#WeAreQFT: Paul Skillen
06 May 2020
Patron Paul Skillen is the next recipient of the #WeAreQFT grilling. Find out what comedy he can't turn off, what soundtrack has been on his playlist for 25 years and what director he thinks of when he thinks of QFT.
You are stuck at home and your favourite cinema is closed. What five films do you watch?
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968): Kubrick’s masterclass is yet to be surpassed. Fifty years old and it still reveals something new every time I watch it. Demands repeat viewings.
The Social Network (2010): The perfect modern film? Perhaps. Charts the birth of the age we live in and how the very human emotions of a computer geek led to the development of a database holding the personal details of 2.5bn people.
Andrei Rublev (1966): Tarkovsky’s cinema is poetry. This one is right up there.
Lost Highways (1997): I had to have a Lynch, and Lost Highways contains one of his greatest ever scenes. At a LA party a jazz musician, played by Bill Pullman, meets the figure stalking his nightmares, the Mystery Man. What happens next is the creepiest phone call ever.
Volver (2006): When I think of QFT I think of the films of Pedro Almodovar, and this is a favourite. Funny, poignant and filled with a typically gorgeous colour palate.
What three words would you use to describe QFT?
My second home.
What is your earliest cinema-going memory?
Going to see Return of the Jedi (1983) at the ABC, I think!
What film do you dislike that everyone else loves?
Midsommar (2019): I’m stunned by the critical and audience reception. Laugh out loud funny when it’s not supposed to be laugh out loud funny. I’m happy to argue with anyone on this.
What is your guilty pleasure film?
Bridesmaids (2011): One of those movies you randomly come across late at night as you channel hop. No matter which point I come in at, I can’t turn it off. Hilarious.
What is your favourite film soundtrack?
Blade Runner (1982) has been on my playlist for 25 years.
What film character would you love to meet?
Peter Venkman from Ghostbusters (1984). He’d have some pretty incredible stories, and would be great fun on a night out.
What is the best thing about going to the cinema?
Sharing an experience in a darkened room with a bunch of strangers that love the same thing you do.
Do you have a special place in the cinema where you always sit?
Four rows from the back, in the middle. Always.
Who is your favourite film villain?
Beetlejuice. Beetlejuice. Beetlejuice.
What film do you think justifies a remake?
Hitchcock’s Vertigo (1958) directed by David Lynch would be great on the big screen.
What is your favourite movie quote?
That incredibly calm response from HAL 9000 as Dave Bowman asks for the pod bay doors to be opened. ‘I’m sorry Dave, I’m afraid I can’t do that’.
What film would you love to see at QFT when it reopens?
I missed La Haine (1995) on the big screen first time round. I see it’s 25 years young now.
