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Apr30

SPIDER-MAN

April 30th, 2007 | by Tom
1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars6 Stars7 Stars8 Stars9 Stars10 Stars
(6 votes, average: 6.50 out of 10)

Ever since it’s release date was announced even before it’s predecessor made it to theaters, Spider-Man 3 has been in the hearts and minds of comic book geeks everywhere.

Well, gang. We’re at the home stretch. Only 4 more days until you can feast upon it’s glory for yourselves.

Since I have now officially (unofficially) dubbed this week “Spider-Man week,” you can expect a lot of talk about one of the most profitable (and most expensive) film franchises in history. In fact, can we talk about that for a second?

According to Radar Magazine, production of Spider-Man 3 cost north of $300 million and that marketing costs alone could cost anywhere from $150 to $200 million. Considering the wide variety of tie-in products on the shelves, this doesn’t surprise me. I mean, why is Spider-Man on my box of Nilla Wafers? Whether or not there are any truth in the rumors, public perception is turning toward labeling Spider-Man “THE MOST EXPENSIVE MOVIE EVER MADE” and Sony (the distributor) is not keen on owning the dubious distinction. Maybe this is why the Playstation 3 was $600? To offset costs? There’s actually a really funny fake trailer on YouTube right now that poses it’s own theory as to how Spider-Man 2 will make it’s money back – product placement.

All of this is just grist for the mill since Spider-Man 3 is pretty much bulletproof going into the summer blockbuster season. Audiences already seem pre-programed to this fact if current box office numbers are any indication. Disturbia was number one for the third week in a row, but pulling in onl $9 million. It’s not surprising for a movie to do $9 million in it’s third week. However it IS surprising that there hasn’t been another film of any discernible quality to unseat it from the top spot. The Invisible came in second with $7.6 million. It all seems to speak to the larger idea that people are saving their money, staying home and waiting for Spider-Man 3 to land like the 900 pound gorilla we know it to be.

Regarding today’s sketch, I was really proud of how the blue line pencils were turning out, so I decided not to ink it. I’m really happy with how it turned out. It’s not a very dynamic pose, but it’s serviceable. I hope you guys enjoy it. Be sure to come back to the site on Friday for a sketched (and inked – natch!) image of Venom. Of course, there will be more in-depth Spider-Man discussion throughout the week. If you have your own thoughts or want to share your excitement, please do so in the comments section. Heck, even if you want to share your apathy, it’s an open forum. So let’s discuss it!

And remember – new comics are now once a week each Wednesday. I’m pretty sure you can guess what this week’s comic will be about.

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THE TRIPLE FEATURE – DOUBLE CONTESTS!

April 30th, 2007 | by Tom
Posted In: Blog

 Hey, guys. I wanted to be sure and create a second blog post for this because I’ve got an awesome opportunity for you that I don’t want you to miss.

Be sure to tune in and listen to The Triple Feature talkcast tonight at 9:00 PM. In addition to the awesome hour-long content about movies you’ll be getting from yours truly, Joe Dunn from Joe Loves Crappy Movies and Gordon McAlpin from Multiplex will be in the house to add to the mayhem. Tonight’s topic of discussion will be… well, I don’t know what tonight’s topic of discussion will be. I’ll have to check with Joe and Gordon! Luckily, I downloaded last week’s episode, so I know that Joe planned on seeing Kickin’ It Old School. There’s also a possibility we’ll be talking about Nic Cage’s latest bomb Next and The Invisible.

But I won’t lie. I just wanna talk about Spider-Man 3.

That uncertainty aside, there are TWO big reasons to listen to the show tonight because we’ll be giving away copies of TWO big movies.

Our first contest is for the Academy Award winning Dreamgirls. This was a big hit last December and I loved it for the opportunity it gave Jennifer Hudson to upstage Beyonce Knowles and Jamie Foxx – two entertainers that could stand to be knocked down a few pegs. Dreamgirls is available on DVD this Tuesday, May 1 so be sure to check out the performance that catapulted a cast off from American Idol into Oscar history! Either that, or you can listen tonight’s episode of The Triple Feature for a chance to win a FREE copy for yourself!

The other big movie we’re giving away is Diggers. Okay, it’s not that big of a movie. In fact, it’s being relased on DVD and in theaters on the exact same day. But it has pedigree! Diggers is written by Ken Marino, who you may or may not remember from the sketch comedy group The State. It stars Paul Rudd as a Long Island clam digger who tries to maintain is small town way of life in the face of social change in the 1970s. I know it doesn’t sound like a laugh riot, but this film has a lot of heart to it and some great character moments along the way. It’s kind of like Wet Hot American Summer, but with a brain. It has that same nostalgia feel, but with some more drama to it. It’s a really unique film and it has a ton cool actors in it. A few of Marino’s buddies from The State show up and it also features performances from Maura Tierney and Lauren Ambrose.

Again, you can win your free copy of either one of these movies by listening to The Triple Feature, tonight at 9:00 PM CST. All you have to do is listen to the program and wait for the secret clue. Since we’re giving away two movies this week, there will be two individual clues. Hold on to those clues and then come back to Theater Hopper on Wednesday for the second half of the clues. E-mail the complete clue along with your name, age and mailing address to theaterhopper@hotmail.com and winners will be selected at random.

Most importantly, since we’re doing two giveaways this week, it will help me to keep things straight if you send in your submissions independent of each other. I know that makes you guys jump through hoops, but it will improve your odds of winning if you send one e-mail for Dreamgirls and one for Diggers. I take all the submissions I get and organize them in a folder. If you’re entering both contests with one e-mail, I’m going to have to toss out your entry. Sorry.

Remember, if you’re unable to listen to tonight’s broadcast live, you can always download completed recordings from The Triple Feature page over at Talkshoe. We have almost 20 shows under our belts and there’s a lot of good stuff there. So if you’ve never listened in before and want to get a sense of what we do, download a couple of episodes and get familiar. They’re only an hour long a piece, so they won’t take up a lot of your time. Besides, they’re a lot of fun.

Incidentally, our contests for Copying Beethoven, Deja Vu and The Queen are still running because we haven’t received the giveaway copies from the distributors yet. I’ve been reassured they’re coming soon, but technically, that still leaves a window open for you guys to win free stuff! Download the April 2 broadcast for the first half of the clue to Copying Beethoven and the April 16 broadcast for the first half of the clue to Deja Vu. Access the April 4 blog and April 18 blog respectively for the second half of the clues to those two contests. The complete clue for The Queen was given in the April 25 blog.

Hope to hear from you guys during tonight’s broadcast and thanks again for supporting The Triple Feature!

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NOT A COMMUNITY MOVIE REVIEWER

May 2nd, 2007 | by Tom
Posted In: Blog

Okay, I know I said to come back later in the day for this story, but I couldn’t wait to tell it. At least this way, it’s kept away from the main site-related stuff and is organized.

Remember about a month ago when I told you I was applying to be part of The Des Moines Register’s newly formed team of community reviewers? Well, I got word back yesterday that I was NOT one of the 30 finalists selected from the field of 150 who participated. Incidentally, from that group of 30, 10 will be chosen by a reader vote to be a part of the team.

I’m kind of bummed because I’ve been informally reviewing movies for five years and I thought that would be great experience for them to tap into. I mean, who better than me, right?

I went through this weird analytical cycle. At first I thought they turned me down because they were aware of Theater Hopper and the freelancing I do for their sister publication Juice. The must have figured my legion of fans would skew the voting round.

Then I got kind of suspicious. The editor who made the decision as to what contestants made it to the voting round is the same editor I worked for a couple of years ago when I did freelance concert reviews for The Register. Interestingly enough, he contacted me out of the blue a few days before I got the notice about the movie reviewer thing when he asked me if I would be interested in reviewing a Stone Sour contest this Friday and an all day metal festival called LazerFest going on May 13. I accepted the Stone Sour gig. I’m not available for LazerFest. Was this meant to soften the blow?

Then I entered into acceptance. Well, obviously they can’t pay me freelancing fees for BOTH my contributions to Juice and for my concert reviews. It’s just not fair! Spread the love.

And then I felt superior because I had “let it go.”

At one point early on I thought I would contest my rejection and give a laundry list of reasons as to why I would rock the community movie review team the hardest. But I stopped when I realized that I didn’t know if the community movie review team paid well (if at all) and that I might be shooting myself in the foot if I said “I don’t want to do paid concert reviews! Put me into the voting round for the community movie review team where I may or may not be voted in as a finalist!” Seemed kind of like a dumb gamble.

All the same, I would have rocked it hard. I just know I would have….

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