Friday, August 3, 2012

Elevenses (Liebster Award)

Today, it's time to respond to an award from a fellow blogger! Dan Heaton from Public Transportation Snob has generously passed along the Liebster Award, which asks each recipient to respond to a series of questions. You all know Dan as that massively entertaining guy whose posts are almost always themed and attacks a subject en masse. His current marathon theme is International Gangsters and started with a bang thanks to a great review of French flick A Prophet. I've since received the award twice more, the incredibly beautiful blog Love & Squalor and everyone's favourite film maker blog And So It Begins were also kind enough to pass on the love.

I'm giving it a go, but by this point there can't be many blogs left to pass it on to. If any of you fine readers feel like answering any one of the 11 questions I pose at the end feel free to leave it in the comments, I'm sure it'll be fascinating.

Here are the rules for the Liebster Award:

1. Each person must post 11 things about themselves.
2. Answer the 11 questions the person giving the award has set for you.
3. Create 11 questions for the people you will be giving the award to.
4. Choose 11 people to award and send them a link to your post.
5. Go to their page and tell them.
6. NO TAG BACKS


Eleven Random Things About blahblahblahToby

1. Currently enjoys his lack of employment way too much for it to be healthy and can be found most days laying on the sofa reading.



2. Wishes he was still a 21 year old hipster and dresses like it.



3. If he were to have a fight with any character from The Dark Knight Rises it'd be Bruce Wayne becaue he has a gimpy leg.

4. Has an addictive personality and is currently working on filling his apartment with books so that one day they might topple over and crush him - death by book porn?



5. Is endlessly procrastinating, never finishes anything and allows each new creative idea to push the current one aside.

6. Once dreamed of being a lawyer because he'd read too much John Grisham at a young age but Theodore Boone got there first. There's a reason Disney hasn't made a movie about lawyers you know.



7. Has noticed that any picture relating to Harry Potter or Disney gets more page views than anything else he's posted and is not ashamed of using that fact to boost his blogs stats.



8. Would have answered Maura Tierney to any question relating to picking an actress for anything until relatively recently and is sad that her career never really got going on the big screen before getting stuck on ER.

9. Loves the writing of Megan Abbott and the depressing yet true, shocking story of Barbara Payton, Franchot Tone and Tom Neal that features in the background of her novel The Song Is You.



10. Still considers becoming a professional football manager because a) he loves the sport and b) he's excellent at the Sports Interactive game Football Manager.



11. Enjoys comparing movie love affairs to his own life because his own life always seems perfect in comparison.


Eleven Questions From Dan 
 
1. What's the best movie of 2012 so far?

 

OK, so according to letterboxd I've seen eighteen movies released in 2012. The one I enjoyed the most has got to be Chronicle. I expected so little from the (relatively) small budgeted sci-fi thriller but director Josh Trank provided so much. It was a real pleasure to watch a good idea turned in to a highly enjoyable movie thanks to the talent of a new director, especially when it would have been so easy to make it generic and derivitive and a horrible mishmash of pop culture.

2. What's the worst movie of 2012 so far?



The Dark Knight Rises. Simply for how disappointed I was. It's not anywhere near as bad as John Carter in reality but then DKR provided my worst experience of a movie.

3.What is your favorite band or artist?




The Decemberists win this one hands down at the moment and for the past few years. Just taking a look at my all time plays on last.fm will tell you that I've played The Decemberists 8 times more than anyone else. Colin Meloy has a wonderful voice and he's a fantastic storyteller. He even writes kids books.

4. What's your opinion on singing karaoke?

Never. No way. You can't make me.
One of my most horrifying formative experiences is as a ten year old being left on stage by my sister to sing a song I'd never heard of n front of hundreds of people. Even now I wince at the thought of it and my heart is racing from the terror.

5. Spike Lee: Overrated or underrated?


When he's on form there's nobody better than Lee but he's his own worst enemy with some of the terrible films he's made, but then so is Woody Allen and he married his own daughter. At least Spike Lee's only apparent crime in the eyes of Hollywood is that he's black.

6. Although he won't admit it, does Tommy Wiseau realize that The Room is terrible?

Oh. I certainly hope so. Can you imagine the state of that guys mind if he didn't? But admitting so would cook the golden goose and he'd never be able to attend screenings as a superstar.

7. Beyond movies, what is your area of expertise for a trivia team?







Arsenal Football Club. Somehow this is what my brain is wasted on and why I identify so readily with Nick Hornby's Fever Pitch.

8. What's your favorite brand of cereal?



No cereal required when you live in the land of Vegemite on toast.
If we're ever out for breakfast and I don't feel like eggs I will however have the bircher muesli.

9. Is The Tree of Life a brilliant movie, a self-indulgent mess, or somewhere in between?

I haven't seen it yet, it's long. I am lengthist.

10. Are you excited about the Olympics? If so, which competitions?

I haven't cared about the Olympics since 1992, I don't even care about the fact that Great Britain has a football team entered this time around. It's not real football.

11. What's the last movie that you watched?

Bill Cunningham, New York

Who's Next? - Eleven Blogs That Deserve Your Attention
These 11 bloggers are all doing amazing work and deserve your attention. For that reason, they get the dubious pleasure of answering some essential questions. The "winners" are:
Cinemanarcs
Cinematic Spectacle
Can You Dig It?(feminisingfilm)
Defiant Success
Brian vs. Movies
Blondoner
What Indie Nights?
The Great Movie Project
Dangerous Dans Bookblog
OCD Viewer
Split Reel(This is me cheating because she's taken a break)



What I Really Really Want To Know Is: (Eleven Questions Paid Forward)
1. If the events of Purple Rose of Cairo could really happen, which movie character would you want to walk off of the screen in to your miserable little life?
2. If you were marooned on another planet with a limited space hard drive on your solar powered Macbook Pro (I'm sure Steve Jobs had them working on this before he died) what three movies would you like to have in your videos folder?
3. Is reading 50 Shades of Grey on public transport a badge of pride, a cry for help, a statement of sexual dissatisfaction or a label that screams "easily led by media fads"?
4. If you had to live in the world of crime fiction would you prefer to be in an Agatha Christie, Raymond Chandler or Steig Larsson book?
5. You're stranded for 227 days in a boat with one animal, do you think a Bengal Tiger would eat you?
6. What superhero franchise would you give a dark and depressing Batman style reboot to on the big screen?
7. Gotham Central is a series of comic books about the lives of the gotham City Police Department and Death Comes To Pemberley is a detective novel set in the world of Pride & Prejudice, what fictional world would you like to see turned in to crime fiction and what type would it be?
8. Mint, Sage, Rosemary and Cinnamon, what flavour would you choose for your old fashioned tooth powder recipe?
9. You're tasked with programming an independant film festival, what genre do you focus on? Documentary, Horror, Anime, Martial Arts or World Cinema?
10. Witches, burn them at the stake or dunk them in the lake?
11. Which city in Europe would you most like to visit during the 2012 London Olympics?

25 comments:

  1. Love these questions! Shall get up my double-wammy post of your questions and Sofia's at Film Flare by the end of this week, hopefully!

    Worst film of 2012 is definitely a toss up between Prometheus and DKR.

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    1. Oh I have three of these questions to do now, it seems! Wow, this will definitely be interesting - so much I'll end up saying about myself haha.

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    2. Also forgot to add, I too really enjoyed Chronicle. That's the science fiction film of the year. Chronicle > Prometheus.

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  2. Thanks for the nod, Toby. I'll work on my reply this weekend.

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  3. Hey man, great post here. Loved your Spike Lee answer in particular. I know you said you were interested in my answers to your questions, so here you go!

    1. If the events of Purple Rose of Cairo could really happen, which movie character would you want to walk off of the screen in to your miserable little life?
    Shit, what an excellent question. I love to have a drink with Frank TJ Mackey from Magnolia and throw him tons of hypothetical situations. The joy would be in seeing how the proposed scenario always results with him getting laid.

    2. If you were marooned on another planet with a limited space hard drive on your solar powered Macbook Pro (I'm sure Steve Jobs had them working on this before he died) what three movies would you like to have in your videos folder?
    Pulp Fiction, Persona, Taxi Driver.

    3. Is reading 50 Shades of Grey on public transport a badge of pride, a cry for help, a statement of sexual dissatisfaction or a label that screams "easily led by media fads"?
    I think it’s just people reading what’s “in.” I don’t judge people by what they read (or where they read it). People read what they read, and apparently a lot of woman in this world want some very very poorly written trashy romance with tame S&M in their lives. (I started that book to see what the fuss was about, but stopped shortly after page 100. It is atrocious.)

    4. If you had to live in the world of crime fiction would you prefer to be in an Agatha Christie, Raymond Chandler or Steig Larsson book?
    Larsson. I’d love to meet Lisbeth if possible.

    5. You're stranded for 227 days in a boat with one animal, do you think a Bengal Tiger would eat you?
    I guess…

    6. What superhero franchise would you give a dark and depressing Batman style reboot to on the big screen?
    Hmmm. I think Wolverine could’ve been given a much better (and darker) solo film. Does he count?

    7. Gotham Central is a series of comic books about the lives of the gotham City Police Department and Death Comes To Pemberley is a detective novel set in the world of Pride & Prejudice, what fictional world would you like to see turned in to crime fiction and what type would it be?
    I’d like to see the “fictional” world of The Wire TV show turned into crime fiction. In terms of what type? I’m not sure if I understand what you mean. I’m really not well versed in crime fiction…

    8. Mint, Sage, Rosemary and Cinnamon, what flavour would you choose for your old fashioned tooth powder recipe?
    What is tooth powder?

    9. You're tasked with programming an independent film festival, what genre do you focus on? Documentary, Horror, Anime, Martial Arts or World Cinema?
    Heavy, bleak, foreign dramas.

    10. Witches, burn them at the stake or dunk them in the lake?
    Let them run free.

    11. Which city in Europe would you most like to visit during the 2012 London Olympics?
    Any city in Italy.

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    1. Alex I'm interested in everything you write so thanks for taking the time.

      Your TJ Mackey answer is inspired. Do you think he could talk his way in to the pants of Cecilia (Mia Farrow)?

      I guess I should explain tooth powder, it was what people used before toothpaste and as part of our quest to remove as many chemicals from our life as possible we made our own tooth powder recently. The flavour suggestions are certainly intriguing but I'm not sure I;m ready to brush my teeth with rosemary twice daily.

      Assuming you haven't seen the new triler for Ang Lee's Life of Pi, the guy manages to tame a wild and hungry Bengal whilst stranded at sea.

      Never been or just in love with Italy?

      As for your Wire comments (second greatest tv show ever btw) if you're interested check out the work of George Pelecanos. He wrote a lot of the episodes and his fiction has a similar setting and feel. Great stuff.

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    2. Duuude George Pelecanos is the man. I've read most of his books and love them. Tell me how The Night Gardener hasn't been made into a movie? It's a perfect crime thriller.

      Ahh I get the Life of Pi thing now. When I read that I was like, What the hell... haha. Italy, never been, always wanted to go.

      And yeah, I think TJ Mackey, pre-father's death, could talk his way into most any woman's pants.

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  4. Ouch, poor TDKR. :(

    Thanks for the tag! Though, I wouldn't call what I post "amazing". ;) I'll update my post with answers to your questions soon.

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    1. Josh your place is amazing, you do interesting and different things and you do it in an entertaining and interesting way.

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  5. This post was fun to read, and I really like your questions, especially the Purple Rose of Cairo scenario. That should garner some interesting responses. You should also get some funny comments on the 50 Shades of Gray question. From what I hear, the most obscene thing about that book is the quality of the writing.

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    1. Hey Stephanie thanks for stopping by. What would your answer be to The Purple Rose of Cairo question?

      From the responses so far I've loved the what fictional world would you like to see turned in to crime fiction and what type would it be? one best, such great answers that I would never have thought of. Titanic was a particularly good one in my opinion.

      And sadly the most obscene part of 50 Shades of Grey is the amount of money she;s making off of it. Thinking about switching to softcore BDSM fiction instead of that murder mystery?

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  6. Toby, thanks for the kind words. I also really like the Decembrists. They're one of my white whales in terms of concerts. Each time they've come here, I haven't been able to make it for some random reason. I also liked Chronicle more than I expected. It's not my favorite of the year, but I can't argue with the pick.

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    1. Hey Dan, I'm sure you'll see them eventually. They worth the wait that's for sure. To make the time pass more easily they just released a two disc live recording which almost works as a greatest hits package. Really good recording.

      There's been so little good released this year in my movie overdosed opinion Dan, to be surprised by a film is a pleasant and I cling to it.

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  7. I've added my answers to your questions to my original post. Thanks again for the tag!

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    1. Really dug those answers Josh. Thanks for taking the time to update your post with my questions, very cool of you.

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    2. Thanks. Don't mention it.

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  8. Thanks for the tag, Toby. I'm working to pretty it up, but my post is here: http://greatmovieproject.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-liebster-award.html

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    1. Harry Potter and the Masked Murderers is a great idea.

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  9. Nicely done sir!! I am so pleased you are back... I still keep pinching myself!!

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    1. why thank you kind sir. I didn't think your place was fit for liebsters these days, being so high class and everything otherwise I would definitely have asked you to answer these questions.

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  10. Great questions you've asked, I'm not one to do question things, but I might have to do this for next tuesday on my blog

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    1. Yeah your place doesn't give the impression of getting involved with memes etc, but I'll try to remember to check it out if you do.

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    2. The reason for that is if everyone is doing it, I don't want my blog to be the same. I often put off reading or reviewing a book if there are a lot of reviews of the book from other book bloggers.

      I just wanted to answer question 4; so here is my take on your questions http://literary-exploration.com/2012/08/21/question-tuesday-liebster-award/

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    3. yeah, your blog also looks very professional, like there wouldn't be room for amateur hour blogging gimicks. thanks for answering the questions. I really had a good time asking them.

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