Yes, another blog-a-thon! I’ve been reading a few of these questionnaires around the blogosphere, spearheaded by Alexander from Cinemaniac Reviews. I figure why not join in on the fun.
1. What’s your favorite movie?
Sense & Sensibility – my love for this film knows no bounds
2. Least favorite movie?
Ghost Rider – simply ghastly
3. Name one movie you loved upon initial viewing but eventually grew to hate (or vice-versa).
Conan The Destroyer. Used to LOVE it as a kid and would watch it endlessly… now I can’t imagine watching it again without cringing.
4. Name your biggest guilty pleasure film.
Roger Moore Bond movies, yes even Moonraker 🙂
5. Favorite quote from a favorite actor/actress (must be a line from a movie)?
…It is bewitching in the idea of one’s happiness entirely depending on one person.
– Elinor Dashwood, Sense & Sensibility
6. Favorite quote from a favorite actor/actress (must NOT be a line from a movie)?
I’d move to Los Angeles if Australia and New Zealand were swallowed up by a huge tidal wave, if there was a bubonic plague in England, and if the continent of Africa disappeared from some Martian attack.
– Russell Crowe
7. Three favorite movie scenes?
- Colonel Brandon’s entrance in Sense & Sensibility
- Christ giving Judah water scene in Ben-Hur
- Supes rescues Lois scene in Superman: The Movie
Just three of the top 20 scenes (Part I & Part II) I could watch over and over again
8. Four films that should NOT have won Best Picture?
- The Hurt Locker
- Shakespeare in Love
- American Beauty
- Chicago
9. Top five of the year (currently)?
10. Bottom three of the year (currently)?
11. What film gets your vote for the worst or most pointless remake?
That’s got to be Total Recall.
12. Is there any film you think is actually desperate for a remake?
I don’t know if there’s any film that’s desperate for a remake, but it’d be good to see a decent adaptation of Daredevil
13. Name your three favorite film heroes/heroines.
Maximus – Gladiator
Elinor Dashwood – Sense & Sensibility
Edward Fairfax Rochester – Jane Eyre
14. Name your three favorite film villains.
Hans Gruber – Die Hard
Neville Sinclair – The Rocketeer
The Joker – The Dark Knight
15. Best sequel?
Tossup between Indiana Jones & The Last Crusade and Toy Story 3
16. Worst sequel?
Batman & Robin [Same answer for Worst Superhero Movie]
17. Best trilogy?
I’m torn between The Lord of the Rings and Toy Story trilogy, they can’t be more different from each other but each of the films are excellent in my opinion. The first three Bourne films would make my list, too.
18. Worst trilogy?
Fortunately I have not seen too many terrible trilogies, i.e. I skipped the third Matrix and Underworld movie.
19. What’s your favorite word to use in a movie review (if your film blog does not feature reviews, substitute “review” with “-related post”?)
Seems like I say ‘compelling‘ a lot in my reviews. I wish I had more opportunities to use the word ‘discombobulated‘ more, I just LOVE that word! 🙂
20. Anything else?
Working on all these blog-a-thons just spark up an idea for a future blog-a-thon I’m hoping to assemble. Hope y’all would participate. Stay tuned!
…
Check out my fellow blog friends’ answers:
Committed to Celluloid | Cinematic corner | The Cinematic Spectacle
Well, hope you enjoy reading my answers 😀 Feel free to join in on the blog-a-thon fun!
FLIXCHATTER FILM BLOG 
I notice you have the whole Timothy Dalton thing going on? 😉
Ahah yes well I LOVE the guy, whether playing good or bad guys he always rocks. He’s my fave Bond too 🙂
Love the Russell Crowe love. He’s a true favorite of mine!
And don’t you love his quote? I always remember that.
Absolutely! It’s fantastic.
I love Russell’s absolute conviction about L.A.
Oh, awesome answers! I adore Sense and Sensibility too, great to see you love this film so much. Ghost Rider, huh? I’m actually seeing the sequel for that sometime this week on account that it has Idris in it, I’m sure it will be awful 🙂
Yeah, I guess I sound like a broken record about that one but I just rewatched it recently and I knew I’d love S&S forever with all my heart.
Ahah, well I guess for Idris it should be worth the watch. He wasn’t on the first Ghost Rider as it might help um, alleviate the pain of watching it! 🙂
I’m with sati on this,
Your ears should have been burning* when I read your selections for #8. Those are the same ones I’d pick — but where’s your fourth? If you say, ‘Chicago’, ‘The English Patient’ or ”Out of Africa’ we’ll be truly channeling ;-). Fun blogathon questions (and answers), Ruth.
Thanks Michael! Oh my bad for forgetting #4, I actually had Chicago in mind so yeah we definitely are channeling each other, man! It was a good movie but NOT Best Picture material. Thanks for noticing that, I’ll add that in as the fourth one 🙂
you know, Flixy dear, I still have no idea why SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE won anything, including Gwyneth and her atrocious acting…
Indeed, especially Gwyneth winning Best Actress over our dear Cate Blanchett. I mean, come on!!
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Ha ha, I love Crowe’s quote about L.A., I don’t agree with him but it’s funny. I’ll probably move there once my movie career takes off, you have to be in the heart of it to get deals done. Accomplished actors, they don’t need to be there. A few of the actress who came to my audition already moved out to L.A., I wish them well, most of them will need it. 🙂
I’d add Crash to the list of films that should NOT have won Best Picture? What a piece of garbage that movie was.
I second Crash Ted. How about put Rocky in there? It beat out Taxi Driver, Network, All The Presidents Men and Bound For Glory. Three of those would be in my top 25 movies of all time. Two in my top 10.
I’d have to say Rocky, Ordinary People (Raging Bull anybody?), Crash, and A Beautiful Mind.
Check out my carefully worded answers below. I’d love to see your responses Ted.
Wow Rocky beat Taxi Driver? I didn’t know that, I haven’t seen the latter but I know lots of people regard that as their faves.
I mean Rocky was good but seriously Taxi Driver, Network, All The Presidents Men??? Directed by Scorsese, Sidney Lumet and Alan J. Paluka (Produced To Kill A Mockingbird). Scripts by Paul Schrader, Paddy Chayefsky and William Goldman. Those three writers might be more impressive than the directors listed above. Cinematography by Michael Chapman (Raging Bull), Owen Roizman (The French Connection) and Gordon “The Prince of Darkness” Willis (The Godfather 1 & 2). Don’t get me started on the ensemble casts for those movies. I’m not even bringing up Bound For Glory… (ok I guess I am) Director Hal Ashby (Harold & Maude), Writer Robert Getchall (Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore ) and Cinematographer Haskell Wexler (Days Of Heaven). Also the frist use of the steadycam was in that movie and Wexler won the Oscar.
I get it, Rocky is the great American underdog story but c’mon people… Best Picture over those movies? John G. Alvidson also directed the second greatest American underdog story with The Karate Kid. Coincidence… I think not! lol. I rest my case.
Yeah, LA seems to be the place to be but I respect those actors who somehow still made it without having lived there.
Ahah, your disdain for Crash knows no bounds Ted 🙂
I’ll respond, as I have been doing on most other blogs, question-by-question:
1. I added to to my season two watchlist.
2. Yeah…I’ve already decided to avoid that one with my life.
3. There’s a sequel to the original Conan the Barbarian? I guess I SHOULD have forgotten.
4. Oh, yes, Moonraker. I bet that before the release of last year’s Apollo 18, it stood as perhaps the dumbest, most unfaithful and uninformed insult NASA has ever received. Still, it’s pretty fun to watch, I’d agree.
5. A thoughtful quote indeed.
6. Haha!!
7. Except for the one in Sense and Sensibility, I’ve heard a lot about those scenes, but still haven’t quite gotten around to seeing them.
8. I’ve seen those mentioned a lot under that specific question, and I’ve therefore come to the conclusion that the Academy may have been one of the only ones who actually enjoyed them.
9. Our opinions on the year’s best result in a few discrepancies, most of which are pretty slight: Brave sits at #3 on my “Worst of the Year” list (I gave it a C-), with #4 being Dark Shadows and #2 being Red Tails; Moonrise Kingdom is my current #1 for the best of the year (I gave it an A+), with Prometheus being the current runner-up; The Avengers I didn’t particularly care for or understand the ridiculous hype (I gave it a B-); The Hunger Games is my current #7 for the year’s best (I gave it an A-), with The Grey being #6 and Coriolanus being #8; and The Dark Knight Rises is my current #5 for the year’s best (I gave it an A), slightly outranked by the underrated Haywire and topping The Grey.
10. I’ve vowed to avoid Total Recall by any and all means. However, I am curious about SWATH, and as a Bourne fan, I’d kinda like to see The Bourne Legacy. I find it great as well as ironic that I’ve seen all five of your best of the year, but none of the three you named worst of the year so far.
11. (see first sentence in #10)
12. My cousin said Ben Affleck’s Daredevil is one of his favorite films and has recommended it to me on several occasions. I’d like to see it, but upon seeing an onslaught of scathing reviews, I’m not so sure how I’d enjoy it.
13-14. Interesting choices. I love Hans Gruber (in the German dub, he apparently uses a different name) and Heath Ledger’s Joker, as well.
15. I really like Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, and at one point, it was my favorite of the trilogy (I say trilogy because that’s how the Indy movies should have been), but Raiders of the Lost Ark, for me at least, has endured countless viewings and seems to get even better each time. I stopped counting the fifth or sixth time I saw it, which was last summer, and I first saw it when I was ten years old. Now I’m about a month and a half away from fifteen. Still haven’t seen Toy Story 3 yet, but I’d love to.
16. Please don’t even remind me of that piece of crap!!
17. I guess I’m alone on The Lord of the Rings.
18. I haven’t seen either of those trilogies. Isn’t Underworld a tetralogy now?
19. I love that word too.
20. Thanks for participating! I’ll look forward to reading your upcoming blogathon submissions.
Hi Alexander, thanks for the question-by-question response! Oh I’m thrilled that you’d see Sense & Sensibility! Hey I’m glad you like Coriolanus too, not many people have seen it or liked it as much as we do. Y’know I haven’t seen Daredevil either, but my hubby did and he said it was such a waste of potential as the story itself is quite compelling.
I think Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade shall forever be my favorite of the trilogy. I just LOVE Connery + Ford combo.
Do see Toy Story 3, all three movies really are excellent!
I enjoyed reading this. And yes, Ghost Rider sucked, didn’t it? Egads. I do love Sense and Sensibility — the novel and the several film adaptations I’ve seen. It’s probably my favorite Jane Austen.
Hi Stephanie, welcome to FC! Yes, sucked BIG TIME! I generally like Nic Cage but that movie was the last straw. I haven’t seen his latest movies but can’t say I miss much.
Yeah, Ang Lee’s S&S is my fave Austen, even the BBC version can’t hold a candle to it. I definitely think the story is more heartwrenching than Pride & Prejudice.
I’m a big fan of The Hurt Locker. I was really biting my nails from the very start to the end and Renner was terrific. Since I hadn’t followed the Oscars that year I don’t know what it was up against and I haven’t read what any other person thought of it. I saw it not too long ago and just fell in love.
So I don’t agree! (depends on the competition though I guess)
Shakespeare in love is a film I’ve watched several times and I’d be happy to watch it again. And again. And again. I adore the writing in a laguage suitable for the time! Beautiful costumes, a great bunch of excellent actors… romance… comedy… what is there not to love? Again though: I don’t know what it was up against. Perhaps it was very much unfair. But it’s definitely a movie I love and don’t mind having an Oscar.
Hi Jessica, oh I think The Hurt Locker was ok, I’d even think it’s a GOOD film, just not THAT good to win a Best Picture. I wasn’t as emotionally involved in the characters as I thought I would, nor am I enamored by Renner’s performance, but that’s just me.
Shakespeare was good too, I like costume drama, but I think Elizabeth is a better film and Cate Blanchett should’ve gotten Gwyneth’s Oscar!
Ruth, I am totally stealing compelling and discombobulated for my next review 🙂
Enjoyed checking out your answers
Ahah, well I don’t own those words so you won’t be stealing from me, Adam 😉
I love Roger Moore Bond movies too…. they had two villains that scared the shit out of the childhood version of me… Jaws and Baron Samedi…
Yeah, those two are memorable henchmen. Baron Samedi is in Octopussy right? There’s a scene where Bond looked straight into his eyes and boy that gave me the creeps! He’s quite a handsome man though, and very tall!
Nope. Baron Samedi was that vodoo guy in Live and Let Die. This guy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gX3wGWHRlXQ
1. Favorite Movie? Lawrence Of Arabia. Saw the re-master in the theater in ’89. Awe inspiring. Can’t wait for the blu-ray coming out in the fall! Yay!!!
2. Hated Movie? Meet Joe Black. Three hours of watching paint dry in a theater because my ex-girlfrind wanted to see the “Brad Pitt” movie.
3. Grew to Hate? Star Wars. Loved it as a child… fell asleep in the theater during the re-release. Greedo shot first?!?? The fanboys who loved the sequels. also put me off of SW altogether.
4. Guilty Pleasure? Better Off Dead Directed by none other than Savage Steve Holland. Possibly the greatest director name in movie history. Plus Cusack, Curtis “Booger” Armstrong and the irrepressibly cute Diane Franklin. The movie was a quote machine “I want my two dollars!” “Buck up little camper” and “Now that’s a real shame when folks be throwin’ away a perfectly good white boy like that.”
5. Favorite line? Pick one from R. Lee Ermey from Full Metal Jacket. I was giddy with horror when I saw that one in the theater.
6. Actor quote? “I could see myself in a relationship with a girl; Olivia Wilde is so sexy she makes me want to strangle a mountain ox with my bare hands. She’s mesmerizing.” – Megan Fox
7. Three favorite movie scenes?
Harry Dean Stanton baring his soul in the sex booth to Nastassja Kinski in Paris, Texas. Moving.
Chazz Palminteri putting together the pieces of Kevin Spacey’s story from the corkboard in The Usual Suspects. My favorite gotcha
Anthony Hopkins escaping the open holding cell by “disguising” himself as one of the guards in Silence Of The Lambs. Electric.
8. Not won Best Pic? Rocky, Crash, Ordinary People and A Beautiful Mind.
9. & 10. Haven seen much this year to report on.
11. Worst/pointless remake? Psycho… which they’re remaking again!!!
12. Ripe for a remake? How about 1984. Apted’s version just was ok. Have terry Gilliam direct a serious film and ditch the Eurythmics soundtrack this time.
13. Favorite heroes?
Atticus Finch – To Kill A Mockingbird
T.E. Lawrence – Lawrence Of Arabia
Marge Gunderson – Fargo
14. Favorite villains? Favorite as in they creeped me out… I genuinely liked Hans Gruber Ruth. LOL.
Hannibal Lecter – Silence Of The Lambs
Nurse Ratched – One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest
Amon Göth – Schindler’s List
15. Best sequel? The Dark Knight. Better than the original IMHO.
16. Worst sequel? Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning. Straight to video and the original was so good.
17. Best trilogy? I’d have to say The LOTR.
18. Worst trilogy? The Matrix. The bar was set impossibly high with the first movie.
Those are great answers, but, you know, if you have your own blog, you can just do what Ruth did: compose a new post, ping back to my post (http://themoviefreakblog.com/movie-questionnaire/), type your answers, and email me the link. Just sayin’.
Really… how great? Yeah… I don’t have a blog so Ruth let’s me live vicariously through hers. I’m like that little pilot fish that swims alongside the shark.
🙂 Ruth
1. We’re in agreement on Lawrence of Arabia Dave, I’m thinking of going to see it on the big screen in the fall when they’re re-releasing it before it hits Blu-ray. Unfortunately there aren’t any 70mm theaters here in MN so I’ll just have to find the biggest 35mm screen available here.
2. LOL, my ex-girlfriend made me go see Meet Joe Black too and guess what? I liked it, a lot! Ha ha. Yes it’s way too long but I dug it.
18. Yes, The Matrix sequels ruined what could’ve been a great trilogy.
In hindsight my favorite part of Meet Joe Black is when Brad gets hit by the car in the first five minutes. They could have ended it there as far as I was concerned. LOL.
Yeah the mythology of The Martix just didn’t hold up over a trilogy.
Ahahaha, amen good sir!
Hey Dave, you are always welcome to do your part of the blog-a-thon over here… in fact, whenever you want to guest post here, it’s always open 🙂
Ahah, you poor thing seeing Meet Joe Black in the theater. I can’t even stand watching it on dvd, it was soooo boring! One thing for sure, I’d never drag my hubby to see a Brad Pitt movie, ha..ha..
I remember that quote from Megan Fox, wow I wonder what Olivia thinks about that 🙂
Ay caramba, I fail in not mentioning Atticus. What’s wrong with me??!? Well he is certainly at the top of my list of favorite heroes of mine.
Amon Goeth is one scary Nazi, Ralph Fiennes had those chilling eyes… beautiful but makes your blood turns cold!
High five on Best trilogy! I still need to watch the extended versions I bought a while back. We’ve only managed to see the bonus features of some of the discs.
Ruth, you feel my pain with Meet Joe Black. There was a small article in Maxim magazine years ago entitled “Movies That Make You Want To Kill Yourself!” and a picture of Brad from Meet Joe Black accompanied it. LOL. My girlfriend conceded her movie picking privileges after that. Seriously.
I saw that someone else called you out for not bringing up Gregory Peck. I would never do that… but since it’s out in the open now… oh the shame. 😉
You know I’ve never seen the extended versions of the LOTR. Not having read the books I didn’t feel like I missed anything.
Ahah, I think it’s fitting. I did like Anthony Hopkins in it but the whole movie is just excruciating. I wonder if that’s why Claire Forlani’s career never took off, I wish the same happened to Pitt!
Yeah, I can’t believe I left out Atticus, but ah well I figure he’s already chosen by AFI as the greatest hero, so I pick the um, more under-appreciated (save for Maximus as lots of people love him). I always love the tortured soul type of heroes, hence my pick for Rochester. I could’ve gone for Phantom of the Opera as well but I think Timothy Dalton’s performance is the more heart-wrenching.
I haven’t read the LOTR books either, but I so love that franchise. It’s just I need like a week off just to watch them all!
Hi, Ruth and company:
Excellent responses!
I still prefer Orson Welles’ sudden entrance from ‘The Third Man’. Also his soliloquy to Holly Martins as he leaves the Ferris Wheel as favorites.
Outside of Political Correctness and Feminist judges, I still can’t understand the Oscar win for ‘The Hurt Locker’.
Still don’t understand why ‘Chicago’ was made. When Fosse’s and Roy Scheider’s ‘All That Jazz’ is THE definitive Bob Fosse film!
I don’t think I’ve ever used ‘compelling’ in one of my Guest Reviews. I prefer more hoity~toity adjectives, like ‘solid’ and ‘stoic’.
Favorite Quotes: “No matter where you go. There you are.” Peter Weller as Buckaroo Banzai.
“Gentlemen. You can’t fight here. This is the War Room!” Peter Sellers as President Myron Muffley in ‘Dr. Strangelove’.
“Are my eyes really brown?” Humprey Bogart’s Rick to Gestapo officers questioning him in ‘Casablanca’.
This questionnaire looks like a lot of fun. Well done!
Hoity toity! Now that’s a word I need to use in my next review! 😀
Great quotes there, I like Dr. Strangelove and of course Casablanca is chock full of memorable lines!
Oh man… Batman and Robin was awful. I’m surprised Gregory Peck didn’t show up on here.
It’s really my bad! Atticus Finch should get a mention under favorite heroes. [epic fail]
I keep seeing these popping up around the blogosphere so I will have to join in the fun. Great picks. Discombobulated is an underrated word.
You should do it, Tyler, it’s actually quite fun to work on.
First of all, thanks for the link love, Ruth! Appreciate it. Love the answers to #5, 6, 9, 12, 16, 19 and 20. Seems all of us have chosen The Joker as one of our favorite villains! American Beauty and Chicago SHOULDN’T have won BP?! OMG, I’m actually hurt! hahah
Sorry Fernando, I think those two movies are good, I just think there are better films released that year that should’ve won. Hey, I hope you’ll participate in FC’s upcoming blogathon! 🙂
Haha, it’s OK 😉 And yes, of course I’ll participate!
Brilliant Ruth, simply brilliant.
So many answers I found myself nodding and agreeing with you!!!
Glad to hear matey! I hope you’ll do one of these questionnaires yourself 🙂
I totally and utterly get your Timothy Dalton thing! He’s fantastic. Such an underrated dude!
I LOVE you for saying that, you are a woman of most excellent taste! YES he is fantastic and massively underrated. If I ran Hollywood, I’d cast him in all those roles that Michael Caine, Ian McKellen, Christopher Plummer and Anthony Hopkins get these days. I mean he’s as good if not better than those thespians!
Love that Russell Crowe quote. So, when’s the last time you saw that Conan movie? Be honest 😀
I just asked him on Twitter if Crowe still feels that way about LA, hope he responds 🙂
Well actually the last time I saw Conan The Destroyer was in jr high. I have not seen it since but I think I have seen it over a dozen times!!
Great answers. I have copies of the Conan movies lying around. Must give them a try.
Hard to argue with Total Recall, and I love that you picked Maximus and Hans Gruber.
And thanks for the link! 😀
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I’ve never seen Sense & Sensibility. Should it be something I check out post haste or is it an acquired taste? I also notice a lot of Timothy Dalton loving going on. He was what drew me to watch Flash Gordon in the first place.
I think Sense & Sensibility is a fabulous piece of cinema regardless how you feel for period dramas. The story/acting/direction are superb, and all of us can relate to story of loss and love. I highly recommend it, obviously 🙂
I LOVE Timothy Dalton. Always have and always will. I first saw him in Flash Gordon too, oh my, Prince Barin!!! But he’s also my favorite Bond.
Cool. I like the Russell Crowe quote and found myself laughing over that. Good call on Chicago…I didn’t like that as Best Picture either.
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