FRIDAY SCREEN TEST: Andrew James

Andrew James is the founder and editor of Movie Patron, where you can find lots of new reviews, and also Andrew's Top 110 -- which begins with Johnny Dangerously and ends with Pulp Fiction. Andrew has an energetic, conversational style of writing, and is even brave enough to get in front of the camera for video reviews -- like he does with Be Kind Rewind. Andrew also lends his talents to Row Three, where he contributes reviews and helps host a frequent podcast. Row Three has an active community of commenters and contributors, which makes for a lively atmosphere. In his bio, Andrew admits to sacrificing his social life for "spending all his free time reading, writing and researching about film," not to mention an appreciation for Grey Goose gimlets. Make that two gimlets, bartend, only pour mine with gin -- Beefeater!

EARLIEST MOVIE-WATCHING MEMORY: 'My mom loves this story. As a fairly ADD kid, my parents were leary about taking me to the theater for the first time. But something possessed them to take me to Star Wars when it was re-released in 1979. Fidgeting in my seat, probably constantly asking what we were doing there and how long I'd have to wait for something to happen. That was until a star destroyer went over my head with lasers blasting for what seemed like forever. My parents missed the entire movie as they sat smiling and laughing at me with my mouth literally wide open and drooling and not moving a muscle for the entire two hours. I still have vague recollections of that screening.'

LAST DVD YOU BOUGHT: 'Just picked up Todd Field's In the Bedroom. After the magnificense that was Little Children, I had to step back and re-watch his previous effort. Plus, Marissa Tomei is pretty easy on the eyes.

IF YOU WERE A TCM GUEST PROGRAMMER, WHAT THREE MOVIES WOULD YOU CHOOSE TO BEST REPRESENT YOUR TASTES, OR A FAVORITE GENRE OR THEME: '1) A Clockwork Orange - for its oddity but also amazing dialogue, art direction and unique directing style. 2) Cinema Paradiso - some of the best film ever made is not in English. 3) Die Hard - film snobs like some good action once in a while too; and Die Hard is as top-notch as action gets.

FAVORITE GROSS-OUT MOMENT: 'That's a tough one. Of recent memory, I'd say that the head-on car collision in Grindhouse: Death Proof is pretty bad-ass. Or, call it bad taste if you want, but I love it when the guys gets sliced into hundred of tiny cubes by the laser barrier in Resident Evil.

WHAT MOVIE ARE YOU ASHAMED TO SAY YOU HAVEN'T SEEN, AND WHAT'S YOUR EXCUSE: Space Balls - It's the movie EVERYONE has seen but me. No excuse really. It's on cable every day and being a huge Star Wars fan and a kid growing up in the 80s/90s, you'd think how could I miss this? But I have never seen it. Never seen It's a Wonderful Life either.

PICK ONE OF THE FOLLOWING FOUR MOVIES AND WRITE TWO SENTENCES ABOUT IT:
McClintock!
Sleeping Beauty -- 'The film has some wonderful animation for its time and a terrific villain. I've never seen the whole thing from start to finish.'
Playtime
Death Wish.

FAVORITE KIND OF MOVIE TO REVIEW: 'A really great movie. The perfect movie. That very rare 5 star film. They're so much fun to review because (a) they're easy to review and (b) it feels good coming up with all of of those positive adjectives and (c) I love to convince people to check out something that I know they'll love. '

LAST TIME YOU WERE AT A DRIVE-IN, AND WHAT DID YOU SEE: 'I think I saw a double bill of Resident Evil 2 and i,Robot. They both pretty much sucked and I don't think the girl I was with at the time and I watched much of either movie. Yeah.'

FILM ERA OR GENRE YOU'RE A LITTLE OBSESSED WITH: 'Vampires. Even the shitty Vampire films I really enjoy. John Carpenter's Vampires? Yup. Nosferatu - remake and original? Yup. But I'd say my favorite is Interview with the Vampire. Nearly a perfect film for what it's trying to accomplish in terms of style, costuming, acting and tone. I will say that I also LOVE good sci-fi. And I mean GOOD sci-fi. When it's done well (e.g. Contact, Alien, Invasion of the Body Snatchers or Back to the Future) it can't be beat. '

LAST TIME YOU VEHEMENTLY DISAGREED WITH SOMEONE OVER FILM: 'My idiot friend thinks Hard Candy is one of the worst films of all time. Clearly he's not fit to be part of the human populace.'

FAVORITE BOOK ON THE SUBJECT OF FILM: 'I actually haven't read all that many. Surprisingly enough, The Idiot's Guide to Movies, Flicks and Film is a pretty informative and interesting read. I also liked I Hated, Hated, HATED This Movie by Roger Ebert.

DESCRIBE THE FREQUENCY OF YOUR FILM INTAKE: 'Too much to ever have a girl fall in love with me. One full movie per day (more on the weekends). Ususally two theatrical screenings per week.

THREE THINGS YOU'VE LEARNED FROM WATCHING MOVIES:
1) If someone says "let's split up;" don't.
2) Sadly, the book is probably better.
3) Quite honestly, all the problems in your world can instantly disappear if you're seated in a theater in front of a great movie.

Email DVD Panache if you are interested in being featured on Friday Screen Test.