Archive for May, 2009
28 items.
Reviews are starting to trickle in for Terminator Salvation and while I am trying to avoid them for the most part, I did read Tom Charity’s review over at CNN.
It’s kind of a pan, but I was more interested in how he chose to end his review…
“…the gap between the Terminator movies and Transformers is diminishing along with any vestige of adult entertainment. In the virtual era, nobody we care about stays dead for long; there is always a second life just around the corner. They’ve even stopped numbering the sequels now.”
This taps into something I’ve been feeling about action movies for a while now.
Dropping the sequel number isn’t a big deal. That’s just a marketing maneuver to make franchises feel like chapters in a larger story rather than a long-in-the-tooth money making scheme. But Charity is completely right about there being nothing at stake. No one ever stays dead and rarely does it feel like anything is at stake. Movies are starting to feel more and more like comic books.
That’s not a dig against comic books. Comic books are meant to refresh themselves every few years to stay viable. Trying writing 12 months of content and NOT dragging out old characters people once thought were dead.
But what happened to the movie as a stand-alone story? I look at a movie like The Matrix and how, even though the ultimate conclusion wasn’t told, it felt open-ended enough that you could imagine how things went for Neo and the human resistance. Then the sequels came along and. were so overblown and boring. It was all just filler to get you to that ultimate conclusion – the humans win.
So what?
Now movie franchises just go on and on and on and never really deliver anything new. Everything in the old movies is swept under the rug or explained away so producers and studios can have another run at the trough. Audiences are learning not to trust storytellers and that’s a big problem when the ENTIRE POINT of movies is to remove the audience from their surrounding and place them inside your world for two hours.
How can death in the movies have significance when the same through it running through everyone’s mind?
“They’re gonna bring that guy back for the sequel.”
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Is it a cop-out to give the Benbot an On/Off switch? A little bit, yeah. But let’s be truthful: there’s no way I was going to turn this into a 15-strip story arc about a time-displaced Benbot and his dire warnings.
Also, when I stopped to consider the mystery of the Dustin Hoffman “fiasco,” the promise of that supposed tragedy was more entertaining to me.
That said, don’t expect a story line where we travel to 1982 and witness the incident first-hand.
In summation, move along now. Nothing to see here. Well, nothing to see except the incentive image I put together for you. Another illustration of the T-800 endoskeleton skull. Of the three I’ve drawn this week, I think it’s the best yet. To see it, vote for Theater Hopper at Top Web Comics.
Quick sidebar about the incentive sketches… Usually I draw something that is a continuation of the joke from that day’s comic. But lately, I’ve become more interested in drawing characters or scenes from the movies I’m referencing. I’m interesting in hearing what you guys like – a tacked on joke drawn in the usual Theater Hopper style, or a more detailed illustration like the last three I’ve drawn this week?
Because here’s the other thing: I’ve been drawing these cards on the 4 X 6 card stock I take with me to conventions and use to draw the sketches I sell and they actually look like the images you see over at Top Web Comics. They have the blue border, the logo in the corner and even a little synopsis on the back of what Theater Hopper is with the URL and a box where I add my signature.
The sketches I do at conventions are open-ended. They can be whatever the customer asks for. Looking over this last batch of drawings, I’m thinking that these are illustrations I could take with me to conventions and sell out of the box. (Either sell them at conventions or here on the site.) I’m thinking that I would have a better chance at selling a stand-alone image of a movie character than a continuation of a joke from a specific comic the customer may or may not have ever read.
So I guess the other question is, of the sketches I’m drawing as incentive images, do you think you would buy them if I sold them on the site or at a convention? They’d be cheap (probably no more than $5 or so) and they’d be unique. A custom illustration that will never be reprinted anywhere else – A fun bit of Theater Hopper you can own for yourself!
Let me know what you guys think, because I believe I might be onto something here.
Back to talking about movies… As you know Terminator Salvation comes out today and I am… excited? I say “excited” with trepidation because reviews have been lukewarm.
I’m trying to go into the movie with a clean slate, but Warner Bros. isn’t making that easy. Among the myriad of movie blogs I follow, there seems to be new clips from the movie being released daily. Whenever I see a studio release a stream of clips online, I immediately become cautious. From a marketing perspective, I understand what they’re doing. They’re seeding the internet the hope that interest will spring up from it. If a clip becomes viral, even better.
But what a lot of these movie blogs do is round up these clips and put them in one spot. Trailer Addict has 7 pages of Terminator Salvation clips. 7 pages of clips, TV spots, trailers and extended trailers. So, effectively, a potential ticket buyer could watch 10 to 20 minutes of the movie before they even set foot inside a theater.
And studios are worried about piracy? Gimme a break. They’re ruining movies for fans just as much as anyone else.
The last movie that did this was X-Men Origins: Wolverine – and we all know how that turned out. That, and you can’t force something to be viral. Believe me, I’ve tried.
I’m not seeing Terminator Salvation until Sunday night and usually by then the studios can estimate the film’s weekend box office. If the film is running cool, it will probably lower my expectations to see it. Maybe that’s a good thing. Maybe I’ll walk out of it having been pleasantly surprised.
But this is a Terminator movie. Shouldn’t I be more excited to see it regardless of reviews and preview clips and tie-ins and promotions?
Let me know your thoughts about Terminator Salvation. Have you been doing a good job avoiding the clips online? Did you even know there was that much material out there? Do you find it excessive? Do you think movie studios are giving away the store or do you appreciate the extra content and their attempts to woo you into the theater?
Also be sure to let me know what you think about the direction of the incentive sketches: A one panel gag or a stand alone image of a famous movie character? Would you buy a 4 X 6 from the Theater Hopper store or at a convention for less than $5?
Let me know what you think and, if you’re in the US, have a safe Memorial Day weekend!
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This weekend is Memorial Day, which is the unofficial start of summer here in the States. And when I think summer, I think baseball.
Now, since I’m not a jock and probably the biggest “indoor kid” you’ll ever meet, I only think about baseball for about 15 minutes. But the thought does cross my mind.
Real-life Jared and I are going to see our Triple-A baseball club – the I-Cubs (Chicago’s farm team) – play the Fresno Grizzlies tonight at 7:05 PM. Or, rather, we’re going to sit in a baseball stadium for 3 hours, drink overpriced beers and catch up with each other’s lives as a baseball game is played in front of us.
All this talk about baseball made me think of a movie I’ve probably seen two dozen times, but don’t own – Major League.
I’ve always enjoyed this movie and I can’t explain why. Probably because the first time I remember watching it was at a friend’s house who got HBO and I remember it being vaguely dirty. Plus, it has that lovable loser angle going for it as it charts the improbably goal of the Cleveland Indians winning The World Series so their owner doesn’t move the team to Florida.
You get to see Charlie Sheen before he became a sex addict, Wesley Snipes before he became a tax cheat and Corbin Bernsen before people stopped caring about Corbin Berson. Tom Berenger does a good job playing an over-the-hill catcher trying to win back his wife (Rene Russo, of all people!) and the voice of the Milwaukee Brewers, Bob Uecker shows up delivering some of the best one-liners and withering play-by-play commentary as the Indian’s at-home radio broadcaster.
There were a couple of unfortunate sequels made to this movie (and the less said about the third one, the better). But the original stands out to me as a comedy with relaxed charm. Comedy always seemed more confident in the 80’s. Less ironic and less self-conscious like it is today. It’s a treat to watch characters deliver a funny line without breaking their stride. These days, a lot of comedies seem to have “WAIT FOR APPLAUSE” pauses built into ever scene.
Or maybe I’m just an old man griping.
I’m curious what your favorite baseball movie might be – and it doesn’t have to be a comedy. Certainly Bull Durham and Field of Dreams are the first two to pop into my minds. But I’m wondering if there are any others. Let me know!
Or, if you just want to talk about Major League, we can do that, too…
Batter up!
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You think that girl crying was just a sniffle before it was over with. Oh, no. She’s just getting started! Vote for Theater Hopper at Top Web Comics to see the water works in full effect!
Sorry for the delay on Monday’s comic. I know I promised it to you late yesterday, but the Memorial Day holiday kind of got in the way. I thought I was going to have an opportunity to draw and ink the strip while Henry was napping, but it didn’t work out that way. Then, despiteGordon’s upset stomach, Joe and I decided to go through with recording last night’s The Triple Feature podcast and that pushed my time line back further. When it was all said and done, I said to myself, “This is going to have to be a Tuesday comic instead.”
Incidentally, regarding last night’s The Triple Feature, I strongly suggest you check it out. I think Joe and I had a really good show. We were really clicking. We talked about Angels & Demons and Terminator Salvation and I spent a little time discussing Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian.
Regarding the latter, I saw strong>Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian and liked it. The movie is certainly better than the first because it’s smart enough to put the “divorced Dad just trying to do right by his kid” angle into the background and focuses on what people really came to the theater for – classical sculpture preening like a Brooklyn pigeon for statues of antiquity.
“BOOM! BOOM! FIAHPOWAH!”
Amy Adams plays Ben Stiller’s love interest in the film as aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart. I found Adams winning in the role, even if she was using some kind of clipped 1920’s vocal affectation not entirely dissimilar from Katherine Hepburn (I’m sorry, but I refuse to believe everyone from the 20s and 30s talked with that way).
I do have to admit that the question of Earhart’s sexual orientation crept into my head while watching the movie. Later, when I was discussing today’s comic, Cami did have to correct me as to her marital status, which I was totally oblivious to.
Doing research for the comic, rumors of Earhart’s sexuality were never confirmed. Truthfully, it wouldn’t surprise me if it was an ugly rumor created to discredit her as being “butch” or some such nonsense for entering into the field of aviation – an arena many men of the period did not feel women belonged.
Ultimately, it doesn’t mater. It matters even less within the context of the movie. It’s Earhart’s Spirit of Adventure that Stiller’s character is meant to fall in love with. It’s his wake up call to leave the corporate world he went on to establish himself in and reconnect with his true passion – being a night guard at a magical museum.
Aside from Adams, Hank Azaria is effective as the slapstick villain Kahmunrah. Again, putting on an usual accent, I found his Karloff-esque lisp funny the first few scenes he was in, but distracting later on.
Owen Wilson, Steve Coogan and Robin Williams show up and get a few good lines. Coogan as the Roman General Octavius probably gets the funniest bit in the movie as he charges toward the White House in an attempt to notify the President of the situation at the Smithsonian. Bill Hader also gets in a few funny moments early on as the vain and self-important General Custer. His hair care regimen alone will leave you ROFLing in your popcorn.
There are a ton of cameos in the movie too many to mention. Truthfully, I wouldn’t want to tell you. I think you’d be better off surprised. But nearly every up-and-coming comedic performer of the last 5 years shows up in this thing and it’s fun to go “Hey, I know that person!”
At least it was fun for me. I’m simple like that.
Between all this comedic talent, you can tell there was room left in the script for improvisation. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. Some bits go on a little too long – as if the performers are purposefully trying to push an idea from funny to unfunny an back to “funny” again. They don’t always salvage the effort. But the exchanges are refreshing in the sense that the characters just and spewing boilerplate “Now I will do THIS!” / “No, you can’t!” dialogue at each other.
The last little gripe I’ll make about the movie is that despite the fact it’s promoting history, it’s historically inaccurate. There is a chase sequence inside the Air & Space Museum where Stiller and Adams’ characters dislodge the Wright Brothers plane from it’s ceiling mount and fly it out of the building. Not only do they fly it out of the building, they fly around inside the building for a while. Not only do the fly around inside the building for a while, they make a series of impossible maneuvers, dipping and diving around the other aircraft on displace before launching into the skies over Washington D.C. for a languid, romantic moment.
I’m sorry – but wasn’t this the plane that was only able to maintain flight for about 12 seconds?
I don’t mean to be a milksop. I recognize that the movie is fantasy and has to bend the rules a little bit to be entertaining. After all, if I’m going to nit-pick the aerobatic prowess of the world’s first airplane, there’s probably something I should say about a magical Egyptian tablet that brings wax sculptures to life, right?
But intentionally or not, a movie like this will generate an interest in history. It’s basically on big commercial for the Smithsonian. Shouldn’t the producers be a little bit more responsible with what they are portraying on screen?
Or, considering the audience the movie is targeted toward – young kids – is it acceptable to tell a small lie to foster interest in the larger truth? Personally, I’m not a fan of the idea that kids deserve dumbed down entertainment. Kids are capable of understanding much more than we give them credit for. But I suppose if it get’s them away from video games, I’m okay with the idea that the Wright’s plane can perform loops…
I feel like there is more I can be blogging about. I also caught Terminator Salvation this weekend and have some opinions on that. But I think I’ll wrap things up for now.
Did anyone here catch Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian this weekend? What did you think? Did you find it better than the original? Are you able to look over some of the more fantastic elements if it serves the entertainment value of the movie?
Leave your thoughts below!
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May27
In honor of Pixar’s Up coming out this Friday, today’s incentive sketch is my own rendition of the movie’s septuagenarian protagonist, Carl Fredricksen. To view it, simply vote for Theater Hopper at Top Web Comics.
An additional bit of business before we get on with the blogging: Monday’s comic was delayed by the Memorial Day holiday, but was posted on Tuesday. So if you were away from the site for whatever reason on Tuesday and want to view it, click here.
I don’t know if today’s comic captures the level of righteous indignation I normally express against Pixar-haters. If I wanted to, I could have really gone on a rant. I suppose that’s what this blog is for!
This is something I’ve noticed when it comes to Pixar films: The first trailer comes out about a year to 8 months before the film hits theaters. There are people (like myself) who are immediately excited about it and then there are… others who want to pick it apart.
Now, far be it for me to say these people don’t have a right to pick things apart. If I apply that logic, then that logic can be applied against me. Considering what I do here, picking things apart is my bread and butter. So I’m not saying these people don’t have the right to a negative critical opinion.
What I *AM* saying is that these critics are on the losing side of history.
Since its inception, Pixar has been putting out quality film that not only push the boundaries of 3D animation, but achieve mass and critical acclaim for their emphasis on solidly constructed stories.
Why then, when the teaser trailers come out, do some people automatically poo-poo them? I’ve seen it done with nearly every movie the studio has produced since A Bug’s Life and some people refuse to let it go.
Considering Pixar’s unprecedented string of hits, I can only assume that these people want Pixar to fail.
Everyone has an axe to grind. I know this. One only need look at my baseless grudges against Ben Affleck and Shia LaBeouf for proof of this.
But whereas Affleck and LaBeouf have earned condemnation for their public antics and their sometimes questionable choices in movie rolls, Pixar has been turning out hit after hit after hit. 10 blockbusters, by my count. TEN classic films that can stand shoulder-to-shoulder to some of the most technically innovative and engrossing films in all of animation.
Is Pixar headed for a fall? The realist in me says “eventually.” At some point they’re going to trip over their own feet. Maybe it’ll happen with Toy Story 3. Maybe it’ll happen with Cars 2. Despite the fact that Toy Story 2 is probably one of only a handful of sequels better than the original, sequels are generally a bad idea. So who knows?
All I’m saying to the haters is stop anticipating it so readily. Because you know it and I know it… the minute that trailer for Up with the talking dog came out, you were all over this movie like white on rice. You’re gonna see it and you’re gonna love it, just like all the other Pixar films.
Please, leave the self-aggrandizing predictions to professionals like myself. ;D
Who else is excited about Up this weekend? Leave your comments below!
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I’m going back through the archives and tagging all of the comics and blog posts. This effort is part of the comic transcription effort some volunteers helped me out with a month or two ago. It’s slow going, but I think I’m starting to see the benefit. I think traffic is starting to increase again as the interwoven tag links are drawing traffic from search engines.
At any rate, I’m thinking about putting a tag cloud beneath the blog posts, so you guys can see what tags are showing up most often.
Any interest in this? Let me know in the comments field below!
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Continuing my exploration of all things Up, today’s sketch is of Russell, of the Wilderness Adventurers. My version of Russ seems a little more awkward than what’s presented in the movie (if that’s possible). Consider this a version of Russell that’s maybe a few years older than his on-screen counterpart. I tried to stay loose with the sketch, but didn’t quite get the proportions right. To see the sketch, vote for Theater Hopper at Top Web Comics.
Incidentally, Theater Hopper has been slipping down the list a little bit over at Top Web Comics and I’m wondering if it has any relation to the kind of sketches I’m doing.
In the past, I would draw sketches that were a continuation of the joke in the comic. Lately, I’ve been drawing more stand-alone pieces. Renderings of characters from movies. Is this a factor in your voting? Let me know in the comments below and be mindful of Monday, June 1 when the Top Web Comics counter resets. If we can get in the Top 10 early on, there’s a greater likelihood we can stay there! I’m going to need everyone’s help, so I’m putting the idea in your heads now.
As you know, both Up and Drag Me To Hell come out today. During Monday’s recording of The Triple Feature, Joe pointed out that the family-friendly film in competition with director Sam Raimi’s return to horror was great counter programming.
I felt like I was onto something when I commented that not only were the two movies at the opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of their content, but also in terms of the geography they explored. Up floating among the clouds and Drag Me To Hell lurking in the depths of the Underworld.
I shared my observation to Cami and she said it was “quite profound.” She may have been humoring me, but it was enough for me to try and figure out a way I could work it into the comic.
As for the answer to Tom’s quandary in today’s comic, I don’t think it would surprise anyone that I’m more interested in seeing Up. Cami and I are seeing it tonight. But my interest has been piqued by the strong reviews Drag Me To Hell has been getting. I guess Joe from Joe Loves Crappy Movies saw an early screening of it and was over the moon about it. Critical response has been strong, too. 95% positive at Rotten Tomatoes. I guess Raimi still has the old horror touch!
I’m not a big fan of horror, but I respect Raimi a great deal. It goes without saying how awesome the Evil Dead trilogy is. But those films have a low-tech charm. I don’t know if I could stomach full-blown Raimi sitting in the middle of a booming surround-sound theater.
One thing Raimi is particularly adept at are “loud noises” scares – frightening reveals you can see a mile away, but punctuated by piercing musical shrieks. I HATE those kinds of scares. I do better with movies that employ this tactic when I’m at home and can control the volume.
I’m very curious to know what Raimi has up his sleeve, but I think this one is going to have to be a rental for me. I’m too much of a weenie otherwise.
What about you guys? Are you feeling up to the challenge of seeing Drag Me To Hell in a gigantic booming theater without peeing your pants? Or are you like me and going to chillax with Pixar and Up for two hours instead?
Leave your comments below!
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While I have everyone’s attention, I need a little help with a problem I’m having with the coding of the Theater Hopper RSS feed.
I tried posting the code into this blog post, but WordPress tried to make the code functional. So I had to take these screencaps instead.
This is code inside the WordPress functions.php file. It’s what helps control the RSS plus other aspects of the site. This is the RSS comic display code as it currently appears:
Here is the code as I have attempted to update it:
In both cases, you want to look at the code that comes after “//foo” because that’s where I’ve made my changes.
Basically what I’m trying to do is take the code that displays the WHOLE comic in the RSS feed and place it inside a “DIV” tag as a background image. The “DIV” is sized to 265px tall – roughly half the height of the finished comic. Below it is another “DIV” with copy and a link instructing people to visit the main site if they want to see the rest of the comic.
I know I’m overlooking something small. A misplaced apostrophe, a comma or something. But I’m not familiar enough with PHP coding to troubleshoot it effectively.
Is there anyone out there that can help me with this, look over my code and provide suggestions? I would appreciate it!
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