You know we love our lists here at the Screengrab (tune in later this week for the 10 Greatest Colostomy Bags in Movie History), but even we bow before Richard T. Kelly, creator of Ten Bad Dates with De Niro. First Kelly edited the book of that name, subtitled A Book of Alternative Movie Lists. It’s chock full of great ideas for us to steal, from “The Mighty Apoplexies Of Pacino – Ten Scenes Where ‘Shouty Al’ Shows Up” to “Capital Offences – Ten Places You Wouldn't Expect To Find A Severed Head.” It’s also got some guest stars we haven’t been able to nab so far. Mike Figgis (Leaving Las Vegas) weighs in with “A Surprising Intimacy – Ten Films That Have Interesting Sensuality,” while the Coen Brothers offer up “Ripe For Remake - Five Films We’d Like To See Remade.” (Among their choices is Koyaanisqatsi: “We have not seen the original but suspect it could be interestingly remade with Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher.”)
The book was only the beginning, however – Ten Bad Dates with De Niro is also a blog, complete with daily lists! Well, that’s the claim anyway; in reality, the last list was posted on February 15th (10 Favorite Roy Scheider Roles). Still, there are some items of interest to be found. For instance, “Lights! Camera! Vomit! 10 Great Up-Chucks.” We can go along with Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life edging out The Exorcist, but I’m not sure we would have thought of Husbands: “John Cassavetes somehow ennobles on screen vomiting, thus making a mockery of the genre. Still he also manages to make it kind of funny.” Truly, this is the essence of cinema.