Q: What movies are soon coming out that you are looking forwards to the most? The US summer, our winter, looks to have some very exciting films.

A: Actually I’m not getting overly excited about the 2009 US summer line-up, partly because Transformers 2 holds little appeal as I was bored by the first edition, and the prospect of Christian Bale and the (usually) wooden Sam Worthington growling at each other in Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins, fills me with dread. Also, as I had zero interest in The Da Vinci Code, the prequel Angels & Demons is unlikely to grab me. However, I’m sure Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince will be worth the wait, and Michael Mann’s gangster pic Public Enemies, featuring Johnny Depp, Bale, David Wenham and Stephen Graham, sounds terrific. I’m no Trekkie but I hear good things about J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek XI, and I’m also looking forward to seeing Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck and Rachel McAdams in State of Play; Zack Snyder’s subverted superhero saga Watchmen; Sacha Baron Cohen’s latest folly, Bruno; 3D animated pics Monsters vs. Aliens and Up; and Ridley Scott’s Nottingham.

Q: Which Australian actors have appeared in James Bond movies?

A: Is that a trick question? In terms of the “official” Bond movies, initially I could think only of George Robert Lazenby, born in New South Wales in 1939, who was the second actor to play Bond, in Her Majesty’s Secret Service in 1969, after Sean Connery departed. Lazenby's 007 had one other distinction: he was the only married Bond, although very briefly, to Diana Rigg as she got shot on their wedding day. Previously a successful model, he later acted in several Bond movie spoofs and had various recurring roles in TV series, and starred in The Man From Hong Kong. Then, after more research, I discovered Virginia Hey played one of the Bond girls in 1967's The Living Daylights, which didn't really boost the career of the actress who got her big break in Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981) as the Warrior Woman. Apart from that, the late Michael Pate played Clarence Leiter in the 1954 CBS Mystery Theatre TV adaptation of Casino Royale. If I’ve missed anyone, please let me know!

Q: What are your current TOP 10 movie films of all time?

A: Gee, it’s very hard to compress a lifetime of moviegoing into 10 films. I’ll give it my best shot, but if you asked me the same question next week or next month, some picks would probably change because I don’t have a definitive top 10 and my preferences aren’t set in stone. As of today, and in no particular order, I’d nominate the following: The Godfather Part 1, Schindler’s List, Breaker Morant, The Thomas Crown Affair (the original, not the inferior remake), Citizen Kane, Saving Private Ryan, The Green Mile, The Shawshank Redemption, There Will Be Blood and the Lee Marvin classic Point Blank.

Q: What characters from Madagascar will appear in Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa? Will there be any new characters with famous actors playing their parts?

A: The original characters are back in action, including Alex the lion (voiced by Ben Stiller), Marty the zebra (Chris Rock), Melman the giraffe (David Schwimmer), Gloria the hippo (Jada Pinkett Smith), King Julien (Sacha Baron Cohen), Maurice (Cedric the Entertainer) and the penguins. Among the new characters in the sequel are scheming lion Makunga (Alec Baldwin), amorous hippo Moto Moto (Black Eye Peas front man Will.i.am) and Alex’s father Zuba (the late Bernie Mac).

Q: What are the must-see movies this holiday season?

A: Depending on your tastes, there’s a rich smorgasbord of movies, starting off with High School Musical 3: Senior Year and the Vince Vaughn/Reese Witherspoon comedy Four Holidays on Dec. 4, followed by Twilight, Madagascar 2, Woody Allen’s superb Vicky Christina Barcelona, Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett in David Fincher’s The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Adam Sandler’s Bedtime Stories, the remake of sci-fi classic The Day the Earth Stood Still, and Frost/Nixon. Among January’s offerings will be Disney’s Bolt 3D, Jim Carrey in Yes Man, Will Smith’s Seven Pounds, Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio in Revolutionary Road, Frank Miller’s The Spirit and Clint Eastwood’s Gran Torino.

Q: There are a lot of different robots in Wall-E. What do Wall-E's name and the other robots' names stand for?

A: They’re clever acronyms: Wall.E is short for Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class, EVE stands for Extra-terrestrial Vegetation Evaluator, and M-O means Microbe Obliterator.

Q: I hate seeing scary movies that aren't actually scary. Can you suggest some horror films that will really frighten me?

A: I’m no expert, cos I usually shy away from the more graphic, gruesome movies like Saw, the Nightmares of Elm Street, Friday the 13th etc. I loved Cloverfield, and Wolf Creek was pretty chilling. In bygone years I liked the Alien movies, The Exorcist, Rosemary’s Baby and The Shining. I prefer truly creepy movies such as The Sixth Sense.

Q: In Apocalypse Now, was Martin Sheen actually drunk during the scene in the hotel room?

A: Yes, drunk as a skunk. When he punched the mirror (which was real glass), he really did cut his hand as shown in the film. In his intoxicated state, Sheen also began sobbing and tried to attack the startled director Francis Ford Coppola.

Q: Saw V was just released. Any chance of a Saw VI?

A: Yes, LionsGate commissioned another instalment before Saw V opened. Their faith was justified when Saw V took $US30.05 million in its first weekend in the US, the third consecutive Saw movie to open above $30 mill. And this week Saw became the most successful horror franchise of all time in the US, surpassing the 11 Friday the 13th frighteners. So fans can expect to see Saw VI a year from now.

Q: The trailers for Beverly Hills Chihuahua show almost nothing about what this movie entails. Are there any notable actors in this film? What exactly is the plot and is it worth seeing?

A: I agree that the trailers were crap, which is odd because Disney’s ultra-professional marketing machine usually does a bang-up job in selling movies. The plot follows Chloe (voiced by Drew Barrymore), a diamond-clad, bootie wearing Beverly Hills Chihuahua, who gets lost in the mean streets of Mexico, with only a worldly-wise German Shepherd (voiced by Andy Garcia) to help her find her way home. The human cast includes Piper Perabo and Jamie Lee Curtis. I didn’t see it but plenty of people did as it’s grossed more than $6 million in Oz.

Q: I heard Body of Lies was based on a book. Is this true and does it follow the book closely?

A: Yes, the screenplay by William Monahan (who wrote The Departed) is based on a book of the same title by David Ignatius, a columnist for The Washington Post. Ignatius has said Monahan "found a way to draw a straight story line through my material, and I think all of the main themes of the book are captured well in the film. I am really happy with the way it turned out."

Q: The new James Bond movie, Quantum of Solace, is coming out soon. Where does the title come from? Also I love the opening credits for all Bond movies; who will be singing the theme for this one?

A: The title is taken from one of a collection of short stories published by 007 creator Ian Fleming in 1960. Initially, the producers said the title refers to the measure of comfort that Bond seeks after the death of his beloved Vesper Lynd at the end of Casino Royale. It later emerged that Quantum is the name of the sinister organisation headed by Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric). The theme song, Another Way to Die, is by Jack White and Alicia Keys.

Q: I have been reading the Twilight novels and am very excited for the movie to come out. Who will play the main characters and will I recognize them from any other movies or shows?

A: Yes, you will recognize some as the cast is a mix of familiar and new faces. You'll know Brit Robert Pattinson, who's vampire Edward, as Cedric Diggory, who met an untimely end in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Kristen Stewart (Bella) was the nomadic girl whom Emile Hirsch's character encounters in Into the Wild, and she had a small role in Jumpers. Nikki Reed (Rosalie) starred in Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke’s first two movies, Thirteen and Lords of Dogtown, and Cam Gigandet (James) appeared in Never Back Down. Among the new or relatively fresh faces are Kellan Lutz, Taylor Lautner, Ashley Greene and Edi Gathegi.

Q: I am sick of being disappointed by films I choose to see at cinemas these days. It’s not cheap! How do you pick the good films? What reviewers do you take advice from?

A: My job entails seeing a lot of movies, so I don’t take much notice of reviews. I suggest you take a look at Rotten Tomatoes website, which runs reviews from hundreds of critics around the world and grades them as percentages: ‘fresh’ (positive) and ‘rotten.’ If you peruse the site a few times, you will probably find some critics whose tastes or judgment is similar to yours, so you could follow their reviews online.

Q: Is it true that Julia Roberts had a body double in Pretty Woman?

A: Yes, her body double was curvaceous actress/dancer Shelley Michelle, who also doubled for Kim Basinger in My Stepmother Is an Alien and for Barbra Streisand in The Prince of Tides.

Q: What is the difference between the IF awards and the AFI awards? Which has the more prestige? I am confused by so many film awards around these days.

A: The Inside Film Awards, run by Inside Film magazine, are the so-called ‘people’s choice’ awards, voted on by readers. Now in its 50th year. the AFI awards are presented by the Australian Film Institute and voted on by its members. Which awards have the most recognition among the industry and moviegoers? That’s hard to say, especially when Oz cinema has had so little to celebrate, critically and commercially, in recent years.

Q: How much does Apple pay to place their products in films?

A: Apple claims it does not pay for product placement but it will not reveal how its products make their way into so many TV shows and films. Apple was one of the first technology companies to hire someone in Los Angeles to get Mac products displayed on screen. However Apple seems to generate so much free publicity with its myriad product launches and announcements, I suspect they don't need to spend much time chasing product placement.

Q: Is Cher playing Catwoman in the new Batman film? And is it true they are making a Sopranos film?

A: No, no one has been cast in a sequel to The Dark Knight as director-writer Christopher Nolan hasn’t signed up for another movie…yet. I'm sure he will, he's just taking a while to do so. As for The Sopranos, HBO has flagged its interest in a movie if the series creator David Chase is up for it. So far Chase hasn’t made any commitment to a Sopranos movie, and he recently signed with Paramount to write, produce and direct his first feature film, an original drama, subject under wraps. Last year he said, "If something appeared that really made a good Sopranos movie, and you could invest in it and everybody else wanted to do it, I would do it," he said. I’d love to see a Sopranos movie.

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