Archive for September, 2007
17 items.
There was a point that I really wanted to see Balls of Fury. I think mostly because it has Christopher Walken in a Foo-Manchu get up and he’s hilarious in nearly everything he’s in – even when he’s playing it straight.
But as the television commercials played and the dismal reviews started pouring in, I began to lose faith. I was thinking this film was going to be more of a showcase for the talents of Thomas Lennon and Ben Garrant – two members of the MTV comedy troupe The State. Admittedly, their track record on scrips has been a little uneven (A Night At The Museum, Let’s Go To Prison and Herbie: Fully Loaded are among their credits). But this one seemed so deeply entrenched in their oddball roots, it had to be good, right?
Then when I understood that the focus would be on Dan Fogler’s character (a poor man’s Jack Black if there ever was one) I was pretty much turned off completely. Don’t ask me why – I just don’t like the look of the guy.
Things really began to crystalize after I bought Blades of Glory on DVD last Tuesday and realized that there has been A LOT of obscure sports comedies in the last few years and I really started to resent it. As a matter of fact, can we just call an End To The Trend right here? Hollywood, you’ve reached your saturation point. No more wacky comedies about obscure sports. What’s left? Underwater basket weaving?
Gimme points, though – I really like the idea of Little People, Big Hurl just on the title alone.
That’s about all I have for today. In America, it’s Labor Day – a holiday where we celebrate our effort in the jobs we hate by getting a day off.
That doesn’t mean there will be a day off from The Triple Feature talkcast, though! Tonight we’ll be talking about Rob Zombie’s Halloween remake and the status of the horror movie in today’s climate. If you have questions you’d like us to answer in tonight’s show, feel free to send them to me at theaterhopper@hotmail.com and we’ll do our best to answer them on-air!
Be sure to participate tonight at Talkshoe at 9:00 PM CST. We’ll see you there!
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Today’s comic is probably going to rub a few people the wrong way – especially if you work in the service industry. But, hey – I say what I feel.
I’m not above showing a little common courtesy. Obviously just because you’re in a movie theater doesn’t give you free reign to start throwing popcorn or dumping your drink. Should people pick up after themselves? Yes, they probably should.
But, as Tom says in the comic, do you bus your own tables at a restaurant or turn down your own beds at a hotel? Most people don’t. Why? Because they’re paying a premium price for customer service. Part and parcel to the cost they pay, expense is built in to compensate someone to do those tasks for you.
Movie theaters should be no different. If you’re charging me $8.50 to walk through the door, $5.00 for a popcorn and $3.00 for a soda, your employees can do the heavy lifting. Otherwise, just as I could easy stay home and make a meal for myself instead of going to a restaurant, I could also stay home and watch cable or a DVD.
Movie theaters aren’t the only game in town anymore. I would think that theater owners would be bending over backwards to give you the most comfortable theater experience possible instead of guilting you into picking up an overpriced soda cup.
Maybe I’m biased. When I worked at a movie theater, they didn’t run those little slide show ads like they do today and they certainly didn’t try to encourage a “clean up your own mess” policy. I had to pick up some of the most foul garbage when I worked in that theater. Among them a styrofoam cup brimming with tobacco juice and a used condom!
Sorry to be vulgar, but that kind of stuff stays with you.
It also comes with the territory. If you’re in the service industry or if you work with people, you have to expect some bizarre stuff. And that’s why I got out of that job. Because I hate people. ;D
No big movie news to discuss today except that I’m looking forward to the weekend. Cami and I have a few social commitments to attend to, but after words, once we get Henry home and down to sleep, I’m sneaking out of the house to see 3:10 to Yuma and Shoot ‘Em Up. Neither film Cami has any interest in. I can see why. They’re pretty much both straight-up guy movies. Although I could see her enjoying 3:10 to Yuma if she gave it a chance. I’m going to that one more for the performances than the western theme. But seeing both movies should be a lot of fun. It’ll actually give me something to talk about on next week’s Triple Feature talkcast!
Incidentally, we had another great show on Monday night and more and more people are starting to take notice. I really encourage you guys to download the last few episodes. We’ve been having a lot of fun with these lately and I think we’ve really hit our stride. Did you know you can subscribe to our shows through iTunes now? Just click on the iTunes link in the right hand column of our profile page to get new shows automatically! Pretty cool!
That’s all for me. Have a great Wednesday!
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Today’s comic is the yang to Wednesday’s comic yin. I thought it was important that Tom be served some kind of comeuppance for his comments in that strip because, well, I took a little heat for it.
I knew Wednesday’s comic and blog would generate a little controversy. It’s to be expected when you take a hard line on an unreasonable position.
Obviously anything I create for the site is meant to be interpreted as entertainment. But I think this is an instance where things got away from me a little bit.
Reader Matt Harrison forwarded me a link to a bit that Jerry Seinfield performed at the 2006 Oscar ceremony when he was announcing the nominees for Best Documentary. I had kind of forgotten about it, but when Matt mentioned it, part of the puzzle clicked. If you’ll allow me the indulgence, here is the transcript of his routine:
“I’m a huge fan of movies in general. I go all the time. I’ve noticed in theaters now they’re running some announcement trying to get you to pick up the garbage from around your seat. Oh, OK! Let me bring my orange jumpsuit and a wooden stick with a nail in it, too! Maybe I’ll work my way down the highway after the credits roll.
I’m not pickin’ nothin’ up! I’m the one that threw it down. How many different jobs do I have to do here?! There is an agreed-upon deal between us and the movie-theater people, it’s understood by every single person in this room. The deal is, YOU rip us off on overpriced, oversized crap that we shouldn’t be eating to begin with, and in exchange for that, when I’m done with something [holds out hand as if holding a soda cup], I open my hand [opens hand, letting the cup fall]. I’m not stickin’ my hand down into a dark hole to try and pry out three Goobers that have been soda-welded there since ‘The Shawshank Redemption’.”
That was kind of the spirit of things I was going for. Only problem is, I’m not Jerry Seinfeld and people can’t interpret your tone over the internet.
If I’m being honest, I wouldn’t have written what I did if I didn’t think there was a ring of truth to it. Concession prices are ridiculous and it feels like they’re adding insult to injury by telling us “Don’t forget to pick up after yourselves!” Especially when the status quo – the unspoken agreement – is that we’re spending our money to get away from those kind of responsibilities as long as there is someone there to do the job for us.
Of course, there is no logical defense against acting responsibly. Trash bins are at theater exits for a reason. As one of my readers, a theater worker, pointed out “People seem to have no problem bringing in a full bucket of popcorn and a 32oz. soda. But when it comes to taking out a few empty cups, it’s too much of a hassle.”
That’s hard to refute.
Reading the e-mails and forum discussions that spawned from Wednesday comic, I stuck to my guns at first. Partly because there’s no such thing as bad press and I wanted people to continue talking about the comic. I was also interested in seeing where the conversation would go. During the debate, I claimed that leaving your trash in the theater is a small way to “stick it to the man.”
That was the turning point.
The thing I overlooked in this whole debate are the people at the front lines – the theater workers who have to clean up this garbage. Yes, concession prices have inflated over the years, but little (if any) of that money trickles down to the theater worker. Why make an unpleasant job harder by refusing to make a minimal effort.
At first I protested. After all, I was once a theater worker. I used to have to pick up the most foul crap imaginable. We didn’t complain. That was the job and we knew it. Where was my advocate.
But then I realized that I’m nearly 30 years old and I need to get over it. This, as it turns out, is not the appropriately mature, adult thing to do. Additionally, as a blogger with some influence (however limited) it simply wasn’t responsible to suggest to my readers that it is acceptable to leave trash in a theater.
So as of this moment I’m renouncing my garbage-leaving ways and I encourage you to do the same. It doesn’t take a lot of effort and you’ll be the better person for it.
If you’re still looking for a way to “stick it to the man” and make your statement about the price of a popcorn and soda, boycott the concession counter. Send a message to the theater managers and hit them where it hurts – their pocketbooks. Don’t take it out on the little guy.
Or, you know, sneak your own soda into the theater.
C’mon! It’s Friday. I can still be a little bad!
Have a great weekend everyone!
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Later this evening I plan on seeing 3:10 to Yuma. Or, as I like to refer to it, “The Movie I Didn’t Know I Was Looking Forward To.”
Between it’s leads Christian Bale and Russell Crowe, this film has serious acting pedigree. Plus, it’s good to see Crowe playing a ruthless bad-ass after what seems like years of playing lightweights. I think that wine movie he made with Ridley Scott was kind of a wake-up call.
This is completely off track, but I’ve been growing a beard since about last week and for some reason, I feel the 7-day scruff is apt for viewing 3:10 to Yuma. Basically, I neglected to shave over the holiday weekend, kind of liked what I saw and said to myself “Let’s see how long we can keep this going!” Cami hates it, though. She wanted me to shave it off three days ago.
As much as I love my wife and as much as I want her to find me attractive, I’ve kept the beard because, for some strange reason, I think it’s going to add authenticity to my movie-going experience. This is pretty much the warped head-space I live in 24/7.
At any rate, I had some information shared with me about a 3:10 to Yuma poster charity auction and I thought I would pass it along to you guys. If you’re interested, Lionsgate has three posters signed by by Russell Crowe, Christian Bale, Peter Fonda, Ben Foster, James Mangold, and Cathy Konrad benefiting The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric Aids Foundation. The winning bidders will receive studio certified posters signed by the cast and filmmakers along with a signed letter verifying their authenticity. Auctions will continue through the film’s opening weekend.
If that sounds like something you’re interested in and you’d like your chance at owning a piece of authentic movie memorbilia, click here!
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Today’s comic is based on a real-life conversation over 3:10 to Yuma. I had made plans to see the film late Friday night after we put Henry down to sleep. Cami had no interest in the film and asked half-heartedly, “So, when does ’21 to Chalupa’ start?”
I can understand if she was confused. After all 3:10 to Yuma is a western and a chalupa is… well, kind of Tex-Mex? Odds are she was just yanking my chain. Either way, it was too cute not to include in the comic. Of course, Cami getting the titles to movies wrong isn’t anything new.
Incidentally, the little double-barrell pose I put Cami in for the second panel is now my new favorite rendition of her.
So, anyway. What did I think of 3:10 to Yuma? I’d have to say overall that I liked it, but I had a few problems with the ending that left a slightly bitter taste in my mouth. You know how it is with endings. You could watch a two-hour suck-fest, but if the ending is killer that’s all you end up talking about. The opposite holds true. You can watch the best movie on two-legs, but if the ending falls flat, it’s going to leave an unfavorable impression. At the movies, last impressions count for a lot. That’s certainly the case with 3:10 to Yuma.
The move does more than a few things right. The casting is top notch. Russell Crowe and Christian Bale deliver excellent performances, as always. But the supporting cast is just as good. Peter Fonda as a Pinkerton agent Crowe’s character shoots in the gut after a stagecoach robbery is all flinty determination. Ben Foster as Crowe’s mad dog right hand gun commands the screen with scrappy, stylish authority. They even put Luke WIlson to good use in a brief cameo. All of the performances save for Logan Lerman as Bale’s impatient, hateful son hit all of the right notes.
The fact that the movie is a western is almost beside the point. The horses and the dust, the saloons and the bar maids are all dressing for what otherwise would have worked as effectively as a modern-day police procedural. The plot is simple: Russell Crowe plays the outlaw Ben Wade. He and his gang knock over an armored stagecoach. Later, while celebrating in town, Wade missteps by staying too long to bed the local bar maid. Now it’s up to an unlikely group of men to transport him to the nearest railroad station to put him on a train to a nearby prision – the 3:10 to Yuma. Bale’s Dan Evans is a rancher who lost his leg in the Civil War. He needs money to help pay off the last of his mortgage and protect his way of life. For him, the journey is as much about money and ensuring his family’s survival as it is reclaiming the dignity taken from him.
Any of this could have been easily updated to the present day. Where the movie shines is in the psychological conflict between Wade and his captors. When Crowe and Bale match wits on screen, it’s electric.
Things come down to the wire as Wade’s gang catches up to the group as they wait for the train to arrive. But as members of the posse peel away under the threat of certain death, only Bale sticks to his convictions. He has much more to lose than just his life. As the train approaches and captor and prisioner race toward the train, Crowe’s character beings to show signs of respect to the tenacious Bale.
Unfortunately, it’s at this part that the movie begins to fall apart for me. Obviously I won’t spoil the ending for you. But there are decisions that Crowe’s character makes that feels inconsistent with all of the behavior he exhibited in the first two hours. The end of the movie felt thrown together to me or at least not as well thought out as the rest of it. When it ends, it just
Based on the performances, it’s hard to discount 3:10 to Yuma for it’s short comings. I enjoyed the film and would encourage others to see it. I guess there were just too many times during the last act where I felt I was being tweaked and it stuck with me. I certainly don’t think that the people who have claimed 3:10 to Yuma as the best western since Unforgiven know what they’re talking about. But if you’re looking for a few sharp action pieces, this film has it. If you want a little psychological drama thrown in for shading, it’s got that, too. And most of all, it’s got great performances. So see it and judge for youself.
We’ll be talking about 3:10 to Yuma tonight on The Triple Feature talkcast over at TalkShoe. We broadcast live at 9:00 CST, so be there will bells on. We’ll also be talking about Shoot ‘Em Up – another movie I saw this weekend (and one I’ll have a comic for on Wednesday). Who knows what else will come up.
So be sure to tune in live! We’ll see you then!
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Apologies that I left you high and dry without the blog I promised you yesterday. I thought I could get it done in the morning before I went to work, but I was thrown a curve ball when Cami woke up with a crazy eye infection. She was a little paranoid about handling Henry because she didn’t want to pass the infection onto him. So I ended up calling in late to work, managing Henry until I could take him to his 6-month check up at 9:00 AM. I pretty much spent the rest of the day catching up.
But better late than never right? I wanted to jump back in here to give you my thoughts on Shoot ‘Em Up, which I saw last Sunday.
I’ve had a few days to digest the movie and I still really like it. The movie is what the title implies – a full-throttle action movie with an hour and a half of gunplay. A shoot ’em up. As cliche as it is to say so, this movie comes barrelling out of the gate and doesn’t let up. It’s pretty much nothing but back to back action sequences.
Clive Owen plays Smith, a mysterious carrot-chomping gunhand. A kind of new-millennium Bugs Bunny in flesh in blood. Lots of blood. In the opening sequence he protects a pregnant women from a gang of gun-toting hoods in black leather. Within five minutes, he crams a carrot into the mouth of one of the aggressors and shoves it through the back of his skull. Later, after helping deliver the baby, he severs the umbilical cord at point blank range.
That level of cartoonish, over-the-top violence is Shoot ‘Em Up’s trademark. Either you recognize that and go along with it or you’ll be frustrated by the number of action movie cliches the movie piles one on top of the other. But if you’re in on the joke, Shoot ‘Em Up is one of the best action movie parodies of all time. Due in no small part to Clive Owen, who plays it completely straight.
The only time the movie falters is when it attempts to add plot or character motivation to the proceedings. This is weird for me because, typically, movies I don’t like generally don’t give enough focus to these integral aspects of movie making. Here’s a film that I think would be better served if they did away with them altogether!
I don’t need to know the grand political conspiracy behind Clive Owen’s motivation to keep the baby safe. I don’t need to know that his character was the son a British gunsmith who moved to America in the 1960’s, was a crack shot, recruited into the Army and trained by Black Ops. Who cares? Half of the stuff he does in the film is physically impossible anyway, so why try to contextualize it with any sense of believability?
I usually bristle at movies that ask you to switch your mind off and "enjoy the ride." It contributes to the dumbing down of our culture when we don’t ask for more from our media. But I’m completely willing Shoot ‘Em Up slide because any attempt to add shading or complexity only slows it down. It works much better as a parody. In some ways, I’m disappointed it didn’t go further!
At any rate, that’s my reaction to the film. If you have a lazy Sunday, I suggest checking it out. I’d didn’t do great at the box office last weekend, but I have a feeling that this movie is going to be huge on DVD – a cult classic. Check it out on the big screen while you still can.
New comic tomorrow! See you then!
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I have to admit that I had a hard time coming up with today’s comic, but I liked the way it turns out. Of this week’s new releases, I didn’t feel there was a lot of comedy to extract from them. Mr. Woodcock and Dragon Wars already do a pretty good job of making fun of themselves already. The Hunting Party and Eastern Promises are barely on anyone’s radar. So I decided to set my sites on the movie that was doing the most advertising this week – The Brave One.
I’m not sure if this warmed over version of Death Wish for chicks is Jodie Foster’s way of combating the expiration date Hollywood slaps on actresses of a certain age, but I think Foster is dangerously close to typecasting herself in the role of the post-millenium anxiety figurehead for women. Between The Brave One, Flightplan and Panic Room, I’m surprised she hasn’t developed some kind of personality disorder. What’s the appeal? Is there entertainment to be found in watching an actress as obviously intelligent and well put-together unravel under the right conditions? It’s a weird dichotomy.
A couple of quick shout-outs today and I’m wrapping up early.
First, thank to T. Campbell for mentioning Wednesday’s strip in his blog yesterday. Finishing it, the third mock poster gave me inspiration for a t-shirt design. But Campbell highlighted something else from the strip I think I can work with – “INVISIBLE GUNZ!” Thanks, man! I’m taking that and running with it!
Encouragingly, it looks like you guys enjoyed yesterday’s comic as well. I see it has 6 “perfect” five-star votes on the Top 50 page. It’s times like this I wish I had the comments feature up and running. I would have loved to read your thoughts.
Thanks, by the way, to those of you who are voting for your favorite strips using the comic ranking feature. I’m working on a site redesign right now and I’m going to figure out a way to give greater prominence to the feature. Plus, getting that comments section back!
Last thing I’ll mention; swing over to SubtleTeez.com for a special promotion. Right now through September 28, Theater Hopper readers get a 20% discount on all shirts using the code “th20off” at check out. These guys contacted me to clue me in on what they’re up to and a couple of their shirts got me to laugh out loud. Their good people. Check ’em out.
That’s it for me. I’ll be working on my site design this weekend. Other than that – sleeping!
Hope you have a good one, too! See you Monday!
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Does anyone out there have a StumbleUpon account? Do you want to be on my friends list? It should would be nice if you did.
Here’s the URL to my StumbleUpon account page:
Let’s be friends!
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Sep17
GUEST STRIP – RYAN ESTRADA
September 17th, 2007 |- Comics »
- Comics »
- Guest Strip
(9 votes, average: 7.78 out of 10)
Here’s the thing: If you have a web comic and Ryan Estrada one day contacts you and says “Hey, I want to do a guest strip for you!” you’re answer will be an ethusiastic "Okay!’
So there you have it. Kind of random but no less welcome. Gotta give him props for the reference to The Gods Must Be Crazy. Dig that zany sight gag in the background of the first panel, too. Ryan, you scamp!
Be sure to show Ryan your appreciation by checking out his blog site as well as new site, Cartoon Commune. The later is a very interesting project that he’s working on. Well worth your time.
Thanks, Ryan!
Not much to report from the movie front this weekend. It looks like The Brave One grabbed the top spot, but a few hard hits from critics low-balled it’s box office take by about $5 million. Early estimates put it around $20 million.
I stayed at home for the most part. Cami went with friends to see Finding Jane (the fictionalized upbringing of Jane Austen starring Anne Hathaway) and hated it. She couldn’t even quantify her distaste for it except to say that the recent remake of Pride & Prejudice with Keira Nightley was better. Uh… okay.
Meanwhile, I was at home with Henry this weekend and, after putting him to bed, I sat down to watch Army of Darkness and Accepted.
Army of Darkness needs no introduction. Most people are on the same page with me there. But it’s a weird movie for me because it’s kind of an echo of an echo after Evil Dead 1 and Evil Dead 2. It’s also the kind of movie where the action pieces are so indelible everything else seems mundane. As such, I tend to forget the boring parts and somehow trick myself into thinking I haven’t seen the movie for a while. I dunno it’s hard to explain. All the same, Bruce Campbell rocks my world. They need to get him in a movie with Kurt Russell quick.
Accepted was that dumb "let’s invent a fake college" movie with Justin Long that came out last year. I kind of wanted to see it when it was in theaters, but I’m glad I didn’t. It was awful. Long pretty much spends the entire movie immidating Vince Vaughn and Jonah Hill as his sidekick is stuck playing it at about a 5 when I want to see him play it at a 10. I kept wanting to see their roles reversed. I think Long is much funnier when he’s kind of stumbling around and self-concious, not Mr. Cool Lookitme. It’s the same reason I don’t like him in those Mac Vs. PC ads. And I’m sorry, but after seeing Hill in Superbad and Knocked Up – that’s prettty much how I want him to play every character all the time from here on out.
These are issues I will likely address in this weeks Triple Feature broadcast. Since we’re pretty much stuck in a post-summer slow down at the theater, Joe, Gordon, Brian and I agreed to open up the topic of conversation to the movies we’re watching on TV and DVD as well. I mean, why not? You can’t be topical all the time. And besides, the strength of our show is that it’s basically a bunch of friends mouthing off about movies like any other group of friends would. It’s not serious film criticism. It’s fun!
If it sounds like your kind of fun, swing on over to our page over at Talkshoe about 8:45 PM CST tonight and listen in. It’s always a good time!
That’s all I have for the time being. Although I’m, like 85% complete with a t-shirt design based off the poster design I made for the fake movie "EXPLOSIONS!" from last Wednesday strip. I might be back soon with another post to show it off. If the reponse is encouraging, expect a pre-sale on new shirts this week!
Talk to you soon!
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Okay, as promised. Here’s the t-shirt design I came up with based off the fake poster in Wednesday’s comic…
I’m looking for some honest feedback, guys. So what’s your opinion? Do you like it? Would you wear it if it were on a t-shirt? What needs to be tweaked?
E-mail me at theaterhopper@hotmail.com with your opinions. If there’s a demand, I’ll hopefully set up a pre-order for them this week!
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