Lissa's Memories

Walk with us now, as we revisit some of our favorite and personal memories about Mutant Reviewers!

NAME AND MRFH NICKNAME (IF ANY)
Well, given that I was incredibly creative (and actually like my name a lot), I'm Lissa in both spots. Not-so-interesting bit of trivia: it's short for Melissa, which I am not so fond of. But Lissa has a fantasy type ring to it, don't you think?

TELL US ABOUT HOW YOU FIRST DISCOVERED MRFH, WHAT YOU THOUGHT ABOUT IT, AND HOW YOU CAME ON BOARD AS A WRITER.
I've told this story before (pretty much any time I review a movie with Chris Cooper in it), but it was my sincere appreciation for Chris Cooper's acting talent (and that's not a euphanism) that pulled me in. I did a search on him after I saw October Sky, and found Clare's article. I liked the rest of the site, and did want to apply immediately as a writer. Then I saw that they weren't accepting applications. Phooey.

I did apply during grad school with a review of Lilo and Stitch, and got the message back that I was close, but no cigar. Actually, I think I was just finishing grad school. Anyway, I put it behind me and went and got married and got a real job and all that. Then, one day I checked my email, and lo and behold, there was a message from Justin offering me a job. Cool! I accepted and I've now been here for over 3 years and 100 movie reviews.

SHARE ANY FAVORITE MEMORIES OF "BEHIND THE SCENES" MRFH EVENTS OR INTERACTIONS WITH OTHER MUTANTS.
Obviously, Justin's wedding was the high point for Mutant events. Five Mutants, one place? That really can't be beat. But I've enjoyed the smaller gatherings as well. We see Drew and his lady love a couple times a year, Sue when she can get out this way, and Poolman and Poolgirl. It's always nice to put faces and voices with names! And Drew attending Geekfest was a high point, as was doing a typed Mutant Viewing of The Prestige with our spouses in the room. It was very weird, but in such a good way.

WHAT WERE SOME OF YOUR PERSONAL FAVORITE ARTICLES & REVIEWS THAT YOU WROTE, AND WHY DO YOU LIKE THEM SO MUCH?
Hmmm. I had a LOT of fun writing my reviews for Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events and The Grinch, for what I think are obvious reasons. I was actually really proud of the Lemony Snicket one. I don't really consider myself a funny person, so any time I pull of something I genuinely think is amusing I'm awfully proud of it - comedy is a VERY hard thing to write, I think. On the opposite end of the scale, I really like my reviews for Jarhead and An Inconvenient Truth, which are sort of (but not really, at least in the first case) my more "political" reviews. And there's always the personal like October Sky.

Articles-wise, my favorites fall into two categories: the Serenity vs. Star Wars/Heroes vs. Lost articles, and the hot guys-and-girls articles that Kyle and I wrote. They were both fun to write, but the first set was really interesting to me in terms of similarities, and the second was just a bizarre sort of collaboration. I mean, I like Kyle a lot, but I think we're very different people (one of the fun aspects of MRFH) and that it was kind of like Batman teaming up with Ponder Stibbons or something like that. Some weird crossover that's actually really fun to read.

SHARE ANY INTERESTING ENCOUNTERS OR E-MAILS THAT YOU HAD WITH MRFH READERS – GOOD OR BAD!
Add me to the "thanks for telling me when I done good!" chorus. I haven't gotten much mail, to be honest, but a few stand out. I am amused how much mail I got for my Hot Guys article. The Serenity vs. Star Wars thing inspired a rash of mail informing me that Wash's first name was Hoban, not Horace. (I knew I had it wrong, but forgot to change it.) That one also made it to Whedonesque.com, where even MORE people pointed out that crucial error. I think the most memorable e-mail I had came from a forum regular who had spent time in Iraq, and commented very positively. This one was after my review for Jarhead was posted, when I was in the hospital having Ducklet. I remember that part because it totally made me cry in a good way.

WHAT ASPECT OF MRFH DO YOU THINK MAKES IT UNIQUELY SPECIAL APART FROM THE REST OF THE INTERNET?
People are nice to each other. Seriously - I can't think of another place on the 'Net where people are so freaking nice to each other. And it's not just the actual Mutants, but the people we attract and who post in our Forum. Even when people disagree, they tend to ignore each other or actually heed the mods in backing off and cooling down, rather than ramping into a nasty flame war. It really is rare, not just on the internet but in real life, too. I really like that.

I also just really like the eclectic mix of people. I love that I can say Dawn of the Dead sucked and Kyle can rave about it, or that we can all completely trash The Doom Generation. I like being able to say what I really think about movies, and not have to worry so much about what I should think, if that makes sense. MRFH has to be one of the only places where free speech, honesty, and civility all seem to coexist in harmony.

WHAT WAS THE WORST FILM YOU REVIEWED FOR MRFH, AND WHY?
Well, I've yet to review The Doom Generation, although I DID see it, back before I ever found MRFH. (In a word: Don't.) I guess after that… hmmm. Naked or Pearl Harbor. Naked just sucked, but I'd watched it and wanted to justify those spent hours, and Pearl Harbor was so offensive to me that I had to rip it to shreds.

IF YOU HAD A FRIEND WHO WAS TRYING TO GET INTO CULT CINEMA, WHAT FIVE FILMS WOULD YOU RECOMMEND TO THEM TO WATCH FIRST, AS A PRIMER?

• The Princess Bride
• Army of Darkness
• Dogma or Chasing Amy, depending on the friend
• Star Wars (even if "cult" becomes "religion" at a certain point)
• Monty Python and the Holy Grail

HOW DO YOU THINK MRFH HAS CHANGED OR GROWN OVER THE YEARS YOU'VE KNOWN IT?
Okay, I'm on the clock here with two little ones, so I'm going to flat-out defer you to reading the others' answers. I came on before Drew and Sue, and after Pooly. I started reading during the Clare/Andie/DNAError era. Please see other sources for the answer :)

IF MRFH HAD A THEME SONG, WHAT WOULD IT BE?
I'd like to say something flashy that would involve us all jumping around in superhero costumes, but I think something by Monty Python would probably be more appropriate. Probably more on the "Always Look On the Bright Side of Life" end of the spectrum than "Every Sperm is Sacred", though.