A film director as a BOOK REPORT guest on AOL Live? Yes, when he's Barry Sonnenfeld, whose films are so witty you know he's read a book --- or a thousand --- along the way. On July 28, 1997, with his MEN IN BLACK on the verge of breaking the $200 million mark, Sonnenfeld created a portrait in words of what a thoughtful, funny, literate director is like. The TBR interviewers were Jesse Kornbluth and Nicholas Tapert, both typing as BookpgJK. And our steady host was MarleneT.

Bookpg JK: Good evening. A delight to be here with the summer's hottest director -- and with Nicholas Tapert as my co-host.

Barry Sonnenfeld: I'm happy to be interviewed on such a manly program.

Bookpg JK: Nick has the first question: Will there be a sequel?

Barry Sonnenfeld: If we can come up with a story that feels fresh and original. Tommy, Will, Linda, and I loved working together and I'm sure we'd be delighted to do it again.

Bookpg JK: The neuralyzer -- that is one great device. Do you have one? Do you need one?

Barry Sonnenfeld: I don't have one. I no longer need one, though I did during my dating years. Basically, from 14 to 35. In fact, there was once a scene in the script when Will kept asking women out on dates. He'd get their interests wrong and he would have to flash them to start again.

Bookpg JK: Do you wear Ray Bans?

Barry Sonnenfeld: No, I need prescriptive sunglasses.

Bookpg JK: Aliens... if anyone knows, it's probably you. Are you seeing more of them since making this movie?

Barry Sonnenfeld: Here is the problem. MEN IN BLACK is NOT a documentary. Please do NOT come to my house seeking information. But I am starting to think they DO exist... because the summer in New York brings them out.

Question: Why did you use the song MEN IN BLACK only over the credits at the end? Great song... why save it?

Barry Sonnenfeld: Because Will didn't write the song until the very last minute! And we were done with everything except the final credits. It's very cool. You should see me dance to it.

Question: First of all, it was the best movie!:) And, do you believe in aliens?

Barry Sonnenfeld: I believe in all sorts of scary things: ghosts, ESP, aliens. But I don't believe they fly around in metal ships that crash in the desert after traveling for billions of light years. The last shot of the movie sums up my philosophy of life.

Bookpg JK: Yes, it out-Kubricks Kubrick -- and is funnier too. The idea, as I take it, is that we are all only toy marbles in a larger game played by the gods, yes?

Barry Sonnenfeld: Maybe the gods. Maybe just some kid on an alien planet. But in any case, we should stop taking ourselves so damn seriously.

Question: Would you rather be known for the films you have directed or your rollercoaster camera work?

Barry Sonnenfeld: I'm equally proud of both in different ways. There was a lot less pressure as a cinematographer and I had a lot more control over my craft, but directing pays better.

Question: Why wasn't the brilliant Danny Elfman score released by itself? Is there a place I can get the whole score?

Barry Sonnenfeld: I think it is a brilliant score. I wish it was available. On the MEN IN BLACK album, there are two Elfman releases. I wish there were more.

Question: What gave you the idea for MEN IN BLACK? Someone out there?

Barry Sonnenfeld: Ed Solomon's script was sent to me. The scene that made me want to do it was when Will says, "I thought my teacher was from Venus." And Tommy says, "Jupiter actually -- one of the moons." That just struck me.

Question: What schooling, as far as degrees, do you have? Also, how did you meet Joel Coen? Keep up the great work, we love your films.

Barry Sonnenfeld: I went to NYU as an undergraduate in Political Science, then I got an AMF from NYU film school. I met Joel Coen at a party given by the daughter of the chairman of Young and Rubican. We were the only Jews in the room. We gravitated to each other.

Question: Did you think that MEN IN BLACK would be as popular as it is?

Barry Sonnenfeld: Not at all. I was constantly warning Steven Spielberg, the executive producer, that I was making a tiny buddy movie. He said I was wrong. He was right.

Bookpg JK: Were you vworried about the lack of violence and special effects that seem so necessary in summer films?

Barry Sonnenfeld: I'm not capable of making a very violent movie. What attracted me to MEN IN BLACK was that I could make a summer movie, but the violence could be cartoonish. No blood. No guts. Just an occasional off-camera sound.

Question: How long did this movie take to make?

Barry Sonnenfeld: Two years from the time we started pre-production to the release, and an entire year was in post-production, working on the computer graphics with Industrial Light & Magic.

Bookpg JK: Do you know what you are shooting next?

Barry Sonnenfeld: WILD WILD WEST, based on a 60s TV series, with Will Smith and George Clooney. It's like James Bond meets the West. When you work with Will Smith, you hope to work with him for the rest of your life. Not that I am Scorsese, but I'd love for Will to be my De Niro.

Question: MEN IN BLACK is one of my favorite movies. But how did you do all those terrific effects?

Barry Sonnenfeld: Some of the aliens are rod puppets with as many as 16 puppeteers on the ground watching video monitors. The worm guys, who smoke and drink coffee, are puppets when you first see them. Later, they're computer effects.

Bookpg JK: Would you make a film with so many special effects again?

Barry Sonnenfeld: I really hope not. Unless it's the sequel. It's like directing two movies. One with actors, and one with guys in glasses and beards at computer terminals.

Question: What was it like working with Christopher Lloyd in ADDAMS FAMILY?

Barry Sonnenfeld: Chris Lloyd is a brilliant actor, incredibly shy, and gained 80 pounds between the time I said "Roll, camera" and "action" so he could be right in the part.

Question: You made a film that contained aliens and had Will Smith, etc., like the blockbuster hit INDEPEDENCE DAY. Were you ever intimidated that the viewers wouldn't like MEN IN BLACK as much as INDEPENDENCE DAY? Or did you feel like you HAD to make MEN IN BLACK as good?

Barry Sonnenfeld: Luckily, we were two weeks away from finishing filming when INDEPENDENCE DAY came out. There was very little I could do to be nervous. I did go to the midnight showing of the premiere of INDEPENDENCE DAY at the Ziegfeld and was thrilled to see a packed audience take flash pictures of Will Smith on screen. That's when I knew I was lucky to have cast him.

Question: Do you, or would you, limit what your own kids watch, in terms of sex and/or violence in films?

Barry Sonnenfeld: No, I wouldn't. I would, however, want to bring my kids up in a happy, familial environment so they could make their own judgment. But I have no problem with parents who make a different judgment.

Question: How was Will Smith off the set? Was he as cool as he looks on TV and in movies?

Barry Sonnenfeld: Yeah. He is as cool and happy and energetic and self-confident as anyone you will ever meet. I want to BE Will Smith.

Question: What is your personal favorite part of the movie?
Barry Sonnenfeld: One of my favorite parts is when Tommy and Will are driving upside down... because no one thought it would work -- including Spielberg and the studio. I also loved it when Tommy shook down the pug dog. Who knew when you shake a pug that he gets an erection? We spent eight months training the pugs not to... I thought we'd have to do that scene with computer graphics!

Barry Sonnenfeld: I'd like to work with Sterling Hayden because I've never worked with a dead actor before. I love De Niro's body of work. I'd like Scorsese as an actor. I like it when you don't see the acting. And Celeste -- have you been in touch with Debbie Reinisch lately?

Question: What about a sequel -- WOMEN IN BLACK?

Barry Sonnenfeld: Could happen.

Question: When you used the neuralyzer, was the flash really there or did you have to edit it in?

Barry Sonnenfeld: Inside the neuralyzer is a small bulb from a Kodak Instamatic. It was only there to show the actors and Industrial Light that it was there. Then it was enhanced.

Question: What was the most challenging part of the movie for you?

Barry Sonnenfeld: Definitely the year of post-production. We were not only creating aliens, we were creating comic performances on a computer. And then there is the challenge not to be bored.

Question: If you make another ADDAMS FAMILY movie, would you want Christina Ricci in it?

Barry Sonnenfeld: The problem is that she is too old and Raul Julia is dead.

Question: My question is about your WILD WILD WEST project. What is the timeline and who other than Mr. Smith has signed for the movie?

Barry Sonnenfeld: Mr. Clooney is on the verge of signing. I hope we will shoot in April. It will be out in the summer of 1999. In the meantime, I will direct a one-hour pilot of an Elmore Leonard novel called MAXIMUM BOB for ABC.

Question: Would you ever consider acting?

Barry Sonnenfeld: I almost played the morgue attendant because I thought the role required someone whiny and pathetic. Then I found an actor as whining and pathetic as I was.

Question: What happened to the scene where Will asks Tommy if he knew how to use the gun and Tommy goes "No idea whatsoever."

Barry Sonnenfeld: I allowed Sony to talk me into a lesser version of the scene. Now there is a stupid bug joke. I can only imagine how much more the movie would have made if I had left that line in.

Question: What is your favorite film that you've directed and what's your favorite film of another director's?

Barry Sonnenfeld: My favorite... they're all like my kids. I loved the first ADDAMS FAMILY because it was my first. I loved GET SHORTY because it was literate. I love MEN IN BLACK because it is so successful so quickly. Four of my favorite movies are by two directors: Stanley Kubrick's DR. STRANGELOVE and 2001, and Scorsese's TAXI DRIVER and MEAN STREETS. I'm also a huge fan of the Coen Brothers.

Question: What do you think of the modern moviegoing experience?

Barry Sonnenfeld: Too many cuts. Too loud. Too many explosions.

Question: What do you think of these new theaters where there are 18 screens, but the theaters hold maybe 150 people?

Barry Sonnenfeld: The theaters suck. And the sound is terrible. And there isn't enough light on the screen. I would say not even five percent of our theaters are up to the standards set by the theater owners.

Question: Who has been your favorite actor/actress to work with?

Barry Sonnenfeld: Raul Julia. Will Smith.

Bookpg JK: One of your team praises you for publishing shot lists. What else do you do that in uniquely Sonnenfeldian?

Barry Sonnenfeld: I read the script from beginning to end every Sunday I'm shooting. It helps me see where the problems are. And I whine a lot.

Bookpg JK: Last question: Have YOU ever been neuralyzed?

Barry Sonnenfeld: Wow! I suspect that neuralization explains "deja vu"... so perhaps I have. It would explain why I sometimes appear in different clothes in the same afternoon.

Bookpg JK: Well, we hope you won't forget this experience. We certainly won't. Thanks.

Barry Sonnenfeld: Thanks. I'll see you in two years when WILD WILD WEST opens.