FtbbW - The Reincarnation

We're starting with this one, because it seems easiest to just play along with James on episode 300.

Favorite Remake:

Obviously the Departed is a great answer. I remember really loving 3:10 to Yuma, but I haven't rewatched it since it came out. I personally hold Gone in 60 Seconds near and dear to my heart as a trashy film I unabashedly love. Girl with a Dragon Tattoo is interesting, because I love Fincher, and so I love his version (your friend and mine: Enya!), but I remember thinking the original was better (mostly just for how Noomi played Lisbeth.) I love the most recent Emma. The 1994 Little Women is a contender. It feels a bit like cheating, because it's going off a beloved book, more than remaking an earlier film, but... it's the best version. The new Suspiria had some really interesting parts, and I liked it a lot, but I didn't think all of it completely worked. Clear honorable mentions: the Birdcage, Little Shop of Horrors, the Magnificent Seven, the Mummy, Ocean's 11, Thomas Crown Affair, and the Wizard of Oz. None of these have I seen the original to compare.

Out of all of those, I'm torn between Thomas Crown, which I love wholeheartedly, and Dragon Tattoo, where I've seen both. I think I'm going Dragon Tattoo, because it is Fincher being excellent, and I love the cinematography.  

Actor you would watch in anything:
Well, it's not Sam Rockwell, because I'm never going to watch his animated guinea pig movie. Christian Bale is a strong maybe. I'm not sure there's anything in his oeuvre I wouldn't watch. (This reminds me of an internet game a while back about an actor's rotten tomato range and whether your favorite had a spread as large as Karl Urban's.) 

Buster Keaton - I just don't know. Despite having seen 49 of his films, that's not quite a third of his output. (Ditto William Powell.) Shockingly not Rory Kinnear, because Count Arthur Strong was not for me (although that's tv). Andrew Scott has been in some weird ones. Cillian Murphy is also probably a strong maybe. Even in not great films, he's generally pretty interesting. Ditto Ben Whishaw (hey! I have seen his two lowest rated films - Bad Behaviour and the Tempest - so that's probably a pretty good pick.) I haven't seen enough Daniel Day-Lewis, but he's probably close up there. 

I love Mia Wasikowska a lot, and if I had to pick a favorite actress, she's the first that comes to mind. But there are a couple of her films I'll probably never see. I'm never going to watch Saoirse Ronan's teen flick. Natalie, Cate, and Kate each have a couple I'm not interested in. I've seen most of Eliza Scanlen's output so far and I find her really compelling. I'm drawn toward things with Thomasin McKenzie, because I really like her. Tilda is a strong maybe, but I feel like she has a bunch of obscure art films that are probably hard to find. 

So Christian Bale is probably the runner up, but as of right now: Jessie Buckley probably. I think I'd watch anything for her. Sure, it helps a bit that she's earlier in her career, and that she started so strong that she's had her pick of interesting projects. But I think her. (Hilariously, and I've only just thought of this, their next movie is together.)

What is the film you changed your mind about between viewings: 

There are a couple of films where I wasn't sure how I felt the first screening so I went back for a second time before assigning a rating - Oppenheimer and CMBYN come to mind. But I don't think that was changing my mind so much as making it up. This one is hard! Partly, I very rarely have time for rewatches of things that aren't favorites. 

I suppose another would be a film I don't feel I could still watch because the circumstances of the film have changed. So I don't know if I'll love Everybody Wants Some!! as much now knowing about the lead's domestic abuse (although the supporting characters were always the better part of that film.)

I'm sure there are some where a review changed my mind somewhat - gave me a different angle to consider, although I can't think of a specific example offhand. Maybe I'm Thinking of Ending Things? Actually, my friend Leo said some things about EEAAO after we went to see it which made me like it better. 

And then there are those that probably only hit a particular way at a particular time. Seeing Nine Days at a certain point in the pandemic is probably not a replicable emotional experience. Or seeing something on the big screen with a crowd vs. a home viewing can change the experience (the Black Pirate, Safety Last!, Wanted) Similarly, there are some where you can never have that first time experience back. Beast is one I think of for that (literally for the first half of my first viewing I thought I might be watching a werewolf film.) Sixth Sense, Usual Suspects, the Prestige, Parasite, Japanese Story all fall in that category. And I might actually go with Their Finest for that type of change between viewings, although I actually haven't rewatched it yet because I know the experience will differ. 

So - and I recognize this is entirely cheating - but I'm going to say the NTLive of Frankenstein, where Johnny Lee Miller and Benedict Cumberbatch swapped places, because one night (JLM as the creature) was markedly better than the other. 

Favorite Documentary:

Honorary Mentions: The Act of Killing, Leviathan, Aquarela, Anthropocene, Gunda, City Hall, Man with the Movie Camera, Microcosmos, Free Solo, Dick Johnson is Dead, Bloody Nose Empty Pockets, Let it Fall, El Mar La Mar, Hail Satan?, After Antarctica, Minute Bodies, and Nocturnes, which I saw at Sundance this year and ADORED. 

Special mention to Haulout which still should have won the doc short oscar. I love that film. 

But, obviously, it has to be: Jane

Favorite Sequel:

As James said, Paddington 2 is perfect. Other honorable mentions: Matrix Resurrections, Spider-Man 2, Rescuers Down Under, MI: Fallout, Return to Oz, Aliens, X2, 10 Cloverfield Lane, Bride of Frankenstein, The Look of Silence, and The Souvenir Part II. I need to rewatch Army of Darkness before I could add it. I adored Across the Spiderverse, but it ends on a cliffhanger. Top Gun Maverick is too much propaganda to be my pick. Apur Sansar would probably be the best pick (and I do love it and it is brilliant), but my heart says Mad Max Fury Road, only narrowly beating out Batman Returns.

Favorite film by a director you don't normally like:

I mean, Newsies would also work for this one (see below), given that I have no interest in the rest of Kenny Ortega's output (Hocus Pocus is whatever and High School Musical/Disney crap/Michael Jackson is all pretty icky.) Dogma works - I've seen three other Kevin Smith films and they were not for me. Weirdly, Soderbergh comes close for me - I've enjoyed three of his films, and have been mixed to negative on seven others. Bringing up Baby might work - I haven't loved the other Hawks films I've seen (although I probably need to rewatch To Have and Have Not.) The Man from Uncle kind of works, although I found Armie Hammer off-putting even before his scandal. But it's mostly fun and well done in a way I haven't been able to get into with the other three films of Ritchie's I've seen. 

I think it's probably Dogma on this one (although I haven't seen it since college). Poor Linda Fiorentino. She should have had more of a career.

What's your favorite film that you love that you get stick about: 

I've definitely been given grief about the new Emma. The one that stands out to me is Newsies. Objectively it is bad, but it was such a cultural phenomenon for a slice of women my age (shout out to Sarah Marshall's excellent You're Wrong About and You Are Good podcasts on the subject.) So, look. Do I understand Robert Duvall's acting choices in this film? Nope. But I'm always gonna love it:

Single Sexiest Moment in all Cinema:

Ugh - I feel like my brain has gone absolutely blank on this one and there are some great indie/foreign ones I'm missing.  So I feel like you've mostly got a couple of categories. Great kisses, like the Atonement goodbye, the Brokeback Mountain reunion, or I seem to remember there's good ones in Dance of the 41, Far from the Madding Crowd, the Iron Mask, and Bones and All. The best one is the end of Maurice. For sex scenes, you've got the ones in God's Own Country, Beast, All of Us Strangers, Last of the Mohicans, Crimson Peak, the Handmaiden, Secretary, Shakespeare in Love and, as I recall, Mothering Sunday. And then in sort of other, you've got things like Clark Gable undressing in It Happened One Night, the chapstick in Decision to Leave, the changing room in the Cameraman, the piano in Stoker, and Andre Holland smoking in Moonlight (and the rest of the diner scene.) Some of these I'd probably want to rewatch to make a definitive call, but I'm leaning toward Maurice, All of Us Strangers (recency effect?), Stoker, Beast (the forest scene doesn't seem to be online, but there are bits of it in this), and Moonlight. (I'm sure there's a specific scene in God's Own Country, but I can't pick it out at the moment. 

Let's go with Maurice:

What is the film that means the most to you as a family:

I mean - a Muppet Christmas Carol is beloved, as were Fantasia and Totoro. My brother and I used to do voices from Rescuers Down Under and Fievel Goes West (Howdy Howdy Howdy and I'm Blind I'm in PAIN, respectively.) Labyrinth and the Dark Crystal were favorites. Halloween was Grinch Night. I have a very clear memory of going to The Lion King opening weekend with my brother and dad. I'm not sure there was one movie beloved by all four of us, but I think I'll go with The Wrong Trousers here, because my mother definitely still does "CHEESE" regularly. 

What is the film that is as good or better than the book:

The Hours. I remember this anecdote from my Queer Theories class in college: when the screenwriter (David Hare) met with Michael Cunningham, Michael said, 'I wrote the best book I could. You write the best screenplay you can.' He acknowledged they are different media and that a good film adaptation shouldn't be slavish if it is to excel in its own medium. So I've always thought that is the best example. 

(Honorable mentions: Robin Hood, Last of the Mohicans, Wild, Jurassic Park, Where the Wild Things Are, V for Vendetta, Interview with the Vampire, Little Women (1994), Brokeback Mountain, Stardust, Secret of NIMH, Muppet Christmas Carol. (I obviously love Adaptation, but I've never read the book, so.))

What's your favorite score:

Last of the Mohicans. Best movie score ever. No other correct answer. 

What is your single favorite setpiece in a film that isn't a classic overall:

Bad Royale is a good one, although I think it's hard not to pick the singing/digging/windows bit. This is a tough question, because my mind leaps to either musical numbers or one-ers. Bond openers/MI stunts are good. Or No Man's Land in WW, to stick with action. (Or I don't think Bullitt quite qualifies as a classic.) Big dance numbers probably qualify, but just a good musical scene (a la Stoker), probably isn't considered a set-piece. Ditto the argument in Indignation. 

It's so hard not to think of classics! (The T-rex, or the elevators in Cabin in the Woods, to stick with Drew Goddard. Worst Person in the World! RRR! Carrie! Days of Heaven! the General! Napoleon!) The Great Ziegfeld is probably on the line. It's not great, but it did win best picture, in part because of the cake set piece. (Can the climb in Free Solo be considered a setpiece? I mean - it was logistically complex.) I'm excited to see the Furiosa scene that took 78 days to shoot.

The mirror dance in Last Night in Soho is pretty good. Or the zombie sword fight in Stardust. The earthquake in San Francisco. Will Tick Tick Boom ever be considered a classic? Because Sunday is definitely up there (with pandemic restrictions layering in the logistical complexity). Trinity flying in Matrix Resurrections is pretty great. There are a couple of great set pieces in M. You can't use the one-ers in Atonement or Children of Men (classics), but the Vast of Night has a pretty good one. Tár's is pretty great. The opening dance in Climax. The drive in Licorice Pizza. Quicksilver in Xmen, although I'd prefer to pick something with more practical effects. The final chase in Revenge. I think this question is leaning more toward action than a musical number, so I think I'm going to pick the staircase scene in Atomic Blonde. (My most liked review on LB is just praising that scene.)

What is your favorite credits sequence:

Honorable mentions: Vox Lux, Boy, Deadpool, CMBYN (although there's an interesting video essay that looks at why the ending of Portrait works better than CMBYN precisely because the film ends), Deadpool 2 (I mean - it didn't make up for the fridging, but...), What We Do in the Shadows, Guardians of the Galaxy 2 (the best part of that film, other than Ben Browder), Too Many Cooks, and Se7en. Also a plug for going through some interesting picks here: https://www.artofthetitle.com/features/ 

My knee jerk reaction was Watchmen, which is a pretty obvious answer. Then I thought maybe Holy Grail, because I remember how thrilling and hilarious those were in sixth grade. I may have also said 'she was carving her initials on the møøse' to my friend Jess Copi like three months ago. I think I'll go with Watchmen though since it sets up the needed backstory (that said, how much of the credits do folks who have never read the book get? Do they pick up the kid is Rorschach?)

What is the film that weirded you out the most:

I mean - there were the ones that gave me nightmares as a kid: Critters and Watership Down. Films that I have found upsetting would be ones like Bullhead, Snowtown, the Last House on the Left, Once Were Warriors (my English teacher had me watch it at 13, and look - I was precocious - but that was a bit much for me at the time), the Tribe, Se7en (sloth. ugh.) and Requiem for a Dream. I mean, we all know the real answer here is Cats, but I'm going to go with The Strange Thing About the Johnsons.

What is your all time favorite line from a film:

A few favorites:

"Sometimes you make the honest mistake of making a mask out of crackers and a duck eats your face" - What We Do in the Shadows

"But it's what I'm going to do." - Wonder Woman

"I would die for her, I would kill for her. Either way what bliss." - Addams Family

"A life without despair is a life without hope. Holding these two ideas in our head is life itself" - First Reformed

"I lost my virginity in what I thought was a park but it turned out to be a graveyard and now the ghost spirits live inside my eggs waiting to be reborn" - Booksmart

"I love this man beyond measure and reason. He’s not my ‘boyfriend.’ He’s all and he’s more." - The Old Guard

"Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions. Their lives a mimicry. Their passions a quotation." - I'm Thinking of Ending Things 

"You know the quickest way of getting rid of me?" "Tie you up. Dump you in that river." - Miss Fisher

“A friend is a gift you give yourself.” – Nightcrawler

"History isn't here yet. It's coming, but maybe this time we can take it on our own terms." - First Cow

"Do it." - Zola

“You want to be people? Let’s be people.” - Bones & All

"You must tell me all about yourself, in every detail, but oh, so slowly, so very slowly, so that it takes a very, very long time." - Scarlet Pimpernel

I'm not going to put anything from Angels here because it feels like cheating. It's cliche now, but "I wish I knew how to quit you" is a great line. Same with "Carpe Diem." And "You will never age for me, nor fade, nor die."

But my gut reaction is:

One Film to Take With You:

I mean - this is a weird one. Is this the one film you would take with you to be reincarnated (how James took it - and Past Lives was a great pick). I feel like it can't be favorite film because that's episode 1. So I guess for reincarnation I'm leaning toward something here like Koyaanisqatsi, Le quattro volte, Cloud Atlas, Dead Again, Only Lovers Left Alive, Wild, the New World, or Man with a Movie Camera. Maybe it should be a Buster Keaton just to get that in early for a new life? 

But I think I'm going with: World of Tomorrow.