Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule Quiz

Harry Lime

Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule came up with a fabulous quiz. I found it via the delightful Self Styled Siren. Thanks!

1) Second-favorite Stanley Kubrick film.

Barry Lyndon, gorgeous but duller than watching paint dry, ymmv.

2) Most significant/important/interesting trend in movies over the past decade,
for good or evil.

Remaking television shows from the 1960's into feature films. This was done in the 1960's with predictable results and I would also mentioned the endless mining/refranchising of comic book characters.

3) Bronco Billy (Clint Eastwood) or Buffalo Bill Cody (Paul Newman)?

Buffalo Bill Cody, hands down.

4) Best Film of 1949.

The Third Man or Kind Hearts and Coronets

5) Joseph Tura (Jack Benny) or Oscar Jaffe (John Barrymore)?

Ohh, tough one, but I will go with Oscar Jaffe

6) Has the hand-held shaky-cam directorial style become a visual cliché?

Yes, and I was so over it before it really got to be a standard, like in Abel Gance's Napoleon of 1927 (and the same goes for split/multiple images within the frame).

7) What was the first foreign-language film you ever saw?

Dersu Uzula (I loved it) and The Earrings of Madame De on the same day. Quite the double bill.

8) Charlie Chan (Warner Oland) or Mr. Moto (Peter Lorre)?

Mr. Moto which was a recent delightful discovery for me.

A cold hearted killer and a resouceful friend to have, too.

9) Favorite World War II drama (1950-1970).

Gosh, I don't have one, the first that comes to mind is From Here to Eternity.

10) Favorite animal movie star.

Rin Tin Tin


11) Who or whatever is to blame, name an irresponsible moment in cinema.
I'm stymied

12) Best Film of 1969.
Bambi Meets Godzilla

13) Name the last movie you saw theatrically, and also on DVD or Blu-ray.
So's Your Old Man (WC Fields 1927) and on DVD Revolutionary Road

14) Second-favorite Robert Altman film.
Gosford Park (The Player is my favorite)

15) What is your favorite independent outlet for reading about movies, either online or in print?

A whole slew of blogs including the afrementioned and I really should be working.....

16) Who wins? Angela Mao or Meiko Kaji?

Tilt head sideways and begin blank stare like a golden retriever.

17) Mona Lisa Vito (Marisa Tomei) or Olive Neal (Jennifer Tilly)?

Olive Neal, Bullets Over Broadway is, perhaps, Allen's funniest film.

18) Favorite movie that features a carnival setting or sequence.

Only one?? Nightmare Alley and the murder in Strangers on a Train or the decadent Devil is a Woman???

19) Best use of high-definition video on the big screen to date.

No clue, probably something Pixar

20) Favorite movie that is equal parts genre film and a deconstruction or consideration of that same genre.
Any film by Douglas Sirk?

21) Best Film of 1979.

Was there one? I can't think of one. Norma Rae?

22) Most realistic and/or sincere depiction of small-town life in the movies.

True Heart Susie in the silent era and Shadow of a Doubt in the talkie era. Then again, there is The Best Years of Our Lives.

23) Best horror movie creature (non-giant division).
The Creature in The Bride of Frankenstein and King Kong (1933), they both had soul and you cared for them. Okay, I cared for them, sue me.

24) Second-favorite Francis Ford Coppola film.
The Godfather (Godfather II is my favorite and bet I am not alone in this humble opinion)

25) Name a one-off movie that could have produced a franchise you would have wanted to see.

Anything with Bogart, Mary Astor and John Huston directing

26) Favorite sequence from a Brian De Palma film.

The museum chase from Dressed to Kill.

27) Favorite moment in three-strip Technicolor.

All of The Adventures of Robin Hood or simply Dorothy emerging into Oz

28) Favorite Alan Smithee film. (I had to look this up)

In honor of Mr. Karceski, Showgirls

29) Crash Davis (Kevin Costner) or Morris Buttermaker (Walter Matthau)?

Are you serious? Buttermaker.

30) Best post-Crimes and Misdemeanors Woody Allen film.

Bullets Over Broadway

31) Best Film of 1999.

Topsy Turvey and Toy Story II, I enjoyed both a great deal.

32) Favorite movie tag line.

From the Moment They Met - It was Murder.

33) Favorite B-movie western.

Probably a Roy Rogers or Hopalong Cassidy, I do not have one.

34) Overall, the author best served by movie adaptations of her or his work.

Jane Austin or Shakespeare

35) Susan Vance (Katharine Hepburn) or Irene Bullock (Carole Lombard)?

Susan Vance, in my heart of hearts Lucy Warriner (The Awful Truth)

36) Favorite musical cameo in a non-musical movie.

Nat King Cole in Blue Gardenia

37) Bruno (the character, if you haven’t seen the movie, or the film, if you have): subversive satire or purveyor of stereotyping?

Not seen it.

38) Five film folks, living or deceased, you would love to meet.

A dinner party with Rudolph Valentino (duh), Nita Naldi (she sounded like so much fun), Billy Wilder (he was just brilliant), Vincent Price (the food would be divine), George Cukor (he knew all the dish and would tell you).

If you want to post yours, pay a visit to Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule