There was an aptly timed e-mail from a reader in my inbox today. One simple question. “When is the next episode of 'Ask Drew'?”
We'll be taping the episode on April 22nd. After that, we'll be going to a bi-weekly format. We'll be playing with the length of the episodes as well until we find the sweet spot, and we appreciate all of the feedback you guys gave us on the first one.
Obviously, now is the time to send your questions, and while I relish the feeling of re-living high school-era humiliations for you from time to time, I would encourage you to think big. For example, see that “Airwolf” picture at the top of this story? You could ask me about the “Airwolf” story. Everyone loves a good “Airwolf” story, don't they?
I've worked in Los Angeles in and around the film and theater community for 24 years now, and I've been writing about movies for the last 15 of those years. I've been lucky enough to get to know filmmakers and craftsmen from all levels of the film industry, and I love to collect stories from all of them. Even if I'd never started writing about movies for Ain't It Cool News all those years ago, I'd still have had many of the same experiences. I've been around film sets since I was 14 years old, and one of the things that still seems just as amazing to me now as it did when I first logged onto the Internet in the '90s is that we have this tool that means that anyone from around the world who can get online can have access to all of the knowledge and experience of anyone else online anywhere else in the world. This is an amazing tool… and not just as a device to make me squirm in discomfort.
If you do feel like torturing me with a round of “Movie God,” the game so brutal that Film Crit Hulk refuses to play it, the rules are simple. Name two things… films, actors, directors, genres… and as Movie God, I have to strike one of them from the record so it never existed. Anything it led to or influenced might also be affected, so pick carefully. The first episode's Movie God was an awful one that gave me real angst, so the bar has already been set high. I look at the game as a great way of figuring out what is that we hold most dear about movies, not just as an exercise in mental anguish.
If there are upcoming movies you're curious about or recent home video releases you want to know is worth your time and money or behind-the-scenes stories for your favorite films that you'd love to hear, that's why I'm here. Who knows? Maybe I've got secrets I've been keeping that you can shake loose. Anything can happen and I won't know anything about what they'll ask me until we are on the air. Our video team loved your submissions the first time around, and just because it didn't get asked yet doesn't mean they didn't appreciate you sending it. Who knows? If you want it answered, try again, and maybe it'll fit this week's show better.
The bottom line is that the show only works if you guys participate, and the better your questions, the better the show's going to be. I'm looking forward to round two, and you can submit your questions to video@hitfix.com, including “ASK DREW” in the e-mail subject line. Comments will be disabled in this story just so people don't automatically ask their question here, but we'll post the finished episode for you on the 23rd.