Blogger Dodgeball -- I mean TAG

I tried to hide out from Cari, but she pursued me 'til I played.  I'm a good sport so I will, but Cari?  You owe me big time.  ;-)   

FAIR WARNING:  Nobody better tag me about the music thing, unless they want to read THE WORLD'S MOST BORING answers:  "No.  None.  No.  None.  Nope.  Not really.  None."  There's a preview. 

Anyhooooo:

1. The last movie you went to see in a theater:

Tonight (or I guess that would be "last night" by the time you read this) -- Million Dollar Baby.  Did I like it?  When I got home, I IM'd my daughter:  "Put down your school books, leave the dorm, and go see this movie RIGHT NOW."  Her response?  "I can't.  B's last forever."  Shite.  How'd I raise such a responsible daughter? 

2. The last movie you watched at home:

"Mean Creek."  My husband loved it, I only sort of liked it.  Good story, some pretty decent suspense, but I felt it was a story that had been told before.  Great acting by the kids, particularly (and I say this grudgingly) the Culkin boy and the little girl whose name I never caught.  I'm really horrible at movie trivia.  Horrible. 

3. How many movies do you own?

Oh, not a whole lot.  Maybe 30-40-50.  For a while we were buying every movie we loved, but then I realized that we very rarely watched them, so we stopped buying.  We are lucky to have nearby the anti-Blockbuster type of video rental store.  It carries all movies, old ones, arty ones, international ones -- not just new releases -- and doesn't get rid of them.  That is a major problem with places like Blockbuster.  I frankly don't know how this little store affords to do it, nor how they have enough storage, but for now they do, which is super-awesome.  (I said "super-awesome" just to piss off Cassie.)

All the ones we own are VHS, and we only got a DVD player recently.  We own one DVD movie that was a throwaway with our cell phone plan, but we haven't opened it.  Lord of the Rings -- not even sure which one -- first?  second?  I do not care for the Lord of the Rings movies.  I am sure I will be struck down by the demigods for this.  I will offer to redeem myself somewhat by saying that my husband and daughter love them. 

We own several (but probably under 10) of the Disney movies that came out during the mid-late '80s and early '90s when our daughter was growing up (but only the ones that have crossover adult appeal, which, actually come to think of it, are pretty much all of them.  My favorites, "The Little Mermaid" and "Aladdin") a few cult classics, and a few must-haves (in my mind) like "Fargo," "The Full Monty," "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," "A Chorus Line," "American Beauty," and "Wallace & Gromit"  ------ my kingdom for Wallace & Gromit!

Yup.  Eclectic. 

3. What was the last movie you bought?

Either "Moulin Rouge" or "The Sterile Cuckoo."  I'm quite sure "The Sterile Cuckoo" must be a bootleg copy or something.  We bought it on half.com, and the sound quality is so bad you could literally die trying to watch it.  The only reason we got it (and have actually watched it two or three times) is it was written by a Hamilton College (where our daughter goes to school) alum, based loosely on life at the college, and it was filmed on the campus in 1970 or '72, somewhere in there.  It was apparently one of Liza Minelli's first movie roles.  Actually a great story about coming of age during that era. (late '60s) And it holds our fascination because of the Hamilton connection. 

4. Got Netflix (or a similar service)?

Never heard of it.  Well, I've probably heard of it.  But not something that would interest me (famous last words.  Check back with me after I get hopelessly hooked on it!)  We gave up HBO several years ago when they more than doubled the price for premium cable.  I miss not having been able to see all of The Sopranos and some of the other shows that were HBO originals.  But now that we can rent all those, we still haven't done so. 

What are the next three movies in your queue?
"Sideways," "The Station Agent," and -- well, that's two. 

5. List five movies you adore/mean a lot to you:

"Ferris Bueller's Day Off" -- for its pure philosophy

"Fargo" - for its dark humor

"The Full Monty" - for its portrayal of plain, hard down-and-out life

"Moonstruck" - sort of all of the above, with big, hot Italian romance

once again, I'm short one.  I can watch a movie, love it for all time, then within days I can forget what it was really about or who was in it.  And I might even tell you I haven't seen that movie.  Then you put it in the VCR, and I can "name that tune in one note."  Fucksake, so annoying.  That is a big problem. (same thing with books, kind of.  Start rereading a book, and I suddenly have a photographic memory of it, word for word, and I can't stomach reading it again.  But ask me what it was about before that point, I'm clueless.)

Oh, I just thought of another one:  "Sophie's Choice."   Not the fucking Red Shoes.  (hee, I've never even seen The Red Shoes, but I stole that line from "A Chorus Line," another favorite.)   So there.  I went over. 

6. Name your guilty pleasure movie (or genre):

"The Saint."  I've watched that at least two dozen times and love it every time.  I have no explanation why, except I am utterly fascinated with Val Kilmer's adeptness at characters in that movie, and is he HOT OR WHAT?  Elisabeth Shue pisses me off in every other role I've seen her in, but in this one she captivates me.  And I think their chemistry in this movie is hot, hot, HOT.

7. I'm adding a question here, because it's something I very much want to hear from others. What's your favorite quote from a movie?

This is not a copout or faking it in light of what I said in answer to #5.  This is my all-time favorite line in a movie, and it was in the one I saw tonight, "Million Dollar Baby." 

Priest:  "There are no demigods, you fucking pagan!"  I won't tell you more because it's a new movie and I don't want to ruin it for you.  But seriously, that segment of dialogue and that line is the best one ever.  But then, you know me by now, and you probably know why. 

And a close second, and you also know why:  "Sometimes you've just gotta say 'what the fuck.'"  From Risky Business.

It's not just because of the "f" word.  It's the philosophy.  It's me. 

8. Name 3 people to whom you're going to pass these questions on, and why:

Dawn, because she is a real sweetie.  And she's young and happenin' and probably has way more interesting movies than I.

Heidi, because she's a librarian, and that just intrigues the hell outta me.

Anne, because she just moved from Vermont to Utah, she seems to like these questionnaires, and I'm sure she's not busy at all so has plenty of time for this kind of thing.  (that last bit is a horrible lie, and I actually hope she's not mad at me for sending this thing her way!)

Comments

[Timothy]

oh my! How can you not like LOTR? I just watched about 5 hours of documentary on film 3 (Return of the King) this afternoon/evening. That's additional material above and beyond the film itself! Bliss.

I approve of your liking of Wallace and Gromit though :).

"More cheese, Gromit?"

http://www.wallaceandgromit.com/home2.asp

sweet!

[Christine]

One of my all time favorite movies and my all time favorite quote from "Moomstruck" when he tells her he is in love with her and she slaps him and tells him to "Snap out of it!"

My favorite all time movie has got to be "The Shawshank Redemption."

[Alison]

Ok. Val I can live without generally, but The Saint does it for me everysingletime.
Did I just admit that to the world?

[Mary Beth]

Go see Sideways if you want a good belly-laugh!

[cari]

See? Now, was that so bad? ;)

[erin]

I have to agree Val Kilmer is pretty easy on the eyes. I don't know what it is about Elizabeth Shue but she has the same effect on me.

My favorite Val Kilmer quote:
"I'll be your huckleberry." (Tombstone. I movie I love JUST for Val Kilmer.)

The fact that you are a Wallace and Grommit fan redeems you for your dislike of the LOTR movies.

[Renee]

Go see Sideways! It's my favorite movie so far this year, although I haven't seen Million Dollar Baby yet. If my mother hadn't also instilled this damn work ethic in me, I'd go see it right this moment, too.

Also LOVE W&G and can't understand why anyone wouldn't like LOTR. Gollum is the greatest! The men are gorgeous, the women beautiful. The costumes are to die for. It's good vs. evil. It's Action! It's Adventure! It's a love story! What's not to like? :-)

[allyson]

You must go learn about Netflix it is the best.

Extra incentive for you ... they have a large selection of BBC movies & TV shows.

[La]

Yup, I'm the same way about the music baton. My answers would be just as boring. The movie one that you just did looks like it could be fun. I wonder if it'll ever make it around to us.

[Melanie]

Oh dear. See, I love Val Kilmer, because he is completely toothsome. However, I grew up watching the old TV show The Saint and the movie was just....it was so totally WRONG that even his divine and hunky Valness failed to make up for it. Very disappointing.
Netflix rocks because it means I can catch up on all the TV Series I missed as well as all the movies I didn't get around to seeing in the theatre. This comes in handy when the TV is only connected to the DVD player and VCR.

[Megan]

ahhh...val kilmer. what a wonderful piece of eye candy. I hate most of his movies (exception being the saint) but I think I could happily watch them all on mute.

[La]

I just done reading Woolen Rabbit's entry, more specifically: http://thewoolenrabbit.typepad.com/thewoolenrabbit/2005/01/i_guess_im_itja.html#comments

All's I gotta say is....don't you dare...