Today’s comic was one of the rare gems where I had the punchline in mind first and had to work my way backward for the setup. I knew that things would end with Jason Statham shooting up a car and offering his professional opinion. I just didn’t know how to get there.
Funnily enough, it wasn’t until late in the game last night that I came up with that horrible pun to put a button on it. But there you have it.
The Mechanic is another straight-up Statham actioneer that I had a modicum of interest in seeing which then waned when I saw a shiny object on the sidewalk.
This is not meant as a critique or as an indicator of my refined taste. After all, I proudly saw Crank: High Voltage in the theater. It’s just that… I don’t know… aren’t all these movies starting to feel the same to you? Interchangeable, even?
I’ll give Statham credit for mixing it up in movies like The Expendables or Snatch. He’s show that he’s not 100% ego and can place nice with an ensemble when he wants to. That’s the difference between Statham and action-film relics like Jean Claude Van Damme or Steven Segal – Statham doesn’t make it all about him. That should help keep him out of the Direct-To-DVD category for a while.
What leaves me scratching my head is why Ben Foster turned up in this thing. Foster has the kind of chip on his shoulder that could make him a junior Ryan Gossling, but he shows up in odd places. The Messenger was a strike at legitimacy and I think he could find more roles like that if he wanted.
I’m not articulating this well, but I feel like Foster is one to watch. Ever since I saw him in 3:10 to Yuma, I thought there was something tangible there. Forceful, but undisciplined. I think it’ll be a treat watching him evolve as an actor.
Not much more for me to share this morning except that I’m making a few cosmetic changes to Theater Hopper’s RSS feed. So if you follow us there and have opinions about the new logo or menu items, let me know, would you? I don’t follow my own site on RSS very closely, but that’s a door I want to leave open for people who do.
Actually, not only do I want to leave the door open, but I want to make sure the room is well-decorated. If you have any ideas on how to improve the RSS layout, please let me know.
Speaking of the RSS feed, I’ve thrown in a 728 x 90 Project Wonderful ad to the feed. So if you want a little extra coverage for your web site, check it out.
I’m also testing the waters again with a 125 x 125 Project Wonderful ad next to the comic. So if you want to throw your hat in the ring, rates are cheap. Bid away!
I might throw a 160 x 600 ad in that space in the future. I haven’t decided yet. I don’t want the site to be overrun with ads, but Project Wonderful is a unique opportunity for others to advertise on the site an an affordable rate. So I kind of want to make it worth their while. The success of the 125 x 125 ad will determine how that moves forward.
One last thing I’ll mention, if you’re not already a fan of the Theater Hopper Facebook page, please consider following. We’ve been hovering around 900 followers for the last month or so and I would be a real treat to see if we could push that over 1,000. I think that would be a significant milestone.
At any rate, that’s all I’ve got. Did anyone happen to see The Mechanic over the weekend? What are your thoughts? Leave your comments below!
Y'know. It's about a guy who fixes stuff!
With guns>
Sure! In a manner of speaking...
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
Your alternator is shot.
Jason Statham was filming a movie in my city a couple of months ago (I think it was called Safe?), and I actually saw him on the street. I didn’t think “Oh hey, movie star!” I thought “Oh hey, gun for hire!” I think at this point, he probably could be a trained assassin because it’s one of the only things he seems to play anymore. I didn’t see The Mechanic. I think it looks interesting, but not enough for me to pay $11 to see it. I’ll wait till it’s on DVD.
I did, however, see The King’s Speech this weekend, and I enjoyed it immensely. I realize that it’s kind of one of those “How to Win an Oscar” Mad Libs movies, but it was a lot better than I anticipated. A lot of Oscar-winning movies bore me to tears, but this had humor and actually made me care. I recommend that if you get a chance to see it.
Liz, I absolutely agree with your assessment of The King’s Speech. Cami and I saw it a couple of weeks ago and we’re still taking about it.
I did see the Mechanic over the weekend. But only because my friend tricked me into watching it saying he got us tickets for “True Grit.” Now my wife is ticked because she wanted to see it with me. Meanwhile, I’m all, “Hello? Did anybody besides me see the original 1972 Charles Bronson movie of which this is a remake?”
I was going to see the Mechanic, especially after seeing Jason Statham in person at the SoHo, NYC Apple Store, but it wasn’t in the cards this weekend. Saw Green Hornet again instead. Was funny the 2nd time too!
“I am ungassable!”
Im actually looking forward to seeing Foster in this movie, I was sold on him from his performance in the movie “Hostage” which is surprisingly underrated. I’m also always down for watching Statham kick some ass, i’m a die hard Chelio fan and will prob. continue watching him play any character that resembles him, even if it is getting a little old.
I haven’t really been that excited about movies coming out lately. I’d definitely rent The Mechanic, but not watch it in the theatre. I like Statham. I’ll watch pretty much anything he’s in, but very rarely does he release a movie that can draw me to the theatre. I’ve been burned too many times. Ben Foster did peak my interests, but they quickly waned. My wife really wants to see The Rite. I’m interested in it, so we’ll probably see that on Monday.
I am actually really interested in seeing the Mechanic because I love Statham. But with the same apprehension and for the same reason I had going into the Expendables. The Mechanic is a remake of probably one of Charles Bronson’s best 80’s B action vehicle. In my opinion better than any of the Death Wish franchises and as a bonus co-stars a pre coke spiral Jan Micheal Vincent. And if you are old enough the team of Bronson and the pilot of Airwolf was golden. My problem is the original was high on suspense and tension with a near perfect twist ending, and the violence while fairly high was of the subtle variety. And my guess is the remake is going to be high on visceral violence and low on suspense and atmosphere.
Just like the Expendables I plan to wait for it to hit the redbox because I have been burned too many times buy pretty trailers the last few years. But if you are the type of person who can watch a movie that was shot on film with mid budget lighting I the original Bronson version is a rare elevation of the eighties summer times tough guy kills people movie.
Corrections. The original was actually made in 1972 but In my youth I always assumed it was an 80’s movie because it was on network tv from time to time. Back when movies got shown on broadcast tv. Also sorry about spelling mistakes, twelve hour shift and netbook lead to bad typing.