Cinema Verite

At Kerstin’s insistence…

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

Bend it Like Beckham. Which is pretty funny because it was Georgie’s idea to see it – he thought it would be all about Soccer and it ended up being something of a chick movie. We liked the music though.

I should mention that we rarely, if ever, go to the movies. We used to go – when we could agree on something to see – but in the last five or six years I can count the number of movies I’ve seen in an actual theater on one hand. I used to go all the time – especially by myself, in New York City, to all kinds of artsy fartsy movies (read subtitles). Somewhere along the way I began to hate the noise and the people and the fact that even when there’s only three people in the goddam theater the whacko weirdo guy STILL has to sit two seats away from you so that you can’t concentrate at all on the movie – all you can think about is the psychokiller next to you. So I stay home and watch on my big TV and knit and pee whenever I feel like it and eat whenever I feel like it. Thank god for Georgie – he’s always so sweet about picking up the candy wrappers on the floor.

2. The last movie you watched at home:

Ooh. Tough one. With the advent of cable, it’s incredibly easy to watch 864 movies in a day and never see a whole one. The last movie we actually sat down to watch, together, as an “event” if you will, was Spiderman 2. I dropped like a million stitches trying to knit in the dark.

3. How many movies do you own?

A decent amount. Not sure of the number though – maybe fifty? We always buy a couple of flicks before we go on vacation for DVD watching on the plane. Who can forget the cross-country flight watching Dr. Strangelove? Classic. Or the time we luckily turned off Mulholland Drive right before the Sapphic scene – I bet the Mom with the kid behind us watching the movie would’ve been pissed! Also, since it’s so freaking expensive to go to the movies we tend to have the “it’s cheaper to buy the DVD and watch it in the comfort of our home” attitude – so we buy them. I also have the complete collection of Scholastic DVDs – they are the greatest videos ever. Puts the Disney crap to shame. And I have two Rugrats movies. So sue me.

4. Got Netflix (or a similar service)?

Yeah, it’s called digital cable with a gazillion stations and lovely On-Demand. We don’t even have a decent video store nearby – so no, no Netflix or a similar service.

5. List five movies you adore (or mean a lot to you.)

[Warning: Carolyn accused me of being very sentimental in my music meme choices – so if you disapprove of sentimentality – turn your head here. 😉 ]

In the they-always-did-it-better-in-the-old-days department:

Gone With the Wind. I could’ve easily chosen Casablanca or Rebecca or Laura or Dark Victory or Now, Voyager or Mr. Skeffington or Rear Window or ….but I’ll stick with GWTW. Why? Because for my eleventh birthday my father gave me the book and I loved it like only a very imaginative romantically blossoming eleven year old can. When I first saw the movie, I loved it almost as much. Rhett and Melanie in the nursery after little Bonnie dies and Scarlett and Rhett after he rapes her and she’s so happy (my god – what was I thinking). The movie is perfectly cast and when the fiftieth anniversary came around and they showed it on the big screen at Radio City Music Hall and I was living in New York, I bought myself a ticket. Went by myself. I’ll never forget it.

In the quirky-only-I-love-it department:

Baby It’s You by John Sayles. Set in mid-60s Trenton, I love this movie for its teenage romance, that Rosanna Arquette falls for the big, bad Sheik (I did the same thing once), that the one and only sex scene is awkward and awful and still endearing, that I have a huge crush on Vincent Spano. I didn’t say anything about the Springsteen soundtrack because I may have loved this movie before I loved Bruce – but clearly it must be mentioned that when Spano walks into the cafeteria and Hard To Be A Saint in the City is cranking in the background we have the Best. Movie. Scene. Ever.

In the comedy must-have-every-line-memorized department:

Beetlejuice. School of Rock may replace this someday, only because it’s gotten much more air play as of late, Flirting With Disaster is on the list and Midnight Run holds a very close second – but in the end I have to go with Michael Keaton as the ignoble, irrepressible, grotesque Betelgeuse. Love the Harry Belafonte. Catherine O’Hara is fabulous as Prince Valium’s bride. Who can forget Otho? Dick Cavett makes an appearance and Winona is brilliant as the depressed, suicidal teenager who’d rather be dead than live with her step-monster. Never trust the living.

In the banished-from-the-US-for-sex-crimes department:

Frantic. Roman Polanski’s masterpiece (okay, maybe I’m the only one who thinks this). The best movie ever where Harrison Ford gets to say “With an S, for shithead” and “You’re talking about my wife, but you must be thinking of yours.” I’ve discussed this movie before, so I won’t go into it here. Let’s just say I can’t turn away. Ever.

In the Merchant-and-Ivory-couldn’t-have-done-it-better-if-they-tried department:

Sense and Sensibility. I saw it in the movies with my sister and we cried and cried. Then for her bachelorette party we got big thick milk shakes and rented it. And cried and cried. How about when Willoughby
comes down and sweeps Marianne up on her horse. Or when Eleanor cries to her sister that even she can produce evidence of a broken heart. Let’s not forget the scene when Edward Ferris’ sister gets into the fight with Lucy. And oh my god Alan Richman is, I don’t know, so noble in this movie! The whole thing is just lovely. Really and truly lovely. I just love this movie.

In the I’m-adding-an-extra-movie-because-I-can department:

A Little Romance. Because Diane Lane was oh so beautiful and because her character was smart and sassy and Daniel was French and romantic and had a temper and because Laurence Olivier was old and frail and charming and just a little bit scary and because the music was beautiful and the scenery was beautiful and everything was beautiful. And most of all, because, when my sister and I both went to Venice, separately, with our husbands, we believed that if we kissed under the Bridge of Sighs while the bells tolled at sunset, we would be in love forever.

6. What’s in the Netflix queue?

Well, since I don’t belong to Netflix, I’ll give you a list of the movies I’d like to see, but will wait until they’re out on DVD or whatever format they’re using when I get around to watching them: Sideways. Hotel Rwanda. Meet the Fockers (even though I heard it sucks.) Million Dollar Baby. Closer. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. Whatever Crap Shows Up On Cable.

7. Name three people you are going to send this to:
I’m going with the J’s today:

Jen
Jo
Juno