Here goes nothing:
1. Name a book that you want to share so much that you keep giving away copies: Easy. David Sedaris' Naked. Nothing in my life has ever made me laugh so hard, so often. I actually had to stop reading it on the subway, because I was embarrassing myself. Always handy in the living room bookcase for guests or for lending out.
2. Name a piece of music that changed the way you listen to music: This is a tough one. I would actually credit a particular stereo for the biggest impact. In college one of my roommates, Neal, introduced me to the world (and expense) of hi-fi. Years of listening to nothing but album-oriented rock on car stereos and boomboxes were cast aside. I heard everything differently and it opened me up to a vast array of music I had previously disregarded or been unexposed to: Steely Dan, Little Feat (came a bit later), Joe Jackson, old Peter Gabriel and countless others. If I had to pick one watershed moment it would be listening to fIREHOSE's Ragin', Full-On.
3. Name a film you can watch again and again without fatigue: There are a handful (really, any of the ones in my profile), and one that got left off my profile list is Jaws. Forget the shark, the interactions between Quint, Brody and Hooper on the Orca is priceless. But for pure entertainment value, I might just go Midnight Run. I know it's not highbrow enough for this survey, but I love it.
4. Name a performer for whom you suspend of all disbelief: Probably DeNiro. His range, from smirking wiseass (Midnight Run) to cold-blooded wiseguy (Good Fellas, Godfather, etc.), is almost unmatched.
5. Name a work of art you'd like to live with:
Seriously? No. But I cannot point to a particular piece of "fine art." It wouldn't have to be famous, it just needs to be something that strikes me. It might be a cop-out for a guy with a BFA to punt on this question, but I haven't found a favorite work of art yet. I will say, what is most inspiring to me as an art director is the work of guys like Saul Bass.
6. Name a work of fiction which has penetrated your real life: Once again, Midnight Run. The quotes and characters from that film still resonate and infiltrate my life. I sprinkle them in whenever I can. Usually, to only my own amusement...
"Jack, you're a grown man. You're in control of your own words. "
"You're goddamn right I am. Now here come two words for you: Shut the fuck up."
7. Name a punch line that always makes you laugh:
In the (underappreciated) movie Go, there's a scene where Timothy Olyphant is telling Katie Holmes how much he hates The Family Circus, "And it's always there, in the lower right hand corner, just waiting to suck." Why does he read it, Katie Holmes asks him? He admits, "I hate it, but I'm strangely drawn to it."
Funny and true!
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My Profile is pretty much a list of my contenders for the mainstream choices, you can peek over there for the also-rans if you're so inclined.
Meme rules dictate that I pass it on...Since Mike tagged Otto, he's out. So I challenge orf, Greg at The Talent Show, and John and Tim F. at Balloon Juice.
4 comments:
So true about the scenes with Quint, the Chief, and Hooper on the Orca.
And I remember that line from Go. I remember thinking it was true, just as you did.
Quint telling the story of U.S.S. Indianapolis was more chilling than any other moment of the film.
"I'll never put on a life jacket again. So, 1,100 men went in the water, 316 men come out, the sharks took the rest, June the 29, 1945. Anyway, we delivered the bomb."
Excellent choices, all around.
Especially the dogs playing poker.
I'm on it, beyotch!
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