CPO: Meet Your Popcorn Junkies

LiPing Lin

CPO: Who are you?

PING: Who I am: I’m a sophomore undergrad. at NYU majoring in Economics and
minoring in History. I’m very indecisive and only came to declare my major/minor on the basis of how much I like shifting supply and demand curves on a supply and demand graph. And I ended up minoring in History because I organize all my cds chronologically instead of alphabetically. I’m big on timelines and dates and precision. I’ve lived in New York City ever since I was six. Came here from China and from then on, have not been able to live anywhere else outside the island of Manhattan. If you ever meet me, I will appear immensely awkward at first; I never say and/or do the right things at the right time and as such, I might appear rude. Having lived on coffee for the entirety of my junior year in high school, my growth has been permanently stunted; I’m short and I don’t like tall shelves.

Bits and pieces of Ping:
-I’m partially nocturnal. I do all my work at night and I can’t be
bothered with anytime before 9AM.
-I was once in a band called Blue Nylon Shorts (From Bathroom). We started out as Plus Three Cookies of Yummy. We had two “jam sessions” in which we all tried quite unsuccessfully to play a rendition of a Weezer song. After our second meeting, we resolved to split on “musical differences” and never spoke to each other again.
-I read a lot. Religiously. Lots of classics, lots of film critique, lots of plays.
-I watch Jeopardy! religiously.
-I’m very competitive when I play Scrabble. I take it seriously. I become a real asshole when I play Scrabble.
-Phobias: swimming, silence, ghosts, stairs in the dark (thanks to The Exorcist), crowds

To sum up: I’m the person you’d most want to be near when something embarrassing is happening to you because something more embarrassing is probably happening to me.

CPO: Why should we care what you think about movies

PING: You know that guy in Cinema Paradiso? The boy who was so enamored with the silver screen, that we can feel it? You watch that movie and you go, “Wow, this is someone who’s sincerely in love with the art of cinema.” That’s me! I LIVE for movies. I have no real authority other than a deep, innate passion for it. And seriously, wouldn’t you want a real hardcore film lover telling you his/her opinions rather than some stuffy cheesehead who’s afraid to admit that Jim Jarmusch is overrated?

CPO:I asked the others doing this Q and A what role they felt they filled in the Popcorn Junkies family. But I feel I can safely peg you as “lovable spaz.” So let’s move on … I want you to tell me one movie you love, one movie you hate, one movie you hate that you love, and one film you love to hate.

PING:One movie I loved (JUST one? But there are so many in different categories…how will I choose? If I pick something stupid, I will forever be known as the person whose favorite movie is “that stupid movie”…) If I MUST choose one, I’d have to say, Billy Elliot. Largely due to the “We Love to Boogie” sequence; I’m a huge T.Rex fan.
One Movie I hated: Three Colors: Blue
One movie I hate that I loved: 9 1/2 Weeks.
Film I’d love to hate: Vertigo

CPO: You would love to hate Vertigo, or do hate Vertigo?

PING: I hated Vertigo…but am too timid to admit it because I have a Hitchcock shrine in my room.

CPO: Which is your preferred Hitchcock then?

PING: Rope, Strangers on a Train, Dial M for Murder, Psycho, Spellbound, Shadow of a Doubt, The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956 version), To Catch A Thief, and Stage Fright (purely for the dialogue though). Again, the indecisiveness. I like them all equally. Really, it’s like asking a mother to choose a favorite child.

CPO: I enjoy that you put Rope first, and didn’t include Juno and the Paycock.

Complete this sentence: Even if the movie is bad, I always enjoy the
performances of –

PING: John Cusack.

CPO: Or, as we call him here in Chicago: the brother of the lady that does
all those phone commercials.

Who is your favorite living director?

PING: Woody Allen, hands down.

CPO: Who are you rooting for in this year’s Oscar race?

PING: Will Smith, Helen Mirren, Little Miss Sunshine for best pic., The
Queen for best directing, An Inconvenient Truth for best docu.

CPO: This is a geek site, thus, a geek question.

Were Popcorn Junkies Mystery Science Theater, who would you be?

PING: I don’t know; Dr. Zaius from Planet of the Apes?

CPO: We’re going to count that as Professor Bobo.

PING: I was depressed that no one was reading my stupid cine blog. So I went looking at Craig’s List and found a listing calling for writers. I applied, thinking it was either a hoax or that it would lead to some sort of pornographic response like so many of the ads that I’ve found at CL. But ‘lo and behold, a week later, a real person responded with a legitimate writing gig.

CPO: So you know not of the sordid history of Inside Pulse, and will be able to write columns that don’t reference Ric Flair, Rob Liefeld, or the retirement of Chris Hyatte?

PING: Aside from some guy named Brendan who reputedly did not fare well with IP, I know nothing. But I love sordid histories! Do tell! Up until a week ago, I had this image of the IP staff holding hands and singing hymns around a bonfire.

CPO: The backstory of IP is a journey that each of us must make of his/her own. The alleged format of this column is Contradicting Popular Opinion: An Enquiry Concerning Why Your Favorite movie sucks. Is there a movie whose popularity and/or critical acclaim baffles you?

PING: You sadden me.

I’m baffled by many. Citizen Kane for one. Completely baffling. Orson Welles in general, save for his role in The Third Man. A more recent one would be Titanic. But the most baffling film that I’ve come across that’s been pinned down in glory in cinema history is Last Year at Marienbad!

CPO: Well, hell, that’s got “Bad” in the title.

Who are the film critics you trust?

PING: First and foremost, Roger Ebert, who has unfairly been typecast as grossly mainstream. But if you’ve read his Great Movies I and II, you will appreciate his magnificent insight (Say Anything was another completely baffling popular film that I didn’t understand and then I read Ebert’s write-up on it and everything made sense; it was unbelievable). He notices every little thing. This man truly understands film; besides, they don’t give Pulitzers to any random cheeseballs.

Secondly, Anthony Lane from the New Yorker. More than any other film critic, he is harsh, bitingly so. And so amusing to read. The other film critic that I admire most is James Agee, who writes from the heart. He’s the guy you’d want sitting next to you if you’re watching a good film. Ebert will point out why the camera is at a so and so angle, Lane will scoff at every cliched line, but Agee is the type of critic who’d sit there, with his guys glued to the screen, emitting a fuzzy sort of feeling that’s contagious.

Also, runner-up: Andrew Sarris, who on occasion, makes me chuckle.

CPO: All right, you have the final word. What message would you like to
send to readers of Popcorn Junkies/Inside Pulse?

PING: When in doubt, look towards the silver screen. But don’t sit too close up.

Caroline Hagood

CPO: Who are you and why should we care what you think about movies?

HAGOOD: I guess I could best describe myself as a bookworm and movie nut. When I like something I tend to get a little infatuated and try to absorb everything that I can about it–I mean everything. I am prone to writing furiously in notebooks after seeing a movie and I started to think, hey, maybe I could share this with other people. I can’t say that I have a formal education in film, but movies have been my education. I also grew up with a father who feels much the same as I do. At age 13, he gave me a list of the 100 movies that I MUST see, and, well, you get the picture. Why should you care what I have to say about movies? If for no other reason, because it can be interesting to witness someone spouting off with monomaniacal enthusiasm, and maybe a little catching.

CPO: So, what role do you imagine playing in Popcorn Junkies and more broadly where do you fit in the Inside Pulse world of slackers, attention whores, retards and egoists?

HAGOOD: I come to this world of slackers, attention whores, retards, and egoists with my own strange and eclectic background. I have worked in all different writing/editing related jobs and have just finished a collection of poetry called “Cinemagination, My Life in Film.” I have always been interested in the meeting of the literary and the pop cultural through the medium of film review. I was drawn to Inside Pulse because it seemed to defy a lot of the standards and constraints that result in the watered-down film review . I am hoping that, free of these limitations, I can share my own brand of film passion, insight, and yes, strangeness, to Popcorn Junkies.

CPO: Strangeness is always welcome here. I want you to tell me one movie you love, one movie you hate, one movie you hate that you love, and one film you love to hate.

HAGOOD: I love Adaptation, and anything with even the most remote connection to Charlie Kaufman; I hate Chicago, I know everyone loves it, but what can I say, I walked out very early; I hate that I love anything with Jennifer Lopez in it; and I absolutely love to hate Titanic.

CPO: Well, Out of Sight doesn’t suck. Here’s an important question for you: How do you say your last name? Does it sound like Haggard or more like somebody winning a fight about the whether or not a foodstuff is spoiled (i.e. Ha! Good!), or is it pronounced some other more reasonable way?

HAGOOD: This mystery has toyed with many fine minds. Despite the many, also very humorous, possibilities, it is in fact pronounced like somebody finally getting a very clever joke and saying “Hey, good.”

CPO: Finish this sentence, “Even if the movie is bad, I always enjoy a
performance by …”

HAGOOD: Christopher Walken.

CPO: Who is your favorite living director?

HAGOOD: Woody Allen.

CPO: Here is the geek question that I’ve asked everybody: Were Popcorn
Junkies Mystery Science Theater 3000, who would you be?

HAGOOD: The geek question just may be my favorite. I would have to say Tom Servo; I guess at the core I am just a goofball with a soft spot for gumballs and nonfunctional hands.

CPO: The job of Tom Servo requires singing; I hope that you’re up for it.
What is something about you that surprises people?

HAGOOD: Singing? I’m in. You may not enjoy it, but I will. I think something that might surprise people would be my mean football throwing skills. I’m telling you, it goes pretty far.

CPO: Which critic’s opinion do you most trust?

HAGOOD: Parker Tyler.

CPO: Final question: what message do you want to send to those out there in
Popcorn Junkie land?

Danny Cox

CPO: Who are you and why should we care what you think about movies?

COX: My name is Danny Cox and I am the News Editor for Popcorn Junkies among other things here at InsidePulse. You don’t have to care about my thoughts on movies, but coming from someone that has just over 1300 DVDs and has seen almost every movie imaginable, I DO know what I’m talking about. I love movies and will watch anything I get the chance to whether it looks boring or not. It takes that kind of open mind to really enjoy films. And I think I leave my mind open enough to not only watch them all but also probably tell you anything you’d ever want to know about any of them.

CPO: So, what role do you play in Popcorn Junkies and more broadly where do
you fit in the Inside Pulse world of slackers, attention whores, retards and egoists?

COX: Well, I am the News Editor of PJ and make sure we get enough news announced out each day and also that everything gets approved and looks nice and tidy. As for the IP World? I can do without attention, which eliminates an ego too. Slacker I’m not considering I do 2 columns, news for 2 zones, DVD reviews, and MOD the forums…but retard you could call me because I am probably above dork level. Perhaps all the way up to Uber-Dork!

CPO: Since you are an editor, you are a overseer, and are therefore an
over/uber-dork. It works well.

I want you to tell me one movie you love, one movie you hate, one movie you hate that you love, and one film you love to hate.

COX: Over/Uber-Dork…I like that.
One movie I love is Sleepers. It is by far my most favorite ever which some people consider creepy considering it’s about a bunch of young boys who get molested in school. But there’s so much more to it…especially the revenge.

A movie I hate is Vanilla Sky. I think it is by far the worst movie ever created. Even worse then Paulie Shore Is Dead. No reason the film ever should have been made.

I hate the fact that I love Leonard Part VI so much. It’s just a downright stupid as hell film, but I’m just drawn to it for some strange reason. Making people’s skin burn by throwing hamburgers at them is fantastic writing.

And I love the fact that I hate Gladiator. The Russell Crowe one, not the Cuba Gooding boxing one. People look at me like I’m a leper when I say I don’t like it and I enjoy that because I enjoy being unique. And the film just drags SOOOOO much!

CPO: Since Brad has gone missing since Version 2.0 of IP, I think it is fair to call you our Horror Movie guy. But in saying that thing, I am aware of the Taxonomy of Horror guys. There are J-Horror nerds, Classic Monster Flick aficionados, Slasher guys, etc. Am I right to assume you are a ’70s horror guy?

COX: As much as I must say I am an ALL-AROUND horror guy, you are dead on with the 70’s stuff. Man, it was that decade that made the horror genre. Halloween, The Exorcist, TCM, Alien, Dawn Of The Dead, Asylum, The Hills Have Eyes, Suspiria, The Omen…I could go on and on. They knew how to make a damn scary horror flick back then that has become lost in the CGI and technology ridden “jump scare” films of today the frighten you for 20 seconds at a time. Those films back then scared the hell out of you from start to finish like all horror films should.

CPO: Alien has a particularly interesting horror pedigree. The script is a tight number done by Dan O’Bannon, who would go on to bring us The Return of the Living Dead, that borrowed heavily from early Cronenberg stuff (i.e. Shivers and Rabid).

So, you mentioned some of your ’70s favorites; what about the ’80s?

COX: Oh the 80’s were a fun time too giving us the births of some of horrors greatest icons. Friday the 13th and Nightmare On Elm Street which gave us Freddy and Jason, of course who do battle almost 20 years after the
release of the latter. But the 80’s brought us some other fantastic films such as The Shining, The Vanishing (Spoorloos), and the classic slashers flicks like April Fool’s Day, Sleepaway Camp, Slumber Party Massacre, and Silent Night, Deadly Night.

CPO: Ooh, I’m sorry; we were looking for Hellraiser and/or The Fly.

All right, were Popcorn Junkies MST3K, you would be …

COX: Ya know, The Fly ISN’T that good! [ducks]

But if Popcorn Junkies was MST3K, I would simply have to be Crrrrooooowwww! The guy is just one big sarcastic ass and I love it. He has some of the best lines ever and always knows what he is talking about. And come on…he has a bowling pin for a mouth. How cool is that?

At least I’m not Gypsy.

CPO: Back to horror: is there a horror film that you think should be remade?

COX: Now see that’s an excellent question. With the very decent remakes of The Hills Have Eyes and TCM, yet the horrible remake of When A Stranger Calls, and Halloween on the way thanks to Rob Zombie…it is obvious that Hollywood is running out of ideas.

But if there was a horror film I’d love to see remade, it would have to be F.W. Murnau’s 1922 classic, Nosferatu. Just to see what the better film quality could do for this masterpiece would be fantastic. But I don’t want a thing from the film changed. I would even leave it as a silent film because the original captures the eeriness and great horrific feel of the vampire so much that voices and change would ruin it. Nosferatu remade could be an enormous success if done correctly.

CPO: But that one has already been remade!

For something completely different, who is your favorite living director?

COX: Well I said remade correctly. I know it’s already been done, but I want it done right. Not that piece of crap from the late 70’s with Klaus Kinski in it.

My favorite living director? Hmmmm, the term “living” limits it a bit, but still I love the work of Tim Burton. I hate to go with such a popular name, but there is so much of his work that I love and his style is fantastic. I don’t give a damn about his attitude or any of that nonsense; I go by what work they release. Edward Scissorhands, Batman, Beetlejuice, Big Fish, Sleepy Hollow, Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure, Ed Wood…sure as hell he’s had some stinkers too, but what good director hasn’t? These films not only are good but have a fantastic feel about them that only Burton could bring about as they should be.

CPO: Which critics do you trust?

COX: Another fantastic question because besides some of those here at Inside Pulse, I trust not a single one. Their opinions are quite contrived and usually only stem from what society wants them to say. There are a few who do reviews over at a particular world news website, that just honestly sound as if they’ve never even seen the films they are reviewing half the time. If I see a film that looks good to me, I’m going to watch it no matter what critics or others say honestly. I have hated movies others give 5 stars and loved movies rated a zero, but there is not a single critic that I actually trust.

CPO: Excellent. That pretty much caps things off here. I’ve ended the other
interviews by asking for a final message to the IP/PJ audience, but you are already embedded here.

So the final, somewhat open-ended, question for you is, “Who’s the man?”

COX: Thank you, I’ve truly enjoyed doing this. But who’s the man? Oh come on now, that would be two people. Dr. Dre and Ed Lover. Yo people! YO MTV RAPS!

CPO: On that note, the true final word: I will let you have your shoutouts”
to your “boys” at IP: Go!

COX: I do need to give shout outs to Michaelangelo as he got me started in PJ which lead to other zones. Travis Leamons and John Cavanagh for helping me in the DVD Lounge. Ellie and all those over in the forums who I share more with then I really should.

Ummmm…to anyone I’ve forgotten, I am here to stay for power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. And me? I’m power.