Q. Just who are you?
A. My real name is David. I use "Joe Christmas Punk" as my handle on the Internet. I attend Angelo State University getting an English degree with a History minor. I was born and raised and still live in the city of San Angelo, Texas. It is small quite West Texas town, but love I it here. My favorite city is Austin in which I visit often attending indie-rock concerts. My other interests are film, anime, and reading.
Q. Where did you get that name—Joe Christmas Punk?
A. I was into a Tooth & Nail label band called, Joe Christmas. I think the indie-rock band got their name from William Faulkner's Light in August. Joe Christmas' character is a kind of a Jesus-figure in the novel. This is what I understand from those that have read Faulkner. This makes some since. Think about the initials J C. That could stand for Jesus Christ. I added Punk, because I like indie-rock which is really modern way of saying punk-rock.
Q. Why are your initials JXP, and not JCP.
A. If I use JCP, I am afraid that people will think it stands for J C Penny's. The X is a Latin symbol that stands for Christ. Thus, that is how Xmas was started. It was not created to take out Christ out of Christmas.
Q So you must be a Christian Punk?
A. Yes, I am. I believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is my Savior. As for a punk, no. I think that punk is generic term. No one is really punk these days. However, I still use the term.
Q. How can I know JC.
A. It is very easy. If I may point you to my friend's, Dan, homepage. He will tell it better than I ever could. Just click here.
Q. So what are your favorite bands?
A. Well, there are alot. Here is a list: Pixies, Pavement, Superchunk, Neutral Milk Hotel, Joe Christmas, Supertones, Sunny Day Real Estate, Ghoti Hook, Huntingtons, and many others.
Q. What is your favorite movie?
A. Brazil. It was the first movie I noticed that was more than escapism or entertainment. It was also the first time I watched a movie because who directed it besides popular Hollywood directors like Steven Speilberg, Francis Ford Coppola, and Alfred Hitchcock.
Q. Who is the director of Brazil?
A. Terry Gilliam. He also directed Time Bandits, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, Fisher King, 12 Monkeys, and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Gilliam is also known as one of the six Pythons. He also co-directed the Monty Python films with Ian MacNaughton and fellow Python Terry Jones (except for Life of Brain which was directed Terry Jones alone).
Q. Most people watch a movie based on an actor. Are you one that watches based on directors?
A. Yes. I think that directors, when in control, are the ones that make the movies bad or good.
Q Are you saying that actosr are not the ones that make a movie good?
A A top-rated star can never save a movie with a bad script or director. It might make it watchable like Samuel L Jackson and Tommy Lee Jones in Rules of Engagement, but it will not make it a great or good movie. Actors seem to take offers from the highest bidder and might over look a wonderful role because it pays less.
Q. Do you think that actors are more passionate than directors?
A. No. I do not blame them. Actor need to eat too. And they do get into their roles which sometimes makes a bad movie watchable.
Q. Do you think that a film could be brought down by a bad actor even with a good writer and director?
A. Look in the case of Sofia Coppola. Her first movie was Godfather III. She was really bad (but she is a good director for The Virgin Suicides). However, the film was great. This is mainly due to her father who directed it, Francis Ford Coppola. He also directed such great films like Apocalypse Now, Bram Stoker's Dracula, The Rainmaker, of course Godfather I & II. The Godfather movies were also written by Mario Puzo.
Q. Can a good director still make a bad movie?
A. Yes, of course. But I feel the ratio difference between bad movie and good movie is far.
Q Alfread Hitchcock said something in the effect that "actors are cattle" and that directors are the one that need to show them direction. Do you belive this?
A. I think you know how I feel about directors. Anyway, he said, "I never said that. I only said they should be treated like cattle." But it was Betty David that said to writer-director Joseph Mankiewicz on All About Eve: "You do not appear upon the screen, 40 feet high and 30 feet wide. Me, I'm an actress and I do appear upon that screen, that big. What I say and do, and how I look, is what millions of people see and listen to. If I make a horse's ass of myself on that screen, it is I--me--Bette Davis--who is the 40-by-30-foot horse's ass as far as they're concerned. Not the writer, the director, the producer or the studio gate-man--nobody but me. I am up there as the representative horse's ass for all concerned."
Q. What are your favorite directors?
A. Mmm... let think of a few. Billy Wilder, Orsen Wells, George Lucas, Paul T Anderson, Stanley Kubrick, and many more...
Q. Any favorite actors?
A. I like Jimmy Stweart. And I saw Betty Davis in All About Eve. And she was great.
Q. So you have a film page.
A. Yes, I do. I plan to put my reviews and reviews posted by vistors. I will also have links to some great movie sites.
Q. You also have an anime page project.
A. Yes. But it will not be a basic anime fan site. I will mainly put articles up so those that want to write about anime for school will have some great sources. Kind of a database. I will also have information on how to cite this stuff in MLA.
Q. What the freak is ANIME?
A. It is Japanese animation. It's really good.
Q. What is your favorite anime?
A. The one with the cutest girls. Now leave me alone! These questions are getting tiresome. (walks away from nterview)
If you have any more Questions, please e-mail me.