redblog Readers Who Rock: Matthew S

It's time once again to learn more about one of our most loyal redblog readers and frequent commenters -- this week Matthew S is at bat.  Matthew's love of film has led him to some pretty cool opportunities... read on for the details!

Name:  Matthew Sinclair

Posts as (username): Matthew S.

Age: 25

Location: San Antonio, TX

Occupation: Marketing consultant

When did you start using redbox, how did you find out about us, and how close is the redbox you usually go to?

I was in McDonald’s and I saw this red beacon of movies.  I had a free coupon for a rental from my large drink -- this was when redboxes were first popping up.  Since then, I’ve been pretty much hooked.  I have a series of redboxes near me, and always look online for the best location.  In the last 6 months where I only had one or two at a McDonald’s, I now have one at Walgreens and then at two different gas stations nearby.

 

All of our Readers Who Rock enjoy movies, but we could tell from the insightful comments you’ve left on the blog that you really have a passion for all things cinematic.  How did you come to love the world of film so much?

Since I was a young child (I say young because I’m still a child at heart) I’ve always loved movies.  As I went through school I found theatre and fell in love with it, too, starting with my 7th grade drama teacher, Ms. Guise.  I studied it for the next ten years and went to college at Texas State University-San Marcos for directing, doing both theatre and film, and graduated Magna Cum Laude with additional Honors for writing a screenplay as my undergrad thesis.  As the years have come and gone, I’ve always enjoyed getting wrapped up in movies.  And I tell people to go see a movie to enjoy it, because it is entertainment, and if we set up unrealistic expectations, well, we’re always going to be disappointed.

 
When redbox contacted you to be interviewed, we found out that in addition to just loving movies, you have experience not only reviewing them, but also appearing in some short films. Do give us the details!

In the reviewing side, I’m know as Matthew the Movie Geek on 99.5 KISS in San Antonio. It started as just a personal review on Zombieland, which was read on the air, and the DJ asked me to fill in for her during her two-week vacation. After she came back, they asked me to continue, and so Fridays at 7:50am CST I am on the air doing movie reviews. You can download the podcast at kissrocks.com and click on the Lisle & Hahn Morning Show link. And as for acting, I just got finished doing a short film for a friend of mine, and am working on a web series for my work, which I can’t give any details unfortunately because it hasn’t gone live yet and we’re keeping it under wraps until it launches, sorry!

So is it fair to assume you’ve run into some movies stars in the past?

Some of the people I’ve met include James Earl Jones, Spike Lee, and Edward James Olmos (see left), all through school or for various volunteer organizations. Probably the neatest was having my acting teacher for two semesters be Laura Lane, or as many of you would know her, C.C. Babcock on The Nanny. She was truly an inspiring teacher and had so much to teach us. I know that I learned a great deal from her, and I can’t thank her enough.

Wow, you really have had some amazing experiences -- we're jealous.  Before we get TOO jealous, we better move on to some of our old standby questions, starting with our favorite: What five movies would you want on a deserted island (deserted... except for a TV and a DVD player and one electrical outlet)? 

That is a very good question, and even though I knew you’d ask me, I hadn’t thought about it as much as I should have.

1) Back to the Future – Still one of my favorite movies ever, if not my favorite. The movie has a terrific story, wonderful soundtrack, and just overall is a movie you can’t help but smile at each time you watch it, and hang on your seat as Marty tries to get back home.

2) Eurotrip – Yes, it’s a stupid, immature, vulgar look at some high school grads’ wild summer as Scotty goes to find the woman of his dreams after making a serious error. With Michelle Trachtenberg and Jacob Pitts having hilarious chemistry, along with cameos from Matt Damon, Vinnie Jones, Lucy Lawless, Joanna Lumley, and Kristin Kreuk, the movie is quite simply hilarious fun.

3) Brotherhood of the Wolf (Le pacte des loups) – Probably my favorite foreign film, ever. Christopher Gans, who later captured the dread and eeriness of Silent Hill, really brought to life the folk legend/true story of The Beast of Gevaudan. The story is brilliant, the shots are incredibly well done, and the acting and fight scenes are entrancing each time I watch. Yes, I know they exaggerated and took some liberties with the story, but it still is a beautiful film.

4) Spaceballs – One of my favorite Mel Brooks films, ever. Now I’ve seen just about all of them except for Silent Movie, which I’m getting my hands on a copy of soon. What makes Spaceballs so great is as you get older, more and more of the jokes make sense, and you always find something different that makes you laugh or really appreciate the work put into it.

5) Princess Mononoke – Now for those who say Akira is the greatest Anime film ever, I may agree with you. However, with Mononoke, no matter how many times I watch it, I love to watch the story unfold, see the beautiful animation, and with the incredible voice casting they did, you have one of the best films that was the highest grossing movie in Japan’s history, until Titanic crashed in. (Like the pun?)

6) (Yes, I put six, though I narrowed it down from a bigger list, and I’d put the disc underneath another disc) The Prestige – Christopher Nolan has been genius with the last two Batman movies (which if I could bring more, those two would be next). But The Prestige has one of the most engrossing stories with a plot that thickens, and thickens, to the climatic ending that each and every time still gets me. It’s another one of those movies I find something I love about it more and more each time I watch it. The acting’s great, effects are great, and of course, I “want to be…fooled.”

Interesting picks!  Now, who’s your favorite actor?

That’s a toughie as I have a few actors I love to watch. Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington would have to be my top two. I don’t think I’ve seen a movie that these actors are in that I haven’t really enjoyed. Of course Tom Hanks has the ability to make us laugh from his days in Big and Bachelor Party, and then he goes for films that leave you really wanting to know what happens next like Road to Perdition and Castaway. As for Denzel, I still think he deserved and Oscar for The Hurricane, but I understand why Kevin Spacey won for American Beauty. I was happy when he won for Training Day and so all was right in the world. He’s a deeply intense actor that never fails to impress me, and I look forward to The Book of Eli when it comes out.

And your favorite actress?

This too is a tough one, but I’d have to give it to Kate Winslet. She has a pretty wide range of films under her belt from Eternal Sunshine to Quills to Titanic and so on. Recently in Sam Mendes’ Revolutionary Road I completely enjoyed her working along side Leonardo DiCaprio, where you could really tell and feel the chemistry and strain between these two in this ‘ideal’ family.

Have you ever attended a midnight screening of a movie and if so, what was it?

Also too many to count, though it’s how I see a lot of movies. I recently saw The Fourth Kind, which after a day or two of allowing it to sink in and allowing my brain to wake up, I realized how disappointed I was at how obviously fake the story was. And yes, I tried to suspend disbelief to enjoy the film, but I am only human. You can tell a lot about how a film will do based on its midnight viewing, and the review backlash that follows on Facebook and twitter.

If you could live in any movie, meaning that the people, places and events in the movie became your reality, what movie would you choose?

It’s a toss-up between Pirates of the Caribbean, Lord of the Rings and Firefly/Serenity, though would go with Firefly/Serenity, because it would be so cool to explore and have those adventures.

If you could be any character in a movie, who would you be?

Captain Malcolm Reynolds from Firefly/Serenity. Let’s face it, a gun slinging captain of such an awesome crew who has a sense of morals and a code of honor, even while committing acts of great theft, is still one of the coolest people to be.

What are some of your favorite movie quotes?

(Another big list, too, mind you!)

"It's not that we're afraid, far from it, it's just that we've got this thing about death... It's not us!" – Spaceballs

"As Mr. Sloan always says, there is no ‘I’ in team, but there is an ‘I’ in pie. And there's an ‘I’ in meat pie. Anagram of meat is team... I don't know what he's talking about." – Shaun of the Dead

"Ah, well, it's no use prevaricating about the bush..." – The Wrong Trousers

"Oh, here it is. Bratislava. Hmm. Capital of Slovakia. Oh, here's a fun fact: You made out with your sister, man!" – Eurotrip

"You’re killing me Smalls!” – The Sandlot

“You and your stupid rope…” – Boondock Saints

Wash: “This landing is gonna get pretty interesting.” Reynolds : “Define ‘interesting’.” Wash : [deadpan] “Oh God, oh God, we're all going to die?” – Serenity

“She is startin' to damage my calm.” – Serenity

“Good, bad…I’m the guy with the gun.” – Army of Darkness

What’s the best film you’ve seen to date in 2009?

District 9, hands down. It was a brilliant science fiction film with amazing special effects, a great story, and a main character that wasn’t even really the hero, but had moments where he truly shined and underwent a change. I really hope that District 10 becomes a reality, and I look forward to it.

We couldn't agree more.  It's been great talking with you, Matthew... keep rockin' on with your bad self!

To check out the rest of our Readers Who Rock interviews, click here, won't you? 

Comments

[Clint M]

District 9 was so great. When does that come out in the redboxes? I want to see it again.

[Fiirvoen]

Great interview, Matthew S.! Spaceballs is definitely up there in my list as well. And Princess Mononoke! How could I forget that one! Written by one of my favorite authors: Neil Gaiman! All in all, I come away with more respect.

[Matthew S.]

You mean Hayao Miyazaki for Mononoke my friend.

And thank you all, truly, it was a pleasure.

I had some other quotes I use for Spaceballs, but wanted to keep the post PG for those who read that aren't adults and to keep the censors happy...

According to google, sometime in late December for District 9...wonder how true that is...

[Matthew S.]

Ah, that's right...Gaiman did help write the english script...

[Fiirvoen]

Yep, but I guess writing is a strong word. Translating and making it fit the English language with the same impact is probably more accurate.

[Locke Peterseim]

And Gaiman also had to write dialogue with syllables and rhythms that matched the characters' animated mouth movements. I seem to recall at the time him saying it was very tricky going.

UPDATE: Here's an interesting interview with Gaiman about the translation/dubbing process:

http://www.mania.com/translating-princess-mononoke-neil-gaiman_article_2522.html

[moviegoer123]

Kate Winslet is one of my favorite actresses, she has an edge to her. I never saw any movies that was in the interview but I saw at least one Titanic with Leonardo DiCaprio aka Leo. LOL.

[Matthew S.]

If you like Kate, see Revolutionary Road, especially if you like Sam Mendes, who did Jarhead, American Beauty, Road to Perdition...and yeah, Kate and Sam are married too...

And Locke, thank you for posting that, it really is a great article.

[Locke Peterseim]

I second the Rev Road recommendation! As I said in my review this summer, it took two viewings for me to really appreciate the film, but once I did, I thought it was stunning and shattering.

(And for an interesting counterpoint on love and marriage, see Mendes' Away We Go from last summer, too--polar opposites not just in theme and tone, but in directorial style as well)

My Revolutionary Road review:

http://blog.redbox.com/redblog/2009/07/revolutionary-road.html

[Matthew S.]

Sam Mendes' films are like that. For example, I could not stand American Beauty the first time I watched it. And I was even more upset that Spacey won best Actor for it.

Then I watched it again, and really began to understand the film and appreciated it so much more.

Now with Road to Perdition, the first time I watched it, I was blown away at how good it is. Jude Law's character was brilliantly played and the ending got me pretty good. And with Jarhead, I really enjoyed it the first time I watched it too. And the same with Revolutionary Road, which my girlfriend did not like very much.

Though I think with all Mendes' films, second viewings really help with appreciation and understanding of the film. Last night at Half Price Books I saw Revolutionary Road and almost picked it up, but agreed I should see it the second time before I pick it up for my growing movie collection...which increased by 3 this weekend...