Archive for December, 2004
19 items.
Dec01
Man, can you believe it’s already December 1st? Incidentally, my birthday is in 20 days. No reason to share that information. Just an FYI.
I remember when I was younger, it seems like after Thanksgiving was over it would take FOREVER for Christmas to get here. Now that I’m older and have a concept of time, I realize it’s a scant 3 weeks away.
Still having some fun with It’s A Wonderful Life. I don’t know why I feel the need to dissect a film from the 1940’s through the prism of contemporary attitudes other than it’s just fun to do so.
Cami was actually the one to point out Donna Reed’s character becoming an old maid when we watched the movie last weekend. It’s always bugged her. It is pretty sexist if you stop to think about it.
Basically, it reflects the attitude of the day that if you were a woman, you life would have no meaning unless you were married and had kids. These days we have Sex and the City which loudly celebrates a woman’s independence from such expectations. It’s interesting to see how far we’ve come in the last… oh 60 years. C’mon. Isn’t this all common sense to everyone by now?
By the way, our little online community is organizing a Secret Santa gift exchange relatively soon. I’ll be participating. The person whose name is randomly given to me will be given some original holiday-themed Theater Hopper art! I know that kind of ruins the surprise a little, so that’s why I’m not posting any pictures of the artwork. Never mind I haven’t actually completed the artwork yet…
I really have nothing else to add at the moment. Call it The Wednesday Blahs. We have an advertising spot available if you’re interested in getting the word out about your site. We’re also still taking pre-orders for shirts, baby doll tees and hoodies. Pre-orders end December 10th! Get your order in now!
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Okay, at first I wasn’t going to mention it because I didn’t want to harp on you guys about it like I did at the beginning of November. It was kind of sad. A little pathetic, really.
Then I thought, “One casual mention at the top of the month just to remind them couldn’t hurt. If we could cement a high placement early on, I wouldn’t have to bother them with it for the rest of the month.”
Then it appeared that buzzComix exceeded their bandwidth and the decision was made for me.
Well, buzzComix got their bandwidth back for the start of a new month. Incidentally, the top list has reset for the month.
Vote for Theater at buzzComix. It’s a nice thing to do. I promise I won’t annoy you about it. Just do it every day. We had a strong showing in November. I know we can do it again.
And that should be the last I’ll mention it.
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This isn’t me trying to be a big shot or anything. I just like celebrating milestones.
I checked Theater Hopper’s statistics for the month of November and we posted our biggest number of unique visitors in the history of the site – 170,124.
This blows my mind. It breaks our previous record by about 10,000 hits.
Like I said, this isn’t me trying to brag. And really, when you compare those numbers to some of the other web comics out there – several that even started after Theater Hopper – there’s not a lot of reason to call attention to it. Most sites wouldn’t want to tell you the traffic they do because it might make them look “weak” in face of the “competition.”
I don’t feel that way. I’m only in competition with myself and my prize – my validation – is to make the best comic I can. Of course I want to share my passion with others, so if there’s an audience for it, why not put it out there?
I sometimes think it’s easy to overlook exactly what those numbers mean. Frankly, I’m stunned that there is anyone out there interested enough in what I’m doing not only to visit once, but keep coming back or even mention it to their friends. Theater Hopper is growing because of the dedication and support you’ve shown and I just wanted to thank you for it.
All 170,124 of you.
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The content of this blog was lost when Theater Hopper upgraded it’s database to run through WordPress in January of 2009.
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Although Ocean’s 12 is probably the least creative title to a movie sequel since Analyze That, I’m excited to see it when it comes out on Friday. Heck, even my PARENTS and my IN-LAWS are excited to see it. We saw both sets of parents this weekend and separately they asked me if it was coming out soon.
I think I’m probably a fan of the series because it has a very light retro feel and isn’t quite as morose as most caper flicks seem to be these days. No one dies. There are no gunfights. Just smart people speaking sharp dialogue and outwitting each other. It’s a fabulous concept.
I’m kind of monkeying with the idea of taking today’s strip and stretching it out into a week-long story arc. I don’t know if that means three days or five days – if I manage to stretch it out at all. I’ll be honest; I don’t have any ideas down on paper. But I can clearly see an opportunity to have a little fun with things. If you have any thoughts, leave them in the THorum.
Speaking of the THorum, I finally penned the holiday-themed artwork that one lucky participant will receive in our first-annual gift exchange. I thought you might get a kick out of it, so I decided to post it to today’s blog:
I think the opportunity has passed to submit your name to the gift exchange, but I’ll probably take some time soon to color this in and offer it as the wallpaper for the Donation incentive. I’ve been meaning to update that for a LONG ass time!
Also keep in mind that this week is the last to get a pre-order in for our newest shirts, baby doll and hoodies available in the store. December 10 is the cut off date. After that, you’ll have to wait a few weeks before I put them up for sale again. Place your pre-order now!
Last bit of site news I’ll mention, you’ve probably noticed the new round of sponsors on the front page and would like to know more about them!
Hypocritical Hero is a marvelous manga-style black and white comic just getting its start. It’s clear that there is a larger story being told here, so now is a good opportunity to get in on the ground floor!
O’Deer Comics is a frequent sponsor and a great comic to boot. Normally the comic is about what Santa’s reindeer do the rest of the year. But now that the big day is approaching, how do they prepare? Read O’Deer Comics to find out.
Our last sponsor is also a recent newcomer to the web comic scene. Kendara is a fantasy/adventure comic taking place in 1553!
So as you can see, we’ve assembled a very eclectic group of new comics for you to check out. So do yourself a favor and spread a little love. Investigate these great, new comics!
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Dec08
Don’t you hate it when the lines of communication get crossed? Tom and Jared are going to look pretty silly trying to get into the theater for free with Tom looking like a Las Vegas hustler and Jared looking like a Hot Topic reject.
Those of you familiar with the site are probably aware of Jared’s long dormant personality – GOTH Jared. He’s kind of like the evil Captain Kirk except lethargic instead of evil and without the goatee so you can tell them apart.
So Blade: Trinity opens today and I’m in this weird paradox where on the one hand I know it will be formula and I don’t care about it, while on the other, seeing a vampire movie two weeks before the holidays really turns me on. That’s great counter programming, kids.
Blade as a franchise is kind of an odd duck for me. The first movie was filmed before the success of Spider-Man and X-Men or the notoriety of Daredevil or The Hulk. It’s kind of this Marvel comic book property that exists in its own pocket universe, protected from the detractors of the comic book genre.
Part horror, part action, part blacksploitation – the Blade movies are unique unto themselves. That said, is it shameful to admit that I find the lead character and Wesley Snipes’ performance the least intriguing aspect of the movies?
The first Blade was notorious for it’s off the wall violence and gore – something not seen in traditional comic book adaptations. That rave scene at the beginning where all the blood comes out of the fire sprinklers really set the tone. Plus, it casts L.A. street urchin Stephen Dorff as the main baddie. Hilarious casting!
Blade II had a pre-Hellboy/post The Devil’s Backbone Guillermo del Toro in the director’s chair. This film caught a lot of flack for being too dependent on shoddy CGI, but I thought The Reapers were pretty cool as far as creatures-of-the-night is concerned. Those little Predator-like mandibles coming out of the sides of their faces were pretty inventive. And really, how can you go wrong by adding Ron Pearlman to anything. With a shaved head to boot!
With Blade: Trinity, casting is again what has caught my attention. Jessica Biel, shedding the “Daddy’s little ‘Girl Gone Wild'” image and transforming herself into an ace archer. The erstwhile Van Wilder – Ryan Reynolds – packing on 25 pounds of muscle as a former vampire. WWE wrestling potentate Paul Michael Levesque – AKA “Triple H” putting on the pointy fangs. Indie Queen Parker Posey doing the same. And for the hell of it, they threw in Patton Oswalt.
Kids, Wesely Snipes is going to be the least interesting thing on the screen.
Naturally, Cami wants nothing to do with seeing this movie in the theater. So maybe Jared and I can weasel our way into it after navigating the crazed holiday crowds. We’ll see.
By the way, only a few more days to pre-order all of the clothing items in the store. December 10th is the cut off date! Don’t forget!
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I hope everyone is enjoying this week’s arc. I plan to keep rolling with it until either I’ve run out of jokes or no one wants to hear Ocean’s 12 references any more.
I dunno. Ever since I did that giant month-long arc where Jimmy lost his job, I’ve been much less uptight about keeping Theater Hopper a gag strip. I think I’ve introduced enough characters at this point that the comic can stand up on its own two feet a little more. Sure it only took two and a half years to do it, but gotta walk before you can crawl, right? Sheesh…
Speaking of Ocean’s 12, I’m going tonight with Cami and the rest of the family. I’m talking my parents, her parents and her sister. It’s kind of this weird tradition or something now. We all went to see Ocean’s 11 three years ago about this time. I think it actually came out on or near my birthday… Yup, IMDB confirms it. December 7, 2001. My birthday is on the 21st. Must have been a busy time of year for us to put it off two weeks. Or maybe we saw it twice? Who knows.
Critical response has had the air of tepid bemusement. It’s not as if they can really find anything wrong with the movie, but they’re all giving off this vibe like “Yeah. Yeah. This was fun, but get back to making movies more like Traffic, Mr. Soderbergh.”
But honestly, who else like Soderbergh could put together a cast like this? There must be something about the way the man operates that lends him this favor with actors. All we’ve been hearing for months is how much fun they all had making this movie. Well, yeah. I’d be having a lot of fun, too if I was trotting all around Europe with 11 other movie stars. D
id you know the sequel was filmed for the same amount of money as the first? Or at least Soderbergh insisted as much. I don’t see how that’s possible considering the locations and the additions to the cast. It could all be Hollywood hogwash, actually. A nice thought to stir up interest and have people asking “How’d they do that?” before even stepping foot into the theater.
At any rate, we’re going tonight.
I wanted to remind everyone that today is the last day to place a pre-order for all the cool shirts, baby doll tees and hoodies we have in the store. I’ll be taking orders until midnight, so as long as I receive your payment before then, we’re cool.
Actually, if there a few of you out there who are interested in purchasing the Professional Movie-Goer t-shirt or hoodie, it would be great if you could place your order now. I’m actually just a few orders shy of making the minimum order amount set by my printer.
Conversely, none of you ladies were interested in the Truman baby-doll, so I’ll likely be expanding the design into tees and hoodies to meet the minimum order amount there. Naturally, I’ll be extending the deadline on that one.
That’s about all the self-promotion I can think about for the moment, so it’s time to switch gears and promote someone else!
Misfile is our latest sponsor and it’s a great anime-inspired comic about a boy accidentally turned into a girl by a hard-drinking, drug-abusing fallen angel. It’s a unique concept and the pencils are awesome. Check it out!
That about does it for me today. I’ll come back later if I have any other thoughts about Ocean’s 12…
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Like many of you, I waited until the last day possible to order my “Professional Movie Goer” shirt, but remember: There is a difference between procrastinating and just plain missing the boat.
Order one (or more) today and be one of the cool people! Everybody’s doing it. [Unless you are against that sort of thing. If so: order one (or more) today and be a unique individual!]
Have a great weekend!
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If you guys are wondering what’s up with today’s strip, then I invite you to take a trip in The Wayback Machine to precisely a week ago to check out where this story arc began. All caught up? Good!
Today’s strip reintroduces a long-lost fan favorite character – Scurvy Joe: the local transient in Tom and Jared’s neighborhood. He helped scare the pimp juice out of Tom in this comic from earlier in the year.
I don’t know why I’m dusting off these old characters. First Goth Jared. Now Scurvy Joe. It must be a bug I’ve caught from all those year-end, top 10 list programs I’ve been seeing so much of on TV.
Went to see Ocean’s Twelve on Friday and was pleasantly surprised. I think my expectations were low because advance reviews were saying, while fun, the movie carries little heft.
While essentially true, you’ll still have a damn good time in this movie. It’s just good entertainment, even if it doesn’t add up to much.
Fans who loved the heist aspect of Ocean’s Eleven will probably be disappointed here. The majority of the crew spends the movie in a European prison. Bernie Mac is almost completely wasted as he’s one of the first to get pinched.
In any case, it’s less about the heist and the “How’d they DO that?!” and more about the twists and turns. The fake-outs. The red herrings. A few of them you can see coming a mile away. Actually, after the fact, they all seem pretty obvious. But the movie zips along at such a steady clip, you feel like you’re two steps behind the crooks.
Julie Roberts still annoys as the most gaunt-looking pregnant woman in film history, but props to Catherine Zeta-Jones. She gives a very confident performance and one of her least condescending in years. It’s almost enough to make me forget those T-Mobile advertisements and rekindle the same kind of interest she sparked with her turn in The Mask of Zorro so many years ago.
…almost.
Those of you who ordered t-shirts, baby doll tees or hoodies the last few weeks will be happy to know that I’ve placed the order with the printer. No E.T.A. on when I’ll receive them, but once I know, you’ll know. Check this space for updates. Previous experience indicates it could be anywhere between two to three weeks before they’re in your hot, little hands. So nothing by Christmas, sorry. Then again, I never promised that, did I? ;-D
If you missed the boat on this last round of orders, I’m taking pre-orders for a whole other batch. Everything we sell, you can find in the store.
One last bit of fun. I know I promised not to bug you guys about it, but Theater Hopper has been hovering around number 11 on the buzzComix list for about a week now and I’ve playfully laid down the gauntlet to Anime Arcadia that I will usurp their position on the list. We’re about 60 votes away from achieving that goal, so if you want to lend a hand, it would be pretty cool. Just to say we could do it.
More later. Sleep now.
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I think it will interest you to check out our newest sponsor The Fish Institution. The art is exceptionally well rendered – different then how it appears in the banner advertisement. Great pencils and some watercolors. Check it out.
Congratulations to Jeph Jacques, our brother at Dayfree Press who recently crossed the 250th comic milestone over at Questionable Content.
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