The LIE test

My good online compadre at Lerner International Blog posted a quiz and requested that answers be put into our own blogs, so without further adieu:

1.) Favorite Warren Oates perf that’s not in a Peckinpah or Monte Hellman movie?

Bouncing off Dennis Hopper in the wonderfully under seen “Kid Blue” (1973)

2.) Favorite Spaghetti Western not directed by Sergio Leone?

“Cemetary Without Crosses” (1972)

3.) Favorite John Ford film that’s not a Western or set in Ireland?

I honestly don’t think I’ve seen a Ford non-Western or Irish saga.

4.) Fave Zapata Western not Duck You Sucker!?

“The Professionals” (1966)

5.) Favorite Clint Eastwood-directed film that’s not Unforgiven or Play Misty for Me?

“Mystic River” (2003) because it tracks into some deep emotional territory without becoming maudlin

6.) Favorite Don Siegel film that’s not Charley Varrick, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, or Dirty Harry?

Gotta be The Black Windmill  (1974). So many Michael Caine movies not on DVD it’s a shame, and this one is a bit weird, but still holds fast to the grimy, Euro-set crime films of the 70’s I love so much

7.) Fave Ken Russell film that’s not The Devils, Tommy or Altered States?

“Billion Dollar Brain”!

8.) Fave WWII gore/intensity/nastiness, that’s not Saving Private Ryan or Come and See?

I don’t think any film about World War 2 could be as clinically disturbing as “Sorrow and the Pity”, “Shoah” or “Hotel Terminus”. I’d even add the terrific “The Rape of Europa”. Fiction is fine, but these documentaries present the inhumanity in such startling, ordinary terms that the far reaching effects of the war seem unfathomable.

9.) Fave “Savage Cinema” that’s not the original Straw Dogs or The Last House on the Left?

I’ll go with “Last House on Dead End Street” (1973) …. A truly dirty, unnerving film. For a great read on it, check out the book “Sleazoid Express”

10.) Fave conspiracy film that’s not Oliver Stone’s JFK or Alan J. Pakula’s The Parallax View?

How about Pakula’s “Three Days of the Condor”? (1977) The guy was so great at creating tension out of basically nothing.

11.) Fave Left-Wing director that is not Michael Moore, Costa-Gavras or Oliver Stone (not that I consider Stone genuinely left-wing; I think he’s more of a sleeper-agent selling discount rebellion to moviegoers)?

I’m not a huge fan of his films, but Rod Lurie is out there on the left wing quite a bit….

12.) Favorite screenwriter not William Goldman, Billy Wilder, Robert Towne, Ernest Lehman, Charlie Kaufman or Quentin Tarantino?

Damm, with Towne off the list, umm, David Mamet.

13.) Favorite alien not designed (or based on a design) by HR Giger, or that is the extraterrestrial from John Carpenter’s The Thing?

I’m woefully in the dark on this one so I’ll guess any alien from those 50’s, Then again, I was always partial to the minimalist creature like the green fog in “Planet of the Vampires” (1965)

14.) Favorite Biker Movie that is not Easy Rider, The Wild One or The Wild Angels?

“The Loveless” (1983) from everyone’s favorite biker-director Kathryn Bigelow

15.) Favorite robot not from Forbidden Planet or the Star Wars movies?

Johnny Number 5 in “Short Circuit”!

16.) Fave “one-shot wonder” (solo directing credit) that’s not The Night of the Hunter?

Did anyone see or even remember Christopher Macquarie’s “The Way of the Gun”? A group of buddies and I saw it on opening night and just fell in love with the thing. Still do love it…. Although I see McQuarrie has directed two movies now with “Jack Reacher”. out later this year. Disqualified. I’ll go with Alan Rickman’s “The Winter Guest” (1997), a film no one but me seems to love.

17.) Fave car chase not in a Philip D'Antoni film (and not everybody chose 1971’s Vanishing Point, please!)

I could say “The French Connection” which is too easy…. How about “Ronin” (a little love for Frankenheimer) or especially another Roy Scheider film, “The Seven Ups”, whose car chase comes out of nowhere and really kicks ass.

18.) Fave religious film not based on a characters or a story in The Bible?

Edward Norton’s “Keeping the Faith”. Such a sweet, innocent film that is quite funny, tackles some questions about faith and features three great performances by Norton, Jenna Elfman and Stiller.

19.) Fave Disaster Movie that’s not The Poseidon Adventure?

“Contagion” (2011). This shit could really happen and Soderbergh traces a terrifying map of it.

20.) Favorite Spielberg film to hate that’s not Hook?

Hated, hated “Beloved” and even “Amistad”…. such earnest films whose points are thrown in our faces


21.) Favorite Giant Monster that’s not Godzilla or the 1933 King Kong? Without a doubt, Joon-ho Bong’s “The Host”. That first emergence of the creature along the canal… stunning set piece!

Bonus questions: 1) English-language movie that blows your mind, that no one knows about, that’s hard to see, that you want to get on a rooftop and shout about:

Anyone who knows me knows one of my top five fave movies of all time is “Laws of Gravity” (1992) by Nick Gomez. Came and went in early 90’s…. had a few supporters like Gavin Smith in Film Comment, was on VHS (never on DVD) and has now disappeared. Features a magnetic performance by the great Peter Greene, Edie Falco, Adam Trese and Paul Schulze about a New York neighborhood and the small-time crime the guys get into. It also features one of the most devastating endings ever….

2) Foreign-language movie that blows your mind, that no one knows about, that’s hard to see, that you want to get on a rooftop and shout about:

Any Edward Yang film, but especially That Day, On the Beach.

3) Fave “personal apocalypse” ending to a film, with the protagonist shattered, staring ahead dead-eyed: Catherine Denevue in “Hustle” by Aldrich, the aforementioned Peter Greene in “Laws of Gravity”, John Travolta in “Blow Out”