Cinematic Alphabet Quiz: M

Welcome to Name That Film: M (answers to Cinematic Alphabet Quiz: N in comments)

Rules and bonus question after the jump...

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[rules and bonus question after the jump]

Stardust Memories (1980)

Directed by Woody Allen

Shot in beautiful black-and-white, Woody’s send up of Fellini’s 8½ contain some of the finest moments in the Allen oeuvre. Particularly Charlotte Rampling’s scenes, seemingly stolen-moments: her breakdown in close-up and (my favorite moment in all Woody’s films) her, almost-too-candidly, reading a magazine one morning as Louis Armstrong plays Stardust.*

Here's the trailer; and for those who have seen the movie, the scene with Ms. Rampling.

* This 50-word review was written in 2006.

Cinematic Alphabet Quiz: N

Welcome to Name That Film: N (answers to Cinematic Alphabet Quiz: O in comments)

Rules after the jump...

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The Apartment (1960)

Directed by Billy Wilder

Billy Wilder was a genius at mixing comedy and drama, especially in this 1960 Academy Award-winning picture (co-written by I.A.L. Diamond). Thematically adult, but sweet tone-wise: Lemmon and MacLaine stumble into romance and into trouble. Lemmon’s reflection in a broken compact mirror are what screenplays in screenplay-heaven are made of.*

Here's the trailer; and for those who have seen it, this is the broken compact scene. 
Also, a review by Roger Ebert and a New York Times review from when it opened.
* This 50-word review was written back in 2006. 

Cinematic Alphabet Quiz: O

Welcome to Name That Film: O (answers to Cinematic Alphabet Quiz: P in comments)

Rules after the jump...

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Cinematic Alphabet Quiz: P

Welcome to Name That Film: P (answers to Cinematic Alphabet Quiz: Q in comments)

Rules after the jump...

 

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Cinematic Alphabet Quiz: Q

Welcome to Name That Film: Q (answers to Cinematic Alphabet Quiz: R in comments)

Rules after the jump...

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Top Ten Alternative Musicals*

Not truly a musical or "music plays a major part in the narrative."

* Thanks to Smiley who started the thread in the Filmspotting Forums.

1. Nashville  (Altman, 1975)
2. Almost Famous  (Crowe, 2000)
3. The Commitments  (Parker, 1991)
4. A Mighty Wind  (Guest, 2003)
5. 24 Hour Party People  (Winterbottom, 2002)
6. Scott Pilgrim vs the World  (Wright, 2010)
7. Blue  (Kieslowski, 1994)
8. This Is Spinal Tap  (Reiner, 1984) - Netflix streaming
9. The Wedding Singer  (Coraci, 1988)
10.  High Fidelity  (Frears, 2000)

Honorable Mentions: The Thing Called Love; Topsy-Turvy Netflix streaming; Muriel’s Wedding Netflix streaming; Georgia; Sweet and Lowdown; O Brother Where Art Thou?; A Woman Is a Woman Netflix streaming, Pierrot le Fou (Godard plays with music and diegetic sound so well); Love Me or Leave Me, Once, Dancer in the Dark (really musicals); Shoot the Piano Player; Pulp Fiction Netflix streaming

Overlooked Picks (both are really musicals) 
Romance and Cigarettes and A Prairie Home Companion - hit each title for a trailer

Last revision: 8-21-11.

Cinematic Alphabet Quiz: R

Welcome to Name That Film: R (answers to Cinematic Alphabet Quiz: S in comments)

Rules and bonus question after the jump...

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[rules and bonus question after the jump]

Cinematic Alphabet Quiz: S

Welcome to Name That Film: S (answers to Cinematic Alphabet Quiz: T in comments)

Rules after the jump... 

 

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Paranoid Park (2008)

Directed by Gus Van Sant

Gus Van Sant’s Paranoid Park (a Blake Nelson novel) is like watching a master paint--sketching out the story and adding more layers/details.  It is told through the perspective of a young skateboarder, who writes an account of the events that surround a death near a stretch of train tracks.

Happy birthday to Gus Van Sant, he turns 59 today. Restless is his new film (looks a bit glossy to me).

Here’s a more articulate Roger Ebert review and a A.V. Club's Book vs. Film comparison. 

For more excellent Christopher Doyle cinematography see Ondine.

Limited US theatrical release March of 2008 (IMDB). Film reviews in fifty words (2011).

Cinematic Alphabet Quiz: T

Welcome to Name That Film: T (answers to Cinematic Alphabet Quiz: U in comments)

Rules after the jump... 

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Cinematic Alphabet Quiz: U

Welcome to Name That Film: U (answers to Cinematic Alphabet Quiz: V in comments)

Rules after the jump...

 

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The Impostors (1998)

Directed by Stanley Tucci

The Impostors is a work of genuine genius (take that alliteration police). Its non-stop laughs* come from blending silent, slapstick, screwball, Marx/Warner Brothers, and musical comedies. Oliver Platt and Stanley Tucci are on the run after assaulting a famous stage actor. While hiding out on a cruise liner, hijinks ensue.

  
* You’ll definitely want more cream puffs after the Bakery scene.

See The Impostors trailer on YouTube. Even better, see the opening sequence at The Art of the Title Sequence (quicktime). 

Here's a nice review by James Berardinelli (Reelviews.net).

Film reviews in fifty words (2011).

Cinematic Alphabet Quiz: V

Welcome to Name That Film: V (answers to Cinematic Alphabet Quiz: W in comments)

Rules and bonus question after the jump...

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 [bonus extra point question after the jump]

Cinematic Alphabet Quiz: W

Welcome to Name That Film: W (answers to Cinematic Alphabet Quiz: X in comments)

Rules can be found below.  Bonus question after the jump...

 

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RULES

1. Three screen captures categorized into easy (mainstream), medium (classic), and hard (obscure) and each will be worth 1, 2, and 3 points.  
2. This is by the honor system; no Internet searches or research please, but you can use the person directly to your left for help (only one person, but no one in the other directions).
3. Keep track of your scores; there will be point ranges (at the end) that rank your film geekness. The answers will be placed in the comment box of each subsequent post.

 [bonus extra point question after the jump]

Best Title: All the Vermeers in New York

Directed by Jon Jost

It's not my favorite film, but it has my favorite movie title. Here's some info on the film from jon-jost.com. Jon Jost's wiki page said that he lives in Seoul, Korea and recently "resigned after 4 years as a 'Distinguished Professor' at Yonsei University [June 2011]." I just found his blog.

There's an interesting article on Jon Jost in the opening to the chapter titled "Rural America" in the Directory of World Cinema: American Independent (essay/article by Hing Tsang: 241-243).

What's your favorite movie title?

Cinematic Alphabet Quiz: X

See rules. Welcome to Name That Film: X (answers to Y post in comments).

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Top Ten Criterion Collection Films (personal collection)

All Criterion Collection, Eclipse, and Essential Art House series (brands of Criterion) titles are on sale at Barnes & Noble (50% off) until August 1st, both at stores and online. I just got Terrence Malick's Days of Heaven (1978) on bluray and it looks fabulous. Image from DVDBeaver.com. 

What are the Top 5 or 10 discs from your collection? Mine are as follows (all regular ray/dvd):

1. The Double Life of Véronique  (Kieślowski, 1991) - Slavoj ŽiŽek's essay from included booklet
2. In the Mood for Love  (Wong, 2000)
3. Children of Paradise  (Carné, 1945)
4. Red Beard  (Kurosawa, 1965) - roger ebert's the great movies
5. Contempt  (Godard, 1963)
6. The Royal Tenenbaums  (W. Anderson, 2001)
7. The Rules of the Game  (Renoir, 1939)
8. Trouble in Paradise  (Lubitsch, 1932) - 'lost treasure' from sense of cinema
9. Jules and Jim  (Truffaut, 1962)
10. A Woman is a Woman  (Godard, 1961)

Honorable Mentions (bluray): Chungking Express, Days of Heaven, and Seven Samurai

Revised 7/20/11: Real Honorable Mention (dvd) is A Woman is a Woman (Godard, 1961).
Revised 8/4/11: replaced M with A Woman is a Woman (i have the older version of M).

Name That Film: Y

See the Rules.

Y  (answers to Name That Film: Z are in these comments)
 

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Barbara Stanwyck

It was Ms. Stanwyck's birthday a couple days ago, July 16 (1907). Last night, I watched Ball of Fire (1941) on the Netflix and had to write down a line they say of her character: "That is the kind of woman that makes whole civilizations topple" (echoing Helen of Troy). On the Barbara Stanwyck's Wikipedia page, they mentioned the same line.

I've been a big fan of her films but didn't know that she made 85 of them during her 38 years in Hollywood. My favorites (having only seen a hand full) are The Lady Eve (Sturges), Double Indemnity (Wilder), Ball of Fire (Hawkes), and Clash by Night (Lang). In 1941, she made two of those films; she made a total of four that year including Meet John Doe and You Belong to Me.

Below is a tribute from Jennifer Jason Leigh* for Turner Classic Movies (TCM):

Here's an article from The New Yorker called "Lady Be Good" (2007), celebrating her centennial. And a review of Ball of Fire from Cockeyed Caravan (underrated movies section).

On a side note, Ball of Fire is on Netflix streaming and I just put Baby Face (1933) in my DVD queue.

* Frank Capra's Meet John Doe is the original Hudsucker Proxy (Coen Brothers), which stars Ms. Leigh.

Name That Film: Z (Quiz Start Page)

Cinematic Alphabet Quiz: Z  (Good Luck)

RULES

1. Three screen captures categorized into easy (mainstream), medium (classic), and hard (obscure) and each will be worth 1, 2, and 3 points. 26 posts, 6 points per post, plus 10 points of bonus questions--totaling 166 points. 
2. This is by the honor system; no Internet searches or research please, but you can use the person directly to your left for help (only one person, but no one in the other directions).
3. Keep track of your scores; there will be point ranges (at the end) that rank your film geekness. The answers will be placed in the comment box of each subsequent post.

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