30 Days, 30--No, 40--Horror Movies

Yet another one of those opportunities to clog up one's friends' Facebook feeds with movie trailers is going around. Since this one's about horror movies, I thought it would make a nice warm-up for Camp NaNoWriMo next month. (I'm working on a YA gothic novel.) This was actually kind of fun because I really had to think hard to remember which horror movies I've seen, since it would probably be cheating to list Dracula Has Risen from the Grave 40 times. I never really noticed how much of my experience with horror is vampire-related. 

1. Your First Horror Movie I’m not sure. When I was a kid, my best friend’s mom loved horror movies, so we’d always end up watching scary stuff whenever I went over to her house. One really horrible one I remember was called The People Under the Stairs, I think. 

2. The Last Horror Movie You Saw in the Theater The 40th anniversary print of Alien. I’d seen it on TV, but I was still chewing my nails in terror. 

3. Favorite Classic Horror Movie Actually, my real favorite classics are mentioned elsewhere, so I’ll say the silent version of The Phantom of the Opera, specifically for it’s nightmare-inducing two-strip Technicolor sequence.

4. A Horror Movie You Thought You'd Love and Didn't The Hunger. Bowie is really good in it, but otherwise, it’s a lot of style over substance. 

5. Favorite Horror Remake Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht, Werner Herzog’s remake of the silent film. Most disgusting fingernails ever. 

6. Favorite Vampire Movie Funnily enough, the original Nosferatu. Doubly scary because it’s also an old silent film. 

7. A Horror Movie You Think No One Has Seen Decasia, which I know other people have seen (because I saw it with them), but which I suspect no one who isn’t a film student has seen. 

8. Favorite Foreign Horror Let the Right One In. It’s one of the very few cases where it’s actually appropriate to have emo vampires. I mean, they are Swedish, after all. 

9. Favorite Super Natural [sic] Horror Movie The Shining. There’s that one disturbing image from near the end of the film I will never, ever get out of my head. If you’ve seen it, you know which one I’m talking about. 

10. Horror Movie Every One [sic] Loves But You Don't Frankenstein, if by everyone you mean “film critics.” You know it’s going to be a bad adaptation when they list the author as “Mrs. Percy B. Shelley” in the opening credits. 

11. Favorite Horror/Comedy [You know what, I'm just going to stop pointing out the grammatical errors and correct them.] Young Frankenstein. That’s “Fronk-en-steen.” Not only is it hilarious, but it is the best of all the hundreds of adaptations of Mary Shelley’s novel. 

12. Most Disturbing Horror Film The original German Funny Games. In fact, if you do not find this film disturbing, you need serious help. 

13. Favorite Zombie Movie Shaun of the Dead. Every time I’ve seen it I get zombie-related nightmares, but I don’t care. It’s hilarious! 

14. Favorite Indie Horror Movie Indie horror? I don’t even know which—Oh! Shadow of the Vampire! That was an independent production, right? 

15. Favorite Monster Movie The original Gojira. I know we like to joke about the bad dubbing and guys in rubber suits, but the Japanese subtitled version is actually pretty good. 

16. Horror Film With a Great Soundtrack Suspiria, because it does exactly what a good horror movie soundtrack should do: make the film even scarier than it would be with just the image alone. 

17. Favorite 80s Horror The Lost Boys for it’s cheesetasticness. And, with both Coreys, it’s quintessentially 80s. 

18. Favorite Horror Movie Filmed in Black and White Hitchcock’s Rebecca. Technically more of a thriller or even a melodrama, but is Mrs. Danvers not the scariest female character ever? 

19. Best Use of Gore Videodrome, which uses gore to actually say something rather than just grossing the audience out. 

20. Favorite Horror Character Count Dracula, or, as he’s sometimes called in a non-copyright infringing* way, Count Orlock. 

21. Best Horror Franchise Forget franchise, how about cycle! I like the Hammer films of the late 50s-early 70s. Sure, they’re kind of camp, but they’re still a lot of fun. The Curse of Frankenstein, Horror of Dracula, The Hound of the Baskervilles, and The Mummy are the best, though the second Frankenstein film and many other Dracula ones aren’t too bad either. 

22. Best Death Scene Martin Balsam’s in Psycho. We all know what happens to Janet Leigh, but this death is even scarier because we don’t see it coming. 

23. A Great Quote from a Horror Movie Two from Todd Browing’s Dracula. The first the hilarious “I never drink… wine.” And of course, for the second, the classic, “Listen to them. Children of the night. What music they make.” 

24. Horror Movie Character That Describes You I wouldn’t say “describes,” but I kind of identify with Carrie. I mean, what kid who’s ever been picked on hasn’t cheered just a little bit inside the minute she slams those gym doors closed at the prom? 

25. Favorite Christmas/Holiday Horror Movie The Wicker Man. Happy May Day, everyone! (What?? It’s a holiday!) 

26. Horror Movie for a Chicken The original Invasion of the Body Snatchers. It’s actually kind of boring. 

27. Your Guilty Pleasure Horror Movie Dracula A.D. 1972. Hammer camp + hippie exploitation = so bad it’s good? Well, almost. 

28. Horror Film You'd Like to See Remade/Rebooted Van Helsing, and not just because it was really awful. There’s a line in the novel where Van Helsing mentions that he’s been pursuing Dracula his whole life or something like that. I’d like to see movies with more interaction between them, and not like this crap, or the Hammer franchise where they had to keep coming up with more ridiculous ways of resurrecting Dracula. I’m thinking more like Dracula prequels, which would be great, because we need more vampires who aren’t a bunch of emo wusses. 

29. Worst Horror Movie Blair Witch 2, which my friend dragged me to see for her birthday. I don’t like horror movies that are more “Eww!” than “Aahh!” 

30. Your Favorite All Time Horror Movie (Or One Of [Emoticon excised. Thank me later, humanity.] ) Most of my favorites are listed elsewhere, but this seems like a good place to mention The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Sure, it’s not all that scary (unless you think a guy in fishnets is particularly frightening, but that’s your problem), but it’s got music! And you get to throw things!! 

31. Favorite Horror Movie Theme Song David Bowie’s “Cat People (Putting Out Fire),” and not the remix on Let’s Dance. Although, to be honest, I’ve never actually seen the remake of Cat People, so I don’t even know if it’s still a horror film. 

32. A Movie That Scared You as a Child (Doesn't Have to be Horror) The Dark Crystal. Creepy!! I’m 28 and still find it a little bit disturbing. 

33. Favorite Slasher Movie Silence of the Lambs. Does that actually count as a slasher movie? Oh, well, it’s a lot better than the average slasher movie anyway. 

34. Horror Movie That Was Ruined by the Ending Kracauer would say The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari because we now question the narrator's sanity and thus the film's anti-authoritarian message. But I don't know. Now, the cheesy overdone special effects at the end of the original version of The Omen--that's how ruining a movie with the ending is really done. 

35. The Horror Film That Started Your Love for Horror Interview with the Vampire. More accurately, it’s the book that got me into horror, but I read the book because my friend and I had been plotting for months to see the movie, so it still counts. 

36. Favorite Contemporary Actor in a Horror Movie Um, I haven’t seen that many contemporary horror movies, so I’ll go with Johnny Depp in Sleepy Hollow. 

Future Me: Wow, this did not age well.

37. Best Special Effects in a Horror Movie I don’t think special effects should be all that important to a horror movie. I mean, to be truly frightening, you need more than just convincing monsters or gore. So, even though I think it’s a horrible movie, I’ll say Bram Stoker’s Dracula, because it’s a celebration of cinematic technique. And it’s got some killer under-cranking. 

38. Best CGI in a Horror Movie I don’t even know if I’ve seen a horror movie that uses CGI. What about the little girl in The Ring? Was she CGI? 

39. Horror Movie That Should Be Seen on the Big Screen The Tingler. Unless, of course, they come out with some kind home media delivery system that will also send little shocks to your seat. 

40. A Must See Movie for Every Horror Movie Lover Peeping Tom, because it’s so metafilmic cinephiles will love it. 

*Um, apparently the courts feel otherwise.

30 Days, 30 TV Shows

I've beat Facebook to it and come up with my own 30 Days challenge... which I am completely ruining by doing all at once. Oh, well. 

 I've learned two things about myself while doing this list. 

 1) I watch a lot of British TV. 

2) I am so not cool. 

  1. Your Favorite TV Show Life on Mars. I cannot sing this show’s praises enough; however, its hard to do so without going into massive spoilers, and believe me, this is one show you do not want to be spoilered on. It’s got the 70s, cop shows, and a little sci-fi. I love that they were able to keep you unsure about what was really going on until the very end, and that things wrapped up neatly, but they still gave you a little bit to keep you wondering. 

  2. Your Least Favorite TV Show Law and Order. Ripping off stories from the headlines and giving them a conservative slant got old very quickly. And then it kept going and going…. 

  3. Your Favorite Classic TV Show The Dick Van Dyke Show. They took the classic family format, added in the workplace, and then addressed issues relevant to contemporary life—like Civil Rights or baldness—in a way that was truly funny. 

  4. Your Favorite Cable TV Show Behind the Music. The old version of the show, at least. I think I’ve seen every episode. 

  5. Your Favorite Network TV Show NCIS. At first, you just sort-of watch it because, hey, it’s another cop show and there’s nothing else on. But then you start to think to yourself that it might just be the best drama series any of the five major networks have got going right now…. 

  6. Your Favorite Comedy Spaced. It breaks all the rules of TV storytelling, and is hilarious while doing so. Love all the film and other references. 

  7. Your Favorite Sitcom Coupling. It’s a kind-of-but-not rip-off of Friends, but Steven Moffat wrote it so it’s way, way better. 

  8. Your Favorite Drama Upstairs, Downstairs. You want to know why most Americans think British TV drama is the best in the world? It’s because this show was one of the first of their series shown over here. Try living up to that standard. 

  9. Your Favorite Cop/Detective Show Numb3rs. Using math to solve crime. How geeky is that! 

  10. Your Favorite Medical Drama House. The last few seasons have been, well, crap really, but when it was good, it was very good. And kinda gross. I’ve gotten more nightmares from House than I have from Ghost Hunters. 

  11. Your Favorite Soap I don’t watch soap operas. But if I did, I would watch Dark Shadows because it is about vampires. And it’s from the 70s, so they’re not a bunch of whiny emo kids, either. 

  12. Your Favorite News Program The Daily Show. Yeah, that’s right. I get my news from the fake news. There’s more truth in satire anyway. 

Future Me: That's definitely got a different connotation now.

  13. Your Favorite Sports Program The Winter Olympics. Other than Iowa football, I’m not that into sports. But, every four years, I become a Winter Olympics nut, and won’t miss a single luge, slalom, or triple axle if I can help it. 

  14. Your Favorite Children’s Program Muppet Babies. Sure, Sesame Street might have taught me to count to nine in Spanish, but Muppet Babies taught me that if I use my imagination, anything is possible. 

  15. Your Favorite Sci-Fi Series The X-Files. We need more television shows that teach us not to trust the government, especially these days. Though, to be honest, I always preferred the Monster of the Week episodes. 

  16. Your Favorite Reality Show Ghost Hunters. I’ve written about paranormal reality shows before (use the tags, I'm too lazy to link), and this is my favorite. I like how it’s as much about education as it is about trying to be scary. 

  17. Your Favorite Game Show What is Jeopardy!? I’ll take “S” words for 600, Alex. 

  18. Your Favorite Educational Program MythBusters. If this show had been on when I was in high school, there’s no way I would have failed the A.P. Physics test. 

  19. Your Favorite Mini-series/Made for TV Movie Pride and Prejudice. And not because of Colin Firth’s wet 19th Century t-shirt scene. Well, not just because of it…. 

  20. Your Favorite Movie Spin-Off or Adaptation Star Trek (2009). I thought it did a really good job of appeasing the long-term fans while at the same time being totally not dorky and thereby luring new ones in. 

  21. Your Favorite Cult Show Doctor Who. It’s sci-fi, British, cheaply made, and, in the US, anyway, has a very small but loyal fan base. Really, it’s the ultimate cult show. 

  22. Your Guilty Pleasure Show The Fashion Show. I tuned in to the first episode just because Iman was on it, but quickly got hooked. It wasn’t quite as back-stabby as you’d expect from something that’s essentially Project Runway meets Survivor. 

  23. Show With Your Favorite TV Actor/Male Personality Conan. Although I kinda liked him on Late Night a little bit better, basic cable has given Conan O’Brien a kind of ghettoness he can really work well with. Plus... giant inflatable chicken sandwich. 

  24. Show With Your Favorite TV Actress/Female Personality 30 Rock. I want to be Tina Fey when I grow up. 

  25. Your Favorite Animated Show The Venture Brothers. Started with a kind-of “What if Johnny Quest grew up and became a total jerk?” premiss, but has become so much more than that. It is the best show on Adult Swim, quite possibly the funniest show on right now, and some of the best TV writing I’ve seen in a long time. 

  26. Your Favorite Cooking/DIY Show Paula’s Home Cooking. I’ve had better luck with Giada recipes, actually, but Paula Deen is much more fun to watch. I love her blatant disregard for things like cholesterol and blood sugar. 

Future Me: OH SHIT!! I DIDN'T KNOW, OKAY???

  27. Favorite TV Theme Song Mission: Impossible. Just listen. 

  28. Favorite Spin-Off Series Ironically, Law and Order: Special Victims Unit. I know, I know. Everything wrong with the original is wrong with this one, too, but it’s just so smarmy you gotta love it. And since Munch is on it, doesn’t it count as a double spin-off show? 

  29. Favorite Series Finale Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I laughed, I cried, I pumped my fist in the air and would’ve shouted “You go girl!” if that didn’t sound totally lame coming from a white woman. Perfect way to end the show. 

  30. Favorite New Show from This/Last Season Outsourced. At first I was skeptical, because it seemed that it could very easily become culturally insensitive and that the premise would wear thin quickly. But the characters really grow on you.

30 Days, 30 Books: For Bibliophiles

Yet another 30 Days, 30 ____s meme. However, the Facebook 30 Books Challenge, frankly, sucks, so I’ve made up my own list for people who actually read books. 

1. Your Favorite Book

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. First time I read it, I couldn't put it down. Fourth time, I was still captivated. 

2. Your Least Favorite Book

Left Behind by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins. Not only is it radically Christian fundamentalist, it's also the most poorly written book I've ever read, and that includes The Da Vinci Code. 

3. A Book by Your Favorite Author

I'm a big fan of the "urban poetics" of Raymond Chandler, author of such works as The Big Sleep.

4. A Book by Your Least Favorite Author

Hm, hard to pick a least favorite author. However, I can honestly say that, after reading The Turn of the Screw, I will probably never read Henry James of my own free will. 

5. Your Favorite Collection of Short Stories

The Acid House by Irvine Welsh. I would have said Trainspotting, but technically that's a novel. 

6. Your Favorite Novella

Legends of the Fall by Jim Harrison. Even though it doesn't have Brad Pitt riding around shirtless, it's still a much better book than movie. 

7. Your Favorite Work of Literary Fiction

Obviously, my choice for favorite book counts as "literary fiction," but, since I don't want to repeat choices, I'll be pretentious and say A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce. 

8. Your Favorite Humorous or Satiric Book

Another tough choice as many of the books I read have their humorous sides. But, right now, I'd have to say The Code of the Woosters, by P. G. Wodehouse, since it's the highlight of the Jeeves series. 

9. Your Favorite Action/Adventure Novel

Not a big reader of this genre, so I'm going to have to go with Kim by Rudyard Kippling, since it's a spy novel. Ok, well, it has a spy subplot, anyway. 

10. Your Favorite Romance or Chick Lit

Not a big fan of this genre, either, so I guess I'll grudgingly admit that Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre could be read as a romance. If you ignore all the great gothic stuff going on. 

11. Your Favorite Gothic or Horror Novel

Dracula by Bram Stoker. It is probably the most often referenced book in everything I've written, after all. 

12. Your Favorite Children's Book

Number the Stars by Lois Lowry. When I was eleven it got me interested in learning about the Holocaust. 

13. Your Favorite Work of Historical Fiction

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, because the worst of times are as captivating a read as the best of times. 

14. Your Favorite Science Fiction/Fantasy Novel

The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde. What book lover could resist a world in which the characters of their favorite books could literally come to life? 

15. Your Favorite Mystery or Thriller

The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett, which isn’t all that different from the movie. But it’s all about the mood it creates. Read it and you can feel the San Francisco fog on your skin. 

16. Your Favorite Nonfiction Book (Literary)

Minor Characters, Joyce Johnson's memoir about being a woman in the beat movement. 

17. Your Favorite Nonfiction Book (Other)

Fires Were Started edited by Lester D. Friedman, which is a great collection of essays about the impact of Thatcherism on British cinema. And… why have you all suddenly fallen asleep? 

18. Your Favorite Collection of Poetry

Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein. Sure, there’s a lot of great grown-up poetry out there, but I remember ever single poem in this book filled with whimsical characters like Captain Hook, Hungry Mungry, and Sarah Cynthia Silvia Stout Who Would Not Take the Garbage Out. 

19. Your Favorite Play That You Have Read

The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde. Funniest. Play. Ever. Just ask Mr. Bunburry. 

20. Your Favorite Graphic Novel or Comic Book

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen written by Alan Moore. Much, much better than the movie. Love the Victorian in-jokes. 

21. Your Favorite Anthology

The Beat Reader edited by Anne Charters. It's a good sampler of one of my favorite literary movements. 

22. Your Favorite Series

The Harry Potter books by J. K. Rowling. I haven't been a book-accurate Hermione Granger for Halloween twice for nothing. 

23. A Book Featuring Your Favorite Male Character

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. I don't think I need to explain this one, do I? (Hint: It's not Mr. Collins.) 

24. A Book Featuring Your Favorite Female Character

Portnoy’s Complaint by Philip Roth, which features the most overbearing mother in American literature—according to the highly unreliable narrator, at least. But, since she’s not our mother, it’s really quite funny—in a twisted way. 

25. Your Guilty Pleasure Read

Any of the Doctor Who spin-off books, really, but the guiltiest of all guilty pleasures of these would be Mad Dogs and Englishmen by Paul Magrs, in which poodles attempt to take over the universe by rewriting The Lord of the Rings. Yes, it is that good. 

26. A Book You Keep Meaning to Read/Finish but Haven't Gotten Around To

The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien. The first time I started it I was 12, and I've gotten no further than about half-way through Return of the King before I stopped. 

  27. The Most Obscure Book You Have Ever Read The Jew Detective, a dime novel by Col. Prentiss Ingraham. Thank you, Dr. Roth. 

  28. The Book You Have Read Most Often Aristotle's Poetics--Five times. A hazard of my profession. 

  29. The Book of Which You Own the Most Copies The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka wins with three copies. One in a collected works, one Norton Critical Edition, and one copy in German, even though I can't read it. 

  30. The Latest Book You Have Read/Are Reading Now Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman. I was given a copy of the script a few years ago but never read it. After I was unable to put The Graveyard Book down, I decided to give the novelization a try.

30 Days, 30 Songs in One Day

Once again, taking care of this 30 Whatevers thing in one go. All links lead to YouTube. Note: Any and all results are subject to change… in an hour at the least.

1. Your Favorite Song
“Life on Mars?” by David Bowie. Sublime.

2. Your Least Favorite Song
There are so many awful songs out there but “Chestnut Mare” by The Byrds gives me the creeps. Woman as horse is a metaphor that should never, ever be used.

3. A Song That Makes You Happy
“Dead Flowers” by The Rolling Stones. If this comes on my iPod, I find it hard not to sing along—even in public.

4. A Song That Makes You Sad
“Perfect Day” by Lou Reed. It’s not sad at first, but when you think about it, the singer is having a perfect day today, but tomorrow…. And if you’ve seen Trainspotting, it’s even sadder.

5. A Song That Reminds You of Someone
The Eagles’s “Take It Easy,” is my dad’s theme song. If you know him, you get what I mean.

6. A Song That Reminds You of Somewhere
“Beautiful Day” by U2: Paris, 2001. I took a lot of CDs with me that June, but this is the one I’ve come to associate with my foreign exchange trip.

7. A Song That Reminds You of an Event
“Ironic” by Alanis Morissette. It’s not big, but I have a distinct memory of driving home from the movies with my friend Rita and the Lennon twins in her mother’s car singing along to this on the radio. Ah, junior high.

8. A Song That You Know All the Words To
“Consider Yourself” from Oliver! that I had to sing in the 7th grade musical review. Ugh. I feel so uncool now.

9. A Song You Can Dance To
“The Macarena.” I may be dating myself, but at least I don’t know how to do the Hustle.

10. A Song That Makes You Fall Asleep
I don’t usually fall asleep to music, but when I want to mellow out, I listen to “Uncle John’s Band” by the Grateful Dead. And if I really want to mellow out, I listen to live versions when they themselves were extremely “mellow.”

11. A Song From Your Favorite Band
“Hey Jude” by The Beatles, because they are the best band ever.

12. A Song From a Band You Hate
“In Your Eyes” by Peter f-ing Gabriel. Grrrrr….

13. A Song That Is a Guilty Pleasure
“White Lies” by Faculty Lounge, an all-professor (and one dean) band from my undergraduate college. They used to play at this dive bar at the edge of town, and when the libations were flowing (to the crowd and the band) they were great. Sober, they are… a guilty pleasure.

14. A Song No One Would Expect You to Like
“Alejandro” by Lady Gaga. I’m notoriously not a fan of pop and dance music, but she’s an interesting performer, and, for what it is, her music is really good.

15. A Song That Describes You
Ideally, “She Belongs to Me,” but somehow I doubt it. My inner teenager wants me to pick something deep and a little angsty, but I really can’t think of anything appropriate, so I’ll say “Brown Eyed Girl” by Van Morrison.

16. A Song You Used to Love But Now Hate
“My Heart Will Go On” by Celine Dion. If you can remember 1997, you understand why.

17. A Song You Hear Often on the Radio
“I’ve Seen All Good People” by Yes. Classic rock radio seriously needs to cut back on the prog rock.

18. A Song You Wish You Heard on the Radio
“‘Heroes’” by David Bowie. It’s his best, and arguably one of the greatest rock songs of all time, and yet it gets literally no airtime.

19. A Song From Your Favorite Album
“Taxman” from The Beatles’s Revolver. Greatest. Album. Ever.

20. A Song You Listen To When You’re Angry
Green Day’s “American Idiot.” It’s like “Fight the Power” for angry liberal college kids.

21. A Song You Listen to When You’re Happy
I will refrain from commenting on how this isn't different from #3 above, and instead say that whenever I need a song I can turn to full volume and sing along to at the top of my lungs with wild abandon, I turn to Placebo’s cover of “20th Century Boy” from the Velvet Goldmine soundtrack.

22. A Song That You Listen to When You’re Sad
Again, redundant much? Ok, I rarely listen to sad music to bask in the mood of sadness (Why? Why would you do that?), but if I did so, I probably would listen to Bob Dylan’s “A Simple Twist of Fate.”

23. A Song You Want Played at Your Wedding
Normally I’d answer this sarcastically, but I’ll play it straight and say “Love” by John Lennon. It’s a sweet, simple song. Either that, or “Tubthumping.” In the church, of course.

24. A Song You Want Played at Your Funeral
The Rolling Stones’s “You Can't Always Get What You Want.” And then I want a poll taken to see who gets the reference.

25. A Song That Makes you Laugh
“Bob Dylan’s 115th Dream.” So funny it made him laugh on the record.

26. A Song You Can Play on an Instrument
Pachelbel’s Canon in D Major. Clarinet’s best, though I can pick it out on the piano.

27. A Song You Wish You Could Play
The Alla Turca from Mozart’s Piano Sonata No. 11 in A Major. Or “Stairway to Heaven.”

28. A Song That Makes You Feel Guilty
Dylan’s “The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll,” because it’s supposed to make you feel guilty. It’s very Brechtian.

29. A Song From Your Childhood
“Girls Just Want to Have Fun” by Cyndi Lauper, though I prefer the Chipettes version.

30. Your Favorite at This Time Last Year
“Rock ’n’ Roll With Me” off Bowie’s Diamond Dogs, because obviously last year was 1974.

30 Days, 30 Movies In One Day

I know I swore I wasn't going to post memes on my blog, but I've succumbed to the "30 Days, 30 Whatevers" challenges on Facebook. I'm sure a lot of people are tired of having their walls spammed with links to trailers and stuff, so I'm putting the entire thirty days in one blog. Just one post and it's done!

1. Favorite Film

Trainspotting. What luck that my dissertation is on Scottish cinema!

2. Least Favorite Film
Over the years spent as a film student, I've seen some pretty horrible films. But the one I hate the most is... Meet Me in St. Louis. It's a generic mess, boring, and "The Trolley Song" is pure torture. However, if there was a sequel about how the clearly disturbed little sister grows up to be a serial killer, I would totally watch that.

3. Favorite Comedy
I am unashamedly a nerd, so Monty Python and the Holy Grail, of course. Nee!

4. Favorite Drama
As a genre term "drama" is a little broad, so I'll re-dub this category as "family melodrama" and say The Godfather.

5. Favorite Action [Film]
The Adventures of Robin Hood. As in, the Errol Flynn one. But... but... there are no explosions! How is this an action film??

6. Favorite Horror [Film]
Murnau's Nosferatu. Yes, it's a silent movie--and that makes it even scarier.

7. Favorite Animated Feature
I'd told myself I wasn't going to pick a Disney movie. That I would look for the independents, the cutting edge, the really out there. With that, I now reveal that my absolute favorite animated film is... 101 Dalmatians. *Facepalm*

8. Favorite Thriller
Vertigo. It's even better the second time around, when you can pick up all the Freudian stuff.

9. Favorite Musical
A Hard Day's Night. I know every song, and most of the dialogue. In fact, I even know what's up with the "clean old man" jokes.

10. Favorite Foreign Film
Wings of Desire. I've seen this movie five times--four in the last year alone. In fact, I've seen it twice in one week just to see the difference between the DVD and 35mm print. It was worth it.

11. Favorite Kid's Movie
Labyrinth. And not just because of certain, ahem, "features." It's got a lot of deep psychological stuff going on that's made it one of my favorites for teaching close reading. Plus... BOWIE!!!

12. Favorite Love Story
Casablanca, which is not just a love story--it's got action, humor, music, and a little tiny bit of noir. In fact, I think romance would probably be more applicable that a mere "love story."

13. Favorite Chick Flick
I do not like chick flicks. Practical Magic is not a chick flick. There are witches in it, so it's a paranormal thriller. About sisterhood. *sigh* It is so a chick flick.

14. Favorite Documentary
The film that got me into film studies: The Last Waltz.

15. Favorite Play Adaptation
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf. I used to look at Taylor and Burton in this film and think, "I want to be that drunk when I grow up."

16. Favorite Book Adaptation
*Ahem* See #1. But, for a runner-up, I'll go with Sense and Sensibility. No offense meant to Jane Austen, but the movie really is better than the book in this case.

17. Least Favorite Book Adaption
Bram Stoker's Dracula. It technically may be the closest to the book, but I don't care what Elsaesser says about it being "the last film" or whatever, it's an awful movie. And every time I see it, it just gets worse.

18. Film That Is Your Guilty Pleasure
Dracula A.D. 1972. Is it bad? Yes. So bad it's good? Almost. Imagine if Hammer Studio did a Cheech and Chong movie. And that is why this is my favorite guilty pleasure film.

19. Film That Made You Cry the Hardest
This makes me feel like such a loser, but Gone with the Wind. In my defense, I saw a restored print in the theater.

20. Movie with Your Favorite Actress
Howard's End. I'll leave it to you to guess if I mean Emma Thompson or Helena Bonham Carter.

21. Movie with Your Favorite Actor
To Have and Have Not, which not only has Humphrey Bogart in it, but also was written my one of my favorite novelist-turned-screenwriters.

22. Movie You Wish You Could Live In
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. I'd like to have gone to wizard school, and I think Curaon's vision of Harry's world was the best.

23. Movie That Inspires You
Chariots of Fire--HAHA! Just kidding! I'd say Star Wars because that movies is just amazing and probably inspired me to become a writer.

24. Movie with Your Favorite Soundtrack
I'm Not There. The soundtrack is 98% Dylan and great Dylan covers.

25. Movie with the Most Beautiful Scenery
Velvet Goldmine. Am I right, ladies?? Oh, wait, they meant that as in "locations"? Oops.

26. Movie You're Most Embarrassed to Say You Like
Difficult. It really depends on who I'd be admitting I liked it to. Maybe I'd say Les Valseuses, which is a wholly inappropriate French comedy. How bad is it, you ask? The English title is Going Places, but a more accurate translation is Balls. As in, well, you know.

27. Movie with Your Favorite Villain
Well, since Darth Vader's already been mentioned (sort-of) and turned into a total wuss in the prequels, I'll go with The Wizard of Oz. "And your little dog, too!" Oh, snap! That witch is a badass!

28. Movie with Your Favorite Hero
From Russia with Love. Yes, my favorite movie hero is a womanizing alcoholic. Let's not read too much into this.

29. First Movie You Ever Remember Watching
The Aristocats. Not to be confused with The Aristocrats. Seriously.

30. Last Movie You Watched
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. It made Dead Man's Chest and At World's End seem great.