The film survey

[mithriltabby]

Since sandpanther tagged me:

1. Total number of films I own on DVD/video: about 150. I also have the complete (as possible, for shows not fully released) runs of Babylon 5, Crusade, Farscape, Alias, Yuu Yuu Hakusho, and Good Eats.
2. The last film I bought: Not sure. Perhaps Return of the King Extended Dance Mix or whatever they call the long-playing version.
3. The last film I watched: Star Wars: Return of the Sith.
4. Five films that I watch a lot or that mean a lot to me:
   • Baraka. In my opinion, the best of the wordless films in the tradition of Koyaanisqatsi.
   • Cutthroat Island, since obsessivewoman’s wedding dress was modeled on the one Geena Davis wore in the auction scene.
   • Giant Robo, for the operatic-scale adventure story and the Art Deco giant robots.
   • The Fifth Element, because I love how it manages to disguise a fairy tale as a science fiction action thriller. (Hits the same spot as the Liaden books by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller.)
   • Tonari no Totoro, which is so well done that I enjoyed watching it the first time without any translation. (So did my parents.)
   • Extra bonus anecdote: When obsessivewoman and I were first dating, I was looking over her video collection, saw her tape of The Princess Bride was still in its shrink wrap, and said, “You haven’t opened that yet? We should watch it!” She neglected to inform me (until much later) that what I had found was her new copy to replace the previous tape, which had worn out.
   • They’re not technically films, but Babylon 5 and Farscape rate a mention because they’re fine pieces of storytelling, standing well above the majority of television.
5. Pick five people and have them put this in their journal: I’m pruning this meme’s replication code. If you want to talk about your film collection, blog away, but I’m not adding any social obligation to do so.

Comments

[ianmcdonald.livejournal.com]

So glad to see someone elserate Baraka! I stumbled across this about eighteen months ago when we had a guy from Canada on placementin the office and we needed inspiration for a religious series pitch we were putting together... since bought it myself (it's pretty much the same production team as Koyannisqatsi) and watch it every three months or so --whenever I feel in need of a bit of reconnection.