I agonized for a little while whether or not I would have any dialogue in the last panel. While putting the comic together, I found the visual of Tom having a psychotic breakdown almost funny enough on its own. But I thought, “Why leave things to chance?” and added the oft-repeated phrase originally spoken by Will Ferrell as fashion designer/international assassin Mugatu in Zoolander.
I felt a little guilty lifting the phrase because I don’t want people to think that I’m in the habit of stealing jokes. That’s why I give credit where credit is due.
While a more creative writer might have been able to conjure up his own humorous phrase expressing disbelief, I also felt like the “crazy pills” line felt natural coming out of Tom’s mouth. It sounds like something he would say because it’s something that I say from time to time.
People do that. They adopt words or phrases they hear in popular culture and repeat them. That’s how they become sayings.
I’ll give you another example that involves Will Ferrell. “Strategery.” Who would have thought that a made-up word satirizing George W. Bush’s speech patterns would become so popular? It’s practically in the Oxford Dictionary.
Anyway, I’m just saying that “crazy pills” isn’t so much joke stealing as it is “joke referencing.” If you find it uninspired or it offends you… Well, I’ll try better next time.
It is factual that Cami has no interest in seeing Shutter Island. Which flummoxed me up until I started to talk to other women about the movie. No other women in my life, it seemed, held any interest in seeing Martin Scorsese’s newest picture. I can kind of see why. The commercials are creepy. The tone appears to be very dark. Shutter Island doesn’t exactly look like a “feel good” movie.
Of course, this is not to say that Shutter Island is a turn off for ALL women. I’m sure there will be several women in the audience this weekend. Just not any of the women I know.
But I am undeterred. I will see the movie by myself if I have to. And I have to. The last movie I saw in the theater was It’s Complicated. I owe this to myself.
I’m very interested in watching Scorsese turn the screws. I’m picking up a distinct Hitchcock vibe from this film. Maybe it’s the 1950’s time period the movie is set in. Certainly the psychological horror aspects play into things. Ultimately, to me, this looks like Scorsese’s love letter to Psycho, or something. I can’t wait.
We’ve already talked a little bit about Shutter Island in the comment section from Wednesday’s comic, but I’m curious to get your take on why women have negative feelings toward the movie? You’d think they’d at least give Leonardo DiCaprio a cursory pass. But I guess he’s moved beyond his heart throb phase, huh?
Too bad he looks perpetually 12 years-old.
What are your theories about Shutter Island? NO SPOILERS! Leave your comments below!
Nope. You can go to that alone.
WHAT? Why not?!
The commercials are creepy as hell! It looks too scary.
But!... It's Martin Scorsese!
Have fun!
I FEEL LIKE I'M TAKING CRAZY PILLS!!!
went to a screening of Shutter Island. Was not impressed. Tried too hard to be creepy and surreal. When the twist came, it was predictable. It was as if Scorsese was trying to be like M. Night Shamalan.
My wife is really looking forward to it, so nyeh to Cami.
Why ya gotta rub it in, dood? ;D
I probably won’t see it until my brother A. comes home for summer break, B. brings the movie home on DVD and C. sits me down and says “WATCH THIS.” This is our cycle for all scary movies. I like Scorsese, but I’m a huge chicken.
Tom, why do you feel you have to defend yourself before anyone has complained? I see you do it frequently and was just wondering. I’m looking forward to Shutter Island. I pretty much like anything that has to do with Dicaprio and Scorsese.
@Joshy
You’re not the first person who has mentioned my habit of apologizing before anyone complains. I can’t explain it. I think maybe it comes from being bullied a kid. I’ve used humor as a defense mechanism my entire life. Not looking for pity there, just trying to analyze myself a little.
Apologizing before people complain is basically a means of stripping your critics of ammunition. They’re not going to point out something negative if you already demonstrate you recognize a potential fault.
I think part of it also comes from simply wanting to be better with the comic and with the writing. Sometimes I put stuff out there and I think to myself “I know this isn’t my best work, but I have a deadline to hit. I’ll try better next time.” I also don’t have that filter between my brain and my mouth that keeps me from admitting things like that in public. I’m a terrible liar. So I might as well be as truthful as possible.
New York Times movie review, worth reading:
http://movies.nytimes.com/2010/02/19/movies/19shutter.html?8mu&emc=mua1
Like I commented on the last comic, very very shockingly… my wife really wants to see this movie! Not to rub it in Tom, but when I saw the trailers I thought “man, I want to see this. Looks like one I’ll have to watch some night on Blu-ray when she’s got other plans or something.” Which rarely happens, so I determined I wouldn’t be seeing it. Well, turns out I’m going to see it after all! In theaters even. 🙂
I went to see a midnight screening of Shutter Island. Even if you see the twist coming, its executed so well and makes you look differently about the whole movie. The “dream” sequences are some of the most intense scenes I’ve seen in a movie.
Not to completely change the subject, but I got my tshirt last night and it looks great! Back on topic, um, well Scorsese and DiCaprio and, um…
did I mention that the shirt looks great?
I saw it and quite liked it. It’s a very good movie (regrettably the twist was the expected one, but at least it handles it well). The thing is, it’s basically a suspense movie at most, not horror. It’s definitely not as… sinister as the advertising makes it out to be.
I just caught part of a review on NPR and he called it “dead on the screen.” Given that and the NYT review, I don’t like Scorsese enough to bother with this one in the theater.
I think it’s a rental, myself. Too many other things to do, sadly. However, I’ll look forward to the review, Tom.
I like your comic. You’ve always been consistent. That sounds like a horrible compliment, but I really do hold a great deal of respect for that. You’ve always maintained a regular update schedule, and when that schedule has been broken it’s for a legitimate reason you let your readers know about. That’s a degree of professionalism that is so frustratingly missing from many, too many, other webcomic artists. A good joke in one comic is memorable and can be re-read, but it means so very little without the work to back it up.
If that sounds like I’m saying Theater Hopper lacks good jokes, please don’t think that. Far from it. I’m only saying that quality is nothing, and means nothing, without effort.
So thank you for that.
Now, as for Shutter Island, I can’t find myself that interested in it. It looks like it’s trying very hard to be creepy, but cheap creepy. Maybe when it’s on DVD.
@Greg
Thanks for your compliments, man. I appreciate it. Consistency is something I strive for, so it means a lot to me that you appreciate my efforts to maintain that! Thank you.
@Dustin
I’m glad you like the shirt! Yeah, I really need to set up a pre-order for that here on the site. I only ordered 30 in the initial batch, but I have a feeling the shirts might do very well for me at C2E2 in Chicago in April.
BTW – Take a picture of yourself wearing the shirt and send it to me at theaterhopper@hotmail.com. I’ll give you 25% off your next order!
THAT GOES FOR EVERYONE ELSE HERE AS WELL!
Well Scorcese is a great director, but DiCaprio just doesn’t sit right with me. I don’t think I’ll go out of my way even to see it on DVD, but if it is laying around the house and I’m bored, I suppose I’d watch it.
I’ll take the opportunity to stand up for the female demographic and say that I’m quite eager to see Shutter Island this weekend. I know you preempted these kind of comments with the “not ALL women” disclaimer but I’m rather inclined to think it’s more of an age thing than a gender thing. All the women I’m friends with (we’re all fresh out of our teens) have also been pretty eager to get a crack at this one and yet my mom shows no intererst.
I’m hypothesizing that because we’re teens, we’re just immature enough to still have Leonardo’s appeal work its magic over us but just mature enough that the “dark” tone is something that’s attractive to us also. You know, that mentality of “Oh, aren’t we cool, our movies are DARK and have ANTI-HEROES in them and we’re all TROUBLED and drink our coffee BLACK WITH NO SUGAR. ‘CAUSE WE’RE COOL”.
I’m awfully excited for this film, but that may be because I’ve been watching Scorsese films for as long as the part of my brain that stores memories formed. Sadly, due to work schedules and such I don’t get to go to the theater as much anymore, but I do work in a video rental store, hopefully it’ll stay open long enough for this one to come out, heh.
Personally, I’m glad to see something at least a little different come from Mr. S, although I enjoyed his last film, it felt as if he was trying to recapture what he was able to pull of with his older stuff. This looks like a step forward and I’m glad for that.
Also, Tom, remember, that love means you never have to say you’re sorry.
How that fits here I couldn’t tell you, but I just you know, wanted to throw that out there for you.
My mom wants to see this movie. She is 44. My stepdad won’t go near it.