Q&A Part 2: Guilty Pleasures, Boytoys, and Best Animated Feature
Tuesday, March 24, 2015 at 1:10PM 
Yesterday I answered reader questions about film sets worth living in and all time favorite actors and I hope that conversation keeps going because I haven't heard from too many of you what your choices are. There were so many good question this week let's keep the party going for an extra day. Here's the next six questions featuring Guilty Pleasures, Oscar's Best Animated Feature and Unseen Classics. One question will be answered in a forthcoming theme week that's already been planned and one final question is getting its own post.
You can't say we've been slacking here at TFE.
LADY EDITH: Do you have a favorite Altman?
I do. And it's no contest. I just shout Nashville (1975) as enthusiastically and loudly as I can when asked. Which is not to dismiss the rest of Robert Altman's always at least interesting filmography. My other two favorites are Three Women (1977) for its psychosexual actressing and Gosford Park (2001) for the sheer pleasure of it but I love his movies... well, maybe not Dr T and the Women but I love quite a few of his movies.
JEFF: What's your biggest guilty pleasure movie? Or a movie that most of the readers would be surprised that you happen to love.
After so many years writing online about movies I fear I have no secrets left. I love the usual guilty pleasures and probably talk about them too much (Xanadu and Showgirls chief among them). I suppose in terms of things I rarely write about the #1 guilty pleasure would be that I do kind of have a (small) thing for B grade action movies and affection for the sometimes limited actors that star in them like Jean Claude Van Damme, Jason Statham, and Schwarzenegger of course. This is not a blanket genre appreciation; I never was interested if the movie starred Steven Seagal or Sylvester Stallone. I've seen Highlander (1986) with Christopher Lambert several times because my brother and his friends loved it. I loved Universal Soldier (1992) for some reason. One truly terrible movie that I used to enjoy with an old friend was Showdown in Little Tokyo (1991) starring Dolph Lundgren and Brandon Lee. This actually happens in it...
This B action picture fixation* disappears for long periods of times and then reignites suddenly and flames out just as quickly. I can't predict it and I rarely seek it out. It happens less and less frequently and I have theories about this (too much misogyny in the movies and too many guns in place of choreography) but the last two times it happened strongly were Ong Bak (2003) with Tony Jaa and Crank (2006) with Jason Statham. The last pure action movie that I thought was very satisfying was Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011) but that's more mainstream respectable. Perhaps superhero films and Daniel Craig era Bond films now reside in that old space in my brain and they're of much much higher quality and I don't need the bad stuff anymore?
* Action as "guilty pleasure" does not include James Cameron pictures. He is a genius and everyone should love all of his movies without guilt, just pleasure.
SONJA: What's your favorite and least favorite best Animated Feature winner at the Oscars?
This question is so hard! Well, not the least favorite part. That's Shrek, the first winner, and literally the only winner of this category that sucks, the others being good to great. I didn't like it then and it's aged even worse. Monsters Inc was robbed. Not just robbed but stripped, tied up, humiliated, robbed and then robbed again in perpetuity -- it's a thousand times the film Shrek is yet Shrek will always be the first winner of this category.
The flames...breathing... on the side of my face
The best one? That's a tough choice but in the end my heart belongs to WALL•E (2008) which is just sublime and daring and moving and funny and magical and wise -- everything the best movies can hope to be. People are still angry about the Best Picture lineup in 2008 not including a blockbuster but they keep citing the wrong film as the tragic snub. WALL•E's all-years win edges out two very worth titles, the ever hilarious and exciting spectacle of The Incredibles (2004) and the creativity and eccentricity of Spirited Away (2002) so next time I complain about this "ghetto category" please feel free to smack me because thanks to this category three masterpieces of their form have Oscars that wouldn't otherwise have been so honored.
FOREVER1267: Who is your Celebrity Boyfriend? Celebrity Husband? Celebrity Boy Toy?
Ki Hong Lee in Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
I only get three? Pass. Polyamory forever when it come to showbizness. Okay Okay. Right at this specific moment on March 23rd, 2015 at 1:10 PM? Ki Hong Lee, Ewan McGregor, and Jussie Smollett.
JOHN T: What are three classic films you have never seen and why have you put them off?
• The Godfather Part 2 - because people love it so much I thought I'd save it for last (I have like 3 Best Picture winners left to see. I'm slow!)
• The Searchers - because for a long while I thought John Ford movies were boring (I was so wrong) and because I don't like John Wayne and because I heard that you have to wait for the very end for Natalie Wood and if you're promising Natalie Wood, you betta deliver!
That's only two but they were the one's that popped into mind.
JAMES: Do you ever use a movie or performance as a shorthand way to describe something?
I wish I could think of more than one immediate example but, yes. The Boyfriend and I shout "Pink Coat" indignantly whenever a director uses a super heavy-handed visual symbol, a la that damn pink coat in the otherwise black and white Schindler's List (1993)
Your turn, readers. Time for you to answer these same questions in the comments. Or engage with mine. This is meant to be a participatory series and if you don't participate it goes bye bye.
Reader Comments (54)
Fave Altman: "Nashville" is a masterpiece, and "Short Cuts" an actor's feast, but I'm going with "The Player." That lovely click at the end as all the pieces lock into place...plus, Whoopi Goldberg and Lyle Lovett at the police station: comedic heaven. (The tampon! "One of us!")
Guilty pleasure: several, including "Max Dugan Returns" "Bubble Boy" "Leather Jacket Love Story" "Timecop" "Steel Magnolias" "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang"
Best animated feature: "Up" Worst: sorry, I remember nothing of "Curse of the Were-Rabbit"
Celebrity boyfriend: I like dark hair and redheads, so Nicholas Hoult, Jake Gyllenhall, Derek Phillips, Matt Zarley, Colin Farrell, Ethan Supplee, Dash Mihok, Seth Green, David Fynn, Colby Melvin are all swell. For a bit more diversity, Harry Shum Jr. and Shamar Moore.
Famous movies I've never seen (embarrassingly): "Separate Tables" "Reservoir Dogs" "A Man For All Seasons" "The Lilies Of the Field" "The Defiant Ones" "Apocalypse Now" "Elmer Gantry" "The Best Years Of Our Lives" "Jules et Jim" "La Dolce Vita" "The Hidden Fortress" "Heat" "Julia" "Coming Home"
Overrated/can't stand it: "Crash" "Pink Floyd's The Wall" "The Reflecting Skin" "Out Of Africa" "Gandhi" "Silver Linings Playbook" "Atonement" "The Graduate"
Oh, I'm so happy you took my Animated Feature Oscar winner question, Nat! X3
My favorite Oscar winner in that category will always be Finding Nemo.
Though it's quite hard for me to rank the other great Pixar winners Ratatouille, Up, Toy Story 3, WALL-E and The Incredibles. The only Pixar win I'm not fond of is Brave, but that's only because it won over Wreck-It-Ralph and Frankenweenie.
The least favorite is Happy Feet. It's not that it's bad, but...... I don't know. It's overall quite strange. I'd voted for Monster House that year.
So Shrek.... Tbh, I still like it. Was Monster's Inc. more deserving? Without a doubt, but.... I can't feel sad about that loss at all.
I'm glad Spirited Away is at least one (great) Anime winner. I sincerly hope the Academy will look outside the Ghibli Studios, because there are massive of great Anime movies out there deserving of an Oscar nom!
My favorite Altman movie is Prêt-à-Porter.... Idk, it's just crazy fun.
And well, of course A Prairie Home Companion.
But I haven't seen most of his great movies like Short Cuts or Nashville.... Yikes.
I try do watch them asap.
Other famous movies I haven't seen yet are From Here to Eternity, Ben Hur, Lawrence of Arabia, A Streetcar named Desire.... and a lot more I can't think of atm.
I've FINALLY seen Gone with the Wind last year. Yay!
Guilty pleasures are Hook and Super Mario Brothers. Yes, for real. The latter is the most stupied game to film adaptation of all time, I'm sure. But I can't help loving the film for actually that very reason. *lol*
Guilty Pleasures: Cruel Intentions. I don't really feel guilty about it.
Ranking of the Animated Feature Winners: Of the ones I have seen I actually enjoy them all. though I feel at times a different feature should have won or been nominated. I have not seen Ratatouille, Spirited Away, Rango, or Wallace and Grommit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit.
10. Happy Feet (cute, but not wonderful)
9.Shrek (I like it, but loved Monsters Inc. more)'
8. WALL-E (Don't hate me. I do love it. I just love it less than the others. It isvery gorgeous. WALL-E and Eve are adorable. I like the first half of the movie more than the second)
7. Brave (Very enjoyable. Love the mother-daughter relationship. Gorgeous animation)
6. Big Hero 6 (Love the diverse cast. Baymax is wonderful. Marvel fun in an animated feature)
5. Frozen (Love the songs, but wish there were more. The animation specifically the ice castle animation is awesome. Love the relationship between the sisters.
4.The Incredibles (Action packed. Great family dynamic. Wonderful story. One of the best action films ever)
3. Toy Story 3 (This probably has one of the best endings out of all of these. I love these characters.)
2. Up (I love the opening to this film. A concept that seems to weird, but works in every way. Animal characters steal the show.)
1. Finding Nemo (My favorite Pixar film. Beautifully animated. Great voice cast. Emotionally fufilling.)
Favorites that didn't win or weren't even nominated: Monsters, Inc., Lilo and Stitch, Howl's Moving Castle, Coraline, The Princess and the Frog, How to Train Your Dragon, Tangled, Wreck it Ralph, and The Lego Movie.
Boy/Husband/Boy-Toy: Andrew Garfield, Daniel Radcliffe, James McAvoy (I think I have a thing for British guys...)
Classic Films I haven't seen: Too many, but one I'm going to watch soon is All About Eve.