SLIFR Movie Quiz

It's that time of year again. The inimitable Dennis Cozzalio of Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule has published another SLIFR Movie Quiz, this time in honor of spring and Sister Clodagh. This is not your grandmother's movie quiz. Any time Dennis makes a quiz, it is a palm-sweating, pencil-breaking, wake-up-at-3AM-thinking-of-the-answer-you-should-have-given test of cinephilia. I've posted my answers in the comment section of his blog as per his rules but I thought I would post here too, to give my readers a chance to see them. And to invite you guys to visit Dennis's blog and post there too.

Ready? Here we go.

1) Favorite movie featuring nuns
Black Narcissus

2) Second favorite John Frankenheimer movie
The Manchurian Candidate (The more flawed but more fascinating Seconds is first.)

3) William Bendix or Scott Brady?
William Bendix

4) What movie, real or imagined, would you stand in line six hours to see? Have you ever done so in real life?
The restored version of The Magnificent Ambersons in its original cut and I can see that I'm not the only one.

5)Favorite Mitchell Leisen movie

Midnight

6) Ann Savage or Peggy Cummins?
Peggy Cummins (Savage is fantastic but Cummins in Gun Crazy is perfection.)

7) First movie you remember seeing as a child
Beauty and the Beast (1990)

8) What moment in a movie that is not a horror movie made you want to bolt from the theater screaming?
One of the combat scenes from Black Hawk Down, can't remember which, because I had a splitting headache and oh God, it was seizure-inducing.

9) Richard Widmark or Robert Mitchum?
Richard Widmark

10) Best movie Jesus
Robert Torti in Reefer Madness: The Movie Musical (2005) . For serious Jesus, I suppose I prefer the way his presence is handled in Ben-Hur.

11) Silliest straight horror film that you’re still fond of
I'm not really up to speed on true campy horror so I'll say The Fly (1958). 

12) Emily Blunt or Sally Gray?
Emily Blunt

13) Favorite cinematic Biblical spectacular
Ben-Hur. We watched it in my seventh-grade homeroom class, over the course of several days like a movie serial and I still say, big screens aside, that is the proper way to watch it. (Will Judah ever reunite with his family? Tune in tomorrow!)

14) Favorite cinematic moment of unintentional humor
Everyone and their accountant have made fun of this already but yes, the "I hate sand" dialogue from Attack of the Clones. 

15) Michael Fassbender or David Farrar?
Fassbender is a very attractive man and a fascinating talent no question, but David Farrar has three Powell and Pressburger classics to his credit. Advantage, Farrar. 

 
16) Most effective faith-affirming movie
Groundhog Day could  affirm pretty near any faith.

17) Movie that makes the best case for agnosticism
I've pondered this one for some time and come up blank.

18) Favorite song and/or dance sequence from a musical
For solo dance: Gene Kelly's "Singin' in the Rain"
For pair dancing: Fred Astaire and Rita Hayworth, the "I'm Old Fashioned" number from You Were Never Lovelier
For dance as emotional narrative: The final dream sequence from Lili

19) Third favorite Howard Hawks movie
A tie between Ball of Fire and Rio Bravo.

20) Clara Bow or Jean Harlow?
Jean Harlow

 
21) Movie most recently seen in the theater? On DVD/Blu-ray/Streaming?
Theater--War Horse. On actual DVD--The Magnificent Ambersons. On streaming--Robocop.

22) Most unlikely good movie about religion
The Truman Show

23) Phil Silvers or Red Skelton?
I really don't have a horse in this race.

24) “Favorite” Hollywood scandal 
Favorite? The William Desmond Taylor murder remains one of the most fascinating, I guess.

25) Best religious movie (non-Christian)
Don't know about best, but I've loved Fiddler on the Roof since childhood.

26) The King of Cinema: King Vidor, King Hu or Henry King? (Thanks, Peter)
King Vidor

27) Name something modern movies need to relearn how to do that American or foreign classics had down pat 
Exposition, especially when it comes to pacing a film. Hollywood could learn so much from watching some of those good old snappy 70-minute programmers and how expertly they sum up the characters and the situation.

28) Least favorite Federico Fellini movie
Since I'm pledged to honesty, the only Fellini film I've seen is La Dolce Vita. You are now welcome to stone me to death with DVD copies of 8 1/2.

29) The Three Stooges (2012)—yes or no?
Not a Stooges fan.

30) Mary Wickes or Patsy Kelly?
Mary Wickes ("Dora, I suspect you're a treasure.")

31) Best movie-related conspiracy theory
All the theories about Walt Disney's corpse. Talk about random...

32) Your candidate for most misunderstood or misinterpreted movie
Network. How many times have we heard some pundit misappropriate the "I'm mad as hell speech" now?

33) Movie that made you question your own belief system (religious or otherwise)
Before watching The Unknown (1927), I was convinced I'd never wholeheartedly enjoy a 
silent film.

Well, that's all for now, folks. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some frantic film renting to do.

Happy (belated) Valentine's Day, everyone!

I know it's a bit late for Valentine's posts but the idea came to me and I just couldn't resist it. I've been thinking lately that what we classic film geeks could really use (you know aside from money for film preservation and more big-screen venues for classic film showings and more DVD releases, etc.) is a personality quiz tailored to our needs. I'm a sucker for personality quizzes, but sadly, most of them are along the lines of "What Elemental Dragon Are You" and while that's cute and all, it gets old fast.

So, because it was Valentine's, I had the idea to just write up my own quiz, asking film geeks a series of romantic questions, geared at finding out which classic film director's movies best describe their romantic personality. I would have preferred to just post it up here on the blog but for now, Quizilla is still the most convenient host for personality quizzes. So, if you're interested, here's a link and here's the quiz description:

The Auteur's Guide to Romance

Here's a personality quiz for classic film lovers (and lovers in general). Which classic film director's movies best describe your romantic personality? Are your dark, twisted romances like something out of an Alfred Hitchcock film? (For your sake, we hope not.) Or are you more like a fast-talking, flirty Howard Hawks character? For the relatively few people who have ever pondered this question, this quiz is for you. (Note: This quiz is meant in fun. Any hasty generalizations were made intentionally.)

If you do take the quiz, by all means come by and post your result. And yes, I did take the quiz myself and it turns out I'm a Hawks-Romantic. Huh. Wasn't expecting that one.

Happy Valentine's, you guys! And rest assured that I will be getting back to the land of in-depth reviews and discussions soon. I don't plan on hanging out in meme-land forever, nice and fluffy as it is.