The Movie Questionnaire
This movie questionnaire was originally created by Alexander from Cinemaniac Reviews. Sadly, I believe that website is now defunct. However, that doesn’t in anyway invalidate the questionnaire itself which has some very good questions about your relationship with cinema. Some of my answers to the questions posed are about films that I enjoy, as opposed to those that are considered cinematic classics. However, I have answered some questions more seriously than others, especially the one about undeserving recipients of the Best Film Oscar. I struggled with a couple of questions because I no longer go the cinema as frequently as I did 10 years ago. This is mainly due to the fact that a lot of the films I find interesting end up going straight to streaming after very brief theatrical releases. Some do not even get shown in cinemas. Hence I view far more at home. But I digress. On with the questions and answers. Feel free to comment below and share your views. (Credit: Film Montage by Erik Hollander)
1. What’s your favourite movie?
Seven Samurai (1954). You can learn everything you need to know about film-making, story telling and human nature from this masterpiece.
2. Least favourite movie?
The Comic (1985). I saw this at a film festival in the year of its release and it was incredibly poorly made, tedious and mistaken about its own importance. The audience was screaming and throwing stuff at the screen towards the end. The director who was scheduled to be interviewed after the screening but chose to leave instead.
3. Name one movie you loved upon initial viewing but eventually grew to hate (or vice-versa)?
The Lion King (1994). Not because it’s a bad film but because my son watched it so many times when he was a child. It’s taken 30 plus years for me to be able to watch it again.
4. Name your biggest guilty pleasure film.
I don’t have guilty pleasures. I do watch some cheap and nasty exploitation fodder which I suppose falls into this category. I have a soft spot for vigilante movie, The Exterminator (1980). The scene were a mobster is lowered into an industrial meat grinding machine in an abattoir is fun.
5. Favourite quote from a favourite actor/actress (must be a line from a movie)?
“Fuck the bonus”. Rutger Hauer. Wanted Dead or Alive.
6. Favourite quote from a favourite actor/actress (must NOT be a line from a movie)?
Vincent Price: “Young man, I have made eighty-four films. What have you done?”
Michael Reeves: “I've made three good ones.”
7. Three favourite movie scenes?
The scene in The Monster Squad where Fat Kid says to Scary German Guy, “Man, you sure know a lot about monsters”. To which the old man replies, “Now that you mention it. I suppose I do”. As he shuts the door we see a number tattooed on his arm. He survived the Holocaust. Tonally, this scene is radically different to the comedy horror of the rest of the film but it works so well. An utterly powerful scene, when you least expected it.
The final 20 minutes of A Better Tomorrow II.
The Rock Monster scene from Galaxy Quest. “I know. You construct a weapon. Look around you, can you form some sort of rudimentary lathe…” The best Star Trek satire ever.
8. Four films that should NOT have won Best Picture?
Driving Miss Daisy (1989) (It should have been Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing)
Rocky (1976) (Won over Taxi Driver, Network, All the President's Men)
The Greatest Show on Earth (1952) (The academy chose this over High Noon)
How Green Was My Valley (1941) (Beat Citizen Kane)
9. Top five of the year (currently)?
I haven’t seen five new releases at the cinema this year. I enjoyed Cold Storage and Coyote vs. ACME
10. Bottom three of the year (currently)?
I don’t go to the cinema that much any more due to the paucity of contemporary cinema. Most of my viewing is done in the comfort of my home and I am catching up with older releases or classics. I did see Mutiny with Jason Statham recently. It was far too generic for my liking, so that is at the bottom of my list I guess.
11. What film gets your vote for the worst or most pointless remake?
Gus Van Sants 1998 remake of Hitchcock’s Psycho. Why does this exist?
12. Is there any film you think is actually desperate for a remake?
The Devil Rides Out.
13. Name your three favourite film heroes/heroines.
Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver. Aliens).
Sherlock Holmes (Robert Stephens. The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes).
Professor Van Helsing (Peter Cushing. Dracula).
14. Name your three favourite film villains.
Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman. Die Hard).
Khan Noonien Singh (Ricardo Montalban. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan).
Xusia of Delos (Richard Moll. The Sword and the Sorcerer).
15. Best sequel?
Psycho II and Aliens. Oh and Mad Max 2. Was I supposed to pick just one?
16. Worst sequel?
Alien 3. Because the plot kills off everyone who survived Aliens, bar Ellen Ripley, just so they could make an intriguing but ultimately pointless sequel. Plus any good ideas that arose from the first few drafts of the screenplay were squandered in the resulting disastrous production that followed.
17. Best trilogy?
The Lord of the Rings. Perfect epic story telling and big screen spectacle, which doesn’t come at the expense of performances and emotional content.
18. Worst trilogy?
The Hobbit. Because it’s everything that The Lord of the Rings isn’t.
19. What’s your favourite word to use in a movie review (if your film blog does not feature reviews, substitute “review” with “-related post”?)
Eldritch. Sadly, it’s not a term that can be applied to lots of films. It tends to be genre specific. Namely, horror.
20. Anything else?
Modern, mainstream film-making is become increasing generic and standardised. Cinematography is bland, editing is becoming less adventurous and more formulaic. Writing is declining. The art of a good film score is also being lost (with the exception of Michael Giacchino). Modern film-makers need to watch more classics to acquaint themselves with such things as innovation, style and emotional impact. Hollywood needs to take more risks.
This movie questionnaire was originally created by Alexander from Cinemaniac Reviews. Sadly, I believe that website is now defunct. However, that doesn’t in anyway invalidate the questionnaire itself which has some very good questions about your relationship with cinema. Some of my answers to the questions posed are about films that I enjoy, as opposed to those that are considered cinematic classics. However, I have answered some questions more seriously than others, especially the one about undeserving recipients of the Best Film Oscar. I struggled with a couple of questions because I no longer go the cinema as frequently as I did 10 years ago. This is mainly due to the fact that a lot of the films I find interesting end up going straight to streaming after very brief theatrical releases. Some do not even get shown in cinemas. Hence I view far more at home. But I digress. On with the questions and answers. Feel free to comment below and share your views.