Your Honor, I'd like permission to treat the witness as hostile.
So, I've been staring at this computer screen since, I think, last Friday, and I have no idea what to write for this blog. So, taking a page from Stephanie Black's playbook, I'm going to make you, the readers, do all my work for me.
I'm going to post some questions, and you're going to answer them. You'll do this not because I'm offering some kind of incentive, but because I told you to, and you're powerless to resist.
The questions are all about your likes and dislikes. However, here's the thing about today's questionnaire: I don't want any of those crappy "Oh, I could never pick just one favorite!" answers. I don't want sarcastic misinterpretation of the question. I don't want dancing around the issue. Just answer the questions, and if your answers aren't perfect and painstakingly flawless, then who cares? It's just a blog.
I'll try to qualify the questions enough that you can give a good answer, and we won't have to argue semantics. But again, if we're not perfectly precise, who cares? All I ask is that you answer the questions.
I'm going to post some questions, and you're going to answer them. You'll do this not because I'm offering some kind of incentive, but because I told you to, and you're powerless to resist.
The questions are all about your likes and dislikes. However, here's the thing about today's questionnaire: I don't want any of those crappy "Oh, I could never pick just one favorite!" answers. I don't want sarcastic misinterpretation of the question. I don't want dancing around the issue. Just answer the questions, and if your answers aren't perfect and painstakingly flawless, then who cares? It's just a blog.
I'll try to qualify the questions enough that you can give a good answer, and we won't have to argue semantics. But again, if we're not perfectly precise, who cares? All I ask is that you answer the questions.
1. What was the best LDS book you've read lately?
2. What was the best nationally-published book you've read lately?
3. What movie have you seen lately that was surprisingly good?
4. What movie have you seen lately that was surprisingly bad?
5. What book do you just really really hate? (I'm talking, irrational, emotional dislike.)
6. What movie do you really really hate?
7. Your top-five movies of all time.
8. What public figure annoys the heck out of you? (I know most of you will say Julie "Coulter" Bellon, but I'll ask the question anyway.)
9. Three favorite TV shows, which are currently in-production.
10. What actor's (or author's) work will you always see (or read) just because you like them?
RobisonWells — 7/25/2006 05:11:00 PM
28 comments
28 Comments:
My answers:
1. The House on the Hill, by Annette Lyon. (Yeah, it came out a year ago, but I just got around to it.)
2. Collapse, by Jared Diamond.
3. The Devil Wears Prada. Man, I loved this movie. We saw it by accident, because Pirates was sold out, but I don't regret this one at all. I was surprised, certainly: a chick movie about the fashion industry, but it was really intelligent and much deeper than I expected.
4. Superman Returns,. It wasn't bad, but it was awfully blah.
5. The Grapes of Stupid Wrath.
6. Persuasion.
7. On the Waterfront; It's a Wonderful Life; The Shawshank Redemption; Bourne Supremacy; The Producers (the old one)
8. Oprah Fricking Winfrey
9. House, Good Eats, Iron Chef America (baby!)
10. Tony Hillerman
1. What was the best LDS book you've read lately?
The Counterfeit. That's kind of cheating though, because it's the only one I've read lately.
2. What was the best nationally-published book you've read lately?
Wow, it's been ages since I've liked a book enough to finish it--I hadn't realized that until I sat down and couldn't think of what the last one was. I'm currently reading three, and will probably finish at least one of them, so I'll let you know.
3. What movie have you seen lately that was surprisingly good?
Dungeons & Dragons: Wrath of the Dragon God. Just remember that "surprisingly good" can still describe a pretty bad movie.
4. What movie have you seen lately that was surprisingly bad?
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Even having read the book, I could barely follow the story in that choppy, ridiculous mess.
5. What book do you just really really hate? (I'm talking, irrational, emotional dislike.)
The Odyssey. Honestly, people.
6. What movie do you really really hate?
Pearl Harbor. But everyone hates that one, so it's kind of a cheap shot.
7. Your top-five movies of all time.
In no particular order:
Mary Poppins
Jaws
Shawshank Redemption
Star Wars
Silence of the Lambs
8. What public figure annoys the heck out of you? (I know most of you will say Julie "Coulter" Bellon, but I'll ask the question anyway.)
That guy on Fox News with the really melodramatic signoff. Sorry, I really don't follow public figures closely enough to be annoyed by them.
9. Three favorite TV shows, which are currently in-production.
House (the only show I really watch)
Mythbusters (in the sense that I don't turn it off when I find it while channel surfing)
Between the Lions (I'm running out of shows here, but this is the one I most like my kids to watch, so I'll count it)
Everything else I like is not currently in production
10. What actor's (or author's) work will you always see (or read) just because you like them?
Peter Jackson. He's actually a director, obviously, but he's the only one I could see myself going out of my way for.
Ooh, I thought of a much better hate movie than Pearl Harbor: To Kill a Mockingbird. If ever there was a grosser simplification of race relations, I don't know what it is.
1. What was the best LDS book you've read lately?
Depends on your definition of LDS book - are you meaning one written for an LDS market, or one written by an LDS author that may not necessarily be LDS in nature?
Either way, I'm going with Twilight.
2. What was the best nationally-published book you've read lately?
See No. 1.
3. What movie have you seen lately that was surprisingly good?
Laws of Attraction. It's like the perfect romantic comedy, but the trailers made it look so dumb that I didn't see it in theaters and only recently rented it. Great movie.
4. What movie have you seen lately that was surprisingly bad?
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. Character assassination, no sweeping love story, everybody gets a plot (including various body parts) - total mess.
5. What book do you just really really hate? (I'm talking, irrational, emotional dislike.)
Life of Pi. What a rip-off ending. I wanted to find the author and beat him over the head with his own book.
6. What movie do you really really hate?
Kung Pow - Enter the Fist. Worst. Movie. Ever.
7. Your top-five movies of all time.
I love different movies for different reasons, and said favorite choices change on a pretty constant basis. But this week it is:
Pride and Prejudice (any version)
Mad About Mambo
Lord of the Rings trilogy
Star Wars trilogy (original trilogy)
Braveheart (yay for Clean Flicks!)
8. What public figure annoys the heck out of you?
Tom Cruise. Him I want to beat over the head with his e-meter.
9. Three favorite TV shows, which are currently in-production.
Gilmore Girls
Lost
Grey's Anatomy
10. What actor's (or author's) work will you always see (or read) just because you like them?
Actor - Jay Kenneth Johnson
1. What was the best LDS book you've read lately?
"This Just In" by Kerry Blair. Hilarious!
2. What was the best nationally-published book you've read lately?
"The Road to Paradise Island" by Victoria Holt. But my favorite nationally published book is "Lightning" by Dean Koontz
3. What movie have you seen lately that was surprisingly good?
The Lakehouse
4. What movie have you seen lately that was surprisingly bad?
The Benchwarmers... so bad I walked out of it in sheer mind-numbing, stick-in-your-eye boredom.
5. What book do you just really really hate? (I'm talking, irrational, emotional dislike.)
If I hate it, I don't finish it, so I can't remember it.
6. What movie do you really really hate?
Oscar. My husband watches it everytime it's on and I'm SO sick of it.
7. Your top-five movies of all time.
Paycheck
Just Like Heaven
The Lake House
Heaven Can Wait
Better Off Dead
8. What public figure annoys the heck out of you? (I know most of you will say Julie "Coulter" Bellon, but I'll ask the question anyway.)
Well, it sure ain't Julie Bellon. Hands down, Hillary Clinton
9. Three favorite TV shows, which are currently in-production.
24, Monk, don't watch anything else
10. What actor's (or author's) work will you always see (or read) just because you like them?
Because it's too big of a tie with LDS authors, I'll pick a mainstream: Nicholas Sparks... enjoy all the movies, but have never read his books.
1. What was the best LDS book you've read lately?
Double Cross by Betsy Brannon Green.
2. What was the best nationally-published book you've read lately?
I've been too busy with LDS fiction and haven't read any national stuff lately
3. What movie have you seen lately that was surprisingly good?
Ice Age: The Meltdown. Or She's the Man
4. What movie have you seen lately that was surprisingly bad?
Garfield A Tail of Two Kitties. It wasn't necessarily bad, but I fell asleep in it.
5. What book do you just really really hate? (I'm talking, irrational, emotional dislike.)
Any book that describes every tiny detail down to the dust in the air and cracks in the asphalt.
6. What movie do you really really hate? The Barney movie, not because I don't like Barney, but because I had to see it every day for months on end since it was my son's favorite movie. Or Tremors, it's a toss-up
7. Your top-five movies of all time.
1. tie between Pride and Prejudice with Colin Firth and Sound of Music
2. Lord of the Rings trilogy
3. Star Wars original trilogy
4. tie between HouseSitter and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
5. tie between Last of the Mohicans and While You Were Sleeping
8. What public figure annoys the heck out of you? (I know most of you will say Julie "Coulter" Bellon, but I'll ask the question anyway)
Robison, did my children pay you to say that? Because whenever I mention doing their chores they get this really annoyed look on their face . . .
If I had to pick someone besides myself I would have to say Tom Cruise.
9. Three favorite TV shows, which are currently in-production.
24
Grey's Anatomy
Law & Order: SVU
10. What actor's (or author's) work will you always see (or read) just because you like them?
Actor - Colin Firth
Author--Betsy Brannon Green
1. The Believer
2. From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
3. Nanny McPhee
4. Okay, I need to get out more, Nanny McPhee is the only movie I’ve seen this year.
5. Wuthering Heights (too many dark moods, moors and Heathcliffs/Catherines)
6. Willy Wonka (the Gene Wilder version)
7. Persuasion, Clue, Pride and Prejudice (miniseries),
8. Bobby Flay
9. Psych, Gilmore Girls, Numbers
10. Donna Andrews, Connie Willis, JK Rowling
1. tossup between Double Cross by Betsy Green and the Counterfeit by Rob Wells
2.I haven't had time to read and non LDS fiction lately.
3.Over the Hedge
4. The second Work and the Glory film
5. Moby Dick or maybe Tess of the D'Urbervilles
6.there are so many--Wizard of Oz, Dead Poet's Society--can't remember the titles
7. I'm just not a movie person
8. John Kerry, but Hilary Clinton comes really close
9.I rarely watch Tv other than the news and an occasional Jazz game
10. Kerry Blair
1. What was the best LDS book you've read lately?
Julie Wright's "My Not So Fairy tale Life"
2. What was the best nationally-published book you've read lately?
The Five people You Meet in Heaven (I expected psychobabble and got a wonderful story that gripped me through to the end.)
3. What movie have you seen lately that was surprisingly good?
Cars (Expected to hate it, but really enjoyed it.)
4. What movie have you seen lately that was surprisingly bad?
Pirates 2 (Expected to love it and was hugely disappointed. Almost as bad as Lady in the Water.)
5. What book do you just really really hate? (I'm talking, irrational, emotional dislike.)
The Counterf--wait I mean . . . third grade history. Never have been able to make it through that thing. As well as most Oprah recommendations.
6. What movie do you really really hate?
Somewhere in Time. THE dumbest ending in the known universe.
7. Your top-five movies of all time.
Chariots of Fire, Stand By Me, Count of Monte Cristo, Raiders of the Lost Arc, and a tie between Groundhog Day and Princess Bride
8. What public figure annoys the heck out of you? (I know most of you will say Julie "Coulter" Bellon, but I'll ask the question anyway.)
All those annoying Canadia--I mean, Carrot Top
9. Three favorite TV shows, which are currently in-production.
The Simpsons, CSI Whatever, Without a Trace (Monk was there until they changed his assistant.)
10. What actor's (or author's) work will you always see (or read) just because you like them?
I read everything by Stephen King, but am often disappointed.
1. What was the best LDS book you've read lately?
Mice and Magic by Dave Farland.
2. What was the best nationally-published book you've read lately?
Jane Eyre! Ah! Why did it take me two years to finally pick up this book?! It was so good!
3. What movie have you seen lately that was surprisingly good?
Lady on the Water actually...
4. What movie have you seen lately that was surprisingly bad?
The Animal...but I guess that wasn't surprising.
5. What book do you just really really hate? (I'm talking, irrational, emotional dislike.)
Voyage of the Argo by some dead Greek guy. I can't decide do I hate Jason or Medea more? Ahh!
6. What movie do you really really hate?
Night of the Roxbury.
7. Your top-five movies of all time.
Mr. Smith goes to Washington
Pride and Predjudice(newest version)
Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Rings
Secondhand Lions
Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken
8. What public figure annoys the heck out of you? (I know most of you will say Julie "Coulter" Bellon, but I'll ask the question anyway.)
Michael Savage! Ah!!!!!
9. Three favorite TV shows, which are currently in-production.
24, Lost,
10. What actor's (or author's) work will you always see (or read) just because you like them?
Rachel Ann Nunes
Mean Aunt, you don't like Bobby Flay? I'm sorry, but we can't be friends anymore.
1. Sariah Wilsons unpublished book (Does that count?)
2. Elfstones of Shanara
3. Devil Wears Prada
4. Pirates (just because it isn't a movie I would watch over and over again).
5. Catcher in the Rye
6. Star Wars (Just because I have seen them sooooo many times!)
7. *Pride and Prejudice (any version) *While you were sleeping *The Professional
*Harry Potters
*Lord of the Rings
8. Brangelina or TomKat
9. Lost, Psych, Supernatural (there are a lot more- I am a T.Vaholic)
10. Colin Firth or Sandra Bullock
1. What was the best LDS book you've read lately? I really liked Lifted Up by Guy Morgan Galli.
2. What was the best nationally-published book you've read lately?
The Cedar Post by Jack Rose. The "national" part may not be entirely accurate.
3. What movie have you seen lately that was surprisingly good?
I really liked the new "Narnia."
4. What movie have you seen lately that was surprisingly bad? I've been fortunate lately. It's too bad this question has a statute of limitations on it -- I could tell you doozies about things I've seen in the past.
5. What book do you just really really hate? (I'm talking, irrational, emotional dislike.) Okay, you want hate? Here goes. I hate "Where the Heart Is." It's a total downer. You've got low-life people making low-life decisions and although they are given chances to make better choices, they keep making the same low-life decisions all through the book until the end, when they finally get it somewhat together. In the middle of all that, you've got children being horribly, grotesquely abused. I've heard people say that this book is so uplifting because of everything these people overcame. It was not uplifting to me at all. You said you wanted hate, so there you go!! I have unleashed it!
6. What movie do you really really hate? I really, really hate Autumn in New York. You've got Wynona Ryder as a young business owner meeting Richard Gere as a middle aged womanizer. He introduces her to the ways of the world and doesn't care about her at all, then finds out she's dying, decides to care, and then she dies. Total downer, hated the characters, hated the whole thing. (Wow, Robison, you're really tapping in to my hatred with these questions. Be careful or I might end up on the Dark Side.)
7. Your top-five movies of all time.
1. Pride and Prejudice, Colin Firth version.
2. Sense and Sensibility.
3. The Importance of Being Earnest. (Also Colin Firth)
4. The Princess Bride.
5. Return to Me.
8. What public figure annoys the heck out of you? (I know most of you will say Julie "Coulter" Bellon, but I'll ask the question anyway.) Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, Bill and/or Hilary Clinton.
9. Three favorite TV shows, which are currently in-production.
What Not to Wear, Amazing Race, and Iron Chef, which I just discovered. And I did not just say that to stay on Rob's good side. I also enjoy American Idol and Dancing with the Stars, but they're off season right now.
10. What actor's (or author's) work will you always see (or read) just because you like them? I love Dee Henderson's books. Actors -- I have to know what they're in. I don't see anything just because a certain actor is in it -- it has to have a plot I could get into.
1. "The Counterfeit"
2. "Mistborn: The Final Empire" by Brandon Sanderson
3. DaVinci Code
4. Pirates of the Carribean: Dead Man's Chest. I was dissapointed.
5. "Wicked" by Gregory Maguire
6. What About Bob?
7. Sense & Sensibility, Strictly Ballroom, Colf Comfort Farm, Babe, Gilda
8. Al Gore
9. Uh...I don't watch TV, unless you count Dora the Explorer, Spongebob Squarepants, and Bob the Builder
10. Judith Merkle Riley (author)
Oh, I love to talk about myself.
1. The Counterfeit, definitely
2. Eat, Pray, Love, by Elizabeth Gilbert
3. All the movies I've seen in the past few months have been surprisingly disappointing.
4. See above
5. hmmm.....
6. Dune
7. Tootsie, Mash, Shawshank Redemption, Alien and Aliens
8. Tom Cruise
9. I love almost all TV. Right now I'm hooked on Last comic standing, and the one with the rock star. Which I don't even like that kind of music, but I find that show intriguing.
10. Elizabeth Berg
Rob, I'm crushed! Bobby Flay needs to get over himself. Alton Brown is the man.
Kudos to Tristi Pinkston for taking a stand and actually picking a version of Pride and Prejudice. To those of you who did not (you know who you are), I'm calling you out: you're only allowed five movies, not entire subgenres.
To those of you who did not (you know who you are), I'm calling you out: you're only allowed five movies, not entire subgenres.
You will also notice that I picked trilogies as well. All in all my five top movies are about 12 movies in actuality.
And there's not a darn thing you can do about it. ;)
Word verification: jfkay - the offspring of John F. Kennedy and Mary Kay.
I'll take those kudos gladly, fellfrosch. Thanks for divvying them out.
Love your definition, Sariah. I've never gotten such a fun word verification.
Gotta tell you, Rob. This sounds a lot like the Pristhood lesson where the teacher says, "I'd like to divide you into three groups and have you report to the class on what you discover." In other words, "I totally forgot I was teaching today." And the whole thing with stacking the deck with your family is a little fishy. I may have to report you to the BOLG police.
I don't think it's nearly as veiled as that, Jeff. This is more like forgetting the Priesthood lesson and playing Hangman instead.
I like hangman, and I love this game. Just answer the questions, Jeff. You're just jealous you didn't think of it first. (So am I.) My turn:
1. Best LDS book I've read lately: The Emerald by Jennie Hansen. (It doesn't come out until August. Advance-reads are one of the best perks of the business.)
2. Best national book I've read lately: I'm not necessarily recommending it to this audience, but I really liked "The Historian" once it finally got underway. Gotta love Dracula.
3. Surprisingly good movie: Lake House, even though there were plot holes as big as the Great Salt Lake.
4. Surprisingly bad movie: Superman Returns. All I can say is that guy's no Batman.
5. I don't read more than a page or ten of books I hate. (I did agree with Tristi's comments, though.)
6. Movie I hate: Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Pocahontas. (Please hold the stones and I'll explain.) Plot: Intelligent-if-naive teenaged girl knows more about "life" and "love" than her parents ever will. She sneaks out of house (sea, palace, teepee, whatever) to meet guy she doesn't know but who she "loves" for his looks/dog/impressive abilities as a petty thief. It turns out happy-ever-after for everybody. Sheesh. What a concept to indoctrinate into starry-eyed little girls. A decade later, all we mothers who dressed our darlings in Ariel t-shirts wonder why they run off with men they meet on My Space... (My daughter is still locked in her room, BTW, watching Anne of Green Gables DVDs and completing her set of paint-by-number pictures of the temples.)
7. Top 5 movies of all time:
Arsenic and Old Lace, Bringing up Baby, Sleeping Beauty (See? I don't hate Walt Disney personally), Life is Beautiful, A Walk in the Clouds
8. Public figure who annoys me: Oprah Winfrey (Again, please hold the stones)
9. TV shows: Monk, (at least I'm with the class here), baseball, Fox News. Want to make my election as village idiot complete? I've never seen American Idol. Not a single episode.
10. Actor: Katharine Hepburn and Jimmy Stewart.
LDS Authors: too many to list (and I have the full bookshelves to prove it)
National: Anne Tyler, Amy Tan; I'll look at everything by Dean Koontz, but I won't always buy it.
(Just most of the time)
Thanks, Rob. It was fun!
Hooray for a fellow Oprah hater! That almost makes me forgive you for the Fox News.
Not to sound like a crazed zealot or anything, but Oprah is the anti-Christ.
Perhaps I should have included a smilie after saying something like that. Here it is: :)
Oh, now I understand what Rob meant. That smiley made all the difference.
I don't watch Oprah or any other talk show, so I have no comment there. Like Kerry, I've never seen American Idol. I saw some of one season of The Apprentice, just because one of my husband's grad school classmates was competing (and won--is that cool or what?)
You kids definitely need to watch yourselves some American Idol. Also: Project Runway.
Best LDS book I've read lately?
The last LDS book I read was last year. "The Conversion of Jeff Williams" by Doug Thayer.
Nationally published book? "Flags of Our Fathers" by James Bradley. Heartbreaking, uplifting, moving on many levels. A very human book.
Surprisingly good movie. Well, I'm not generally surprised in that way. The last time that I was was a couple of years ago when I took the kids to see Country Bear Jamboree movie. I thought I'd sleep through it. Had a great time. Loved the big production number in the diner.
Surprisingly bad movie. "Rent." Couldn't finish it.
Book that I hate ... would have to be "Alices Adventures in Wonderland." Again, couldn't finish. Stopped reading when Alice came upon the woman beating her kids with a frying pan. Couldn't see that it was leading anywhere. "Catcher in the Rye" is right behind it. I finished that book only because a freind wanted me too. There was not one single thought or feeling that that kid had that I could identify with.
Do I really really hate any movies? Well, I'm always mad when someone convinces me to see a Mel Brooks movie. I see his jokes coming from way down the tracks. I think I laughed once in one of his movies.
Top five movies is hard--I have more than that. No particular order: Gallipoli, Ordinary People, It's a Wonderful Life, The Right Stuff and Anne of Green Gables I&II (pretend it's one long movie)
Jay Leno annoys me to no end.
Still in production? (I guess that leaves out NYPD Blue and Alias. Um ... The Closer (Brenda Lee Johnson is the coolest cop ever), 4400, Lost.
Bernadette Peters CDs. Men, close your eyes and imagine that she's singing "If you were the only boy in the world" just to you. It almost makes me forget that I'm married.
Can I give it a try?
Best Book: Chance Encounter - Jennie Hansen
Best national Book: My Sister's Keeper - Jodi Picoult
suprisingly good movie: Cars
Suprisingly bad movie: Davinci Code
Book I really hate: Seventh Sign, couldn't get past the first chapter
Movie I really hate: Anything Adam sandler and Mothman Prophecies
5 top movies:
City of Angels
Ever After
Backdraft
Starwars (yes, all of them)
Lord of the Rings (yes all of them)
Public figure that annoys me:
Paris Hilton
3 TV shows:
Medium
Lost or CSI
Dead Zone
What actor or author:
Harrison Ford, Sean Connery & Jennie Hansen
Post a Comment
<< Home