Archive for October, 2008
17 items.
Oct17
Don’t worry. I’m not going to get overtly political on you.
Cami and I actually had this conversation because we couldn’t really figure out who the audience for W. was meant for.
As pointed out in the strip, it’s an Oliver Stone movie – so that right there should raise flags. To me, Stone is all about sensationalism. So if I were a fan of George W. Bush (which I am not), then I would expect this movie to be some kind of hatchet job. So let’s say this movie is not meant for conservatives who are looking for a biography piece meant to celebrate the 43rd President of the United States.
Who’s left? Liberals, maybe. People who are attracted to Oliver Stone and his politics (if he even has any at this point). People who WANT to see a hatchet job. People who want to laugh at the expense of "Dubya" while his approval rating languishes near record lows.
This is America for you. Granted, it’s not as if Bush Jr. hasn’t bungled things up so badly that he isn’t deserving of a little scorn. But I feel like it is distinctly an American tradition to build up our idols and then kick dirt into their eye when their star eventually falls. We relish in it. We consider it sport.
Me, personally – I guess I want to see the hatchet job. But I’m not exactly a fan of Oliver Stone or what he stands for anymore. The guy has always had a tenuous grip on reality to begin with. But I think after Natural Born Killers, he pretty much crawled up his own ass and never came out again. I’m attracted to the controversy W. is generating, but obviously we don’t have the historical perspective to dissect Bush thoroughly. To me, this movie is about Stone planting his flag on Bush’s legacy so he can said he got there first.
I mean, Stone shot this thing in, like, 45 days. For a guy who is all about spectacle and visual panache, that’s a land speed record! He obviously has an agenda in mind – something he wants to express before Election Day. What remains to be seen is how much of his signature style he had to abandon to do it.
Truthfully, if I was going to see the movie for any reason, it would be to see Josh Brolin in the title role. Brolin is one of those actors I haven’t thought about since The Goonies – and even then, I didn’t know who the hell he was. But after No Country For Old Men and (surprisingly) Planet Terror, he has my full and undivided attention. All of a sudden, he can do no wrong. From the ads and trailers I’ve seen, I think he gets Bush’s mannerisms down without over-exaggerating them – which is a tough thing to do. So, if anything, I’ll be watching the movie to examine his performance. Because the buzz surrounding it has been strong.
I think Cami and I are going to try and catch a matinee of W. tomorrow. My in-laws are coming over for lunch and are going to hang around the house to make sure Henry is okay while he naps and we see the movie.
I’m probably also going to try and squeeze in Sex Drive tonight. Because after the week I’ve had, I could use a formulaic teen sex comedy. Should be fun being the creepy 30 year-old guy in the back of the theater again.
Not for nothing, but I thought you guys might be interested to know that I sent in my registration, booked a hotel and an airline reservation so I could attend the Emerald City Comicon in Seattle, April 4 -5. I know that’s, like, 6 months away. But I’m excited to share the news because this will be my first time attending Emerald City Comicon, my first time visiting Seattle and my first time flying to attend a convention.
I was basically talking with a few other webcomic guys and complaining that I can’t go to any conventions that aren’t within driving distance because it costs too much to fly. Someone suggested Emerald City Comicon if I was ever going to take the risk because it’s large, but not overwhelming and they have a strong reputation for taking care of webcomic creators.
On a whim, I went to Orbitz and looked up the cost of a plane ticket to Seattle and was shocked when I found a fair for under $200.
You need to understand why that is significant. First of all, there’s a bit of an economic crisis that makes everything expensive. Second, gas prices are astronomical and third, airlines are now charging you a fee to breath oxygen inside their pressurized cabins.
MOST significantly, however, is that I live in Des Moines, Iowa. A town where you’d have to catch a connecting flight to go to Chicago. Flights out of town NEVER cost less than $300. I don’t know if it was a computer error, or what, but I jumped on the opportunity.
So, now I’m going to Seattle and paying about as much for transportation as I did paying for gas to drive myself it Wizard World Chicago back in June!
Anyway, like I said, it’s 6 months away. But I wanted to let you know about it now. I’m really looking forward to it.
That’s it for today. Thanks for swinging by the site and I’ll see you again on Monday! Have a great weekend!=
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Oct20
In today’s comic I’m using Jared as the conduit to express some of my own self-esteem issues. But before I get to that, let me backtrack a little.
A few weeks ago, I went to see Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist. Cami opted out citing that the movie would make her feel “old.” I thought the objection was kind of silly at the time. I enjoyed the film, but it left me with a certain melancholy. The movie does a really good job of transporting you back to a period in your life where all things seemed possible, but you had to dig deep to find the courage to make them happen. I also think it’s one of the handful of movies that understands the first few moments of infatuation turning into romance and treats it right.
Anyway, I walked out of the movie satisfied, but also a little sad that I’ve moved beyond that time in my life where spontaneity wasn’t something you planned for.
Watching Sex Drive this weekend has exacerbated things somewhat and made me realize for the first time in a long time that I’m just plain… old.
Now before anyone starts jumping to conclusions, I want to make it understood that I am very happy with the life I lead now. I’m really into my family, I’m enjoying my son and things are great. This isn’t a confession about me wishing I was 20 again, wanting to run around and party all night. I had that opportunity once and, frankly, it didn’t much interest me. Specifically, the whole horndog aspect of Sex Drive was never something I aspired to, either.
In concert with this, I am very much aware that these films promote a kind of hyper-actualized reality. So it’s not like I look at them and wish “Gee, I wish my life were more like that.”
Rather, what bums me out about these movies is that they remind me of being a certain age where I was able to operate in a vaguely consequence-free environment. I’m not talking about the lack of culpability. Just the room to test the waters, make some mistakes, learn from them and still recover.
The older you get, the more and more you feel is at stake. Your reputation, your livelihood, your relationships. Its like a game of Jenga. When you’re younger, you can pull out the wrong piece and the tower can come crumbling down. No big deal. Plenty of time to rebuild and start again. When you’re older, you become much more careful about the pieces you chose lest all of it come tumbling down.
A lot of this feeling racked into focus after Henry was born. That was certainly a clear signal that you can’t goof around anymore because your actions have consequences and you certainly don’t want to set a bad example for someone else. Have fun, sure. Keep it light, enjoy life. Just… don’t screw up – because it’s more than just you that you have to be worried about now.
I dunno. I feel like I’m only articulating this half as well as I should be. Some of this goes without say. Although, when you’re younger, it’s certain not advice that you want to hear. It just stings a little bit when you realize that every time you heard “Youth is wasted on the young” and you rolled your eyes, you were really short-changing that wisdom.
I’ll probably have more to say about Sex Drive tonight on The Triple Feature. So if you want to listen to me stick my foot into my mouth further, you can check it out as we record live at 9:00 PM CST.
Incidentally, I also saw W. this weekend and thought it was pretty good. Although I think Oliver Stone got sloppy in the second act and basically makes the audience sit through re-enactments of “Dubya’s Greatest Hits.” Josh Brolin knocks it out of the park, though. His version of George W. Bush is very subtle. He does the mannerisms without descending into total caricature. Excellent work from the former Goonie.
That’s it for now. Take care, everyone and I’ll see you here on Wednesday.
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I normally wince at doing comics about “industry news” because I think most people won’t have the background information needed to get the joke. Thus, I feel compelled to establish the situation with some kind of long-winded exposition. Hence, the super-wide first panel with Jared giving us the lowdown.
Truthfully, I’m completely tapped in terms of commentary for upcoming movies like Saw V and Pride and Glory.
Incidentally, this is the article Jared is talking about regarding Paramount’s decision to push back The Soloist from November to March.
I guess I kind of misrepresented things in the comic because Paramount didn’t bump The Soloist from November explicitly to support a Best Supporting Actor campaign for Robert Downey Jr.’s performance in Tropic Thunder. That was more of a by-product of the situation. Paramount was pressured by its parent company to cut 4th quarter costs and The Soloist was easiest to move. So, really, it’s all about money – as it often is.
I’m thinking it’s somewhat misguided on Paramount’s part to finance a campaign for RDJ’s role in Tropic Thunder. Not just because comedies typically do not fare well during awards season, but also because of the controversy of putting an A-list actor in black face for nearly 2 hours.
Look, the film ruffled a few feathers, but they managed to pull it off. No one walked away from it sustaining any permanent damage to their careers. Just let the thing flourish on DVD and let sleeping dogs lie. The less said about this, the better. Quit trying to take advantage of RDJ’s resurgence in 2008. Yes, it’s a crime that the man hasn’t been nominated for anything since Chaplin, but Tropic Thunder is not the film to break that streak. All things in due time.
Switching gears, I wanted to talk about Monday’s strip and the wave of e-mails I received about having a mid-life crisis at 30. It was surprising how many people wrote in to express the same misgivings about getting old. One reader sent me a couple of links detailing The Quarter-Life Crisis and the astrologers theory of Saturn’s Return.
I guess I was familiar with the idea of a quarter-life crisis from a lyric in John Mayer song. Of course, there’s also that album from No Doubt called Return of Saturn, so I guess I’m kind of of familiar with that as well. I just never made the connection between these ideas and my own station in life.
Weird how I know about these things through my exposure to pop music.
Anyway, it was nice to get e-mails from people answering the question “Is it possible to have a mid-life crisis at 30?” and agreeing with it. A lot of you have been there or could sympathize with the feeling and that was reassuring. So… thanks!
I don’t know why I felt the need to share that beyond how I find it interesting what topics will generate a response from you guys. Makes me feel good you’re reading the blogs!
That does it for me today. Have a great Wednesday!
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Yeah! Ha, ha, ha! Take THAT People’s Choice Awards! I hope you packed a lunch because I just took you to school!
Okay, so… maybe The People’s Choice Awards really isn’t that big of a deal. Still, it beats having to talk about another Saw movie for the fifth year in a row!
This strip is a continuation of Tom’s insistence of a Best Actor nod for Robert Downey Jr.’s performance in Iron Man from Wednesday’s comic. I didn’t really envision more than one strip when I wrote the first one until my friend Joe asked me if there was going to be a longer storyline.
I mean, I guess I could see where the punchline for Wednesday’s comic kind of set things, but I’m seriously just flying by the seat of my pants, here. I could probably do another strip on Monday. It depends what you guys think. Do you guys want to see where this goes or do you want me to do a strip about Zach and Miri Make A Porno? Halloween is next week. Should I do a Halloween strip instead? Send me an e-mail and tell me what you think!
Nothing much to talk about this weekend, movie-wise. Saw V is going dominate and that’s that. *YAWN* Personally, I’m kind of interested in seeing Pride and Glory. I know I shouldn’t be, though. It looks like such typical tough guy police corruption boilerplate. Like Joe said during The Triple Feature on Monday, it looks like We Own The Night: Part 2. Nevermind this movie has been on the shelf for 8 months after being completed. That’s typical a bad sign.
But still, I’m almost always interested in what either Ed Norton or Colin Farrell do and I think a pairing of the two actors is long overdue. Farrell experienced some over-exposure a few years back and I guess it led him to treatment for his alcoholism. I’m interested to see how that has affected his acting and intensity. Plus, it’s directed by Gavin O’Connor, which I’m sure means nothing to you. But he also directed the Kurt Russell Olympic hockey movie Miracle a few years back and I thought he did a really great job with that movie. It’s one of those films I quietly appreciate because I’m not typically interested in sports movies. What can I say? That one got to me.
At any rate, I might try to sneak out and see it this weekend if I’ve got nothing else going on.
That’s all for today. Thanks for checking the site and I hope you have a great weekend! See you here on Monday!
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RockNRollaI wanted to say thank to the people who sent me e-mails last week in response to my call for feedback. I had asked people for their thoughts on either continuing the Tom-tries-to-get-Robert-Downey-Jr.-an-Oscar-nomination storyline or if I should move on to greener pastures and focus on the upcoming Halloween holiday or Kevin Smith’s new film, Zach and Miri Make A Porno.
The cross-section of feedback was interesting. It was pretty much split even between people who wanted to see what direction the RDJ storyline would go versus people that wanted Halloween hijinks. Most telling, however, was the number of people thanking me for not doing a Saw V strip. I guess I’m not the only person who thinks the franchise is suffering from overexposure. Then again, it looks like we’re in the minority. Saw V pulled in over $30 million this weekend.
What Saw V didn’t do was dominate the box office like I predicted last week. I had totally forgotten about High School Musical 3 coming out last week. But then, why would I remember it? I’m not a 15 year-old girl.
At any rate, you can see that I’m moving toward some Halloween goodness this week, so stay tuned for more. I think the expectation is that Tom is going to run around in his Iron Man gear for the third time this year. Don’t count on it. Some of the other feedback I received was "Enough with the Iron Man stuff, already!" I don’t exactly plan on avoiding it, but you’ll have to hang around to see what twist I put on it.
That’s it for today. Be sure to tune in to The Triple Feature podcast live tonight at 9:00 PM CST at TalkShoe.com. No doubt we’ll be talking about Saw V, perhaps Guy Ritchie’s film RockNRolla and more. Be there with your questions and if you have the capacity to call in, we might put you on the air with us!
Talk to you then!
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Oct29
I bet the anticipation is killing you, isn’t it? What could Tom possibly be working on? What is his costume that will SHOCK. THE. NATION? What is his Halloween surprise? You’ll have to come back Friday to see!
Okay… I’ll give you a hint. He won’t be wearing an Iron Man costume, but it will be Iron Man related. THAT’S ALL I’M GONNA SAY!
Truth be told (and I never thought I’d say this), I’m getting a little tired of doing all of the Iron Man jokes in the comic. But they’re kind of easy for me to do. Inexhaustible fanboy glee is something I know a little bit about. “Write what you know,” as they say.
Speaking of Iron Man, did you see yesterday that Marvel announced Robert Downey Jr. and Jon Favreau have signed contracts for The Avengers. The movie is on track to hit theaters in 2011 after Iron Man 2 busts wide in 2010. It doesn’t look like Favreau will be directing, but he will be an Executive Producer. It also appears that The Hulk will not be the main villain, as originally rumored. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for Kang The Conqueror!
Marvel also confirmed the announcement made last week that Don Cheadle will be Replacing Terrence Howard as James “Rhodey” Rhodes. I didn’t talk about this last week and that kind of surprised a few of you who e-mailed me. I don’t know. I guess I felt like it was being covered from almost every other angle and I didn’t have anything to contribute. I was also kind of taking a wait-and-see approach. Marvel claimed that Howard wanted more money and decided to cut him out. Marvel also originally dragged their feet signing Favreau to direct Iron Man 2 over money – despite how many fans felt he contributed directly to the film’s great success. Eventually Marvel came to their senses and put Favreau back in the director’s seat. Maybe they would come to their senses and give Howard his “next time” in the War Machine armor.
But even if they weren’t going to put Howard in the sequel, it’s not like I’m all that upset that Cheadle is taking his place. Personally, I think Cheadle is the better actor and I can see him really playing well into that “I’m just screwing with you” vibe that RDJ seems to like to put across in his performances. Kind of like in the Ocean’s 11 movies. I have complete confidence in his performance.
I guess it just would have been nice to have a little consistency.
Gah… I start out talking about how I’m getting tired of discussing Iron Man all the time and look where we end up. Oh, well. That does it for me today. Gearing up for Beggar’s Night tomorrow. We’re having the whole family over for chili and taking Henry out to a few houses on the block for free candy. This is his first time. His costume? Henry’s going as a cow. What can I say? The kid is 21 months old. He’s all about animals right now.
Next year? IRON MAN!!!
Have a great Wednesday!
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I think if I made one mistake with this story arc, it’s that I didn’t push the idea that Tom wanted to defy expectations of him running around in an Iron Man costume far enough. The idea was really in response to my own catch-22 with my relationship to the movie and the character. On the one hand, I love talking about it. On the other hand, I know some of you are sick of Iron Man comics. Believe me, I understand. But in the meantime, many of you are very supportive of my love for the character. So what do you do when Halloween rolls around you need to put your character in some kind of costume? Bottom line, it would just look weird to suddenly have Tom running around as The Joker when he’s spent all year talking about Tony Stark. I thought the cheeseburger idea was kind of a happy compromise. A way to talk about Iron Man without putting Tom in the Iron Man costume. I think, for the most part, it was effective. It was a fun little guessing game for the week to see what Tom was finally going to emerge as.
Switching gears for a minute, I wanted to talk to the people who donated money to the hard drive restoration donation drive a few months ago. I want to let all of you know that I’m still working on your artwork, but it’s been slow-going. Between my 9 to 5 job, my night class, taking care of Henry and producing the comic, it’s hard to find time. I often try to squeeze in doing some of the art work over my lunch hour during the week. I pretty much feel like I’m working not stop but without a lot to show for it.
The other part of the problem is that I’ve been investing a lot of time and effort into this art to make sure everyone gets what they pay for. So even the less-expensive sketches are getting the four-star treatment. I was going to show you some of the sketches that I’ve been working on lately, but I packaged them up and mailed them off before I remembered to scan them. That was kind of stupid. However, I did remember to scan one before mailing. It’s a sketch of Charles Bronson a fan had asked for, so I drew him in his classic pose from the poster for Death Wish. Check it out…
The foreshortening on the arm is a little screwy. But, overall, I’m proud of this piece. I think I got the mood right and I was trying some different things with inking that turned out well.
At any rate, everyone has been very cool and very patient so far. I’m not getting angry e-mails or people kicking in my door with pitchforks and torches. But I wanted to let you know that I’m trying to keep up with things the best that I can and to take the opportunity to once again thank those who showed me great generosity.
That’s it for me today. Zach & Miri Make A Porno is at the top of my list for movies to see this weekend. It might be a little tough for me to go, though. My car has a flat tire and I’m trying to get it into the shop this weekend. We’ll see if the weather this weekend holds out or not. Maybe I’ll ride my bike to the theater for once!
Have a great weekend!
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