The
OFFICIAL Aisle Seat Faq
From
time to time, folks write in and ask -- what's the
deal with The Aisle
Seat? How long has Andre been reviewing? What are
his credentials as a
critic? In the current internet world, they're
valid questions to ask
since the online community is filled with people
expressing themselves
-- as they have every right to. On the other hand,
some writers,
bloggers, and online journalists have more
expertise than others.
ANDRE
DURSIN has been covering the entertainment
world for a handful
of
print and online publications for well over a
decade, in addition to
working on a freelance basis with RCA Records,
Sony Music, Intrada, Rykodisc and others. His work
has appeared in a variety of publications
and has been noted around the world.
Born
October, 1974 in Warwick, Rhode Island, Andre (aka
Andy) started off
covering soundtracks in the early days of Film Score Monthly
magazine.
Along with publisher Lukas Kendall, Andre helped
guide FSM through the
formative years of what would become the world's
only monthly
publication about film music. This collaboration
began back in the
summer of 1990 -- while Kendall and Dursin were
still high school
students in southeastern New England.
While
attending Boston College a short time later, Andre
began reviewing
for Movie
Collector,
a
full-color British magazine published by noted
cinephile Trevor
Willsmer, and Home
Movies,
Canada's only monthly home theater publication.
For nearly five years
(1993-98), Dursin covered laserdiscs, soundtracks,
and commented on the
then-fledgling World Wide Web for both
publications, reviewing
everything from "The Grass Harp" to "Fright
Night." He also interviewed
composers and filmmakers alike, including
prominent composers Alan
Silvestri ("Back to the Future," "Forrest Gump"),
Randy Edelman ("Last
of the Mohicans"), Joe LoDuca ("The Evil Dead"),
Bruce Broughton
("Silverado"), Mark Mancina ("Speed," "Twister"),
and the late Miles
Goodman ("Little Shop of Horrors," "Muppet
Christmas Carol").
After
graduating from B.C. in 1997, Lukas Kendall asked
Andre if he'd be
interested in writing an internet column. Since
Film Score Monthly is
naturally film music intensive, and soundtrack
collectors are also
die-hard movie buffs, Dursin thought the best idea
would be to cover
his true love: movies and laserdiscs (DVDs were a
few months away),
giving a unique perspective to FSM.
THE
AISLE SEAT was then launched on May
1st,
1997 -- coincidentally marking the debut of
Film Score
Monthly
on the web altogether! Since the Fall of 1997,
Andre has been turning
out columns on a regular basis (if not weekly,
then certainly close),
covering the world of movies, DVDs, soundtracks
and the entertainment
industry in general.
In
October of 2004, Andre launched his own site, THE AISLE SEAT
at andyfilm.com,
where updates are posted weekly (ahead of their
continued
appearance at Film
Score
Monthly) and readers are invited to join in
a
discussion on
the Official
Aisle
Seat Message Boards.
Over
the years Andre has been invited to write liner
notes for numerous
soundtrack albums. Most recently he worked with
RCA Records/BMG Music
on several projects including DIRTY
DANCING:
The Ultimate Edition and REALITY
BITES:
The 10th Anniversary Edition. Andre has also
contributed
notes for the original soundtracks to beloved
movies like THE CUTTING
EDGE, Jimmy Buffet's RANCHO DELUXE, Henry
Mancini's THE PINK PANTHER
STRIKES AGAIN, Ernest Gold's IT'S A MAD MAD MAD
MAD WORLD, and SOME
LIKE IT HOT (all for Rykodisc Records). One of his
most satisfying
assignments was authoring the notes for Sony
Music's CD of CLASH
OF
THE TITANS, the 1981 Ray Harryhausen fantasy
that remains
one of
his all-time favorite films!
In
addition to his freelance assignments, Andre
worked with Barnes
&
Noble in reviewing albums and compiling a
list of
Soundtrack
Essentials when they launched their online site in
1998; he also
contributed reviews to VideoHound's
Soundtracks Guide; worked at WJAR
(NBC) 10 in Providence, R.I. (earning a
special citation from
MSNBC
for coverage of the 9/11 attacks); freelanced for
New England Film.com;
and when not turning out The Aisle Seat, has
written up many a college
hockey game for US
College
Hockey Online. To top it all off, he also
recently
performed
voice over narration for Andrew Montlack's film BOHICA.
The
Aisle Seat is based out of Andre's home offices
scattered across
Rhode Island, a state best known for giving the
world James Woods; RISD
graduates Savage Steve Holland ("One Crazy
Summer"), Martin Mull and
Seth MacFarlane ("Family Guy"), the honorable (and
convicted) Mayor
Vincent A. "Buddy" Cianci; David Hedison (one-time
Felix Leiter and
star of "Voyage To The Bottom of The Sea");
Oscar-winning composer Bill
Conti ("Rocky"); comic-actor Buddy Hackett;
"Cheers" star Nicholas
"Coach" Colasanto; and singer Jeffrey Osborne.
Andre
can be
contacted via email
here -- all comments are welcome, including
dissenting ones!
Happy
Viewing everyone!
Don't
forget
to drop in
on the official Aisle Seat Message
Boards, direct
any
emails to the
link
above
and
we'll catch you
then. Cheers!