Reprise – Holiday Movie Quiz Time!: My Answers
Because I’m lazy I wanted to have them all in one place, I’m pulling my earliest movie quiz posts from the old blog archive and placing them on my current. I’ll dust them off and add a bit of images and exposition to them, but the answers will remain the same. Besides, with the end of November almost upon us, this one from 2009 was tailor-made for today.
As is his custom, movie blogger extraordinaire Dennis Cozzalio has come up with another of his grand and wonderful film quizzes:
PROFESSOR RUSSELL JOHNSON’S “MY ANCESTORS CAME OVER ON THE MINNOW” THANKSGIVING/CHRISTMAS MOVIE QUIZ
As has been my habit, I’m posting my answers to his quiz questions in this post.
1) Second-favorite Coen Brothers movie.
Fargo. O Brother, Where Art Thou? would be first — hey, Odysseus is my favorite Greek hero.
2) Movie seen only on home format that you would pay to see on the biggest movie screen possible? (Question submitted by Peter Nellhaus)
Unquestionably, it’s Anthony Mann’s magnificent and underrated El Cid. Saw it first on television as a kid, had a copy of it on VHS tape, obtained the beautiful DVD release in 2008, and grabbed the Japanese Blu-Ray last year. I’d pay good money to see it at a theater, and on 70mm!
3) Japan or France? (Question submitted by Bob Westal)
Not that I have any against France (Wages of Fear is a common favorite of movie blogger J.D. and myself), but it’s easily Japan by the number of films in my video library. Since I have an appreciation for westerns, I have (for a long time now) been equally drawn to easterns — the great samurai films of Kurosawa, Inagaki, and Kobayashi.
4) Favorite moment/line from a western.
This one took no time whatsoever. It’s Clint Eastwood’s “It’s a hell of a thing, killing a man. Take away all he’s got and all he’s ever gonna have.” from Unforgiven:
5) Of all the arts the movies draw upon to become what they are, which is the most important, or the one you value most?
Motion (as in pictures).
6) Most misunderstood movie of the 2000s (The Naughties?).
William Friedkin’s The Hunted — yes, Rachel, the one you call ‘The Knife’ movie ;-).
7) Name a filmmaker/actor/actress/film you once unashamedly loved who has fallen furthest in your esteem.
Steven Seagal
8) Herbert Lom or Patrick Magee?
Herbert Lom. He’s portrayed Napoleon, The Phantom of the Opera, Abraham Van Helsing, Captain Nemo, Commissioner Dreyfus, two roles in El Cid, and was Dr. Sam Weizak from The Dead Zone. And he did them all wonderfully. How could I not pick him?
9) Which is your least favorite David Lynch film (Submitted by Tony Dayoub)
Wild at Heart
10) Gordon Willis or Conrad Hall? (Submitted by Peet Gelderblom)
Both are great, but it’s Conrad Hall for me. He did so many of my favorites: In Cold Blood, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Professionals, Cool Hand Luke, Tequila Sunrise and a good many more.
11) Second favorite Don Siegel movie.
The Shootist — Invasion of the Body Snatchers is first, but I’ve been known to say Dirty Harry, too.
12) Last movie you saw on DVD/Blu-ray? In theaters?
DVD: Nothing Like the Holidays Blu-ray: Wings of Desire Theater: Ninja Assassin
13) Which DVD in your private collection screams hardest to be replaced by a Blu-ray? (Submitted by Peet Gelderblom)
Lawrence of Arabia
14) Eddie Deezen or Christopher Mintz-Plasse?
Eddie Deezen
15) Actor/actress who you feel automatically elevates whatever project they are in, or whom you would watch in virtually anything.
In front or behind the camera, Clint Eastwood.
16) Fight Club — yes or no?
No (and I know I’m in the minority with this one).
17) Teresa Wright or Olivia De Havilland?
Olivia De Havilland
18) Favorite moment/line from a film noir.
“My guess might be excellent or it might be crummy, but Mrs. Spade didn’t raise any children dippy enough to make guesses in front of a district attorney, and an assistant district attorney and a stenographer.”
19) Best (or worst) death scene involving an obvious dummy substituting for a human or any other unsuccessful special effect(s)—see the wonderful blog Destructible Man for inspiration.
The little girl’s run-over dog from Pale Rider.
20) What’s the least you’ve spent on a film and still regretted it? (Submitted by Lucas McNelly)
Cost: nothing. In my short stint as a projectionist at an indie theater I was unlucky enough to show
Eat My Dust. I take that back, I looked back at 1976 and realized I actually showed that blot on celluloid and society known as Snuff (I just put it out of my memory).
21) Van Johnson or Van Heflin?
Van Johnson
22) Favorite Alan Rudolph film.
23) Name a documentary that you believe more people should see.
Trinity & Beyond – The Atomic Bomb Movie
24) In deference to this quiz’s professor, name a favorite film which revolves around someone becoming stranded.
James Cameron’s Aliens.
25) Is there a moment when your knowledge of film, or lack thereof, caused you an unusual degree of embarrassment and/or humiliation? If so, please share.
I was asked about Ingmar Bergman many moons ago, and I hadn’t seen any of his films to that point and had to confess that fact. Perhaps, that’s the reason his films aren’t my favorite to this day.
26) Ann Sheridan or Geraldine Fitzgerald? (Submitted by Larry Aydlette)
Ann Sheridan
27) Do you or any of your family members physically resemble movie actors or other notable figures in the film world? If so, who?
Nope.
28) Is there a movie you have purposely avoided seeing? If so, why?
Salo, or 120 Days of Sodom. I don’t really care that it’s a masterpiece for its criticism of Fascism, I haven’t been motivated to see the shocking and nauseating scenes (that I’ve heard of) involving adults torturing young teens. I guess I should have seen it before I became a parent.
29) Movie with the most palpable or otherwise effective wintry atmosphere or ambience.
John Carpenter’s The Thing. The location, chill and the atmosphere in it just adds to the impending dread.
30) Gerrit Graham or Jeffrey Jones?
Gerrit Graham
31) The best cinematic antidote to a cultural stereotype (sexual, political, regional, whatever).
The Defiant Ones
32) Second favorite John Wayne movie.
Red River. The Searchers would be first.
33) Favorite movie car chase.
The final car chase in Ronin. Although, I still admire the one that started it all in Bullitt, and the one QT staged in Death Proof is coming on strong.
34) In the spirit of His Girl Friday, propose a gender-switched remake of a classic or not-so-classic film. (Submitted by Patrick Robbins)
I’d like to see an all woman jury doing Twelve Angry Men.
35) Barbara Rhoades or Barbara Feldon?
Barbara Feldon
36) Favorite Andre De Toth movie.
37) If you could take one filmmaker’s entire body of work and erase it from all time and memory, as if it had never happened, whose oeuvre would it be? (Submitted by Tom Sutpen)
Wych Kaosayananda (see Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever)
38) Name a film you actively hated when you first encountered it, only to see it again later in life and fall in love with it.
39) Max Ophuls or Marcel Ophuls? (Submitted by Tom Sutpen)
Marcel Ophuls (like I know what I’m talking about?).
40) In which club would you most want an active membership, the Delta Tau Chi fraternity, the Cutters or the Warriors? And which member would you most resemble, either physically or in personality?
The Warriors. I’d love to have been Swan, but my personality is more like Vermin.
41) Your favorite movie cliché.
The back-lit silhouette shot of the hero.
42) Vincente Minnelli or Stanley Donen? (Submitted by Bob Westal)
Stanley Donen, as only he directed one of my all-time favorite films: the great Charade with Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn.
43) Favorite Christmas-themed horror movie or sequence.
Black Christmas
44) Favorite moment of self- or selfless sacrifice in a movie.
Colonel Kane in The Ninth Configuration.
45) If you were the cinematic Spanish Inquisition, which movie cult (or cult movie) would you decimate? (Submitted by Bob Westal)
Too easy. The Twilight series.
46) Caroline Munro or Veronica Carlson?
Caroline Munro
47) Favorite eye-patch wearing director. (Submitted by Patty Cozzalio)
John Ford
48) Favorite ambiguous movie ending. (Original somewhat ambiguous submission—“Something about ambiguous movie endings!” — by Jim Emerson, who may have some inspiration of his own to offer you.)
49) In giving thanks for the movies this year, what are you most thankful for?
Writer/Director Quentin Tarantino coming out with another of his extraordinary films.
50) George Kennedy or Alan North? (Submitted by Peet Gelderblom)
To see all of my answers to every SLIFR movie quiz I’ve participated in, click here.
George Kennedy
It Rains... You Get Wet 
8 Responses to “Reprise – Holiday Movie Quiz Time!: My Answers”
Great post, sir!. I’m surprised to hear you don’t like FIGHT CLUB. I really enjoyed both the movie and the book.
Hope you and your family have a happy Thanksgiving. 😀
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Thank you very much, John, and I hope your Thanksgiving holiday was great. Yeah, I hate to admit that about Fight Club. It’s the only Fincher film that didn’t work for me.
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A lot of agreement here, my friend.
And some disagreement. Though to personal tastes.
#1/ Second favorite Coen brothers’ film?: Miller’s Crossing. Huge Dashiell Hammet fan! Most favorite?: Blood Simple. Near flawless premiere offering.
#4/ Favorite line/scene from a western?: The scene where John Wayne clocks Robert Mitchum in ‘El Dorado’ and Mitchum’s eyes cross before he drops.
#10/ Gordon Willis and James Wong Howe for ‘In Cold Blood’. The tears on Bobby Blake’s face as rain falls against his cell window is fortuitous as it is unforgettable!
#11/ Second favorite Don Siegel film?: Hell is for Heroes. Great minimalist WWII film film that does not play out the way you expect!
#18/ “Anyone check you for a heartbeat recently?” J.T Walsh’s Frank Griffen to Linda Fiorentino’s Bridget Gregory in “The Last Seduction”.
Second would be: Joe Mantegna’s, “I’m from the United States of Kiss My Ass!” over a poker table in ‘House of Games’.
#23/ Love the scene in ‘Trinity’ where GIs are aligning cases of stacked TNT with sledgehammers.
#24/ Different take. ‘Robinson Crusoe on Mars’.
#31/ The Parallax View’. Still one of the great conspiracy films of the 1970s and beyond!
#32/ Fort Apache. For Wayne’s self control in not choking Henry Fonda ingenue, Lt. Col. Thursday on several occasions.
#34/ Summer Glau as “Dirty Harriett” Callahan. She has the chops for close in fighting. Let’s see if she can handle a K-Frame S&W or .454 Casull.
#41/ Love the very Frank Frazetta back lit River after her fight with the Reavers in ‘Serenity’!
#44/ Great catch with Stacy Keach and ‘The Ninth Configuration’.
#48/ ‘The French Connection’. No pretty bows there at all.
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Wonderful answers, Kevin. The Ninth Configuration needs more appreciation, as does Exorcist III, for William Peter Blatty’s work behind the camera. Many thanks, my friend.
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Great answers. Even though #16 broke my heart a bit. Oh, and 34 is a GREAT idea.
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Thank you very kindly, Fernando. 🙂
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The Knife movie??? Really???? Oh, Michael!!! 😉
My #7 would be Val Kilmer.
And totally agree on Ronin! Best car chase scene ever!
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I was wondering if you’d read and comment on that selection, Rachel. 😉
Val? Really? How about his performance in KISS KISS BANG BANG? That made up for a lot.
Thanks, Rachel. 🙂
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