By Jarrod Jones. Your favorite thing in the whole world, right now. Let’s talk about it. ’10 Things Concerning…’ is the latest DoomRocket interview series, where we discuss your absolute favorite comic book, film, television show, or video game. Think of it as the only stop for your geeky confessional.
This week, I’m talking with Gene Ha, Eisner award winning comics artist and writer (whose works include ‘Top 10’, ‘Mae‘, ‘Action Comics’, and so much more) about his all-time favorite movie, Terry Gilliam’s ‘Time Bandits’.
1. Describe the first time you watched this movie, please.
I was 12 years old and saw Time Bandits at the Forum Theater in South Bend, Indiana. It was a surrealist masterpiece that changed my childhood. Time Bandits made the everyday seem magical and the magical seem everyday. If your world seems too small, just start shoving the wall of your bedroom…
2. How many times have you watched this?
More than ten times. I couldn’t say.
3. What’s your favorite Monty Python sketch?
From the TV show, the Spanish Inquisition. From their movies, the Latin lesson from Life of Brian. Or perhaps Brian’s sermon to not mindlessly follow leaders. Monty Python has only become more relevant with time.
4. Does Sean Connery add to or detract from your enjoyment of this picture?
He adds to it! Part of the fun of Time Bandits is the sense that everyone is play acting, that it’s all merely the imaginings of a small boy. It’s totally natural that a boy in England would imagine an ancient Greek king would be Sean Connery.
5. You can travel through time. At what point in history would you travel? Or would you?
It depends on how much miraculous support I get. Do I have a universal translator and period cash and attire? Am I immune to the diseases? Cholera is still a killer. And do I get to come back or am I stuck? I’d love to travel the Roman Empire as a Roman citizen when Jesus was preaching. Or 100 years into the future. I hope we’re still around!
If I don’t get miraculous support or a return ticket, I’d go back to the late 80s. Zine culture and the music scene back then were amazing. Or stay here: it’s an amazing time.
6. Complete this line, please: “If I were creating a world, I wouldn’t bother with daffodils or butterflies. I would have started with ____.”
On the macro level, there’s not much that I can think of to improve the material world. It’s pretty stunning. Perhaps less fleas and mosquitoes and a South Pole star. It’s the human world that really needs fixing.
7. If you were the Supreme Being, what would you populate the world with?
Immortal dogs, and immortal angels to take care of them. You’ve found my squishy sentimental side!
8. Pitch this movie to a complete stranger in 15 words or less.
Time Bandits: Escape English suburbia for epic adventure. With the Monty Python crew!
9. True statement or False: Terry Gilliam should have made ‘Watchmen’.
False. He should have made Don Quixote.
10. Where does Evil come from?
Suffering and betrayal were part of life from the beginning. Evil came as part of life. Refusing to become the evil in someone else’s life only came later.
No, that’s wrong. Evil came from reality and game shows. “It’s EVIL! Don’t touch it!”
Before: 10 Things Concerning Scott Southard And ‘Contra 3’
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