Title: Film writer/critic

Hometown: The Bay Area

Number of years in Austin: 6

Favorite movie theaters: Alamo Drafthouse Downtown and the Paramount in Austin; The Castro in San Francisco

20 great movies: "Manhattan," "Sweet Smell of Success," "All About Eve," "Jaws," any pre-1937 Marx Bros., "Dog Day Afternoon," "Pather Panchali," "Umberto D.," "City Lights," "Rushmore," "The Elephant Man," "Paths of Glory," "The Lady Eve," "Heat" (1995), "L'Argent," "Two-Lane Blacktop," "Red River," "L'Atalante," "Kiss Me Deadly," "Johnny Guitar."

Underrated: Hal Hartley, Andy Dick, Chris Elliot, "Pootie Tang"

Overrated: "South Park," Hitchcock, Spike Lee, "The Matrix," "Office Space," "Groundhog Day," Dave Eggers, anything with hobbits

Would most like to meet: Phillip Roth, Jesus, Shakespeare, Joseph Merrick (the Elephant Man), Woody Allen (which I finally did)

A movie city as good or better than Austin: Paris

Dirty secret: Played drums briefly in heavy metal band (almost 20 years ago)

Hobbies: Reading, writing, drumming, world travel, the occasional flick

Not big on: Sports, television, street fairs

Books that recently wowed me: "Down and Dirty Pictures," "The Historical Figure of Jesus," "A Fan's Notes," "The Denial of Death," "The Fortress of Solitude," "Man's Search for Meaning," "American Pastoral," "You Are Not a Stranger Here," "Nine Horses," "Julia Pastrana: The Tragic Story of the Victorian Ape Woman."

(Has also written for: San Francisco Chronicle, Entertainment Weekly, Maxim, Paper magazine, SOMA magazine, East Bay Express, Fangoria.)