Monday, June 11, 2012

100 Film Facts About Me

Idea swiped from Cinematic Paradox.

One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961)

1.    The first film I remember seeing was One Hundred and One Dalmatians on VHS.
2.    In theaters, the first film I remember seeing was The Lion King.
3.    The first DVD I bought was Rat Race.
4.    I no longer own that film.
5.    I love matinees. They're cheaper, and that means I can watch a DVD at night.
6.    Krzysztof Kieslowski, Ingmar Bergman, and Billy Wilder are amazing.
7.    I almost regularly watch a movie in shifts when I go to bed and when I get ready the next morning.
8.    I often watch it again two or three times in a week that way.
9.    My favorites to do this with are A Good Year, The Philadelphia Story, Dial M for Murder, The Awful Truth, and His Girl Friday.
10.    Speaking of which, I think A Good Year is probably the best feel-good movie I've ever seen.


Zoom (2006)
11.    I saw Zoom six times in theaters…
12.    …in the first ten days of its release. (I'm sorry.)
13.    When I was a teenager, I didn't understand the difference between aspect ratios. So I bought fullscreen DVDs. Now I'm slowly selling them and replacing them with widescreen ones.
14.    The first foreign film I saw was Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
15.    My love of foreign films began with The Seventh Seal.
16.    I have owned The Birth of a Nation on DVD for over a year, but I have not watched it yet.
17.    Chaplin > Keaton
18.    I buy stacks of bargain bin DVDs…
19.    …a lot of which I have not watched or opened yet.
20.    I consider Lawrence of Arabia the most overrated film ever.

Toy Story 3 (2010)

21.    Second place would go to Toy Story 3.
22.    I have seen every Star Wars film at least twice in theaters.
23.    I have seen all 84 Best Picture Oscar Winners.
24.    I don't know if I'll ever see the brilliance in Daniel Day-Lewis's over-the-top performance in There Will Be Blood.
25.    The Dunkirk scene in Atonement is the most beautiful one I've ever seen.
26.    The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is probably the best shot film I've ever seen.
27.    If I had my way, Juliette Binoche would have 6 Oscars now.
28.    Russell Crowe would have 5.
29.    I prefer Batman Begins to The Dark Knight.
30.    I actually like Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

Tom Waits in Coffee and Cigarettes (2003)

31.    I think more Tom Waits songs need to be used in films.
32.    Though I have a Blu-ray/DVD player, I still use a VCR often.
33.    I wish Christopher Nolan would make another black-and-white, gritty, low-budget film like Following.
34.    I wish Woody Allen DVDs weren't so hard to track down.
35.    I wish Little White Lies would be released in the U.S.
36.    My favorite movie-going experience was my first visit to the Kentucky Theatre. (I saw The Queen.)
37.    My favorite theatrical double feature was seeing Once and La Vie en Rose at the Kentucky Theatre.
38.    Triple feature would be theater-hopping to see Lars and the Real Girl, August Rush, and No Country for Old Men.
39.    I wish Anthony Mackie had been nominated for Best Supporting Actor for Half Nelson.
40.    I wish I liked The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford more.

Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca (1943)

41.    I actually think Humphrey Bogart was underrated.
42.    Same goes for Cary Grant.
43.    My favorite movie line is delivered by Cary Grant in The Philadelphia Story: "You forget, I am out of it." It makes me laugh every time.
44.    I have never been to a drive-in movie.
45.    I have recorded the Oscars since 2004, and I still have the tapes (and a DVD of 2008's ceremony).
46.    I wish ALL categories of the Oscar nominations were announced on TV, and not just the main ones.
47.    I think George Clooney (for The American) and Johnny Depp (for The Libertine) share the distinction of most overlooked performance in recent years.
48.    Popeye (1980) is probably the worst film I've ever seen.
49.    I have yet to go to a film festival.
50.    My favorite movie character is Indiana Jones.

Leonardo DiCaprio in The Departed (2006)

51.    If I could look like a movie character, it would be DiCaprio's undercover look as Billy Costigan in The Departed.
52.    I wish M. Night Shyamalan's Signs was loved by more people.
53.    I can quote most of the early Harry Potter films.
54.    My first midnight movie was Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace.
55.    If I see Dial M for Murder, North by Northwest, Rear Window, or Casablanca on TCM, I usually watch at least for a few minutes. They are so rewatchable.
56.    My love of sports - especially the NBA Playoffs and grand slam tennis lately - seems like a curse when it interferes with watching a movie.
57.    I fell asleep the first time I watched The Tree of Life. I know someone else who did too.
58.    I cannot watch Blade Runner (Director's Cut) or Vertigo at night because they make me sleepy.
59.    I think Crash is better than Brokeback Mountain. Happy to be in the minority.
60.    I hate watching a movie on a computer.

Scoop (2006)

61.    I like even Woody Allen's most mediocre films (like The Curse of the Jade Scorpion, Scoop, and You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger).
62.    I am grateful to 2002's Scooby-Doo because I would not have read the Harry Potter books if it weren't for the Chamber of Secrets trailer attached to it.
63.    When I was in grade school, I would check out a movie that we started in class at the library and finish it at home that night (ex: The Princess Bride and To Kill a Mockingbird).
64.    My favorite soundtracks are from One from the Heart and Once.
65.    I am dying to see Breaking the Waves.
66.    In my opinion, the worst Oscar winner for Best Picture (1989's Driving Miss Daisy) was released the year I was born. Bummer.
67.    My favorite year for seeing theatrical releases would be 2007. So many good films out that year.
68.    The first R-rated film I saw was The Patriot (2000).
69.    The first R-rated film I saw in theaters was Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines.
70.    I am 23, but I still get carded for R-rated movies sometimes.

Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova at the Oscars (2008)

71.    My favorite Oscar win that I saw live was Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova's win for Best Original Song ("Falling Slowly" from Once).
72.    I have to watch It's a Wonderful Life and White Christmas every year near Christmas.
73.    As good as some of her performances are, I think Bette Davis is overrated.
74.    Nick and Nora Charles are my favorite on-screen couple of all time.
75.    My favorite time of the year is Oscar season. I love the cold weather then too.
76.    I wish theaters had a talker-removal squad for noisy customers.
77.    My favorite seat in a theater is towards the back on the far side opposite the door.
78.    I have never seen a Tyler Perry-directed film. No comment.
79.    The only film I've walked out of was Two Brothers.
80.    But I don't know how or why I sat through Kung Pow: Enter the Fist in the theater.

A Good Year (2006)

81.    I wish comedy scores (like A Good Year, Love Actually, and Tamara Drewe) would be recognized by AMPAS more often.
82.    My favorite special feature on a Blu-ray/DVD is the bloopers.
83.    Followed by the cast commentary, if there is one.
84.    My most anticipated older film is Aguirre, the Wrath of God. I know, I know. I'll get to it soon.
85.    I love watching the Pirates of the Caribbean Blu-rays/DVDs Special Features. Everything from the bloopers to the behind-the-scenes documentaries is a delight.
86.    My first Criterion DVD was Cries and Whispers.
87.    The last was Summer with Monika.
88.    Part of me would love to abstain from watching new films for one year (or reading movie blogs), and then watch the Oscars totally in the dark of the favorites.
89.    But I can't bring myself to do it.
90.    I hate to stop a movie when I haven't seen it before. I usually schedule around this.

Before Sunset (2004)

91.    The best love story I've seen would be Jesse and Celine's reunited romance in Before Sunset.
92.    I want to see Jason Statham in a dramatic role.
93.    Black Swan is my favorite film of 2010, but I hated it when I first saw it.
94.    The only film that I fell asleep in theaters during was Charlotte's Web (2006).
95.    The end of Sleepaway Camp literally had me shaking. Didn't see that coming.
96.    I think I'm one of the only people who loved Quantum of Solace, except for the editing of the action sequences.
97.    I have never seen a movie in 3-D.
98.    I love watching "Inside the Actors Studio" episodes on YouTube.
99.    The movie that made me cry the most was Eight Below.
100.    The only movies I have to see from 2012 are The Dark Knight Rises and Les Miserables.

Whew. That was harder than I thought it would be.

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