Hometown:

Houston, TX

About Me:

I relish the movie going experience above anything else. I, like most typical men, have to admit that I frequently revel in mindless action films far too often, but I have high standards and insist on well choreographed action sequences that are shot with eye-catching cinematography. So even though I, like many guys, am typical in my pursuit of catharsis when watching shootouts or kung fu cinema, I come to the enterprise with a critical eye that is more fastidious than your typical male.

Far from being one dimensional, I also enjoy films of more intellectual substance as well - especially those that comment very strongly on political and religious subjects. In my mind the movie theatre is my church, and it serves a function that traditional religion no longer can provide. It illuminates the human spirit. It illustrates the shortcomings of the human condition. It brings, through the lens of fantasy, a hyperbolic and yet palpably real illustration of the best and worst of what humanity has to offer. I feel, in those brief dark moments in the theatre, before the film shines on screen, a sense that I can truly escape from the monotony of this world into a celluloid nirvana. It is probably the closest, that a rationalist like me, will ever get to a spiritual experience. The screen is my altar, the actors are my priests, and the director is my Pope.

All Time Favorite Movies:

1. ShawShank Redemption

2.Batman Begins (I think The Dark Night, while good, was overrated in comparison to its predecessor)

3. Schindler's List

4. The Matrix (just the first one. Who in a philosophy class would ever have thought that a movie on solipsism would be enjoyable?)

5. Legend's of The Fall (the only film, with large romantic overtones, that can move an unromantic guy)

6. Carlito's Way

7. Iron Man (proves that comic book humor doesn’t have to be juvenile)

8. The Watchmen (elevates the graphic novel to a place of true philosophical sophistication and social relevance).

9. 300 (Makes you feel like a man again, when going to the movies, in an age when masculinity is either being profusely apologized for and is in an endangered state of being.)

10. Dark City (a novel and stylish reflection on our perception of reality, before such ideas came to the masses in the form of "The Matrix")

All Time Worst Movies:

1. BloodRayne (This is the type of film that I would show to film students to demonstrate to them WHAT NOT TO DO when making a film. "Abysmal excrement" is a phrase that I would use to describe every aspect of this crap.

2. 10, 000 B.C. (I think actual cavemen could make a better film than this one).

3. Jumper (Watching Hayden Christensen jump of a cliff to his death would be more entertaining)

4. Fargo (I don't care if it is critically acclaimed. The critics are wrong!)

5. Hotel (this exercise in experimental film making, is merely an exercise in aimless film making.)

6. Underworld: Rise of the Lycans (proves that many times the third time is not a charm)

7. Gamer (giving a crack addict a camera, while he is on electroshock therapy, isn't a good idea)

8. House of a Thousand Corpses (I don't care if you excuse the shoddy story, revolting acting, and bad filming to the fact that Rob Zombie was making a homage to the 70s horror genre. That still doesn't excuse this movie for being the garbage that it is).

9. Dhoom 2 (A Bollywood film that embodies all that is so wrong with Bollywood).

10. Alexander (how can a talented director like Oliver Stone go so wrong with one of the most epic historical characters of all time? Here's how: a.) Cast Collin Farrell as a flaming fruitcake. b.) Cast Angelina Jolie as his GREEK mother who speaks with a RUSSIAN accent, and magically looks the same age as her son. c.) Have the entire film consist of a wooden dialogue and haphazard story telling so as to setup the next battle sequence)

Favorite Actors or Actresses:

1. Al Pacino (He needs no justification for being on my top ten).

2. Christian Bale (any guy that loses that much weight for both "The Machinist" and "Rescue Dawn" only to rebuild his body for both Batman films truly lives for his craft and should be respected for it.)

3. Russell Crowe

4. Brad Pitt (he has surprised me over the years by truly transcending his pretty boy persona. That is not an easy thing to do.)

5. Liam Neeson (his performance in Schindler's List is indelibly etched in my mind)

6. Anne Hathaway (hot and talented)

7. Nicole Kidman (gorgeous and demonstrates she has range, as seen in her movie "The Others")

8. Jordana Brewster (just for reasons of being great eye candy)

9. Bridget Regan (If I believed in angels I think they would look like her)

10. Deanna Russo (My idea of physical perfection and a pleasure to see on screen. Its a shame you don't see more of her on the big screen)

11. Salma Hayek (Salma Hayek...need I say more guys?)

Favorite Directors:

1. Martin Scorsese (Any one who makes the ultimate Mafia film of all time - "Good Fellas" - and anyone who is willing to make a controversial film about the most revered person of all time - "The Last Temptation of Christ" - deserves my unending admiration.)

2. Quentin Tarantino (Thanks for the innovative nonlinear way of telling stories. Sorry, that everyone else is using it ad nauseam.)

3. Stephen Spielberg (What would the fantasy and sci-fi genres be without him)


4. Peter Jackson (The one man who made a trilogy more memorable than Star Wars. Admit it space Geeks!)

5. Christopher Nolan (The way you resurrected the beloved character of Batman from the death grip of Joel Schumacher makes you the Messiah of comic book filming).

6. Robert Rodriguez (For filming Desperado the way he did, and introducing the world to Salma Hayek).

7. Michael Bay (Yes film snobs, Michael Bay. Sometimes you like to go into a film, not to think about weighty subjects, but just to have a mind blowing sensory experience, and Bay is a master at delivering this experience.)

8 The Wachowski Brothers (The sci-fi generation is as indebted to you, as a previous generation was indebted to Gene Roddenberry).

9. Robert Zemeckis (His work on Castaway and Forrest Gump are a constant source of inspiration)

10.Frank Darabont (He directed the greatest drama that I have seen in my life -Shawshank Redemption. What more needs to be said).