Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Here I was thinking that last week's quiz was too difficult

Here I was thinking that last week's quiz was too difficult. Not the case, apparently, as few of you had problems spotting Powell and Pressburger's 1945 romcom, I Know Where I'm Going. As mentioned last week, it's a remarkable credit sequence that doubles as a bit of back-story on our heroine Joan Webster (Wendy Hiller). 
A quick plug: This Friday sees the start of the 2009 New York Asian Film Festival, and the Subway Cinema gang have truly outdone themselves this year. I've been trying to cram in as many titles as possible, and one of them, Sono Sion's Love Exposure is a must-not-miss. Don't let the four-hour running time frighten you -- there's not a dull minute in this complex psycho-drama that deals with religion, guilt, sin, voyeurism and, yes, love. At the moment it's the best undistributed film I've seen in 2009. I'll be writing about this film and (perhaps) others over at The Auteurs in the coming weeks.     
This week's quiz: definitely unfair. Or is it? Submit your answers to this address. Good luck!

I'm still spouting off on things cinematic and alcoholic on Twitter: Filmbrain in bite-size morsels

Yeah, yeah...my alt-text clues are way too easy. I thought artificial sweeteners were beyond passé, and therefore no longer part of the zeitgeist. Shows to go ya....
A Woody Allen credit sequence is a Woody Allen credit sequence...etc. and though Santo Loquasto has served as production designer on over 79 of the Woodmans' films, it was Sweet & Lowdown from whence the capture came.
Though my posts here (outside of the quiz) have dwindled to naught (as the song goes, a change is gonna come), I'm still spouting off on things cinematic and alcoholic on Twitter: Filmbrain in bite-size morsels. Stop by and say hello.
I was under the impression that this was the final quiz of this extended round, but only now did I realize that there's still two weeks more. Oh well.  

This week: it's all about the alt-text clue. Have tried for new heights in vagueness. Submit your answers to this address. Good luck!

Kyle Cooper's opening credit sequence does a magnificent job of setting the tone

Not "3T" but a reversed French "ET", from the end credits that are the opening credits of bad boy Gaspar Noé's Irreversible. Only a few managed to identify it, but the range of answers was certainly interesting -- everything from Godard, to Hartley, to Miike and even Tom O'Horgan. Well spotted, fellow fans of rampant misanthropy.
The Smashing Pumpkins song referred to in the alt-text? The End is the Beginning is the End, of course.
This week: Where will you find this art-deco-ish version of the 20th Century Fox logo? Submit your answers to this address. Good luck!Years before he directed Forrest Gump 2, David Fincher was up to much nastier things, like putting Gwyneth Paltrow's head in a box. A genuinely disturbing serial-killer film, Seven (or, Se7en, if you prefer) hasn't lost any of its punch fourteen years later. Kyle Cooper's opening credit sequence does a magnificent job of setting the tone, and it's full of freeze-frame treats, as last week's quiz revealed.
The alt-text clue was a reference to the fairly-unknown Soviet film Pyshka (Пышка), from 1934, a poster of which is shown hanging in Brad Pitt's apartment. (It's a detail that always bothered me -- I never bought that a none-too-bright detective would have own such a poster. Oh well.) 
This week's quiz is significantly more difficult. It's somewhat unique in that the credits are buried within an expository sequence, as you can see a bit of on the side of the truck. Good luck! Submit your answers to this address. Good luck!

Suicide Club) over at Greencine Daily

A variation of the 20th Century Fox logo on a Los Angeles billboard appears at the beginning of Mel Brooks' triumphant experiment, Silent Movie, from 1976. There were some pretty far-out guesses (Aliens?) but most managed to work it out.
I wrote a primer of sorts this week on the films of Sion Sono (Love Exposure, Suicide Club) over at Greencine Daily. It was meant to be peppered with quotes, but my allotted interview time with him was cut severely short. Very frustrating. I also participated in an email exchange with Fin de Cinema's Joe Bowman about Love Exposure, which will appear on The Auteurs Notebook sometime this week. It's been a week of Sono on the brain-o. [Update: Click here to read the discussion.]
Well, here we are at the final quiz of this extended round. I had hoped to close it with something from an end credits sequence, but couldn't find anything interesting enough on short notice.
This week: Another bit of fun with an iconic studio logo. Name the film. Submit your answers to this address. Good luck!

But you know what? It was worth it. Rebuilding Vegas on a soundstage allowed DP Vittorio Storaro to do unbelievable things with lights

The extra-long all-opening-credits round of the Filmbrain Screen Capture Quiz is finally over! Regular contestant Max G. was the lone voice in the wind this week as he (somehow!) recognized the blue curtain and moon behind it from the opening of Francis Ford Coppola's One From the Heart, a desert-island movie if ever there was one. This is the film that drove Coppola into bankruptcy, and forced him to take on studio fare such as the truly awful Jack. But you know what? It was worth it. Rebuilding Vegas on a soundstage allowed DP Vittorio Storaro to do unbelievable things with lights. And then of course there are the songs by Tom Waits and Crystal Gayle....sheer bliss.
Congratulations to Max for getting a perfect score -- I'm thoroughly impressed. I'd also like to thank everybody else who participated in what turned out to be the most successful round yet!