Posts Tagged ‘drinking’
5 items.
I’m looking forward to Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. It’s been getting pretty good reviews so far. Even my friend Nick got to see a sneak preview and he said he liked it! He’s a smart cat, so I’m more inclined to listen to his opinions.
As excited as I am to watch another Charlie Kaufman screenplay brought to life, I’m more interested in seeing what visual tricks director Michel Gondry brings to the table. Gondry’s been known as a music video auteur for several years, directing highly imaginative (and technically complex) videos for The White Stripes, Bjork and Foo Fighters. It’ll be a treat to see how he takes a walking special effect like Jim Carrey and puts him to use.
This weekend is looking good for Cami and I. Even though I’m having car problems at the moment, I’m looking forward toward spending some time together. They say it’s going to be pretty warm this weekend, so I’m hoping I can do some maintenance stuff around the house. Weird, huh? No weirder than getting 15 inches of snow on Monday and having it all melt off by Friday. Stupid Iowa weather.
I don’t know how many of you follow college basketball – I know I certainly don’t. But this year, I have a personal investment in the NCAA tournament. The men’s team from my alma mater – The University of Northern Iowa – has made it to “The Big Dance”. They place third seed Georgia Tech today at 1:50 PM. I’ll be pulling for them. If you have nothing better to do, maybe you can flip on ESPN and see how the do!
One last order of business; Everyone make sure to visit our latest sponsor Music Television Sucks. It’s a really cool music web site that is a great resource for bands the fly under MTV’s radar. They have links to everything as well as songs and videos for download. It’s pretty cool!
That’s about it for now. Have you signed up for the forums yet? You should. It’s a popular place!
[ No Comments ]
I think it has become Billy Bob Thorton’s goal in life to take only acting roles where he gets to swear at children.
Why not? He’s kind of cultivated this skeezer persona off-screen? What with the Angelina Jolie, blood in a vial around the neck antics.
Or maybe Angelina was just a bad influence. Who can say?
I’m giving Billy Bob some crap, but actually, I’m very fond of him as an actor. By-in-large, I think he does good work. But you can’t deny the comparisons in his performance as the beer-guzzlin’ Morris Buttermaker (made famous by Walter Matthau in the original Bad News Bears) to his performance as Willie in Bad Santa.
Well, except maybe he plays Buttermaker a little less angry. But still, things don’t bode well when both movies share the same screenwriters in Glenn Ficarra and John Requa. So, in that way, they’re not just remaking one movie, but two at the same time! How’s that for Hollywood efficiency?!
I really have no interest in seeing this version. From the reviews I’ve read, director Richard Linklater copied from the source material almost to the letter. Everything from the girl pitcher with the killer arm to a foul-mouthed runt on the team. Except this time, now there’s a kid in a wheelchair.
Or is there a book version of The Bad News Bears that I haven’t read and the wheelchair kid was in there? Can never be too sure these days! Hate to be called out for my ignorance!
At any rate, I’m just hoping Linklater’s quasi-animated take on Philip K. Dick’s A Scanner Darkly turns out better when it’s released next year. I was in awe of Waking Life, and the same rotoscoping animation techniques will be used here as well.
But who knows. Most Phillip K. Dick adaptations often don’t survive the translation to screen. And since Keanu Reeves is in both this movie and another Phillip K. Dick box office dud – Johnny Mnemonic – my attitude is “wait and see.”
Did you enjoy that little tangent I took you on? I hope so, because now I am tired and need to stop blogging.
Talk to you soon.
[ No Comments ]
Just because summer’s over doesn’t mean the studios aren’t trying to squeeze in some of their outright stinkers before Oscar season heats up.
Into the Blue, for example. A treasure-hunting picture with Jessica Alba and Paul Walker. Wouldn’t this move have been more interesting if it were released in June or July when the weather is warm? It must be a real turkey. In fact, Tom’s convinced he’ll be in sore need of something if made to watch it.
Today’s comic isn’t about Into the Blue specifically, but about the abysmal state of commercial movies in general this year. I only had Jared list a handful of the worst offenders this year, but could have gone on indefinitely. There were a lot of bad movies this year. A lot of sequels and a lot of retreads on franchises that already had footing in television or books. Very little in terms of original screenplays were put in front of audiences this year and I think the industry was punished accordingly with some of the lowest box office receipts in the last 10 years.
I’ve gone on in the past about Hollywood needing to provide more in terms of fulfilling content when in competition against satellite television, video games and even themselves with the Goliath DVD market. Give us something to care about, something we’ve never seen before. We’ll come back. We promise. People are still hungry for authentic theater experience, but there is only so many obstacles you can put in front of them before they decide it’s not worth the effort.
Thank goodness for the autumn. More cerebral films are starting to fill up the multiplexes. I feel like I can start using my brain again.
[ No Comments ]
I’m made no bones about my disinterest in The Golden Globes in the past. But, without fail, I always end up watching them. I don’t know why. It’s not as if there is any intrinsic value to the awards. It’s become my catchphrase of sorts, but truly, who cares what The Hollywood Foreign Press thinks?
I mean, c’mon. Any organization the lumps together the best performances in a musical or comedy can’t be taken seriously.
That said, there were a few surprises last night. Most notably Kate Winslet winning for Best Supporting Actress for her role in The Reader AND Best Actress for her role in Revolutionary Road. Usually double nominations cancel each other out. But in this case Winslet proved what many other film fans have been saying for years – she is simple one of the best working actresses around right now.
The genuine emotion she displayed after winning Best Actress almost had me thinking The Golden Globes actually meant something. Now THAT’S acting!
Also quite an upset for Mickey Rourke to sneak a Best Actor trophy out from under Sean Penn. I knew from the trailers that The Wrestler looked special and this confirms it. Although I’m kind of tired of hearing the Rourke “comeback” story. It’s true that he was slumming it in direct-to-DVD crap like Out In Fifity and They Crawl. But he’s been on the comeback trail with more high-profile roles since turning up in Once Upon A Time In Mexico back in 2003.
That’s my opinion anyway.
Rourke’s exchange with The Wrestler’s director Darren Aronofsky during his speech was the only shocking moment of a broadcast that normally prides itself on unscripted moments. Calling Aronofsky a “tough son of a bitch,” the cameras totally caught the autuer jokingly giving Rourke the bird.
I thought that was kind of funny.
Other than that, not much to report. Wall-E for Best Animated was kind of a given, but I was glad to see it happen all the same. Also, kudos to Colin Farrell taking home the Best Actor trophy for his performance in In Bruges. That was a movie both Joe and Gordon were excited about earlier in the year and I never got a chance to see it. Now that it’s on DVD, I want to check it out.
Speaking of Joe and Gordon, don’t forget to tune in to The Triple Feature podcast the three of us host tonight at 9:00 PM CST. I’m sure we’ll be talking about The Golden Globe winners and their chances for Oscar gold in a month.
In the meantime, answer me this: Did you guys watch The Golden Globes this year? What did you think of the broadcast? Did any winners suprise you? Do you think anyone got snubbed? Leave your comments below!
[ 7 Comments ]
First things first – I want to say “Welcome!” to everyone coming here from PVP!
I was thrilled to see that Scott used my guest strip. Originally, I wasn’t going to do one for him because I figured he was probably swamped with submissions. But I started thinking about how he was trapped in Seattle, sweating it out in a hotel room, unable to fly home as he fought off a case of the flu he contracted at PAX and how much that had to suck. Being sick is one thing. Being sick so far away from home is something else entirely. The very least I could do to show a little solidarity is put together a guest strip for him. I’m just glad to know he liked it enough to share with everyone else!
If you’re new to Theater Hopper, it would probably benefit you to know a little bit about the comic. Theater Hopper is a semi-autobiographical comic about movies that I update every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Basically I target whatever new movies are in theaters and make fun of them. But sometimes I do longer story lines, too.
In August, Theater Hopper celebrated it’s 7th anniversary and publishing our 1,000th comic. So if you plan on checking out the archives at all, I encourage you to use the little bookmark feature beneath the comic navigation so you don’t lose your place! Or, if you want a sample of the best the archives have to offer, check out the Top Rated page where Theater Hopper readers have voted for the comics they like the best.
Everything else you ever wanted to know about the comic can be found under the About section – including details about the cast and links to popular story lines.
One last thing I’ll mention… If you’re new to the site, you came at a very good time. I’m running a fire sale in my store right now and I’ve slashed prices on all my merchandise. Books are $9.99 and shirts are $7.99. I also have a few odds and ends – baby doll tees, posters and sampler booklets. The sale runs until Sunday, so be sure to check it out today!
Let’s switch gears…
When I heard Patrick Swayze had died on Monday at the age of 57, I can’t say it came as a complete shock. Anyone who has every passed by a super market check out knows that he had been battling pancreatic cancer for the last few years.
Still, his passing is sad. Just like the untimely passing of anyone is sad. Admittedly, I hadn’t given much thought to Swayze as an actor in the last few years. But watching some of his old footage, I’m struck by how much he reminds me of Tommy Lee Jones. Maybe it’s that Texas accent. But I think a lot of it has to do with how Swayze carried himself. Very confident, but gentle. Maybe if things were different, Swayze could have had a career like Tommy Lee Jones later in life.
Swayze has been eulogized as a rare mix of masculinity and grace. When you look over his body of work, the two competing elements are prominently displayed.
Take, for example, my favorite Patrick Swayze movie Road House. That movie came out two years after his big break in Dirty Dancing. Alternatively, Road House was followed by Ghost, which was followed by Point Break. The man knew his audience. He was certainly no dummy.
Road House was a total B movie, complete with terrible dialogue and cheesy, over the top sound effects that punctuated the fight scenes. But Swayze is totally believable as a bar room brawler. He makes the movie better just by being in it.
I talked about this a little bit on The Triple Feature on Monday, but Road House was a movie that always seemed to be on in my grandparents house. Mind you, my grandparents were not the apple pie and afghan sweater set. They were the kind of grandparents who would hang out at the Legion Hall and bet on horse races – just to give you a little bit of context.
But Road House always seemed to be on. Whether it was just one of those scenarios where HBO was just playing it over and over again to fill time or if my grandparents were genuinely into it and sought the movie out, the film left an impression on me in my pre-pubescent years.
Specifically, the last fight sequence (as referenced in the comic). Patrick Swayze – the man America fell in love with two summers prior as he romanced Jennifer Grey and danced the night away in Dirty Dancing – fighting to the death with some guy and ripping his throat out. A move so pimp, I’m pretty sure the developers of Mortal Kombat stole it from him as one of their finishing moves.
For your enjoyment (?) I’ve embedded a clip of this great scene. Aside from the violence of seeing a man rip out another man’s esophagus, the language is a little salty as well. So it’s probably safe to say this is NSFW and the little one’s should abstain from viewing.
You remember Patrick Swayze however you like. This is how I prefer to remember and how I will always remember him.
R.I.P. Patrick Swayze.
What’s your favorite Swayze memory? Leave your comments below!
[ 17 Comments ]
