We have a winner! Brian K. correctly identified the actor and actress in this contest, and he will receive a $15 iTunes gift card.

Tom Cruise

1. Austin Powers in Goldmember (cameo, but it counts)
2. Far and Away (just for “you’re a corker, Shannon!” in a horrible Irish brogue)
3. A Few Good Men
   
4. Jerry Maguire
5. The Last Samurai
6. Magnolia
7. Minority Report
8. Mission: Impossible
9. Mission: Impossible II
10. Mission: Impossible III
11. The Outsiders
12. Rain Man
13. Top Gun

(on the wish list: The Firm)

Julia Roberts

1. Closer
2. Confessions of a Dangerous Mind
3. Erin Brockovich
4. Mystic Pizza
5. Notting Hill
6. Ocean’s Eleven
7. The Pelican Brief
8. The Player (uncredited cameo)
   
9. Pretty Woman
10. Steel Magnolias

(on the wish list: Conspiracy Theory)

Here are the runners-up…

• Gene Hackman: 11
• Kevin Costner: 10
  
• Matt Damon: 9
• Hugo Weaving: 8 (six are from Lord of the Rings & Matrix trilogies)
  
• Tim Robbins: 8
• Michael Douglas: 7
• Hugh Grant: 7
• Laura Linney: 7
  
• Emma Thompson: 7

So who is represented the most in YOUR collection?

And by the way, are you more likely to leave a comment on a post if there is a potential prize involved? I’m still contemplating the perfect gift to reward the person who leaves the most comments (on either blog) this year…

At last count, I own just over 260 DVDs (not including multiple discs in box sets of TV series, trilogies and collections). You’d think that I’d have a fabulous media shelf in place to admire my babies collection, but no. You know those under-bed plastic storage bins from Target? Imagine several of those, filled to the brim with DVDs. Hidden. Sad.

Let’s
make this a little more interesting. The first person to correctly note
both the actor and actress who appear the most in the movies from the list below will win an iTunes gift card.

MOVIES

• 9 to 5
• Absolute Power       
• Ace Ventura, Pet Detective   
• Ace Ventura, When Nature Calls
• Adaptation
• The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert
• All the President’s Men               
• Almost Famous                
• Amadeus   
• Amelie         
• American Beauty                             
• The American President   
• Anchorman            
• Annie Hall   
• Antonia’s Line   
• As Good As It Gets              
• Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery
• Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me
• Austin Powers in Goldmember           
• Basic Instinct
• Batman Begins
• Best in Show
• The Big Chill                 
• Blazing Saddles           
• Bonnie & Clyde
• Boogie Nights
• Bounce*            
  
• Bound               
• Bowfinger             
• Boys on the Side
• Bridget Jones’ Diary    
• Bridget Jones, Edge of Reason
• Brokeback Mountain
• Bruce Almighty
• Bull Durham
• Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid           
• Casablanca   
• Casino Royale           
• Charlie’s Angels   
• Chasing Amy
• Chicago        
• A Christmas Story
• Closer   
• Confessions of a Dangerous Mind
• Contact   
• The Contender
• Cop Land           
• Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
• The Cutting Edge*  
  
• Dances with Wolves   
• Dead Again   
• Dead Calm
• Dead Poet’s Society
• The Departed
• Devil’s Advocate     
• Diner         
  
• Dirty Dancing
• Donnie Brasco               
• EdTV   
• Election
• Elizabeth
• Enemy of the State           
• Erin Brockovitch   
• Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
• Far and Away
• Far From Heaven           
• Fargo   
• A Few Good Men
• Field of Dreams
• Finding Nemo        
• A Fish Called Wanda 
• Forrest Gump   
• Four Weddings & a Funeral       
• Freeway   
  
• Galaxy Quest           
• The Game   
• Garden State        
• Gattaca
• The Gift
  
• Girl, Interrupted       
• Gladiator               
• Go            
• The Godfather (trilogy)
• Gods and Monsters
• Gone With the Wind
• GoodFellas   
• Good Night, and Good Luck
• Good Will Hunting
• Gosford Park   
• Hannibal
• Heathers
• Heavenly Creatures
• High Fidelity   
• The Holiday
• The Hours                
• The Hunchback of Notre Dame
• The Ice Storm       
• In the Line of Fire
• In the Name of the Father       
• Indiana Jones (trilogy)               
  
• Inside Man
• The Island        
• It’s a Wonderful Life               
• Jaws
• Jerry Maguire   
• The Jewel of the Nile           
• JFK
• Juno
  
• Keeping the Faith
• Kissing Jessica Stein 
• Knocked Up
• L.A. Confidential               
• L.A. Story
• La Bamba
• The Last Samurai
• Legally Blonde
• Life as a House
• The Life of David Gale
• Little Children
• Little Miss Sunshine 
• The Lord of the Rings (trilogy)
  
• Lords of Dogtown
• Love Actually
• Magnolia               
• Mask               
• The Matrix (trilogy)
  
• Memento
• A Mighty Wind
• Minority Report
• Mission: Impossible (trilogy)
  
• Monsters, Inc.        
• Moonstruck
• Moulin Rouge
• Much Ado About Nothing               
• Mystic Pizza 
• Mystic River
• The Natural
• The Notebook
• Notting Hill             
• No Way Out
• Ocean’s 11   
• Office Space
• Once
  
• The Opposite of Sex
• Out of Sight           
• The Outsiders
• Parenthood                
• The Pelican Brief
• Pink Panther Film Collection (the 5 original movies)
  
• Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl               
• The Player               
• Playing by Heart 
• Postcards From the Edge             
  
• Presumed Innocent
• Pretty Woman
• Pride & Prejudice   
• Pride & Prejudice (BBC version)
• Primal Fear           
• The Princess Bride
• Prizzi’s Honor
• Psycho               
• Pulp Fiction              
  
• Rain Man
• Rear Window               
• Rebecca   
• The Remains of the Day 
• A River Runs Through It
• Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
• Romancing the Stone
• Romeo + Juliet
  
• The Rookie
• The Royal Tennenbaums
• Rudy
• Saved
• Say Anything
• Sense & Sensibility           
• Shawshank Redemption   
• Shrek    
• Shrek 2
• Sideways   
• The Silence of the Lambs   
• Silverado
• Sin City                           
• Six Degrees of Separation
• Sixteen Candles                 
• The Sixth Sense               
• Sleepless in Seattle
• Sliding Doors
• Spaceballs   
• Spanglish           
• Spellbound
• Spellbound (03)                
  
• Star Wars (all 6 films)
• Stealing Home       
• Steel Magnolias
• Stranger Than Fiction               
  
• Strangers on a Train   
• Stuck on You   
• Suicide Kings   
• Superman Ultimate Collectors Edition (all 5 films)
  
• Sweet Home Alabama   
• Swordfish
• The Talented Mr. Ripley           
• Thank You For Smoking        
• Thelma & Louise               
• The 39 Steps
• The Thomas Crown Affair
• There Will Be Blood
  
• Thirteen Days     
  
• To Catch a Thief           
• To Die For
• To Kill a Mockingbird
• Tootsie   
• Top Gun
• Total Recall
• Traffic               
• The Truman Show
• The 25th Hour
• Underworld
• The Untouchables
• The Usual Suspects
• V for Vendetta        
• Vertigo
• A View to a Kill
• The Village   
• Waitress
  
• A Walk On The Moon
• When Harry Met Sally
• Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory           
• Wonder Boys  
  
• The Woody Allen Collection (8 films)
  
• Wyatt Earp       
• The X-Files: Fight the Future
• X-Men
• X-Men: The Last Stand
  
• You Can Count On Me
• Young Frankenstein   

TV

• 30 Rock, Season 1
• Arrested Development, Seasons 1 – 3
  
• Best of Will Ferrell – SNL
• Damages, Season 1
• Extras, Season 2
• Friday Night Lights, Season 1
• If These Walls Could Talk 1 & 2
  
• The L Word, Seasons 1-2
• Lost, Seasons 1-3
• The Office, Seasons 1-3
• Queer as Folk, Season 1
• Sex & the City, Season 1-2
• Six Feet Under, Seasons 1-2
• The Sopranos, Seasons 1-3
• Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, Season 1
• Survivor, Season 2
• Wonderfalls, Season 1

Hey, everyone has a hobby. This is mine.

Thanks for playing! Good night, and good luck.

Later this week, I hope to publish an interview with award-winning writer/producer/director David Leaf, which I conducted on behalf of Adopt A Writer. Even though the Writers Strike has ended, this fantastic project will continue to support the writers by highlighting their careers and many accomplishments.

Stay tuned!

My friend, The Ex (her nickname; not someone I used to make mix tapes for), has a great blog which I have bookmarked and read every day. She is damn funny, and I appreciate both her writing style and her anal-retentive attention to spelling and grammar. Have I mentioned that we don’t actually know each other? We are virtual blog buddies. It’s fun.

I’ve been thinking about her site because I want to make improvements to this one. I am openly jealous about the amount of comments she receives for almost every single post. Granted, she writes and shares more frequently than I do. But obviously her following is dedicated. And chatty. Mine consists of frequent lingerers with responses from only a select few (which make my day every time). Don’t get me wrong, I am also grateful for those who do return often, the fairly decent number of daily hits, and my beloved 14 subscribers!

So, taking a page from her, I have some questions for my readers and for fellow bloggers:

• Am I covering pop culture topics that you’re interested in? If not, suggestions?
  
• Did you know that you don’t have to give your real or full name when you leave comments? Are you more likely to do so knowing that it can be done anonymously?
• How do you build upon readership and encourage comments?
• Do you prefer reading shorter, more frequent blog entries or lengthier, more detailed posts every other day or so?
  
• What are your favorite blogs, and why? Please feel free to plug your bookmarks here!
  

Frankly, I am just as curious to find out why you disagree with something I’ve written as I am to find out we are on the same page. Seriously.

- Jo

I have seen a fair number of movies in my lifetime, primarily from the late 1970′s to the present.

But I need your help…

I am having minor surgery in December and will have at least a week at home during recovery. Of course I will spend most of that time sleeping and watching DVDs. I am seeking recommendations from YOUR favorite films of all time, from any genre or year. You can check to see if I’ve already seen your choice(s) here.

If I watch a movie that you suggest and I absolutely love it, I will buy you that film or another DVD of your choice.

Here are the caveats:

1. Your recommendation(s) must be currently available on DVD
2. You must list your suggestions as a comment
3. All submissions must be posted by 12/1/07
   
4. Only one person will win
5. The winner may choose a DVD with a retail value of $30 or less

So bring it on, people. Whether it be an obscure indie or testosterone-laden blockbuster, I’m game if I haven’t seen it yet.

Sound good?

Thank you in advance for playing.

Last week I posted a montage of scenes from some of my favorite films. But now I’m offering up a more challenging test for your movie moxie…