Posts Tagged ‘credit card’
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Today’s buzzComix incentive sketch doesn’t have much to do directly with M. Night Shyamalan’s The Village, but it’s pretty close. It’s Tom as a pilgrim, folks. Dig in.
I had a tough time coming up with a way to make fun of The Village. Originally I was going to do a strip where Tom was in control of a nerve center dedicated to uncovering the secret “twist ending” to the film (“I’ve received a credible lead from my contact in Zurich!”). He didn’t know what the ending was, but dern-gummit, he knew there was a twist!
Ultimately I couldn’t find a punch line for the setup, so I abandoned it.
Still, I think it leads us to an interesting discussion. Jared and I were actually talking about it yesterday. How much harder has it become for Shyamalan to surprise his audience when they go into his movies EXPECTING a twist?
It’s kind of the difference between going into a haunted house when you’re a kid versus when you’re an adult. When you’re a kid, you have no idea what’s around that next corner and, in your mind, those monsters are REAL. When you’re an adult, you’re kind of predicting when something is going to leap out at you. That primal fear is gone, but you’re still being entertained because you remember how seriously you used to take this stuff when you were younger.
Out of all the movies being released this week – The Manchurian Candidate, Garden State and Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle among them, The Village is the flick I want to see the most. If anything, but to learn if my theory regarding the movie’s ending are proven true.
I haven’t spoiled the movie for myself and read anything online about it, but I have my own thoughts as to what the twist could be. If you have a brain stem, you’ve probably already established the obvious thought. But in case you’re stemless, I’ll keep my theory to myself until next week.
I have good news for fans of the THorum. I received word from my former hosting company that the DNS transfer has been submitted. So hopefully Theater Hopper will be seen from it’s new server in the next 48 hours.
You shouldn’t be able to tell a difference on your end. We’ve prepared things in advance so the change over should be pretty seamless. The biggest change will be that the THorum will be open so we can discuss all of the latest films!
Lastly, be sure to check out our new advertiser Dunn Boyz. This comic has been around for a while and it’s still as fresh as ever. I read this strip a lot before I started Theater Hopper. I love the art!
I’ll be back a little later in the day to share with you a couple of links I think you should know about…
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Nov26
I know there probably won’t be as many people visiting the site today since it’s the day after a holiday. But if you managed to make it to the site today for a dose of funny, I applaud your for your vigilance.
For those of you who are part of our international audience, it occurred to me that you might not be familiar with what “Black Friday” is. Essentially it’s the start of the Christmas buying season in America. It’s the day where retailers have insane sales on all their merchandise and open their stores at five in the morning to try and get a jump on their competitors. Suburban housewives become deal-seeking warriors who claw and scratch for savings. That’s why the comic is funny for me. Heading out into a shopping center on Black Friday kind of *IS* like preparing for war.
Incidentally there are a bunch of movies already with the title Black Friday. But the only one on the IMDB that I thought was worth mentioning was this one starring Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi from 1940. It’s pretty much a horror story about bad science gone wrong when Karloff implants part of a dead gangster’s brain into a friend who is dying. The result are Jeckll and Hyde mood swings and the half million dollars the gangster has squirreled away. I haven’t seen this movie, but now I’m thinking maybe I should!
Don’t forget that shirts are back on sale. The new “Professional Movie Goer” shirt and hoodie, the “Truman in a Purse” baby doll and – in what looks to be a classic – the “Spoiler” shirt and hoodie which are being offered for a second time.
I know you also don’t want to forget our weekly community event we call The Friday Five that’s being hosted in The THorum. Participating is easy! Just sign up for a THorum account. We ask you five questions, you answer them! It’s a great way to introduce yourself to the community and learn something about the people that are already there! Check it out!
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Comic Tom doesn’t spend as much time on the internet as I do in real life. Probably because that’s not a very dynamic setting in which to tell the story. Or perhaps it’s because the people he talks to are indifferent to the news he wants to share. I suppose he should give up on relaying any Superman-related missives.
And speaking of related! Yes, it is true that someone I went to high school with is the real-life cousin of the new Superman, Brandon Routh. I’ve changed his name in the comic to protect the innocent. But, as you may have heard, Brandon Routh is from right here in Central Iowa. So there have been many news stories in advance of Superman Returns hitting theaters on Wednesday and every newspaper and local news network is parading out all of his relatives for that local angle.
This, of course, means nothing to no one. Famous people tend to come from all over the country. You don’t hear Toronto bragging about how John Candy came from their town. But then again, that might just be due to the fact that Canadians are so polite.
I don’t know. For Iowa, it’s different. There’s very little going on here and for someone to take the mantle of one of the most recognizable icons in world… well, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t feeling a twinge of hometown pride.
I’m trying to imagine what it must be like for Routh’s family. That’s weird bragging rights. "Yeah, my cousin? He’s Superman. Wanna go out later?"
Do you suppose Brandon will give them a cut of all that merchandizing action going on right now? Happy Meals and action figures and all that? Do you suppose he’s unloading all this crap on his extended family as a means of taking care of them for the next 10 Christmas holidays?
Imagine what it must be like for the guy. In three days, he’ll have gone from being totally unknown to being tethered to The Man of Steel forever. Kind of funny how this seems to happen with Superman but not with Batman in regards to film. I mean Christopher Reeve was unknown when they cast him in the first Superman movie back in 1978. But for Batman, it’s been a string of "known" actors under the cape and cowl – Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer, George Clooney. The least well known of them all is probably Christian Bale – but only because they were looking to go back to square one with the character.
My point is, chosing unknowns to tackle Superman speaks to the enormity of the character. Even established celebrity can’t overcome it. I think that’s pretty cool.
I guess Routh was in-town today, not five minutes from my house, attending a showing of Superman Returns at the Century Theaters with 300 kids from the Boys and Girls Club of Iowa. It was a private event, so I wasn’t able to get in. And even though the theater expected people to hang around to catch a glimpse of Routh, I didn’t make the effort to check things out. I don’t know if I should feel stupid about that, or not. Quite truthfully, it’s probably the closest Hollywood is ever going to get to my front porch.
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