Alphabet Meme

1. Pick one film to represent each letter of the alphabet.

2. The letter "A" and the word "The" do not count as the beginning of a film's title, unless the film is simply titled A or The, and I don't know of any films with those titles.

3. Return of the Jedi belongs under "R," not "S" as in Star Wars Episode IV: Return of the Jedi. This rule applies to all films in the original Star Wars trilogy; all that followed start with "S." Similarly, Raiders of the Lost Ark belongs under "R," not "I" as in Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark. Conversely, all films in the LOTR series belong under "L" and all films in the Chronicles of Narnia series belong under "C," as that's what those filmmakers called their films from the start. In other words, movies are stuck with the titles their owners gave them at the time of their theatrical release. Use your better judgement to apply the above rule to any series/films not mentioned.

4. Films that start with a number are filed under the first letter of their number's word. 12 Monkeys would be filed under "T."

5. Link back to Blog Cabins in your post so that I can eventually type "alphabet meme" into Google and come up #1, then make a post where I declare that I am the King of Google.

All About Eve
Badlands
Clueless
Double Indemnity
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Far From Heaven
Gloria
Hannah and Her Sisters
The Ice Storm
Jackie Brown
Key Largo
Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Mean Girls
Now, Voyager
Opening Night
The Piano
It's Quite odd that I can't think of one film I liked beginning with Q...
Rebecca
Singin' in the Rain
Todo Sobre Mi Madre
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
The Visitor
A Woman Under the Influence
X-Men 2
Y Tu Mama Tambien
Zodiac

Open tag, y'all. Go wild.

Dr. Smith’s Lost in the Space at the End of Summer Movie Quiz.

I'm partaking in one of the seasonal Q&As hosted by Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule. In comparison with the veteran commenters over at the site, I'm woefully uneducated, but this was a helluva lotta fun to do.

1) Your favorite musical moment in a movie
This includes musicals, right? If not, I’ll have to rack my brains a little harder, but if we are including musicals, then it has to be the Gideon & Jagger scene from All That Jazz. There are so many iconic moments in that film - the entire opening sequence for example - but the moment that hits me right in the solar plexus is this one. Seen out of context, it’s wonderful;
Peter Allen’s singing, the natural camaraderie between Ann Reinking and Erzsebet Foldi and of course, the dancing. But seen as part of the whole film, it becomes almost too much for me to bear. When I first saw All That Jazz, I rewatched this one scene maybe 10 times. Since then, I have no idea how many times I’ve watched that one scene, but it must be nearing the hundreds. The thought of Joe Gideon’s girlfriend and daughter working on that routine for hours, to get it just right for the notorious perfectionist. The knowledge that even if it wasn’t perfect, he’d be bowled over regardless. The fact that Kate is so loving and caring with Michelle, and thatall the basic ingredients for a happy family are here, ut yet Joe continues to sleep around and throw his life away. The part where Reinking plays Michelle’s stomach like a piano, glances at Joe and says “Pretty pictures.” Joe’s funky apartment, with all the theatre paraphernalia and those “whatchamacallit lights”. The part where the duo rush at Joe to kiss him. Finally, and most importantly, Joe’s face throughout. I don’t know how Roy Scheider does it. Amusement, regret, incredulity, sadness, pride - they’re all there. The killer: during the line, “And every gal only had one fellow”. His face at that point slays me. It’s a little flash of recognition, of regret and embarrassment and still you can see he’ll never change. Beautiful.



If we’re not talking musicals, Martin Sheen and Sissy Spacek slow dancing in the dark to Nat King Cole in Badlands. I am so excited about the upcoming rerelease.



2) Ray Milland or Dana Andrews
I have this unwritten rule, which states: if you are presented with a multiple choice question and one of the answers is connected to Laura (1944), this is your best bet.


3) Favorite Sidney Lumet movie
You can’t go wrong with a most of his films, but I’ll pull out something a little different: Garbo Talks, while not a great film by any means, is entertaining purely because of Anne Bancroft. She plays this firecracker New Yoiker whose dying wish is to meet Greta Garbo. Every minute when she’s not on screen (a quite sizeable amount of time, tbh) is quite dull, but near the end Lumet grants her this great, lengthy monologue about the similarities between herself and Garbo. Fantastic acting.

4) Biggest surprise of the just-past summer movie season
The pregnancy quotient is way down on last year.

5) Gene Tierney or Rita Hayworth
Remember the rule! Gene Tierney.



6) What’s the last movie you saw on DVD? In theaters?
On DVD: Raising Arizona. “Mighty fine cereal flakes, Mrs. McDonough!”

In theaters: The Strangers.

7) Irwin Allen’s finest hour?
Pass.

8) What were the films where you would rather see the movie promised by the poster than the one that was actually made?
It hasn’t been released yet, but I’d be 24% more likely to go watch the remake of The Women if it featured Vanessa Williams doing an impression of Annette Bening. Which, you know, I'm not completely sure it doesn't.



9) Chow Yun-Fat or Tony Leung
Tony Leung.

10) Most pretentious movie ever
Garden State.

11) Favorite Russ Meyer movie
Pass.

12) Name the movie that you feel best reflects yourself, a movie you would recommend to an acquaintance that most accurately says, “This is me.”
Hannah And Her Sisters or Mean Girls.

13) Marlene Dietrich or Greta Garbo
To be honest, I really need to see more work by both women to make a fair judgement. But this is a blog, where fair appraisals aren’t required and I’m saying Dietrich purely because of her role in Witness For The Prosecution. The twist in the tail of that character! I’m still as gob smacked as I was the first time I saw it, years and years ago.



14) Best movie snack? Most vile movie snack?
I usually sneak in sweets; peanut M&Ms, Minstrels, Smarties. Most vile? Buttered popcorn.

15) Current movie star who would be most comfortable in the classic Hollywood studio system
Rachel McAdams.

16) Fitzcarraldo—yes or no?
Pass!

17) Your assignment is to book the ultimate triple bill to inaugurate your own revival theater. What three movies will we see on opening night?
Everyone needs a good laughing work-out, so I’ll kick start my theater off with three of my favourite comedies: His Girl Friday, Tootsie and The Lady Eve.

18) What’s the name of your theater? (The all-time greatest answer to this question was once provided by Larry Aydlette, whose repertory cinema, the Demarest, is, I hope, still packing them in…)
The Local. Okay, that's a terrible name. The Fleapit. No, that's worse. The Local Fleapit? PERFECT. Hilarity will ensue.


19) Favorite Leo McCarey movie
Pass.

20) Most impressive debut performance by an actor/actress.
Angela Lansbury in Gaslight. She celebrated her 18th birthday on set! Watch the video, she talks about her experience on the film and there’s a photograph of the birthday, with Ingrid Bergman cutting her cake!



21) Biggest disappointment of the just-past summer movie season
Many, many subpar dramas. I know the summer isn’t prime drama season, but there were quite a few movies that looked promising enough until I actually watched the damn things. Smart People, Married Life, bleurgh.

22) Michelle Yeoh or Maggie Cheung


23) 2008 inductee into the Academy of the Overrated
The Dark Knight. I liked it a lot, but I mean - come on. It wasn't even the best film I saw that month, let alone the best film of all time.

24) 2008 inductee into the Academy of the Underrated



Tom McCarthy.

25) Fritz the Cat—yes or no?
No. I prefer Tommy the Cat!

26) Trevor Howard or Richard Todd
Trevor Howard was in The Third Man. Nuff said.

27) Antonioni once said, “I began taking liberties a long time ago; now it is standard practice for most directors to ignore the rules.” What filmmaker working today most fruitfully ignores the rules? What does ignoring the rules of cinema mean in 2008?
The best answer would probably be to say Paul Thomas Anderson, which I partly agree with. But I also have to pitch in a mention for Tom McCarthy, who has shown us, in a mere two films, that there is still room for bittersweet, character driven pieces and that Big Liberal Ideas can form an integral part of a film without overtaking it.

28) Favorite William Castle movie
Pass.

29) Favorite ethnographically oriented movie
Aren't most films ethnographically oriented? West Side Story, I guess.



30) What’s the movie coming up in 2008 you’re most looking forward to? Why?
Ah, so many. Blindness, because the book haunts me with regular nightmares and I’m curious to see how on earth it’ll translate to screen. Burn After Reading, because even the trailer makes me laugh. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Doubt. Synecdoche, New York.

31) What deceased director would you want to resurrect in order that she/he might make one more film?
I wonder how Hitch would have handled the 21st century? New technology and all.

32) What director would you like to see, if not literally entombed, then at least go silent creatively?
Tim Burton could keep mum for a couple of years and I’d be happy. Not for ever, you understand, just five years or so. Let some new ideas percolate around his brain. Spend some quality time watching dvds, catching up on recent actors who aren’t called Johnny or Helena.

Thank God it wasn't Infinite Jest...

J.D. has tagged me and I duitifully respond. This time it's a gleefully pointless bookish meme:

1. Pick up the nearest book.
2. Open to page 123.
3. Locate the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences on your blog and in so doing...
5. Tag five people, and acknowledge who tagged me.

I say pointless, because taking three lines from the middle of a book won't necessarily yield up any great surprises, although my closest at hand, Margaret Atwood's The Robber Bride, did throw up a curse.

"A neatly lettered message, relatively polite - in the States it would have been Cunt - and ordinarily Roz would have merely calculated the cost of the repair and how much time it would take to get it done, and whether it's deductible. Also, she would take out her annoyance by making a scene with the parking lot attendent. Who did this?"

This book has been sitting on the living-room shelf for a few months, after I stupidly bought it in the midst of a book buying spree at Borders. Why stupidly? Because I already own a copy of the book and have read it a few times. In the bookshop, I somehow got confused and bought it, thinking I was getting The Blind Assassin. It wasn't until I got home, cracked it open and read the first line that I went "....wait a second...". So, anybody in the market for a copy of The Robber Bride? It's good, I swear. So good, I bought it twice!

My Dinner with...

It's meme time!

1. Pick a single person past or present who works in the film industry who you'd like to have dinner with and tell us why you chose this person.

This is a headscratcher; not only are there numerous technical virtuosos, who wouldn't necessarily spring to mind straight away, yet who would be fascinating to dine with (I'm thinking of people like Roger Deakins, Christine Vachon, Philip Glass, Colleen Atwood) but the sheer plethora of chatty actors, directors and scriptwriters that I wouldn't mind sitting down with renders my answer to this question dependant on whatever mood I'm in. If you'd asked me a week ago, my answer would have been Sissy Spacek. On any number occasions, it could have been Pedro Almodóvar, Laura Linney, Cary Grant, Roz Russell or Donald O' Connor. Dinner-table manners have to be taken into consideration; Robert de Niro circa 70s would be fascinating, but according to Jodie Foster, he wasn't such a great lunch partner back then. Likewise, I'd have a million questions for Alfred Hitchcock, but he'd probably play some awful practical joke on me and leave. So, I'm looking for somebody intelligent, verbose and who I'm assured will be polite and warm, somebody who I have many questions for but who remains a bit of a mystery, and somebody who I've recently been watching. Todd Haynes, care to join me for dinner?

2. Set the table for your dinner. What would you eat? Would it be in a home or at a restaurant? And what would you wear? Feel free to elaborate on the details.

I'm afraid of poisoning any potential dinner guests, so we'd head out to the city for our meal. Maybe Acapulco, the Mexican place on Georges Street. Not only is it my favourite restaurant (I'm going there tonight, actually) but it adds a certain ping of intertextuality referencing to our evening. Its a casual enough place, so we wouldn't have to dress up fancily - although Mr Haynes has proved that he can scrub up as well as he dresses down. After the meal, we could drop into a cafe for some coffee and maybe a slice of cake, in honour of our shared birthday (Jan 2nd).

3. List five thoughtful questions you would ask this person during dinner.

1. You graduated from Brown with a degree in semiotics. Perhaps as a result of this, your films have been dismissed by some critics as university projects, dominated by intellect rather than emotion. How do you respond to this?
2. I've noticed you tend to surround yourself with superb actors and technicians. Especially in a film like "Far From Heaven", which functions as a real "team effort", between your script, Julianne Moore's acting, Elmer Bernstein's score, Edward Lachman's camera and Sandy Powell's costumes. So, on one hand you cultivate an air of intense collaboration, yet there's also a very singular vision dominating all of your work. Do you see filmmaking as a solitary or collaborative pursuit?
3. Did you experience even a small twinge of disapointment when I'm Not There was almost roundly passed by during awards season? I don't think you've ever been a director who tries to court awards, but your latest had great critical buzz.
4. Are there any actors who you'd love to work with, but haven't yet? What about Julianne Moore, any plans to write another script for her? She has a tiny part in I'm Not There, but I'm harking back to films such as [safe] and Far From Heaven, films that showed me that Moore is a great talent, rather than just a lousy mother who mopes around on swings.
5. Finally, what music are you listening to at the moment? I already know we share some tastes; Haynes directed a Sonic Youth video (and Kim Gordon has a cameo in I'm Not There). He has also made biopics of Bob Dylan, Karen Carpenter and Glam Rock; and these feel more like personal obsessions, rather than studio-urged projects. What's your favourite Sonic Youth album? Mine is either Daydream Nation, Goo or Murray Street. Care to recommend me any other musicians you're into? How about we trade mixtapes?

I can't think of 6 people to tag for this, but anyone who comes across it is free to run with it. That means you, Ann Marie, Damien et all. Thanks to Piper for the original idea and Emma for the tag.

Airbag

I got tagged! The lovely and enthusiastic Joe (of Joe's Movie Corner) instructs me to undertake this fun meme, whereby I put my media player on shuffle and fire away with these questions. Some of the answers turn out to make an odd kind of sense and others are just plain stupid. Enjoy!

The Rules:
1. Put your music player on Shuffle
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER WHAT (this is in capital letters, so it is very serious.) Catherine's note - I didn't fully stick to that rule, as my playlist in Window's Media Player also contains all my podcasts (NPR, Guardian Bookworm, Mark Kermode etc). When one of these came up, I disregarded it because they're not technically songs.

1. IF SOMEONE SAYS “IS THIS OKAY” YOU SAY? "Sold Out" by Sleater Kinney, . Uh that seems a little rude of me. Or else really punk rawk.

2. WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY? "Folk Jam" by Pavement.

3. WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL? "Love Stoned" by Justin Timberlake. I'm all about the junkies.

4. HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY? "They Also Mourn Those Who Do Not Wear Black" by Sufjan Stevens. Cheerful.

5. WHAT IS YOUR LIFE’S PURPOSE? "I Looked All Over Town", by Magnetic Fields I'm either going to be an explorer, Private Dectective or a homeless person.

6. WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO? "Consuelo" by Belle & Sebastian. Shittiest. Motto. Ever.

7. WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU? "Washington D.C." by Magnetic Fields I'm going to be president?!? Niiiiice.

8. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR PARENTS? "I Hate Camera" by The Bird and the Bee Hahahha. Nothing to make of this one.

9. WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN? "Good Life" by Kanye West Every morning when I wake up, all that's going through my head is "I, I go for mine, I gots to shine..."

10. WHAT IS 2+2? "Save Me" by Aimee Mann. Funny, that's exactly the thought that goes through my head, sitting in maths class.

11. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND? "One Year A.D." by Feist. This song actually mentions friends, but not in a very positive way.

12. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE? "Kennel District" by Pavement

13. WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY? "English Girl" by Eagles of Death Metal. Wrong country.

14. WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP? "Mike" by Xiu Xiu. Okay, so I couldn't really remember this song and so I looked up the lyrics. I have some serious issues, according to the lyrics which I will post in full:

"Dad, what was Nigel supposed to do with your body?
a life that I will never understand
whose false teeth were gently pushed back into your
mouth by your daughter's husband
what am I supposed to do with this?
I feel like I am not nice because sometimes
it is hard for me to think something happy about you
except for that dad, I love you and will always, always miss you
pull my finger-"

15. WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE? "Oompa Radar", by Goldfrapp. Oh, the innuendo.

16. WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU? "Peacebone", Animal Collective.

17. WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING? "Grand Canyon", Magnetic Fields

18. WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL? "Hate That I Love You", Rihanna. I kind of like this choice. I'm imagining the mourners all grooving, but in a really...mournful way.

19. WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST? "Kneeling Bus", Pavement. Ah, a Pavement b-side. I can take this to mean I have very esortic, indie and disorganized hobbies. Yup!

20. WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET? "An Buinneán Buí", Skara Brae. My biggest secret? That I actually listen to trad sometimes.

21. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS? "Motivators" by A Tribe Called Quest. Well, they are "motivators". Although whether they bring "Rugged, raw material" is up for debate...

22. WHAT SHOULD YOU POST THIS AS? "Airbag" by Doveman

Feel free to mock my musical tastes, empathise with some of the dodgier choices or even better, do your own version!

Summer in the city...

Incroyable! I've been tagged. Thank you kindly, Emma. This is my first one.

On y va:

01. Name movies you watch every summer.
Let's ignore the fact that summer should probably be about getting outside for some fresh air, as the weather has been uniformly awful for the past three weeks. Lots of children's films are coming to mind, especially old Disney stuff and newer Pixar. Last summer heralded the momentous occasion of my first introduction to the magic of Moulin Rouge!, which I watched 5 times over two weeks, so that was a definite summer movie for me.

02. Songs that remind you the most of summer.
This is a much easier question than movies, because music can be the soundrack to lazy afternoons at the beach or in your garden, staying up to watch the sunrise and obviously, summer music festivals. I saw Radiohead/Beck/Deerhoof during one summer and The Pixies/Kings of Leon during another, so they will obviously be on my playlist. Godspeed You! Black Emperor are the best choice for listening to when the sun is just rising. Pavement are perfect for lazing out the back and drinking ice-cold beverages. Then rap stuff like Digable Planets and Jurassic 5, plus the obvious pop music. Nelly Furtado, Girls Aloud, Kanye West. Rhianna's Umbrella is to 2007 as Shakira's Hips Don't Lie was to 2006.

03. What was the favourite summer holiday you ever went on?
Probably the tiny French village of Monpezat-de-Quercy, which we went to two years in a (2004/5). I love that little village like I grew up there; the shady lanes leading up to the piscine, the old well in the secluded park, the tiny church, the shops, everyone who lives there. I'd go back in a heartbeat.

04. Your favourite airport reads.
It's a tradition for me to read Empire magazine in the airport, but other than that it's usually just whatever I'm reading at the time. My books don't tend to be seasonal.

05. Are you a sunbather?
Is Brian Cowen an all-round decent guy?

06. Your ideal holiday destination this Summer that you haven’t been to before.
I was about to say New York, but I'd rather visit the Big Apple in the wintertime. Still, I really want to stroll down some fancy New York streets in a pair of shades, blaring some hp hop through a boombox. So yeah, NY.

07. Describe your Summer of 2006 in 10 words or less.
We're stuck in a caravan. Bricfeasta Reidh! Blah Shelter. Zidane.

08. What Summer movie must you see this year?
The Simpsons. Ratatouille. Hairspray.

09. Which Summer changed your life?
I have no idea. Probably the ones in Montpezat.

10. Do you like the beach? What do you bring to the beach with you?
Despite an aversion to sand and hot weather, yeah I do. You're going to need supplies though. Blanket, lots of bottled water, snack food, some sort of portable music device, sunblock and then something completely inappropriate, like a lifesize frisbee. Wow. How rad would that be? *imagines*

11. Your earliest memory of a Summer holiday.
I remember my first trip to France when I was four, but only barely. Playing cards and listening to Blur with my cousins in Co. Clare when I was about 6/7 is my strongst summery memory. Those holidays rocked. My sister and I joined with my three male cousins to form a sort of Oasis tribute band called The Hairbands. We rocked the house, I'm telling you.

12. And finally, what do you intend on doing this Summer?
I might might be joining a tennis camp. Which could result in the old "...hilarity ensues" chesnut. France in August. And plenty of sleeping! Whippeeee!!

I tag Ann Marie, Damien, Emily Rose, Eegah and Doppelganger.

I have a weakness for questionnares.

Got this from Cinecism - give her a big hand, please! And read her blog, she's quite funny.

How old were you when you first went to the cinema andwhat did you watch?:
I can remember a couple, but I have a feeling the first one I went to see was Aladdin. Just looking it up on the IMDB, I find that it was released in 1992, which would have made me two years old. I don't know, that seems a bit young, no? Although feasibly I might have been three. I also definititely saw the Lion King when I was four with my dad. Afterwards he asked me, "Wasn't that very sad when the lion died?", which apparently prompted the reply (now family legend), "Yeah. But what I found really sad was that one person can destroy a whole nation and let it go to waste". Precocious, moi?

Three films about films and/or cinema:
I'm utterly lost by this question. Just name three films? Your favourite ones about film? Huh? I'll just go the easy option and name three great ones. Singin' in the Rain – the pains of the transition from silent movies to “talkies”, All About Eve – okay, it’s theatre, not cinema, but it’s all about acting and the roles people play, and Adaption – the trials and tribulations of screenwriting.

Favourite Actresses:
Old style - Bette Davis and Kate Hepburn. Nowadays...I like Cate Blanchett, Jodie Foster, Penelope Cruz and some others.

A film that changed your life and why:
The Lion King. Because it was the first film I really had an emotional attachment to. I saw it twice in the cinema and had these plastic figures of all the characters that I used to play with. It’s one of my earliest memories, crouching down behind the threadbare couch in the Credit Union, waiting for my granny, playing with Simba and Mufasa. Sadly, I lost the figures when I left my bag on the bus once. A few years later, my parents surprised me with a VHS of the film and I nearly cried with happiness.

Great directors but which film of their's is your favourite? Kubrick, Hitchcock, Powell & Pressburger, Kurosawa, Lang.
This one confuses me also. Favourite film from each? Favourite film in total? Be more clear here, people. I'll just say Hitchcock, because I've seen more Hitch films than anything. Favourite? I'll say...Rear Window.

Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, Buster Keaton, Laurel And Hardy, who's the best?
Hector Mann. If anyone gets that reference, you can have my adbiding respect.

You're remaking a classic, which one and who's your new stars?
While some questions are confusing and some are boring, this one is blasphemy!

Miscast actors happens quite a bit, what's the worst you've seen?
Juliette Lewis in What's Eating Gilbert Grape?. I loved Johnny Depp and Leo diCaprio in it, I found the slightly-hokey storyline and quaint Americana feel enjoyably escapist, but anytime Ms. Lewis appeared on the screen it was all I could do not to turn off the dvd. Her whiney voice, squint, her habit of stretching out sentences until they lost all meaning - I just cannot stand the woman, and rooted for her death the whole way through.

Most overrated good movie?
The Shawshank Redemption. It’s a well-made piece of storytelling with some good acting, but that’s it really. Greatest film of all time? Hah.

Most overrated bad movie?
Nothing's coming to mind at the moment.

Worst movie ever?
I'm tempted to say Showgirls, but to be honest, it really is quite funny. And I have a soft spot for Kyle McLachlan, big ol' plank of wood that he is. So, I'm going to say either Dumb & Dumberer or Daddy Day Care. Both of which I saw in the cinema. Both of which against my will. Both of which were picked out by the same friend.

Favourite British films:
When I think of the words “British Films” I usually get a shiver of disgust roll down my spine. Images of Hugh Grant grinning foppishly, or Rowan Atkinson gurning away begin to circle nastily around my head. Shaking off these images takes some work, but then Danny Boyle comes to mind with Trainspotting and 28 Days Later.

Best road movies?
Thelma & Louise.

Favourite Actors:
Why are actors and actresses seperate? And isn't "actress" wrong, anyhow? Awh, feck it. I like Jimmy Stewart, Cary Grant, Ian McKellen.

Who Would Play You In A Biopic Of Your Life?
The little girl who played Madeline in the live-action film.

Most Irritating Cinema Advert Ever:
30..29..28..27..THE MOVIE IS ABOUT TO START. BUT THERE'S STILL TIME TO GRAB A COKE. The countdown makes me feel nervous, the annoying wimpy colours, the fact that there actually isn't time to GRAB A COKE and the in-your-face advertising all turn me off. I usually try to shut my eyes during it.


Which Film Magazines/Forums Do You Read?
Empire, every month. It's a nice blend of stupid and intelligent. I've tried others, Total Film, Hot Dog and the rest, but Empire's still my best.

You Have To Swap Your Life With A Movie Plot, Which One Do You Choose?
Singin' in the Rain, because if people spontaneously broke out into tap routines in their day to day lives, I'd be a whole lot happier. And 1920s film sets are one of my favourite film settings.

A film that scared you at the cinema/home?
Is "everything" an okay answer? No? Okay, at a sleepover in 2001 I saw Scream, I Know What You Did Last Summer, An Interview With The Vampire and some others. That night haunted me for months, there was literally no free moment that I didn't start to reply some of those images back in my head. On the more positive side of the scale, my family watched Wait Until Dark with Audrey Hepburn one Christmas and there was one scene where everyone simultaneously jumped in fright, but it was a fun fright.

Your favourite silent movie?
I watched The Wizard Of Oz with some friends back in September. It was that special edition dvd, the one that sings. Afterwards, we put on the special features and watched two silent versions of the film. I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so hard in my life.

A crap film that you know is crap but you love?
I know that Mean Girls isn’t Shakespeare, but in my mind it’s the best teen comedy since the days of John Hughes. I wouldn't say it was crap, per se, but people seem surprised when I mention how much I love it.

Favourite Directors: Hitchcock, Billy Wilder, Pedro Almodóvar.

Recommend three films that will change the way you view film:
All About My Mother, for those who hate Foreign Film. Sunset Boulevard, for almost breaking the fourth wall. Toy Story, for those who complain technology will overshadow good storytelling.

On Screen Love Stories:
Moulin Rouge! is the simplest of simple stories, but it’s beautifully executed, Casablanca for love and sacrifice and High Fidelity for honesty and good tunes.

Met Any Movie Stars?
Nope. Although Colin Farrell was in my local Superquinn last week (I was in Prague at the time) but he’s just manky anyway.

What's your favourite period of cinema? e.g. 20s German expressionism, French New Wave etc:
I haven’t gotten deep enough into period genres to give a comprehensive answer, but I’m fond of the Classic Era (1920s-1940s)

Favourite Soundtracks: All About My Mother, The Hours, Lost in Translation and Moulin Rouge.

What Films Need A Sequel:
None, because if they're really good then it'll just wreck their legacy and if they're really bad, why would you want more?

The film you’ve seen the most times: I’d say The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. I’ve seen all three LOTR a number of times, but for ages the first one was the only one I had on dvd and I used to just watch it on days with nothing else to do. Hasn’t diminished the power it has on me, though. I've also seen Mean Girls about 11 times. Somehow I've ended up seeing Ms. Congeniality about 6 times, but that's because for a while, every party/sleepover I was at had it playing.

The films you can quote ad infinitum
All About Eve, the first Toy Story, Mean Girls and the LOTR trilogy. Out of them all, I'd say Mean Girls is the one I can quote the best. I can even reel off some lines from the commentary, which is kinda sad.

Who’s your favourite cult film hero?
Ducky from Pretty in Pink. If a guy ever came into the record shop in which I worked and did a total wig-out dance to Try A Little Tenderness, I'd fall in love with him on the instant.

Pick one genre and give us five of your favourites from it e.g. Comedy, film noir, romance, musical etc:
Musical: Singin’ in the Rain, Moulin Rouge!, Guys & Dolls, The Lion King and The Wizard of Oz.

Two scenes that flood your tear ducts:
Hahahahahahaha. Two? Hahahahaha. *wipes eyes*….okay. In recent times, the end of Bobby (well, the whole way though actually, but the tears got more intense in the last 20 minutes or so) which wasn’t a great film, but really pulled out the emotional stops. And the scene in Toy Story where Buzz realises that he’s not an astronaut.

You're an interviewer, who do you interview and about which film?
I’d talk to (a resurrected) Donald O’Connor about filming Singin’ in the Rain. About whether Gene Kelly is really a bastard, how on earth he did those backflips, what Debbie Reynolds was like. And I’d shake his hand and say, “Sir, you did the best dance routine ever.”

Three great acting performances:
Because this question is almost exclusively male, I'll pick three girls for a change.Katherine Hepburn in Bringing up Baby (just hilarious, pairing her with Cary Grant is a match made in comedy heaven). Penelope Cruz in Volver (she was robbed! she was robbed! she was robbed!) Cecilia Roth in All About My Mother (for some of the best onscreen crying I've ever seen, among other reasons).

Who is your sex god/goddess? Young Robert deNiro, circa Taxi Driver.

Now you go!