Over at Cinema Paradox, Stevee Taylor posted “100 Cinema Facts About Me”, a fascinating and personal list of film facts which gives an interesting insight into her viewing history and feelings about certain aspects of film. This post has been replicated by many other film blogs including Inspired Ground, Splendid and Lovely, and Cinematic Corner. I was inspired by my fellow bloggers to create my own list – you can read it after the jump.
1. Milo and Otis makes me sob
2. The first film I saw in the cinema (according to my parents, who should know) was The Little Mermaid, but the first film I remember seeing is The Beauty and the Beast
3. My favourite Disney film is The Lion King
4. But I think Studio Ghibli films are for the most part far superior
5. Totoro is my favourite Ghibli film, and my third favourite film overall
6. My favourite film is Lost in Translation
7. I’m still scared of the Scream masks after all these years
8. I was too scared to use the bathroom in the cinema for a year or so after seeing the second Scream film.
9. I’m actually quite a wimp when it comes to horror and slasher films
10. I’ve never seen any films from the Saw, Hostel, Paranormal Activity, or REC franchises
11. I’ve never seen a Star Wars film either
12. A few years ago I tried watching A New Hope but I got bored and turned it off
13. I’m afraid they can never live up to the hype and their importance in pop culture
14. I’m afraid I’m not really a film buff If I don’t like them
15. The only film I’ve ever walked out of was The Patriot, starring Mel Gibson
16. I wanted to walk out of Wuthering Heights at the 2012 Sydney Film Festival so badly, but I didn’t
17. The films I’ve seen the most times at the cinema (three times) are Drive and The Lion King
18. I saw Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part One twice at the cinema (and paid both times) because I’m a good friend and couldn’t say no. No, I didn’t enjoy it
19. Perhaps if I were really a good friend I would have taken them to Midnight in Paris instead – a film I didn’t particularly like, but it was out at the same time and it is clearly the better film
20. The film I’ve seen the most times (I’ve lost count – at least 3o times) is Home Alone. I watch it every Christmas Eve without fail. It’s sort of become my thing, and if you’re with me on Christmas Eve, you have no say in the matter.
21. I think Home Alone: Lost in New York is one of the best sequels ever made
22. The film I’ve been the most excited about ever seeing was the first Harry Potter film. I skipped school and went by myself because I just couldn’t wait.
23 The third Harry Potter film is my favourite, but I think they are all pretty decent adaptations.
24. I’m embarrassed about how many “classic” films I’m yet to see
25. I studied Japanese film at university
26. Hayao Miyzaki is my favourite working director
27. Kikujiro no natsu is my favourite Japanese feature film
28. Recently I’ve loved a lot of French language films, and haven’t watched much Japanese cinema at all
29. I think my tastes are evolving, but sometimes I worry they’re not
30. My friends think I spend too much time at the cinema
31. I love Happy Gilmore. It’s one of the rare films that my family can watch together and really enjoy.
32. My mum and I share a love of terrible disaster films
33. My favourites are Dante’s Peak and Night of the Twisters
34. The last film I saw at the cinema with my family was The Muppets and they loved it.
35. The first film I remember paying for a ticket for (out of my $10 a week pocket-money) was Free Willy 2
36. When i was 11-12 years old I used to go to the cinema every second week. For my $10 of pocket-money I could get a ticket to a movie and a combo from McDonalds
37. I found out Princess Diana had died when my Mum picked me up after a movie. I remember crying in the car on the way home.
38. The last movie I argued about with my parents was The Guard - they didn’t like it and I loved it.
39. I gave my Mum Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy as part of her last birthday gift
40. My parents just bought a Blu-ray player and the first film they bought was Drive. I was so proud of them
41. I have a teenage girl crush on Ryan Gosling
42. Until Drive, I activily avoided Ryan Gosling films because I hate The Notebook so much.
43. I really really hate The Notebook
44. I really really hate War Horse, but I recently saw part of a documentary about the stage play and it looks amazing – I really want to see it
45. Sometimes I get defensive if people don’t like the same films as me
46. I love when people ask for a film recommendation, but I’m terrified they’ll hate it and blame me
47. I always say what I think about films – i don’t really care if I’m supposed to feel a certain way.
48. I’m yet to be convinced that 3D is more than a fad
49. The first feature-length film I saw in 3D was Coraline, and I loved it
50. The last film I saw in 3D was Prometheus and although I liked the film, the 3D was pointless and gave me a headache. I rewatched it in 2D, and it was so much more enjoyable
51. The last film that made me cry was Café De Flore – I didn’t actually cry during the film but I found myself crying afterwards
52. The reason I cried was I related with the theme of the importance of music in life – how it shapes events and people and your memory of them. This resonates with me, as I am someone who associates people, times, and places with music
53. All of the films I truly love have fantastic soundtracks or scores
54. I’m currently obsessed with the soundtrack from the film C.R.A.Z.Y.
55. My favourite soundtrack from 2011 is from The Social Network. I’ve played that album more that 1500 times
56. My favourite moment from a film involving music is the scene from Romeo and Juliet in which Leonardo DiCaprio is walking down the beach at sunrise. He’s smoking a cigarette and looking disheveled in yesterday’s clothes. The song that is playing is “Talk Show Host” by Radiohead
57. “Talk Show Host” is one of the first songs I learnt to play on guitar, and remains one of my favourite songs of all time
58. The first soundtrack I ever bought was The Lion King (cassette tape). My friend and I used to play it with only the music on (and the vocals off) and sing along
59. I want to rewatch Holy Motors for the accordion scene alone – I need that music
60. Although I love music in films, I actually don’t like musicals very much. I find them cheesy and over-the-top
61. The last DVD I bought was The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Fincher) – but that was a gift and not for me
62. My DVDS are alphabetized by title. Sometimes I think I should group them by director, but I think that would bug me
63. I don’t like The Godfather
64. Ditto for Donnie Darko and Napoleon Dynamite
65. The last film I saw at the cinema (at the time of writing this – Monday 25 June) was Brave (in 2D) and I loved it.
66. My favourite Pixar film is Wall.E. It makes me cry every time
67. If I ever have children, I think I will stress over which film to take them to see at the cinema first. I’d want it to be a classic, and something they could be proud to say was their first cinema experience
68. I still remember when cinemas had intermission. I’d beg for a choc-top or a pottle of snifters
69. When I travelled through Europe I was horrified that most cinemas still had intermission. During a screening of Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince the film stopped for intermission at a really tense moment and I almost had a fit. It was almost 20 minutes until it started again
70. In Japan people generally sit through to the end of the credits. I learnt the hard way that leaving early is thought of as impolite
71. My preferred spot in the cinema is about one-third from the front – centre if it’s 3D, or slightly to the left for a normal film. I hate sitting up the back.
72. I’m not afraid to tell talkers, texters, phone-users etc off. I once got a group of teenagers thrown out of my local cinema because they were throwing food
73. I rarely buy food at the cinema – As a teenager/poor student, I used to spend a lot of time hiding food in jackets, bags etc, and sneaking in to the cinema (they would sometimes search your bag)
74. My favourite thing to buy is an icecream, although it’s always finished before the film starts. In Japan I would often buy a ‘beer and hotdog’ combo
75. I have snuck a hipflask of spirits into the odd film
76. I’ve never been to a drive-in theatre
77. I like the idea of outdoor theatres, but I think the reality is not as romantic as the idea
78. I don’t understand why some people are so adverse to reading subtitles in foreign films. I feel sad that they are missing out on so much
79. When living in Japan I used to watch dubbed versions of American films on late night TV. I still remember laughing so hard at Tommy Lee Jones with a squeaky feminine Japanese male voice
80. I went to Yakushima (an island 3 hours by ferry from Kagoshima, Kyūshū in Japan) just so I could visit the forest that inspired Miyazaki to complete Princess Mononoke
81. Boy is probably my favourite New Zealand film
82. I’m ashamed how little New Zealand cinema I’ve actually watched
83. It’s not that there isn’t good New Zealand cinema, it’s just that it generally doesn’t interest me that much
84. I adore The Lord of the Rings films and know/have been to many of the places they were filmed in
85. I met Gwenyth Paltrow when she was filming Sylvia in my hometown. She was pleasant but distant
86. Scarfies is a great New Zealand film which was filmed in my hometown. I really like it
87. I find most Australian cinema to be rather dark and depressing. I’ve made an effort to watch more since I moved here
88. My favourite Australian film is The Castle - it’s one that seems to pop up on TV every 6months, and I enjoy it every time
89. This year I’m intending to attend parts of the Melbourne and Brisbane International Film Festivals. It was my first year at the Sydney Film Festival and I loved it
90. My favourite film festival memory is a tie between seeing Drive at the beautiful Embassy Theatre in Wellington (closing night of NZFF 2011), and seeing Paris in the equally grand Regent Theatre in Dunedin (either at NZFF or the World Cinema Showcase)
91. I love a long take. The scene in Shame which shows Michael Fassbender running through the streets of New York gives me the chills
92. Michael Fassbender is my current favourite actor
93. My current favourite actress is probably Carey Mulligan. She is simply stunning and so talented
94. Sometimes I worry that I spend too much of my time devoted to film – and then I see a film that blows me away and I fall in love with film all over again
95. I often wonder if I should have studied film or taken it a little more seriously. As it is, I would call film my 2nd (unpaid) full-time passion job.
96. I want to attend the Toronto International Film Festival, Sundance, and SXSW sometime in the next 5 (maybe 10) years – they’re on my bucket-list
97. The last film that truly blew me away was Holy Motors. I was on such a high after that film that I felt really sad when it wore off. A good film is like a drug
98. If I could have dinner with any 3 directors (living or dead), they would be Hayao Miyazaki, Akira Kurosawa, and David Fincher
99. The film I’m most looking forward to in the next 12 months is Only God Forgives (this is likely to change as new films pop up)
100. There is no way I’ll ever catch up with all the films I’ve missed. I just have to hope that the gaps in my knowledge close over time. I guess I better keep watching films then
Interesting.
Why did you walk out of ‘The Patriot’? (I haven’t seen it so have little knowledge or opinion of the film. My film instincts tell me its probably rubbish, though.)
As for not feeling like a film buff without having seen Star Wars, I haven’t seen the Godfather films. Well, except part 3 – the crap one!
You know I don’t even remember why I walked out. I was with friends and I’m pretty sure it was long and we simply got bored.
Thanks for admitting that Steve – I feel much better
I’ve only seen the first one, and since I didn’t like it I didn’t bother with the others.
Oooh, I definitely love this list. Milo and Otis is one of my favourite films, too! I must track it down again, because my niece took my video copy off me
Yay, someone else hasn’t seen the Star Wars franchise!
Talk Show Host is one of my favourite songs of all-time, too. Oh, how I’d love to use that in a film.
Boy is probably my favourite NZ film, too. I haven’t seen that many, like you say – they generally don’t interest me.
There is something so powerful about Talk Show Host. I had a copy of Milo & Otis that I taped off the telly. I should really try to get it on DVD – it’s a classic.
Great list. Oh I recently rewatched Romeo + Juliet and have been obsessing over Romeo’s intro for like a month now. It’s my favourite character intro alongside Josh Hartnett’s in The Virgin Suicides.
Ive been obsessed with that intro for over a decade
Josh Harnett in The Virgin Suicides is a great call. I think I need to rewatch that one soon.
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#6 – I better see this soon.
Would be an amazing feeling to say you’ve seen every movie you’ve wanted to.
#10 – Wow!
#11 – Me until a couple of months ago. Worthwhile.
#17 – Drive also my most watched at a Cinema (good taste there!)
#42 – I’ve still avoided The Notebook.
#51 – Cafe De Flore was so beautiful.
#63 – Yep, overrated.
#100 – Ahhh. I feel that I will get there one day, surely you will too
Thanks for the comments Alex. I saw you watched Star Wars recently – I know I should but the motivation is so weak. If you haven’t seen Lost in Translation then you really should remedy that. When can we read your list?
I had no motivation either!! In fact, I still have no motivation to see Episodes 1-3 now as everyone says they are no good in comparison!
Haha I was thinking of doing one, but I really don’t have many film facts. I may conjure one up
[...] including Alex at And So It Begins, Andy at The Film Emporium, Sati at Cinematic Corner, Sam at An Online Universe and the original idea from Stevee at Cinematic Paradox - I’ve decided to string together [...]
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And I thought I was the only weird person in the universe who prefers the front row seats. Not the absolute front, but like you said, one-third.
Interesting about the staying after credits in Japan.
I actually hate dubbed films. It ruins the mood.
The further forward you sit, the less people there is in front of your to distract you with using their phones, chatting, walking out etc
Oh, I missed this list when you first released it!!
)
Agree with you on the Disney/Ghibli dynamic – love Disney films mostly, but there’s something eternally magical about Ghibli (though as you know, Spirited Away is my favourite
Love 98! I’d choose Miyazaki, Kiarostami and Peter Jackson (because I’d want to pick his brains about Lord of the Rings!)
If I ever went to Japan (and I want to, one of my friends just came back) I’d visit that same forest if I could! One of my dreams is also the watch Joe Hisaishi perform live.
I don’t like Napoleon Dynamite either :/ It’s not that funny, sadly.
Great list, Sam!!!
Thanks Ruth – I’m sure your dinner conversation would be very interesting, with 3 such different directors.
Great list!
#5 — Mine too. Actually, it might be a tie between Totoro and Spirited Away.
#9 — I am the same way.
#15 — I couldn’t make it through that movie, either.
#30 — Is there any such thing as too much time at the cinema?
#91 — Me too!
There is no way I’ll ever catch up on my film viewing either. And exciting new writers, directors and actors keep emerging. I just keep getting further behind.
Spirited Away is a very close 2nd for me. I think you can spend too much time at the cinema. During film festivals I start getting really uncomfortable after so much time sitting
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