I saw this list over on another blog, and thought I’d fill it out, too. It’s a little more interesting than the usual 20 questions that keep getting e-mailed to me all the time. Do you really care if I like chocolate or vanilla better?

ONE (1) earliest film-related memory:

Hmm…I have a few. One is seeing Xanadu with my sisters. I remember thinking how cool that movie was. Of course, I don’t even think I was 10 years old at the time. I’d love to see it today and see if I can even sit though it.

Grease was the first PG movie I was allowed to see. My sisters took me to that, too. I remember this girl who was maybe a couple of years older than me was there, and she must have seen the movie like 100 times. She knew the words to every song and was singing them WITH THE MOVIE. I was 7-years-old and I was already annoyed, which has started many years of being annoyed at other people in the theatre.

TWO (2) favorite lines from movies:
From “The Three Amigos” 1986:

Jefe: We have many beautiful pinatas for your birthday celebration, each one filled with little surprises!
El Guapo: How many pinatas?
Jefe: Many pinatas, many!
El Guapo: Jefe, would you say I have a plethora of pinatas?
Jefe: A what?
El Guapo: A plethora.
Jefe: Oh yes, El Guapo. You have a plethora.
El Guapo: Jefe, what is a plethora?
Jefe: Why, El Guapo?
El Guapo: Well, you just told me that I had a plethora, and I would just like to know if you know what it means to have a plethora. I would not like to think that someone would tell someone else he has a plethora, and then find out that that person has no idea what it means to have a plethora.

From “Real Genius” 1985:

Chris Knight: Kent puts his name on his license plate.
Mitch: My mom does the same thing to my underwear.
Chris Knight: Your mom puts license plates in your underwear? How do you sit?

THREE (3) jobs you’d do if you could not work in the “biz”:

English professor
Book store owner
Architect

FOUR (4) jobs you actually have held outside the industry:

Radio Disc Jockey. Not as glamorous as it seems. I worked in really small towns, was horrible, and made very little money. But I did get to steal quite a few records.

Alarm dispatcher. You know when your house alarm goes off and someone calls and asks for your password, or they dispatch the police? Yep, that was me. For about 4 years, and then I worked in management.

Video store clerk. I worked for Hollywood Video when they had just opened their 2nd store. They were a Portland company. I only did it for a couple of months. They were a horrible, horrible company to work for, and to this day, I refuse to rent a movie from there.

THREE (3) book authors I like:

John Grisham
John Irving
Carl Hiassen

TWO (2) movies you’d like to remake or properties you’d like to adapt:

“The Time Traveler’s Wife” – it’s been optioned and in pre-production for years. I hear Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston own the rights. They’re probably arguing over who they belong to.

"Lord of the Flies" - They redid it in the 90s and had such an opportunity to make it so much better than the black and white version, and they didn't do it. The new one sucked as much as the old one.

ONE (1) actor you think is underrated:

Kevin Kline. When I say “underrated” I mean commercially. I mean, sure, he’s had some decent movies, but he is really a fantastic actor. I think people who watch stage are probably more familiar with his greatness.


The song of the day is "Cars" by Gary Numan off his 1979 album Pleasure Principal. You can clearly hear the transition from the 70s to the 80s in this song. I was actually surprised to hear it came out this early. I would have guessed a few years later, at the height of the New Wave movement. "Cars" is Numan's best known song, and for me, one of the easiest songs to get stuck in your head. In fact, it's stuck there now which is why I picked it today.