It’s been a while since I’ve done one of Red’s memes. This one’s about movies.
So I’d best get cranking, huh?
1. Name a movie that you have seen more than 10 times.
Not as many as I’d have liked. Casablanca, of course, I’ve seen 44-46 times. I’ve probably seen Star Wars, Empire Strikes Back, Return of the King, Maltese Falcon, Das Boot, LA Confidential and The Usual Suspects somewhere close to ten times each, although who’s counting?
2. Name a movie that you’ve seen multiple times in the theater.
Very few! Being all half-Norwegian and all, that kinda goes against my genetics.
The only ones that jump to mind are Rocky Horror Picture Show (it’s not like you can watch that one on your VCR, right?), First Blood, probably Star Wars and Rocky, and that was about it.
3. Name an actor that would make you more inclined to see a movie.
I’ve gone to a couple of movies strictly to see Marisa Tomei. It’s led me into bummers (What Women Want) and stunners (Welcome to Sarajevo).
Probably Kate Winslet and Paul Giamatti.
4. Name an actor that would make you less likely to see a movie.
I can’t think of any.
5. Name a movie that you can and do quote from.
Casablanca, This Is Spinal Tap, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Life of Brian all jump to mind.
6. Name a movie musical that you know all of the lyrics to all of the songs
Probably not what they’re looking for, but the only two I can think of are Tommy and Quadrophenia. Which aren’t really “musicals”, but I’ve never really gotten into them. I used to know all the drum parts to Cabaret…
UPDATE: After reading Tommy’s entry, I need to add “every Disney movie that came out when my kids were little” – Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Little Mermaid…
7. Name a movie that you have been known to sing along with
Quadrophenia!
“Bell Bo-ee! Carry the bloody baggage out!”
And probably “This Is Spinal Tap”
“Livin’ in a HELL HOLE! Don’t wanna die in a HELL HOLE!”
8. Name a movie that you would recommend everyone see.
An Inconvenient Truth. Not.
I really loved Lost In Translation, although I don’t think a lot of people “get” it.
The Big Red One is one of my favorite war movies – I tip it to war movie buffs all the time.
9. Name a movie that you own.
Not all that many!
10. Name an actor that launched his/her entertainment career in another medium but who has surprised you with his/her acting chops.
Eminem was actually really good in Eight Mile. And this might get me drummed out of the League of Irate Conservative Talk Hosts, but I thought Ludacris was excellent in Crash.
Oh – Dwight Yoakam was great in When Trumpets Fade and Sling Blade. I had no idea it was him, in either movie. Impressive.
11. Have you ever seen a movie in a drive-in? If so, what?
We had a drive-in in Jamestown when I was little, and I remember going there with my parents. I don’t remember any of the movies. I do remember throwing up macaroni hot dish after we got home from one movie there, though.
12. Ever made out in a movie?
Um, yeah. Most recently – well, the make-out was more memorable than the movie. Can’t remember which movie it was.
It was not The English Patient or Leaving Las Vegas, if that helps.
13. Name a movie that you keep meaning to see but just haven’t yet gotten around to it.
So many. Movies were not a huge part of my life growing up – we didn’t even have a theater in Jamestown for a couple of years. Red’s got me jonesing to see a lot of things – old Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman films I’ve missed over the years, Hitchcock stuff, this and that and the other thing.
14. Ever walked out of a movie?
Very rarely. I’m half Norwegian, remember? If I think a movie’s going to stink, I don’t waste the money. I’ve only walked out on two, ever. I bailed on The Burbs, a movie Tom Hanks made during his fall from grace between Big and Philadelphia, where he kinda jumped the shark for a couple of years. Awful, horrible movie. And one time, the kids wheedled me into taking them to Little Nicky, the worst Adam Sandler movie ever. I marched us outta there in about ten minutes.
I almost left Red Dawn after about twenty minutes, but stuck it out. I still debate that decision; the movie remains the guiltiest of all guilty pleasures.
15. Name a movie that made you cry in the theater.
I don’t cry. But Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind was incredibly emotionally affecting. And I’ll go along with Red – A Walk To Remember was very, very good (and would have been better had Nicholas Sparks been able to write a story that didn’t have such a schmaltzy, overblown, artificial ending).
16. Popcorn?
Light butter. The Riverview in Minneapolis makes the best popcorn ever – sorry, Uptown Theater, but it’s the truth.
17. How often do you go to the movies (as opposed to renting them or watching them at home)?
10-12 times a year.
18. What’s the last movie you saw in the theater?
Casino Royale at the Roseville (a second-run $2 house).
19. What’s your favorite/preferred genre of movie?
Noirs, good war movies, and just about anything with a really good story.
20. What’s the first movie you remember seeing in the theater?
Bambi. At the Grand in Jamestown. I think I was 4.
21. What movie do you wish you had never seen?
The Phantom Menace. That movie made me angry!
22. What is the weirdest movie you enjoyed?
Not sure how to answer that. Nothing is really “weird” to me; I am a pretty nonsequential person.
23. What is the scariest movie you’ve seen?
I don’t really go to scary movies much. I figure if I want to be scared, I’ll just lie in bed and contemplate my life for a while.
I got wheedled into seeing The Ring once. Hated hated hated it.
24. What is the funniest movie you’ve seen?
Too many to count. Movies where I remember laughing so hard I thought I was going to be hurt: Airplane, Naked Gun, A Fish Called Wanda (John Cleese’s Russian scene), and, much as it shames me to admit it, the “terrorist” scene in Jackass Number Two.