CROSSTOPIX #5: Part 2 of 3

Welcome back! This is part 2 of CrossTopix #5. With me this week is former CrossTopix regular Charlie Cat. Today we discuss the many interesting career paths we wanted to have as a kid, some of the music we're currently listening to, and the upcoming movie: Kick-Ass!

For those who have not read Part 1, read it right here! http://crosstopix.blogspot.com/2010/04/crosstopix-5-part-1-of-3.html

4. As a kid we all had that crazy dream job (doctor, astronaut, Robocop, a donkey, etc.) Were your visions that crazy or were they more normal? How do they compare in what you’re doing today?

STVO: As random as I can be, I didn’t have that many wacky dream jobs as a kid. I had a few that I can’t see myself doing today though. When I was first a kid, I wanted to build houses. I was hoping I’d get so good I could do big buildings or even castles (yes, I said castles.) I then saw myself being a hero by becoming a fire fighter as I thought it would be great to save people from a burning building, putting out the fires and getting to ride on the truck. When I got older, I realized, I’m not THAT brave. :D

I later had visions of drawing comics for a living or owning a television network. I would love to do both someday (not sure how realistic either are though, lol) and while I’m not living out a dream or at a job that uses my degree, I am very optimistic for the future! I’m ready for that career that will use the skills I have and can help people/companies with their needs! Also, I am hopeful that maybe this site will take off as well!

CharlieCat: I always wanted to write. That's been constant throughout my life. My wacky childhood job was to be a professional wrestler! Get ready to eat some mat! Says Toothpickman! Wait, huh? Yeah, I definitely could never cut that out physically being the twig I am. Haha. My finisher would have been the bonebreaker where I hit my opponent and shatter every bone in my arm. Yeah, that's showing 'em whose boss!

5. What soundtrack, song, or set of songs really move you currently? Do they take you to another place or have you envisioned your own music video?

STVO: One of my favorite songs of all-time that I enjoy to this day is “Money For Nothing” by Dire Straits. I think the 80s CGI music video provides a really good feel for the song as it’s about two people who work as movers envisioning themselves as rock stars and how they wish they could go back to those days. Sometimes I wish I could go back and do stuff like that, haha. While this maybe “copying the current crowd”, I have enjoyed listening to some Michael Jackson songs such as “Another Part of Me,” “Beat It,” and “Smooth Criminal” as they take me back to the 80s and his Moonwalker video game on the Sega Genesis. Yes very dorky I know, but whatever!

I love listening to those songs among many other songs on my iPod while working out! Some other artists I really enjoy listening to while on “the run” are Nirvana, Nine Inch Nails, Foo Fighters, Stevie Wonder, Billy Joel, Collective Soul, Elton John, and of course, many others.

CharlieCat: Depeche Mode does it for me. Their early 90's album release, “Violator” is my favorite album of all time. It does not have my favorite song of all time, but I feel it is the best collection of songs put together from a musical artist. “The Greatest Hits of Simple Minds” has some great songs that I listen to over and over again. Roy Orbison's “In Dreams” is probably my favorite song of all time. What a heartbreaker of a song. It is very dear and personal to me.




6. Kick-Ass is an upcoming movie based off of a comic book where a random teenager decides to become a superhero but doesn't have any superpowers. Upon seeing the trailer(s) and/or possibly reading the comics, do you think the movie would deliver in laughs in your opinion? Why or why not? Haven't seen the trailer yet? Watch it here: http://www.youtube.com
/watch?v=l_9FZ1463sw

STVO: When I first saw the trailer for this movie during Daybreakers, you know what movie I thought of? It was “Blankman” starring Damon Wayans and David Alan Grier released in 1994. I thought this movie was very funny and good as I somewhat related myself as Damon Wayans’s character and my older brother to that of David Alan Grier, who played Damon Wayans’s brother. We saw this while we were in elementary school and even envisioned ourselves as becoming real-life superheroes. I’ve never read the comic series Kick-Ass and after seeing the trailer thought it was just another superhero parody from Hollywood. The concept is definitely not one-of-a-kind as we have had many other superhero parodies in the past in movies, TV, video games, and comics. For that reason, I am a little skeptical of what I will think of this movie.

I like the idea of one teenage boy becoming a hero as well as others trying to follow suit (a concept I enjoyed being done in The Dark Knight), but the humor looks like it could either be decent or real lame. I’ll admit, I am a little harsh on comedy movies (perhaps because of nostalgia?), but I can’t find myself enjoying most comedies of today. The best comedy movies of the last decade were Superbad and Napoleon Dynamite, as they had many things I can relate to (yes, going to a college in small-town and having some interesting but very funny friends in high school can make you relate to the situations in Napoleon Dynamite.) The problem I see with this movie is the concept might only last up to what I see in the trailers and not go beyond, plus with the exceptions of Nicholas Cage and Clark Duke (Sex Drive and Hot Tub Time Machine, both movies I found “okay” but absolutely nothing to boast about), most of the actors in this flick are fresh faces or have mostly done television work (and mostly minor roles from what I have seen of them on IMDB.com.) This could either help or hinder Kick-Ass in my opinion.

Will I go see it? Probably not in theaters even though it’s probably my favorite of what’s coming that weekend (Perfect Game seems okay while Death at a Funeral is a remake of a 2007 British comedy I have already seen.) We’re in a bad economy so I like to spend on movies I really want to see, this month I’m seeing A Nightmare on Elm Street, Clash of the Titans, and Iron Man 2 for first week of May. If I can get a free (legal of course!) screening of this movie, I’ll definitely go, but otherwise I think I’ll wait until it hits blu-ray or instant on my Netflix queue. Looking at the movies I do want to see coming up this month, there are two remakes and a sequel, kind of a shame.

CharlieCat: Ugh. I can't even crack a smile at the trailers I've seen. I am not big on the comedies of today and this one is just another one that I'll pass on. It's following up “Cop Out” as the action comedy movie that “needs to be” in theaters. I'm sure the comics are interesting and gauging this movie from a more objective standpoint, it does look mildly interesting. I see it doing well with the teenage crowd. It's about teens trying to find a way into adulthood and their way is to become “kick-ass” vigilantes. That will resonate as funny to a lot of teens. It looks like it will rely a lot on physical humor, which is always a good way for a laugh. People can't help but laugh at other people getting hurt. The kid says he's going to kick a bunch of street thugs’ behinds to jail and starts swirling around nun-chucks and ends up hitting himself in the head or nuts. Ha. Good for a chuckle. I see a lot of gags like that. But the trailers didn't show me anything to make me think, Wowzer! Non-stop laughapalooza!
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Alright! All answers are done for this week. Tune in Friday for CrossACTION! As always, leave comments to help better the site and visit the Facebook fanpage! You can also e-mail STVO at kingstvo@gmail.com if you want to discuss the site, be a guest, or have suggestions as well!