Until recently, the last movie I’d seen in the theater was Pan’s Labyrinth; before that, Casino Royale, and before that, I think it was Pirates of the Caribbean 2. I don’t get out to the theaters much, so it was a bit of a coup when I managed to see two movies in the theater last weekend. One was 300; the other was the South Korean monster movie Gwoemul (“The Host”).
Ever since I was a wee tyke, watching Creature Double Feature on Boston’s WLVI 56 on Saturdays afternoons, I’ve been a fan of monster movies. Godzilla was always my favorite, but I had a soft spot for King Kong, Frankenstein, Dracula—all the movie monsters detailed in those old Crestwood orange hardcover books you used to be able to find in your local library. I also enjoyed films such as the original black-and-white The Thing and, when I was older, John Carpenter’s 1980s remake.
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—03/31/07
Interview with Jason F.C. Clarke
(As conducted by the author with himself)
So…here we are again.
So it would seem.
“So it would seem.” What’s wrong with you?
Let’s just get this over with.
First off, a question from a reader: Who is this DG you constantly refer to?
DG stands for DottyGale, the online pseudonym of my girlfriend. You can read her blog here.
Okay, let’s move on. You are…?
Jason F.C. Clarke.
Right, right. And what do the initials stand for?
Frederick Cassani.
That’s a lot of names for someone who isn’t one of the landed gentry.
I guess so.
Or, like, “the third” or something.
True.
Well, anyway. Where were you born and raised?
I was born in South Weymouth, Mass., and raised in Carver, Mass.
Carver, Mass. Home to lots of cranberry bogs, right?
Yes, it’s often called the cranberry capital of the world.
That’s absolutely fascinating. Is it true you once accidentally shot out the window of a used car in your next-door neighbor’s lot with a BB gun and immediately informed him about it while crying profusely?
Yes…
Is it also true you once threw a fit because your parents were trying to make you share your Bubble-Tape with your sister—Bubble-Tape containing over six feet of gum?
Yes, that’s also true.
And you were like, eleven years old then.
I don’t remember, exactly…
Eleven is pretty old to throw a fit about something like that.
My parents said the same thing at the time.
Moving on. What do you do for a living?
I’ve done a number of things. I’ve worked at a library, as an intern for The Atlantic Monthly, as a reporter for a major newspaper syndicate, and as a marketing associate at a major computer game company–
But what do you do for a living right now?
Right now I’m a library assistant at a small art college in Boston.
Well, that’s better than last time, when you were “between jobs.”
…yes.
That’s a nice photo of you up there.
Thanks.
Where was it taken?
That was taken in Bray, Ireland.
Very nice. When was that?
Summer 2000.
Oh. So that photo is, like, seven years old.
Yes…
So, you could be a lot fatter or uglier now. You’re potentially misrepresenting yourself.
No, I more or less still look like that.
“More or less.” Right. Who took that photo?
I don’t think that’s any of your—
Oh, you’re just dying for an excuse to tell this story. I know it because I’m you. Who took that photo?
Oh, very well. While I was on vacation in Dublin, I went to St. Stephen’s Green to read A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man—
Oh, how delightfully literary of you.
What?
Nothing. Go on.
Uh, so while I was sitting there, this young woman sat down next to me and noticed the book, and started up a conversation…
So she talked to you first?
Yeah.
Huh.
What?
Nothing.
Okay. Well, she turned out to be a French exchange student, and we ended up hanging out for the next couple of days. She had a car and drove us out to Bray, and she was an amateur photographer, so that’s why she took the photo. She mailed it to me in a letter later that year.
That’s a great story. So getting back to stuff people might care about, where do you live now?
I live in Boston.
In Boston itself?
Well no, in Brighton specifically.
So why did you say you lived in Boston?
This is getting kind of old.
Fine. Moving on. I see here you collect action figures. What’s your favorite?
Of all time? The original Grimlock from the Transformers line of the 1980s. My current favorite toy, though, is probably Joyride Studios’ Master Chief figure from Halo.
Anything else interesting about you?
DG and I have a guinea pig named Tribble.
I said interesting.
I once got yelled at by Faye Dunaway. True story!
Great. Any parting words?
You’re not very nice.
—03/26/07
In a deleted scene of Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Faramir (played by David Wenham) looks at a dead Easterling (Eastern mercenaries hired by the villain Sauron) and muses to a fellow warrior, “The enemy? His sense of duty was no less than yours. Do you wonder what his name is? Where he came from? If he was really evil at heart? What lies or threats led him on this long march from home, if he would not rather have stayed there, in peace?”
In 300, David Wenham plays a badass Spartan who suffers from no such crises of conscience. In the world of 300, the only good Easterner is a dead Easterner.
300 can be best described as a mixture of Braveheart and Gladiator. The essence of 300 seems to be contained in a statement by King Leonidas (Gerard Butler): “The world will know that few stood against many.” And that’s pretty much the long and short of it—a small number of troops fights a larger number of troops. Curtain.
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—03/26/07
Ed’s got a new post about Gears of War‘s recent movie deal.
I wrote a pretty long response, so I thought I’d copy it here.
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I don’t make any bones about my preference for Halo over GoW, so I agree that Bungie’s universe offers a richer opportunity for cinematic quality. Bungie made their name in the 1990s with the Marathon trilogy of games, which was not only the Mac alternative to Doom but also the alternative for those who wanted a little story with their shooting. As complicated as Halo 2‘s storyline is, it doesn’t even come close to the criss-crossing timelines of Marathon: Infinity.
As I said in a comment on Sean’s blog, Epic sacrificed a lot of the story elements to make room for graphics and gameplay. And Epic isn’t exactly known for its storytelling (their former most-popular product, Unreal Tournament, doesn’t even have a campaign mode). Bungie, on the other hand, made their name with story.
I’m not saying GoW’s story isn’t interesting. It’s just a bit too derivative (really, what major sf franchise doesn’t it poach from?) and, as I’ve written several times, somehow manages to be both convoluted and thin. What bothered me most, though, was how little I cared about the characters, particularly Marcus—despite the fact he was voiced by Bender. The only characters I liked were Dom (“‘Sup bitches!”) and Cole (“The Train’s at home on the rails!”).
Somehow Bungie made me care more about a faceless guy in armor and an AI construct.
—03/23/07
Three tries yesterday, couldn’t get past 8-3.
DG says I get too impatient. I say the game cheats.
Okay, maybe the game doesn’t cheat, but DG can vouch for the fact that a Koopa shell I kicked went straight through a Hammer Brother without killing him.
—03/23/07
