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Frequently Asked Questions
 

Last updated: December 2002

 
Q. Who are you?
A. I am a student of Irish and Indian descent, bred in Britain, dividing my living time between the cities of Liverpool and Sheffield. As of October 2002, I have been doing a BA course in Film Studies at Sheffield Hallam University, which currently has the highest entry requirements of any pure Film course in the country. I have been the most prominent online film critic in the UK since 1998, I reviewed every movie with a nationwide release date in the year 2000, and continue to review every one of any significance. Where do I get the time and money to go the flicks so often? Well, it ain't easy. For more information, check out my Online Film Critics Society profile.
 

Q. Is that your photograph on the front page?
A. Of course. Surely it would be pointless to put someone else's picture up there. Why do I get asked this so often?
 

Q. Why do you critics have to overanalyse everything? Can't you just sit and enjoy a movie?
A. I like to sit in the dark and watch movies. I'd rather see good than bad. I run this site because I'm looking for good stuff and trying to share my enthusiasm with interested Web surfers. But it's hard to make a good movie, so the sad fact is that many are not. The reason critics tend to hold more negative opinions than other moviegoers is that they see more or less everything, whereas most people just see films occasionally. I look at the screen, I have emotional reactions, and in my reviews I try to back them up with elucidation and reasons. For the record, I'm not getting paid for this, so anyone who tells me I'm a freeloader who doesn't have the right to a ticketbuyer's opinion can -- quite frankly -- piss off.
 

Q. Do you take notes?
A. I take more notes than when I started out, but I don't go overboard. I'm in the cinema to watch the movies, not to scrutinise them from some inhuman or detached point of view. I carry a notepad with me, so I can scribble my thoughts in shorthand after attending screenings and before typing up reviews, and if need be, make note of any lines of dialogue that I think I might need to quote verbatim. The only time I'm likely to take a lot of notes during a movie is when I'm very bored -- and even then I sometimes just sit twiddling my thumbs.
 

Q. Oh my God! How could you say (such and such) about (movie x)?
A. It's my opinion. Feel free to write and challenge me about opinions -- I like arguing points of view through conversation and e-mail correspondence. But also remember this about every one of my reviews: to paraphrase Scott Renshaw, they're just snapshots of reactions I once had. I may change my mind some time down the line. It's rare, but it happens. I gave both "Wag the Dog" and "The Butcher Boy" full marks back in 1998, which means I expected them to become all-time favourites. I couldn't tell you what I'd make of them now, because I've had no craving to watch either of them since. I've also hated movies upon first viewing that I've later fallen in love with -- "Apocalypse Now" springs instantly to mind.
 

Q. What's your favourite movie?
A. For a long time I couldn't think of an answer to this. Perhaps that was a good policy. But for the last few years I've considered my favourite film to be Sidney Lumet's 1957 debut feature "12 Angry Men", a claustrophobic drama starring Henry Fonda as a murder trial juror who urges his peers not to rush to judgement.

Making a top ten list of all time is the big nightmare, because right after I've finished I always think of another ten titles that are equally valid. So here it ain't.
 

Q. Where else on the 'net can I find your writing?
A. I have reviews on ReelTalk, Alltank, Entertainmentnutz.com, AllReviews.com and the rec.arts.movies-reviews newsgroup. There are links to my reviews at The Movie Review Query Engine, Rotten Tomatoes, The Internet Movie Database and The Online Film Critics Society. I also review DVDs for Apollo Guide and have written articles for Democratic Underground.

My Rotten Tomatoes profile provides a pretty comprehensive list of reviews still available on the web.
 

Q. What other working critics do you read?
A. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times is a wonderful writer, a nice guy, and a critic I consider to have had great influence on my style. Rich Cline has a paying job through BBC Radio as well as an e-zine called Shadows on the Wall, and his are some of the best succinct reviews you could ever hope to read. The newspaper critics I read on a regular basis include those of the Guardian, Observer and Sunday Times. I'll refrain from making a list of internet critics, because there is so much talent on the Web that I don't want to run the risk of making a long list and leaving somebody out. Check out The Online Film Critics Society and Cinemarati, which contain links to most of the best.
 

Q. Where can I find (film y) on video/DVD/laserdisc?
A. Go to a video retail outlet on your local high street, ask if it is still available, and if it can be ordered. If you don't mind ordering items online, have a search on Amazon. A great place to find all sorts of rare items at bargain prices is  eBay, the famous internet auction house, whose members are on the whole quite reliable.
 

Q. When does (film/video z) come out?
A. If you don't know, I probably won't know either, so don't ask.
 
 

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