The Bella Rossa Interview With Nick of "DVD Trash."
Nick is a Glaswegian film enthusiast and an Honors Grad with a BA in Marketing and Foreign Languages. He contributes DVD and film reviews for genre sites Cinema Nocturna and 10kBullets. If I had posted his interview closer to the time he gave it, his comments on his Italian heritage affecting his enthusiasm for the World Cup would seem more timely. Bella Rossa is grateful for his contribution to the ongoing "Interviews with Bloggers" project, and not only because it gave her a chance to use the word "Glaswegian."
BELLA: What current books, music, tv, movies, hobbies, sports, etc., are currently holding your interest?
NICK: Books - Nick Carter pulp novels, Kathy Reich's
novels, just holiday reading at the moment, but I have a stack of books
to get through, just hard to find the time. The last great book I read
was Jenna Jameson's autobiography - could not put it down, very frank
and honest.
TV - 24, The Sopranos, The Shield have been top viewing this season.
Music - Again nothing too highbrow, just whatever is on the radio -
like Gnarls Barkley and Shakira. Been getting loads of cult soundtracks
from Gialli and Spaghetti Westerns in particular. The OST for Kriminal
is next.
Sports - Just one thing - the Soccer World Cup and my team Italy
(due to my Italian mother) are in the final. Getting ready to party!
BELLA: How would you describe your blog?
NICK: Simply - The Best Horror, Trash, Gialli and
Exploitation that DVD has to offer. Just a place for fans with similar
interests to get news, reviews and pictures of Brigitte Lahaie! It goes
beyond just genre movies though as it covers anything weird or
wonderful, horror or art movie, it doesn't matter.
BELLA: Why do you blog? What was your original goal or
intention when you started, and has that changed with time? Is your
blog a means to an end (finding work, developing creative ideas, making
money, meeting people), or does it exist for its own sake?
NICK: Just decided to do it for fun to see how it goes.
Loads of other people seemed to do it and I thought I'd like my 2 cents
out there so I logged onto Blogger and away I went. I did not realise
or intend to review movies for sites such as 10k Bullets, Cinema
Nocturna or AVPlay, it just kind of happened. I originally only
intended to do some reviews of my own and post them on the blog. I just
really enjoy writing about subjects I love. An upside has been meeting
really nice folk who are also passionate about cinema, definitely not
for money but if someone were to pay me to watch movies it would be
hard to say no!
BELLA: Is there one particular post that you think exemplifies your work, or represents your best writing?
NICK: Definitely my reviews of Shoot the Piano Player and 4
Times that Night. In my opinion of course. Normal Hollywood movies
generally do not tax my brain so creatively my writing suffers. I'm a
sucker for Mario Bava and French New Wave directors - some combination!
However it is fair to say that my writing in general gets better after
each review although it is dependent on what film I'm covering.
BELLA: Is there one particular post that garnered you an
atypically large reader response or number of referrals from search
engines? If so, why do you think that is?
NICK: The Brigitte Lahaie Interview and any info I post about the imminent DVD release of A Lizard in a Woman's Skin in Italy.
BELLA: How often do you Google yourself, check yourself on Technorati, and/or pore over your referral logs and visitor statistics?
NICK: I look at my stats everyday, not for self
gratification, I'm just really interested in who comes to the site and
where they were referred from.
BELLA: What are some of your favorite, "must-read" blogs?
What keeps you going back again and again? Have you ever totally lost
interest in a blog that you once really enjoyed, and if so, why?
NICK: Every link under the "Friends of DVD Trash" banner on the blog, but especially Whiggles (fellow reviewer and genre movie fan), Winged Avenger (great cult music blog) and What Would Tyler Durden Do? (Hollywood gossip)
BELLA: What kind of person is the likeliest reader of your blog? What would you hope they get out of reading you?
NICK: I'm not sure, anyone with a passing interest for the
cinema and genre movies in particular. Just hope they like the blog,
that it offers something different and that they enjoy the reviews. I'm
sure "eclectic" is the correct word to describe the variety of movies
that are reviewed.
BELLA: Are there people in your life who don't "get the
whole blog thing?" How do you explain it to them without feeling as
nerdy and defensive as I usually do?
NICK: Most of my friends do not know much about blogging but
they do find it interesting and most of them seem to enjoy what I write
and ask to borrow movies I review which can only be a good thing.
BELLA: What's your relationship with your readers? How much interaction do you encourage?
NICK: I try to encourage a lot via comments and in fact I
would like more feedback from my readers as I'm interested in who they
are and where they are from.
BELLA: How much do you self-censor, knowing that your friends and family might be reading?
NICK: I don't. I'm an adult and I'm sure the odd curse word or nude picture will not do anybody any harm.
BELLA: Do you video blog? Would or will you? Are there any video blogs that you look at? What would you video blog about, if you did?
NICK: Not something I've thought about - not enough time
anyway. I would like to get involved in Podcasting though, so if anyone
needs an opinionated movie reviewer then please get in touch!
BELLA: Have you ever blogged something that later you regretted and/or deleted from your blog?
NICK: No, I'm quite careful before I post.
BELLA: What are your thoughts on the phenomenon of
"doocing," wherein someone loses their job because of things they
posted on a personal blog? Are you careful to maintain a clear line
between your online self and your real world self?
NICK: People ought to be more careful - they should not write something they are not willing to say in person.
BELLA: Are you conscious of creating an online persona? How is that persona different from the real world you?
NICK: I think I come across a fairly normal and well balanced
despite my taste in movies - and that's how I am in real life. I'm
really friendly and outgoing and not a geek stuck behind a PC all day.
BELLA: How long have you been online, and what kinds of
things have you done online (chat rooms, message boards, games, aimless
surfing, etc.)? How has this changed your life, for the better or worse?
NICK: Been online since 1994. Done the whole gamut online -
games, forums and aimless surfing I excel at - I'm better off for it as
well, quite PC literate and more informed about the subjects I'm
interested in.
BELLA: How long do you think you will continue to blog? What are the circumstances under which you can imagine yourself quitting?
NICK: As long as I have spare time to write and watch movies
and DVD's kindly supplied to me, I'll continue. Only if work really
took over, which is a possibility over the next few months, then I'd
have to cut back, but DVD Trash will be online for a long time to come.
Would be very sad not have it.
BELLA: What's the coolest thing that's come out of your blogging experience?
NICK: Fulfilling an ambition to write about something I love
and other people actually thinking I'm good at it! Meeting some very
cool people online (Steve Genier at Cinema Nocturna, Mike den Boer at
10kBullets) and of course interviewing Brigitte Lahaie!
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