The TOTAL FILM Quiz, Part 2

The British film magazine Total Film has a recurring feature called “My Life in Movies,” and the questionnaire got me thinking. As The Cinema King, my life has been significantly affected by the movies I’ve seen and the one’s I’ve continued to carry with me. It’s ten questions – with an eleventh question for Brian Michael Bendis, the comic book scribe whose Total Film interview convinced me to take a stab at the quiz – so here goes. Post your answers in the comments below!

The Movie I Love But No One’s Heard Of

I’m sure most people have heard of The Rocketeer, but I can probably count on one hand the number of people I know who have seen this movie but aren’t related to me. Actually, this film is a strong contender for the first movie I ever saw, and it’s a formative one; it cemented my love for the superhero genre, period pieces, and Jennifer Connelly. The Rocketeer is on a very short list of “instant buy,” no matter what the merchandise (partly because he’s in such short supply). If you want to understand the modern fascination with superhero films, we can trace it back here - yes, Tim Burton's Batman is earlier by two years, but The Rocketeer shows audiences how fun, innocuous, and elegant superhero fantasies can be. Superman nothing... this was the movie that convinced me a man can fly.

The Movie That Scares Me The Most

The Strangers still keeps me up at night. There’s something primordial about the terror of the just-out-of-sight, and the image of Liv Tyler oblivious to the masked figure skulking just behind her still sends a cold chill down my spine. It’s a perfect film to watch late at night, with all the lights doused. That dread of the concealed still convinces me there’s someone lurking in my home, waiting to torture and murder me.

The Movie I Should Have Starred In

Back in 2005, I was young enough to believe that my world was going to end if I didn’t find a way to be a part of Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith. Of course, that was before we knew it wasn’t, after all, to be the last Star Wars film, nor did it end up being very good anyway; Mark Kermode described it as “a two hour, twenty minute borefest, of which seventeen and a half minutes are quite good.” As ever, the good doctor’s got it right. These days, I’d probably be better off with a role in a superhero movie.

The Remake I’d Like To See

Generally I’m opposed to remakes in principle, though there have been good exceptions – most recently, Beauty and the Beast. I’d like to see a reboot of The Rocketeer, to reintroduce the character to an audience a little readier for him. Recently, I floated the idea of a remake of Ratatouille in which the rats don’t talk. So much is accomplished by the expressive animation (Pixar trademark) and emotive score (Michael Giacchino, easily in my top three living composers) that the talking rats seem almost superfluous. It would also have the effect of making the movie just a little bit more about Linguini and the kitchen staff, who I felt were always the more interesting characters. I’ll settle for a mere re-edit, though, since I can’t imagine anyone else but Peter O’Toole as the imperious food critic Anton Ego (“I don’t ‘like’ food; I love it. If I don’t love it, I don’t swallow.”).

The Last Film I Watched On A Plane

The last film I watched in an airport was Batman v Superman, but I stowed my laptop upon takeoff and returned to my book. On an airplane proper, then, the last film was Captain America: Civil War, on the way to and from Disney World back in November 2016.

The Best Comic Book Movie

“O, speak to me no more! These words like daggers enter in my ears.” This is an unbearably difficult question, partly because I’m a sucker for the genre and because there have been a lot of really solid contenders. I’ll compromise (read: cop out) and give you my favorite DC, Marvel, and “other” comic book movie. For DC, no question, it’s The Dark Knight. Christopher Nolan’s 2008 sequel to Batman Begins is one of the greatest films ever made, full stop, even without considering its source material; reverent yet original, slickly made in every aspect, it’s the gold standard. On the Marvel side, Captain America: The Winter Soldier took the goodwill and craft of the first round of Marvel movies and went beyond “entertaining” into “great film.” It took the political terrain of 2014 and the landscape of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and told a story that felt significant and engaging, never compromising on its spectacle or the fearlessness of its protagonist. Like The Dark Knight, it’s a great standalone and a continuation. Outside of the Big Two, my favorite comic book movie is (at the risk of this being the answer to most of these questions) The Rocketeer, an underrated cult classic. Director Joe Johnston created Boba Fett and directed Captain America: The First Avenger, but in my eyes this will always be his creative achievement. It’s a perfect film, effortless and exuberant. Drop everything and see it.

What’s your version of the Total Film questionnaire? Sound off in the comments below!