And I really like television, and I think some people bash it just to look deep.

I agree. I would link to the original column, but it's not available on the site anymore. I'm glad I skirted copyright laws and reposted it without permission.

That said, "Network" is a great film and is very clever about the whole "Infotainment" thing. And who doesn't want to open her window wide and say "I'm mad as hell and I'm not gonna take it anymore!"

And I really like television, and I think some people bash it just to look deep.

You get this all the time in academia and it drives me crazy. At Bennington they are so proud of the fact that there are only two televisions on campus. I was constantly telling my students that, if they wanted to be writers (and half of them do), maybe they should try exploring one of the most popular mediums for that vocation.

There's a LOT of it going around Montessori, too. I link it to the crunchy granola tendencies.

I can name several shows I'd rather the kids be watching than some of the stuff they're reading.

Either way, Jean Gabin=cool (and yet at the same time, also hawt).

I seem to recall this coming up in a conversation I had with someone cool last week.

Anyway, I put my answers here and already regret a few: [link]

I obviously don't belong in this thread, because I don't know what half those questions are referring to. Monica who?

slinks away

Megan, did you teach at BENNINGTON? Did I know this? Because I am a 1978 Bennington grad.

I can't even think of responding to the quiz right now, I just wanted to ask David if he meant Pépé le Moko instead of Algiers. Isn't Algiers the remake with Charles Boyer? Or do they call them both Algiers? In which case, that's confusing. Either way, Jean Gabin=cool (and yet at the same time, also hawt).

I did mean Pepe Le Moko - that's what I get for calling P-C an ignoramous.

The ones I have answers to:

2) Once Upon A Time in the West

3) Airplane! I think all of it qualifies.

6) Hugo Weaving

10) Batman Returns

11) I wouldn’t say “destroys,” but Moulin Rouge has definitely irritated me deeply on more than one occasion. Mostly because I keep thinking "Maybe this time I'll get it." But I never do.

13) Bruce Dern

15) Can I just ask why the question specifies that this is something Truffaut said before he died? Because honestly, I would have assumed that much.

17) This one’s hard. Maybe Mysterious Island.

18) Sandra Bernhard, I suppose.

19) Despised: Moppets in peril.

20) No

22) Hm. The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, maybe.

23) It’s always gonna be Network.

24) Patrick Bauchau

26) I really don't think I watch movies that way. I can't imagine thinking "hey, that seems like an accident" for anything short of a boom mike dropping into the frame.

29) “This woman has just cut, chopped, broken and burned five men beyond recognition... but no jury in America would ever convict her!”

30) It depends. With some movies, I want to know why the critic liked or disliked them, because I’m trying to decide whether or not I want to see them. With some movies/critics, I want to hear an interesting opinion because I've already decided what I think. With some movies/critics, I just want to be amused because I've already decided what I think.

EXTRA CREDIT: Define “matter,” and I’ll tell you if I think “still” even applies.

1) What movie did you have to see multiple times before deciding whether you liked or disliked it? I'm going to say Tombstone too. It got better on rewatch.

2) Inaugural entry into the Academy of the Overrated - 2001

3) Favorite sly or not-so-sly reference to another film or bit of pop culture within another film. - Heart of the World by Guy Maddin

4) Favorite Michael Powell/Emeric Pressburger movie - I Know Where I'm Going

5) Your favorite Oscar moment - Bjork laying an egg on the red carpet

6) Hugo Weaving or Guy Pearce? - Guy Pearce!

7) Movie that you feel gave you the greatest insight into a world/culture/person/place/event that you had no understanding of before seeing it - All the President's Men

8) Favorite Samuel Fuller movie - The Naked Kiss (duh)

9) Monica Bellucci or Maria Grazia Cucinotta? - Monica?

10) What movie can take a nothing day and suddenly make it all seem worthwhile? - Palm Beach Story or Hard Day's Night

11) Conversely, what movie can destroy a day’s worth of good humor just by catching a glimpse of it while channel surfing? - The Goonies

12) Favorite John Boorman movie - Point Blank. But I do love Excalibur and like the Emerald Forest.

13) Warren Oates or Bruce Dern? - Warren's cooler, no doubt. But I do like Bruce.

14) Your favorite aspect ratio - Cinemascope

15) Before he died in 1984, Francois Truffaut once said: “The film of tomorrow will resemble the person who made it.” Is there any evidence that Truffaut was right? Is it Truffaut’s tomorrow yet? - Could a DAvid Lynch movie be by anybody else?

16) Favorite Werner Herzog movie - Aguirre or Nosferatu

17) Favorite movie featuring a rampaging, oversized or otherwise mutated beast, or beasts - Jaws, or Night of the Lepus

18) Sandra Bernhard or Sarah Silverman? - Hmmmmm. I like them both. But I like Sarah's new show so I'll say her.

19) Your favorite, or most despised, movie cliché - Running in front of a fire ball. Magic Negroes. A character who turns and talks to somebody else in the car instead of watching the road.

20) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom-- yes or no? Yes.

21) Favorite Nicholas Ray movie - In A Lonely Place.

22) Inaugural entry into the Academy of the Underrated - Branded to Kill, or Local Hero.

23) Your favorite movie dealing with the subject of television - Soapdish?

24) Bruno Ganz or Patrick Bauchau? - Bruno! Mein Angel

25) Your favorite documentary, or non-fiction, film - Grey Gardens

26) According to Orson Welles, the director’s job is to “preside over accidents.” Name a favorite moment from a movie that seems like an accident, or a unintended, privileged moment. How did it enhance or distract from the total experience of the movie? - In Philadelphia Story Jimmy Stewart improv-ed his drunk scene with Cary Grant and you can just feel Cary's enjoyment.

27) Favorite Wim Wenders movie - Wings of Desire

28) Elizabeth Pena or Penelope Cruz? - I think Penelope is far more beautiful, but I've actually talked to Elizabeth Pena on the phone so I'll say her.

29) Your favorite movie tag line (Thanks, Jim!) - The one I was recently sporting from The Saddest Music In the World about sadness with pizzazz.

30) As a reader, filmgoer, or film critic, what do you want from a film critic, or from film criticism? And where do you see film criticism in general headed? More Manny Farber, less Pauline Kael.

EXTRA CREDIT: Do movies still matter? Yes, they do. In fact, they'll matter more and more.