Posts Tagged ‘guilt’
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As much as it would have been fun to draw a protracted fight scene (not), it was time to stick a fork in this little story arc and move on.
My thanks to Brian Carroll for the inspiration to do these strips. Hopefully neither of us have damaged each other’s reputations too much. 😉
I recognize the punchline to today’s comic is kind of dark. But you’d be surprised by the thought process that led me to it. I spent serious time contemplating what was funnier – “coma ward,” “burn ward” or “graveyard.”
I certainly don’t mean to make light of anyone who is in a coma, been horribly burned or is dead. But looking for something shocking and weighing my options, I decided to go with “coma ward” because, well, people come out of comas all the time, right?!
It might also fertile ground to harvest another story from later. Admit it – Who’s a little curious to meet the guy that Jared put in a coma? Exactly. Y’see, you guys are just as twisted as me.
As you probably know, Oscar nominations were announced yesterday. The big news is that there are now 10 films in contention for the night’s big prize – Best Picture.
I can’t say I was particularly surprised by any of the nominations except for possibly District 9. Even though I thought it was a smart film with some original ideas, it kind of played like a sci-fi shoot em up by the end. I think of it more like a summer blockbuster than a Best Picture contender.
Naturally, I was pleased to see Up nominated. In my heart of hearts, I’d like to see it win. But I know it won’t. Up is a good movie, but not Pixar’s best. If they’re going to take the award, I really want them to earn it. Wishing they would win is more of a reaction to Up being the first animated movie to be nominated in this category since Beauty and The Beast in 1992. But the nomination in itself is a reward and I hope the AMPAS continues to look at the field of animation when making their Best Picture nominations in the future.
What do I think will win? Avatar. It’s not the best movie among the nominees. Not by a long shot. But I think Academy voters won’t be able to resister rewarding director James Cameron for his technical achievement or his box office success. As of this writing, the movie has been number one at the American box office for nearly 2 months. It’s made over $2 billion dollars in world-wide box office. These are numbers too big to ignore. As much as some people idealistically think the Oscar’s should be about artistic merit, it’s also about business. James Cameron is now the man with the two largest grossing films of all time. The story of his success alone will secure a win for Avatar.
Interestingly enough, I heard yesterday that Avatar is only one of three films in Oscar history that has been nominated for Best Picture without being nominated in any of the writing or acting categories. Some food for thought.
As for the other nominations? Well, I’ll save some of my predictions for later.
In the meantime, if you’d like to download an Oscar ballot you can use to make your OWN predictions – and then compare them to the actual winners on March 7 – you can download it here.
What do you guys think about widening the field of Best Picture nominees to 10? Do you think all of the Best Picture nominees are deserving or are some just filler? What nominations surprised you the most? Do you think there is an opportunity for an upset in any of the categories? Share your thoughts and reactions below!
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Cami and went to see Bridesmaids this weekend and at one point before the movie started, Cami actually leaned over to me and said “Thank you for seeing this movie with me.” I thought it was kind of odd at the time because 1.) I was already excited to see this movie and 2.) When do we ever get to leave the house to do ANYTHING together anymore?
Then again, she might have also been thanking me for letting her drag me around to a couple of department stores to look at blouses and shoes between our dinner and showtime.
* insert sound of whips here *
That said, I really enjoyed Bridesmaids and think it’s wholly deserving of the praise and strong reviews it’s received. If you haven’t seen it yet, I encourage you to check it out.
Produced by Judd Apatow and directed by Paul Feig, Universal Studios has marketed Bridesmaids as the female response to films like The 40 Year-Old Virgin or The Hangover. If you’ve seen the TV spots, they all seem to be preoccupied with a scene where the girls contract food poisoning. It leads you to believe that you’re in for an outrageous, scatological good time.
As bombastic an hilarious as that scene is, I’ll go on the record right now and let you know that Bridesmaids is NOT that kind of film. It’s not interested in strictly using shock tactics to generate laughs. It has a lot more on its mind than that.
There’s a lot of needless controversy in comedy circles (mostly driven by sexism) about whether or not women are funny. For the record, I think women are hilarious. That said, Bridesmaids clearly has a different temperament than most big studio comedies. The audience is the benefactor from this shift in tone because the humor frequently derived from character motivation rather than misunderstandings or unfortunate circumstances.
That’s not to say that Bridesmaids don’t lean on these tried and true comedic devices. But the humor is amplified by our familiarity with the characters, their needs and limitations.
As Annie, Kristen Wiig has created a great comedic punching bag – a tragic character who lost her cake shop in the recession and has been falling further and further behind ever since. But catharsis doesn’t come easily for Annie because she is truly the architect of her own misery. She can’t be free of it until she confronts her role in it.
Of course, it’s Melissa McCarthy as the bawdy Megan that wakes her up to her reality. In an excellent exchange near the end of the film, Megan gleefully slaps Annie around. Encouraging her to “Fight! Fight for your crappy life!” McCarthy is a comedic powerhouse in this movie and practically steals it out from under the rest of the ensemble.
I guess if I could register any complaint against the film is that it doesn’t fully take advantage of the talent it has at its disposal. Wiig, McCarthy and Maya Rudolph all get sufficient screen time. But Wendi McLendon-Covey from Reno 911 and Ellie Kemper from The Office are almost completely squandered. In fact, I think Rebel Wilson and Matt Lucas as Wiig’s inconsiderate roommates get more time on screen. So the film is not quite the ensemble piece it bills itself to be.
But overall the film is smart, honest and touching. On the surface, Annie’s problems and her reaction to them felt more akin to a directionless 20-something rather than how a former small-business owner approaching 40 would handle them. But, in context, it indicates how hard Annie has been thrown for a loop. Annie is an anomaly among female comedic archetypes, but a welcome one. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if Bridesmaids became a game-changer for chick flicks, which I would celebrate.
Look, a little bit of Sandra Bullock or Kate Hudson is fine. But their movies fail to take risks and avoid any suggestion that the lives of their heroines (who, for some reason, always seem to be marketing executives) is anything less than perfect. Bridesmaids takes those risks and should be rewarded for it.
Did you see Bridesmaids this weekend? If so, what were your thoughts? Leave your comments below!
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