FilmMattic

Fifteen Movie Questions Meme       The movie blogosphere, an arena I'm proud to navigate, is full of unusual and unique ideas. Al Gore's Internet distinguishes these ideas based on causal traits: in this case, repetitive, transmittable musings that bloggers freely share . What I'm referring to, of course, are the nifty man-made creations known as memes. The latest one to capture my unbridled attention is called "Fifteen Movie Questions." It's the brainchild of Anna from Defiant Success . And after perusing my blogroll, it came to my attention. My fellow movie buff gal deserves the J-Kidd worthy assist. Rachel  (aka [film] girl, interrupted) , a talented fireball of wit and reason, recently jumped on the meme bandwagon. And as bandwagons go—I'm talking squarely to fair-weather Miami Heat fans—others must climb aboard. Well, heeere's Johnny, and by Johnny, I mean Matty. This would be the point in time when Tony Soprano's shrink would advise me to t...

Vertigo       I'm one of Paul Newman's most ardent fans (his portrayal as Cool Hand Luke is simply jaw-dropping). His performance in The Verdict is nothing short of spellbinding. But Sidney Lumet's powerful and competent legal thriller does not earn my "V" spot (it was a close call). It's an unfortunate circumstance for the wonderful Lumet whom I greatly admire. I'd certainly place 12 Angry Men, his more riveting legal drama, in any numerical countdown, but there's just no numerals in the alphabet. Furthermore, Serpico and Dog Day Afternoon feature two of my favorite actor's (Al Pacino) best performances, but Kurosawa and John McClane got in Sonny's way. I haven't seen Valkyrie, so we can at least preemptively stave off any Tom Cruise bizarrely-jumping-for-joy-on-couches sightings. And Jean-Luc Godard is one of the most important and prodigious filmmakers in the history of cinema, but I must admit a modicum of shame for not seeing Vivre...

MVP of Sports Acting        I was recently watching the Knicks/Celtics game on ESPN and the camera panned across the arena highlighting a Murderer' Row of celebrity actors attending the game.  I got to thinking.  What happens when celebrity actors and sports collide?  Generally, a simple premise for a sports film.  And no, I'm not going to drop a Kardashian Sister's name here because none of them can act.  So other than an inane premise, where am I going with this? I asked the question and started furiously pondering in my head for answers: Who is the best sports movie actor of all time? Here are my nominees, in no particular order: 1).  Mark Wahlberg 2).  Dennis Quaid 3).  Wesley Snipes 4).  Kevin Costner 5).  Denzel Washington 6).  Paul Newman 7).  Chelcie Ross 8).  Robert De Niro 9).  Sylvester "Sly" Stallone 10).  Woody Harrelson *Just missed the cut: Robert Redford ( The...