The Summer Vacation Movie Quiz — Attacks!
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I got an overwhelming romantic summer urge to make it with a movie quiz this weekend.
I grabbed one of critic Dennis Cozallio’s magnificent templates1 for cinema quizzery. I wanted sex and heat, I wanted Italian summers, horror blowouts, questions that take all night to answer!
Are you ready to reach into your inner cinematic recesses?
I hope so. Let’s begin . . .
Directions:
Post your replies in the ”Comments” below — please copy and paste the questions, so we’ll know to what your answers refer to.
Don’t feel you have to post short answers. Do gas on!
You can also just pick a couple that intrigue you. I’d love to hear your thoughts!
1) Who’s a musician who never starred in a movie, whom you think could’ve been a movie star, or at least had a compelling cinematic life?
That’s easy. Karen Dalton. I know she was shy and shunned many demands of the stage — but some of the biggest stars felt the same. The camera fell into her spell. You look at her singing and you feel like you’re in the deepest dark blues a lens could find.
(I asked my lover Jon this question, and he said, without pause: Jim Morrison).
2) Your fave: Akira or Ghost in the Shell?
I don’t have a clue about these two films — but it brings to mind a conversation about the impact of Ghost in the Shell.
After the Wachowskis made Bound, we were quite close, from working on that production. (I consulted on the relationship and intimate scenes between the lesbian lovers, which were loosely based on Honey Lee Cottrell and I — not the crime part, but the butch-femme part).
The sibs were working on a new script. They said their next movie was going to be different, philosophical science fiction, and they started telling me the story of the Ghost in the Shell. All three of us were storytellers and I liked hearing their version of it! They insisted I see it! I insisted I can’t abide animation!
They sent me an early copy of the script. “What is Neo like? I gotta feel more about him, or who cares . . .” That was my note. LOL.
Soon they would audition Keanu Reeves, and now it’s impossible to think about Matrix’s protagonist without thinking of dear Keanu’s physical trials for that role. Christ-like!
3) Your fave: Charles Lee Ray or Freddy Krueger?
Well, I’ll always pick “Chucky” for the same reason I’d pick Barbie™ or the latest 2023 horror flick, “M3GAN.”
In addition to my antipathy to animation, I’m ignorant about horror, as well — which is saying something, considering it’s the hottest genre in film today.
I simply like DOLLS. Lots of Dolls!
I was a lonely kid who talked to my toys constantly, and made up my first stories with them. Huge sagas. If I got one taken away from me as a punishment, I would weep like someone died.
There was 1965 Barbie, 1966 Skipper, and an earlier one with a Germanic face who I called Luufy. I gave them all unfortunate hair cuts and that alone coulda been the beginning of a supernatural horror tale. Don’t let me near a scissors and a doll.
4) What is the excruciating moment/scene you've ever sat through in a film?
I name quite a few. Nowadays, if you’re screening at home you can RUN AWAY to the next room, and call out, “Is it over yet? Is it over?”
Therefore, to be truthful, I’d have to think of early theater screenings, where I was frozen in place with fear.
One film that comes to mind is the climactic scene with Audrey Hepburn in, “Wait Until Dark.”
This movie also features a DOLL, a doll filled with heroin, which inspires all the betrayals and killings that ensue!
Audrey is the innocent of the story, she’s blind, (this alone frightened me) and her characters’s name is “Susy.” Gahhhhh! Make the bad man stop!
”Susy” is tricked into a treacherous drug dealer web, led by a psycho played by Alan Arkin who scared me so bad I couldn’t watch anything he was in again, until “Little Miss Sunshine.”
In researching Wait Until Dark today, I see it was not my immature fears at play— the film is still ranked “tenth on Bravo's 100 Scariest Movie Moments.”
My dad took me to see Wait Until Dark at a Hollywood theater. It was an Oscar nominee and well-reviewed. I guess he thought I was “big” enough to enjoy it. Or maybe he was oblivious! Probably another kid would have loved the suspense, but not me. I said, “Daddy, don’t ever take me to a movie like that again.” I was in the Sound of Music stage. Gradually I worked up to Hitchcock, but that was a few years later.
5) Henry Cavill or Armie Hammer?
What a trippy question. Let’s answer it via their acting chops. I’m not up for dating either one.
Here’s what they have in common: They were both supposed to play Batman, but then the deal fell through! A strange club.
Then, the two men were were cast, together, in not-so-good film version of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. with Armie playing Ilya Kuryakin, and Henry as Napoleon Solo.
Armie Hammer has been in a lot better material than Cavill, with more top directors. I guess I’ll never know if script choices are his redeeming quality or they were just a lucky break. Is he more of a lunatic or narcissist than anyone else in Hollywood? You can never answer that question with certainty. One must stick to judging the film roles.
He played an unforgettable Ruling-Class-Outrage personae, as the Winklevii Twins in The Social Network. He was one of the captivating boy lovers in Call Me By Your Name, and a fantastic villain Sorry To Bother You.
Cavill? Very Young Adult. Superman and a teenage POV on the Sherlock Holmes story do not cut my cake.
6) Name a movie you introduced to a young person, one which was out of their expressed line of interest or experience, which they came to either appreciate or flat-out love.
One of the greatest pleasures of the movies is introducing one to someone you love, who is open to a new world.
First I thought of: Introducing my daughter to Kurosawa, via The Seven Samurai. It changed her life. Her interest in Japanese cinema transformed her POV — she went a Japanese language immersion summer camp some years later to visit in her teens. She knows far more about Japanese film than I, and it all started with this one.
7) Second favorite Roberto Rossellini film?
Huh! You know, my favorite thing about Rossellini is his influence; on Italy, on other filmmakers, on photography. I didn’t visit Italy until I was in my 40s. When I did, I was overcome with the sensation of walking onto one of his “sets.” —Just walking the streets, entering a club, or a photo gallery in Lucca.
Or course, Rossellini was reflecting his world, and his world admired their reflection.
Here is a interesting choice for second favorite, a recent one. I fell in love with the 2022 TV series, The Serpent Queen, about the epic influence of Catherine de Medici, played by Samatha Morton.
I got caught up in how the Medicis transformed French culture into the aesthetic we think of as “quintessential France” today. I started poking around, and found a mini-series documentary series called The Age of Medici. Directed by Rossellini! Recommended.
8) What movie shaped your perceptions of New York City, Los Angeles, and/Chicago before you ever went there and experienced the cities for yourself.
I grew up in LA for so many years, I’ll take that city out of the mix.
I had huge cinematic expectations of NY and Chicago, so it’s a wonderful ask!
I visited Manhattan in 1984, I was 26, quite old. And my introduction to Chicago was also in the early 80s.
New York: The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3. The original one.
After I came back from NYC, Spike Lee became the director who always made me feel like I was back in town: Do The Right Thing.
Chicago: Medium Cool.
After I visited Chicago, the movie that defined it for me: Mamet’s The Untouchables. I love walking in Union Station where the climactic scene was shot.
9) What’s a movie that shaped, for better or worse, another city or location that you eventually visited or came to know well.
In 2021, we all went to see the remake of Dune, it was one of the movie events of the year.
The whole time I was watching it, even though it is designed as a supernatural universe, I felt like I’d seen it before, a unshakeable recognition.
Afterward, I noted that the director, Denis Villeneuve, is Quebecois.
Then, it hit me! —-My long-ago life watching Canadian documentaries when I lived in the provinces. The most legendary Québec documentarian of the 20th century was Pierre Perrault, and guess who learned how to shoot film as his intern? Denis Villeneuve.
Villeneuve “began working with the National Film Board of Canada, first traveling to Ellesmere Island with filmmaker Pierre Perrault to study with him on his documentary Cornouailles.”
Dune is an interpretation of Ellesmere Island! —And the very special way they photographed it. It obviously made a huge impression. My evidence below:
10) Bela Lugosi or Christopher Lee?
Lugosi’s life is so tragic and impoverished compared to Christopher Lee’s. Lee enjoyed a long, diverse theatrical career and came from a wealthy, famous family.
They played memorable horror roles: Lugosi synonymous with Dracula, and Lee in his Dracula roles in British Hammer films.
I have to go with Lugosi. He’s mythical status. People who know nothing about movies know his name, his face. His visage burned into our souls, when we think of a Count who could vanquish you with a look, steal every last drop of you— that’s Bela. Even his young beautiful face; it’s mesmerizing.
11) Elizabeth Debicki or Alicia Vikander?
Alicia Vikander, hands down. I have a crush on her. Her debut in Pure? Unforgettable. What she did in the mini-series, Irma Vep? She could have stood her own with Bela Legosi. I think her choice in roles and how she delivers is extraordinary.
Breaking: In coincidence my taking this quiz, I have read Alicia was seen “dining” with Armie Hammer. It was “nothing scandalous,” says the Page Six Source. They were in Man From Uncle together, with Cavill!
12) The last movie you saw in a theater?
The last you viewed on physical media?
Via streaming?
Theater: I’ve done all the Jane Fonda movies this year, including the very good Moving On.
Streaming: Extraction 2. I turned it off after about 10 minutes and that was too long.
Physical Media: A happy choice. I found that my public library has DVD editions of one of my favorite shows, The Expanse— which include special features and scenes that were cut from the original.
13) Who are the actors, classic and contemporary, whom you are always glad to see?
I’m on an Elmore Leonard reading binge, in anticipation of the new Justified: City Primeval series that’s opening soon.
Re-reading Leonards’ Out of Sight returned me to Soderburgh’s film version. I enjoyed George Clooney’s performance all over again. Clooney goes down real nice, every time. He and Cary Grant, could pull off a certain kind of man, whom you always want to see anew.
Speaking of Moving On, the last movie I saw in a theater: it is a Lily Tomlin vehicle, an homage. I never get tired of her; she is so special. Lily is 83!
14) Second favorite Federico Fellini film?
Second favorite?
He has many I adore, they could all be first favorites. One that doesn’t get enough love is, Nights of Cabiria. Giulietta Masina’s face, alone. I’ll never forget her.
Jon says, “La Strada, because I like 8 ½ more.”
15) Tessa Thompson or Danai Gurira?
I’m at a disadvantage. Danai became famous for her role in The Walking Dead, which, per above, I have never seen as I shy away from horror flicks. I flunk. I’m probably missing something great.
I love Tessa Thompson though, she’s in politically-edgy features that I’m attracted to: Selma, Sorry to Bother You, Passing, Mississippi Damned. I pursued her for a role when I was producing Dykes to Watch Out For, but it didn’t work out!
16) The Black Bird (the movie) or The Two Jakes?
This is a “which is more terrible?” question.
The Black Bird is a long-delayed 1975 comedy sequel to The Maltese Falcon, imagining a young PI who’s “Sam Spade, Junior.” It’s not funny, it’s dumb, but it’s forgettable; who cares.
The Two Jakes was a 1990 follow up to Chinatown, in one of the worst acts of cinematic hubris ever seen. It made me personally dislike Jack Nicholson. Where did he get off? The studio spent a mint marketing it. Hollywood ego crime.
17) Your favorite movie title?
—Not only to say the words aloud, but the graphic of the titling on the big screen— and the Ennio Morricone music — is unequalled.
Jon says: Spaceballs. Jon! (I may have to throw him off this quiz).
18) 2nd favorite Luchino Visconti film?
Death in Venice, because of who I was, when I saw it. I was 14, I think, and dimly aware of what a suppressed homosexual life, sprawling out over a generation, could mean in a story. I was finally “getting it.”
Later, it wouldn’t hit me that hard. When I was older, I loved The Witches, The Leopard.
19) What’s a movie that seems like an all-too-obvious candidate for a splashy adaptation to Broadway?
20) Who’s a fairly well-known director who you think is still consistently under-appreciated, and people are not getting it?
I’d do three: Mary Harron, Paul Schrader, David Cronenberg.
21) Chris Evans, Chris Pine, Chris Pratt, or Chris Hemsworth?
Pretty-Pratt-Pratt!
Jon sez: “Fuck all the Chris’s.” (So he’s back in the game now).
22) What's the film that unexpectedly grew in your estimation?
Keith Maitland’s Tower.
23) I Am Curious (Yellow), yes or no?
Sure, why not? For me, it’s a childhood memory of looking at risqué ads for “Swedish Shocker!” in the L.A. Times.
I wondered, “What is ‘yellow’? What is there to be ‘curious’ about?”
I considered, if it was about pee; that’s how my 9 year old brain tried to figure out why it was “adult.”
I didn’t see the movie until I found it on videocassette in my 20s, and had a jolly good laugh. It’s a politically edgy feature, so perfect for me. No urine.
24) Second favorite Lucio Fulci film?
I’ve never seen a one of his films, so now I’m intrigued. I read Fulci’s biography, and I see while he had success in Italy in every genre, he had a later career breakout in my bete noire, horror! I’d probably like one of his Spaghetti Westerns better, or his Jack London adaptions.
What I liked best about his life story is that the Vatican tried to drive him out of business twice, destroy his career, because he accused them, in film and in interview, of being abusive. I want to see those movies first!
25) Are the movies as we now know them coming to an end?
That bus left. If you watch what happens to gay porn, you will follow the yellow brick road. That is my crystal ball for the evening!
Hey, what a blast doing this!
I can’t wait to read some of your summer daydreams and answers — Susie
Just the geo question for me.
Chicago: Brian de Palma's "The Fury" which was the first time I ever realized that Chicago was actually a beach town.
New York: "The Apartment"
Grew up in Southern Cal too, so my two favorite depictions are "Chinatown" and Altman's "The Long Goodbye".
And I started disliking Jack Nicholson early on: "Five Easy Pieces" where he's so mean to Karen Black, and then mean to Ann-Margaret in "Carnal Knowledge" and then mean to Shelley Duvall in "The Shining", and the list goes on.