Miscellaneous: Meme’s The Same

I usually don’t go in for this kind of thing. I’m a loner, Dottie. A rebel. But it’s all the rage among the GreenCine regulars, so I want to play, too.

1. Total number of films I own on DVD and video

112. Wow. I didn’t think it was that many.

2. The last film I bought

A “Classic Monster Movies” collection featuring DOCTOR BLOOD’S COFFIN, FURY OF THE WOLFMAN, and THE BRAINIAC on one disc.

Look, it was only five bucks. What do you want from me?

3. The last film I watched

THE HARDER THEY FALL (1956). A tough, pulpy boxing drama from a novel by Budd Schulberg. Bogart’s last film. I watched it because Max Baer, the villain of CINDERELLA MAN, appears in it as an exaggerated version of himself.

4. Five films that I watch a lot or that mean a lot to me, in no particular order

Here I’m going to cheat and give each selection a similarly-themed alternate. It’s a meme, people. I can do what I like.

ALIEN (1979) – In a lapse of judgment she has come to regret, my mother took me to see this when I was a kid. I had never realized you could frighten adults before. That revelation made me want to make movies. Alternate: BRAZIL (1985)

THE TAKING OF PELHAM ONE TWO THREE (1974) – Pound for pound, the most entertaining movie ever made. Alternate: RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (1981)

BLOWUP (1966) – For peerless writing. It tells its story in purely visual terms. Alternate: CHINATOWN (1974)

NORTH BY NORTHWEST (1959) – The complete movie package, and the level of artistry to which I aspire. Alternate: L.A. CONFIDENTIAL (1997)

THE THIRD MAN (1949) – As good as it gets. Alternate: DR. STRANGELOVE (1964)

Bonus Entry: OUT OF THE PAST (1947). Just because.

5. If you could be any character portrayed in a movie, who would it be?

Gene Hackman in THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE. Because he goes out cursing God and saving Pamela Sue Martin. And because I’ve never looked good in a turtleneck.

Who’s next?

TV: Celebrity Charades

All my life I have waited for a worthy successor to THE BATTLE OF THE NETWORK STARS. This limited-run AMC series created by Bob Balaban, Chad Lowe and Hilary Swank isn’t it – for one thing, there’s no dunk tank – but it’s close.