Sunday, April 15, 2007

A personal movie quiz


In recent weeks, this blog has had (more than) its share of entries which are devoted to and/or linked with movies. To those readers who are regulars yet aren't all that into films (like my dear mother!), I apologize even while stating that those posts rather accurately reflect what's often on my mind these days. That said, here's putting up yet another cinema-related blog entry....! ;b


For the record: This one's inspired by an on-going thread over at the Mobius Home Video Forum's Arthouse, World and Hollywood Cinema discussion board started by Mobius regular, William S. Wilson, which he entitled The personal movie quiz, Or how I learned about Mobians. Also, earlier today, I posted my responses to his twenty-three-in-total queries along with some thirty other Mobians already.

However, not least on account of William having -- as he openly admitted -- borrowed those questions from a blog (in particular, that which belongs to fellow Mobian, Marty McKee), here's thinking that it would be a good thing if I "returned" this poll to the blogosphere; with the added bonus that by posting it over on this blog, film fans who are not Mobians can join in on the fun! (And yes, I really do hope -- and would be interested in seeing -- that you do, including by posting your own responses on this entry's comments section. :b)

In addition, what I'd like to do is turn this quiz into a blog meme. And to this end, here's taking the further action to "tag"-- I hope they'll read this post! -- the individuals behind the Falling Stone are not Heavy and just me blogs to respond to take this personal movie quiz over on their blogs; albeit with the proviso that upon their doing so, they alert me to their doing so by doing such as linking back to this entry! :b

Also, in the interests of "playing fair" (e.g., to provide proof that I have indeed taken the quiz myself!), here's copying out the answers I submitted over at the Mobius Home Video Forum and placing them on this post with three caveats: i.e., firstly, that for the sake of brevity, I named just one movie or actor per answer; secondly, I couldn't resist adding a few comments here and there to my original responses; and thirdly, that since the original quiz had two number fives, I thought it would make for less confusion to renumber one of them as 5a.

1. Name a movie that you have seen more than 10 times.

Peking Opera Blues -- and I lost count of the times I've viewed it after the first 50 times... ;S

2. Name a movie that you've seen multiple times in the theater.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon -- and to add to this "feat", I saw it in five different cities: i.e., Penang and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; and Philadelphia, Los Angeles and New York in the U.S.A.! :o

3. Name an actor that would make you more inclined to see a movie.

With the idea that actor = male or female here: Brigitte Lin Ching-Hsia. (But of course! ;b)

4. Name an actor that would make you less likely to see a movie.

Zhang Ziyi -- and that there are two films on this list which star her are a testament to how highly esteem I them in spite of her presence in them... :S

5. Name a movie that you can and do quote from.

Cool Hand Luke: For example, "I can eat 50 eggs!"; also, "What we have here is a failure to communicate..."

5(a). Name a movie musical that you know all of the lyrics to all of the songs.

The Sound of Music.

6. Name a movie that you have been known to sing along with.

Since I'm trying not to repeat my answers: Mary Poppins (rather than The Song of Music).

7. Name a movie that you would recommend everyone see.

My Neighbor Totoro.

8. Name a movie that you own.

Beau Travail -- Suffice to say that I own a video copy of more than one movie and it would be a chore to list them all. So I figure that I might as well go ahead here and name the film that people are least likely to know that I own! ;)

9. Name an actor that launched his/her entertainment career in another medium but who has surprised you with his/her acting chops.

The late Leslie Cheung.

10. Have you ever seen a movie in a drive-in? If so, what?

Yes, but it was so long ago that I forget the title of the movie(s)!

11. Name a movie that you keep meaning to see but just haven't yet gotten around to it.

A Taste of Cherry.

12. Ever walked out of a movie?

Yep, but I've not done so in years.

13. Name a movie that made you cry in the theater.

Hotel Rwanda -- which, didn't just make me cry but, instead, weep loudly at least three separate times over the course of a single screening.

14. Popcorn?

Only for "popcorn" type movies! Put another way: I don't much like hearing the sound of my -- never mind anybody else... -- munching popcorn during the quieter moments of quieter type films!

15. How often do you go to the movies (as opposed to renting them or watching them at home)?

The average is once every two weeks or so over here in Malaysia.

16. What's the last movie you saw in the theater?

Bubble Fiction: Boom or Bust -- over at the Hong Kong International Film Festival. Outside of film festivals, it was Just Follow Law (a Singaporean comedy starring Fann Wong (Shanghai Knights) and Gurmit Singh -- who actually is far more loveable than his sobriquet of "Asia's Jim Carrey" makes him sound!).

17. What's your favorite/preferred genre of movie?

I can't choose just one genre!!!! Also, I really like movies that are multi-genre and/or genre-transcending in nature!

18. What's the first movie you remember seeing in the theater?

Probably The Sound of Music -- Oops, just broke my resolution to avoid answering with the same title more than once! ;(

19. What movie do you wish you had never seen?

Kill Bill 1 -- and since it was banned in Malaysia, I even bought an expensive Australian DVD of it in order to view the movie!

20. What is the weirdest movie you enjoyed?

Princess Raccoon.

21. What is the scariest movie you've seen?

The Eye (the Hong Kong original, that is) -- in particular, the elevator scene almost gave me heart failure!

22. What is the funniest movie you've seen?

I tend to love the comedies that throw in a bit of pathos best but the movie that's made me laugh the loudest and most in recent times is My Wife is a Gangster.

27 comments:

Willow said...

I also loved the elevator scene in "The Eye." haha. Creeepy! I kept thinking that in a situation like that, I would've probably taken a swing at the ghost...or something. haha. Or at least moved.

I think the first English-languaged movie I'd seen in a theater was "Blazing Saddles" by Mel Brooks. An older cousin brought his younger sister and I. A theater on Polk St. in San Fran.

An interesting tidbit: I worked in a movie theater during high school. Was never wild about popcorn. Stale popcorn to boot.

YTSL said...

Hi Willow --

Re popcorn: I actually love popcorn -- especially buttered popcorn but caramel flavored popcorn too. But I prefer to eat popcorn outside of the cinema (e.g., when I'm reading in bed!). :b

So...are you going to do this movie quiz over on your blog? :)

Willow said...

Yes, I will put it on my blog.

YTSL said...

Hi again Willow --

I look forward to seeing your answers to this quiz over at your blog! :)

Anonymous said...

ok, i have posted mine :)

YTSL said...

Hi hdoong --

Thanks for responding to my tag! So...who have you "tagged" in turn? ;)

Stefan S said...

Hi YTSL

I'm surprised you've caught the singaporean film Just Follow Law, and know about Gurmit Singh!

Yeah I'm a fellow Gooner as well, and I was at the HKIFF too! But I was in HK from 17th March and had to leave on April Fool's! :P Awesome, you managed to catch Bubble Fiction :)

I've added a link to your blog from mine, will be a regular reader from now on! :)

Anonymous said...

1. Name a movie that you have seen more than 10 times.

Stripes, Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, Star Wars, Empire Strikes Back, King Kong (1933), Wish You Were Here, Taxi Driver, Animal House, Bottle Rocket

2. Name a movie that you've seen multiple times in the theater.

My record is Hollywood Shuffle which I saw probably 8 times the summer it was out (1987) in various $1 theaters when they existed in this area.

Empire Strikes Back I saw 10 times the first year it was in theaters in 1980.

3. Name an actor that would make you more inclined to see a movie.

Anita Yuen, William Holden, Jean Harlow

4. Name an actor that would make you less likely to see a movie.

Jeff Daniels, Bill Pullman, Bill Paxton -- the trilogy of terror for me

5. Name a movie that you can and do quote from.

Bottle Rocket

5(a). Name a movie musical that you know all of the lyrics to all of the songs.

Singin in the Rain

6. Name a movie that you have been known to sing along with.

Starstruck

7. Name a movie that you would recommend everyone see.

Midnight Cowboy

8. Name a movie that you own.

Going for non-HK here: Withnail and I

9. Name an actor that launched his/her entertainment career in another medium but who has surprised you with his/her acting chops.

Does Cecilia Cheung count since she was a singer first, right? She was great in Failan.

10. Have you ever seen a movie in a drive-in? If so, what?

Yes, dozens as a kid in 1970s America. Most vividly: Taxi Driver during its first run, Race with the Devil, Play It Again Sam, Blazing Saddles, etc.

11. Name a movie that you keep meaning to see but just haven't yet gotten around to it.

Two Towers and Return of the King

12. Ever walked out of a movie?

The Name of the Rose, Superman IV, Peter's Friends

13. Name a movie that made you cry in the theater.

DOZENS -- I cry usually at happy moments, not the obvious sad ones.

So, that said, Superman Returns -- cried like a baby when he saved the airplane with Lois aboard

14. Popcorn?

Not any more as it aggravates my asthma

15. How often do you go to the movies (as opposed to renting them or watching them at home)?

Once a month or so

16. What's the last movie you saw in the theater?

Grindhouse

17. What's your favorite/preferred genre of movie?

Any but not too many Westerns unless they were directed by John Ford or Howard Hawks

18. What's the first movie you remember seeing in the theater?

The Golden Voyage of Sinbad

19. What movie do you wish you had never seen?

Ponette -- seemed like psychological child abuse to me

20. What is the weirdest movie you enjoyed?

What's weird to you might not be weird to me. Or something.

Roller Boogie with Linda Blair.

21. What is the scariest movie you've seen?

Race with the Devil when I was 9 but is just silly now.

Rambo due to the audience reaction which made me ashamed to be an American.

22. What is the funniest movie you've seen?

For rewatchability: Animal House or Planes, Trains, and Automobiles.

HK: Maybe Chinese Feast which I adored.

Edmund Yeo said...

Whoohoo, you share my contempt for Zhang Ziyi!

Any thoughts on the HK Film Awards? :D I just posted mine.

Er, and what's wrong with Kill Bill 1?

Anonymous said...

Hey I like Kill Bill 1...BUT am willing to admit that is just a collection of "greatest hits" bits from other, better, sources.

I thought Kill Bill 2 was boring as Tarantino was trying for something more and failing.

Tarantino either needs to go all out and be ridiculous like Kill Bill 1 OR he needs a good writer behind him (Jackie Brown), otherwise, he is not that great.

His section of Grindhouse was tedious and pretentious and just an empty genre exercise without the coolness of Kill Bill 1 IMHO

Madara said...

That's funny, I was gonna put Zhang Ziyi as my answer to:
"Name an actor that would make you MORE inclined to see a movie"
But I opted to put Chow Yun-Fat instead.

YTSL said...

Hi Stefan S. --

"I'm surprised you've caught the singaporean film Just Follow Law, and know about Gurmit Singh!"

You're the second Singaporean I know to tell me that with regards to the movie. FYI, it played in cinemas over here in Malaysia. Did you think that after HOMERUN, all of Jack Neo's movies would get banned here? ;)

As for Gurmit Singh: Have heard of Phua Chu Kang (though I've not seen the TV show) and enjoyed his cameos in such as the Singapore-Hong Kong co-production, WE ARE FAMILY. :)

"Yeah I'm a fellow Gooner as well, and I was at the HKIFF too! But I was in HK from 17th March and had to leave on April Fool's!"

Had a look at your blog and it seems that we were at two of the same screenings: i.e., those for NANKING and UNDERCOVER. :b

"I've added a link to your blog from mine, will be a regular reader from now on! :)"

Thanks, and I'll do the same after I respond to all the new comments that popped up since I last went on line. :)

Hi Glenn --

Thanks for playing! BOTTLE ROCKET -- that's another film I've been meaning to see for some time now...Also, it might please you to know that I *have* seen -- and liked -- MIDNIGHT COWBOY. :)

Hi Swifty --

"Any thoughts on the HK Film Awards?"

Plenty, but I didn't think that they'd be worth devoting blogging about! ;)

"Er, and what's wrong with Kill Bill 1?"

Hmmm...you could begin by checking out the essay I linked to that title. Also, out of curiosity, here's asking whether you're familiar with a lot of the films that KILL BILL 1 was, um, inspired by (or should I go ahead and say "ripped off" and/or cultural politically inverted)? :S

Hi again Glenn --

"Hey I like Kill Bill 1...BUT am willing to admit that is just a collection of "greatest hits" bits from other, better, sources."

Like I tried to hint at above, it's not just the ripping off but the cultural politics-tinged cultural inversion that stuck in my throat... :S

Hi Leo86 --

"That's funny, I was gonna put Zhang Ziyi as my answer to:
"Name an actor that would make you MORE inclined to see a movie""

Let's put it this way: I got tired of Zhang Ziyi doing "feisty but spoilt and pouty" before HERO came out. She's a good actress but she's become typecast and consequently single-note, don't you think?

YTSL said...

Hi again Stefan S --

Done with regards to the linking! And BTW, always nice to meet -- even in cyberspace -- a fellow Gooner as well as filmophile. :b

Anonymous said...

hello again. I will agree that there are some big cultural problems with Kill Bill namely that Tarantino has these cultural signifiers of using the Bruce Lee outfit for Uma and then having David Carradine as the main villain -- Carradine being the guy that replaced Lee in the US TV show Kung Fu AND then having the theme song from Green Horent -- Lee's US TV show -- used as Uma raced into Tokyo.

So he has all this in place and you sit there expecting some kind of statement about something -- how the West appropriates Asian images or heroes or something -- and then nothing.

Tarantino pretends to make some kind of points about the ripping-off by simply doing more ripping-off.

I'm not justifying him but I can say that as a Westerner, Kill Bill 1 worked on a very, very, very simple level but it has less depth than even the most minor Shaw Brothers kung fu film.

AND to rub salt in the wound, it was released by Miramax, the very company who is the worst offender in ripping off and redubbing and recutting and rescoring and generally butchering genuine Asian action flicks.

Yes, all that is not lost on me, just saying that I did enjoy the first one for what it was.

And Midnight Cowboy has stayed in my top 5 ever since I saw it edited on TV when I was 13. Has never gotten old.

I highly recommend Bottle Rocket with the caveat that Owen Wilson has done that same schtick far too many times in the 11 years since then. However, if you can watch Bottle Rocket and pretend you've never suffered through another Wilson flick, you will probably enjoy it more.

YTSL said...

A message to Swifty and interested others --

Okay, okay, I went ahead and posted my thoughts re the Hong Kong Film Awards this evening! Beware though as that post is on the long side.

And Glenn --

I'll respond to your latest set of comments after I've had a bit of a rest, if you don't mind! :)

Stefan S said...

Hi YTSL

guess I wasn't aware of Jack's exploits across the Causeway, after Homerun ;)

Phua Chu Kang is in its final season here... frankly you've missed nothing :P I thought only the first few seasons were ok, then it decided to overstay its primetime tv spot :P

haha, where were you seated during Undercover? I was right in front sitting along the same row as Prof Bordwell, though he was at the center seat and I was at the aisle, didn't dare sit near the great man :) (needed the front row so I can stretch my legs)

YTSL said...

Hi again Glenn --

And now that I've had my breather... ;)

"I will agree that there are some big cultural problems with Kill Bill namely that Tarantino has these cultural signifiers of using the Bruce Lee outfit for Uma..."

And having Uma in her Bruce Lee-inspired outfit go out and, among other things, kill what appears to be hundreds of masked/faceless, lookalike -- or, at least, dress-alike -- Asian men in that scene at the restaurant that could be viewed as a contemporary successor to old fight scenes in the inn made famous by, say, King Hu in COME DRINK WITH ME, etc., etc. Etc.

"I'm not justifying him but I can say that as a Westerner, Kill Bill 1 worked on a very, very, very simple level but it has less depth than even the most minor Shaw Brothers kung fu film."

I'll be kind and say that KILL BILL 1 has more or at least equivalent depth to more than one minor Shaw Brothers kung fu film. Rather, it's the cultural political messages that I feel the Tarantino work sends out -- implicitly, if not explicitly -- that gets my goat and me all concerned.

"AND to rub salt in the wound, it was released by Miramax..."

Exactly. And to put it in a different way from you: The company that has made more than one American think that Quentin Tarantino directed CHUNGKING EXPRESS rather than Wong Kar Wai, and IRON MONKEY rather than Yuen Woo Ping!

"Yes, all that is not lost on me, just saying that I did enjoy the first one for what it was."

For what it's worth, there is at least one level at which I can enjoy KILL BILL 1. That is, if I can forget to be concerned and angry by its whole cultural political equation.

Moving on: I was lucky enough to have seen MIDNIGHT EXPRESS on a big screen (courtesy of my undergraduate college's excellent free classic films series).

As for Owen Wilson: I actually don't mind him too much. Or his brother Luke -- who I just saw on TV in THE FAMILY STONE (which, of course, I liked best for Diane Keaton being in it!). :)

YTSL said...

Hi Stefan S --

I was seated a few rows back from you and David Bordwell at the UNDERCOVER screening. (You may have noticed me though: I was the bespectacled person who was talking to him before and after the screening.)

And teeheehee re your not daring to sit near him!!! For myself, I prefer not to sit in the front row of the City Hall theatre because there's a stage in front and that can block the view of the subtitles that get beamed electronically on the strip below the screen. ;)

YTSL said...

Glenn --

Oh, bleeeh! Maybe I should have rested longer. Meant to write MIDNIGHT *COWBOY* (rather than EXPRESS) in my above response to your comments, of course!!! ;(

Stefan S said...

Hi YTSL, yeah I think I may have! haha

Yup, it's the first time I saw subtitles being projected onto a make-shift subtitle-area below the screen, versus having the subtitles come with the print :)

And they were pretty accurate too!

YTSL said...

Hi again Stefan S --

Scary -- or should I say cool? -- how small the Asian film fan world can be... ;D

"Yup, it's the first time I saw subtitles being projected onto a make-shift subtitle-area below the screen, versus having the subtitles come with the print :)"

I've only ever seen this in Hong Kong. Nice to see the HKIFF folks (and outside of the HKIFF -- the Hong Kong Film Archive) make this subtitling effort. :)

Anonymous said...

This was great! Lots of interesting answers, and movies I'll have to check out. As well as some interesting points about movies I know. (I'll have to spend some time reflecting on "Kill Bill"...I'm afraid I thought the movie was fun...sorry...)

And wowie! Are there ever a lot of comments for this post. I meant to comment a couple of days ago, and was startled to come back to see over 20 comments!

YTSL said...

Hi Alejna --

Glad you got much out of the post. :)

As for the number of comments: Cool, ain't it? (Though I've noticed that a fair number of them actually were made by me in response to those left by others!) And I hope people keep on feeling free plus inclined to comment, etc. -- on this and other posts on the blog! :)

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
YTSL said...

Hi Anonymous --

Sorry, but I get the feeling that your message was a ruse to advertise the sale of some movie items on your site. Consequently, I've (temporarily) deleted your comments but if you can prove that it's otherwise, I will restore said comments.

Anonymous said...

ytsl- Hi i have seen that you did delete my comment, well actually i was sharinga site that some peopple might want to see, it's not just about making sales, but they can also see different movies which they might have been looking for. This may alkso serve as a refenrence though. hope you will consider. :)

YTSL said...

Hi again anonymous --

I've considered but am not going back on my original stance. Sorry.