A Movie Scene Quiz

I missed Lackawanna Blues, because I don't have HBO. It sounds fabulous.

The concert sounds wonderful, Bree. (None of Ms. Fleming's selections are on my CD.)

Thanks for posting the link. This one caught my eye:

Thursday, March 10 at 8 PM
Stern Auditorium
Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra
André Previn, Music Director, Conductor, and Pianist
Denyce Graves, Mezzo-Soprano

Works by Ravel, Gershwin, and Previn


Loislane: I don't get HBO anymore.

Yep, no HBO for me either. But Lackawanna Blues sounds wonderful. Great cast.

Good day to all.

I am getting nowhere in my attempts to find three or more titles with a common word worthy of a category.

But, it's Bree's turn and I have not the slightest doubt that she can do it.

In the meantime:

I did find an actress who got to choose the titles of four of her movies. It was quite easy, because she chose among her favorite things:

1. Her favorite poem by an Englishman.

2. Her favorite car

3. Her favorite piece of music (by Provost)

4. Her favorite site to visit when in France

Nice one! And now (if I'm right about this), I owe you two questions.

Ingrid Bergman

1. For Whom the Bell Tolls (Her favorite poem by an Englishman).

2. The Yellow Rolls-Royce (Her favorite car)

3. Intermezzo (Her favorite piece of music (by Provost))

4. Arch of Triumph (Her favorite site to visit when in France).

I'll stall for time by giving you my report on The Aviator, which I finally saw last night (like mac, I'm trying to catch up with the Oscar nominees before the winners are announced on Sunday). I thought the movie was uneven: I liked all the scenes about Hughes's personal relationships and his descent into madness, but I was kind of bored by all the stuff about airplanes - and, as you might expect from a movie called "The Aviator", it has an awful lot of stuff about airplanes. I thought both Leonardo DiCaprio and Cate Blanchett were very good. She has Hepburn's speech and movements down to a tee, but her performance is more than just an impersonation, it's a real person. My favorite scene was the one where Hepburn takes Hughes home to meet her family, who treat him as a lower form of being because he doesn't share their arty interests. (They're horrified to find out that all he reads are aviation trade journals: "You mean you don't read books, Mr. Hughes?") I have no idea if such a scene ever took place in real life, but it's very believable, and very funny.

Now to think about a new question…

Oh, that is funny and believable, Bree. What is hard for me to believe though is a relationship between Hughes and Hepburn. I recorded a TCM bio of Hughes, but I haven't had a chance to watch it yet. I'm most curious to see if there is any mention of Hepburn.

Yep! You owe us two questions.

I agree about Aviator (did I ever post my opinion on that one?) but was more impressed with Blanchett than I was with DiCaprio. He's interesting, but just doesn't show much range, IMO.

I saw Sideways yesterday. (Took that half-day off.) I don't know a thing about wine - and this is a movie about wine connoisseurs - but enjoyed it anyway. I'd be very surprised for it to win Best Picture, though. It was fairly quirky - I don't think it will appeal to everyone. Great cast.

Hi Mac. I remember getting the impression that you weren't too thrilled with "Aviator".

What movie would you guys like to see win? Since "Phantom" isn't a contender, I need a movie to root for. Some actors, too.

My favorite movie of the year (Vera Drake) wasn't nominated for best picture, so I don't have a strong rooting interest in that category. Of the five movies that were nominated for best picture, the one I probably enjoyed the most was Finding Neverland, but I wouldn't make any claims for it as a great movie - it was just a nice, sentimental story that could just as easily have been done as a Masterpiece Theatre production. If I had to bet on which movie would win, I'd bet on Million Dollar Baby, mainly because it's playing in the biggest auditorium at the multiplex where I saw The Aviator last night, which suggests that it's doing better business than The Aviator. (Hey, it's a good a theory as any!)

In the acting categories, I'm rooting for Don Cheadle, Imelda Staunton (but I wouldn't mind seeing Annette Bening win), Morgan Freeman, and Virginia Madsen.

I forget if I ever mentioned what I thought of Sideways. I thought the acting was great, but I don't understand why it's gotten as much hype as it has. A.O. Scott (the New York Times's chief film critic) wrote an article about it called "The Most Overrated Film of the Year" which I pretty much agreed with, especially this part: "It both satirizes and affirms a cherished male fantasy: that however antisocial, self-absorbed and downright unattractive a man may be, he can always be rescued by the love of a good woman. (What's in it for her is less clear.)"

If you're interested in reading the whole article, it's at:

"The Most Overrated Film of the Year": A.O. Scott on "Sideways"

Interesting review, Bree.
"Overpraising good work is surely a more forgivable sin than underpraising it." But it all hinges on "good work", doesn't it?

I recall that Loislane appreciated/enjoyed "Million Dollar Baby, but unless it has escaped my attention, I don't believe Mac has mentioned seeing that one yet.

I loved Million Dollar Baby. Saw it a few weeks ago, but couldn't decide what to say about it that wouldn't give away too much plot. I hope it wins. But Finding Neverland is a close second. And I wouldn't mind if Ray wins...



I just looked up the budgets for the Best Picture nominees - all figures are "estimates":

Sideways: $16 million
Finding Neverland: $25 million
Million Dollar Baby: $30 million
Ray $40 million
The Aviator: $116 million

Doesn't it seem that Aviator didn't have the money up on the screen? Just another reason that it disappointed me, I guess. It was good, but not great.

Thanks for the link to the NYT review, bree. I never want to read them before I see a movie, but afterwards, I like to see if I agree or disagree or if the critic can put my various thoughts into a cohesive opinion.

Scott doesn't address the hedonistic friend much. I found him harder and harder to take as the movie progressed. I was on his side at first, agreeing that Miles needed to loosen up. But he went WAY beyond sowing wild oats - stringing Stephanie along, ignoring his buddy, and then that last nite! And the car! Were we supposed to be happy that the wedding took place anyway?

Wow -- those budget figures are interesting. I'd guess that a lot of The Aviator's budget went into the old airplanes. For example, those old WWI biplanes that were used in the scenes when Hughes was supposed to be filming "Hell's Angels" looked pretty real (i.e., not computer-generated) to me, and they must have cost a pretty penny. By the way, I looked at the "trivia" page for The Aviator on imdb this morning, and it mentions that scenes in which Amelia Earhart appeared were shot for the movie, but cut from the final version. I would have liked to see those scenes.

I was a little bit less enthusiastic about Million Dollar Baby than most people, possibly because I knew the plot twist before I saw the movie. But I had some other problems with it that I think I would have had even if I hadn't known. For example, it bothered me that we're never told what happened between the Clint Eastwood character and his daughter to cause the estrangement between them. I think we were just supposed to accept it as a given, and focus on how the estrangement from his daughter colored his relationship with the Hilary Swank character, but in my opinion, not explaining anything about it was just lazy storytelling.

And yeah, I think we were supposed to be happy that the wedding in Sideways took place. I give the marriage about six months.

There were other plot elements of MDB that were glossed over, too. Some article mentioned the fact that it was unlikely that no one ever told her what her nickname meant, even though she'd travelled around the world and would have had tons of interviews, etc. I wouldn't have minded seeing more of that part of her world, for that matter. We didn't get to see her deal with the outside world, which surely would have changed her somewhat.

Spurred on by Raggedy's touching faith in my ability to think of another question in the "title words in common" format, I have searched mightily and come up with this new question:

This actor appeared in five movies, the titles of which include, or consist entirely of, the names of U.S. states (or residents thereof).

Thank you for your enlightening comments, ladies. With your assistance, I have made my decision. I shall root for "Finding Neverland", put my money down on "Million Dollar Baby", and place a side bet on "Ray".
I shall not bother going to the theater to see "Sideways".

After giving much consideration to Bree's question, it suddenly occurred to me that the actor would most certainly have to be the "All American" type to fit the bill and "Pride of the Yankees" immediately came to mind.
So, I go with Gary Cooper:

Arizona Bound
Nevada
The Virginian
The Texan
A Man from Wyoming

And your flash of enlightenment led you to the right answer: yes to Gary Cooper and all the movies.

Are you going to hold me to my debt for a second question, or will you take the next turn?

Well, it all depends on whether you feel like searching, if you have not already done so, mightily a second time.

I'm pretty exhausted from my first mighty effort, so I'd be happy to defer to you for the next round.

Mighty glad to oblige, Maam.

This actor appeared in 14 movies, the titles of which include, or consist entirely of, the names of U.S. states (or residents thereof).