pretty colours, pretty music, and oh so wonderful. A pair of adorable, self indulgent and none-too-bright young people fall head over heels in love, and naively blunder their way past innumerable casualties. What we have here is 50% kooky, cute love story, 50% frequent course, infrequent-moderate and frequent-strong-bloody. They seem entirely unaware of the mess they're causing. Meanwhile, a whole host of memorable minor characters played by kinda-big names each turn up for a single scene before (usually) getting killed (this, along with JFK and A Bridge too Far is definitely a trump to remember for playing 6 Degrees with)

Special moments included seeing Chris Penn, the purple cadillac, Elvis (especially when Clarence scorns "fanatic Elvis fans" as being odd!), every time that gooey theme tune came in to remind us it was all ok, and the use of Lakme's Flower Duet (a.k.a. the British Airways music) in a scene of more than the usual nastiness:

It's a wonderful tune - and in the film, it distracted from the ickyness and just reminded what a beautiful thing Clarence's dad was actually doing.

The downside is they're all so QT it hurts...after a while, it just gets a bit old. There's some debate as to whether this would have been better/worse if he'd directed it, but I don't imagine it'd be much different. I suppose I'd be saying the same about his other films had I seen them in a different order. But peas-and-rice, look at this lot:

We have hamburgers, diners, "smurf conversations"*, Sonny Chiba movies (though I must say, that girl at the start is batty. The day a guy invites me to a martial arts triple bill...), Spiderman 1, Elvis?! Especially when Clarence scorns "fanatic Elvis fans" as being odd!) It really became apparent when Chris Penn and Tom Sizemore found the jokes they were overhearing amusing. Because they really are extentions of the same brainwave.

Does this matter? I'm not sure. Now I'm not watching it, it's really made me annoyed, but at the time I hardly noticed. It managed to cinch my personal perfect blend of blood and wuvvness, so that makes it OK by me.

*Smurf conversations: Discussing something trivial in far too much depth. Especially something a) pop culturery b) pointless and frequently a tad on the uneccesarily gross side. Everyone does it (me and my friends do at least, a lot...which is why an official description was needed), but for an example, try the Reservoir Dogs "Like a Virgin" conversation. Or the one for which it was named, in Donnie Darko:

"First of all, Papa Smurf didn't create Smurfette. Gargamel did. She was sent in as Gargamel's evil spy with the intention of destroying the Smurf village. But the overwhelming goodness of the Smurf way of life transformed her. And as for the whole gang-bang scenario, it just couldn't happen. Smurfs are asexual. They don't even have... reproductive organs under those little, white pants."
(pause)
"...Dammit, Donnie, why d'ya have to get all smart on us?"


Hot Fuzz has overtaken Pulp Fiction as the early lead for the most rewatched film of the year. I never really was a film rewatcher - certainly for a lot of my favourite films, it's a record if I see it more than twice. It does spoil films if you see them too often. Perhaps the sort of films I've watched has changed? Anyway, this is an account I never got round to posting after rewatch number 3:

*beams* I just watched Hot Fuzz again. *insensible with happiness* No I'm not telling you how I watched it, because it's vile and bad and really very very naughty, and I'm now directly responsible for funding terrorism and causing the downfall of the western world. But I figured it wasn't hurting anyone, as I a) saw it twice at the cinema and b) intend to buy it if not the day then the day after it comes out on DVD. S'not my fault that doesn't happen until June 11th. So legally wrong, but not morally. To prove my good faith and Superior Moral Highground I even elected not to watch Grindhouse on a titchy, fuzzy screen. See how well behaved I am? and boy am I regretting it...last night I had my first crazy film-I-haven't-seen-yet dream for Grindhouse. I used to get those pretty frequently, and they're uniformly unpleasant. Or perhaps that's because all the films I really need to see seem to be unpleasant. Whatever. I was starting to miss them, but actually

Anyway, back to Hot Fuzz.

True to my word, I did get it the day it came out. And miraculously didn't watch it for three days to wait to see it with my sister (she's been in hospital after a bicycle accident. One of her legs has been smashed by a wall. I've suggested she get it amputated and replaced by a machine gun. I'm not sure my contribution was valued...) We had to watch it on a laptop, with the volume down, which resulted in me having to tweak the levels moments before every death, explosion, loud bang etc. And then this morning she needed to see it again, so I kinda sorta caught most of it for a fifth time. It's passed from "this is no longer funny" back into "this is hilarious" again, and I've been chuckling all morning.

It is my dream to see it on a big screen again, with a bunch of folks who know every line and who will cheer in the right places. By right places, I mean whenever someone comes out with a gung-ho line (sample: "Bring the noise!"), whenever there is mass carnage, whenever the music starts up, whenever Shaun of the Dead is referenced and especially when it gets to the fence-leaping scene. Because I cheered when I saw that in the trailer, and then felt very silly, as there's nothing worse than cheering on yer own.

By the by, my use of "peas-and-rice!" above is an extract from the dubbed TV version, where it replaces the exclamation "Jesus Christ!". Now fair's fair people could get insulted, but I disagree with films being changed for TV. Either show them or don't - and if they're too extreme for the kiddies, just show them later. There is always a reason why something is put into a film, and to take it out on the grounds of public decency is never anyone else's decision to make.

I rely on recording stuff off TV to save buying too many DVDs, so the idea I've only seen trimmed versions jarrs somewhat. A single shot missing from Trainspotting TV didn't ruin the film outright, and it wasn't something I wanted to see either, but it was put there for a reason, and the fact they cut it took away from the horror of that particular scene. Anybody likely to go running for a bucket over it would probably have switched off by that point anyway. You can't change what a film is to appeal to people who wouldn't have seen it anyway. It's like complaining that Hostel was too violent. Take away the violence, take away it's raison d'etre. I'm not saying I like films with lots of swearing - I've got no opinion either way. I like it when it's necessary. I don't when it's not. And that decision shouldn't be in the hands of the morality police.

In the case of Hot Fuzz, the substitution of "peas-and-rice" (hilarious as it is) kills a minor joke. It's clumsy in other places, and also manages to ruin my favourite scene (the Sanford police station has a swear box, you see...somewhat spoils the joke if no actual swearing takes place...)
"funk", "silt" and "barstool" are the best they could come up with to cover the other expletives. The day I hear anyone use those in proper conversation...and as for "motherhugger"...who do they think they're fooling?!

Here's a list of other people's favourite, glaring swearing dubs:
http://www.dailyping.com/archive/2001/06/14/
And some other people: http://www.empireonline.com/forum/printable.asp?m=1373371&mpage=1
And here's an amusing spoof;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3v6CuC-w6i4

Just time for a linkdump before I go:

Firstly, these peeps take a screenshot at exactly 20 minutes and 7 seconds of a film:
http://filmexperience.blogspot.com/search/label/20:07

It sounds dim, but it's actually pretty cool. What hidden mysteries can one infer from it?

Secondly, take a look at the entries for this contest. They're great!

http://www.worth1000.com/cache/contest/contestcache.asp?contest_id=14741&display=photoshop#entries

And final word: not that I'm entitled (or even worthy) to talk about Hitchcock, but has anyone else ever identified his influence over From Russia with Love? Icy blonde Tatiana Romanova, the helcopter attack vs the crop duster attack. Perhaps I'm reading too much into this? The similarity just hit me. Not to mention I haven't seen North by Northwest...

"points for the student to consider"

If you hadn't worked it out already, these next few weeks I'm pretending to revise for me AS levels. My two most recommended revision movies are:

1 Ferris Bueller’s Day Off - adorable, sweet little Ferris. Everybody loves Ferris, the smug git.
And it’s the perfect remedy for work of any kind.

2 Apocalypse Now -“and all the children are insane…” – The Doors. Mysterious journey to the heart of darkness…a cast of characters with varying states of sanity…loud music and terrified people…random, violent death…hallucinogenic substances…surfing…well, possibly scrap the last part. Those adjectives could equally be ascribed to the revision process as the nightmare war in Vietnam. Just listening to the soundtrack, with its crazy crazy soundclips and intoxicating atmosphere makes me feel more focused already…

Anyway, I've got a list here of "points for the student to consider" and I thought I'd answer them meme style, just for a lark.

Does it matter that the majority of films you watch are American?
yes and no. No because a good film will always be a good film, no matter where it was made. And yes...because it increases the power of the USA over the film industry, which isn't something I have a problem with in itself, but it reduces the number of foreign films that even get over here. Foreign films are a treasure which everyone needs to discover, and thus naturally it's depressing that the ones which get over here are only a trickle. The success of Hero, I am depressed to realise, probably has to do with the words "QT presents...". Like Hostel, QT lends his starpower to very effectively get that brand of wushu movie released over here. Brilliant, kudos to him because I love those films, but it's sad that he needed to do it. Of course, one can go out of ones way to see low profile films, but it is harder and I'm lazy.

Do the conditions of reception (i.e. the cinema) matter?
I have honestly no idea what this means . At a guess, I suppose it's how far how you see it influences stuff. YES, resounding yes. Have you tried seeing Hero on a tiny screen? Any of you lucky enough (like myself) to see it on a massive one? I've always dreamed of seing the Sergio Leone westerns with bumper great speakers. Some films need to be seen at the cinema - The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Grindhouse both deserve the big screen experience. At the same time...are there some films which need to be seen on dvd? On video?! Its a Wonderful Life wants to be seen on TV around xmas time, and I've been tempted more than once to get a second hand video version of Pulp Fiction, muzzy quality and all. I feel a lo-quality version would enhance the experience.

Does it matter that studios control many of the means of distribution in our country?
Again, yes and no. I've no problems with it in theory, and I don't have any better ideas. But when studios start a) changing the end of Brazil b) cancelling the series Firefly c) being generally useless about Tideland d) splitting Grindhouse in half, I start to think that possibly it's a bad idea. Studio suits get me really incensed sometimes; so yes, we need another better system.

Are you a fan? Of a star...a writer...a director?
Do you even need to ask?

Are you an "avid"? How often do you go to the cinema?
Well I presume this means an obsessive film fan. Er...keeps own blog CHECK...references film on every occasion CHECK...three movie calenders, ten movie posters and a Middle Earth map CHECK...sewing own huggable Rosencrantz toy *blushes*. OK, I'm an avid! As for the cinema thing, I've seen 300, Blood Diamond, Blades of Glory, Hot Fuzz twice and something else I've forgotten already this year. Which is a record for me - I've usually got a pretty low interest in upcoming film, at least the sort of films which end up at our cinema *adds pretentious taste to the list*

Do you use DVD? What is the impact of this technology on your film watching?
Who doesn't, these days? Most "special features" aren't really that special - the bumper fantastic packages come with films I care little for. The best special features I've ever seen were on our Memento three-disc edition - genuinely interesting details about production, interviews with interesting people, the original short story, the entire film in chronological order and a directors commentary with two different endings (at a certain point, dear Mr Nolan explains either why Teddy is definitely telling the truth OR definitely lying. Cheeky beggar...). It's the mark of a good set because it enhances your viewing experience. I hate nothing more than ones where the cast smile and say what a great time they all had, that the director was talented and wonderful, that they think the movie was really great. This comment aimed squarely at The Mummy Returns. Now the recent Mummy movies are kinda underrated - they're great fun, and I love them - but geez I wanted to die watching the contractually-obliged special features. They didn't even justify why they had 5 canopic jars in the movie instead of the historical 4!
(Mind you...Friend 4's copy of R+GaD came last week. We sat through four solid hours of interviews. And enjoyed most of them too (Tom Stoppard, director/writer/genius, spoke very slowly about interesting things, which stretched his out to about an hour and a half; Richard Dreyfuss really spooked us by randomly falling into the accent he'd used for the film, and was interesting for the first 15 minutes or so; Gary Oldman spoke for a very very long time, but then he's had a long career and can still remember most of it; Tim Roth recounted the same on set stories as Gary had in a slightly different order, then recounted the same on set story about getting hired for Res Dogs as QT does on that disc in a slightly different order, but still came out with the best interview by virtue of only speaking for 45 minutes.)

What exactly is a mainstream audience?
They're a boring, unadventurous menace to society. They talk at the cinema and think Star Wars (or The Matrix for that matter...) is a cult movie. They haven't heard of Terry Gilliam, except possibly as third-python-on-the-left. They won't watch anything in black and white or with subtitles. They need to be culled; or at least locked in a small dark room with nothing but a copy of Videodrome for company.

What, if anything, is wrong with British cinema?
Two things. The first thing is that Serious British Artists want to make films about Britain, when the majority of people don't care. It's the same way there's no "great female directors", because female directors always seem to make films about women's issues (and the predominantly male movie-going audience isn't desperately interested. Hell, I'm not interested!). And secondly (kudos dad for spotting this one) we don't make entertaining movies. All the successful British films I can think of (Lock, Stock, Full Monty, Trainspotting, Hot Fuzz, Ealing comedies, James Bond etc...) are great fun - yesterday I pointed out the British are known for their costume dramas, historical epics and social-commentaries. NONE of those genres are known for their amusement value.

What is Hollywood?
See: mainstream audience. It wanted to cut Brazil and give it a cheesy ending. End. Of. Story.

What do you think your generation should do to contribute to the future of British film?
Nothing. Nobody gives a damn. Except Woody Allen, and he's just taking advantage of the tax breaks over here.

movie meme thing

Two things before I start. Adverts, actually. Firstly, check out Emma's upcoming blogathon . Nope, I've no idea who I'm gonna write about...and secondly, check out this blogathon I missed and can't be bothered to rush a reply for today. I'd have picked one of M Night's scripts and gushed unintelligably about it.

And now. I found this on the total film forum - any excuse to talk about me! And it'd be cool if anyone else who happens to be reading this, and wants a go, had a go, because I want to see what other people put. So comment, and try it on yer own blog!

How old were you when you first went to the cinema and watch did you watch?:
No idea. The earliest things I recall seeing are Toy Story and the first Mr Bean film. And, bizzarely, Empire Strikes Back, though that can't possibly be right. I'm not old. Perhaps it's me subconsciously inventing memories for things that should have happened. Did they ever re-release Star Wars et al in the cinema?

Three films about films and/or cinema: Ed Wood and Bowfinger taught me everything about direction. I broken a few moral laws here or there; I've even attempted a giant octopus (no, seriously. With stuffed tights and selective camerawork)

Favourite Actresses: None really...Monica Belluci is pretty...

A film that changed your life and why: The Sixth Sense. Before that, I didn't have any conception of films as art or even anything intelligent.

Great directors but which film of their's is your favourite? Kubrick, Hitchcock, Powell & Pressburger, Kurosawa, Lang. Ach! OK, well I don't get on with Hitchcock and I've only seen Vertigo. Ditto Kurosawa on the strength of Seven Samuri. Powell & Pressburger...heard of them...did they do A Matter of Life and Death? I haven't seen it...Fritz Lang, I have seen Metropolis which is amazing. And my scattering of Kubrick (Full Metal Jacket, 2001:ASO, Barry Lyndon...Spartacus...a bit of Dr Strangelove...). Can't pick. I'm indifferent to them all equally. Not indifferent, perhaps, they're all great. But I don't truly love any of them. Either FMJ or 2001. 2001 I think...

Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, Buster Keaton, Laurel And Hardy, who's the best?
Erm...gosh, it's a good day for embarassing confessions, isn't it? It'll be Buster Keaton very soon. We're going to see two of his films screened, with a real pianist accompanying them, a la how they would have screened silent movies. He will, presently, be the only one I've seen, and thus favourite by a long shot!

You're remaking a classic, which one and who's your new stars?
Never!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Miscast actors happens quite a bit, what's the worst you've seen?
The one I can think of which always annoys me is William Hurt in the Village. I love that film, can't stand him. I don't like his voice or face; is it just me or can't he act? I simply don't believe him. Which is a pity since he's playing a character who I'd love in the hands of almost anybody else. Except Kevin Costner.

Most overrated good movie?
At the moment, Pulp Fiction. It's just a great film, get over it! Seriously, I adore it, but it's not what I'd call a classic.

Most overrated bad movie?
Vertigo and Seven Samuri. Two of the greats, eh? Sorry...

Worst movie ever? Heat and Dust and The Odyssey stick in my mind as so insanely boring I couldn't sit through them to the end.

Favourite British films: That's hard, because I don't really notice. But oooooh Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz are great!

Best road movies? Stand By Me. Is wonderful.

Favourite Actors: I'll go out of my way to see things with Al Pacino, Kevin Spacey, Robert Redford and (at the mo) Tim Roth. They're all cool.

Who Would Play You In A Biopic Of Your Life? Sienna Gullory.

Most Irritating Cinema Advert Ever: The trailer for A Good Woman. It makes me MAD. Stuffed with people delivering epigrams in an attempt to be witty (actors seem to think that just speaking Oscar Wilde lines makes them funny. It doesn't. They have to be placed in a particular way to make them sparkle) made worse that, for a two minute trailer based on an Oscar Wilde play, there isn't a single whole line I recognise ("Crying is the refuge of ugly women..." comes from it, but I assure you the original answer wasn't the lame "...pretty ones go shopping"). I just hate people who think they can make Wilde funnier - because they never succeed, and because aside from Importance of being Earnest, his stories are more than strings of clever lines. And lets not get me started on Lord Darlington (originally a decent fellow) being called an "international playboy..." Just when it can't get any worse, cue syrupy music, editing which gives away half the plot and a totally unecessary VOICEOVER MAN, er, voiceover. Also, the Spy Game trailer, which is guilty of criminally misrepresenting the film.

Which Film Magazines/Forums Do You Read? I got an Empire subscription; Friend 3 gets Total Film and we share them both. I haunt the Empire forums, and live on certain imdb talk pages. I'm losseolisia on there...

You Have To Swap Your Life With A Movie Plot, Which One Do You Choose?
Easy. Return of the King - I want to be Eowyn.

A film that scared you at the cinema/home?
Stuuuupid question. Never seen anything scary at the cinema, but at home Sixth Sense and Picnic at Hanging Rock stand as bastions of "approximately how scary I can handle"

Your favourite silent movie? I haven't seen that many. In fact, I think I've only seen two. Shame on me! But Metropolis is absolutely mindblowing.

A crap film that you know is crap but you love? People keep telling me that Lost Boys is a bad film. It's not Kubrick. But it's way better than you give it credit for!!!

Favourite Directors: Terry Gilliam and M. Night. I'm fond/obsessed with Tarantino, but that's mostly because he sounds like a great chap, not because I worship his style. I like Tim Burton (obviously, as I'm a teenager), and Sergio Leone (only seen one film, so it hardly counts).
I'll go out of my way to see Tony Scott films, not because I particularly like them, but just because I do. No idea why. And Warner Herzog is a family in-joke. Never seen any of his films.

Recommend three films that will change the way you view film: Brick. It's clever, pretty, pretty and very pretty. Hero - because there's more to cinema than Hollywood. A Birth of a Nation - it invented the close up, the tracking shot, and by half way through, you'll be greatful that some other, different film, invented the sympathetic character arc and gripping plot. Seriously, I wish I had three really good ideas for this, but I don't.

On Screen Love Stories: This is where I cite Casablanca, right? Grosse Pointe Blank is sweet...I don't do romance very well, because it's rarely believable on screen. Paul Newman said this of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid - "It's a love story between two men - the woman's just incidental really." He meant it in a platonic non-Brokebacky way, before people start making a fuss. So, platonically, see every film in my top ten for examples of unspoken friendy-love.

Met Any Movie Stars? Nope. I was almost going to meet the Dutch director of the film Nu, but unfortunately my parents think my career would be better served by looking around Cambridge on that day.

What's your favourite period of cinema? e.g. 20s German expressionism, French New Wave etc You kidding?! Seriously...my movie watching, and to an extent taste, is far far too wide to pick on a period. I like lots of stuff.

Favourite Soundtracks: In no particular order - Moulin Rouge, The Village, Spy Game, Lost Boys and at the moment Brick.

What Films Need A Sequel: Unbreakable was concieved as a trilogy, and I'd happily sit through two more films if they were that good quality.

The film you’ve seen the most times Probably something strange like The Addams Family. Could be Fellowship of the Ring, though I'm generally too respectful of it to rewatch it endlessly. In a few years, if things continue as present, it'll be R+GaD or Res Dogs.

The films you can quote ad infinitum The Lord of the Rings, especially Fellowship. I can talk my way through all three hours of it. The Wayne's World movies are endlessly quoted by me and my sister. And R+GaD.

Who’s your favourite cult film hero? Obi Wan Kenobi XD. Seriously, don't get started on what is or isn't cult. Erm...the origami guy from Blade Runner.

Pick one genre and give us five of your favourites from it e.g. Comedy, film noir, romance, musical etc: Again, I can't think of anything...

Two scenes that flood your tear ducts: Only two? I'm an easy cry...The end of Signs...the end of Glory...those are films I've wept over more than once. And Stand By Me made me cry for about 6 hours.

You're an interviewer, who do you interview and about which film? Anyone from R+GaD who, under pain of having to watch Birth of a Nation, will be forced to tell me every minute detail about all things relating to it.

Three great acting performances: Al Pacino in The Godfather. Brad Pitt in Twelve Monkeys. Kevin Spacey in L.A. Confidential.

Who is your sex god/goddess? Ach, I don't know. Looks like I've got through the crushy hormones phase...though Robert Redford is still hot...

"I want to be a pop idol..." Movie trivia quizzes

So I just tried the Empire online Oscar quote quiz. Mostly cool. I got pretty cross at the repeat quotes though - surely there are enough famous Oscar winners to not have to repeat the same film several times. And after painstakingly working out which Star Wars quote came from each of the three films, I was peeved to discover you only had to type Star Wars in each.

Still, I managed to get 50/105, which qualified me as a henchman. My mum managed to get three more on top of that, and with my dad's help we squidged it up to 60.

I've also gotta recommend http://www.cool-movie-trivia.com/ Why? Because I got full marks on their lord of the rings trivia quiz, and 9/10 on movie swords (well how was I meant to know this damn sword had three blades?! Is that even possible? How would you wield that?). Unfortunately, I simply haven't seen enough movies to try any of the rest. The style of the questions is nice. Though this Two Towers question made me cross:

"What snack do Frodo and Sam eat when they are heading to Mordor at the start of the movie? Jerky, leaves, bread or after eights?" Excuuuse meeee. They're eating LEMBAS!

On the personality quiz front, I gained a very respectable score in this month's Empire. The question was: are you more movie geek (Star Wars!!!) or movie buff (Claude Chabrol!!!!). It was a multiple choice thing, and I'm happy to say I scored right in the middle - not too obsessive, not too pretentious. At least... not too obsessive about Star Wars and Tarantino movies...wait a tick...anyway. It seemed about right. More alarmingly, I was 100% aware why each of the 4 options was amusing. For example, one question ran something like "You're favourite joke starts:" and the options were "How many Browncoats does it take to change a lightbulb", "Kurosawa walks into a bar..." and "Three tomatos are walking down the road..."


Situation last week

me: why don't we watch The Cat Returns.
my sister: don't want to see that.
me: why not.
my sister: it's boring.
me: *steams* howdoyouknowyouhaven'tseenit
my sister: I just don't like it.

Few things annoy me more. If she'd asked what it was about and said that, in her measured opinion, it didn't sound like her sort of thing, that would have been ok. But blatant judging on the strength of a title or less...I know a lot of people who do this, and boy it makes me cross. Especially as I like to think I'm quite a good judge of, if not good movies, then movies people will like, and I endevour not to make people see things they probably won't enjoy.

Though it was partially my fault too, I suppose...I deliberately witheld the information it was a Hayao Myazaki film, to get that precice response out of her. Because I was having a bad evening. When I did tell her, she cooed "OOOOOh, I really like his films!"

Which is what I'd basically told her to begin with.

At this point I left the room and watched the parent-unfriendly Velvet Goldmine upstairs.


I don't really know what I was expecting - I knew it was vaguely based on David Bowie and Iggy Pop, I knew it contained tons of Picture of Dorian Gray quoting and I'd heard about the Ewan McGregor/Christian Bale sex scene.

Now I like Oscar Wilde. A lot. I like him as a writer and a person, and get very very posessive when people run him down, or do anything that is mildly disrespectful or out of line. So it was with a little trepidation I sat down to this one. I needn't have worried. They take something of a liberty with his life history, but it met with my approval. Let's state that a different way. I think this may be, along with Run, Lola, Run, one of the best opening five minutes of a movie ever.

The plot ambles along, leaping between characters and time frames with the enthusiasm of a bad speaker telling a story: "OK, well there was this guy at a Maxwell Demon concert - only later he became a journalist trying to investigate something - and Maxwell Demon had been a big hit for a few years, ever since he'd met a decent manager. OOh, I forgot to mention Jack - he's one of Max's friends, who doesn't really do anything - when he was a child..." It's a bit like how my mother sometimes recounts anecdotes - "We were driving down this road, no not that one - the one where there was the crash last year, the day it snowed and we went to the beach? Anyway..."

In real life, I'm affectionately amused when me mum does it, and mega annoyed by anybody else. Movie wise, however, it's fantastic. It keeps everything rumbling at a lolloping pace - sometimes you're reminicing with a character, or viewing music videos, or tv shows, or you end up in not-actually flashback - which is when you just randomly view the past (apparently, it's technically not a flashback unless a character sits down and thinks about the past - or so QT says. Apparently, what he does is just "presenting information in a different order". Which is right, when you think it.)

This alone is enough to hold anyone's attention - throw in some great music, great atmosphere, great costumes and Ewan McGregor naked and you've got a good movie. Though the sex scene I'd heard so much about...wasn't. Blink and you miss it.

It's a lot of fun, and comes highly recommended to anyone who's ok with a bit of moral laxity - there are scenes of moderate decadance which, to put it bluntly, might offend people (I won't be showing it to my Christian buddies any time soon...)


And finally, a thought in favour of remaking movies: we don't have any problem with it in the theatre. I say we, I'm not counting myself as part of the theatre set, I'm all movies through and through. But it's a thought - Hamlet gets redone again and again and again, with different combinations of actors, different sets and emphasis'. What's wrong with remaking movies? I suppose it's because you usually do it to get lots of money trading off an established brand, and is proof of how creativity has been stifled in the industry...after all, you don't see many films remade for artistic love alone. King Kong and Dambusters...our version of Fellowship of the Ring, I suppose. What was my original point again? I don't know. Just an interesting thought.

How to propose to the movie buff in your life...

In case you're missing those certain special words, me and my sis spent half an hour coming up with some touching poems for you. Most of them are my sisters, I add. I just spent a long time trying to rhyme "Herzog". I gotta post this now, because I'm going to Dublin next week to see Hot Fuzz on a proper screen. Well...actually, it's a school history trip, but I'm obvs more excited about going to the cinema

I watch you fondly
Like Serenity
We should be together
for eternity.
(my sister tells me this is pararhyme...whatever that means...)

Perhaps you don't like Hitchcock
Or maybe you do
I'm waiting here like Vertigo
sick with love for you

I'm watching a film
it kinda relates
We should do this -
its 50 first dates

I may not be as hot
as Dead or Alive
but if we don't date
I might not survive

I love you as much
as The Lord of the Rings
When I think of you
My heart, it sprouts wings!

I'm watching Singing in the Rain
My heart's getting wetter
You may have a girlfriend,
but I love you better.

I'm watching a movie -
it's called Pulp Fiction
Oh *insert names here*
you are my addiction...

I'm watching a movie
It's called Walk the Line
Oh *insert names here*
Won't you be mine?

I'm watching a movie -
it's Jean de Florette
I've been longing for you
since the day that we met.

We both really like
Saturday Night Fever.
You know we're in love
and you really should leave her...

I'm watching this movie
- it's Reservoir Dogs
I long for youer kisses,
I yearn for your snogs...

I've waited for you
Longer than Brick
Lets be an item
and lets go out quick.

You are as hot
as the winner at Cannes
I've loved you for ages
Won't you be my man?

We go together
Like Thelma and Louise
Our love is undying -
Marry me please

You like Pulp Fiction
and I like Grease
our love is undying
and will never cease

(PS, the chap I jokingly have in mind likes PF. I add jokingly because he's good looking, but we've never spoken, and I have no interest in speaking to him. Just to clear that up.)

Ever since we chatted
about Snakes on a Plane
I've been stone in love with you
can't get you off my brain...

We watch Taxi Driver
straight after tea
I'm talkin' to you
You talkin' to me?


I was remembering fondly
when we saw Memento tommorow


Feel free to add any other verses in the comments box. And do tell if you actually use any of the above, I'd be interested to see if they work.


PS - today I met with the Cinema Club people for coffee. Had a very nice chat about Run, Lola, Run. Then they handed over Les Choristes and Kiki's Delivery Service and said "please review and write program notes by the 21st in time for our showing on the 17th." Which made little/no sense. But oh well

Quiz

I finished my Dracula essay - I had to identify the themes of the novel, and then comment on how they were shown in the film. That's here if you're interested.

But today's big treasure is...drumroll please...

THE HOW WELL DO YOU KNOW YOUR OBJECTIONABLE MOVIES QUIZ

Well they're not all objectionable. Some of them are kiddy films. I've taken the details of 10 big(ish) modern(ish) movies off www.kids-in-mind.com and removed the titles. Your task, should you choose to accept it: identify the movies only by a list of their objectionable content.

Here's the quiz: http://docs.google.com/View?docid=ddbr2wx8_1kmtjbf

I'm not going to give out answers just yet...just pop in a comment if you guess any. I'd be interested in how hard/easy you found it.

Usin' the web etc's cheating, but I can't stop you so be ye tormented by ye own little black monsters of guilt if you so do! My tip is, try and find something concrete about the plot/characters within the description, then work on the rest. Have fun!

Finally, on Tuesday I depart for New Zealand and thus my precious blog will probably hibernate till I return. Don't forget me! Bye...

Movie meme!

Found this here; Emma did tag everyone after all...and these are such fun.

1. Popcorn or candy?
Candy all the way – I only ever eat popcorn at the cinema on very special occasions (i.e. I eat popcorn because that’s what one does there). I’m a massive fan of really cheap, sugary sweets.

2. Name a movie you've been meaning to see forever.
All Dogs Go to Heaven. At my old school, we had a lunch rota. If it was raining, we had to watch this. Unfortunately, they just pressed play so you just saw the next half hour. I’ve got some really surreal memories of it.

3. You are given the power to recall one Oscar: Who loses theirs and to whom?
Very very easy. Sorry Titanic. Give it to L.A. Confidential. OK, L.A. Confidential was nothing “special”, but as I’ve said a million times before influential doesn’t necessarily mean good. Three stunning male leads (I mean stunning acting, not looks…of course…), a very impressive adaptation…how they could overlook such solid character and story in favour of pixels defies belief.

4. Steal one costume from a movie for your wardrobe. Which will it be?
Oooooooooooooooooh! Hard. I’ll have to go with Christina Ricci’s riding gear from Sleepy Hollow. And I want the horse too.

I'm blonde - so it might even look passibly good on me.

5. Your favorite film franchise is...
Lord of the Rings changed my life dammit.

6. Invite five movie people over for dinner. Who are they? Why'd you invite them? What do you feed them?
1 Tarantino. Because he just knows an awful lot of movie trivia, and I'm pretty sure I could get a film-related discussion out of him.
2 Robert Redford. OK, he's not as hot as he once was, but he comes across as a decent sorta guy.
***will add more as I think of them****

7. What is the appropriate punishment for people who answer cell phones in the movie theater?
Birth of a Nation.

8. Choose a female bodyguard: Ripley from Aliens. Mystique from X-Men. Sarah Connor from Terminator 2. The Bride from Kill Bill. Mace from Strange Days.
Depends how stable I was feeling. I’d probably go for the Bride, because she’s got a good track record with polishing off large numbers of people. Unless I was feeling traumatised, in which case I’d get Ripley, who’s a little less effective but good at rescuing and looking after things (c.f. Newt and Jones the cat)

9. What's the scariest thing you've ever seen in a movie?
The Alien? Keira Knightly? I dunno, don’t watch many scary films because I'm pretty easily scared. I’ve only ever bolted once, and that was when this blonde kid rolls over on a bed at the start of Picnic at Hanging Rock. Seems ok now, but at the time it had me freaked. Though while I think of it, I still won't watch the dream sequences in Sleepy Hollow.

10. Your favorite genre (excluding comedy and drama) is?
Culty. It’s not quite the word I’m looking for – I want a better phrase for Eternal Sunshine, Twelve Monkeys, Donnie Darko etc than “films my mother didn’t like”.

11. You are given the power to greenlight movies at a major studio for one year. How do you wield this power?
WOW. OK, first I would hire Terry Gilliam and let him do whatever he liked. That’d take up a fair shred of the budget, but he deserves it. I’d hand Yimou Zhang (director of Hero) a copy of Oscar Wilde’s Salome and see what he came up with (the play is structured around the white, red and finally black phases of the moon…also, I think the dance of the 7 veils would look good as a Zhang-Zhi-with-long-sleeves sort of a scene.) And I’d use it to launch my own directoral career.

12. Bonnie or Clyde?
Haven’t actually seen it, so I’ll go with Bonnie. A) because her beret looks just like mine, b) because she looks a lot better in it than I do in mine, and c) Bonnie just happens to be a nice name, and then there’s this nurse...

13. Who are you tagging to answer this survey?
I'm gonna tag Amada from eh, because she's never been tagged. And anyone else who feels like it!


In other news, I'VE NEVER BEEN THIS IRRITATED EVER!

The end of JFK wasn't on the video. I saw about three minutes longer before it cut out. GRRR! I still maintain it's one of the best films I've ever seen.

Lots of little things

Well, wasn't yesterday's post a pleasant and not at all unwelcome surprise! I have for the last two days been smiling constantly, skipping around and generally behaving like I really far am too young to keep it. Which I am, in actual fact. Well I can't comment on whether it's all vastly unsuitable seeing as I haven't seen it yet, but the British government seems to think so and they probably know best.

Unfortunately, this means todays post is going to come out a bit like my thoughts - a jumbled messy ranty set of curious but unconnected nonsense.

Anyway, this afternoon I was overcome with a sudden mad wish to rewatch The Sting. Well, not mad as such - 'tis a perfectly sane idea, as it's great. So I trotted across to youtube in hope of finding something. Unfortunately, this video is all it came up with. Not that I have any serious problems with that of course, it just wasn't entirely what I had in mind...I did watch it, but I had to mute the music because it was awful and totally out of place. And I must say, as goes the slash, it was very badly done. If ever I had the inclination (which I wouldn't generally, but after watching this travesty I'm tempted...) I'm sure I could do it much better. There's some awful awful editing work here and I'm pretty unconvinced, especially by the first half. Now if they styled it as a trailer a la Brokeback to the Future, it would give it a better structure and possibly it would have been more effective. On the other hand, if you think I'm being waaay too pretentious and/or defensive and you really enjoyed it, you may as well give this a go. The editing here is slightly better quality - though that's not to say I'm very happy about it. I'm starting to get a tad sick of the Brokeback music y'know, and that film is far far a too easy target. Besides...being deeply in love with Sundance myself...well I'm not sure I'd be able to cope... Speaking of Mr Redford, I found a neat little fan site here. I'm particularly fond of the startup spiel:

Hollywood has a lot of male actors, but how many of them are REAL MEN?

you know, the sort of guy who could rescue you from a wild horse,

build a house, teach you about conservation

and then gaze at you with those beautiful blue eyes?

Who do I speak of?

Who else, but Robert Redford!!!

I have been a dedicated, loyal fan of Mr. Redford since I first saw him in Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid in the early 70's. This page is my tribute to you, Mr. Redford and to say thank you for making movies that that inspire and give reflection to life!

Said like a pro, and may I add I agree entirely. I was also rather excited by the ecards, and my friends all promptly recieved several of each. And this link lead to this terrific site - merci de ma prof de Francais!

While on the subject of random links, the http://www.celebmatch.com/ site says that Robert Redford and I are 72% compatable - 57% physical, 58% intellectual but 99% emotionally perfect for each other!

And now for something completely different. A reward, if you like, for succesfully sitting through all that gooing - Robert deNiro's most enthralling performance yet...as a cabbage on Sesamie Street. I kid you not. It's utterly convincing. My favourite part's when he explains to Elmo that he can pretend to be a New York taxi driver...unfortunately, he doesn't enlighten the fluffy creature by going into any more detail than that.

As for film watching, I've seen Being John Malkovitch and Behind Enemy Lines in the last few days. I'm trying to come up with some intellectual comments to make on the former but so far I can't summon my critical powers to say anything profound. It makes Ed Wood look mainstream. I'd certainly recommend it for anyone who liked Eternal Sunshine - wacky trips through the subconscious, bittersweet romances. In fact, the final chase in Being John Malkovitch is almost a two minute trial run for ESOTSM. One day I will do a list of the top ten most dysfunctional romances - Brazil will be in the top five or so, this will be right at the top just above Vertigo - a love triangle with one hell of an added complication...I was positively spitting in disbelief when it came into the open!

Craig, our hero guy, is really really sweet. I have a soft spot for the actor, but even without that the devoted puppeteer remains sympathetic. Lottie is played by CAMERON DIAZ. I need to shout that, because otherwise you may not notice and get distracted by the fact she can act. Pretty darn well at that.

I like the faux documentary, but there are lots of other excellent moments worth a mention, like the job interview. Overall, the keyword here is wacky. Just to summarise the first few minutes - weedy puppeteer is married to sweet woman who keeps animal sanctuary in her house - is to invite blinking looks of disbelief.

And Behind Enemy Lines? Well Gene Hackman played the same role as usual, and Owen Wilson was better than expected in a non-comedy. However, there is something undeniably rubbish about this film, I just couldn't quite put my finger on what. It's pretty entertaining, but three things let it down badly. The first thing was the music, which had "God bless America" written all over it - stirring in the most taccy way imaginable.

The second thing was the lucasitis, the worst case I've ever seen. For those of you just joining me, lucasitis is the result of the filmmakers sitting down in front of the editing suite and going "Oooooh! I can do slo-mo, and change the colours, and make it swoop, and zoom!" It's named for Star Wars' unusually enthusiastic use of fancy transitions, and I normally interpret it as a substitute for real tension. It's distracting and unecessary. I took particular exception to the slo-mo run between exploding mines and the snazzy circling shots of him on the top of a mountain (which begs the question, if he's trying to stay hidden in an area full of enemies, why is he sitting in the most prominent location imaginable?)

And the final thing? Well, boys and girls, it was cliche kingdom most of the way through. The one that ticked me off most was undeniably the fact HE WAS GOING TO RESIGN! How many times do i have to say it: never resign, it always leads to calamity, whether that be abduction by a mysterious village or, as in this film, being dumped on the wrong side of the border.

And now, for a bit of spoilervision: Case point 2: his buddy was a gonner from the start. Case point 3: no one in their right mind who'd been exposed to such ineptitude by the armed forces would ever consider going back. Case point 4: the last five minutes. Now up until then I was willing to forgive the odd bit of stupidity - cinema is fiction after all, even when based on fact - but this is just a little over the top. He hits the sniper four times, and the sniper falls over, but then he's back on his feet and it's all so dramatic! And then the Serbian army show up! And then the Americans show up, in the nick of time! (PS - what's the last film you've seen where the Americans send helicopters to rescue one downed man? Eh?) But as he runs to the helicopters (in slow motion, obviously) he has a change of heart and runs back to get the photographs! Oh the angst! So the helicopters cover him - 70 infantry can't hit one very obvious green shape in the snow, several half-truck-half-tank-things can't down one of the helicopters - as he runs, again in slo mo, there and back again. It's a total massacre. Obviously, as the Serbians are the bad guys, they can't hit anything. But my father, who's a stickler for all things military is a tad sceptical and informs me that as the trucks were in fact BMP-1 mechanised infantry fighting vehicles, their 73mm cannons should have knocked the Admiral's Hughes 214ST straight out of the sky. While the precice make of armament may a tad irrelevant, my point is that even an amateur can tell the odds are ridiculous. All in all, my mother managed to stay awake so it's pretty entertaining, if you're willing not so much to suspend but entirely dispatch of your disbelief for an hour and a half.


And now for a minirant. I realise I haven't informed you of my irrational irritation with the newer Scarface. It is simply this - there is at least twice as much merchandise as there are fans. My tiny village home has a poster rack in one of the little local stores - all motivational rubbish and pictures of kittens, and nothing movie related whatsoever, except one of Al Pacino threatening people. I went on holiday, I found a movieposter store - one or two posters for everything else, but no, Scarface has to have six. Two days later, I see Scarface t-shirts for sale. Come on! Who buys these things?! We go searching for cupboards, the furniture store has the occasional watercolour of a fruitbowl for sale, oh and a 17cm square art block with you guessed it printed in blue. And to add insult to injury, last week I saw a cute little electronic device - which plays randomly selected quotes when you flick a switch. OK, so were any of these the case with a film which I loved I'd be overjoyed. It's just how in every quarter this film outnumbers the rest (except perhaps, the first Harry Potter) - surely there cannot be that much call for it?!


Finally (took a long time to get here, didn't it?) Collective Apathy has two brilliant movie stick man quizzes, both of which I scored 14 on. To add insult to injury, it doesn't even give you the answers once you've got them wrong. But the actual pictures are pretty cute and worth a look.

Gotta go now - I've a 6 disc set (in particular, the trailers) waiting for me...

Movie crossword mania!

On holiday we had two looooooong car journeys. I made this on the way there and my sister answered it on the way back. It was such fun I thought I'd let you have a go!

I've expunged all the family-in-joke clues apart from one, which you'll probably be able to guess.

It's the perfect sort of quiz, really. You don't have to have seen the film to get the answer (at least, I didn't necessarily have to have seen the film to set the question), and none of them are a case of pure knowledge. If you can't spot the answer straight away, it's possible to work it out.

Here's the quiz:

http://www.cwgsy.net/private/jason.monaghan/mOVIECROSSWORD.xls

Please do comment with any thoughts. I'm pretty sure I haven't missed any numbers etc. I'm also curious to know how long it takes you.

Review-the shout

The Shout

Now I'm going to be honest about this - the only reason I watched this film was because it was 60p in Oxfam and rare-because-no-one-wants-it (as opposed to the films which are rare-because-everyone-wants-it) and because of a few words at the beginning. Those words were:

Original music by

VTONY BANKS & MICHAEL RUTHF

Which may not mean much to you, especially as the screen-whatever was slightly out, so the letters "ANT" and "ORD" were lopped off either end of the names. But to me it means that the music was written by two members of Genesis, and that makes me incredibly excited. Favourite band. Totally great. Nice music samples streaming here.

So the first comment must surely be, was the music any good? Well, for those of you who are 'in the know', the tune used was "From the Undertow", from "A Curious Feeling", from Tony Banks' solo album. A tune I've always kinda liked but forgotten. Well let us put it this way, it is an EXCELLENT choice for the film - you will never hear it the same way again. Especially in the credit sequence, which might I add is one of the best I've seen all year - sand dunes with a distant figure tottering about, accompanied by this wailing, haunting music which and ebbs and flows and is just plain creepy, really. I tried to find you an online version, but there don't seem to be any. Here is a midi version someone's done. That'll give you the idea, but of course it's not the same...

Oh yes, and the film? well needless to say, as soon as it was over I went back and watched the credit sequence again. What, you mean the film? Oh...well I suppose I could say somethings about it...

This film is all about sound - some of the noises created by the organist while creating experimental music are supremely weird, and when seated against the music...the plot of this film is more or less the story of a man who possesses a terrible shout, "a sound that could kill someone from a distance" (well we're having a musical issue, so let's quote Kate Bush while we're at it) and what happens when he is taken in by a chuch organist and his wife.

At the same time, the story is being narrated to Tim Curry during the village vs asylum cricket match. The first thing which is said to Tim Curry's character is "Don't look up my skirt!". Admittedly the woman in question is mad, but it made me laugh seeing as I can't think of him without thinking of the Rocky Horror Picture Show. Alan Bates is very good as the vaguely charming but also entirely terrifying narrator. He introduces it by saying something like "it's a true story...but sometimes I change the order of events and I change what happens at the end", which I thought was great.

Another scene which made me grin was the key change when the organist enters the church late. Felt pretty sorry for him, really. And his wife. And the dog.

The nice thing about this film was that I'd never really seen anything like it before, and I genuinely had no idea what was coming next. The production quality was a bit...odd...perhaps it was because the house where most of the action was set was run down, I'm not sure. I can't think of the word I want. There was the odd lovely camera shot in here too.

But in the end, it all comes back to sound. Music maketh movies, and in a film all about noises this is especially true. Can't say for certain if I would have noticed it if I hadn't known who wrote it. I think I would have as it was so well suited, but you never know.

And what of the Shout itself? Well, my mother ran from the other end of the house to see what was going on. Nothing can prepare you. Shivered my skin...

Rating: 3.5/5

Was it good? Yes, quite. Did I like it? Sort of...it was a bit unsettling, really.

Based on the Titanic thing from yesterday, there's a great quiz idea. Identify all the clips which have been mashed together. Some good guesses can be seen here:http://www.filmwise.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=6198

Feel free to comment any you can spot here.

Speaking of comments, I got my first comment! It really made my day, and whoever you are I want to say a big thank you for making me feel wanted and loved. Things like this do my ego no end of good...

More messed up trailers.

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

My new revision schedule

The old one was faulty, and hinged on me promising myself to watch The Godfather at the end of the day if I'd worked hard. Obviously there's a problem there. So here's my new plan:


Maths - A Beautiful Mind. There is a bit of maths in there. Though it's more like economics...the scene where he applies a random theorem to picking up girls is excellent.

English -Regeneration. We're doing the war poets, pity us...

Latin - The Passion of the Christ. So it's not exactly Rome, but it uses real latin which is cool!

Chemistry - Syriana. Crude oil, fractional distillation...there just hasn't been enough big budget action flicks about esterification, don't you think?

Biology - Evolution. Wonderful film! Product placement forever!

French - Jean de Florette. Parce que je l'aime. S'agit un region chaud en France, et un bataille pour l'eau. Aussi, c'est les lapins! Et Gerard Depardeu, qui (a mon avis) est pas beau...

Art - Sin City. Because I did a page on it. In fact, I didn't. I was going to but ran out of time. And because it was no longer relevant to my project. Any excuse though, eh?

History - 13 Days. That's the name isn't it? All about the Cuban Missile Crisis. I considered Downfall, but we only really do the rise of Hitler, and Stalingrad but we skim over the Second World war, or Apocalypse Now but we don't even mention Vietnam, I just want to watch it...hmmm, what other films can I think of with the Cuban Missile Crisis? Or indeed the Cuban revolution...ooooh, there's one there! I distinctly remember a New Years Eve party on the last day of 1958. Now what film was that? Can't think of any at all...

Physics - Apollo 13, but that's rather a stretch. It's the only physics film I can think of. Longitudinal waves hardly make compelling cinema...

Which classic film are you?

You may have been wondering why I haven't updated for a few days. Alternately, you may not even have noticed. Well I was on a history trip to Berlin and they promised a trip to the cinema-Imax-massivemovieshop-filmmuseum and then broke their promise. Did I mention I was upset?


On a cheerier note, I inform you of a cool website I found and just rediscovered. It is
http://similarminds.com/movie.html

It's got loads of cool proper personality tests, but then there's the slightly less serious classic movie test.

My mind has changed, apparently. I took the 45 question version years ago, and then I took it again sometime last month. I've got to warn you now, neither of them are very flattering...

Last year:

This year:

Fame, success, power and control. I'm curiously honoured, I suppose. At least I didn't get anything drippy...

By the by, on the aforementioned Berlin trip I saw a total of 60 DVDs I wanted, and that was only in the Gatwick shops. And two of them were box sets.

Shu! Movie quizzes and fluff like that...

OK, so this website is quite irritating because I can't find a master list of all the quizzes - but I did find a movie one, and this is what it said to me...

I'm rather chuffed with this one, actually

The Movie Of Your Life Is A Cult Classic

Quirky, offbeat, and even a little campy - your life appeals to a select few. But if someone's obsessed with you, look out! Your fans are downright freaky. Your best movie matches: Office Space, Showgirls, The Big Lebowski

If Your Life Was a Movie, What Genre Would It Be?

And here's another one - and I'm rather proud of this one too, as I'm not really all that festive...

Your Christmas is Most Like: How the Grinch Stole Christmas

You can't really get into the Christmas spirit... But it usually gets to you by the end of the holiday.

What Movie Is Your Christmas Most Like?

Film section exausted, I then passed onto "Who is your celeb crush" and other more embarrassing things non-movie related things. Only one of which is worth repeating:

You Should Be a Film Writer

You don't just create compelling stories, you see them as clearly as a movie in your mind. You have a knack for details and dialogue. You can really make a character come to life. Chances are, you enjoy creating all types of stories. The joy is in the storytelling. And nothing would please you more than millions of people seeing your story on the big screen!

What Type of Writer Should You Be?

Success!!!!!!!!!

Last film watched: Donnie Darko Directors Cut. It made me very angry and thus a review is forthcoming.