I solve movies.

Time for a new movie questionnaire from possibly the greatest movie blog ever, Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule.  It's a little late, since it was intended for spring and summer is already upon us, but here goes nothing.  What are YOUR answers?

1) Favorite Biopic

This one's easy!  My all-time favorite film, ED WOOD, happens to be a biopic.  You haven't seen it?  Watch it immediately!  It stars everyone's favorite, Johnny Depp, in his greatest screen performance, along with everyone else's favorite, Sarah Jessica Parker before she was that chick from SEX AND THE CITY.  If that's not enough, you've also got pre-RUSHMORE Bill Murray, and Oscar-winning Martin Landau as a foul-mouthed Bela Lugosi!  Great script, beautiful black and white cinematography -- Tim Burton at his best.

2) Dyan Cannon or Tuesday Weld?

Tuesday Weld for ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA.

3) Best example of science fiction futurism rendered silly by the event of time catching up to the prediction

As much as I love it, I'll go with STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN.  The lines about Khan being a genetic superman from the 1990s, a product of the eugenics wars, are pretty silly.

4) Annette Funicello & Frankie Avalon or Troy Donahue & Sandra Dee?

Duh.  AF and FA.

5) Favorite Raoul Walsh movie?

I haven't seen any!  But that's what these questionnaires are good for. . .

6) Sophomore film which represents greatest improvement over the director’s debut 

The first one that comes to mind is Quentin Tarantino's PULP FICTION over RESERVOIR DOGS.  When I was a kid, I used to like RESERVOIR DOGS better, but PULP FICTION is infinitely more watchable and clearly a masterpiece.  RESERVOIR is best left as a cult classic, PULP FICTION is a bonafide example of one of the greatest films of all time.

7) Ice Cube or Mos Def?

This one's tough.  I love both.  A couple years ago, I would have said Ice Cube.  Unfortunately, while Cube has been in some great flicks like THREE KINGS, and never disappoints with his performances, he's also done a bunch of dumb kids movies.  Mos Def, on the other hand, while sometimes a little uneven in his performances, has yet to really appear in a stinker -- even NEXT DAY AIR looks promising.  Also, he's just so lovable.

8) Favorite movie about the music industry

I guess THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT, my second favorite film of all time, a rockumentary about the greatest band of all time, The Who.

9) Favorite Looney Tunes short (provide link if possible)

I like the ones about the sheep dog who clocks in.

10) Director most deserving of respect or upwardly mobile critical reassessment

Matthew Von Manahan, director of the ultra-indie and mostly unseen THE BOOK OF CALEB.  The movie isn't perfect but there is so much promise there, I'd love to see this guy get a budget and a foot in the door.

11) Ruth Gordon or Margaret Hamilton?

Margaret Hamilton.  It'd be tough to get me to go against anyone from the cast of THE WIZARD OF OZ, sorry.

12) Best filmed adaptation of a play

There are so many good ones.  MY FAIR LADY, THE KING AND I, HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH, GLENN GARY, GLENN ROSS, HAMLET (Branagh and Olivier), Franco Zefferelli's ROMEO AND JULIET, TITUS ANDRONICUS. . . still I'll go with one of my favorite flicks ever, CASABLANCA, based on the much-less famous play, EVERYONE COMES TO RICK'S.

13) Buddy Ebsen or Edgar Buchanan?

I'll take the original Tin Man, Buddy Ebsen.

14) Favorite Jean Renoir movie?

The only one I've ever seen is THE GRAND ILLUSION, and it's one of the best films ever.

15) Favorite one-word movie title, and why

BARFLY.  It says it all.

16) Ernest Thesiger or Basil Rathbone?

Tough one.  Love Basil Rathbone as Sir Guy of Gisbourne in THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD. . . but Ernest Thesiger as Dr. Pretorius is pretty fucking unbelievable. . . the award goes to ERNEST THESIGER!!

17) Summer movies—your highest and lowest expectations

I'm not sure what this one is asking.  Which summer movie this summer am I most excited for?  And which one am I least excited for?  I guess I'd say, before I saw it, I was most pumped for STAR TREK.  The one I'm not really looking forward to is G.I. JOE.  In the bigger picture, I just look for a summer movie to be fun at the very least.

18) Whether or not you’re a parent, what would be your ideal pick as first movie to see with your own child (or niece/nephew)? Why?

THE WIZARD OF OZ.  Sure, it might scare the crap out of them, but that's the one I watched over and over again as a kid, and the one I still enjoy as an adult.  There are plenty of classic Disney cartoons and modern Pixar masterpieces that would do the trick, too, but WIZARD OF OZ is most personal to me.

19) L.Q. Jones or Strother Martin

Strother Martin for COOL HAND LUKE.

20) Movie most recently seen in theaters? On DVD/Blu-ray?

Most recent theater outing was TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE, and it was just as good as ever.  Last flick on DVD was the first half of STAR TREK V: THE FINAL FRONTIER, which is not as terrible as everyone would have you believe.  But, also not great.

21) Do you see more movies theatrically or at home? Why?

I probably see more repeated viewings at home, but I try to see at least one movie a week in theaters so I probably see more than most.  As much as I'm annoyed by people in general, I still value the theater experience -- I like to see things on 35mm, on the big screen, as soon as possible, and am not content to wait in most cases.  But, I do a lot of home viewing, especially when it comes to revisiting my favorites over and over.

22) Name an award-worthy comic performance that was completely ignored by Oscar and his pals. 

One of the movies I laughed the hardest and longest at in the theater was THE BIG LEBOWSKI, and no one from it was nominated for anything, so I'll say -- the entire cast of THE BIG LEBOWSKI.

23) Zac Efron & Vanessa Hudgens or Robert Pattinson & Kristen Stewart 

Christ.  This one is difficult.  Zac Efron beats Pattinson, Stewart beats Hudgens.  So I'll vote for Zac Efron and Kristen Stewart (but only ADVENTURELAND Kristen Stewart -- 10x more attractive than TWILIGHT Kristen Stewart).

24) Name a great (or merely very good) movie that is too painful to watch a second time (Thanks to The Onion A.V. Club)

REQUIEM FOR A DREAM.

25) Beyonce Knowles or Jennifer Hudson?

Beyonce!  Please.

26) Favorite Robert Mitchum movie?

OUT OF THE PAST.

27) Favorite movie featuring a ‘60s musical group that is not either the Beatles or the Monkees

Well, I don't know if this is cheating or not, but THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT?  The film itself is from the late 70s, but it features 60s musical group THE WHO.

28) Maria Ouspenskaya or Una O’Connor?

Aargh.  Another tough one.  Ouspenskaya is awesome in THE WOLF MAN. . . but O'Connor is awesome in both BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN and ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD, so the award goes to UNA O'CONNOR!

29) Favorite Vincent Price movie?

EDWARD SCISSORHANDS.

30) Name a movie currently flying under the radar that is deserving of rabid cult status.

The afore-mentioned BOOK OF CALEB.

31) Irene Ryan or Lucille Benson (or Bea Benaderet)?

Well, Bea Benaderet.

32) Single line from a movie that never fails to make your laugh or otherwise cheer you up. (This may be obvious, but the line does not have to come from a comedy.)

"Oh my God, I'll go to school." -- BILLY MADISON

33) Elliot Gould or Donald Sutherland?

Donald Sutherland.

34) Best performance by a director in an acting role 

Woody Allen in ANNIE HALL.

35) Favorite Barbara Stanwyck movie?

DOUBLE INDEMNITY.

36) Outside of reading film criticism or other literature about the movies, what subject do you enjoy reading about or studying which you would say best enriches or illuminates your understanding and appreciation of life, a life that includes the movies?

I like to read about urban legends, folk lore, common misconceptions, frauds, general skepticism -- sociology and anthropology dealing with why people believe what they believe, and why we're wrong about what we believe.  It says a lot about the human mind and the human condition, and that's what movies are all about.