Day 2 of 30 - Your favorite movie

Whenever anyone asks what my favorite movie of all time is, I always answer "Little Shop of Horrors."

I first saw that movie when I was thirteen, and it has just about everything a nerdy thirteen-year-old boy would want. The nerdy guy gets the girl. It has chopping up and singing. It has a gloriously insane Steve Martin. And did I mention the nerdy guy gets the girl?

Many times when I watch movies, I nitpick. I would have done this differently. I would have changed this camera angle or interpreted a character differently or used different music. The exact opposite happened when I saw "Little Shop of Horrors" for the first time. I wouldn't change a thing. Part of (maybe a lot of) that is just being a thirteen-year-old, I know, but I haven't had the same complete syncronicity with a film before or since (maybe with the possible exception of "The Muppet Movie").

Since then, I have really impressed with other films ("Vertigo" is a real stand-out) but I approach them as an adult. I don't completely lose myself over to them the way I did when I was younger.

For me "Little Shop of Horrors" is a great synthesis of stylized performances, set design, and musical numbers. It is a singular vision of one of my favorite stories - the Faustian legend.

Plus it has this song:

Guess the Movie fom the Quote - updated with answers

My friend Sherri put ten quotes from ten of her favorite movies on her blog and asked readers to guess them. I knew two and figured out five more by cheating. (I googled the quotes.)

I still had fun trying to guess. So now I'll try to make some more fun by putting twelve quotes on this space and hope people can guess the movie.

1. You love her madly, don't you, schmuck?

This came from one of my most cherished films, Little Shop of Horrors.

2. Alas, the home environment has made Blubber suicidal.

From the movie Amelie. Blubber was the name of her suicidal pet fish.

3. I came into this game for the action, the excitement. Go anywhere, travel light, get in, get out, wherever there's trouble, a man alone.

An air conditioner repair man describes his job in Terry Gilliam's 1985 film Brazil. I often say stuff like this about my job, when really all I do is type.

4. This is so bad it's gone past good and back to bad again.

There are a lot of really good lines in Ghost World.

5. You shouldn't keep souvenirs of a killing. You shouldn't have been that sentimental.

Probably my favorite movie of all time, Vertigo.

6. The poor know all about poverty and only the morbid rich would find the topic glamorous.

Another one of my favorite movies, Sullivan's Travels.

7. How could I have known that murder could sometimes smell like honeysuckle?

Yet another great film, Double Indemnity.

8. Son, you got a panty on your head.

The most popular film on this list, Raising Arizona.

9. I speak for all mediocrities in the world. I am their champion. I am their patron saint.

I can always watch Amadeus and feel better about not being a brilliant artist.

10. I don't wanna hurt anybody. I don't enjoy hurting anybody. I don't like guns, or bombs, or electric chairs. But sometimes people just won't listen.

One of the rare sequels that is better than the first film, Addams Family Values.

11. Why? Was l so unattractive, so distant, so forbidding or something?

It is the way this line is delivered, rather than the line itself, that makes The Philadelphia Story so interesting.

12. Listen pal, you can't just waltz in here, use my toaster and spout universal truths without qualification!

Hal Hartley is one of my favorite living directors, and Surviving Desire is a good place to go to hear some of his great dialog.