Thrillingly stolen from Manos
1) What movie character/role would you like to play?
One that isn't onscreen yet is Pi Patel in Life of Pi from the novel by Yann Martel. Otherwise, Annie in Annie Hall or Dignam in The Departed.
2) If they were going to make a movie based on your life, who would play you (aside from you) and who would direct it?
I would ideally want Elijah Wood, even though he's shorter and lighter. I think he combines the possibility for wide-eyed innocence (what? WHAT? I had that. . .once) with strength. Not sure if he could do the comic timing, though. BAH, I'm at a loss. . .thoughts/suggestions?
Director would have to be Ang Lee who can tell any kind of story.
3) Name five films you've seen many times and explain why they mean a lot to you:
1. Annie Hall (Woody Allen, 1977)
Back in the day when people already thought of me as a crazy film buff but I wasn't nearly the buff I am today, there was Annie Hall. Showing me what Woody Allen knew about human nature and disecting it, and throwing in Diane Keaton's best work EVER, not to mention one of the best performances by ANY lead actress ever. I still think it's the best romantic comedy ever made (It Happened One Night comes close). This movie led me into Allen's brilliance better than Manhattan Murder Mystery (the only other film of his I'd seen- a very funny movie revisited recently) ever could. All I could do when it was finished was watch it again. It gives me warm feelings every time I watch. Also, it's a movie that I can share with my sister, which is always welcome.
Alvy (Woody Allen): And I love what you're wearing. It's terrific.
Annie (Diane Keaton): Yeah? This tie was a present from Grammy Hall.
Alvy: Your. . .
Annie: Yeah, my Grammy.
Alvy: I don't believe this, your Grammy? What'd you grow up in a Norman Rockwell painting?
Annie laughs
Alvy (cont'd): Yeah well, my Grammy never gave presents. She was too busy getting raped by Cossacks.
2. Roxanne (Fred Schepsi, 1987)
It was the 20 (actually 24, my sister and I counted once) nose jokes that initially made me love this story, plus my deeply romantic nature. It's a hysterical remake of Cyrano de Bergerac with Steve Martin playing the Cyrano role as C.D. Bales, a small town fire chief. Post-Splash but pre-Elle Driver, Daryl Hannah is Roxanne and Rick Rossovich the bumbling Chris who also loves Roxanne. A hilarious spin on the balcony scene in Romeo & Juliet is only one of the many great moments in this movie that is what rom-coms aren't anymore, which is both romantic and funny. Roxanne reminds me of being young and innocent in a "watching while sitting between my parents" sort of way, since I was very young when I first saw it.
3. Before Sunrise/Before Sunset (Richard Linklater, 1995/2004)
This is cheating, but the pair work so well that I must include both, though I like Sunset slightly better. While I'm now older than Jesse and Celine when they meet in Before Sunrise, I was several years younger when I saw both of these films. Is the one you met just once right for you? Can one night really mean the rest of your life? All of my silly notions of romance are well on display, but these movies do not exist in a parallell world of perfect love, and the characters are not simple, nor one-dimensional. Jesse and Celine pulsate with life and reality, but boy do they go right for the heart.
4. 12 Angry Men (Sidney Lumet, 1957)
I have a thing for movies that take place all in one or two locations. The vast majority of Lumet's tense film plays out in a jury room where 12 men are deciding a young man's fate. This is another pre-"everyone knows what a movie buff you are" movie for me, and I remember watching it after my sister saw it in law class. I was so engaged that I was muttering along things like "But he wiped the knife clean" when certain facts of the murder they were examining came up. Best. Movie. Ever.
5. The Sound of Music (Robert Wise, 1965)
Old family tradition pre-DVDs: watching this film every spring when it plays on TV. Now that we have that old standby, the two-disc special edition, we turn that on once the first commercial comes up in the 4.5 hour running time of the TV version that STILL includes cuts. Deeper than just a pleasant romance, better than almost any movie musical I've seen, this movie means family connection and cozying up under one blanket and 3 hours of happiness. Plus giggling over the cattiness of the Baroness which my sister and I didn't understand as kids.
In other news, I got a job at Pier 1. . .yay employment!
One that isn't onscreen yet is Pi Patel in Life of Pi from the novel by Yann Martel. Otherwise, Annie in Annie Hall or Dignam in The Departed.
2) If they were going to make a movie based on your life, who would play you (aside from you) and who would direct it?
I would ideally want Elijah Wood, even though he's shorter and lighter. I think he combines the possibility for wide-eyed innocence (what? WHAT? I had that. . .once) with strength. Not sure if he could do the comic timing, though. BAH, I'm at a loss. . .thoughts/suggestions?
Director would have to be Ang Lee who can tell any kind of story.
3) Name five films you've seen many times and explain why they mean a lot to you:
1. Annie Hall (Woody Allen, 1977)
Back in the day when people already thought of me as a crazy film buff but I wasn't nearly the buff I am today, there was Annie Hall. Showing me what Woody Allen knew about human nature and disecting it, and throwing in Diane Keaton's best work EVER, not to mention one of the best performances by ANY lead actress ever. I still think it's the best romantic comedy ever made (It Happened One Night comes close). This movie led me into Allen's brilliance better than Manhattan Murder Mystery (the only other film of his I'd seen- a very funny movie revisited recently) ever could. All I could do when it was finished was watch it again. It gives me warm feelings every time I watch. Also, it's a movie that I can share with my sister, which is always welcome.
Alvy (Woody Allen): And I love what you're wearing. It's terrific.
Annie (Diane Keaton): Yeah? This tie was a present from Grammy Hall.
Alvy: Your. . .
Annie: Yeah, my Grammy.
Alvy: I don't believe this, your Grammy? What'd you grow up in a Norman Rockwell painting?
Annie laughs
Alvy (cont'd): Yeah well, my Grammy never gave presents. She was too busy getting raped by Cossacks.
2. Roxanne (Fred Schepsi, 1987)
It was the 20 (actually 24, my sister and I counted once) nose jokes that initially made me love this story, plus my deeply romantic nature. It's a hysterical remake of Cyrano de Bergerac with Steve Martin playing the Cyrano role as C.D. Bales, a small town fire chief. Post-Splash but pre-Elle Driver, Daryl Hannah is Roxanne and Rick Rossovich the bumbling Chris who also loves Roxanne. A hilarious spin on the balcony scene in Romeo & Juliet is only one of the many great moments in this movie that is what rom-coms aren't anymore, which is both romantic and funny. Roxanne reminds me of being young and innocent in a "watching while sitting between my parents" sort of way, since I was very young when I first saw it.
3. Before Sunrise/Before Sunset (Richard Linklater, 1995/2004)
This is cheating, but the pair work so well that I must include both, though I like Sunset slightly better. While I'm now older than Jesse and Celine when they meet in Before Sunrise, I was several years younger when I saw both of these films. Is the one you met just once right for you? Can one night really mean the rest of your life? All of my silly notions of romance are well on display, but these movies do not exist in a parallell world of perfect love, and the characters are not simple, nor one-dimensional. Jesse and Celine pulsate with life and reality, but boy do they go right for the heart.
4. 12 Angry Men (Sidney Lumet, 1957)
I have a thing for movies that take place all in one or two locations. The vast majority of Lumet's tense film plays out in a jury room where 12 men are deciding a young man's fate. This is another pre-"everyone knows what a movie buff you are" movie for me, and I remember watching it after my sister saw it in law class. I was so engaged that I was muttering along things like "But he wiped the knife clean" when certain facts of the murder they were examining came up. Best. Movie. Ever.
5. The Sound of Music (Robert Wise, 1965)
Old family tradition pre-DVDs: watching this film every spring when it plays on TV. Now that we have that old standby, the two-disc special edition, we turn that on once the first commercial comes up in the 4.5 hour running time of the TV version that STILL includes cuts. Deeper than just a pleasant romance, better than almost any movie musical I've seen, this movie means family connection and cozying up under one blanket and 3 hours of happiness. Plus giggling over the cattiness of the Baroness which my sister and I didn't understand as kids.
In other news, I got a job at Pier 1. . .yay employment!