June 2005

The Monday Movie Quiz #64

Filed under: Imported

Gotta go out of town again, so I'm posting the quiz a day early this time. It's a photo quiz, and while it will prove no problem to the unstumpable trio of Palmer, Parmer, and Yarber, I'm interested in seeing if anyone else knows this movie. If you do, send me an email by late Sunday next, and if you're right, expect to see your name in our top-secret winners circle.

P.S. One hint: one of the stars is a big favorite of mine, and I have written previously on how to determine his good films and his great films-- if he's bald, it's a good one, and if he's bald and eats a meal, it's a great one. Of course, this movie was made before he lost his hair, so the above doesn't apply.

Posted by Steve Monaco at June 26, 2005 4:22 PM

Last week's Movie Quiz winners

Filed under: Imported

In the DVD featurette about the making of The King of Comedy, director Martin Scorcese states that its protagonist, Rupert Pupkin (played by Robert DeNiro), is a scarier character than Taxi Driver's Travis Bickle, and Sandra Bernhard admits to being afraid of Jerry Lewis. In other words, as funny as it is, it's really a story of two frightening, disturbed guys.

Much of what makes them scary is the unexpected role-reversal the two actors engage in. Without ever slipping into caricature the way he does now (remember when seeing Bob's name in the credits was a good thing?), DeNiro portrays Rupert as a surreal character. Lewis, on the other hand, has never been so real, and his flat-affect approach has made viewers wonder for over 20 years if this is the "real" Jerry. The odd coupling worked-- in their scenes together, DeNiro is a likable stalker and Lewis comes across like a barely-closeted serial killer.

As a quiz, the movie was more difficult than I thought, actually fooling a couple of regular winners. So congratulations to the following experts for getting it right: Wayne Palmer, Eric Yarber, Tammy Riggins, Mark Gisleson, and Hank Parmer.

P.S. Go here for the story behind this picture.

Posted by Steve Monaco at June 26, 2005 4:05 PM

The Monday Movie Quiz #63

Filed under: Imported

Welcome to the new and improved quiz, where-- the City Pages webpage willing-- the new one will appear once again on Monday morning, bright and early.

One sound clip, two of the most recognizable voices in movies. Put 'em together and figure it out. When you do, send me an email by late Sunday with the movie's title. If you're correct, expect to see your name in next week's royally funny winners circle.

Posted by Steve Monaco at June 20, 2005 4:10 AM

Last week's Movie Quiz winners

Filed under: Imported

There's no defending last week's quiz movie, the 1936 serial Undersea Kingdom, but I love it anyway. Co-directed by B-Western great Joseph Kane, it stars Ray "Crash" Corrigan, who made a lot of Westerns himself after breaking into movies as a professional gorilla-- he had his own suit and was an unbilled ape for his first several film performances. The story follows Crash and his posse as they take a submarine ride to Atlantis and incur the wrath of Unga Khan (played by sour-faced character actor Monte Blue, who was in over 250 films and did stuntwork in Birth of a Nation).

The rest of the cast is fun, as well, especially Smiley Burnette and Frankie Marvin as Briny Deep and Salty, who accomplish the impossible and provide comedy relief that's actually funny. It even features Lon Chaney, Jr., three years before Of Mice and Men.

So congratulations to the following serial buffs who recognized one of the best the genre has to offer: Wayne Palmer, Jim Scott, Tammy Riggins, E. Yarber, Hank Parmer, Mark Gisleson and Connor Rice.

Posted by Steve Monaco at June 20, 2005 3:56 AM

The Monday Movie Quiz #62

Filed under: Imported

Put this friendly-looking cuss

together with this little sissy

then add this joker.

Now name the movie. Since this is probably a toughie even for our experts, I'm going to perhaps over-compensate with a big hint: the hero had a nickname, both in the story and real life, that sounds like an auto accident.

So . . . if you know this fine, fine-looking movie, send me an email with the title before late Sunday night. If you're right, expect to see your name in our soggy winners circle next  week.

Posted by Steve Monaco at June 13, 2005 10:46 PM

Last week's Movie Quiz winners

Filed under: Imported

I'm not a Sylvester Stallone hater-- I still think Rocky is a terrific movie and the road not taken for him as an actor, and I think he was great in Cop Land, where he shared the screen with DeNiro and Keitel and was better than both of them. But what was Sly thinking when he remade Get Carter, and put himself up for comparison with Michael Caine in one of the latter's all-time best roles? (In fact, some say it is his best, and I may be one of them.)

The original Get Carter is still a treat in every way. Besides Caine's amazing turn as a professional hit man looking for his brother's killers, the supporting cast is similarly striking, both the ugly ones like Ian Hendry and the beautiful, especially Britt Ekland in a scene that, once seen, is never forgotten (at least not by hetero males of a certain age, like mine). And the music by Roy Budd is one of the grooviest Euro-crime scores ever; in fact, it's so good that the DVD has a music-only track for the film.

Congratulations, then, for the guys who got it from last week's clues: Wayne Palmer, E. Yarber, Joe Rosenberg, Hank Parmer, and Bill Hearne.

Posted by Steve Monaco at June 13, 2005 10:45 PM

The Monday Movie Quiz #61

Filed under: Imported

Two sound clues for this week's movie in question: first, a musical clue, and second, some dialogue featuring the film's instantly-recognizable star. Know the title? Then send me an email by late Sunday night, and then brace yourself for your appearance in next week's winners circle.

(Need a hint? Not too long ago, this movie was remade, and the 50 people who saw it all agreed that it sucked, especially compared to the original. The star of the remake was the subject of one of my postings at the City Pages artblog Culture to Go. See if you can figure out who, and then see if that helps.)

Posted by Steve Monaco at June 6, 2005 11:15 PM

Last week's Movie Quiz winners

Filed under: Imported

It's funny to think that one of the greatest last-line endings in the history of movies occured because of a mistake, but that's what happened with the famous final words of I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang. The last scene, which takes place in a parking garage at night, was to show the protagonist (played by the great Paul Muni) receding into the shadows, and when his girlfriend asked, "How do you eat?", he was to respond, "I steal!" and the shot was to then fade out. But a light on the set blew out before Muni said the words, so the lines emerges from total darkness. Needless to say, when director Mervyn LeRoy saw how effective this new, serendipitous ending played, he kept it, and lovers of this picture have been thankful ever since.

73 years after it was released, I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang can still evoke a feeling of outrage. Back then, it inspired the country to end the chain-gang system in the South. (No surprise, it was banned in Georgia, the unmentioned state it's set in.) It's the kind of movie we need today more than ever.

Anyway, the three-way gauntlet I threw down with this quiz was handily dismissed (or whatever winners do to thrown gauntlets) by the three I named-- Wayne Palmer, E. Yarber, and Hank Parmer-- but they were joined by a newcomer to the quiz. Welcome, Tammy, and congratulations to you and our regular trio of unstumpables. Your pardons are in the mail!

Posted by Steve Monaco at June 6, 2005 11:15 PM

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