Red, Red Whine

I've been a little whiny lately. There, I said it. Not particularly proud of it, but it's a fact and there's no need to hide it from the world. I'm tired, and I'm whiny. That's why I haven't blogged lately. And I'm not going to blog tonight, well, not a real "Right From The Brain of Bet" blog.

You know you're a little close to the edge when things that are really only minorly annoying start to bug the shit out of you, to the point where you blaspheme and hit the desk when they happen. This has been the case with me the past few days over Ebay. Ebay suddenly has this incredibly annoying little feature wherein when one clicks on an item to look a little closer, then clicks the "back" button to go back, Ebay takes one back, but not back to the place in the page one was at before one clicked, it flips to waaaaaay down on the page, almost to the bottom. So one has to scroll back up to find where one was before the first click took place. It gets up one's snout. Well, this one's, anyway.

Anyway, it's not important, and I happened upon this little meme in Stennie's blog this morning. I'm getting really unenamored of the whole meme scene, but I liked the questions to this one, and also liked Stennie's answers, and so I thought as my toe-dip back into blogland, I'd do a version myself.

It's about movies! Movies, people!

1. Name a movie that you have seen more than 10 times.

Well, of course the first one that comes to mind is "The In-Laws," because some of you seem to like to make such a big deal of it. I may have seen others more, like "Auntie Mame," but if I had to check the movie I've seen the most times, if it isn't "Monty Python and the Holy Grail," it might be "The Wizard of Oz." (It shows every year on TV, you know, though I saw it on the Big Screen a few years ago and it was great.)

2. Name a movie that you’ve seen multiple times in the theater.

The most recent was "Little Miss Sunshine." I remember seeing "Pulp Fiction" probably 3 times in 3 different theaters, because I kept taking people to see it.

3. Name an actor that would make you more inclined to see a movie.

Um, Alan Arkin, anyone? David Strathairn. Mr Clooney would sure make me inclined, though my inclinations usually wait until they come out on DVD.

4. Name an actor that would make you less likely to see a movie.

Well, the first name that springs to mind is Rob Schneider. There are many, though, Adam Sandler, Nicolas Cage, Steven Seagal, Vin Diesel, basically anyone from "Saturday Night Live," and Mel Gibson.

5. Name a movie that you can and do quote from.

"Serpentine!" "What flow, there isn't any flow." "There's red tape in the bush?" "I have flames on my car!" "We'll call it the thing, OK?" "Stop with the soup!" "Oh, he nice, he-a-very handsome!" "Compact, low to the ground...." Need I go on? I really don't think I need. Oh, that was "The In-Laws," btw. (Actually, I'm lucky enough to be surrounded by friends and family who are unabashed movie-quoters. Lines from "Blazing Saddles," "Clueless," "That Thing You Do," and million others litter our conversation. Yes, litter.)

6. Name a movie musical that you know all of the lyrics to all of the songs.

"The Music Man." And I sing them right out loud! (Right, Sara Beth?)

7. Name a movie that you have been known to sing along with.

Well, "The Music Man," of course. How dumb is that question?

8. Name a movie that you would recommend everyone see.

I did that just last night! While recording the podcast, I recommended "Some Like It Hot" to the possible 4 people on earth who haven't seen it, and then I distinctly remember beseeching our listening public to see "Matewan."

9. Name a movie that you own.

I own many, thanks. Great and not-so-great Alan Arkin movies, Fellinis, Old Classics. They generally follow what we'll call "The Rule #1 Rule." If it's a movie I'd see 10 times, I may as well own it.

10. Name an actor that launched his/her entertainment career in another medium but who has surprised you with his/her acting chops.

I thought Dwight Yoakam was great in "Sling Blade."

11. Have you ever seen a movie in a drive-in? If so, what?

Oh, the drive-in was a staple of my youth. I saw "No Time For Sargeants," "In the Heat of the Night," (which I didn't really get, since I was only 6 or 7), and some movie where Dick Van Dyke played a minister. After searching around on imdb, I think it must be something called "Cold Turkey," which also seems to star Edward Everett Horton! Wow. In my twenties, the drive-in made something of a baby comeback in our town, and we used to love to go there on Friday nights, because it was cheap and you could take your own food. I remember seeing "Stir Crazy" there, why that one sticks out of all those weekends, I've no idea. (By the by, the best thing about drive-ins? Going to the movies in your jammies!)

12. Ever made out in a movie?

No, but I broke up in one!

13. Name a movie that you keep meaning to see but just haven’t yet gotten around to it.

Those damn Lord of the Rings movies. I started the first one around 11:30 pm on a weeknight. Should have known that was a recipe for disaster, and it was, and I keep saying I'll keep an eye out on cable, or go to the video store and just rent them for a week. It's odd feeling like you "should" see a movie, all the while knowing it's a genre that interests you not in the very least.

14. Ever walked out of a movie?

Once. "Under The Rainbow," which for some reason at the time sounded like it had a pretty good premise. The backstage story of "The Wizard of Oz," replete with midgets galore. God have mercy. Walked out about 45 minutes into it. Wanted to walk out of "Bachelor Party," but I thought my friend was interested. When it was over, she said, "I started to ask you about three different times if you wanted to leave."

15. Name a movie that made you cry in the theater.

Oh, man. "My Dog Skip." I was sitting at the closing credits of that movie, a grown woman, weeping and praying they wouldn't turn up the house lights. Then about two rows behind me and to the right, I heard a grown man weeping and honking into his hanky. We should have gotten married on the spot. And gotten a dog. (By the way, the final scene of "Cinema Paradiso" makes me cry like a big fat baby with colic every time I see it, but I haven't seen it in the theater.)

16. Popcorn?

Why, yes, thank you very much. Actually, I seldom eat or drink anything at the movies. But popcorn's my evil nemesis. I can eat a gallon tub and never feel full.

17. How often do you go to the movies (as opposed to renting them or watching them at home)?

Very seldom. I live in Movie No Man's Land. It's my favorite thing to do on vacation, though.

18. What’s the last movie you saw in the theater?

"Little Miss Sunshine." And before that, "Little Miss Sunshine."

19. What’s your favorite/preferred genre of movie?

Just good ones. I guess I tend to lean towards comedies, but anything good makes me happy.

20. What’s the first movie you remember seeing in the theater?

Easy. "101 Dalmatians." We'll have a dalmatian plantation!

21. What movie do you wish you had never seen?

Well, the really horrible ones, like "Leaving Las Vegas," "The English Patient," and "Out of Africa." And "Titanic." But one movie that will never leave my brain, though I've asked it more than several times, is "Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer," which was loosely (I'm guessing quite loosely) based on the life of Henry Lee Lucas. God, I couldn't sleep for weeks after that. Nothing like a good think about people who kill at random, just for fun. And chop up the bodies. And put them in trash bags. And break people's necks in front of their family members. And on and on.

22. What is the weirdest movie you enjoyed?

Well, recently I quite enjoyed "Delicatessen," which was certainly what I'd consider weird. When you think about it, "DiG!" is kind of weird, even though it's a documentary - it's just about weird people, though. Then of course there's "La Dolce Vita," which I've seen several times, totally open-mouthed and in love, and there's so much about it I don't understand it's amazing.

23. What is the scariest movie you’ve seen?*

* See "Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer."

24. What is the funniest movie you’ve seen?

Wow. In a way, I understand Stennie's answer of "South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut." However, for me, that would be the single one biggest laugh I've probably ever gotten from a movie. We watched it together in Reno, and there was a point where I honestly thought I was going to faint from laughter. I couldn't breathe. I went all fuzzy-headed. However, overall, I can't say that's the funniest movie I've ever seen. I mean, not when there's "The In-Laws," "The Producers," "Blazing Saddles," and "Holy Grail." Look at those four and call it a tie.

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* Isn't it odd to have 24 questions in a meme. Couldn't they think of one more to round it out to a happy 25?