okay, Ask Me Anything

Status
Not open for further replies.

Zappit

Staff member
I'd say we're both liberals, Charlie, but you take it to extremes at times. That's something that tends to be caused by experience. So, Charlie, what was that life-changing experience?
 
YES!

What is one of your favorite movie scenes of all time? For any reason you want- cinematography, acting, dialogue, etc
This is a really hard one. I haven't thought much of single scenes that are amazing. I think I'm going to go with the first one that came to mind - Boogie Nights - when Mark Wahlberg is on Alfred Molina's couch. This is a scene I think about a lot, and it's the scene that causes the most drastic physical reaction out of me. Every time. Even though I know everything that's about to happen down to the minutia, every time I see this movie and see this scene, my hands sweat uncontrollably and I get incredibly anxious. It's a master-class of tension ratcheting up exponentially with each second. This is a column / piece I wish I had written: http://www.avclub.com/articles/boogie-nights,30300/ I think the 10-20 second close up of Mark Wahlberg's face is the best acting he's ever done in his life. This is also the only scene Alfred Molina is in in the entire movie, and he is just... electric and terrifying in just a few minutes, effortlessly. This scene has also made Sister Christian "Night Ranger" a really epic song somehow. Also forever changed how I feel when I hear "Jessie's Girl".

Honorable mentions: opening scene of Inglourious Basterds, "Mad as hell" from Network, meeting the Sirens in O Brother Where Art Thou, "a million dollars isn't cool, you know what's cool? A billion dollars" from Social Network, the opening of Jaws, expectations vs reality in (500) Days of Summer
 
What do you consider one of the worst big budget movies ever? (poor story, poor acting, poor effects, poor audio, etc).

If you can't decide you can choose up to three.
 
I'd say we're both liberals, Charlie, but you take it to extremes at times. That's something that tends to be caused by experience. So, Charlie, what was that life-changing experience?
I dunno. I grew up a Young Republican, went to college and became a Ron Paul Libertarian, then moved to Austin TX and started slowly shifting more and more liberal. It just kind of naturally grew out of A) being poor and B) being around all those people Republicans and Libertarians demonize, like gays, transsexuals, women, the poor, etc etc etc and realizing they weren't trying to destroy America.[DOUBLEPOST=1358287541][/DOUBLEPOST]
Do you have any friends?
I have a super super tight group of friends in the immediate city/area (Houston+Austin). I have some lingering friends in the Nashville area from college and high school. And then a kind of wide net of online friends, mostly that I met on the other Kurtz cast-off forum (opolis). But to be honest, since college, it's been hard meeting new people. But a lot of people have that. Everyone from that super tight group of friends I either met on the other forum or they were a friend of someone I met there, etc.[DOUBLEPOST=1358287650][/DOUBLEPOST]
When I make it to Texas at some point in the undefined future, will you buy me a beer?
Texas is hella big, I can't commit to going out to Lubbock or up to the panhandle, but if you're near Houston, sure. I stand by that I would hang out with / have an impromptu forum meet with any HF-ite in Texas or passing through Houston. I swear I'm not a frothing jerk in person as much as I am here. It's just a function of dropping myself in a place where I disagree with most everyone, I 'spose.[DOUBLEPOST=1358287982][/DOUBLEPOST]
How are things?
2012 was probably the shittiest year of my life! Stuff is kind of still bad, I'm not doing a good job of taking care of myself lately. I'm eating really poorly, and letting work get to me way too much. And I'm hitting a breaking point with my job to where I'm nearly actively looking for new jobs during working hours. And job searching is super anxiety-inducing and doesn't help all that previous stuff. I'm also in between therapists/psychiatrists, and that whole process is another stressful thing I am bad at. Life is hard, I hate capitalism, I want out of this whole trap and it's mostly impossible to get out without a large sum of money falling into my lap.[DOUBLEPOST=1358288418][/DOUBLEPOST]
What do you consider one of the worst big budget movies ever? (poor story, poor acting, poor effects, poor audio, etc).

If you can't decide you can choose up to three.
Transformers 2 is the first thing that jumped to mind. It's so bad. It's so awful on so many different levels and in so many different ways.
Quantum of Solace I also hated vigorously and has a surprisingly huge budget.
I also want to say Avatar and Avengers, but they're not really BAD, just mediocre-annoying.
 
<snip> I'm not doing a good job of taking care of myself lately. <snip> I want out of this whole trap and it's mostly impossible to get out without a large sum of money falling into my lap.
I can't tell you how much I sympathise with these two statements.

Also fwiw, you're not a jerk (frothing or otherwise).
 
You seem like a nice enough sort, honestly. Why do you seem to go out of your way to antagonize people here? Is it a case of prodding people who you feel are resting too comfortably on a subject that you think should be discussed more?
 
What question do you really want someone to ask you here? Is there a story or something about you that you would really like to tell?
 
You seem like a nice enough sort, honestly. Why do you seem to go out of your way to antagonize people here? Is it a case of prodding people who you feel are resting too comfortably on a subject that you think should be discussed more?
I dunno why I do things sometimes. I don't like to stay silent when people say stuff that is kind of problematic, and I guess I'm just trying to expose people to different views, but I do it in a kind of bad way since I've just been... I dunno, raised in snark instead of earnest conversation.[DOUBLEPOST=1358291270][/DOUBLEPOST]
What question do you really want someone to ask you here? Is there a story or something about you that you would really like to tell?
I like blabbing about movies and TV. I am proud of my short career as a pro poker player and did some kind of funny /degenerate stuff and a good handful of the people I associated with then are millionaires and on TV playing poker often. But that's kind of a twosided brag. Yeah, they are, but I'm the guy that didn't really make it and now is stuck in a dead end job with no money. It's not for lack of talent or bad luck or anything, I chose to "grow up" and try to get a real job, and now I'm stuck in a position where the barrier of entry to playing poker is really high since it's effectively banned online.[DOUBLEPOST=1358291350][/DOUBLEPOST]
Do you think video games should tell epic stories, or just be fun things to fill time?
I've very slowly and steadily gotten out of video games. I was super hardcore into Halo and Super Smash Bros in college, but then I kind of gradually only played Rock Band, sports games, and the latest Grand Theft Auto afterwards... and now I only use my PS3 as a Blu-Ray player.

But even, that being said, I don't see any reason why they can't be both.
 
What is your favourite Monty Python sketch?
This is going to torpedo my cred, but I really have almost zero exposure to Monty Python other than seeing Holy Grail like 4-5 times at various parties when I was in various states of not paying attention, inebriation, or some combination of the two. I think I've seen a couple of the super famous sketches on youtube, but not really enough to say for sure / remember super specific ones I liked.
 
This is going to torpedo my cred, but I really have almost zero exposure to Monty Python other than seeing Holy Grail like 4-5 times at various parties when I was in various states of not paying attention, inebriation, or some combination of the two. I think I've seen a couple of the super famous sketches on youtube, but not really enough to say for sure / remember super specific ones I liked.
 
Have you ever wanted to make movies? Had any ideas for films that you wanted to make?
I am a shitty aspiring filmmaker like every mook that likes movies and watches a billion of them and thinks that makes them special. I have done like... maybe a dozen or so ideas that have gotten to the really detailed outline stage, but I just sputter out of fear I guess when it gets to the actual scriptwriting stage. There's a couple that I've gotten around 10-20 pages written, but again, I just lock up and don't finish it. The two I'm batting around right now are a feature film adaptation of the Frank Ocean song "Novocaine", and a sci-fi-ish high concept movie where there's a curse/whatever thing where someone has to murder someone every 100 hours or else - ( I haven't figured this part out).

My favorite script I've written is fan fiction for my friends of Star Trek The Next Generation. It is an ongoing series where I write it when I'm really really drunk and add on to it. I have never seen a full episode of TNG, just heard people talk about it a lot. I just kind of make up what people are like or just ask a friend if Picard hates Worf or whatever. The title is "The Rise and Fall of the Third Riker" (my idea), and it's about a third Riker brother that travels through time and becomes the leader of Nazi Germany, and then the crew of the Enterprise has to stop him.[DOUBLEPOST=1358292329][/DOUBLEPOST]
What was the highest amount of money you ever won in a single poker game?
$5,600 in a tournament (and this was 2nd place. Dammit). Cash game... I think around $3,000 in one sitting / session. I got down to the last ~3 tables in really huge tournaments where 1st-5th or so got 6 figures (or as I liked to call it "fuck you money"), and been really close to 5 figure cashes another bunch of times.
 
Do you think the zombie genre is beaten to death?
It's a thing / setting rich with storytelling potential, but there's just a lot of bad and I personally am tired of it. I pulled the cord on Walking Dead after the second season premiere and haven't looked back. That Warm Bodies thing might be fun? I just don't care anymore. I might watch World War Z.
 
I'm developing a zombie comedy movie. Would you watch my ZomCom?
I dunno, if it looked good? I saw and mostly enjoyed Zombieland even though it was kind of a bald-faced cash grab.[DOUBLEPOST=1358294698][/DOUBLEPOST]
When watching movies, do you go with popcorn or something else? If popcorn, sweet or salted?
At the theater, mostly popcorn with that gross not-butter sauce and coke zero. At home, I usually eat while watching movies, but it's just whatever I'm eating at the time, not any specific "movie food".
 
I have a super super tight group of friends in the immediate city/area (Houston+Austin). I have some lingering friends in the Nashville area from college and high school. And then a kind of wide net of online friends, mostly that I met on the other Kurtz cast-off forum (opolis). But to be honest, since college, it's been hard meeting new people. But a lot of people have that. Everyone from that super tight group of friends I either met on the other forum or they were a friend of someone I met there, etc.


tumblr_mfrgqviqHe1rrkavbo1_400.gif
 

Zappit

Staff member
I'm developing a zombie comedy movie. Would you watch my ZomCom?
Would be tough to beat Shaun of the Dead.

Now there's that new zombie comedy Warm Bodies. Zombie romance. A RomZomCom.

But back on topic...

Read the short story "The Lady and the Tiger". Which door do you hope for?
 
Would you ever consider adapting one of your movie ideas to something else, like a novel, or work with an artist to make a comic or something?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top