Tampa Film Fan

five questions with actor/choreographer jesse “casper” brown

I recently had a chance to play Five Questions with actor/choreographer Jesse “Casper” Brown.

1.  What’s the last movie you’ve seen?

Grindhouse.

2.  Which movies have meant the most to you and why?

I like movies with powerful, strong characters. Reservoir Dogs. Scarface. Anything by Quentin Tarantino…he’s got good stories. His films catch your eye. I love his movies.

3. Which movies could you watch more than once and still enjoy?

Kill Bill.  Kickin’ It Old Skool.  Any Kung Fu flick.

4.  If you could meet any film character, who would you choose?

R2D2.  He’s shorter than me, so I’d feel tall.  He could get you a drink of water.  He’s a funny guy.

5.  If you could meet any filmmaker — living or dead — who would you choose?

Quentin Tarantino.

Brown makes his acting debut in Kickin’ It Old Skool, which opened April 27.

five questions with maria menounos

I recently played Five Questions with actress/journalist Maria Menounos:

1.  What’s the last movie you’ve seen?

Dark Victory.

2.  Which movies have meant the most to you and why?

The Wizard of Oz.  Because she’s over the rainbow!

3.  Which movies could you watch more than once and still enjoy?

The Wizard of Oz.  Kickin’ It Old Skool.  Freaks.  The Hustler.

4.  If you could meet any film character, who would you choose?

Judy Garland from The Wizard of Oz.  My publicist can’t believe I just said that!  But it’s true….I’d like to meet Dorothy and Toto.

5.  If you could meet any filmmaker, living or dead, who would you choose?

Martin Scorcese, for lunch.

Menounos’ new movie Kickin’ It Old Skool opened April 27.

five questions with actor jamie kennedy

I recently played Five Questions with actor/comedian Jamie Kennedy:

1.  What’s the last movie you’ve seen?

300.

2.  Which movies have meant the most to you and why?

Midnight Cowboy.  Caddyshack.  Stripes.  Coming to America.  Return of the Pink Panther.  I like the actors — the comedians — that are funny and fun to watch.

3.  Which movies could you watch more than once and still enjoy?

Great movies, always.  Godfather.  Old Skool [Kickin’ It Old Skool, his new movie].  Swingers.  Coming to America.

4.  If you could meet any film character, who would you choose?

The gingerbread man from Shrek…he’s got a lot of personality.

5.  If you could meet any filmmaker, living or dead, who would you choose?

Spielberg.

Kennedy’s new movie Kickin’ It Old Skool opens April 27.

five questions with writer/director mark fergus

Last month, I was able to ask Oscar-nominated writer/director Mark Fergus (Children of Men, First Snow) Five Questions during a phone interview: 

1.  What’s the last movie you’ve seen?

Children of Men.

2.  Which movies have meant the most to you and why?

The Red, White and Blue trilogy.  Malick’s Days of Heaven.  Fargo.  All because they mix the senses of tragedy, comedy and poetry.  Something comes out that’s not contrived.  The voice over in Days of Heaven — with the little girl — is so powerful.  It suspends time and takes your breath away.  You try to do that in your own work, but it can’t be calculated.  It happens when it happens.  I really get affected by the story of a film.  That’s the point of storytelling — to share people’s consciousness and have communion with people through film.

3.  Which movies could you watch more than once and still enjoy?

Rear Window.  Touch of Evil.  I watch Dog Day Afternoon and Chinatown every six months.  Vertigo.

4.  If you could meet any film character, who would you choose?

Molly Bloom from Ulysses…that would be an interesting person to meet.

5.  If you could meet any filmmaker (living or dead), who would you choose?

Truffaut.  He was gone far too early.  I’d love to have a cup of coffee and talk with him.  He sounds like an amazing human being.

Fergus’ directorial debut First Snow opens in Florida on April 6.

five questions with online film critic norm schrager

Norm Schrager, senior film critic at www.filmcritic.com, graciously agreed to play Five Questions with me:

1.  What’s the last movie you’ve seen?

The Queen

2.  Which movies have meant the most to you and why?

Oddly enough, two Barry Levinson films have proven meaningful to me. Diner
was one of the first movies that really got me hooked on story, dialogue and
character development, and as a kid I loved all the crosstalk between the
characters. Avalon is one of my all-time favorite films — it reflects many
things that occurred for my parents’ parents so I feel a personal connection
and it has a wonderful melancholy without being sappy.

3.  Which movies could you watch more than once and still enjoy?

Almost Famous, The Exorcist, The Godfather Part II, Boogie Nights

4.  If you could meet any film character, who would you choose?

This might be cheating, but Mahatma Gandhi (as played by Ben Kingsley). That
would be inspiring, to put it mildly.

5.  If you could meet any filmmaker (living or dead), who would you choose?

I think a day with Coppola would be fun. He’s worked inside and outside the
Hollywood system, has tried to maintain integrity, and has admitted to going
for the big bucks now and again. He also likes the arts, good food and wine
and his family. Even if we didn’t talk film, it sounds good. 

five questions with author/film critic christopher null

Author, film critic and Editor-in-Chief and Publisher of www.filmcritic.com Christopher Null agreed to answer my Five Questions: 

1.  What’s the last movie you’ve seen?

The Fountain.

2.  Which movies have meant the most to you and why? 

Well ”meaning” is a loaded term. I enjoy the sociopolitical message of films like Brazil and Dr. Strangelove, but love the art in them too. But when you get down to it, they don’t really ”mean” anything to me, say, the way my kids do. They’ve enriched my life and my appreciation of the craft of moviemaking and film criticism — and I LOVE watching movies, seriously – but I still have the restraint to recognize that they are just that: Only movies. That said, Strangelove is probably my favorite film of all time, I think its statement on war is the most powerful ever put to film, and it’s also the funniest and best-crafted movie ever.

3.  Which movies could you watch more than once and still enjoy? 

Wow, a lot of them. My DVD collection currently runs to about 2200 films (you have no idea how many boxes that fills…). I return again and again to Hitchcock’s best work. Brazil, Blade Runner, Strangelove, Annie Hall, lots of Woody Allen. Great comedy is easily rewatchable. I’ve probably seen Real Genius 100 times. I probably watch Animal House every time it’s on cable and my TiVo snags it for me. 

4.  If you could meet any film character, who would you choose?

Assuming you mean fictional character, I’d have to say Charles Foster Kane.

5.  If you could meet any filmmaker (living or dead), who would you choose?  

Alfred Hitchcock or Orson Welles. Maybe both together, if it could be arranged.

five questions with online film critic sean o’connell

North Carolina online film critic Sean O’Connell (Filmcritic.com, Charlotte Weekly, Online Film Critics Society) recently agreed to play Five Questions with me:

1.  What’s the last movie you’ve seen?

Shortbus by John Cameron Mitchell. It’s graphic, surprisingly moving, and not for everyone.

2. Which movies have meant the most to you and why?

This answer changes from week to week. When I first saw Finding Nemo, it impressed me as the latest Pixar gem. When I revisited it on DVD months later, my wife had given birth to our first baby - a boy - and the film meant the world to me. Still does.

3.  Which movies could you watch more than once and still enjoy?

Anything by Alfred Hitchcock. Anything with Paul Newman or Cary Grant. Anything that came out from 1974-1988.

4. If you could meet any film character, who would you choose?

That’s easy. Jesus, from any of his many cinematic incarnations. And if he couldn’t make it, I’d choose Butch and/or Sundance. They seem like great drinking buds.

5. If you could meet any filmmaker (living or dead), who would you choose?

John Lasseter. Though I met him once, and he turned out to be every bit as amazing as I’d expected. So I should pick someone else. OK, Billy Wilder. Imagine the stories he could tell?

five questions with local film commissioner jennifer parramore

St. Petersburg/Clearwater Film Commission Director Jennifer Parramore recently took the time to answer Five Questions:

1. What’s the last movie you’ve seen?

For the record, I am not a particularly good judge of film. Ironically, I watch few films and almost no TV. That’s not because I dislike either; just time constraints due to career and family. Netflix is a great addition to my life. Consequently, most of the films I watch have been edited for the small screen (too bad), and they’re several months or years old.However, I saw Prairie Home Companion at Muvico. I’m a long-time fan of Garrison Keillor’s show, commentaries, characters and books. On a recent flight, I saw Syriana and Brokeback Mountain.

2. Which movies have meant the most to you and why?

Out of Africa is a classic and prompted me to read about colonial Kenya at that time. Denys Finch Hatton and Beryl Markham were contemporaries of Karen Blixen’s. Both have written and/or been written about extensively.

Philadelphia Story and Bull Durham both have great casts, great lines, good characters, and they’re entertaining and witty.

Prizzi’s Honor is an engrossing Mafia story with a top-drawer cast, and a diabolical twist.

3. Which movies could you watch more than once and still enjoy?

Easy question: The In Laws, (the original one) remains hysterically funny after multiple viewings. “Serpentine, Shel, serpentine!”

Out of Africa is a sweeping story of a fascinating woman shot in exotic locations.

Bull Durham is a fun and funny adult love story. I can quote multiple great lines from it and still love it every time.

Indiscreetand just about anything starring Ingrid Bergman and Cary Grant remain entertaining forever. He’s a heartthrob and she’s beautiful and hugely talented.

Love Actually is witty, warm, bittersweet, real and interwoven so cleverly.

Romancing the Stone is among my all-time favorite adventure-romance stories. Kathleen Turner, Michael Douglas and Danny Davito have terrific chemistry.

4. If you could meet any film character, who would you choose?

Characters are fiction. I enjoy meeting the people who make it come together, whether they write, direct, oversee the budget or design a set. I count several Teamsters among my best pals.

5. If you could meet any filmmaker (living or dead), who would you choose?

James Strouse, Allison Anders, Betty Thomas, Ron Howard, Mira Nair, Richard Curtis, Penny Marshall, Robert Altman, among others.

five questions with local film commissioner krista soroka

Tampa Film Commissioner Krista Soroka graciously agreed to answer Five Questions:

1. What’s the last movie you’ve seen?

The Da Vinci Code (in the theater); Wedding Crashers (on DVD).

2. Which movies have meant the most to you and why?

Vita è bella, La (Life is Beautiful, 1997) – I think Roberto Benigni (Guido) did an incredible job writing, directing and starring in this film that inspires you to believe that hope conquers all in the midst of some of life’s worst tragedies. Guido’s eternally-optimistic character was inspiring and humorous as he thought of new ways to keep his son’s focus away from the horrible tragedies surrounding him. In one scene where the Nazis enter the camp to inform the prisoners of the rules, Guido – who doesn’t understand a word of German – volunteers to translate to his son solely to convince him that they want to play a game where the winner gets a full-size tank. If we all had an ounce of that optimism, I really believe this world would be a better place. 

Cinderella Man (2005) – I thought R. Howard/R. Crowe developed an inspiring storyline that captured snapshots of James Braddock’s struggles to maintain his integrity as a husband-father-professional athlete while battling a hand injury AND the Great Depression. I’ll never forget the scene where Braddock swallows his pride and walks into Madison Square Garden to ask for pocket change so he can pay for electricity for his family. Not only did he struggle to keep his family alive, he carried the burden of his community and the nation, and came out on top.

Top Gun (1986) - just because I grew up during the 80’s!

3. Which movies could you watch more than once and still enjoy?

I have to categorize here if that’s OK…here are my trifectas:

History/Period Pieces: Gladiator, Braveheart, Lord of the Rings Trilogy

Drama: A Beautiful Mind, Godfather, and Shawshank Redemption (Andy Dufresne has a great quote in Shawshank: “Get busy living, or get busy dying”)

Comedy: Billy Madison, Dumb and Dumber, and Tommy Boy (I hate to admit I probably quote those movies every day!)

4. If you could meet any film character, who would you choose?

Hmmm, good question…here’s my Top 5:

Maximus Decimus Meridius (Gladiator) – great quote to Commodus when he is discovered to still be alive: My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius, Commander of the Armies of the North, General of the Felix Legions, loyal servant to the true emperor, Marcus Aurelius. Father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife. And I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next.

James Braddock (Cinderella Man) - considering this is a true story, I truly admired his character, strength, and integrity.

John Nash (A Beautiful Mind) – Absolutely brilliant…I’d love to meet his wife as well.

William Wallace (Braveheart) – Can sum up why in one quote: Every man dies, not every man really lives.

Aragorn (Lord of the Rings) – although he’s a “middle earth” character, he’s selfless, courageous, and continuously fights battles on faith.

5. If you could meet any filmmaker (living or dead), who would you choose?

I can’t even go with a top 5 here…so here’s a few off the top of my head..Steven Spielberg, Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, Rob Reiner, George Lucas, Stephen King…most influential I’d say Alfred Hitchcock, Orson Wells, Stanley Kubrick… 

five questions with local film critic bob ross

Bob Ross, film critic for the Tampa Tribune, took a brief break from working on a deadline earlier this week to play a quick round of Five Questions:

1. What’s the last movie you’ve seen?

Mission: Impossible III (this morning). (TFF note: this was a few days ago.)

2. What movies have meant the most to you (and why)?

All of them. The good ones because they make my life more enjoyable. The bad ones because if they didn’t exist no one would need a movie critic.

3. What movies could you watch again and again without getting tired of them?

The Godfather. Singin’ in the Rain. Repo Man. Shakes the Clown. Casablanca. Citizen Kane. Rock ‘n’ Roll High School. A Hard Day’s Night. Lawrence of Arabia.

4. If you could meet any film character, who would it be?

John Lennon from A Hard Day’s Night.

5. If you could meet any filmmaker, who would it be?

Living: Martin Scorsese. Dead: Orson Welles.