Posts Tagged ‘dream’
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I hope this comic isn’t too violent for a Monday morning. Stronger than coffee, that’s for sure!
There weren’t many movies to come out over the weekend worth talking about, but War with Jet Li and Jason Statham caught my attention. Primarily because of Li’s claim to have retired from martial arts movies after making Fearless. And, to Tom’s point in the first panel, he’s held true to his word. I haven’t seen War and I don’t know how much – if any – martial arts are in the film (there seems to be a lot of gunplay) but it seems odd to see Li on the big screen after making such a sweeping announcement.
Jet Li retiring from the movies is kind of like Jay Z retiring from rap. You knew it wouldn’t last long.
Incidentally, I don’t know, either if Jet Li has ever ripped out a man’s heart on screen. So I could be completely off base on that one. Oh, well.
Cami and I got around to seeing Superbad on Saturday. Because we’re the parents of a newborn and it’s tough to get either of our parents to give up a Friday or Saturday night, we ended up seeing it at 11:00 in the morning on Saturday. That was weird. Here is quite possibly one of the raunchest, most explicit comedies of the year – great fodder for a community movie going expereience – and we’re sitting in the dark with maybe… seven other people. It was kind of weird.
That said, I had a blast with this film. And that’s coming from a guy who has trouble connecting to the high school movie genre in general.
I don’t know what it is about most high school movies. All the drinking and the drugs and the sex? Not to sound like a total prude, but my high school experience wasn’t about those things. So I watch these movies and interpret them as some kind of exaggerated case. Still, in the back of my mind, I kind of wish my high school expereience was like that and then I start to get a little jealous. Stupid, huh?
Something certainly exaggerated in the film is the amount of graphic sex talk the lead characters partake in… sorta.
After the movie, Cami asked me if that’s how guys really talked and I said “Sorta.” I mean, I’ve know people like the character Jonah Hill plays and they’re usually a lot of talk. Cami was correct in her assessment that guys like that talk a big game, but rarely see any action. Like I said, I’ve known guys like that.
Still, Hill’s portrayal of a high school hornball was vulgar by most counts and was amped up more for comedic effect than anything authentic. The fact that it’s outrageous makes you uncomfortable and you have no option left but to laugh.
“Don’t worry,” I told Cami. “You ended up with a guy who’s more like Michael Cera’s character than Jonah Hill’s.” I don’t know if that put her mind to ease or not.
I think I probably had a better time at the movie than Cami did. It’s certainly told from the male perspective. Then again, there usually isn’t much for the ladies to associate with in the “trying to get laid” genre. I still had a good time, though. The ending is really good and there are some emotional touches that are very authentic. I think that’s probably the redeming aspect of the movie that will keep your wife or girlfriend from being totally repusled by it.
Then again, the illustrations over the end credits might wipe away any of that good will. I’m just giving you the head’s up…
Be sure to listen to The Triple Feature talkcast tonight at 9:00 PM CST over at TalkShoe.com. Joe Dunn from Joe Loves Crappy Movies and I had a great time talking with Brian Carroll from Genrevous Point last week and I think he’s calling in again this week. Our good friend Gordon McAlpin from Multiplex is back from his business trip and should be calling in as well. I’m kind of interested to see how those two bounce of each other because they have a very similar taste in movies and both of them are very passionate about their opinions. Should be fun.
I don’t know what we’re going to talk about this week, but a couple of weeks ago someone submitted a great question in the live chat area asking us what was our favorite John Cusack movie. I’m thinking when we don’t have a lot in terms of new movies to talk about, it might be fun to introduce stuff like that to the conversation. If you guys have any questions like that you would like to ask the group, e-mail them to me at theaterhopper@hotmail.com.
Or, better yet, join the live broadcast and leave your question in the chat area. If you have a microphone on your computer, you can ask us directly! Lots of fun! See you then!
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Dec18
GUEST STRIP – BRANDON J. CARR
December 18th, 2009 |- Comics »
- Comics »
- Guest Strip
(23 votes, average: 8.61 out of 10)
Well, there you have it! Brandon J. Carr’s smurfing last contribution to his series of guest strips. I think it turned out pretty smurfing good, don’t you?
Actually, I’m a little disconcerted at how well Brandon can draw a Smurf…
BUT NO MATTER! Brandon really came through for me and I can’t appreciate it enough. Thank you, Brandon, for your excellent work.
I think everyone should visit and bookmark Brandon’s site so they can stay current on what our dear chap is working on next. Yes. I think that will do nicely…
As you know, Avatar comes out today. But, for me, it’s almost been an after-thought. I haven’t really been anticipating the movie like I’m being told I should. I don’t know. Neither the concept or the visuals have hooked me just yet. When the comparisons to Delgo and Fern Gully cropped up with the first teaser images of the film, it left a bad taste in my mouth. If Cameron is supposed to be one of the most innovative filmmakers in the business, these comparisons to kids films shouldn’t be at the front of everyone’s mind.
I’ve given a few reviews a cursory glance and the majority of them are overwhelmingly positive. People are really tossing around the “IT’LL CHANGE MOVIES FOREVER” praise. Maybe it will, maybe it won’t.
I guess I’ll say that I’ve been half-purposefully keeping my head in the sand on this one. Because I do have faith in Cameron’s vision and I think I’d rather be surprised by what I see on-screen than what is being described to me in a review.
Despite the fact that I’m not entirely enthusiastic about the film, I still want to see it. Does that make sense? Keep in mind Cami and I just had a baby two weeks ago and I think my brains are leaking out of my ears.
If anything about Avatar has surprised me, it’s that Cami told m that she was excited to see the film. I don’t know if that’s because she’s at home with Pearl, is watching more television and has been exposed to more commercials for the film than I have. But I’m not going to look a gift horse in the mouth! I fully expected seeing this one by myself a few weeks ago!
Speaking of Avatar Cami and gifts, it’s likely I will see the film on Sunday with Cami as my parents watch over Henry and Pearl. We’re going over to their house this weekend to celebrate my 32nd birthday – which is actually on Monday, December 21. The Winter Solstice, baby! Shortest day of the year!! Woo?
If you’d like to get me anything for my birthday, boy would a pledge to the Kickstarter fund raising campaign for Theater Hopper: Year Three would be nice. I mean, really, really nice!
As of this writing, we’re 66% funded with 13 days to go. I’m getting VERY nervous about the time we have left in the campaign. I’m approaching it mentally as if we only have 10 days because I’m really afraid that the holidays are going to negatively affect fund raising efforts and people will forget to pledge.
Take this opportunity to pledge today! Right now you can get a copy of Theater Hopper: Year Three for $15, signed and numbered by your truly. The important thing to remember is that YOU WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO GET THE BOOK FOR LESS. If you pre-order the book by pledging to the Kickstarter campaign, you don’t have to pay for shipping! If (and when) the book is published and put up for sale here, shipping becomes a factor.
So take advantage of this offer while you still can! And if you’re feeling extra generous, just look at all the other rewards for pledging larger amounts. Lots of great stuff!
I’ll leave it at that. I don’t want to push too hard.
In the meantime, let’s talk about Avatar a little bit in the comments section below. Who is excited to see it? Who is skeptical? Will it really “change movies forever” like they say? Leave your thoughts below!
Thanks again to Brandon J. Carr for an excellent series of guest strips this week and thanks to you for coming to the site and checking them out!
Have a great week!
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I was fortunate to see Shutter Island on Saturday night. It almost didn’t happen as we celebrated Henry’s birthday with family that day and he was amped up beyond measure. Believe me, after hosting both sides of your family and catering to a sugar-powered 3 year-old who doesn’t want to take a nap… you don’t want to do anything.
But I knew if I didn’t see Shutter Island on Saturday night, I wasn’t going to see it at all. So, droopy-eyed and exhausted, I went. It didn’t disappoint.
There isn’t a lot I can say about Shutter Island without spoiling the details. But I have read a few reviews and the fan reaction online and I have to say I don’t understand where some of the critics are coming from.
Some have complained that the ending is too predictable or that Martin Scorsese has given in to his inner M. Night Shamalyan. These people, I think, have missed the point.
Yes, Shutter Island is rife with twists, turns and red herrings. But the point is not to figure out “the twist.” The point is that Scorsese is leading you down a rabbit hole. He’s trying to make YOU feel crazy. He does a good job of it, too. Thundering orchestral notes in the score communicate a foreboding, paranoid mood almost instantly. Scorsese directs the pants off this thing.
People looking for the twist are only doing so because they want to feel smarter than the movie. And when the ending is revealed not to be as potent a brain-scrambler as they had anticipated, they claim the rest of the film to be faulty.
I will admit that I spent a good part of the second act trying to to stay a step ahead of the movie. I kept anticipating something dramatic would happen to Mark Ruffalo’s character and convinced myself there was some significance to the Band-Aid Leonard DiCaprio’s character wears on his forehead for the majority of the film.
Ultimately, these details don’t matter. But the film makes you question if they are. This is what I mean when I say Scorsese is trying to give you the feeling of insanity. You examine the details, your mind loops over the facts again and again. You can never really trust what you’re seeing, but you feel self-righteous in your focus and concentration.
As New York Times critic A.O. Scott puts it in his review, “Mr. Scorsese in effect forces you to study the threads on the rug he is preparing, with lugubrious deliberateness, to pull out from under you.”
Unfortunately, Mr. Scott saw this as a negative. He panned the film as he continued “As the final revelations approach, the stakes diminish precipitously, and the sense that the whole movie has been a strained and pointless contrivance starts to take hold.”
What A.O. Scott found to be a strained and pointless contrivance, I found to be an expertly executed trip down the darkened mineshaft of one man’s deteriorating mental state.
There are one or two conclusions to draw from this. Either I am an extremely simple man who requires uncomplicated entertainment or critics like A.O. Scott are off-base in their assumption that Scorsese needs to be tackling more “serious” material.
Could there be a little hero worship mixed in with my support for Shutter Island? Sure. I think the last few comics here on the site have revealed that.
But is there also the potential for critics like A.O. Scott to trying and buff some of the shine of Scorsese’s career to counteract the esteem he’s been given in his career? Absolutely.
Even if you don’t like the film, I think there has to be something wrong with you to give it an outright pan. Shutter Island is not a case of lost potential and there are certainly worse ways to spend 2 hours in a movie theater.
That sounds like faint praise. But the point is, compared to what is usually in theaters this time of year, Shutter Island is like a sumptuous feast to a starving man. I think curious, respectful film fans owe it to themselves to see it – if for no other reason than to watch Scorsese do what he does best.
Did you see Shutter Island this weekend? If so, what did you think? Leave your comments below!
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After the idea was introduced that Tom’s Father was calling to him from beyond, I started to think about the father/son themes in Tron: Legacy. It wasn’t long before I transposed that exploration over to The Empire Strikes Back. Thus, a sci-fi mash-up was born. I hope you like it.
I went a little gonzo with the double-sized comic. Mostly because I knew there was no way I could fit all of it into four panels. Or, more accurately, inside the digital same real estate my average comic takes up.
So I went for broke. Decided to do a larger comic. Of course that meant the comic was a little bit late. But when you think about it, you’re kind of getting two comics this week instead of one. So that shakes out, right?
Working on this strip last night, I definitely had a sense that I had bitten off more than I could chew. But I could see the goal line on the horizon. I knew even if the joke didn’t go over, I would at least be happy with the results. Visually, the comic is pretty much everything I envisioned – and that’s a pretty satisfying feeling.
I haven’t yet managed to see Tron: Legacy yet, but monitoring the response to it on Twitter this weekend was interesting. Reactions seem to be split into two camps – people who thought the plot and dialogue was stupid while appreciating the special effects and everyone else who seemed to say “C’mon, guys! Tron: Legacy wasn’t THAT bad!”
An airtight argument to be sure.
It sounds like there’s enough about Tron: Legacy to admire from an effects standpoint, but I’ve also hear that if you’re not a tech geek, it can kind of leave you cold. I’m not worried. Tron: Legacy looks like it fits directly in my wheelhouse.
I don’t know when I’ll get a chance to see the film. A friend of mine wants to organize a “guys night out” with a bunch of friends to go check it out together. With the holidays in the way, it might be a while before I’ll finally get my chance.
Here’s something I haven’t heard people talking about… the 3D. Seems like Disney was push Tron: Legacy in 3D and IMAX pretty hard, but I’ve not heard anyone’s opinions about it.
I’m kind of against the idea of seeing it in 3D. Aside from the glowing suits, the film already looks dimly lit. Why do I want to throw on a pair of 3D glasses and drop the brightness on the picture another 20%?
If you saw Tron: Legacy in 3D, what was your take? Worth it or not?
That’s all for me. Feel free to leave your comments below. If you liked today’s double-comic, click that little Facebook “Like” button to the lower right. I’d appreciate it.
Cheers!
[ 12 Comments ]
Jul16
GUEST STRIP – NEIL BRYER
July 16th, 2012 |- Comics »
- Comics »
- Guest Strip
(3 votes, average: 8.67 out of 10)
Remember last week when I was all, “I’m gonna turn up the heat on producin’ these them thar comics and it’s gonna be awesome!”
Then remember when I didn’t do it?
Thank goodness for Neil Bryer’s excellent guest strip. I think he really hit it out of the park with this one. Not only did he throw in a great callback to the dream sequence punchlines I use from time to time, but he made it as sweet and heartfelt as all get out.
I think what I love most about the comic is that Truman makes an appearance in the fourth panel. Good to know he’ll still be with us in the future…
I’ve had the good fortune to meet Neil a couple of times while attending conventions in Chicago. He’s always very cool and polite. We talk shop for a little while and then he always let’s me get back to selling. Never intrusive. Always plays it just right.
Neil has a comic of his own called Wombat Comic that I encourage all of you to check out. It’s obvious to me that Neil put a lot of thought into his guest strip and I think you guys should reward him for that with a few clicks, don’t you?
Need proof that Neil put a lot of thought into his comic, check out his commentary, which he included with the image file he sent to me!
I’ve known Tom and “Theater Hopper for a few years now. I was late to the show, sure, but I quickly became a fan and jumped on each new strip as they were posted. So when Tom announced a few months ago that he was ending the strip, it of course made me sad. I mean…it’s one less webcomic for me to compete with, so sure, I wasn’t too sad…but still. You know? Anyway, when Tom said he was accepting submissions for guest strips, I knew I had to jump on this. It took me a while to come up with a concept that fit both the current storyline and stayed true to the tone of the strip overall, but hopefully I’ve managed to do just that. So without further ado, I present “The Dream”.
Panel 1: Why does Jared have a beard?…and a wife?…AND KIDS? Oh, it must be some time in the future. That would also explain why Tom has a receding hair line, a bit of a gut, and looks just generally worn out. I imagine this is taking place about 10 years out from where we are right now.
Panel 2: Henry and Pearl are the names of Tom’s real life children. I figured since the characters in the strip are based on Tom and his wife, then his kids should also be based on reality. I asked Tom if it was cool to include their names and he said it was alright.
Panel 3: In 2016, right on the heels of the highly successful “Jones 5: The Adventures of Mutt”, Shia was tapped to play Atticus Finch in a remake of the classic film “To Kill a Mockingbird”. To the surprise of everyone, this instantly became Jared’s favorite movie. Also, in the future, movies are shown on little metal cubes (Actually, the cube is just the player. The files are stored on tiny crystals, but they’re so small that they often get lost when you try to transport them, so most people just bring the whole player along with them when they go anywhere).
Panel 4: Why the heck did I put so many characters in this story?! By the time I was done drawing in the kids, my hand was ready to fall off.
Panel 5: The reveal, it was all just a dream. I guess Tom is more ready to start a family than even he realized. And, of course, who hasn’t had the Scarlett Johansson “initiation” dream?
Panel 6: Cami has good reason for the look of concern on her face…I mean, better than the Scarlett Johansson dream? Her mind reels with the possibilities.
Well, I hope you enjoyed this flight of fancy of mine. It was fun to play in someone else’s sandbox for a bit, but I should get back to work on my own comic (http://www.wombatcomic.com (shameless self promotion)). Pleasant dreams!
-Neil Bryer
Thanks, Neil. I loved this comic!
Incidentally, I think I figured out a simple solution to the content problem I’ve been experiencing lately.
Certainly there’s a bit of foot-dragging going on at a subconscious level. I don’t want the comic to end! But, also, I’m making the production of the comic MUCH harder than I need to.
I have it in my head that if I’m going out, I want to go out with a bang. So I’m trying to make each comic as good as possible before I post it – and it’s causing delays.
Then I remember something one of my art teachers told me: “Stop fussing with it.” Sometimes, you just gotta let these things go, you know?
The thought occurred to me when I was putting together this week’s comic. In an effort to give you “more,” I was setting myself up for an 8 panel comic. Then I realized, “This could easily be split into two comics.” Problem solved! I work faster, suffer less burn out and you get two comics this week instead of one.
So that’s the goal. Be on the lookout for two comics this week starting tomorrow. Thanks again for your patience as I cross the finish line with the comic.
See you soon!
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