Welcome to another edition of Follow Friday where each week I feature and interview a fellow blogger and follow their suggestion to another blog to feature next week. I prefer this over a blogroll because it gives each blog their own time to shine, plus I personally rarely click on blogrolls so why would I expect you to? Not only that, but I get the chance to check out some great blogs I might not have found otherwise found, talk to some great people, and share the conversation with you. This week I was directed by John over at The Droid You’re Looking For to check out Front Room Cinema aka FRC which is a great site with a tons of interesting features and reviews.

Had a rough couple days at work, so I’ll just get straight to the interview and let FRC do the talking.

Bubbawheat: First off, can you tell me a little bit about your site?

Scott Lawler: FrontRoomCinema or FRC to it’s friends started out as a little blog that I thought no one would read. The reason I started the site was because I was so upset by the rising prices of going to the cinema and wanted to write about setting up good home cinemas, that could be every bit as good an experience as a full on multiplex (within reason). The irony of it all is that as the site got busier and the hits came rolling in I started to get noticed by the film distributers in UK and got invites to screening, blu rays to watch at home and press passes to festivals. I haven’t had to pay to go to the cinema for a year!!

We still focus mainly on Home Cinema, with Tech posts as well as reviews of films and opinion pieces. It is fine line to tread but we try and keep FRC a family type affair and not give into the pressure of becoming a faceless movie website.

BW: I love your design, did you do it yourself, or have it done? What was the main goal you had in mind for the design?

SL: Thanks matey. I am pretty pleased with the design as well. I have tried many different styles / themes but I am happy with how it is now, saying that after next week when The Dark Knight Rises is out we will go back to a light colour, as I believe that is easier on the eye.

When it comes to the design, It is a paid theme that is pretty flexible. I designed the logo and look of it all, but I cannot take credit for the theme. It has some nice features especially when reviewing films.

My main idea with the design was to have a professional looking website but have friendly personal content.

BW: What’s your favorite feature you run on your site?

SL: We run quite a few features weekly, but I guess my most successful is the MIDWEEK MUMBLING on wednesdays. It is a bit of an open forum to moan about or praise cinema. I ran a four weekly mumble about cinema etiquette that was particularly popular and every one got picked up by IMDb for the hitlist when that was still alive.

BW: Can you talk a little bit about your contributors and how they came to join the site?

SL: I have been pretty lucky with my team. When it started to get busy (and I mean busy) it became too much for little old me and I needed to share the workload. I simply put it out there on twitter and got a few emails in. Two of which were Tom Bielby and Teri Williams. They are great guys and really keen. Teri lives in London and she does most of the press screenings for us, Tom looks after most of the home cinema release, with yours truly picking up the pieces and editing the posts when they come in. Rodney is a recent addition, who is himself a very successful blogger at Fernby Films with a lot to say and a great way of doing it.

I don’t think I will expand with more contributors at the moment, things are working pretty well.

BW: Considering your great home theater set up, do you still find it’s worth it to make the trip to the theaters?

SL: Ha great question.

The simple answer is YES. But there are moments that I do remember why I set up the site in the first place. At home I am, as you say, lucky enough to have a great set up with 7.1 sound and a 92” screen, but the thrill of seeing a great film in a packed IMAX still gives me goosebumps.

It is the films where the general public ruin the film with load or rude etiquette makes me wish I was at home in my comfy seat in the peace and quiet.

BW: What’s your favorite superhero movie?

SL: To be honest I am not really a massive fan of Superhero movies. There are some I enjoyed like the HULK reboot, THOR was OK and for some reason I really enjoyed PUNISHER WARZONE (is that bad?). I used to read Wolverine religiously as a child and I have never been happy with Hugh Jackman’s version, I mean for starters he is like 2 foot too tall!!

If you push me I would have to say that Nolan’s Batman trilogy, which I guess is a bit of a cop out, but they have been immense and the new one coming next week looks like it will be even better than the last. I like the dark tone of the films which matches my memories of the comics as a child. And I do like a dark film.

BW: And finally, what blog do you suggest I follow for next week?

SL: This is a toughie, i follow so many great websites and blogs. There are so many talented writers out there that make me blush by there skill with a pen. One in particular is Jessica from The Velvet Cafe. She is a lady after my own heart that reviews films from a personal view point and is highly amusing in her writing style. SO I choose Jessica!