I have a weakness for questionnares.

Got this from Cinecism - give her a big hand, please! And read her blog, she's quite funny.

How old were you when you first went to the cinema andwhat did you watch?:
I can remember a couple, but I have a feeling the first one I went to see was Aladdin. Just looking it up on the IMDB, I find that it was released in 1992, which would have made me two years old. I don't know, that seems a bit young, no? Although feasibly I might have been three. I also definititely saw the Lion King when I was four with my dad. Afterwards he asked me, "Wasn't that very sad when the lion died?", which apparently prompted the reply (now family legend), "Yeah. But what I found really sad was that one person can destroy a whole nation and let it go to waste". Precocious, moi?

Three films about films and/or cinema:
I'm utterly lost by this question. Just name three films? Your favourite ones about film? Huh? I'll just go the easy option and name three great ones. Singin' in the Rain – the pains of the transition from silent movies to “talkies”, All About Eve – okay, it’s theatre, not cinema, but it’s all about acting and the roles people play, and Adaption – the trials and tribulations of screenwriting.

Favourite Actresses:
Old style - Bette Davis and Kate Hepburn. Nowadays...I like Cate Blanchett, Jodie Foster, Penelope Cruz and some others.

A film that changed your life and why:
The Lion King. Because it was the first film I really had an emotional attachment to. I saw it twice in the cinema and had these plastic figures of all the characters that I used to play with. It’s one of my earliest memories, crouching down behind the threadbare couch in the Credit Union, waiting for my granny, playing with Simba and Mufasa. Sadly, I lost the figures when I left my bag on the bus once. A few years later, my parents surprised me with a VHS of the film and I nearly cried with happiness.

Great directors but which film of their's is your favourite? Kubrick, Hitchcock, Powell & Pressburger, Kurosawa, Lang.
This one confuses me also. Favourite film from each? Favourite film in total? Be more clear here, people. I'll just say Hitchcock, because I've seen more Hitch films than anything. Favourite? I'll say...Rear Window.

Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, Buster Keaton, Laurel And Hardy, who's the best?
Hector Mann. If anyone gets that reference, you can have my adbiding respect.

You're remaking a classic, which one and who's your new stars?
While some questions are confusing and some are boring, this one is blasphemy!

Miscast actors happens quite a bit, what's the worst you've seen?
Juliette Lewis in What's Eating Gilbert Grape?. I loved Johnny Depp and Leo diCaprio in it, I found the slightly-hokey storyline and quaint Americana feel enjoyably escapist, but anytime Ms. Lewis appeared on the screen it was all I could do not to turn off the dvd. Her whiney voice, squint, her habit of stretching out sentences until they lost all meaning - I just cannot stand the woman, and rooted for her death the whole way through.

Most overrated good movie?
The Shawshank Redemption. It’s a well-made piece of storytelling with some good acting, but that’s it really. Greatest film of all time? Hah.

Most overrated bad movie?
Nothing's coming to mind at the moment.

Worst movie ever?
I'm tempted to say Showgirls, but to be honest, it really is quite funny. And I have a soft spot for Kyle McLachlan, big ol' plank of wood that he is. So, I'm going to say either Dumb & Dumberer or Daddy Day Care. Both of which I saw in the cinema. Both of which against my will. Both of which were picked out by the same friend.

Favourite British films:
When I think of the words “British Films” I usually get a shiver of disgust roll down my spine. Images of Hugh Grant grinning foppishly, or Rowan Atkinson gurning away begin to circle nastily around my head. Shaking off these images takes some work, but then Danny Boyle comes to mind with Trainspotting and 28 Days Later.

Best road movies?
Thelma & Louise.

Favourite Actors:
Why are actors and actresses seperate? And isn't "actress" wrong, anyhow? Awh, feck it. I like Jimmy Stewart, Cary Grant, Ian McKellen.

Who Would Play You In A Biopic Of Your Life?
The little girl who played Madeline in the live-action film.

Most Irritating Cinema Advert Ever:
30..29..28..27..THE MOVIE IS ABOUT TO START. BUT THERE'S STILL TIME TO GRAB A COKE. The countdown makes me feel nervous, the annoying wimpy colours, the fact that there actually isn't time to GRAB A COKE and the in-your-face advertising all turn me off. I usually try to shut my eyes during it.


Which Film Magazines/Forums Do You Read?
Empire, every month. It's a nice blend of stupid and intelligent. I've tried others, Total Film, Hot Dog and the rest, but Empire's still my best.

You Have To Swap Your Life With A Movie Plot, Which One Do You Choose?
Singin' in the Rain, because if people spontaneously broke out into tap routines in their day to day lives, I'd be a whole lot happier. And 1920s film sets are one of my favourite film settings.

A film that scared you at the cinema/home?
Is "everything" an okay answer? No? Okay, at a sleepover in 2001 I saw Scream, I Know What You Did Last Summer, An Interview With The Vampire and some others. That night haunted me for months, there was literally no free moment that I didn't start to reply some of those images back in my head. On the more positive side of the scale, my family watched Wait Until Dark with Audrey Hepburn one Christmas and there was one scene where everyone simultaneously jumped in fright, but it was a fun fright.

Your favourite silent movie?
I watched The Wizard Of Oz with some friends back in September. It was that special edition dvd, the one that sings. Afterwards, we put on the special features and watched two silent versions of the film. I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so hard in my life.

A crap film that you know is crap but you love?
I know that Mean Girls isn’t Shakespeare, but in my mind it’s the best teen comedy since the days of John Hughes. I wouldn't say it was crap, per se, but people seem surprised when I mention how much I love it.

Favourite Directors: Hitchcock, Billy Wilder, Pedro Almodóvar.

Recommend three films that will change the way you view film:
All About My Mother, for those who hate Foreign Film. Sunset Boulevard, for almost breaking the fourth wall. Toy Story, for those who complain technology will overshadow good storytelling.

On Screen Love Stories:
Moulin Rouge! is the simplest of simple stories, but it’s beautifully executed, Casablanca for love and sacrifice and High Fidelity for honesty and good tunes.

Met Any Movie Stars?
Nope. Although Colin Farrell was in my local Superquinn last week (I was in Prague at the time) but he’s just manky anyway.

What's your favourite period of cinema? e.g. 20s German expressionism, French New Wave etc:
I haven’t gotten deep enough into period genres to give a comprehensive answer, but I’m fond of the Classic Era (1920s-1940s)

Favourite Soundtracks: All About My Mother, The Hours, Lost in Translation and Moulin Rouge.

What Films Need A Sequel:
None, because if they're really good then it'll just wreck their legacy and if they're really bad, why would you want more?

The film you’ve seen the most times: I’d say The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. I’ve seen all three LOTR a number of times, but for ages the first one was the only one I had on dvd and I used to just watch it on days with nothing else to do. Hasn’t diminished the power it has on me, though. I've also seen Mean Girls about 11 times. Somehow I've ended up seeing Ms. Congeniality about 6 times, but that's because for a while, every party/sleepover I was at had it playing.

The films you can quote ad infinitum
All About Eve, the first Toy Story, Mean Girls and the LOTR trilogy. Out of them all, I'd say Mean Girls is the one I can quote the best. I can even reel off some lines from the commentary, which is kinda sad.

Who’s your favourite cult film hero?
Ducky from Pretty in Pink. If a guy ever came into the record shop in which I worked and did a total wig-out dance to Try A Little Tenderness, I'd fall in love with him on the instant.

Pick one genre and give us five of your favourites from it e.g. Comedy, film noir, romance, musical etc:
Musical: Singin’ in the Rain, Moulin Rouge!, Guys & Dolls, The Lion King and The Wizard of Oz.

Two scenes that flood your tear ducts:
Hahahahahahaha. Two? Hahahahaha. *wipes eyes*….okay. In recent times, the end of Bobby (well, the whole way though actually, but the tears got more intense in the last 20 minutes or so) which wasn’t a great film, but really pulled out the emotional stops. And the scene in Toy Story where Buzz realises that he’s not an astronaut.

You're an interviewer, who do you interview and about which film?
I’d talk to (a resurrected) Donald O’Connor about filming Singin’ in the Rain. About whether Gene Kelly is really a bastard, how on earth he did those backflips, what Debbie Reynolds was like. And I’d shake his hand and say, “Sir, you did the best dance routine ever.”

Three great acting performances:
Because this question is almost exclusively male, I'll pick three girls for a change.Katherine Hepburn in Bringing up Baby (just hilarious, pairing her with Cary Grant is a match made in comedy heaven). Penelope Cruz in Volver (she was robbed! she was robbed! she was robbed!) Cecilia Roth in All About My Mother (for some of the best onscreen crying I've ever seen, among other reasons).

Who is your sex god/goddess? Young Robert deNiro, circa Taxi Driver.

Now you go!