WHERE DO YOU WRITE FROM?
Philadelphia until September 2008. San Francisco thereafter.
WHAT MADE YOU WANT TO WRITE ABOUT MOVIES?
A chronic inability to keep my opinions to myself. I started a movie review website on Geocities in 1998, at age 14, and the rest was history.
WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE GENRE?
I love movies that take me to a world I've never been to before. A lot of times that means sci-fi and fantasy, but not always.
WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR FAVORITE MOVIES?
Oh jeez. This is an impossible question for someone who sees as many movies as I do, but who hasn't kept a running list of all-time favorites. Here's my best shot: of the classics: The General, Dr. Strangelove, The Wages of Fear, The Graduate, Rosemary's Baby, Young Frankenstein, The Godfather Part II, Carrie, Gallipoli, Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Princess Bride, The Last Temptation of Christ, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Goodfellas, The Rapture, Aliens, Barton Fink, Schindler's List.
More recently: There Will Be Blood, The Mist, Brick, Children of Men, United 93, King Kong, A History of Violence, The Village, The Lord of the Rings, Sweet Sixteen, Rabbit-Proof Fence, 8 Women, Mulholland Dr., A.I. Artificial Intelligence, The Man Who Wasn't There, The Truman Show, Unbreakable, Requiem for a Dream, Dancer in the Dark, The Truman Show.
I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the TV series Twin Peaks and The Wire, which I think are among our greatest artistic triumphs. Like, as a species.
WHO ARE SOME OF YOUR FAVORITE DIRECTORS?
Steven Spielberg, David Lynch, Peter Jackson, Peter Weir, Paul Thomas Anderson, Alfonso Cuarón, David Cronenberg, M. Night Shyamalan, James Cameron, Roman Polanski, Martin Scorsese, the Coen Brothers, Stanley Kubrick, Brian De Palma, David Mamet.
WHAT'S THE CRAZIEST COMMENT YOU'VE EVER GOTTEN?
Um. A waitress at Nifty Fifty's once told me I look like Alessandro Nivola...
WHAT ARE THE BEST PERKS OF THIS GIG?
Getting to see movies before the hype takes over. There's nothing like getting bowled over by an out-of-nowhere masterpiece at a festival.
WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE THING ABOUT WRITING FOR CINEMATICAL?
Thoughtful comments, groupies, and thoughtful comments from groupies.
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