J.T. Quizman

1. Best use of Technicolor on film?

Sure it's popular and obvious but THE WIZARD OF OZ has a pretty damn good use of Technicolor. THE SEARCHERS and MEET ME IN ST.LOUIS are also great uses (and better films).

2. What's your favorite film score? Favorite composer?

John Williams' STAR WARS score rules. I'll also go with Williams for favorite composer; I could think more on it, though, but I'm already taking way too much time to do this quizz.

3. What's your favorite film from the year you were born?

HANNAH AND HER SISTERS. It's one Woody's best and now I have another reason to be thankful for it--without it, 1986 is an awful year in film.

4. Robert Mitchum or Dana Andrews?

Robert Mitchum, but Dana Andrews is definitely worthy of praise. I'd go with Mitchum for NIGHT OF THE HUNTER alone, though. Also wish I could do a decent Mitchum impression.

5. (In terms of acting) Frank Sinatra or Bing Crosby? David Bowie or Tom Waits?

Sinatra probably is the better actor, but I'm going to go with Bing. I will say that ON THE TOWN made me like Sinatra quite a bit; I need to see more of his films, though. Bing I love for this work with Bob Hope and for HOLIDAY INN.

Bowie v. Waits? Both are committed and great in everything I've seen them in. I'll pick Waits if I must...for MYSTERY MEN.

6. What's your favorite film with a woman's name in the title?

REBECCA

7. Who is your favorite foreign-language film director working today? Who is your favorite foreign-language film director of all time?

Abbas Kiarostami is doing the best stuff, although admittedly, I haven't seen enough of his films. The Dardenne brothers are pretty great as well...so basically I have nothing new to add. Jeff and Brandon summed it up pretty well anyway.

8. If you could have written any screenplay, what would it be and why?

Tough question...hm..maybe DUCK SOUP because then I would much funnier and smarter than I actually am.

I really wish I could've been on the respective sets of DUCK SOUP and DR. STRANGELOVE, to answer a question no one asked.

9. Name the character from a film that scared you the most as a child. Name the film character, if any, that scares you the most now.

Oh, boy... there's too many to list from when I was a kid. The Wicked Witch of the West's voice used to creep me out when I was younger. My Dad does a decent impression of her so he would to do it every now and then to get me going. But to really embarrass myself, I'll add the troll from ERNEST SCARED STUPID...scared the hell out of me!

Not a lot has changed since I was a kid...still pretty much scared by most "scary" things, and I do what I can to avoid horror films. Shit makes me paranoid.

10. What is the first R rated film you remember seeing?

SUDDEN DEATH in which Jean-Claude Van Damme must save the Vice President from a terrorist attack at a Pittsburgh Penguins game.

11. Name your favorite moment of vengeance in a film. And which film has portrayed the complexity of vengeance most accurately to you?

KILL BILL, OLD BOY, IN THE BEDROOM are all great examples of vengeance. KILL BILL Vol. 2 is a wonderful compliment (and improvement) to Vol 1. The Bride's relationship with Bill gets fleshed out more, and Bill is finally killed in a wonderful scene. Jeff covers OLD BOY and IN THE BEDROOM very well. I see that Brandon has a revenge post up now, so perhaps I'll save my thoughts for that. I'd like to come up with other examples as well.

12. It is okay to depict a positive story out of something as horrific and destructive as the Holocaust (e.g. SCHINDLER'S LIST). Agree or disagree with this statement.

Agree, because there are some horrific/destructive moments in SCHINDLER'S LIST also. It's not as if Spielberg sugarcoated the Holocaust. And those who make films about the Holocaust aren't necessarily looking to sugarcoat it either. So I don't mind someone trying to depict a positive story about it as long as they also show how horrific and destructive it actually was. Stories of hope always exist in the darkest of places/situations. But I can see where those on the other side of this debate are coming from, though.

13. Which war film, if any, has had the greatest emotional impact on you?

FULL METAL JACKET, THE DEER HUNTER, APOCALYPSE NOW, THE THIN RED LINE. All four do a great job of depicting the senselessness and evils of war. I threw all four out there because I'm not exactly sure which one has had more of an impact on me.

14. Name the top five *best looking* films you've ever seen.

THE SEARCHERS, 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, VERTIGO, LAWRENCE OF ARABIA, DAYS OF HEAVEN

15. Which film title would you use to describe yourself? Which film title would you use to describe each member of film club?

Adrienne - TRUE GRIT
Ben - For a while there it was THE INVISIBLE MAN, but now it's more like BRIEF ENCOUNTER.
Brandon - THE FACE ON THE BAR-ROOM FLOOR.... no, I'll go with A BEAUTIFUL MIND since I like the way your mind works, duder.
Graham - BAREFOOT IN THE PARK
Gentile - COOL HAND LUKE
Jason - EASY RIDER
Jeff - THE THIN MAN
John - SLEEPER
Lisa - THE LADY VANISHES, but soon to be THE GRADUATE.
Me - THE RELUCTANT ASTRONAUT

16. David Lynch or David Cronenberg?

Lynch. I love the Cronenberg that I have seen, though, and with the exception of A DANGEROUS METHOD, it's been been really great stuff. I'll see more. Lynch I love for TWIN PEAKS and MULHOLLAND DR., and BLUE VELVET.

17. Is there a book you would like to see currently made into a film? If so, by which director?

The Coen Brothers' As I Lay Dying. I'd also like to see an anthology film of Italo Calvino's If On a Winter's Night a Traveler.

18. What's the most overrated film of the 90s?

FORREST GUMP

19. You are a guest programmer on Turner Classic Movies. You get to choose any four movies to play. What are they?

Let's go with: THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE, CHRISTMAS IN JULY, ON THE WATERFRONT, ROPE.

20. It's Ark time. You are only allowed to save films from one country (excluding the US). Which country and why?

France because I am more familiar with them than the films of any other country. That also gives me the work of Truffaut, Clouzot, Carne, Vigo, Renoir, Rohmer, Bresson, some Bunuel. I'd have a grand old time on my Ark.