Archive for June, 2009
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No incentive sketch today, guys. I’m running WAY behind and I wanted to get the comic up and running first without messing around with a sketch.
Sorry that the comic is so late. To explain myself, I offer these pictures:
It’s a huge, 12 foot long triptych that I painted for our family room that I completed and hung last night.
Of course, like an idiot, I was working for about 4 hours in my garage painting the last panel with a heat index of 110 outside. By the time I was done hanging it up, my back was killing me and I was completely drained. So I decided to take advantage of my unemployment situation, sack out early and get up in the morning to finish the comic.
So, again, sorry for the delay.
This painting is something I’ve been “working” on since January, but could never really find the time to complete until I got 8 hours back during my day a few weeks ago. It’s the perfect solution for our family room, which is ridiculously long and impossible to decorate. We’ve spent years trying to find the right configuration and I think we finally have the room the way we want it. The triptych anchors a very long and very blank wall and I know that Cami is over the moon about it.
In fact, this morning, when Henry came downstairs for breakfast, he noticed the painting right away and said “I like your paintings, Daddy.” So I think I did okay.
As for the “let’s make Shia a bad-ass conspiracy,” obviously it doesn’t hold water. But he was really on a bender this time last year, getting arrested at a Walgreen’s and kind of flirting with the law. I always kept the idea tucked away in the most cynical corner of my brain that it was all orchestrated on purpose to distance LaBeouf from his Disney past. But, again, I’m just playing it up for laughs.
I mean, smashing someone’s hand with a hammer? Funny, right?! I’m chuckling about it even now. Thank you, Tom & Jerry cartoons for warping my sense of humor.
Not much else to talk about today except that I’m off to see a 12:00 PM showing of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Once again, taking advantage of the unemployment situation. But don’t worry. I’m also looking for jobs during this downtime as well.
I just figured that since my hopes weren’t all that high for Transformers, it would be better for me to see it during a matinee rather than try to fight the crowds on Friday. Why make an unpleasant situation more unpleasant, right?
Originally, I was going to go to the theater that’s 5 minutes from my house. But as I was looking up show times, I saw the movie is also playing at the only IMAX theater in central Iowa. So, despite my reservations, I think I’m going to drive the extra 20 minutes in the car and shell out the extra three bucks at the ticket counter to see it on the big, big, big screen. I’ll let you know how it goes.
Anyone else planning on seeing the show in IMAX? What are your expectations for the movie? Leave your thoughts in the comments below!
Oh, and thanks for being patient with me today!…
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Yesterday the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that it would be widening the field of nominees for Best Picture from 5 to 10.
When I first heard the news I though, “Hmm, that’s interesting.” But the more I think about it, the more upset I become.
This isn’t the first time the Academy has nominated 10 films for Best Picture. In fact, it was par for the course when the awards show was created back in the 1930s and was a practice they continued well into the 1940s.
But the big difference these days is that there are FAR fewer studios producing movies and a much smaller number of films being released each year. Also, the Oscar’s weren’t broadcast until 1953. So what’s the real reason behind widening the field to 10?
Follow the money.
If you ask me, this is all one huge money-making scheme. 10 films get nominated and now 10 films are “must see” in the theater. If you don’t catch them in the theater, now studios can slap the “Oscar nominated” title on the DVD and claim their film is an avatar of quality. If you don’t catch it on DVD, maybe you’ll watch the Oscar broadcast because – hey – something is new and different! Nevermind all of the entertainment media that will now be forced to write about, speculate, categorize, rank and rate 10 Best Picture nominees.
Remember the Oscars last year when they didn’t have a host and instead had actors come up and give little speeches to the nominees about how great they are. Remember that Zac Efron was one of those presenters?
Yeah… this 10 nominations thing is just another gimmick, but on a much larger scale.
My question is, if they’re going to nominate 10 films for Best Picture, then why not 10 nominees for Best Director? How many films have won Best Picture without their directors winning in their categories? Why not 10 Best Actors, Best Actresses?
Some of you probably think that 10 Best Picture nominations is a good thing. Would Wall-E or The Dark Night have been nominated last year under this structure? Will this open the door to more independent movies being recognized by the Academy and a larger audience? Perhaps.
But if they’re going to widen the field this far, then the Academy needs to get ride of “ghettoized” categories like “Best Foreign Language Film,” “Best Animated Feature Film” and “Best Documentary Feature.” All of them are ridiculous categories to begin with and treats their genre’s like second class citizens. Any of the films nominated in those categories can stand shoulder-to-shoulder with films from other genres.
Well, except Bolt. Seriously, what were they thinking nominating that last year?
What the Academy fails to realize – especially when they attempt these naked gimmicks to boost their ratings – is that movie goers haven’t lost interest in because they’ve become bored with the tradition. If anything, that’s THE REASON they huddle around their television each year.
No. People have become disenfranchised from the Oscar’s because their choices reflect no sincerity, originality or taste. That, coupled with the fact that a Best Picture nomination has become a political campaign among the studios to jockey for a position at the end of the year that will increase their odds of the Academy (and their narrow memories) to nominate their films.
The Reader, for example, was sent to theaters in limited release on December 10 to meet the Oscar deadline but wasn’t released wide until January 9. By then, reviews were ancient, no one was talking about it and demand for the film was nil. It barely reached middle America except in a few art houses. How are we supposed to get excited for a film like this when there is no opportunity to see it?
If this change results in sincere diversity among the Best Picture nominees, then I will happily eat crow. If Up is nominated alongside The Hurt Locker, no one will be more pleased than me.
But I see no reason for the Academy’s decision to remotely change how Hollywood does business. The studios have a formula and they’re sticking to it. The rest of us are just along for the ride.
What is your reaction to the Academy’s announcement? Are you excited for the change of pace or do you thing the Academy has an ulterior motivation. Do 10 Best Picture nominations dilute the value of the Oscars or is the trophy bragging rights and not an indicator of true quality?
Leave your comments below! Let’s get a dialogue going!
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I wish I could say that I noticed that the acronym for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen could also mean “Rolling On The Floor (laughing),” but it didn’t dawn on me until I read Howard Taylor’s review of the movie over at Schlock Mercenary.
Then again, Howard is completely awesome and I’m just a part-timer. So, there you go. Credit where credit is due.
I was going to write a review for Transformers: ROTF, but I can’t quite muster the venom for it that I was expressing a few days ago after seeing it in IMAX.
Let me just say this; Basically all the negative reviews you’ve been reading are true. The movie is crass, overlong and impossible to make sense of. Remember when people said that the robots were the best part of the first movie? Well, in the sequel, I didn’t even like the robots.
Much has been written about the racist caricature of African Americans with the inclusion of “The Twins,” Skids and Mudflap. I was peripherally aware of the controversy going in and didn’t think much of it at first. I was willing to give Michael Bay the benefit of the doubt. I mean, I’ve known dopey white guys in college who used Ebonic slang, so maybe he was making fun of that.
But the buck teeth and the gold tooth is hard to ignore. I was particularly amazed when one of the robots said they didn’t read.
In an interview with CHUD, Screenwriters Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman have distanced themselves from the characters saying their look and vocal affectations were not their idea, but were the result of a decision made by director Michael Bay.
In an interview with the Associated Press, Bay doesn’t exactly denounce the idea that Skids and Mudflap are racial stereotypes and also does a little bit of passing the buck himself.
“…These are the voice actors. This is kind of the direction they were taking the characters and we went with it.”
Bay said the parts “were kind of written but not really written, so the voice actors is when we started to really kind of come up with their characters.”
Ultimately, Bay says “I purely did it for kids. Young kids love these robots, because it makes it more accessible to them.”
So basically what Bay is saying is that Skids and Mudflap are the Jar Jar Binks of the Transformers universe…
Here’s the thing: I can’t remember which review I read that says this, but I have to agree with the sentiment – Bay is simply too egotistical to pitch this movie to it’s intended audience. He’s too bloated with self-esteem to realize this is a movie that SHOULD be for kids.
I was sitting next to a kid watching this movie. Wanna know what he thought every time Skids and Mudflap came on screen? “Every time those robots talk, they use bad words, Mommy.”
Bingo.
I mean, this is the guy that put a pair of testicles on Devastator, for crying out loud. Then again, how else are you going to top Bumblebee “peeing” on John Turturro from the first movie?
Something I find particularly egrigious about this movie is Bay flexing his connections in the Department of Defense. There is so much military hardware in this movie, so lovingly shot and beautifully lit, I can only imagine Bay looking over the footage and rubbing his nipples like Simon Cowell at the thought of it.
When I finished watching this movie on Wednesday, I sent the following update to Twitter: “Transformers 2: Never has a movie so loud been so boring.” The scenes shot in IMAX with Devastator at the pyramids was impressive, but the rest of the film was a twitching bore.
Has anyone else seen the film since it came out on Wednesday or are you waiting for the weekend to check it out? If you saw it, what did you think? If you haven’t seen it, have the bad reviews dissuaded you?
Leave your comments below!
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I don’t know if the punchline for today’s comic justifies the delay, but I was really enamored with the idea of an Away We Go lunch box. So, there you go.
About that delay, sorry everyone. Couldn’t be helped. I was away from home all day Sunday celebrating my sister-in-law’s birthday and didn’t get home until late. By the time I had an opportunity to work on Monday’s comic, Henry decided to have a total fit and basically wouldn’t sleep. By the time I had been upstairs two or three times to help settle him down, it was 2:00 in the morning and I had to call it a night.
I would have had the comic finished earlier this morning, but we keep Henry home from day care on Mondays and I watch over him. He’s taking his nap now. I actually have to wake him up in about 15 minutes, so I’m running this one kind of close.
As you probably heard, Transformers: Revenge of The Fallen racked up a little over $200 million in 5 days making it the second-largest opening weekend haul since The Dark Knight. I can’t say I’m surprised. In our little Top 10 of Summer 2009 wager between Joe, Gordon and myself, I picked Transformers: ROTF to be the summer’s biggest film, projecting a $400 million box office haul. Even if the movie loses half of it’s audience this weekend, it’s already more than half way there with probably two more months in theaters to make up the difference.
Incidentally, I did have the opportunity to see Away We Go this weekend and it was the perfect antidote to Transformers: ROTF. I liken the film to Stranger Than Fiction or Last Chance Harvey – the kind of film that wears it’s idiosyncrasies on it’s sleeve and is maybe a little too precious for its own good, but is ultimately an enjoyable film that makes you feel good about your own personal journeys. In that regard, it’s probably the LEAST Sam Mendes-like movie directed by Sam Mendes that you’re ever going to see.
The performances were good, too. John Krasinski is a little more extroverted than normal, but plays the same sweet and nurturing notes he does with Jim on The Office. Maya Rudolph is a revelation, though. A completely formed character played with nuance and sensitivity.
You kind of don’t expect the chemistry between these two actors to work as well as it does and I can’t decide if it’s success of the actors or the script that makes it convincing. I mean, if you sat down and thought about it, John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph probably wouldn’t be at the top of anyone’s list to star in a romantic comedy.
Away We Go isn’t really a romantic comedy. I’m just using that for lack of a better term. But the movie is funny and sweet, so it kind of fits. If you have the opportunity to see the film, I highly recommend it. It’s a nice breather during the summer blockbuster season. The more I think about it, the more it has grown on me. Good stuff.
Quick Reminder: Don’t forget to tune in to The Triple Feature tonight where we will most likely spend time talking about Transformers: ROTF. We record live at 9:00 PM CST over at TalkShoe.com.
I hear Henry sneaking down the staircase. I guess he woke up from his nap on his own. So I gotta wrap things up. Have a great day and I’ll talk to you soon!
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I just wanted to take a moment to call attention to a new advertisement we have running next to the comic. It’s called R8 IT and it’s a polling application sponsored by NCM.
Basically, it asks you questions about current movies and you rank them. Questions like “Rate Megan Fox’s foxiness” or “Optimus Prime on the big screen versus the original toy.” from Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Fun stuff. The great thing about the app is that you can submit your contact information for a chance to win FREE MOVIE TICKETS FOR ONE YEAR!
There are other features as well. From the app you can access showtimes, trailers, photos and more information about current movies.
NCM is kind of a big deal when it comes to delivering relevant content to movie related web sites. So I encourage you to check out the application, explore a little bit and take advantage of the promotional information they’re serving up through the site. It’s very cool.
Thanks and talk to you soon!
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