August 2005

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Last week's Movie Quiz winners

Filed under: Imported

I think Leonard Maltin and Co. have last week's quiz movie Portrait of Jennie pretty well summed up: "David O. Selznick craftsmanship and a fine cast work wonders with foolish story based on the Robert Nathan novella." I'd also add, though, that the silliness of the plot-- a painter meets and loves a ghost girl who grows older every time he sees her-- is easy to overlook thanks to that cast (Joseph Cotten and Jennifer Jones as the young lovers, with old pros like Ethel Barrymore and Lillian Gish) and that lavish Selznick production. Plus, it's a joy just to look at and listen to: the b&w cinematography by Joseph H. August (his last film) is deep and lovely, and the music, based on works by Debussy, actually evokes the feeling of a dream.

The DVD is the objet d'art that fans of Jennie have always wanted: a beautiful transfer that also preserves the final color scenes. I'm a member of the TV generation who saw it without the tinting or final Technicolor shot of the painting, so I was especially thrilled with this. (By the way, look closely at that last scene in the art gallery: one of the teenagers mooning over the portrait is Anne "Honey West" Francis, and another is Nancy Davis Reagan!)

So kudos to the following romantic guys who recognized this lovely movie: Wayne Palmer, Bill Hearne, E. Yarber, Jack Kusler, Glenn Johnson, Hank Parmer, and Matthew Harris. A fine turn-out of winners this week-- see you all next time.

Posted by Steve Monaco at August 29, 2005 11:50 PM

 

The Monday Movie Quiz #72

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It's another picture clue this time, and you can see it here. If you know the name of the film the pic is from, send me an email by late Sunday night, and if you're right, expect to see your name added to next week's smoochy winners circle.

Posted by Steve Monaco at August 29, 2005 2:01 AM

 

The Monday Movie Quiz #71

Filed under: Imported

It's a quiz for the old movie buffs this time-- they'll probably find it laughably easy and everyone else will find it ridiculously tough. See which group you're in by putting this picture

with this sound clip. A couple hints: 1) I left the music a bit at the fade because the composer used for the film (his works were "adapted" for the soundtrack) was, at the time, an unusual choice, and 2) the male voice in the soundclip belongs to a cast member of what many film critics still consider the best film ever made

So if you know the name of this week's unknown movie, send me an email by late Sunday night. If you're right, expect to see your name in next Sunday's quickly-aging winners circle

Posted by Steve Monaco at August 22, 2005 11:09 PM

 

The Monday Movie Quiz takes a vacation

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I've got a lot to do this week to get ready for my move out of Minneapolis (as I like to think of it), so I'm afraid I'll have to take a one-week break from the quiz. I know the earlier on-again, off-again nature of the quiz and this blog got frustrating for some of you, but I should be settled in a month or so, and the disruptions should be few. In fact, I should soon be able to start doing more non-quiz stuff again, which I haven't been able to do for awhile. So thanks for letting me take a vacation, and I'll see you next week.

Posted by Steve Monaco at August 15, 2005 10:46 PM

 

Last week's Movie Quiz winners

Filed under: Imported

A faulty computer and complications in my move back to Des Moines make it necessary to keep this brief. The movie in question last week was Caddyshack (1980), directed by Harold Ramis (his feature film debut) and starring Rodney Dangerfield, Ted Knight, and Bill Murray. You might notice Chevy Chase's name on the poster above, taking top billing-- watching the movie then and now, you hardly notice that he's in it, except that the pace of his scenes lags a bit. Rodney, Ted and Bill are the whole show.

So congratulations and a Baby Ruth to the following winners: Mark Gisleson, Wayne Palmer, Jack Sparks, Hank Parmer, E. Yarber, cjacoby, Tammy Riggins, and Corey Anderson.  

Posted by Steve Monaco at August 15, 2005 10:46 PM

 

Last week's Movie Quiz winners

Filed under: Imported

Well, it wasn't the toughest movie quiz ever-- off the top of my head, I'd say that was the 1928 Disney cartoon, The Skeleton Dance, which got no answers, correct or otherwise-- but last week's clues were still apparently beyond almost everybody. Perhaps if I'd played the theme music, "Hall of the Mountain King," or even the picture of Peter Lorre above, we might have had more winners, but then I would have heard about how easy the quiz was. 

Anyway, the film in question was Fritz Lang's masterpiece, M, a movie that's as powerful today as it was 75 years ago. Watching it again, I was struck all over at how great the climactic scene is. The setup is brilliant: the crooks are after the child murderer (Lorre), but so are the cops, and it's a race to see who gets him first. The genius of the scene is the ambiguous feelings it creates in the viewer for all involved. On the one hand, you're glad to see Lorre cringing with terror (the same way his small victims undoubtedly did), but because the actor's performance has humanized him, you actually empathize for him, too. Likewise with the criminals who are after him-- you hope they get him, until it sinks in that they're killers, also.

The imdb entry for M contains some pretty interesting facts about the film's production, and this website has a very informative page about the different DVDs of the film for sale at the moment. And Roger Ebert's review of its restoration is Ebert at his best, discussing how Lang's hatred of the Nazis shaped the film. All of the above is worthwhile reading for admirers of the picture.

So congratulations as usual to the three unstumpables, without whom I sometimes wonder what I'd do for quiz winners: Wayne Palmer, E. Yarber, and Hank Parmer. Thanks and a big balloon to you all.

Posted by Steve Monaco at August 8, 2005 11:32 PM

 

The Monday Movie Quiz #70

Filed under: Imported

Last week's quiz was such a fiasco that we're going to do things in reverse order this week-- I'll write about the film and name the winners a little later, but for now let's start anew with this sound quiz.

Not hard at all, eh? Then send me an email by late Sunday night with the name of the movie. If you're correct, expect to see your name in next week's winners circle.

Posted by Steve Monaco at August 8, 2005 6:12 AM

 

Monday Movie Quiz update

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Okay, the audio clue was really tough (and shitty-sounding, but it's the best there is-- it's from the earliest days of talkies), here's a picture to go with it. See if this helps.

 

Posted by Steve Monaco at August 3, 2005 5:17 AM

 

The Monday Movie Quiz #69

Filed under: Imported

I feel a little ashamed of using such a great film for this little quiz-- is it right to cut up a masterpiece to play games with the pieces? Still, I look forward to the email this one might inspire, provided, that is, if anybody gets it. It could be the toughest one yet-- there's only one sound clue, and it consists of only one word (okay, name). (NOTE: The soundtrack on this film is harsh and distorted, so don't have your speakers turned up too high.)

So if you recognize the movie from the above clip, send me an email by next Sunday night, and if you're correct, expect to see your name in next week's Peer-less winners circle.

Posted by Steve Monaco at August 1, 2005 10:40 PM

 

Last week's Movie Quiz winners

Filed under: Imported

I'm embarassed to admit it, but I went to the first showing of Taxi Driver because of the ad campaign. The picture above was used in the newspaper ads, and the radio spots featured the movie's eternal question, "You talkin' to me?" There was something different about both that made me eager to see the film. (Apparently, I hadn't yet started reading Orwell, or become fond of his description of advertising: "The rattling of a stick inside a swill bucket.")

The ads must have appealed to plenty of others, because the theater that Friday night was packed, and that was unusual for a movie with no known stars. I remember the crowd stopped laughing early, and slipped deeper into complete stillness with every shock (the store-keeper beating the dead robber, Scorcese's monologue in Travis's cab). Finally, during the big gundown, some people ran out of the theater, followed by their disgruntled dates. ("I shoulda gone to the Dirtwater Fox," one guy griped, referring to a George Segal & Goldie Hawn movie playing next door.)

Simply put, Taxi Driver mesmerized me. I went back to see it countless times, taking everybody I knew and then going by myself after they'd all seen it. Because of that, and all the video viewings since, it's one of those movies where I can recite practically every word in it. Yet I can watch-- and listen-- to it endlessly. (That's partly to do with the astonishing music written by Bernard Herrmann-- like the best of the classical composers he deserves to be grouped with, his last work was probably his greatest of all.)

I indulge in this bit of nostalgia only because there isn't a thing about the movie itself I can add to everything that's been written about it for the past 30 years. Today, it doesn't look quite like the direct view into hell (as Werner Herzog might put it) that it seemed back when it was new, but time hasn't diminished it much. It still remains one of my first choices when I want to have a grim time at the movies.

So congratulations and a coupon for $10 off from Andy the gun salesman to the following winners: Wayne Palmer, Mark Gisleson, Hank Parmer, Jason Nagel, Tammy Riggins, and E. Yarber.

Posted by Steve Monaco at August 1, 2005 10:39 PM

 

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