Archive for March, 2008
19 items.
I know I kind of covered a little ground already in regards to Semi-Pro, but I decided to revisit that territory after having the chance to sit down and watch the film over the weekend.
How was it? In a word – “terrible.”
You have no idea what the weight of that lone word means coming out of my mouth. I’m a huge Will Ferrell fan. How huge? How about “A Night at the Roxbury wasn’t that bad” huge? I’m willing to forgive a lot when it comes to Ferrell’s misfires.
I’ve never been able to fully explain what it is about Ferrell I find so interesting. I think the majority of it has to do with his delivery. Just the way he’ll put emphasis on a certain word in a sentance hit me just right.
For example, there’s a scene in the trailer where a woman suspiciously asks Ferrell’s minor-league basketball lethario Jackie Moon if he’s ever been to an orgy…
“I just GOT BACK from an orgy!” he responds, incredulously.
On paper… not funny. But Ferrell makes it funny.
Incidentally, that scene is nowhere NEAR the final cut of the movie. Actually, there are a lot of scenes in the trailer that aren’t in the movie. The thing is, even if you tossed them back in, I don’t think it would have made a lick of difference.
That’s the problem with this train wreck – it has no direction from an editorial standpoint. So the jokes that are mixed in to the plot have no anchor to the events happening inside said plot. Everything feels very random or loosely tethered together at best. You could have swapped out any of those missing scenes from the trailers with the final cut and not gained anything.
If you’re unaware, Semi-Pro is about a minor-league 1970’s basketball team – the Flint, Michigan Tropics – who have a chance to be absorbed into the NBA after a franchise merger. They’re lead by owner / coach / power-forward Jackie Moon, who cami into posession of the team with the earnings of his #1 hit single “Love Me Sexy” – which really only exists to give Ferrell the opportunity to sing a goofy disco-era sex ballad. It works. The song is damn catchy.
The movie does a good job establishing Moon and a tireless, inventive and somewhat reckless promoter who will do anything for his team. But when shallow stunts fail to draw in the crowds Moon needs to be considered for the merger, he brings in former NBA Champion Ed Monix, played by Woody Harrelson. And it’s at this point that the movie comes completely off the rails.
Narratively, it wouldn’t be interesting to watch an entire movie of endless promotional schemes cooked up by Ferrell’s character. Actual basketball has to come into play. So Harrelson as Monix attempts to whip the team into shape in order to win a few games. Traded for a washing machine, the real reason he accepted the gig is to be closer to a former flame played by Maura Tierney who happens to be dating Monix’s biggest fan played by Rob Corddry.
These are all distraction that subtract focus away from Ferrell. Not that Ferrell can’t be an effective ensemble player. His tenure on Saturday Night Live and his apperances in Anchorman and Old School prove that.
The problem is that you have two divergent storylines going on. Monix’s attempt to rekindle his relationship has nothing to do with the Tropics winning “the big game” or anything else, for that matter. What’s worse is that Harrelson appears to be playing the role completely straight. We’ve al seen what Harrelson can do in a movie like Kingpin. It’s a shame he didn’t bring a little more of that to the table.
Someone who also plays it straight is Andrew Daly, who plays the Tropics play-by-play commentator – and he gets more laughs doing it. In fact, I’d say he stole the picture right out from under everyone else. No small feat considering the level of (supposed) comedic talent available in this movie.
Semi-Pro ranks as one of Ferrell’s worst. It’s right up there with Kicking and Screaming and Bewitched, if you ask me. What makes it that much more of a dissapointment is the potential lost. Considering this film seems to mix the two obscure genre’s Ferrell has mined some of his best gags from – 70’s kitched and weird sports – you’d think it would be a home run. Instead it comes off like a desperate, garbled mess.
In fact, you can instantly see how desperate the film is considering the high number of obscenities in the picture. I’m all for a comedy reaching for the hard “R” rating is what’s being offered is shocking or outrageous. But in Semi-Pro, they’re just throwing it around casually. And, believe me, you’ve never noticed how much Will Ferrell DOESN’T swear in his movies until you sit through a film where he does almost NOTHING BUT swear through the entire running time.
If you’re a Ferrell fan like me, stay far, far away from Semi-Pro. Instead, watch this trailer for his next movie, Step Brothers with John C. Reily – which looks much more promising.
That said, I’m sure that we’ll have LOTS to go over tonight during our LIVE broadcast of The Triple Feature podcast over at TalkShoe.com. Be sure to join us at 9:00PM CST with your comments and opinions! We’d be happy to take your calls!
BE THERE!
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Hey, this is something that’s been bothering me for a while and I was wondering if you guys could give me some help?
I really nee to look into finding a new way to do my shading for the comic. It’s the one part of the creative process that I absolutely loathe. It’s such a chore and I procrastinate while I’m doing it. Otherwise transforming what should be a 30 minute or hour long task at most into this epic multi-hour exercise in avoidance.
I think if someone could open my mind to a faster technique – one that would allow me to automate the process somewhat – I would be finished with my comics much sooner and wouldn’t spend so much time screwing around on the internet at night.
Can anyone refer me to a helpful Photoshop tutorial or maybe share with me their techniques? E-mail me at theaterhopper@hotmail.com. I would appreciate it!
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10,000 B.C. comes out this weekend and I don’t know a single person who is excited about this movie.
The idea for today’s comic really racked into focus for me after we talked about the film during Monday’s broadcast of The Triple Feature podcast (download a copy to your machine and listen along!) Gordon said he was interested because he’s a fan of ancient civilization (despite the fact that director Roland Emmerich’s vision sets 10,000 B.C. in an alternate, “potential” Earth – there’s nothing historical about it.)
To each his own, I suppose. But this movie looks like it’s trying to leverage a little bit of the heat coming off last year’s 300 by mixing in a dash of Mel Gibson’s Apocalypto. Have you watched the trailer? No one says word one. Not even the girl with the crazy eyebrows that was in the remake of When A Stranger Calls from a few years ago.
I don’t know that I’m particularly more jazzed about seeing The Bank Job or not. I basically just needed a point of contrast for the comic. Still, for heist pictures, it doesn’t look half-bad. I like the fact that it’s based on a true story and features a kind of rag-tag ensemble. I’m actually not certain Statham kicks anyone in this film. Maybe not. They grow up so fast!
Not a lot to talk about on my end today except to say that I quit my job a week ago and am half way through my two weeks notice. Don’t worry – I have another job lined up. A great opportunity with the company Cami works for, believe it or not.
I’m going through a lot of mixed emotions at the moment. I’ll be sad to leave my current position – I’ve been there for almost 6 years. But this new job is an opportunity too good to pass up. As a result, my mind is a little fractured as I’m trying to wrap things up and oversee the transfer of my duties. Never a dull moment.
Oh, hey. I wanted to send a quick shout out to everyone who responded to my request for shading tips and tricks on Monday. I got a lot of great feedback and tested out a new technique in today’s comic. Can you tell? Is it an improvement or a detriment?
One thing I learned is that I am FAR overdue for a WACOM tablet. It seems every web comic guy and their Mom is operating with one of these things. I’ve been doing all my coloring and shading with a mouse like a chump!
Of course, WACOM tablets are expensive, so be on the lookout for a few fund-raising efforts on my part. I’m thinking of auctioning off some original art. I already have one of Tom doing a cannonball into a giant bucket of popcorn. I’m putting the finishing touches on it now. Actually, it’s been nice to do a little artwork that isn’t the comic. If for no other reason to loosen up the drawing arm a little bit.
That’s all for now. Here’s hoping you have a great rest of the week! I’ll see you here on Friday!
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I was looking at my map overlay statistics from Google Analytics recently. It tells me roughly how many visits are coming from individual countries around the world. You can then narrow the focus down to states and even cities.
Anyway, I was looking at my map overlay stats from February and was a little disappointed to see that Iowa ranked 24th on the list of states that visit Theater Hopper most often. Where’s the love from my home state heroes? I know there’s only, like, 30 of us with an internet connection, but c’mon!
Interestingly enough, the most traffic I receive comes from California. By a wide margin, actually. Almost double that of it’s closest competitor, New York.
So that means I’m really big on the coasts in the two largest entertainment markets, apparently.
How am I supposed to interpret that? Am I seeing this traffic from California and New York because they are states with very high populations? Or are these industry people checking out what I do? Individuals that could possibly open the door to a little networking and help me circulate the comic among more industry professionals?
People who follow web comics know that if your comic is about video games, it’s almost a certainty that it will become a success. Lots of gamers spend time online and media for them is geared toward that.
To that end, I never understood why movie comics hasn’t reached the same kind of instant appreciation. There are just as many movie fans online and all of them have strong opinions that they like to share. Is it quality that’s keeping them away or something else? Have movie comics failed to capture the imagination of media professionals in the industry that could help get the word out?
That’s why I’m throwing down the gauntlet. If you work in the movie industry, I want you to contact me. If you work for the media that covers movies, I want you to contact me. I want to start establishing connections, networking – even if it doesn’t lead to anything. How well known is Theater Hopper in the circles you travel in – if at all? I’m more curious than anything else at this point. Let’s start a dialogue!
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Before I get into today’s blog, I want to make sure everyone is on the same page first.
Be sure to read this article over at EntertainmentWeekly.com. It’s the same article about Ben Stiller’s new movie Tropic Thunder that’s being referenced in the strip.
To save a little time, here’s the photo that’s causing the controversy:
In the movie, Stiller, Robert Downey Jr. and Jack Black play spoiled actors making a Vietnam war film. Downey Jr. plays a method actor so serious about his craft, he surgically alters himself to look African American when he finds out the role he was originally hired to portray was written with a black actor in mind. Stiller and Downey Jr. aren’t making fun of African Americans. They ARE making fun of ridiculous actors. Personally, I think it sounds hilarious, especially if Downey Jr. plays it completely straight.
Of course, there are going to be some people out there who will reduce this down to it’s bare element – a white man in black makeup – and be offended. These people are looking for something to offend them. If you can’t see the potential for satire in this, you don’t see very many movies.
That said, is it bad that when I saw that picture that I thought Robert Downey Jr. looked like Don Cheadle? While we’re at it, I think Jack Black there in the background kind of looks like Philip Seymour Hoffman. If you kind of squint, Ben Stiller sort of looks like Tom Cruise.
Incidentally, I didn’t mean to imply that The Wayan Brothers making White Chicks was in any way equal to the decades of minstrel shows that depicted African American’s as lazy simpletons – reinforcing racist attitudes that still survive to this day. But rather it’s meant to reflect that blackface or minstrelsy is all but a dead art form all but abolished except for use in satire by a society that has is trying to shed the casual racism of our predecessors. The fact that The Wayans Brothers are able to pitch and sell a movie featuring them as white women speaks directly to how far black America has come. I don’t mean to assign to much importance to White Chicks (it was an awful movie, after all), but can you imagine a film like that being made 50 years ago? Even 30 years ago? Probably not.
Don’t forget about actors like Eddie Murphy, who has portrayed white characters in films like Coming to America and on Saturday Night Live. There is a latitude to how race is portrayed and by whom that didn’t exist before. Race baiting used to be a one way street. Look how much we’ve grown! ;-D
I don’t want to get overtly political about it. But when it came down to trying to write a joke about College Road Trip and Tropic Thunder, I went for Tropic Thunder.
What do you guys think about this controversy. Is it that big of a deal? Does it have the potential to blow up in everyone’s faces? Let me know!
Until then, I hope everyone has a great weekend. See you here on Monday!
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I’m probably going to make this worse, but here it goes.
I got into a pretty intense argument with someone in my LiveJournal feed regarding Friday’s comic and the entire issue of whether or not Tropic Thunder and Robert Downey Jr. in make up is racist.
I guess I can say it’s given me a lot to think about. As a white guy from the Midwest, I’ll fully own up to the fact that I am not the most well-versed person there is in regards to the subtleties and politics of racism. I just try to treat others as I’d want to be treated and go about my daily life.
Looking over Friday’s comic and the blog post, I realize that I may not have made the best case for myself. I already explained that, obviously, White Chicks doesn’t make up for minstrel shows, institutionalized racism and 400 years of oppression. But I was making an exaggeration for comedic effect and sometimes that doesn’t always work out the way you planned it.
So, if anyone was offended, all I can say is that I’m sorry.
It’s probably best if I leave it at that.
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10,000 B.C. came out this weekend and was number one at the box office. I’m not so much surprised by that except for the fact that it raked in over $35 million over extremely poor reviews and word of mouth. I don’t get it. All I had to do was read a review the mentioned “mastodons building pyramids” and I knew it wasn’t for me. Director Roland Emmerich has made a film rife with historical inaccuracies, but for whatever reasons, audiences don’t seem to care?
My good friend Joe Dunn said he knew within the first 20 minutes that the film was not for him or “the discerning adult ready to pick apart historical, social, economical and whatever-ical problems at every turn.” Says Joe, “This movie is for kids. Big visuals and classic themes like destiny, loss, sacrifice and family in a genre setting meant to make an impression on the most impressionable people of all- 8 to 12-year-olds.”
I can appreciate that, but I wouldn’t let a kid within 20 feet of this movie without explaining to them the difference between fantasy and reality. If Henry were old enough to watch this film, I’d make sure he knew that there was no evidence that mastodon’s helped build the pyramids because… y’know – THEY WERE EXTINCT!
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know that 10,000 B.C. presents itself as a kind of alternate Earth where the timelines went a different way, providing a more rich tapestry for fantasy storytelling, blah, blah, blah. Basiaclly, Emmerich has made a big, sweeping epic with lots of things that look cool and no substance. Certainly there are lots of films like that cluttering up the multiplex. But this one seems to have obtained some kind of perverse indifference about spitting on your mind.
Look – the problem is there are going to be some fools out there that will assume this is educational. Considering how much our attention is being fought for by movies and television, it’s hard enough to drill a truthful concept into a kid’s head let alone a ficticious one. Which version do you think is going to enthrall them more?
It’s very possible that I’m taking all of this too seriously. Anyone that dumb probably wouldn’t go to a movie period if they thought there was something educational about it. These people would probably duck out of seeing College Road Trip for the very same reasons.
Still, life is too short to waste on dumb media. If you need a movie to entertain the kids, wait until Wall-E comes out later in the year. At least you won’t feel like a bad parent for showing a little discretion.
All of this and more we’ll be talking about on The Triple Feature podcast tonight at 9:00 PM CST over at TalkShoe.com. I sincerely hope you join us so you can send in your questions and possibly call in to talk to us. We’ll be talking about 10,000 B.C. and The Bank Job.
BE THERE!
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So I was combing through LiveJournal’s list of syndicated feeds looking for the RSS feed for LifeHacker to add to my friends list.
Imagine my glee when I discovered the Theater Hopper RSS feed is the 232nd most popular feed listed! Take THAT, Scary Go Round!
I don’t know why I’m so invested in the Theater Hopper RSS feed lately. I just am.
Maybe if you have a LiveJournal account, you’ll add us to your friends list?
C’mon! Let’s see if we can be 231 by the end of the month! ;-D
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Some of you aren’t going to like this comic because it doesn’t reference anything specifically movie-related. Some of you will be annoyed that you have to read Monday’s comic to even understand the reason why Tom is in a library in the first place.
I say, “I don’t care. This one is for me.” Sometimes it’s just fun to do something random and paint Tom as more stupid than usual. “Too stupid to live,” I believe is the phrase.
Hey, if the writers of The Office can have Michael drive into a lake because a GPS in a rental car told him to, I can get away with having Tom insist literature come with an A.V. option.
Face facts, there aren’t that many interesting movies hitting the multiplex in the next few weeks. March looks like an unusual dry spell. We talked about this curious fact during Monday night’s broadcast of The Triple Feature podcast. Yet, we were still able to fill an hour full of rich, buttery movie discussion. You should download it and give it a listen if you haven’t already. It was a good show. We didn’t have a lot to talk about in terms of new movie releases, but we had fun talking about some of the latest DVD releases and the new Speed Racer international trailers. Fun times!
Not much else to report from Casa de Brazelton except today is my last day at my 9 to 5 job. I performed as a web designer for an insurance agency for the last 5 and a half years. I found another opportunity doing web work for a larger insurance company and I start that job on the 24th.
What does this mean to you? Maybe not as much as it does to me. Admittedly, I’ve been stressed the last week. But I’m taking some time off before starting the new gig and that means a site redesign I’ve been kicking around since last October might finally see the light of day before the end of the month. Theater Hopper will become my 9 to 5 for the next week. So in addition to dedicating myself to the redesign (which includes integration with WordPress, I might add), I’ll also be working on a few DVD reviews to post here to the front page. So keep your eyes peeled for those!
In the meantime, I’m wrapping up my job duties today, celebrating with my soon-to-be-former co-workers tonight, swinging by the comic book shop to pick up a few books on the way home and getting ready to see Henry Rollins perform a spoken word show here in Des Moines tomorrow night. Did I mention the first wave of Iron Man toys that tie in to the movie hit shelves today?
The next few days are going to be sweet.
See you here Friday!
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