1. Movie you love with a passion. No question or hesitation: 2001: A Space Odyssey
2. Movie you vow to never watch. Tough one. Caligula, probably, despite my interest in everything Peter O'Toole does.
3. Movie that literally left you speechless. Star Wars
4. Movie you always recommend. American Graffiti or Dr. Strangelove. Haven't seen anyone disappointed
5. Actor/actress you always watch, no matter how crappy the movie. John Wayne/Humphrey Bogart/Sean Connery/Katherine Hepburn/James Stewart/Jean Arthur/Barbara Stanwyck/George C. Scott/Jack Nicholson/Nicole Kidman/Robert Downey Jr.
6. Actor/actress you don't get the appeal for. Who the Hell is Danny McBride and who did he blow to become a star? Most of the Ken/Barbies on the CW and Fox shows. Oh. And Alex Cord. And Andrew Prine.
7. Actor/actress, living or dead, you'd love to meet. Connery. He wouldn't give me the time of day, unless I paid for the golf game...and the beer at the 19th hole.
8. Sexiest actor/actress you've seen. (Picture required!) Oh. Claudia Cardinale.
9. Dream cast. This almost happened—the original version of "Lonesome Dove" written by McMurtry and directed by Bogdanovich: Henry Fonda, James Stewart, John Wayne, Ryan O' Neal, Cybill Shepherd. Can't kick about the version we got, but...wow!
10. Favorite actor pairing. Tracy/Hepburn, Grant/Hepburn, Astaire/Rogers, Culp/Cosby, Connery/Caine
11. Favorite movie setting. Monument Valley
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12. Favorite decade for movies. 1930's 1960's runs a close second, then the 70's
13. Chick flick or action movie? Action movie
14. Hero, villain or anti-hero? Hero, lightly flawed around the edges.
15. Black and white or color? Black and white. If not, then Technicolor.
5 comments:
I didn't know you're a fan of John Wayne. I don't get his appeal as an actor, but your other choices are fantastic. And by "other choices", I of course mean Katharine Hepburn.
LOL.
John Wayne has been a life-long fascination for me, growing up on his movies and the films of John Ford and Howard Hawks and going to see movies with my Dad (he enjoyed Wayne, too). As an adult, and as a liberal, I struggled with my genuine love for his acting and for the man—for more on that, I would refer you to my Essay "100 Years of The Duke"—but the more I read up on him, the more I came to respect him, despite his faults and simplistic view of the world. I came to see that for Marion Morrison "John Wayne" was a performance, a persona that he carried in public and might have been his greatest accomplishment. I've read so many accounts of acts of personal grace that crossed political lines that I couldn't help but be moved by them. But Wayne's appeal is powerful—Jean Luc Godard—as radical as they come—bravely expressed how the sight of Wayne in "The Searchers" hoisting Natalie Wood into his arms has moved him to tears and filled his heart with love for the man. Godard, man. And Dick Cavett has written about conversations where Wayne had aspirations to do Noel Coward on the stage but "probably couldn't get away with it." Marion Morrison might've, but "John Wayne?" No way. And the evidence is there on the screen, too. Powerful performances that could blow better actors off the screen because Wayne knew stage-craft and the power that he could physically embody, both as a young man (playing older parts) and in his later years. Wayne knew his body and his limitations and never walked through a part. And, of course, Hepburn thought the world of Wayne and sought out playing with him—of, course, they were well-matched. even in the under-cooked "Rooster Cogburn"—one of the few actors who could hold up with him on the screen, partially because he had so much respect for her and deferred to her on-screen. "He's like a TREE!" she enthused to Peter O'Toole. "You're a willow, but he's a great oak!" This, despite the fact that he was only a couple years from dying of the cancer he'd been battling since the early 60's.
Yeah, Wayne is problematic, but he ain't easy and one underestimates him at their peril. He certainly can't be dismissed. He's done too many great movies where he was the lynch-pin and key ingredient of their success.
It's been a struggle, but an enjoyable one, and if you decide to investigate his ouvre, I hope you have as many hours of enjoyment exploring as I have.
Whoa, that was an essay (I like the thoughts, though.) I love when persons love stars and can defend them, though. But, you're smart, I know you had to have a good reason for choosing Wayne. :)
I'm smart?
Tsk, tsk. Don't be deprecating now.
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