Posts Tagged ‘disbelief’
5 items.
I don’t know what to tell you about today’s incentive sketch. Let’s just say that it plays up my Midwestern roots. Vote for Theater Hopper at buzzComix to reveal the big secret!
Cami and I had a really busy weekend, we barely had time to rest. Between driving two hours and back to Cedar Falls to watch my sister-in-law graduate from college on Saturday (by the way, thanks for dog-sitting Jared!) and doing the Mother’s Day thing on Sunday, it seems like we were coming and going every which way! Don’t even get me STARTED about the Survivor All-Stars finale!
But amidst all the chaos, we were able to sneak into Van Helsing. Well, not literally. We paid for our tickets and leant our dollar to Helsing’s $54 million take this weekend.
What did I think of the movie? Well, the comic addresses it for the most part. If you can suspend disbelief, you’ll have a grand old time. Of course, I don’t know how many people are going into movies that feature Dracula, Frankenstein’s Monster and The Wolf Man looking for high drama. Richard Roxburgh’s performance as Dracula early in the film sets the tone for what’s to follow. “Over-the-top” does not begin to describe it. Both Jim Carrey and Tommy Lee Jones would have trouble keeping up with all the scene-chewing Roxburgh aspires to.
The film did little to change my opinion of Stephen Sommers or Kate Beckinsale. I still hate them both. But I walked out with greater esteem for Hugh Jackman. He’s really carving a niche in the action genre. The man just sells it.
I think fans of the classic Universal monsters won’t be grossly offended by the updates. The Wolf Man probably gets the most noticeable upgrade. Dracula loses a lot of his mysterious sex appeal as they try to graft some kind of occult-scientist persona onto him. Although he looks ridiculous (too many appliances attached to the body), Shuler Hensley as Frankenstein’s Monster probably comes off the best.
If you’d read reviews, pretty much all the criticisms are true. The movie is RELENTLESSLY loud. Sommers doesn’t give his audience a minute to catch their breath or process what they’ve seen. There is always something either flying at them, whizzing by or stomping about – the soundtrack the key offender among them.
Sommers is also highly derivative in his visual style. There are constant nods and outright thefts of other films. The Lion King, the James Bond franchise, Indiana Jones, Spider-Man – even Jackman’s performance as Wolverine in the X-Men films gets a nod.
The movie relies greatly on computer generated effects. I joked with Cami that probably 10% of the movie was actually filmed and the rest was a computer construct. CG is fine and dandy as an enhancement tool, but not when the majority of the action requires it. Giant battles with monsters that don’t exist carry no weight. You don’t care that someone is being thrown through a wall because, underneath it all, you know there is no real danger. You end up checking your watch and waiting to see who comes out on top.
But despite all its obvious flaws (and despite my better judgment), I think I had fun at this movie. Probably because my expectations were low. Sure my IQ may have dropped a couple of points, but that’s all part of a stupid Hollywood popcorn flick.
Will I see Van Helsing again? Probably not. I doubt if I will even rent it on video. But if you’re remotely curious, I suggest looking into it. Just suspend disbelief at the door!
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May17
I did something a little different with today’s incentive sketch. Instead of posting the roughed, pencil blue-line… I decided to try my hand at sketching in ink. I turned out kinda okay. It’s supposed to be me dressed up as one of the soldiers from Troy. I don’t know how accurate it is, as I don’t plan on seeing Troy ever. But if you vote for Theater Hopper at buzzComix, you can judge for yourself.
I guess despite all of the negative previews, Troy did okay business this weekend. I have a felling it’s going to drop off dramatically with the coming of Shrek 2 on Wednesday.
I have a very weird bias when it comes to Shrek. I didn’t want to like the first film when it came out. I thought it was okay, but it was a little too slick for my tastes… a little too proud of itself. It took too much glee at poking holes in the Disney tradition. When I watched the movie a second time on DVD, I was thoroughly disgusted by it and haven’t watched it since.
I think there might still be some holdover grudge from when Shrek won the very first Best Animated Picture Oscar when Monster’s, Inc. so CLEARLY should have won. I mean, for Sully’s fur ALONE, they should have won. I should mention that I’m a hard-core Pixar freak.
But now I’m hearing news that Shrek 2 is actually BETTER than the original. I can only imagine they’ve grown more comfortable with the character and are animating him better, too. I’ll admit that Antonio Banderas’ turn as Puss-In-Boots looks utterly hilarious. Too bad they still have Mike Meyers doing his Fat Bastard-cum-“If It’s Not Scottish, It’s Crap” voice work…
I hope you’re enjoying the continuation of last week’s storyline. I know it may seem like I’m drawing out the idea that Tom will now fall for any hair-brained scheme put in his path, but there will be a payoff soon. I promise.
Hey, have you notice that I’ve updated the Wizard World Chicago Fund status bar? You guys really heeded the call and I thank you! That little build up in cash all came from advertising and merchandise sales AS WELL AS some very generous donations! I even received one the “old fashioned” way – through SNAIL MAIL!
You guys rock. I’m one-fifth of the way toward the goal. I’m really starting to look forward to August.
By the way, I’m going to start producing small, black and white booklets of my favorite Theater Hopper strips. I plan on giving them away at the convention so people will remember to visit the site when they get home. It’ll be a real D.I.Y. effort. Xerox, saddle stitch, a wink and a smile. If you have opinions on which strips should be included, you can leave your thoughts in the forum.
Once I have a few whipped up, they’ll become one of the new donation incentive instead of the desktop wallpaper. You can get your hands on this little collection before everyone else! I’ll be sure to let you know when they’re back from the printer.
I also want to mention that we’re still taking pre-orders for another batch of t-shirts. If you’re thinking about getting one, now is a good time!
Lastly, be sure to check out our latest sponsor Syntax Error Comics – a great 3-D comic that has advertised with us before. It’s one of my personal favorites. The technical aspects are done very well, but what keeps me coming back is the writing.
Thanks again to those of you who have contributed to the Wizard World Chicago Fund. I sincerely appreciate it!
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Today’s incentive sketch is a simple homage to that lovable green ogre, Shrek – whose movie sequel lands in theaters today with the concussive force of Godzilla stomping on Tokyo. Click here to vote for Theater Hopper at buzzComixs and view our simple doodle.
So, what about today’s comic, eh?! Betcha’ didn’t see that one coming! Will Jimmy the Theater Monkey survive, or did his curiosity finally get the better of him? And what does this turn of events mean for that giant stockpile of disbelief seen last week? Only time will tell!
Actually, time will tell rather swiftly as I plan on wrapping up this storyline on Friday.
I gotta say it’s been a blast (“Blast!” HA!) working on this storyline. I’m having a lot of fun working out the next twist. I’m REALLY happy with the way the coloring turned out for today’s strip. I hope you all like it.
I wish I had something more to say, but since I kinda already covered my opinions about Shrek on Monday, I’m kind of standing here with nothing to gripe about. How about we just call it a day and I’ll come back later with insights of a different nature?
…about belly-button lint, perhaps?
In the meantime, if you want to kill a little time in the forums, I certainly wouldn’t hold it against you!
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May21
THIS ENDING REQUIRES A LITTLE OF WHAT WENT MISSING
May 21st, 2004 |
(9 votes, average: 7.78 out of 10)
I think you’re going to want to check out the special incentive sketch I’ve whipped up for today. I was really happy with the way it turned out. It’s a nice action shot. Click here to vote for Theater Hopper at buzzComix and earn your reward!
Well, this is it. The ending of our little two week journey. I don’t mean to toot my own horn, but I’m very pleased with the way this storyline turned out – especially the coloring of the last two strips. I put in a lot of effort to tell a different kind of story. I just hope that you liked it.
If you’d like to leave any comments about this storyline, you can do so in the forum.
I have no segue here, so what I’m about to say next, I’ll just come out and say.
I have some big news to share with you about the site. Don’t get into a panic just yet. Nothing has been finalized. It’s GOOD news in case you were worried. But what I have to share could change the direction of this comic for the better starting next Monday.
I know that’s a pretty big cliffhanger to toss out there, but I don’t want to jinx it. If you want to find out what the big news is, come back to the site Monday morning and I’ll be ready to share it.
For right now, I want to give a shout out to a slew of new advertisers.
Be sure to check out our newest sponsor, Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal. SMBC is a one-panel web comic similar in spirit to Gary Larsen’s The Far Side. These strip was around back when I started Theater Hopper almost two years ago before dropping out of the scene. Well, now they’re back, so give ’em your love.
Another advertiser we have is Digital Pimp Online. Don’t worry, kiddies. Nothing dirty going on here and it’s totally work-safe! The site is a collection of both print and web comics that you can check out. The art is really sharp and has a decidedly urban feel. One half of the creative team – Joe Dunn – posts to our forums. So if you like his work, you can always leave him a message and tell him so!
Lastly, Maveric PC is back with us and they’re selling some hot, new custom PC rigs that you have to see to believe. These guys do great work. Quality service and affordable price tags. If you’re in the market for a new gaming PC, give these guys a minute of your time.
In more pedestrian news, Cami and I went to see Shrek 2 last night. It was pretty good, but not as good as critics were making it out to be. I really didn’t think it was any better or any worse than the original. I laughed out loud a couple of times, but never started laughing so hard I would squirt milk from my nose.
The one thing the critics DID get right is how Antonio Banderas COMPLETELY steals this movie from the lead actors. His turn as Puss in Boots has “hilarious” stamped all over it in big, red letters. If they did a movie featuring the adventures of this lone character, I would see it.
I guess Dreamworks is already putting together Shrek 3, so let’s hope Puss gets a little more screen time.
That’s about it on my end. Thanks for keeping up with me these last few weeks through this storyline. It’s been a lot of fun.
See you here Monday for big news!
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Most people would probably be upset to have all of their laundry strewn across the floor, but Dewey makes michief fun! Even though we know the terrible truth about him!
Man, Dewey’s a jerk!
I hope you’re enjoying the arc so far. I’m gonna tie things up next week by actually getting the characters into – y’know… A MOVIE THEATER? Oh, oh! And making MOVIE REFERENCES! And guess what? I’ll even tie it back into King Kong. Yes, Virgina. There is a Santa Claus.
Speaking of the petulant ape, tuns out Peter Jackson’s opus only earned $9.7 million on it’s opening day. Remember those nay-sayers that wanted to see Jackson fail? Maybe they’re getting their wish?
$10 million on a Wednesday is nothing to sneeze at, but for a movie supposedly as large as this one having the advertising behind it that it does, that’s kind of a surprise. It ranked 21st on the all-time list for Wednesday openings. Universal was looking for Kong to do about $80 to $90 million in business over the first five days. Now they’re lowering their estimates around $55 to $65 million.
Rumor has it that Kong is having trouble attracting women, which makes sense to me. In my mind, monster movies typically occupy the same head-space in men where the Three Stooge’s and baseball statistics go. Are there any women readers out there that would either like to confirm or deny these theories? As always, we talk about the newest movies in the THorum.
I have a sneaking suspicion that the 3 hour running time has also been keeping people away. At least until the weekend. People lead hectic lives, made even more hectic by the holiday season. If you had 3 hours to kill on a Wednesday night, would you use it to see a giant monkey picture or to round up the last few presents for friends and family?
Or… y’know. Volunteer at a soup kitchen, or whatever.
Either way, it’s not like summer where people can kind of blow off work to see Star Wars: Episode III and their obligations aren’t as stacked up. Kong will do just fine over the course holiday, especially this last weekend before Christmas. People will be out in force in the nation’s malls, running around like idiots when they’ll say, "Man, I could really use a break. Wanna go see a movie? King Kong? 3 hours? PERFECT." Sites like The Drudge Report have prematurely labeled the film "King Bomb." They’ll be proven wrong.
Incidentally, what business does The Drudge Report have reporting movies? Slow day at the office, guys?
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