Archive for February, 2010
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For the record, I have to state that I do not PERSONALLY think Orson Welles is a failure. But in order to create conflict and move the plot forward, I have to put comic-Tom in an aggressive stance and have him say something inflammatory to provoke our guest – Brian Carroll from Instant Classic.
Comic-Tom is taking the short view on Welles’s career. One mired by depression, morbid obesity and borderline alcoholism. All of which are handily (sadly) represented in these infamous out-takes from a commercial Welles did for California Champagne company Paul Masson.
Of course, it doesn’t help that the most visible representation of Welles in the last 15 years comes from this parody piece from The Critic. Which, I have to admit, played a role in defining Welles as a individual for me several years before I studied him or even knew who he was…
This, of course, being a satirical twist on the also infamous audio outtakes from a radio spot Welles did for a company that sold frozen peas.
Think about this for a minute: The director of what is argued to be The Greatest Motion Picture of All Time arguing with some marketing guy about the copy he’s being paid to read in a frozen peas radio commercial. It’s just… bizarre.
Of course, these late-career foibles are easy to reach for when you’re trying to make an argument against Welles and his impact. Personally, I think he was a genius. If maybe a genius who got in his own way a little too often.
But put it in context. If you made Citizen Kane and followed up with The Magnificent Ambersons, I think that means you pretty much get a free pass career-wise for the rest of your life. Those were two big, important, stylistically rich films that everyone not only needs to see, but to own. It’s important film history – work the set the template for countless films that followed.
There’s a reason everyone recognizes “Rosebud,” even if they don’t know what it means.
I don’t know if I would have been compelled to add this disclaimer under normal circumstances. But I’ve already gotten a few people writing to ask “Why do you hate Orson Welles.” I don’t hate Orson Welles. I think he’s awesome. I’m just sacrificing my comic avatar for the sake of moving the plot forward.
I think I’m going to wrap up this story line on Wednesday, so be sure to come back for that. Afterwords, it’ll be back to making fun of what’s currently in theaters!
See you then. Have a great day, everyone!
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Back in the day (which was about two years ago on the internet time-line) I had a Facebook fan page. It was great, but I recently decided that I should take the Facebook thing a little more seriously. So I established a Facebook “business” page instead…
http://www.facebook.com/theaterhopper/
I’m still trying to kind of figure out the difference between the two. But the biggest difference I can determine is that status updates from this page will appear in your feed if you make yourself a fan. So it’s a really great way to stay connected to the comic and reminded of it when it updates.
I’ve been investing some time into making my new Facebook page a little more than just a bookmark on the site. So I’ve added tabs for Cast information as well as popular Story lines. I’ve gotten great feedback on these – people have been asking how I added them, so I assume people are looking at them.
The Cast information is a rehash of what’s already on the site. But the Story lines page is all new content. In fact, I plan on adding to it in the near future! So if you have any suggestions as to what story lines represent Theater Hopper the best, I would love to hear your suggestions! Feel free to leave them in the comments area below.
Of course, if you’d like to become a fan of the new Theater Hopper Facebook page, that would be cool, too.
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As much as it would have been fun to draw a protracted fight scene (not), it was time to stick a fork in this little story arc and move on.
My thanks to Brian Carroll for the inspiration to do these strips. Hopefully neither of us have damaged each other’s reputations too much. 😉
I recognize the punchline to today’s comic is kind of dark. But you’d be surprised by the thought process that led me to it. I spent serious time contemplating what was funnier – “coma ward,” “burn ward” or “graveyard.”
I certainly don’t mean to make light of anyone who is in a coma, been horribly burned or is dead. But looking for something shocking and weighing my options, I decided to go with “coma ward” because, well, people come out of comas all the time, right?!
It might also fertile ground to harvest another story from later. Admit it – Who’s a little curious to meet the guy that Jared put in a coma? Exactly. Y’see, you guys are just as twisted as me.
As you probably know, Oscar nominations were announced yesterday. The big news is that there are now 10 films in contention for the night’s big prize – Best Picture.
I can’t say I was particularly surprised by any of the nominations except for possibly District 9. Even though I thought it was a smart film with some original ideas, it kind of played like a sci-fi shoot em up by the end. I think of it more like a summer blockbuster than a Best Picture contender.
Naturally, I was pleased to see Up nominated. In my heart of hearts, I’d like to see it win. But I know it won’t. Up is a good movie, but not Pixar’s best. If they’re going to take the award, I really want them to earn it. Wishing they would win is more of a reaction to Up being the first animated movie to be nominated in this category since Beauty and The Beast in 1992. But the nomination in itself is a reward and I hope the AMPAS continues to look at the field of animation when making their Best Picture nominations in the future.
What do I think will win? Avatar. It’s not the best movie among the nominees. Not by a long shot. But I think Academy voters won’t be able to resister rewarding director James Cameron for his technical achievement or his box office success. As of this writing, the movie has been number one at the American box office for nearly 2 months. It’s made over $2 billion dollars in world-wide box office. These are numbers too big to ignore. As much as some people idealistically think the Oscar’s should be about artistic merit, it’s also about business. James Cameron is now the man with the two largest grossing films of all time. The story of his success alone will secure a win for Avatar.
Interestingly enough, I heard yesterday that Avatar is only one of three films in Oscar history that has been nominated for Best Picture without being nominated in any of the writing or acting categories. Some food for thought.
As for the other nominations? Well, I’ll save some of my predictions for later.
In the meantime, if you’d like to download an Oscar ballot you can use to make your OWN predictions – and then compare them to the actual winners on March 7 – you can download it here.
What do you guys think about widening the field of Best Picture nominees to 10? Do you think all of the Best Picture nominees are deserving or are some just filler? What nominations surprised you the most? Do you think there is an opportunity for an upset in any of the categories? Share your thoughts and reactions below!
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The longer John Travolta hangs around, the more I’m becoming convinced that he’s some kind of whack-job like Nic Cage. At least when it comes to the weird choices he makes his hair when it comes to playing certain roles.
Maybe it’s just that he looked so weird in The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, following things up with the cue ball look so soon after the fact feels like a weird de-evolution.
I realize that Travolta starred in Old Dogs in between these two films. But it’s not like his hair looked any better in that movie.
Travolta wears one of the most obvious wigs in show business. Not that it really matters. He’s an actor after all. He’s supposed to look different from role to role. I don’t know why it matters to me… except it does.
I think because his wigs look so obvious. Not just in his movies, but in his public appearances. On minute, he’ll have a buzz cut. Then, four months later, he’s miraculously “grown” a full head of hair with crazy bangs in front. You’d think someone with as much money as Travolta would find a better way to make his hairpiece look less obvious.
Anyway, I’ll stop harping on the immaterial. Although I still think Travolta looks like a genie in the stills and trailer for From Paris With Love.
I’d like to see From Paris With Love, but Travolta isn’t the draw for me. Neither is his co-star Jonathan Rhys Meyers. Frankly, I’m not a fan of either actor. But I would see the movie because it’s directed by Pierre Morel and written by Luc Besson – the same pair that brought us a surprising kick-ass turn from Liam Neeson in Taken last year.
Clearly, they’re trying to put lightning in a bottle by releasing another rolicking Euro-trash adventure in the same vein as Taken. But John Travolta isn’t Liam Neeson and I have my doubts that he won’t be able to keep from hamming it up on screen.
I think a large part of Taken’s success was how seriously Neeson took the role in the face of the overall cheesiness of the movie. He made you believe in the situations his character inserted himself into, regardless of how ridiculous they were.
But Neeson has that kind of gravity to him. Travolta is light and airy and all about having a quick step – a holdover from his Grease days. I don’t get the sense that his special agent character Charlie Wax is supposed to be altogether mentally, so maybe a little bit of Travolta’s manic tenancies will do his performance justice. I’m just skeptical. That’s all.
Actually, considering that I haven’t left the house aside from work for the last two months, I think I’m saving up karma points so I can cash them in for Shutter Island in a couple of weeks. They’re starting to air commercials for it more regularly and I keep reminding Cami how badly I want to see it. She has no interest. She says I can see it by myself. I don’t care. It looks great – like Scorsese channeling the ghost of Alfred Hitchcock. I can’t wait.
But that’s neither here not there. We can talk more about Shutter Island when the time comes. What about From Paris With Love? Who here is excited to see it? Do you think Pierre Morel and Luc Besson can recapture what they created with Taken? If you plan on seeing the movie this weekend, let us know in the comments below!
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For me, watching football is like going to church. I do it once a year and I don’t pay attention.
It’s kind of hard for me not to get wrapped up in the Super Bowl, though. I have a lot of positive memories attached to previous contests. I’ve had a lot of fun hanging out with people who genuinely care about the game and watching them was almost as much fun as watching the game – if not more so. Since then, I’ve just kind of added it to the “tradition” file.
It was funny reading everyone’s tweets and status updates on Twitter and Facebook yesterday. Almost everyone I know said something to the effect of “Today is the Super Bowl. I don’t care.”
Now, I’ve certainly been guilty of this from time to time. A couple of weeks ago when they were playing the AFC and NFC Championship games, I commented to Cami “Aren’t you glad I don’t care about sports? Seriously. Because if I did, you wouldn’t see me on Sundays, ever.” I’ve even posted my own “What’s the big deal?” tweets and status updates in the past to this effect.
But reading the cacophony of disdain from my circle of friends regarding the Super Bowl made me wonder with whom were they trying to earn “Cool Points?”
The posts that kind of made me bristle a little bit were the ones that basically communicated “People who watch the Super Bowl for the commercials are dumb!” Maybe I just took the observation personally since the commercials are my favorite part.
I mean, I realize that it’s sad that I’ve been conditions to eagerly anticipate commercials. It just goes to show how deep marketing executives have their hooks into me. But you know what, tonight I’ll leave the TV off and read a book instead. Karmic balance: ACHIEVED.
(For the curious, I’m currently reading Chuck Klosterman’s “Eating The Dinosaur.”)
I’ve always looked forward to the commercials in part because it was always great one-stop shopping to watch the trailers for all of the upcoming blockbusters. I remember a few years ago when the trailer for Iron Man came out and I basically ordered everyone in the room to shut up before cranking the volume. People actually cheered for that trailer after watching it. Badass.
But this year, it didn’t seem like there were any trailers to get excited about. I saw spots for The Last Airbender, Prince of Persia: Sands of Time and Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland.
I’ll admit to not being as invested in these movies as much as I was for Iron Man (how could I be), but none of these trailers connected for me. I’m not excited about any of these movies!
As I was thinking about this disconnect, it occurred to me that there really is no point in getting excited for these trailers during the Super Bowl because they’ve already been online for months. Oh, internet. Is there nothing you can’t ruin?
I shouldn’t blame the internet. Really, I have only myself to blame. Obviously I’m more connected to what’s happening online than most people. So if a new trailer hits, I’m probably watching it the second it comes out. I’m sure for some, the trailers shown during the Super Bowl were phenomenal. But for me, I’ve lost one of the tethers that convinces me to plop down in front of the television for three hours and watch a sporting event I really have no stake in.
That said, it was a good game. I wanted to Colts to win for no other reason than they represented the Midwest. That and also because all of the commentary beforehand led me to believe that Peyton Manning was the most important thing to happen to football since shoulder pads.
Since I have no stake in the outcome of the game, it would have been easy to root for New Orleans after Tracy Porter ran for a 74-yard touchdown after intercepting a pass from Manning. But it’s pretty much been our tradition to pick a team and stick with them, even when you don’t know what’s going on. It creates the illusion of a vested interest in the game.
What about you guys? Did you watch the Big Game last night, or were you too cool for the room? What did you think of the commercials? What did you think of the movie trailers. If you must, tell us what you thought of the game. Leave your comments below!
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Something I almost forgot to mention were a pair of interviews I recently conducted for two different web sites.
The first interview I did for Comic Related took place a while ago and was held up in the publication schedule, but it’s out there now and I encourage you to check it out. It’s a podcast and my segment comes in around the :15 minute mark.
The second interview I did for Comic Attack and it’s your standard Q&A. However, I thought the interviewer – Eli Anthony – asked a lot of really good questions. Not just about Theater Hopper but about webcomics in general. So if you want my opinion about how to establish yourself in this crazy business, swing over to Comic Attack and enjoy the interview!
I just wanted to say thanks to both Comic Related and Comic Attack for getting in touch with me to conduct these interviews. I love to hear myself talk, so if you have a web site or podcast that you’d like me to contribute an interview to, I’d be happy to help. Just send me an e-mail at theaterhopper@hotmail.com and we can work out the details!
For a list of my previous press appearances, be sure to check out the Press page under the About section here on the site.
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Although Cami didn’t actually see Dear John this weekend, we had a conversation about it when I told her that the film had unseated Avatar’s 7-week run atop the box office returns. The film raked in $30 million against Avatar’s $22 million haul.
Avatar’s downfall had to happen eventually, but a $30 million opening weekend for a romantic drama seems beyond the pale. Certainly some counter-programming against the Super Bowl played its part. But when I discussed the film with Cami, she felt that the film was probably buoyed by fans of Nicholas Sparks’s book from which the film was adapted. Sparks also wrote The Notebook and, well, ladies LOVE The Notebook.
“Do you think Channing Tatum had anything to do with the box office,” I asked Cami.
“That lunkhead? Uh, no,” she replied.
This was the jumping off point for today’s comic as we discussed how ridiculous and fake Channing Tatum’s name sounds. It should be noted that Cami suggested a play on words and write a punch line that somehow involved Carol Channing.
Honey, I love you. But that was never going to happen.
I mean I never want to underestimate your intelligence and assume you guys aren’t going to understand certain references. But Carol Channing? I have to draw the line somewhere.
That said, I’m pleased that Cami finds Channing Tatum as weird as I do. Not just the name, but his whole on-screen persona. Or, rather, NON persona. To us, Tatum is pure tapioca. The guy looks like he’s sleepwalking through every performance. At this point, I don’t know if his eyes being half-lidded all the time is an acting choice or a genetic anomaly. But even in G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra from last summer, he looked bored. He’s firing semi-automatic weapons, running away from explosions and he looks bored.
To me, Tatum is like a jock that somehow wandered onto a movie set and someone said “HIM! Put HIM in front of the camera! He’ll do!”
I’m curious if any of you guys saw Dear John this weekend. Was it any good? How does it compare to The Notebook? Because as schmaltzy as The Notebook is at times, you’d have to be soul-dead not to be drawn in by that ending. Can Dear John hope to hold a candle to it? Any thoughts about the bland appeal of Channing Tatum?
BTW – Bonus points if you can guess the movie I’m referencing with the title of today’s strip.
Leave your comments below!
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I always feel like I’m taking a risk by relying on a visual gag for the punchline of a comic. You never know how it’s going to play. But I was so much more interested in coming up with a list of fake names for Valentine’s Day, I decided to throw caution to the wind.
Incidentally, do you know how long it takes to make a high-res recreation of an IMDB page? Longer than it takes to draw, ink, color and shade two panels of this comic – I’ll tell you that much!
Obviously I’m having a little fun by suggesting Sgt. Slaughter is in Valentine’s Day. But as ridiculous as the cast list is for this thing, he might has well be.
Cami only gave you a sample of who shows up in this movie. Check out the names attached to this thing:
Jessica Alba, Kathy Bates, Jessica Biel, Bradley Cooper, Eric Dane, Patrick Dempsey, Hector Elizondo, Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner, Topher Grace, Anne Hathaway, Ashton Kutcher, Queen Latifah, Taylor Lautner, George Lopez, Shirley MacLaine, Emma Roberts, Julia Roberts, and Taylor Swift.
Those are 19 big names. A handful of these actors are Oscar winners! That’s ri-donk-ulous! What kind of dirt does director Garry Marshall have on these people to group them together in an American knock-off of Love, Actually? It’s scary how much clout that guy has. Must be carry-over from his days as a writer on Laverne & Shirley.
I was actually kind of open to the idea of seeing Valentine’s Day until I heard Garry Marshall was directing it. As a director, his work is all about schmaltz and playing it safe. Look at his directing credits over the last 10 years – The Other Sister, Runaway Bride, The Princess Diaries, Raising Helen, The Princess Diaries 2 and Georgia Rule. I look at these films and the women in the audience who he targets and cynically assume that he must think all women are stupid.
Critical reaction to Valentine’s Day has been overwhelmingly negative with a 16% rotten rating at Rotten Tomatoes as of this writing. If it is at all a success at the box office, it will be based on its star power and simplistic branding. “A movie called Valentine’s Day being released on Valentine’s Day weekend? I simply must go!” This is why I scold Rob Zombie for not getting his Halloween remakes released closer to Halloween. People will go because they feel like they’re supposed to go.
I don’t know the details of the film, but I think I know the premise. If it’s about Valentine’s Day, certainly it’s about finding love or that special someone on the titular day and the frustrations that come along with that.
Does anyone truly believe that Jennifer Garner or Bradley Cooper would have trouble finding a date on Valentine’s Day? I mean, MAYBE Topher Grace. But c’mon!
Cami and I haven’t talked much about the film, but I can kind of sense that she’s not interested in seeing it. Instead, for Valentine’s Day, we’re going to leave the kids with my folks and have a nice dinner. That’s going to be about it. That’s just fine with me!
What are your Valentine’s Day plans? Do you plan on seeing Valentine’s Day the movie? If so, is there a particular actor that drew you in? Do you feel the large cast of actors will be helpful or a hindrance to the movie? Leave your comments below!
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I had a lot of fun drawing Tom’s wild mood swings in today’s comic. Always fun to do a little cartoon-y over exaggeration.
Cami and I didn’t see Valentine’s Day over the weekend and our lives were no less the richer for it. But I must admit that I was surprised by it’s $52 million haul at the box office.
This goes back to what I was talking about on Friday. I think people were pre-disposed to seeing this movie by virtue of it’s branding. They felt compelled to see a movie CALLED Valentine’s Day ON Valentine’s Day. It’s the laziest, easiest response to “Hey, we need something to do for our Valentine’s Day together. I know what we should do!”
I’m certain the large cast had something to do with it as well. The producers basically played the odds and gambled that at least ONE of those actors would get you to buy a ticket. It looks like their gamble paid off.
I hope the success of Valentine’s Day doesn’t spur a bunch of copycat movies that stack the deck with 2 dozen different well-known actors. Having so many big names to feature makes it sound like the story doesn’t support them. I mean, you can’t really develop that many characters at once and be successful. Even Love, Actually – which has built up a lot of good will over the years – falls down on this point.
My sister-in-law saw Valentine’s Day with friends and my wife asked her a lot of questions about it. I think it reflects the “car crash” interest in this movie. People want to watch it because they want to see if they can pull it off. According to my sister-in-law, they don’t.
I won’t spoil anything for you in case you want to see it, but she referenced two different points in the script where the audience audibly groaned at the contrivance on screen. So, buyer beware.
I will say this… For those of you thinking about going to see this movie for Julia Roberts, my sister-in-law warns that she is on screen for about 6 minutes. But, again, considering there are 19 different actors in this thing and the movie is 125 minutes long… an appearance of about 6 minutes is pretty much on the nose. Do the math. It shakes out right.
I’m curious if anyone here saw Valentine’s Day this weekend. If so, what were your thoughts? Feel free to leave your comments below!
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Today’s comic is as much about comic Tom slapping Jared for a terrible joke as it is about real-life Tom slapping himself for not coming up with a better one.
I don’t mean to be overtly critical of myself. I’m just explaining the genesis of today’s comic. Sitting around, staring into space and trying to come up with a joke about Shutter Island is no small task.
The marketing for the film has done a very good job of obscuring exactly what about Shutter Island makes it so terrifying. From what I can gather, it’s about the criminally insane, twisted experiments and some kind of psychological time bomb Leonard DiCaprio has roiling under the surface as he tries to solve a missing person case. But beyond that, I can’t connect the dots.
Added to this, Martin Scorsese directed it. Certainly the man is not above making mistakes (Kundun, anyone?) but the man gets a pass on his name alone. Scorsese lives and breathes film and it is evident in his work. It’s a rare treat to watch a film maker whose love of movie transcends money or art. Watching Scorsese’s films, you get the distinct feeling that he tells these stories because he has to. For that alone, I’ll watch anything he directs.
So how do you make fun of a movie you know nothing about directed by an auteur you greatly admire? Like I said, no small task. When the chips are down, just have your characters slap each other silly!
What do you guys make of Shutter Island? Are you excited to see it? Does it concern you at all that the film is being released in the dead-zone traditionally known as February? Would it encourage you to learn that Scorsese picked this weekend on purpose after DiCaprio’s availability pushed the film past awards season?
It was 19 years ago this weekend that Silence of The Lambs was released. If you recall, it did pretty well at the Oscars. It was the last film to earn all 5 major awards – Best Actor, Actress, Director, Screenplay and Film.
I’m skeptical that Shutter Island can repeat the same feat, but I’m excited to watch Scorsese slip on his horror boots again. If it’s anything like his last foray into the genre – 1991’s Cape Fear – then we’re in good hands.
Leave your thoughts about Shutter Island in the comments below!
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