The Songs of Johnny Go

I have been interviewed by the great bagelofdeath. Let's see what she has to ask:


1) What do you consider your greatest accomplishment?

I think it'd have to be the road trip (but if I survive my summer tour this year, that'll be to new winner). Someday, I'm gonna continue my road trip photo posts, and even throw in a video or two. Right now, I still need some time to decompress.

Someday, I hope to answer that question with "getting my Harvey Dent novel published by DC Comics."



2) What is the strangest food you really and truly enjoy?

Peanut butter and Miracle Whip sandwiches. Don't judge me until you've tried it. Which you never will, and will judge me anyway. It's a family tradition, started by my grandmother (not surprising from the woman who'd eat a bucket of sweetened Crisco), carried on by Mom. I don't know what to tell you people, but it works. Although these days, I don't do the full sandwich thing anymore, instead making PB&MW mini-sandwiches with saltines for a quick snack.

Really, maybe I should have just said "pineapple and sausage pizza," but that would have been boring.



3) If you could have any job in the world, what would it be? Do you think you have a good chance of doing this job one day?

A solo performer. By which I mean, a relatively-famous and prestigious solo performer with enough income to live comfortably (and also afford things like marketing, an agent, etc). I think I do have a good chance of attaining that some day, but I do worry that I'm not doing everything I could to get there. But so far, I've never felt anything quite so fulfilling as writing and performing my own work, and I want to keep doing it as long as possible. Or at least, unless the 2009 tour breaks my spirit entirely.

Ideally, I'd want John C. Reilly's life, where I could do my own thing, plus act on stage, in arthouse movies and frat comedies, and even show up in sketch comedy and animation.



4) Cast your ultimate Batman movie, knowing you cannot cast the same people in the same roles they've already played. So Liam Neeson COULD NOT be in your movie as Ra's Al Ghul, but could be Rachel Dawes. And your ideal Batman movie can be your novel IF--and only if--it includes all the villains. Basically I'm asking you to cast everybody in Batman. But in a roundabout way. SO DO IT.

Harvey Dent: Hugh Jackman
Gilda Lamont-Dent: Rachel Weisz
Bruce Wayne/Batman: Daniel Day-Lewis (with some of that Benjamin Button youthifizing CGI)
Lieutenant/Captain/Commissioner James Gordon: Josh Brolin
Christopher “Double-Down” Dent: Harry Dean Stanton
Vincent “The Boss” Moroni: Ray Liotta
Carmine “The Roman” Falcone: Robert De Niro
Carl Grissom: Al Pacino
Rupert Thorne: Paul Sorvino
Adrian Fields: Leland Orser
Dr. Rudolph Klemper: Sir Derek Jacobi
Dr. Hugo Strange: Sir Ben Kingsley
Jack Ryder: Stephen Colbert
Alfred Pennyworth: Hugh Laurie
Mayor Hamilton Hill: Scott Wilson
Detective Harvey Bullock: Brendan Gleeson
Detective Renee Montoya: Michelle Rodriguez
Willis Todd: Jason Lee
Butch Montrose: Ethan Suplee
Micky “Mad Dog” Pike: Nicky Katt
The Joker: Brad Dourif (with makeup and BB-CGI)
Oswald Cobblepot/The Penguin: Kelsey Grammer (with the help of John Rhys-Davies' people from LORD OF THE RINGS)
Edward Nigma/The Riddler: Matt Frewer (BB-CGI)
Jonathan Crane/The Scarecrow: Jeremy Davies
Selina Kyle/Catwoman: Rosario Dawson
Harleen Quinzel/Harley Quinn: Isla Fisher
Pamela Isley/Poison Ivy: Cate Blanchett
Victor Fries/Mr. Freeze: Clive Owen
Jervis Tetch/Mad Hatter: David Tennant
Waylon Jones/Killer Croc: Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje
Ra’s al Ghul: Naveen Andrews

My apologies if I've horrified you by miscasting your favorite character. I don't entirely stand by all of these, so if you have any suggestions, let me know.



5) What item do you covet more than anything right now?

Honestly, this sounds strange, but for right now... I think I'm gonna have to go with that Gilda Dent drawing.

HALF NELSON did absolutely nothing for me.

Once again, I'm in the extreme minority (how many top ten lists did this film make last year? All of them?), but man, this was just depressing. And not the good kind of depressing, where there's a strange sort of beauty to it, because if there weren't, why watch anything?

I never once cared about Ryan Gosling's character. Come to think of it, I didn't really care for or even like his character in LARS AND THE REAL GIRL, a movie I thoroughly dug. He's a good actor, but twice now, I just don't care about what happens to him. Now I really am very hesitant to check out THE BELIEVER.

I suppose it just comes down to the fact that I hate addicts. I have very little sympathy for them. I see REQUIEM FOR A DREAM as a black comedy, not a heartbreaking tragedy. It's a personal prejudice that I have for reasons that I suspect are understandable enough to you guys.

I dunno. Addicts, con artists, and vampires, I just really dislike 'em all on a gut level, and it takes a hell of a story to make me care about them. By all accounts, HALF NELSON shoulda been this film. Nope, sure wasn't.

Another one of those disheartening cases where I'm in the plebeian minority. Ah well, it's just a movie. And hey, I loved NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, so that proves I've still got some cred, right? ... right?

And while we're at it, I just rewatched SEVEN SAMURAI, and I really don't care for it as much as other Kurosawa films like RAN and DREAMS. I loved the samurai, but I just kinda hated the farmers. Perhaps that was the point?

Man, I'm in a sour mood at the moment. I need to end this on a higher note. Um... oh! I'm halfway through the novel of FIRST BLOOD, as I've never seen any of the Rambo movies and wanna be prepared for the new one. I'm really amazed by how good it is! So far, all the characters are pretty three-dimensional, and it's a fascinating story, so that's a good thing.