Tell us about yourself.
I am a podcaster and freelance writer covering both film and television. As a Canadian I do my best to highlight Canadian film and TV whenever I can, and I have a particular interest in wordy, stage-play like dramas, supernatural horror, and giant monsters.
What are your top four films of all time?
- Airplane!
- Jurassic Park
- King Kong (1933)
- Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
Who are your top four directors?
- Sam Raimi
- Steven Spielberg
- Steven Soderbergh
- James Wan
What is your favourite decade for film?
The 1980’s
How did you get started covering film?
Fellow CFTCA member Simon Best and I founded the Awesome Friday Podcast in late 2011 after a lifetime of watching. After several iterations of the show it settled into it’s current format of two films being reviewed each week in the summer of 2020. At the same time I started doing written reviews of films for the site, and eventually picked up bylines at several publications around the web.
What movie have you seen the most in your life?
This is a difficult question to answer but it’s probably one of Jurassic Park, Airplane!, The Hunt for Red October, or Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.
What is your favourite piece of content you have produced?
As a Canadian critic I enjoy any time I can raise the profile of a great Canadian film and that happened recently with the release of director Christian Sparkes Newfoundland & Labrador set film The King Tide. The film is a dark examination of a small town that forms a system of belief centered on a 10-year-old girl with the power to heal others, and what it might look like when she fails to do so. It’s a stunning thriller and one I hope gets wider recognition.
What is the farthest you have traveled to see a film or cover a festival?
I am embarrassed to admit that I have only been to festivals here in my home town of Vancouver, but this also has to do with the fact for that for the last several years remote coverage has been a viable option.
Where is your favourite place to sit in a theater?
This is especially true in larger cinemas, but about the mid way point of the centre bank of seats, at the aisle on the stage-right side. I am rather tall, so the extra leg room is useful and most cinemas in my town have the entrance on the stage-left side meaning the right doesn’t get as many people wandering aimlessly looking for their seats.
Tell us about your local film scene (what you like about it, things you wished it had)?
Living in Vancouver means that we have a good indie scene; the Vancouver International Film Festival cinema is a great place to see world and art house films, and there are a handful of other places like it. What we don’t have is diversity in the mainstream. Cinemas here are dominated by Cineplex, and that lack of competition isn’t good for anyone except Cineplex.
Look forward to more in depth member profiles coming soon!