Posts Tagged ‘Finding Nemo’
6 items.
May30
As promised on Wednesday, here is your strip on Finding Nemo.
I had some difficulty generating a joke to coincide with Nemo as I know next to nothing about the plot. This goes deeply against my M.O. because usually I’m up to my neck in facts about every movie in production.
But Nemo I purposefully stayed away from. Most of the time I’ll say I’m not looking up information on the next Star Wars movie or Return of the King, but in truth, I can tell you what Elijah Wood had for breakfast on any given day of pre-production.
Nemo, on the other hand, I made a real effort to shy away from. I do this because I remember when I first saw Toy Story on opening day back in 1995. I didn’t know anything about the movie other than it was the first completely rendered computer animated movie in the history of cinema. If for no other reason, I would see it for that.
Imagine my surprise when the story turned out to be great, the characters were (pardon the expression) fully fleshed out and when it was over, I spent the remainder of the holiday season trying to figure out how they did it.
Since then, Pixar has kept that tradition alive and raises their game every time they put out a new movie. I forbid myself from seeing screen shots or learning plot information out of the need to regain that sense of awe when I saw their first offering.
I have high hopes for Nemo. I don’t think I will be disappointed.
One note of interest; Be sure to check out NewMoanYeah for an interview I did with intrepid reporter Jennifer. Both Cami and I sat down to talk with her and we had a blast. It’s a great article. Check it out
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I’m going to get this out of the way right now.
If you enjoy Theater Hopper, please vote for us at Top Web Comics. The Top 150 comics list resets every month, so if we can get a lot of votes past the sleeping guard, we might be able to sneak into the Top 10 and tip more people off to the site.
I don’t have anything I can give you in return. No promotions. No gimmicks. Just consider it a favor to me. Thanks.
That said, I had a chance to see Finding Nemo on Friday and of course I loved it. In fact, much to Cami’s chargrin, I spent most of Saturday quoting from it!
Technologically speaking, it’s light years ahead of 1995’s Toy Story (check out those cascading water effects!) But I don’t think Nemo will ever supplant that movie, it’s sequel – Toy Story 2 – or Monsters, Inc. It’s sad to report that the movie just doesn’t carry the same emotional resonnance.
Don’t get me wrong. I loved every frame. But I think the barrier in this case is that, frankly, we’re dealing with fish here. And while they have great personalities and characters traits, they’re hard to empathize with because… well, because they’re fish.
A Bug’s Life suffers from the same disadvantage. There is only so much I can warm up to a bug.
I don’t mean to sound overly critical. Especially in light of the fact that I think Finding Nemo is still the best picture I’ve seen this year. Story-wise, it still runs circles around the competition.
I thought Ellen DeGeneres did a great job as Dory, the fish with the short attention span. Her character’s disposition was infectious and even though they used the short term memory gag countless times, it never got stale.
Obviously, if you haven’t seen Finding Nemo yet, you need to go. I know I’ll watch it a second time.
Let me sum up another way. How much fun did I have at Finding Nemo? I opted out of seeing The Italian Job because I didn’t want to harsh my buzz. It’s that good.
One last time: VOTE!
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This may be tedious, but it is my duty to talk about the movies I have recently watched. It has been awhile, but here it goes!
Bend It Like Beckham I was in a great mood when I saw this film in Uptown Minneapolis while visiting some friends. The movie kept me in a great mood. At first it teetered on the edge of becoming another Big Fat Ethnic Farse, but the movie turned out to be enjoyable. There were a few moments and concepts that I couldn’t quite believe, but my wife explained my questions with a simple answer it’s because they were in love. Whatever. Anyway, Keira Knightley should be enough for any guy to want to watch this film.
Finding Nemo Great film. Go see it. Great for the whole family, even if your whole family consists of two twenty somethings.
One Hour Photo Cool film. Good story and a nice visual style. I was really uncomfortable during the trespassing scenes, which is good. I like it when I can become involved in a movie.
Serendipity I did not want to watch this. I thought it was a girl movie. Either I was wrong or I am a girl, because I really enjoyed this. Kate Beckinsale was great, as well as the rest of the cast.
Down with Love Clever. I liked this movie, and thought Ewan McGregor was great. It was interesting how they picked up the style of the early 60’s and roasted them at the same time. Like the movies of the time, it is light and carefree. Definitely not a thinker.
Men in Black 2 Fun. I found this Blockbuster to be quite you guessed it enjoyable. (I’ll try to stop saying that about every movie.)
Joe’s Apartment I didn’t see it before and now I remember why. The House of Large Sizes T-shirt was the highlight of the movie. House is a band from my college town that I have seen maybe 11 or 12 times.
To Die For Someone should tell me what happens at the end, because I fell asleep. It wasn’t bad, just past my bedtime.
Just Married Great movie. Being just married myself, (less than a year ago) I found many of the situations very familiar. Ashton Kutcher is awesome and Brittany Murphy actually looked good.
Punch Drunk Love I hated this movie while watching it. I keep randomly thinking about it though, and now I have convinced myself that it is a really good film.
Pinero If I had watched this film two years ago, I would have loved it. My life has changed enough to not feel the empathy I used to with the type of characters in this film.
They Pretty scary. The alternate ending is the one I prefer.
Darkness Falls Very similar to They. It was only 75 minutes long. What’s up with that? I thought the story should have been more developed. The documentary on the dvd about the real story is spooky.
That’s all for now. To all the Americans out there have a great holiday. I’d like to thank the Brits for yet another day off from work. Cheers!
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A medicine cabinet. In the dining room. Why? Were the previous owners of my house insane?
When my wife and I took possession of the house we thought “Oh, they left that ugly mirror.” Well, as it turns out, the ugly mirror is a freaking medicine cabinet.
This weekend was very, very long. I am due to pick up my wife from the airport tonight. Hopefully she did not stray from the beaten path and become ambushed by backwoods pot farmers.
(Note to Kentuckians: I have been to your state several times. It is very nice. I am not trying to make fun of it. Please give my wife back.)
I filled the loneliness of the weekend with movies. As promised, I will quickly recount the list.
Picnic at Hanging Rock: Overall, I have enjoyed the Peter Weir films I have seen. Gallipoli is a favorite and one of the few things that can make me burst into tears. They all have one thing in common, however. They move very slooowwwly. Though it captured the essence of a 1900 Australian school for girls very well, the story lacked punch. Since it is based on a true story, all the things you want to occur to make it a nice little movie do not happen, because life doesn’t work like it does in the movies.
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: I loved the book. I wish I could say the same for the movie. Watching this movie was like listening to Vogon poetry. I had to watch it in about four sittings, because this BBC produced mini-series was quite boring. The animations are good and script is obviously well written, as it draws directly from the text, but the rest is terrible. I can get past the Red Dwarf budget, but the camera shots are wholly uninteresting. The acting is forced and sometimes seems like the actors do not know their lines. I think I could have read the second book in the time it took to sleep through this one, and I know I would have been better off.
Heart of Darkness: This made for cable movie draws from the same source as Apocalypse Now. Set in Africa, ship Captain Marlow is hired to restore the link to a remote ivory trading post and find out what the deal is with the leader of the outpost, Mr. Kurtz. Tim Roth is great as Marlow and John Malkovich does well as Kurtz. The whole movie is somewhat spoiled by the fact that I’ve seen Apocalypse Now and therefore was not shocked or surprised by any of the plot points. It is worth watching though.
Roman Polanski’s Pirates: This is a well done film which has a spirit that mostly makes up for the lack of story. Walter Matthau is great as the pirate.
The Celebration (Festen) : What starts out as an odd look at a fairly un-likeable family gathering for a reunion degenerates into a deeper look at the family’s extraordinary dysfunctions. The movie is a bit boring at first but turns into a car accident from which you can not look away. Don’t watch this one with your family.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl: Very good. Fun, exciting. The special effects are very well done. It doesn’t have the “HEY WE ARE GOING TO DO SOME SPECIAL EFFECTS NOW, LOOK!” that some other films have. Johnny Depp is awesome. I wish I would have stayed in the theater after the credits, because there is an additional scene. This movie stands with Finding Nemo as the best movies I’ve seen this year.
That’s all for now. Video Warehouse is calling to my movie loving soul, so I’ll probably pick up more films soon.
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May27
In honor of Pixar’s Up coming out this Friday, today’s incentive sketch is my own rendition of the movie’s septuagenarian protagonist, Carl Fredricksen. To view it, simply vote for Theater Hopper at Top Web Comics.
An additional bit of business before we get on with the blogging: Monday’s comic was delayed by the Memorial Day holiday, but was posted on Tuesday. So if you were away from the site for whatever reason on Tuesday and want to view it, click here.
I don’t know if today’s comic captures the level of righteous indignation I normally express against Pixar-haters. If I wanted to, I could have really gone on a rant. I suppose that’s what this blog is for!
This is something I’ve noticed when it comes to Pixar films: The first trailer comes out about a year to 8 months before the film hits theaters. There are people (like myself) who are immediately excited about it and then there are… others who want to pick it apart.
Now, far be it for me to say these people don’t have a right to pick things apart. If I apply that logic, then that logic can be applied against me. Considering what I do here, picking things apart is my bread and butter. So I’m not saying these people don’t have the right to a negative critical opinion.
What I *AM* saying is that these critics are on the losing side of history.
Since its inception, Pixar has been putting out quality film that not only push the boundaries of 3D animation, but achieve mass and critical acclaim for their emphasis on solidly constructed stories.
Why then, when the teaser trailers come out, do some people automatically poo-poo them? I’ve seen it done with nearly every movie the studio has produced since A Bug’s Life and some people refuse to let it go.
Considering Pixar’s unprecedented string of hits, I can only assume that these people want Pixar to fail.
Everyone has an axe to grind. I know this. One only need look at my baseless grudges against Ben Affleck and Shia LaBeouf for proof of this.
But whereas Affleck and LaBeouf have earned condemnation for their public antics and their sometimes questionable choices in movie rolls, Pixar has been turning out hit after hit after hit. 10 blockbusters, by my count. TEN classic films that can stand shoulder-to-shoulder to some of the most technically innovative and engrossing films in all of animation.
Is Pixar headed for a fall? The realist in me says “eventually.” At some point they’re going to trip over their own feet. Maybe it’ll happen with Toy Story 3. Maybe it’ll happen with Cars 2. Despite the fact that Toy Story 2 is probably one of only a handful of sequels better than the original, sequels are generally a bad idea. So who knows?
All I’m saying to the haters is stop anticipating it so readily. Because you know it and I know it… the minute that trailer for Up with the talking dog came out, you were all over this movie like white on rice. You’re gonna see it and you’re gonna love it, just like all the other Pixar films.
Please, leave the self-aggrandizing predictions to professionals like myself. ;D
Who else is excited about Up this weekend? Leave your comments below!
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Sep24
GUEST STRIP – INDIGO
September 24th, 2012 |- Comics »
- Comics »
- Guest Strip
(1 votes, average: 10.00 out of 10)
I realize that I was MIA last week and I feel pretty lousy about it. In some ways, I feel like I’ve completely lost my momentum, which sucks, because I’m still excited about the story I have to tell!
It’s pretty much a problem with the process at this point. I knock out the pencils and inks no problem. But once I bring the comic into the computer for coloring, shading, background and lettering… everything s-l-o-w-s d-o-w-n.
Honestly, I’ve never been a fan of that part of the comic-making process. But lately, I’ve been fussing with it too much in an effort to make the last few comics good and I’m approaching burnout.
My mentality is that I don’t want the last 10 comics to look like crap. Makes sense, right? But since I don’t particularly enjoy the finishes, it’s become a convenient excuse to draw out the conclusion of the comic. It’s inefficient and a little selfish.
Although, honestly, things were much easier when it was just a couple of talking heads against a green background. These last few comics have been all fire, smoke, sparks, glowing lights, textures, different costumes, action, etc… a real challenge.
But enough about my whining. Let’s take a look at this fantastic guest strip from my good friend Indigo! Indigo’s imagining a time in the near future where Tom and Cami are pregnant (remember that was the genesis of this “good bye” arc back in January?)
Incidentally, she’s not too far off from how I reacted when Cami was first pregnant with Henry back in 2007. 2007, people! Can you believe it’s been almost 6 years?
Indigo is a classy lady, by the way. A great confidant and listener. We chat from time to time on teh Twitterz and she always knows what to say go get me into gear. Great resource for a reality check when I need one.
She produces her own comic as well. It’s called Orchid Coloured Glasses and you should check it out. She pulls no punches. It’s great stuff!
Looking forward, you’ll be pleased to know that I have the pencils, inks and color flats down for this week’s Theater Hopper. I hope to do the shading, background and lettering tonight.
Thanks again for everyone’s patience. I’m trying to avoid limping across the finish line, but the last few months have been hard. You guys are very awesome for putting up with it!
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