Sunday Stealing

Movie Questions

What was you first movie-going experience without your parents? A re-release of the original Parent Trap. My oldest friend's mom was in the hospital, and her dad asked my parents if I could go to the movies with her one afternoon. Something special to cheer her up. We even got dressed up for the occasion (I wore a gold pendent). We were in 6th grade. 

Do you still buy DVDs or Blu Rays (or do you just stream them)? I have about two tons of DVDs that I never watch. I really should get rid of them. It's either Amazon Prime or, preferably, Comcast Xfinity for me.

What is your guilty pleasure movie? What about it works for you? I love everything about Valley of the Dolls. The legitimately terrific wardrobe, the campy musical numbers, the horrific dialog, the painfully earnest acting ... LOVE! 

You have compiled a list of your top 10 movies. Which movies do you like, but would not make the list?  Oh! So many movies are dear to me! With Doris Day's passing, I'll include one of hers that I completely adore: Young at Heart. She plays Lori, the upbeat youngest daughter who see the potential in everyone -- from the runt puppy of the litter to a feisty, underemployed piano player (Frank Sinatra). It's not a great movie. We can quibble about the crappy outdoor sets and some pretty serious plot/timing problems. But why? Let's just be charmed.


Which movie(s) do you compulsively watch over and over again? What makes it so great? The Way We Were. I'll let the Carrie and the girls explain why it's so great.




Classic(s) you’re embarrassed to admit you haven’t seen yet? Vertigo. Everyone freaking loves it, but I've never been able to make it past the first few scenes. And any Star Wars movie after the first one (which I saw but it made no impression on me whatsoever).

Do you have any movie posters hanging on your wall? If yes, which ones and why? No movie posters, but I do have this Marilyn poster in my bedroom. She was 22 years old. Newly blonde, newly renamed. There's just something about her at this moment in time that really touches me.

Tell us about a movie that you are passionate about. Maybe because I just saw it again recently, but From Here to Eternity gets better and feels more important with time. For the uninitiated, it takes place in Hawaii in Fall/Winter 1941. The people are all flawed, all unique, each reminds you of someone you've met somewhere. They love, they betray, they make choices. They each try to do the right thing. Every decision they make is made bigger against the historic backdrop of the time they find themselves in. This movie is about us, about America.

What is a movie you vow to never watch? Why? Anything that's sci-fi or has Marvel superheroes. They do not interest me.

Tell us about a movie that literally left you speechless. Pulp Fiction. It was like nothing I'd ever seen before. It was brutal and funny and non-linear and completely fascinating.

What’s a movie that you always recommend? Holiday. Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant are divine in this beautiful little movie about the price of being who you are.

Who is an actor you always watch, no matter how crappy the movie? Michael Douglas. His movies are always quality (if not always successful) and his performances are always interesting.

Who is an actor you don’t get the appeal for? Why don’t you like them? Garbo. She's alternately too remote and then too much of ham hock for me.

Who is an actor, living or dead, you’d love to meet? Why do they intrigue you? La Liz. Elizabeth Rosamund Taylor Hilton Wilding Todd Fisher Burton Warner Fortensky. What a woman! What a life!

Sexiest actor/actress you’ve seen. (Picture requested!)

Redford. Sigh.

You are casting a movie, pick four or five actors you’d hire to be in it and why we’d love them together. I caught part of Three Men and a Baby the other night and was struck anew by how charming Tom Selleck can be, when he's not ruminating about reverse mortgages. So I'd like to cast him in a romantic comedy with Julia Roberts. Jennifer Aniston will be their best friend, because she's my favorite Friend.. And Kiki Layne would have to be in it somehow, too. I think they would be the most likeable cast ever.

Which are your favorite actor pairings of all time? The two coolest guys ever.

Have you ever watched movies from a decade that was before you were born? If so, which decade is your favorite? Once movies started talking, I started loving them. I can find favorites from every decade from the 1930s on.

If you were to be in a movie would you rather play the hero, villain or anti-hero? Why? Oh, I would be the heroine. Always.