Archive for June, 2010
4 items.
I realize this comic might get me in a little bit of trouble with the pants-wetting crowd excited for Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World. Don’t get me wrong. I’m excited to see it, too. But after watching the effusive praise pour in across Twitter last week when the second trailer was announced, I was left wondering what all the fuss is about.
I’m certainly not making the case that mainstream comics are better than indie comics. But I will go out on a limb and say just because it’s indie doesn’t mean it’s automatically better.
Now, as someone who has never read Scott Pilgrim, maybe I’m not the best person to be critical of the movie adaptation. I can certainly understand someone who has never read an issue of Iron Man looking at me with skepticism.
But here’s the thing… When the FIRST trailer for Scott Pilgrim came out, I felt it was trading heavily on that “Hey, geeks! You know that thing you love? WE MADE A MOVIE OUT OF IT!” mentality. There wasn’t anything specifically about the first trailer that made someone like me – someone who is not ALREADY indoctrinated into the cult of Scott Pilgrim – excited to see the film.
The second trailer fine-tunes things a little bit. I feel like it’s been put together much more effectively. But there’s still so much of that mid-90’s digital hipster smarm dripping from that thing, the Old Curmudgeon in me kind of curls his lip at it.
Say what you want about Iron Man. But the first trailer made you want to see the movie.
Anyway, like I said, I’m still going to see Scott Pilgrim when it comes out because I like the look of it. All I’m saying is that I’m a little skeptical based on the effectiveness of the first two trailers.
Maybe it’s because I know a lot of people in comics, the feel like this is a victory for them – seeing something like Scott Pilgrim on the big screen. Maybe they’re pre-disposed to thinking it’s awesome just like I was pre-disposed to thinking Iron Man would be awesome.
Maybe I should just shut up and read the books. Maybe then I’ll understand what the fuss is about.
But my point is… I shouldn’t have to read the books first.
The strength of the material should already be evident in the trailers. Maybe that’s because they were cut together poorly. But I’m just not seeing it yet.
What do you guys think? Is there anyone else out there confused by the hype surrounding Scott Pilgrim? Everyone I’ve talked to is basically screaming at me to read the books, but I’m dragging my heels. Am I wrong? Leave your comments below and let’s get the conversation started!
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Jun14
80s REFERENCES!
Did anyone else find it weird that they released a big-screen version of The A-Team at the same time they released a remake of The Karate Kid in the same weekend? Usually, it’s counter-programming that’s the name of the game with this kind of thing. Michael Bay releases another brainless marathon of explosions and Nora Ephron releases another brainless marathon of relationship foibles.
But in the case of The A-Team and The Karate Kid, it’s as if the Powers That Be said, “Two franchises from the 80’s? Let’s team up and take the box office by storm!”
Of course, that’s not exactly what happened. The Karate Kid trounced The A-Team at the box office this weekend by $30 million dollars, bringing in a surprising $56 million in ticket sales. The A-Team (which reportedly cost over $100 million to make) only brought in a fraction of that with $26 million. Despite having six projects in development (according to IMDB) expect director Joe Carnahan to be put on ice for a while.
I was kind of surprised by the negative reviews The A-Team was getting. It wasn’t like the original television series was High Art or anything of the sort. What were the critics expecting?
That said, the reviews did cool me on the idea of seeing the film this weekend. Which is a shame, because I was excited to see Liam Neeson in action. Neeson as Colonel John “Hannibal” Smith is probably as close as we’ll see him get to starring in Taken 2.
It’s probably not fair to be so easily swayed by negative reviews. But for movies I’m on the fence about, I’ve come to rely on them more and more. I used to be able to see two or three movies a weekend, regardless of quality. That was before kids, people. Keep that in mind. It’ll happen to you, too, one day.
Ultimately, what concerns me most about this weekend’s box office returns is that the success of The Karate Kid somehow confirms Jaden Smith as a bona fide talent.
The success of this movie will certainly inspire sequels, which gives Smith the opportunity to leverage that exposure and land more roles. Good for him, I guess. Call me persnickety, however, when I bristle at the level of nepotism that got Jaden through the door.
I think everyone agrees he was a cute sidekick to Will Smith in The Pursuit of Happyness. But watching the kid now, it’s evident he’s spent time studying his father’s cocksure strut. I don’t think he’s earned it yet. Never a more clear case of “fake it ’til you make it” are you likely to see in this generation.
Am I being too harsh on the kid? Probably. I mean, he’s only 12 years-old. But then again, I don’t know a lot of 12 year-olds walking around with a chip on their shoulder like Jaden Smith does.
I don’t know, man. The kid just rubs me the wrong way.
Did anyone happen to see The Karate Kid or The A-Team this weekend? Was I wrong to let the negative reviews of The A-Team influence my decision not to see it? What about Jaden Smith? Anyone else get a creepy vibe from that kid? Leave your comments below!
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What do you guys think of Tom and Cami’s totally 70s kitchen wallpaper? Pimpin’, right?
If you’ve been following me at all on Facebook the last couple of days, you’ll know that I’ve been wrestling with a creative decision regarding the production of comics related to Toy Story 3. It seems no matter what I do, I keep thinking up jokes for this movie. Good jokes, too (or so I tell myself.) Jokes that I don’t want to let go to waste. It’s times like these that I lament making the decision to go to one comic a week.
Certainly nothing is iron-clad, though. I’m not purposefully restricting myself to one comic a week. If I have the time and the inclination, I have no problems throwing in a bonus comic or two.
The problem is that I don’t have the time at the moment. I’m wrapping up one of my summer night classes and I’m going two times a week. I’m reading case studies, writing essays and putting the finishing touches on a group project. I pretty much have time for work, school and sleep right now. It sucks, but after next Tuesday, I will have completed this latest gauntlet.
A few people have stepped up and volunteered themselves to illustrate my scripts – which is very generous. But I’ve never collaborated like that before and I’m very protective of my ideas. It’s hard to turn people down without sounding like a selfish jerk.
Some readers have told me to spread the comics out over the next three weeks. By their estimation. Toy Story 3 will still be the most popular movie in the country, so the jokes will still be timely. Looking ahead at the release schedule, maybe they’re right. Knight and Day? Grown Ups? The Twilight Saga: Eclipse? The Last Airbender? None of these movies inspire me like Toy Story 3 does.
So let’s talk about Toy Story 3 for a little bit, shall we?
Cami and I took Henry to the movie on Saturday and all of us had a blast. All three of us have been talking about it all weekend. Henry’s investment in the film has been exacerbated by a toy purchase reflecting on of the characters in the film. But, by in large, all of us have remained captivated by the film.
It’s been 11 years since Toy Story 2 and 15 years since the groundbreaking, original Toy Story. Despite a span of nearly two decades, the legacy and strength of Andy’s band of misfit toys remains in tact.
Pixar shows great care and concern for their flagship characters by maintaining the time line of the original films. Andy is now 17 years-old and heading off to college and he doesn’t have time for childish things. In a demonstration of both profound love and profound futility, his toys make a last-ditch effort to reconnect with their distant owner by hiding his cellphone in a dog pile beneath them in his toy chest. His disinterest signals the coming of their obsolescence.
The anxiety of these characters has always been something Pixar scribes have captured well on screen. The essence of the Toy Story movies have always been about the fear of abandonment and irrelevancy. In many ways, these toys reflect more about the human condition than any movie “aimed” at children has a right to. But it is because of these profound themes that audiences relate so well to Buzz, Woody and the rest of the gang. It’s the same reason we are so sad to see them go. Many of us have grown up with these characters. Like Andy, we’re being forced to say goodbye. But at the same time, we know we have to.
I won’t bore you with the plot details of the movie. How, in a series of misunderstandings, the toys end up donated at a daycare center whose toy population is run with a benevolent-on-the-surface strawberry-scented teddy bear. I won’t complicate my review by rehashing the Rube Goldberg-like escape plan hatched by Woody and his friends in the second act. I certainly won’t reveal where Andy’s toys finally end up. You need to experience all these things on your own because their staging and execution is absolutely brilliant. Especially the ending.
The ending of Toy Story 3 is note-perfect. It never talks down to us or makes us feel foolish for investing so much in these characters. It is a sublime love letter to fans of the Toy Story films that will leave you beaming while it breaks your heart.
Bring Kleenex.
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Remember a week ago when I said that I had three different comic ideas about Toy Story 3? I realized after uploading today’s comic that my idea for the third comic had completely evaporated from my mind. So unless I get kicked in the head by a mule or the idea comes to me again in some other random fashion, this might be it for Toy Story 3 comics for a while. I hope you enjoyed it!
Thinking about the Toy Story movies, I was always a little bit mystified by the absence of Andy’s father. Where is he? Did he move out? Did he and Andy’s Mom divorce? Is Andy’s Mom a widow? Maybe she went to a fertility clinic? The world may never know!
More likely than not, the animators of the original Toy Story didn’t want to design, model and animate ancillary characters that didn’t advance the plot. For example, I don’t think we ever see the face of the Pizza Planet delivery guy. It makes sense, if you think about it. Why go to the trouble of creating a “Dad” character when there isn’t much he can say that wouldn’t be mirrored by the “Mom” character.
That, and it’s a story about toys. So who really cares about the Dad?
Although, now that I think about it, didn’t Sid – the kid next door that tortured toys in the original movie – have both a Mom AND Dad?
Granted, we only hear the Mom off camera. But I think we see the Dad (or at least the Dad’s arm) when Buzz sees his television commercial for the first time and realizes he’s a toy.
As I recall, the Dad was also fast asleep in his armchair and it was fairly early in the morning. From that, I think you can infer that he maybe fell asleep in front of the television the night before. But I prefer to imagine that he was a raging alcoholic that passed out in front of the television. He’s an absentee father and that’s why Sid tortures toys – because no one is their to guide him.
Clearly I think about these things far too much.
Of course, you’re also dealing with a guy who tried to unravel the existential meaning of being a sentient toy. What does the passage of time mean in this context? Does consciousness come and go? Also, how and when do the toys officially become self-aware? When they’re manufactured? Or only after they’ve been packaged and “brought to life” by imaginative play.
Clearly these are questions for the ages.
Something else I’ll say, I don’t want people to assume that I am promoting the idea that a single mother can’t raise two well-adjusted, college-bound children with today’s comic. I’m just saying it would be challenging. I have two kids barely out of diapers and I feel like I’m screwing them up all the time. Thank goodness I have Cami to bounce things off of. If you’re a single mom, you have to have serious stones to keep kids on the right track.
So, in other words, hooray for single moms!
Did that sound creepy? Maybe a little forced… No. Definitely creepy.
I’ll stop talking now. You pick up the slack. Toy Story 3 comments? Leave ’em below!
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