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It's Thursday, which means we're all ready to meet another redblog Reader Who Rocks. This week it is my great pleasure to present:

Name: Nick Weisenberger

Posts as (username): Nick

Age: 23

Location: Farmington, Michigan

Occupation: Mechanical Engineer

When did you start using redbox, and how did you find out about us?

I went on a weekend trip with my girlfriend, Sarah, in Indianapolis last spring. We went to a McDonald's next to our hotel to get a snack. While enjoying our delicious ice cream treat, we noticed this big, candy-red machine beckoning to us. Upon further investigation, we discovered you could rent a DVD for only a buck a night and decided to give it a shot. I have been renting DVDs from redbox ever since.

I'll have to report to our engineers that the Advanced Beckoning Features on our kiosks are working as designed. Now that you're back home in Michigan, how close is the redbox you usually go to?

The redbox I usually go to is nestled inside of a Kroger grocery store about a half-mile from my residence. Lately, however, I have had to take a six mile detour because of construction and a mysteriously missing bridge. That hasn’t stopped me from renting movies!

I'm originally from the Great Lake State, and your talk of nonsensical construction brings back such fond memories.  Let's now travel in our minds to a fantastical place where there is no construction because there are no roads: what five movies would you want on a deserted island that somehow still offered the ability to play DVDs even though there was no apparent electrical source?

Castaway, so I could figure out how to get off the island! Just kidding. The five movies I would choose are: Braveheart, Rudy, Dodgeball, Silence of the Lambs, and The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. We’ve got a little bit of everything: historical epic, sports movie, comedy, suspenseful horror/thriller, and fantasy.

Yes, that's quite the mix.  What kind of films would you definitely not want to be stuck with?

With the exception of The Dark Knight, I am not a huge fan of comic book adaptations.. I just think they are cheesy and too similar. I prefer more realistic movies, unless they are so over-the-top they are funny. I dislike movies that rely too heavily on computer graphics. I’d rather watching something like Jaws over Transformers. I prefer the corniness of the original Star Wars and Indiana Jones to the latest ones. Story is the most important ingredient to any film.

I don't think you're the only one who feels that way about the Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises.  In fact, I'm pretty sure you've got at least two entire generations behind you on that one, if not more! So we know that you're not loving all of the recent comic book-based movies, but is there a certain genre that you seem to be drawn to more than others?

I’m really into the historical epics like Braveheart, The Patriot and Gladiator. I like the strategizing that goes into each battle and the
choreography of the fight scenes. I especially love Braveheart because
of the lack of CGI. The huge battle scenes are all done with real
people in costumes.

Now let's move on to specific actors — who’s your favorite?

Tom Hanks. What hasn’t he done? I don’t think I’ve seen a bad Tom
Hanks movie. Personal issues aside, I think Mel Gibson is a great actor
as well.

Here's a slight twist on that question… what actor or actress —dead or alive— would you want to hang out with if you had the chance?

Marty
Feldman or Robin Williams. I think meeting either one of them would be
very interesting and Robin Williams would make me laugh.

On the flip side, are there any actors or actresses you can’t stand?

Matthew McConaughey. My reason for disliking him actually has nothing to do with his acting (though I could care less about the majority of the movies he has been in). I am a huge Ohio State football fan and during the Ohio State vs. Texas football game in 2006 there were repeated shots of Matthew cheering on the Texas Longhorn’s sideline and being obnoxious. I know, it sounds childish but it was incredibly annoying.

I guess I probably shouldn't mention that I went to the University of Michigan then, huh?  Hee hee.  But on a lighter note, I hope you caught this mockery of McConaughey by Justin Long (one of the Average Joes from your fave Dodgeball) on Saturday Night Live recently…)   Anywhoo… have you ever walked out of a movie theater or stopped watching a DVD because you thought the movie was so bad?  Like maybe McConaughey's Surfer, Dude?

None that I walked out of that I remember, although I really wish I had walked out of Bruno. After going to the movies almost every week during the first half of the summer, Bruno effectively killed my moviegoing appetite and I have yet to return to a theater since viewing that uncomfortable mess of a film.

Oh, no!  I hope you're able to find your way back out to the theater soon.  Maybe something like Where The Wild Things Are will motivate you to return to the cineplex?  In the meantime, tell me about your favorite movie villain.

It’s much too hard to pick just one, so I present to you the Triumvirate of Terror: Hannibal Lector, Darth Vader, and The Joker. Hannibal was completely chilling, Darth Vader was classic and unique, and the Joker was just whacked out and twisted.

Me likey the Triumvirate of Terror!  Now let's talk about music: do you own any film soundtracks, and if so, which ones are your favorite?

I think music is a very, very important part of a movie. One of the reasons I listed Braveheart, Rudy, and The Lord of the Rings as three of the five movies I would take on a deserted island is because I absolutely love their music and feel inspired by it.

What’s the hardest you’ve ever cried at a movie?

The only movie I have ever cried over was Rudy. When he sacks the quarterback and his teammates lift him up on their shoulders, ahh, it gets me every time. After all of his setbacks and everyone his whole life telling him what he couldn’t do, he proves them all wrong and accomplishes his goals in one heartwarming, triumphant moment.

I've heard that one a lot, actually (and it's always from guys!).  Now since we're inching toward the end of October, I have to ask if you've ever dressed up as a movie character for Halloween?

Hmm. Not that I can remember. One year I did dress up as a wizard which you could’ve called Gandalf, but that was well before The Lord of the Rings came to the big screen.

Well, I'm a huge LOTR dork and dressed up as Arwen — elf ears and pendant necklace and the whole shebang, the Halloween after Return of the King came out.  So I respect your nod to Gandalf even if you really weren't specifically trying to be the ultimate (in my book) wizard.   OK, now on to my favorite part of the interview: what are some of your most beloved movie quotes?

“Surely you can't be serious.  I am serious… and don't call me Shirley.” Classic Airplane quote.

Comedies offer some of the most quotable lines, like his exchange from Young Frankenstein: “You must be Igor."  "No, it's pronounced 'eye-gor.'"  "But they told me it was 'ee-gor.'"  "Well, they were wrong then, weren't they?”   

I also love this one from Enemy at the Gates about human nature ruining communism: “I've been such a fool, Vassili. Man will always be a man. There is no new man. We tried so hard to create a society that was equal, where there'd be nothing to envy your neighbor. But there's always something to envy. A smile, a friendship, something you don't have and want to appropriate. In this world, even a Soviet one, there will always be rich and poor. Rich in gifts, poor in gifts. Rich in love, poor in love.”

Those are some great ones!  OK, a few last questions for you: do you know what the first movie you ever saw was?  

I don’t remember the very first movie I ever saw but I do remember growing up watching all of the Disney classics. Not only the usual animated features but I loved all of the classic live action features like Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, the (original) Nutty Professor, White Fang, The Rocketeer, etc.

And here's my final question, though I think you've alluded to the answer already: what was the last movie you saw?

Haven’t been to the theater since Bruno, but the last DVD I rented (from redbox, no less) was State of Play. I really enjoyed the movie and was kept in constant suspense. You usually can’t go wrong with Russell Crowe.

Thanks for taking the time to talk with us, Nick.  We hope redbox continues to ease you back into movie-watching mode!

(Check out all of our Readers Who Rock interviews here, and stay tuned for another next week…)