What kind of "a" movie do you like?

Question

If I want to merely ask someone what kind of movie he/she likes. Can I say,

“What kind of a movie do you like?”

instead of

“What kind of movie do you like?”

I know we can use “kind of a” in a situation like say when we see a friend watching a weird movie and we go, “Man, what kind of a movie is that?” So I wonder if we can use the indefinite article when we merely just want to know the kind of something as well.

The context for my question can be, say a friend came to my place and we will watch a movie. I am asking him, “So what kind of a movie do you like” to decide on the type of the movie we will watch. Or say I just want to get to know someone on Omegle in terms of his general interests.

Answer 1

Both examples are correct, but omitting the "a" is much more idiomatic. Even in your example:

Man, what kind of a movie is that?

It would still be better to omit the "a" to sound idiomatic. Although "a" is used more in this example than the first, omitting the "a" in both is likely the most common and the most normal-sounding.

Answer 2

Both are fine.

What kind of a movie do you like?= What kind of movie do you like?

We can use both of the versions with no change in meaning.