Without further ado, let me introduce this week’s guest. He’s one of the founders of Pigboat Productions (www.pigboatproductions.com) the director of Life at Grandpa’s (www.lifeatgrandpas.com) and the upcoming film, Sun for Sorrow. Introducing, Joe Harris!
J
oe: My name is Joe Harris. I am a filmmaker out of Omaha, Nebraska. I am a self proclaimed nerd of all things, from video games, movies, wrestling, computers, music, and all sorts of other random subjects. I am proud of this, and think it makes me a more interesting person although some would argue that it just makes me obnoxious. I call those people my friends. It's an honor to be a part of CrossTopix, as I've been reading, just wishing I could interject my own opinions into this, and now I can! I hope my introduction into the series is enjoyable and interesting. So, uh...enjoy!
1. Top 5 Favorite Video Game Characters
STVO: I based this question on a recent Top 50 list from Empire.com (http://www.empireonline.com/features/50-greatest-video-game-characters/default.asp?film=50) My friends and I had many disagreements, I didn’t quite want to do a Top 50 on Crosstopix, but take 10% of it and you have a perfect Top 5 list! Mine will be personal favorites, not necessarily my favorite video games though:
5. Albert Wesker: On a list full of good guys (and all family-friendly characters) I needed one mature villain! While this choice is debatable, I felt this was a great choice. A former member of the S.T.A.R.S. team he proves to be associated with the evil Umbrella Corporation in the first Resident Evil title. He makes appearances in other titles but SPOILER ALERT you have your final battle with him in Resident Evil 5. While I’m fine with them choosing 5 to be his final title, I wish they would have had the rest of S.T.A.R.S. and the main good guys such as Claire Redfield, Leon Kennedy, Rebecca Chambers, and perhaps even Billy involved in this title to take him out. Oh well I enjoyed killing him like I enjoyed witnessing his menacing actions throughout the series.
4. PaRappa the Rapper: No stranger to PS1-core gamers but perhaps some of today’s casuals have forgotten him. He’s a silly rapping dog from PaRappa Town who is trying to win the heart of a flower named “Sunny Funny.” Does this game sound like somebody was getting high? You should see what happens when you play his games! PaRappa does his best to please his friends, his dad, and the love of his life. Plus he could beat any of today’s rappers in a freestyle battle!
3. Mario: An obvious choice on almost anyone’s top 5, but hey why not? He made appearances in so many video games be it his famous platformers, his racing games, sports titles, or even his all out battles with fellow Nintendo brethren. On top of that, he’s always cheery, he is about as mighty and fast as his competition, and he is more recognized by children than Mickey Mouse (according to old statistics at least.)
2. Link: A teenage medieval heart-throb to girls, a bad@$$ with an awesome sword fighting the craziest monsters. While Sonic and Sega took the place of Mario and Nintendo when I turned eight years old, Link on the Gameboy had me tune away from Sonic and others on my Game Gear. The Ocarina of Time perfectly represents the Link character and the Legend of Zelda series as well: timeless!
1. Sonic the Hedgehog: Has that 90s attitude and was a great portion of my childhood! When he arrived, he turned Mario from one of my favorite characters to “that old plumber” similar to Stone Cold Steve Austin with Hulk Hogan. While his games may not be that excellent today, at the time of his release, I loved his games, his ABC show, and his comics from Archie!
Runners-Up: Cammy (my video game crush), Solid Snake, the members of S.T.A.R.S., Willy Beamish, and way too many more to list.
Joe: Top Five Video Game Characters, huh? Ok, here goes. Prepare yourself for this, cause it's going to be ridiculous.
5. Harry from Pitfall
4. Miles "Tails" Prower from Sonic the Hedgehog
3. Pacman from...well...Pacman.
2. Mega Man
1. Hands down, Sonic the Hedgehog.
That's right, mostly retro. I roll like that.
2. Since 2005, Cartoon Network has explored airing live action television shows and movies on their
channel. MTV for a long time has not aired any music videos on a regular basis on their channel and has
recently claimed they no longer stand for "Music Television." What do you think of TV channels such as
those two changing their stance on what they air? Should it strictly be their original message or could they
air other stuff as long as it is good?
STVO: I’ve discussed MTV before and while I don’t like the channel, I’m over and been over it not being a music channel anymore. I really do miss the day of music videos regularly on TV (Fuse has been doing a very good job with it) because that’s how I would find new music and continue enjoying music from the artists I enjoyed. Something I loved from music videos were when they would add creative storylines, animation, or if you only had heard the artist on the radio and haven’t seen what they look like in a magazine (or for modern cases, see them online) you would get to see them on TV. Fortunately there’s Youtube today for videos, but sadly for Millenial Television (or whatever MTV means, they officially came out and said it’s no longer “Music Television” earlier this year), it’s just a bunch of garbage! Be it spoiled rich kids crying if there is an orange tiger at their birthday instead of a white one, a bunch of selfish/snobbish nobodies living in a beach house together, or whatever other boring reality show they have on, NOT INTERESTED!
Okay, sorry for my MTV dislike vent. While I don’t like these channels going too far away from their original message, I don’t mind if a couple programs are out of the norm. G4 (commonly known as the video game channel) is a decent channel. I love their video game coverage, I like that they air mostly good movies, and some decent popcorn shows like Attack of the Show, Ninja Warrior, etc. With movies like King of Kong, programming such as Cheat, Arena, the Major League of Gaming, etc. a channel 100% about video games could get tiring (they could add some Tech TV programming that they purchased, but even then I’d get bored.) As for Cartoon Network, I wish they would mostly stick to animated programming. I was entertained when they picked up GooseBumps and Pee-Wee’s PlayHouse for nostalgia reasons, but their reality programs for children and shows like Out of Jimmy’s Head make me want to see less. I’m not in the channel’s demographic, but it appears children don’t care much for those shows either from the cancellations of many of those programs and on the Adult Swim front, live action shows usually get cancelled quickly aside from Tim and Eric (see: Fat Guy Stuck in Internet and Saul of the Mole Men.) I have a whole rant on why Adult Swim/CN should focus more on animation, but I’ll save it for another day. Bottom line, networks should stick to what they’re good at (even if it isn’t making them the number one channel) and don’t try to be like every other channel but they can experiment every now and then.
Joe: My opinion on the CN and MTV debacle is that it is just that: A debacle. I think if your channel name is specific enough to describe the sort of thing that you want to be known for, then you should stick to it. Cartoon Network ceases to be the cartoon network when they stop being a network filled with cartoons.
The same is true of MTV. MTV stopped being music television a long time ago, but my question to them is this: If MTV doesn't stand for "Music Television" anymore, what DOES it stand for? Mainly Trash Viewing? I'd go with that. At least then the name would be consistent with the content aired on the channel. I just remember when "I want my MTV" was a mantra for an entire generation.
Now, I don't blame them for changing their business plan, but they should also change their name. It's a fairly ironic brand now. Anyone with an internet connection can go online and get music videos for free, so an entire channel devoted to them is financially ludicrous.
I think in summary, I should say that I don't mind the varying content, but I feel that they should change their brand to reflect these changes, instead of relying on what they used to be known for to sell what they are now known for.
3. What was your opinion on Toy Story 3? How did it compare to the other 2 movies?
STVO: I had the pleasure of viewing Pixar’s new money making gem on opening day. It was a very good movie. To prepare myself for that day, I watched both the original Toy Story and Toy Story 2 a few days before I went to see it. The ranking system: Toy Story > Toy Story 3 > Toy Story 2. They are all good movies but the original stands out as one of my favorites because it led to more 3D animated movies being produced and it just has so much charm. Not to say that Toy Story 3 didn’t.
As most of us know, Disney at one point planned to make a third Toy Story without Pixar. I’ve heard positive things about Chicken Little, liked Meet the Robinsons, but didn’t care much for Bolt. While they have some charm, none of them came close to matching up with a Pixar movie. With that said, Andy growing up and going to college was a good story to run with and it was a great way to end this fun series. Sure they could continue it (how? You’ll have to watch the movie yourself) but it would be really pointless if they decided to.
I have to say I preferred Shrek Forever After a little more though. For one, I was more impressed with Dreamworks’ use of 3D in this one as it popped out a little more while Toy Story 3 didn’t seem to use it all that much (I can’t really think of a particular scene standing out in it while I can say the witches in Shrek did stand out.) I found myself laughing a little more during Shrek as well. One thing I did like in Toy Story 3 more were the characters. Ken and Barbie cracked me up, I always enjoy Mr. and Mrs. Potatohead, and if you look closely, you’ll find a “My Neighbor Totoro” doll in the movie. If you’re a Hayao Miyazaki fan, you’ll really appreciate it. :)
Joe: I hate to really say too much about the plot, just because I hate spoilers, but I will say that it was the kind of story that captivated me as an adult, in just the same way as the original 2 captivated me when I was younger. I think they successfully changed with their aging audience, while keeping the integrity of the original films. The humanity that was on display and the themes that were presented really struck a chord with me, because things like change, growing up, and this idea of brotherhood and camaraderie are things that we have to deal with perhaps more as adults than we did when we were children.
I know that you have said that you thought Shrek 4 was better, and I respectfully disagree. If you'd like, we can discuss that further. I am pretty steadfast in this opinion though. Overall, I definitely recommend it. I am going to see it again, I know that. Probably not worth seeing in 3d, as I feel not all movies need to be seen that way to be enjoyed fully, and this doesn't seem like the kind of movie where you'd need that, honestly.
As a side note, I watched the movie, and because I'm a nerd, I literally went..."This scene is going to be in the video game. This scene is going to be in the game. There's going to be a running jumping part on a conveyor belt. Etc."
4. What is your favorite thing about summer? Is there anything you are particularly anticipating?
STVO: This is my 2nd summer living in downtown Chicago. I love it here! Since 2006, I have been going with my friends to the Taste of Chicago at least one day of the year. I went last Saturday and it was a lot of fun! Plenty of great tasting food, but remember, the key is to sample first and if it sounds good, grab it right away because you might not return to that section. Whether it is taking a trip through downtown Chicago, a vacation to another state (which sadly I won’t be this year), finding a theme park or carnival to go to (Six Flags Great America will definitely be visited closer to the end though), etc. My buddies and I always get in great adventures (or misadventures) during the summer.
Joe: Oh man, the last 6 or 7 summers have all revolved around filming movies. I don't think I have ever not filmed something during the summer for most of my adult life. I think that is probably the one thing I look forward to the most. I know that I'll be doing something creative during the summer, and that always excites me.
I think the other thing that I enjoy about summer is the Fourth of July. We always have a great big party, and the family gets together. We have a grill out, drink beer, and have a big bonfire as we watch and light fireworks.
That's about it for my summer experiences. Definitely filming and definitely the fourth parties.
That’s all for this edition of CrossTopix! Special thanks to Joe Harris for contributing to this edition of CrossTopix. There’s going to be some fun articles posted throughout the weeks be it interviews, some of my rants, etc. No official dates set yet but be sure to join the Facebook, Twitter, or MySpace fan pages to find out more about when I make CrossTopix updates! Also, if you are interested in joining a team to build a better website, please read the following note and get in contact right here!
Have a great weekend and a fabulous 4th of July!!!!
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