Archive for February, 2003
14 items.
I didn’t see The Recruit this weekend and doubt I probably ever will. My reasons are outlined pretty fairly in the topic of today’s strip.
I know you’re thinking “If you didn’t see the movie, then how do you know Al Pacino’s character is the villian?” C’mon. Have you seen the trailer? It’s pretty obvious when they spout lines like, “You can’t trust anybody. Not even the people that recruit you.” and they show a big close up on Pacino. For all intents and purposes, they might as well had slung a big sign around his neck.
Of course, just to be double-sure, I visited a few forums and gather the reviews of people who had seen it, and my estimation was proven true.
Personally, I think it’s a sad statement on Hollywood a fairs when a movie about ESPIONAGE cannot keep secret who the villain is in their picture. A potentially good film is undone by sloppy trailers. Don’t act like you haven’t been victimized by something like this before.
I had more comments about the art of trailer-making, but it’s all stuff you are familiar with. Comedies show all the funniest parts in theirs. Dramatic films bore you to tears with the impassioned delivery of dialogue. I don’t know. It just seems like there should be a system of check and balances that establishes what goes in a trailer. Maybe directors could pass along little notes to the editors who put these things together…
“Yeah, the part where Pacino is revealed to the bad guy? Please leave that out. Everything else is fair game.”
I dunno.
I’m all ranted out at the moment. It’s hard to keep finding things about the industry that piss me off. Okay… no it’s not.
I saw The Hours over the weekend starring Nicole Kidman, Julianne Moore and Meryl Streep. I thought it was okay, but depressing – if that makes sense. I might put together a review of it later on. I have some thoughts about it. A good sign that the movie struck a chord somewhere.
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Feb05
Today’s strip was pretty much word-for-word a conversation I shared with my wife Cami a few days ago. Quite sweetly she asked if we could see How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days when it opened on Friday. Equally sweet, she butchered the name of the movie almost as badly as depicted in the comic.
My line of reasoning is as follows: If you don’t care enough to correctly say the title of the movie, then obviously, on some level, you know this will be yet another round of disposable Hollywood crap you will dump from your long term memory the minute you step out of the theater.
I mean, I wasn’t begging anyone to see The Lord of the Necklace.
Please note that our entire exchange was in pure jest. No venom was exchanged. No hurt feelings to nurture.
All the same, we’re not seeing that damn movie. Cami says we are.
We’re not. (Yes we are–Cami)
Anywho, flicks like these usually leave the door wide open for satire. In coming up with the concept of today’s strip, I developed no less than 3 possible jokes.
The first joke had something along the lines of Cami wanting to see How To Lose A Guy… and with me responding that one sure-fire way to lose a guy was to drag him to chick flicks with unnecessarily long titles. This idea failed to catch fire.
The second joke had more to do with the source material. Some of you may not know this, but How To Lose A Guy… is actually based on a comedic self-help book featuring stick figures (no, I am not making this up). The punchline for this joke would have been how casting the actress to play the girl stick-figure was very difficult, but in the end, the role went to Kate Hudson. In the third panel, I would have drawn a painfully skeletal Hudson boasting how she weighs less than a paper clip. In the last panel, a very disgruntled Laura Flynn Boyle would be lamenting the loss of the part due to the accidental ingestion of some lint a few weeks ago while sleeping.
While everyone knows that anorexia jokes are like money in the bank, I had to go with the third treatment as illustrated above because, ultimately, it would earn me brownie points with the missus.
And there you have it.
In a completely unrelated story, Tuesday saw the return of some unusually high traffic to the site. Typically when this happens, it means that someone who is a big shot in the community and has immeasurably more talent in their little pinky than I have in my entire body has linked to me from their front page. I checked my referral logs, and lo and behold, I was getting a boat-load of hits from Carrington over at Movie Punks.
I about fell out of my chair when he detailed in his blog the amount of mail he had been getting concerning the spoiler warning I posted on Monday If there is anyone out there who seriously thought I was ripping him off, please stand up so we can all point and laugh at you. I mean, honestly…
I think Carrington summed it up best when he posed the question how anyone else would tip off their readers to spoilers in their strips. There’s really no other way around it. And it wasn’t like I didn’t fess up in the first two repentance of my blog that this was a trick I pulled from the big C.V. I gave credit where credit was due, by Jove.
I’m not trying to make mountains out of molehills. I just thought it was really funny and wanted to say thanks to Carrington for coming to my defense.
He redefines the term “good people”.
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I think by now, most people in this country are familiar with the work of Jackie Chan. It’s been a long time coming, if you ask me.
Chan has always been an acquired taste and had a fairly strong cult following in Kung Fu circles. It wasn’t until a string of mismatched buddy capers like Rush Hour and Shanghai Noon brought his talent to the fore. Now everyone is familiar with his high-kicking antics and daredevil stunts. Some have even dipped into his back catalog for a greater understanding of his talents. Drunken Master II is the pinnacle of his greatness, in my opinion.
But with Chan’s momentum state-side, die hard fans were saddened to learn that he used as many as seven stunt doubles on his last film, The Tuxedo. Chan claimed it was the fault of the insurance companies standing behind the studio. He also cited his age and the physical limitations it’s placed on him.
Personally, I don’t think anyone should get too uptight about this. The man is steadily encroaching on 50. Can you imagine your Dad doing half the stuff Chan does? I rest my case.
Truth be told, some critics believe that Chan is steadily inventing a new style of stunt work that still looks amazing without being physically taxing. In a review of Shanghai Knights, Entertainment Weekly critic Lisa Schwarzbaum says, “Chan is now perfecting a stay-put style no less inventive in its construction. In place of a younger man’s gymnastics, he favors mature brain work, expressed in dazzling strategy.. His is a talent not so much cooling down as getting cool in middle age.” Incidentally, she gave the film a grade of “B”.
Truthfully, I would expect no less. The man is a great talent and can block a fight scene better than anyone in the business. Watching a good Chan fight scene is like watching a violent ballet. The choreography is beautiful in its skull-cracking elegance.
That being said, I still don’t think I will see Shanghai Knights. Not so much because of what Chan is or isn’t doing, but because I really don’t like to watch him in buddy films.
The buddy film as a genre is difficult to swallow as it is. Without fail, there is always some sort of division by class, race, or culture – but our leads overcome these obstacles and reach a plateau of grudging respect for one another. To force this routine on a Jackie Chan flick waters down what makes watching him movie a visceral thrill. The zing of the action is countersunk by the predictability of tired set ups and premises.
Take for example, the set up of Shanghai Knights. In the first movie, Chan was a Chinese guard in the the old west. This time around, let’s take him and his cowboy buddy and drop them straight in the middle of Victorian England! Will there be a precocious red-headed sidekick in the third installment?
Add to this mix Owen Wilson, and actor I am steadily beginning to dislike. Another film like Behind Enemy Lines or I Spy and he will have lost me as a fan.
I’m a big fan of Bottle Rocket, Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaums – all films he had a hand in writing. I also thought he was the best thing about Zoolander, using his zen-cool to its most rewarding end. That’s why it’s so difficult for me to understand why he’s taking on so many fluff roles. He’s obviously smarter than this.
I understand that every so often, actors take “money pictures” to either raise their profile or bankroll personal projects that would never see studio backing. But like I said before, Wilson is skirting too closely toward making one too many of these pictures. A big screen version of Starsky and Hutch is on the horizon. While the casting of Snoop Dogg as Huggy Bear is inspired casting, if this thing lands with a thud at the box office, Wilson better go into hiding for a while.
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Sometimes when I’m coming up with content for the strip, things are pretty lean. Early winter is a notoriously slow time for movies because studios have already dropped their “quality pictures” (re: Oscar bait) back in December. Subsequently, it makes it difficult to come up with things to make fun of.
This week is different. It’s like a damn buffet of options. First, there is the pending release of Daredevil this Friday – Valentine’s Day. And I can think of NO other movie to take your sweetheart to.
Secondly, Oscar nominations are going to be announced on Tuesday. This fits in perfectly to the strip schedule, because I’m always working on stuff about 24 hours in advance.
Third, My Big Fat Greek Wedding comes out on DVD Tuesday. I think my stance on this steaming pile has been well documented, so I won’t go into it here. But that being said, I think we can all identify the comedic potential.
But when it was all said and done, I decided to make this week all about Daredevil. Be sure to check back on Wednesday and Friday. I’ve got continuity on deck and everything!
Daredevil is a movie that has swung left to right in terms of my level of excitement. When it was first announced, I kind of rolled my eyes because it was obvious that they were trying to capitalize on the success of Spider Man. Add to that, not many people know much about the character or his gothic style. Would it even translate to film?
Then, of course, learning that Mr. Chin — Ben Affleck — would be playing the title role sent me into a tizzy. I felt certain that I wasn’t going to believe him as the character. He’s a bloated jock to me. Too busy coming up with lines to get into a girl’s pants than being tortured and fighting crime. If you’ve seen him as the angsty yuppie in Changing Lanes, that’s about what I think he’s like all the time.
Some of the other casting choices were interesting as well. Jennifer Garner as Elektra? Not Greek, nor a proven actress. Michael Clark Duncan as The Kingpin? Uh, wasn’t the Kingpin white? All they got here is the bald head and a penchant for fancy suits. Colin Farrell as Bullseye? Interesting actor. Definite “bad boy” chops. But what’s up with that scar on his forehead and the iridescent, blue snake-skin trench coat? What were they thinking?
But as time goes by, I’m warming up to the cast and am genuinely excited about seeing the movie.
Lately, I’ve been watching a lot of Alais on ABC. Seeing Jennifer Garner in action has convinced me there really is no other woman “action hero” who could handle what’s required of Elektra’s ninja/assassin history.
Michael Clarke Duncan is making more sense, too. If anything, remember that this guy was nominated for Best Supporting Actor once. Damn shame he was involved in The Scorpion King, but I’ve also read that the studio went with him after several white wrestlers gave poor screen tests. When it comes down to it, I’d rather have a guy who can act.
I’m beginning to step around the poor costume design on Bullseye because I’ve heard Colin Farrell practically steals the film with his performance. There’s really a sick glee in his interpretation of the character, which I think will be fun to watch.
And finally, ole Benny-boy. Well, I take that back, I still can’t see this chuckle head as DD.
One last thing I’ll mention. If you’d like to test the awesomeness of your girlfriend of wife, draw a picture of them in a leather catsuit and see how they react. If they tell you “My character needs more cleavage.” like Cami did when I showed her today’s strip, then you’ll know exactly how awesome she is.
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Looks like it pays to check out the site on days other than Monday, Wednesday and Friday, eh?! You just got treated to an extra strip! You lucky dog you!
A few factors went in to producing an extra strip for Tuesday. Remember yesterday when I was talking about all of the great jokes I could come up with this week? Well, I decided to put my money where my mouth is and dish out the funny.
That’s right. Just because I FEEL LIKE IT, I’m putting together a FULL WEEK of strips. So, I know you’ll be checking back tomorrow out of force of habit, but be double sure to come back on Thursday for another helping. Tie a ribbon around your finger if it helps you to remember.
Gotta give a shout out to Zach over at No Pants Tuesday for the kind words about Monday’s strip. It really motivated me to push the full week of strips. So if you want to thank anybody, thank Zach and visit his site often.
Nate’s compliments came at a really good time. No lie, just last Friday I was talking to Jared about how I felt I was spinning my wheels creatively. It felt like all I was doing was drawing the characters in the same static poses in front of different backgrounds for 3 months, or something. I was seriously considering switching up the art style and had done a few tests in Illustrator and Flash to see if the characters would look any better polished up a bit. I was in serious doubt about my ability. Nate inadvertently gave me a shot in the arm, so kudos to him.
Never mind that the competition already has the market cornered in vector-based art. Guess I’ll have to suck it up and be the lone hand-drawn cartoonist in movie-themed web comics. 🙂
I guess since I’m running with this good feeling, I want to extend myself to another individual in a Pay It Forward kind of way. So I wanna give another shout out to Mitch over at Nothing Nice to Say. Mitch has been a little down lately, and I wanted to publicly state that the man is a fantastic human being.
I’ve only talked to Mitch a handful of times, trading e-mails every so often. But it doesn’t take a genius to recognize that he is a true talent who writes excellent strips and even more incisive blogs. The dude might be too smart for his own brain.
Anyone taking shots at Mitch needs to back the hell off. Everyone goes through a rough patch now and then. No one needs a screaming chorus of interweb geeks breathing down his neck about it. So to my man Mitch, here’s to ‘ya.
That about does it for the good karma joy ride. I was gonna write another brier patch of industry garbage, but I’ll let sleeping dogs lie.
Just be sure to check out the strip each day this week. Will Tom live or die?! THERE’S ONLY ONE WAY TO FIND OUT!
Later, peeps.
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If you didn’t have a chance to stop by the site yesterday, be sure to hit the “Previous” button under today’s strip. There’s a treat waiting for you! An extra comic!
Kind of on a whim I decided to do a full week of strips, so I want to be sure everyone is caught up. Be sure to visit again tomorrow for another thrilling installment!
Well, on Tuesday the Oscar nominations were announced. You can go here to read the full list of nominees.
I don’t know how far into things I want to go. Certainly there will be a lot of media hoopla until the ceremony telecast in March.
I guess I can say that I was more than a little disappointed that Chicago walked away with the most nominations. Although I haven’t seen the movie yet, I just get this sinking feeling that everyone has resigned themselves to the fact it will win Best Picture. They’re treating it like some consolation prize for Moulin Rouge not winning last year. I’m not a big fan of musicals to begin with and I think the film will coast to the finish more on the merits of Miramax’s marketing power than the artistic effort of the film itself.
The Best Animated Feature category saw its nominees expand from three to five films this year. Among the chosen were Ice Age, Lilo & Stitch, Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, Spirited Away and Treasure Planet. Regrettably, I’ve only seen the two Disney flicks. If I had to choose between them Lilo & Stitch would have to get my vote. Of course I’ve heard great things about Spirited Away, but I’ll have to wait for it on video.
I guess I was pretty shocked to learn that Treasure Planet was even considered for this award. For starters, it wasn’t that great of a movie. Just a “re-imaging” of a classic book – Treasure Island – with futuristic gadgets and cyborgs. It was executed well, but not nearly as inventive of heart-warming as Lilo & Stitch.
Secondly, Treasure Planet took about an $80 million dollar loss at the box office. Reportedly it cost over $120M to make, but only raked in $40M at ticket booths. The impact of its failure was so severe, Disney actually had to scale back their animation department this year. And they’re rewarding it with a nomination?!
I have to say I’m most happy for Jullianne Moore and her double nominations – Best Actress for Far From Heaven and Best Supporting for The Hours. I saw both films. I didn’t care much for Far From Heaven, but I wasn’t really in the mood for it at the time. I can appreciate what it was doing, but I need a fresh head to see it again. Regardless, certainly the fact that Moore received two nominations tells you she’s doing something right. I certainly hope she gets it for Best Actress and not Supporting. That one will probably go to Meryl Streep in Adaptation (her 13th, I might add – beating Katharine Hepburn’s record).
I was happy to see Daniel Day Lewis nominated for Best Actor in Gangs of New York. I cannot think of another performance this year more deserving. Of course, voters will probably hand it over to Jack Nicholson for About Schmidt because everyone loves to watch him do his “cool thing” when he’s up on stage. This is his 12th nomination, by the way — matchin Heapburn’s record.
If anything, Martin Scorsese should win Best Director for Gangs. The Academy has been jerking him around for too long. They should give him the award now before he dries up and they’re forced to give him one of those gold watch “Lifetime Achievement” awards.
I would have liked to have seen Marty win for Goodfellas or The Last Temptation of Christ, but Gangs was an epic in every sense. A win could serve double duty recognizing the efforts of that film as well as giving the nod to the immeasurable contribution he’s given to American cinema over the last 40 years.
I think that about does it for my opinions on the Oscars. Cami and I plan on seeing the two Best Picture nominees we didn’t get to yet – Chicago and The Pianist. If we can get to it, we’ll probably see all the films with Best Actor and Actress nominees as well. A few of them like Frida and The Quiet American we probably won’t see. But Adaptation and About Schmidt are definitely on our list.
What do you think of the nominations this year? Drop me a line and we can chat about it. I don’t get a lot of e-mails, so I’m usually pretty good about responding. Just wait. Now I’ll get a ton of mail and won’t be able to get to them all. Oh, well.
Be sure to come back tomorrow for another new comic!
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I’m going to keep today’s blog short because I just spent the last 6 hours drawing and inking today’s and Friday’s strip. I’ll be away from home tonight, so I won’t have time to do Friday’s strip in the evening. I had to put it together Wednesday night. I think you’ll like it, though. I’ve made it extra-mushy for Valentine’s Day.
Awwww…
Hopefully, you are all enjoying this full week of strips. It’s been a lot of fun putting them together, but I’m glad my regular shift is only three days out of the week. I think I would be really stuck for ideas if I had to come up with something every day. In this instance, I just got lucky with a story line I could stretch out. You gotta strike while the iron is hot!
I’ve been getting some good feedback lately, which is nice. I want to let everyone know that I really appreciate your kind words and support and feel free to e-mail me any time you like. I try to respond to each e-mail I get. Fortunately (or unfortunately?) Theater Hopper’s popularity is at a sustained level right now and I can still do that.
A lot of you have been writing in with your reactions to the Oscar nominations, which I think is great. I’m always down for listening to a differenet set of opinions or being clued in on a movie I’ve yet to see. It’s times like these that I wish we had a forum to discuss things more in depth. There’s only so much ground I can cover in a blog.
That being said, I’m going to wrap it up. Jared is back on the scene, so I’m gonna let him do his thing. Be sure to check back tomorrow for the excellent Valentine’s Day conclusion of the Daredevil storyline. And, just because I love you, expect to see a new review from Nick posted soon!
Easy-peasy, lemon squeezy!
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First things first. Yes, today’s strip is a Valentine to my lovely wife Cami. I was going to go into a big, detailed explanation about how I decided to do this for her, but I think it stands on it’s own two legs.
If that doesn’t cut the mustard for you, let’s just say that I really like making a public spectacle out of myself. Sometimes it can come out in very bad ways that may embarrass Cami (she knows what I’m talking about). But in other ways, it is a powerful tool I can use to let the whole world know how much I love and appreciate her.
I have a web site. I have an audience. I followed my heart to the ultimate conclusion. I love you, Cami. Happy Valentine’s Day.
That being said, my Valentine’s Day got off to an excellent start Thursday night while I was preparing today’s strip. Checking the site statistics on a whim, I decided to look at my referral logs. Lo should my eyes damn near pop out of my head to discover that I had been linked from the main page of NEWS ASKEW!!!
For those of you not in the loop, News Askew is the web site for all things relating to Kevin Smith. Yes, that Kevin Smith. The writer/director of such favorites as Clerks, Mallrats, and Chasing Amy.
It’s a great place to go to get the inside scoop on all the projects he’s working on as well as have a little fun with the View Askew cannon of films. It’s a great community and I’ve been trolling around the site for years. That, and his new site Movie Poop Shoot are two stops on my daily web rounds. I’m totally bugging out just being recognized because I’m a big fan of Kevin’s. Just getting the link is like a brush with greatness!
So to all of the new readers coming in from News Askew, WELCOME! Please feel free to take a look around. You may need to start here to get a handle on the current story line and figure out why Ben Affleck is even hanging around in the first place.
If you like, you can start from the beginning and work yourself up to the present day. Ours is a fairly green operation. We’ve only 87 strips under our belt since opening in August of 2002. But hopefully Theater Hopper will be a place you check in on from time to time. If you can manage to swing by every Monday, Wednesday and Friday when we post new strips, that would be even better!
For any Ben Affleck fans out there, I hope you know that the last two strips where he is featured have all been in good fun. Of course, having him make a pass at one of my main characters probably doesn’t do much to dilute the “Ben’s gay!” perception among those who like to slag our resident Daredevil. But what are you going to do with a guy who played a character named Chesty Smith in School Ties? If that isn’t a gay porn name straight out of 1976, then I don’t know what is! 🙂
To all of my regular readers, I hope you have enjoyed the week of strips I’ve put together for you. I had a lot of fun doing them.
This whole week has been a real trip. Even before getting this link from News Askew, I was getting lots of positive feedback which is something I don’t get that often. Hell, I hardly get any feedback! So when I get an e-mail from one of you out there is a great validation. To know that you took time out of your day to pass along a compliment is very humbling to me. I want you to know I print off every one of those suckers. So then I can show them to my kids one day and say, “See?! Daddy WAS a success back in his day!”
Of course, they’ll be, like really young and won’t know the difference. But still…
Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone. Here’s hoping you have someone warm to share it with.
And because I’m in such a lovey-dovey mood, I’ve posted a new review written by my friend Nick. It covered How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days. A very fitting romantic film for the occasion.
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For the record, yes, I did give my wife My Big Fat Greek Wedding on DVD for a Valentine’s Day present. Considering my total loathing of the picture, I think that’s a pretty clear indicator of how much I appreciate her.
Nothing shows affection like purchasing movies you hate for the ones you love.
We watched the film, and I didn’t find it nearly as offensive as I did when I saw it on the big screen. I still don’t like the picture, but I attribute a less bile-inducing response to subjected exposure. Kind of like pornography – if you see a lot of it, the stuff eventually fails to elicit a response.
Not that I would know anything about pornography, but I have been watching my local Fox affiliate lately…
Valentine’s Day was kind of a bust here in Central Iowa. We were buried by almost a foot of snow. Of course, this isn’t going on DURING THE DAY (so I can go home from work early), but at about 7 o’clock when everyone about to hit the town. We were going to go to a nice restaurant in another town, but due to all the snow and ice, ate at a sports bar close to home. We still had a good time, though. Probably a better time than we would have had at the fancy place. Pabst Blue Ribbon will do that for ‘ya.
We spent the better part of Saturday locked in the house, unable to leave until plows came by about 5PM. Thank God they did because we had tickets to see Lewis Black from The Daily Show at a local comedy club at 10. Probably the funniest hour I’ve spent in a darkened room. A bucket full of Budwiser will do that for ‘ya. 😉
We were able to move about more freely on Sunday and I had a chance to get out and see a matinee of Daredevil. A heavy price will have to be paid, of course. I promised Cami we would see a late show of How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days tonight. The title of today’s comic never rang so true.
I thought Daredevil was a really good movie and it surprised me in a lot of ways. Namely, the violence. It’s pretty severe. There are lots of stabbings similar to the one that started last week’s storyline. Daredevil is DEFINITELY NOT a movie to take your kids to.
I’ve whipped up a review that goes into more detail regarding my reaction to the film. You might want to check that out if you’re interested.
In other geek news, I was happier than a pig in mucky-muck to watch The Simpsons 300th episode tonight. The dynamic of being a fan has changed since the show hit its stride in the 3rd season. Apparently, it’s cool to slag the show now. But I’m still a big a fan as ever. Just thought I would share that.
After The Simpsons, I stuck with Fox and watched the Married… with Children reunion show. It’s been a while since I’ve seen the show in syndication and it made me realize how much of my warped sense of humor was inspired by that show. I don’t know if the program really ever got the respect it deserved. In retrospect, it was pretty trashy. But it did do a lot to break down barriers in television. Certain things you just didn’t see on television before Married… With Children was on the air. They changed the rules on a lot of things. I still think Ed O’Neil is one funny S.O.B.
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I’m sticking my neck out on today’s strip. If you’re not familiar with the annoying ad campaign for AFLAC, you’re S.O.L.
For those not in the loop, the ads feature a duck voiced by Gilbert Godfried is attempting to extol the virtues of supplement insurance to clueless humans by screaming the name of the company at full volume. Typically, these individuals are sitting on park benches, oblivious to the helpful tips of this thoughtful water foul. Instead, they dismiss his quacking like so much noise.
Anyway, it’s a long way around for a joke, but I figured AFLAC = Affleck — what’s the difference? If all else fails, you’ve got a duck calling me a jackass. You don’t see that everyday.
I went to see How to Lose A Guy in 10 Days with Cami last night. It was my penance for dragging her to see Daredevil. How this system works, I don’t know. She was asleep during Daredevil for at least 30 minutes. Hey, I didn’t fall asleep during Maid in Manhattan!
There was too much to make fun of! 🙂
But I digress. How to Lose A Guy was actually much better than I expected. A lot of my other guy friends were dragged kicking and screaming and came back reporting it wasn’t that bad. I thought they were full of it. Now I am a member of their chorus.
The film is loaded with standard romantic-comedy cliches, but you don’t really mind because the execution isn’t insulting to the audience. Clearly it presents a stylized version of New York where things are glossy and fabulous and there are about 3 black people in the entire city, but what are you going to do?
Dialogue is really the strong point in this movie. All of the characters are intelligent and well-spoken. Sliver-tongued, they string together sentences confidently and sincerely. It’s a refreshing twist on some of the leaden garbage that passes for prose these days.
Watching How to Lose A Guy reminded me of how good an actress Kate Hudson really is. Remarkable for her age, she’s already surpassed her mother, Goldie Hawn, in terms of pure, radiating talent. I gotta go back and watch Almost Famous for a second helping.
Matthew McConaughey wasn’t half bad, either. He can’t act his way out of a paper bag if things get too complicated, but when the writers get out of his way and allow him to work his charm, he is entertaining to watch.
I’ve finally decided to end the “What Would You Buy” survey. The results were about what I expected. The majority of you – over 1/3 of the 300 who replied said they would like to donate, but didn’t have money. The next closest contender was a t-shirt with 17% of the vote.
I would like to make t-shirts, but I’m kind of on the fence about it. I have a lot of concerns about quality. Sure, I could slap a logo on a t-shirt sold from CafePress, but we all know those shirts are second-rate crap and will start fading after three washes,
Brunetto Shirts, on the other hand, are high quality silk screened tees that will stand the test of time. The down side, is that I need 40 pre-orders from you guys before I can put in my work order to Brunetto.
Unless there are people flooding my inbox clamoring for them, I think for now, I’m going to shelf the idea of doing any merchandising. I may do some stickers down the road. Wallpaper sounds nice. I just need something equivalent to dipping my toe in the water. Something where I don’t have to put a bunch of money up front.
In the meantime, the poll has changed to “Which Film Will Win Best Picture?” It’s pretty self explanatory.
Last thing I’ll mention: Checking my referral logs through my counter, I noticed I was given a brief mention over at Briworld. I don’t know how many people are tuned in to this web comic, but it’s high time more people know about it.
I love the art style of the characters and if I could get the crew of Theater Hopper to look more like them, I would. Check out Briworld. It’s a real treat.
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