Posts Tagged ‘holiday’
6 items.
Dec20
So the holiday season is upon us? Anyone about to go off the deep end with all the crowds, craziness and crass consumerism?
Yeah, that’s a jolly holiday greeting.
This is something totally unrelated to the comic, but I was watching A Charlie Brown Christmas last week and it didn’t occur to me until just this year that the center of the piece ALSO has to do with the commercialization of Christmas. Everyone else wants the glitter and the tinsel and ol’ Chuck Brown is still trying to find the true meaning of the season.
I don’t know why it struck me so profound – especially since I’ve seen this cartoon a million times. I guess the fact that people have been dealing with this issue since 1965 was both a relief and concern. A relief to realize it wasn’t a modern affliction. Concern for wondering when it will plateau.
The further I go in life, the more I realize that Peanuts creator Charles Schultz wasn’t just a drippy sentimentalist, but actually quite the subversive little raconteur.
I realize this has nothing to do with today’s comic, but I just had to speak my mind for a minute.
Regarding the comic, it wouldn’t be totally out of bounds for real life Tom to fill in the blanks of the holiday season with scenes from a Chevy Chase movie. That’s not to say my holidays are boring or unmemorable. It’s just that my extended family is pretty small, so we usually avoid the petty conflicts, drunken debauchery and shoddy re-gifting that seems to plague other families this time of year. Friends with larger broods tell me to count my blessings, but I have a distinct feeling I’m missing out on some pretty ripe comedy in those situations.
I predict this week’s blogs will be similarly off-center as we come closer to the big weekend celebration. I still haven’t figured out how I’m going to get Wednesday’s strip up on time.
You see, Tuesday is my birthday and we’re going out with the family to celebrate. Since I work on Wednesday’s strip Tuesday night and I haven’t worked ahead, Wednesday’s strip will probably be a little late. I’m just warning you now in case you’re stuck at work on Wednesday, desperate for entertainment, banging your head against the keyboard when you should be (in fact) filling out those T.P.S. reports. Just a head’s up.
Luckily, unlike my fellow cubicle-jockeys, I’ve taken Wednesday off to recover from Tuesday’s festivity. Once up to speed, I should have the time to work at home and make sure Wednesday’s comic appears at… some point on Wednesday.
:: VIOLENTLY CHANGING GEARS ::
Hey! New sponsors! Everyone be sure to check out Still Untitled. They’ve recently updated their look and have a new web site. I met the crew behind SU when I went to the Minneapolis FallCon comic book convention in October of ’03. They’re good guys and need your support.
Also don’t forget our current THorum advertiser Music Television Sucks – an excellent collection of music videos free for you to download. Y’know…. because MTV doesn’t seem to play them anymore.
Just one last note, I’ve received a few panicked e-mails from people asking where are the t-shirts the ordered for the pre-order period that ended December 10th. I want to let all of you know that they are on their way, but that I cannot deliver them in time for the holidays. I made this known back on November 24th when I put the shirts back up for sale.
Please understand that I do not have the up front capitol to buy a bunch of shirts in advance. Nor do I have a place to store them. I am also not in a position to sit on any merchandise that I can’t move. So basically it’s one-in, one-out and that’s why I take pre-orders. You tell me what shirt you want, I tell the printer, he ships them to me and I ship them to you. I wish I had a better system in place, but that’s how things are for the time being.
Those of you expecting shirts will hopefully see them in your mailbox before the end of the year. I sent the artwork to the printer on the 10th. He told me he would probably print them up the following week and send them this week. My turnaround should hopefully get them out the door next week. If anything changes, I will be sure to update you on the situation in this space.
Regardless, I want to thank all of you who have ordered shirts from me in the last two months. Your support of the comic both financially and as FANS who are proud to wear a Theater Hopper design impresses me to no end. Frankly, I’m amazed any of you are interested in what I’m doing. It’s a great validation and I appreciate it. Your patience, support and understanding mean everything to me.
Incidentally, the next pre-order period ends January 7th. It’s a little longer than previous pre-order periods, but I need a little breathing room to get around the holidays before sending another batch.
This blog got a little longer than I anticipated. So I think I’ll just end here.
Thanks.
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I was at a complete loss for what I was going to do for today’s comic. None of the recent crop nor forthcoming releases have inspired me to make satire.
So I retired to my “thinking room” and spent a little time pondering the subject of Easter movies. There really aren’t any. I don’t know that there SHOULD be any. I just noticed there aren’t any. And, thus, a comic was born.
I guess my mind wandered onto the topic because as we were leaving our house to have Easter lunch with my family, I noticed dozens upon dozens of cars parked near the two large churches near our house. They were everywhere. Parked on the street, parked in the lots of nearby businesses. It’s never this busy. Not on an average Sunday.
So Easter is one of those big church-going holidays and – conceivably – families will then depart to participate in Easter egg hunts, eat ham and chocolate bunnies and whatever else odd traditions have emerged from this holiday.
The point I’m making is that the holiday is a gathering of sorts – of community, of family.
So why aren’t there very many movies that speak to this?
Think about all of the Thanksgiving movies out there. You know the basic outline. The family black sheep returns home for the holidays, everyone is stressed out, comedy ensues. You could easily transpose that formula onto Easter gatherings.
I mean, okay… so Easter probably isn’t a big travel day. And it’s not like people are given days off from work so they can go be with their families on Easter, or whatever. But you get the gist.
For those of you complaining that it’s too secular, explain all the Christmas movies out there. Most of them are more about Santa or gift-giving than the actual holiday and Easter is complete with it’s own set of bizarre traditions. So religious persuasion really isn’t a factor.
All I know is that every year ABC plays The Ten Commandments around Easter and I can’t figure out why. What does Old Testament Bible have to do with New Testament death and resurrection of Jesus? Or did someone lose a bet to Charlton Heston?
I could be completely talking out of my rear end because – admittedly – I’m not a big church goer, I don’t understand the Easter tradition… It’s just always been something we’ve done as a family. I can’t imagine I’m the only one in this boat?
What do you think? Why do you suppose there are no great Easter movies out there? Or maybe there are tons and I’m missing out? Let me know!
Last bit of business, don’t forget to check out The Triple Feature podcast tonight over at TalkShoe at 9:00 PM CST. I don’t know what we’re talking about since I missed last week’s show, but I’m sure it will be enlightening. How is that for an endorsement?
Sorry, I feel a little scatterbrained. I’m starting a new job today, so I’m mostly focused on that. But I’ll try to have it put together by tonight’s show.
See you there!
[ 3 Comments ]
Dec12
I try to keep the comic timely, but usually as it pertains to movies. I think this might be one of a handful of times that I’ve made reference to any other surrounding circumstance.
I know this comic is a bit odd, but it’s truthful. Things have been stressful lately and both Cami and I are worn down. We work for the same company and we experienced several hundred layoffs this week. Fortunately, we both still have our jobs, but it weighs on our minds. Morale at work is low and we keep waiting for the other shoe to drop.
I’ve been let go from jobs before and it’s never a good feeling – especially right before the holidays. But since we had Henry, there is so much more at stake. It really stops to give you pause. What would you do if you were in that situation.
This is a particularly… adult concern and I know you guys aren’t coming to this site to be reminded of how ugly things are out there. For that, I apologize. But at the same time, I gotta be truthful and if there’s a joke I can attempt to mine from the situation, I’m going to take that opportunity.
Incidentally, the conversation played out in this strip pretty much happened verbatim in our house the day after our company announced layoffs. Everything right down to Snugglebug II: The Snuggling. It got a big laugh out of Cami, so I thought it would probably work in the strip. That’s the long and short of it. I hope you enjoyed it.
Not to be a Debbie Downer, but nothing looks good to me in the theater this weekend. Advertisements keep trying to shove the remake of The Day The Earth Stood Still down our throats – even going so far as to remind us it will be the ONLY place to see the new X-Men Origins: Wolverine trailer (until the internet gets a hold of it about 15 minutes later) – and I just can’t muster the enthusiasm to see it.
I’m curious to see Gort. That’s about it. Keanu Reeves looks like he’s acting more wooden than ever – which I suppose is in-character for an alien emmissary. But as Owen Gleiberman pointed out in his review over at Entertainment Weekly, “Reeves seems to be trying to wriggle out of the charge that he’s a flat actor by acting flat on purpose.”
Cami’s reasons for not wanting to see the film are much more sussinct. “It has Jennifer Connoelly in it.”
I’m kind of with Cami on that one. Don’t get me wrong, Jennifer Connoelly is fine to look at. But every time she shows up in a movie, my shoulders drop. She acts like the kind of person who NEVER smiles. She seems so serious all the time. She seems like someone who would be a real drag to be around.
I think this weekend Cami and I are going to take Henry to see Santa at the mall – a bizzarre ritual if there ever was one. We took him last year, but obviously he was too young to understand the significance. This year, he totally knows who Santa is by sight (even if he doesn’t totally understand what Santa does). It should be a good time.
That’s it for me. Have a great weekend, everyone and I’ll see you here on Monday!
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I know this is nothing new, but I am increasingly frustrated by our consumer society forcing the holiday season down our throats as early as they do. I really think there should be some kind of law that says stores need to keep Halloween decorations up at least until 6:00 AM on November 1. I think I went to Target looking for candy to give out on Beggar’s Night two days before Halloween and they were already selling Christmas trees. Slow down, Target!
Robert Zemeckis’s A Christmas Carol is symptomatic of this kind of “FIRE, READY, AIM!” pre-holiday mentality. I think they’ve pretty much acknowledged it in the commercials I’ve been seeing for the movie. I swear I heard the voiceover guy say something along the lines of “Celebrate the holidays early!” Yeah, dude? They’re a month and half away.
I don’t know about you, but I enjoy watching holiday movies AROUND the holidays. Watching a Dickensian classic 6 weeks out isn’t going to put me in the holiday mood any eariler. More than likely, I’m just gonna Scrooge it and forget about it completely.
I mean, I know that Zemeckis’s A Christmas Carol is getting good reviews, but do they really expect it to have the momentum to carry it to December 25. I don’t care how many digital bells and whistles you strap onto the thing, everyone has heard the story a million times. It’s played out!
Frankly, my interest in the film is purely technical. I want to see what kind of improvements Zemeckis has made in the motion-capture animation technology that brought us the dead-eyed automotons from The Polar Express and Beowulf. It doesn’t hurt that it’s in 3D. That’s the cherry on top.
I know it sounds like I’m down on this film. I’m not. Frankly, I hope it does quite well. Because the IMAX theater we have downtown trotts out The Polar Express every year for the kids and every time I see an ad for that movie, I wanna scream. Hopefully Zemeckis’s A Christmas Carol will replace it. Find another cash cow to float you over the holiday season, local IMAX theater!
Humbug?
What about you? Are you excited for A Christmas Carol? Does it look like an improvement over what we’ve seen from Zemeckis so far? Does anyone else find it weird that he is the ONLY proponent for this technology?
Leave your thoughts in the comments below!
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You’ll noticed Jared left Repo Men out of his negative assessment of Hollywood’s new offerings this week. I’m reserving judgment on that one. It looks like goofy, dark futuristic fun in the vein of Paul Veerhoven. The jury is still out.
But, yeah. Diary of a Wimpy Kid and The Bounty Hunter look like limp noodles to me.
I know I should probably be in Diary of a Wimpy Kid’s corner, considering the genesis of Jeff Kinney’s creation was as a webcomic. But kind of how I don’t think of Penny Arcade as a webcomic anymore, Diary of a Wimpy Kid has become something else entirely. It’s a brand.
Certainly I don’t begrudge Kinney his success. We should all be so lucky. But having moved beyond webcomics, Kinney’s brand just isn’t for me anymore – if it ever was. I mean, it really is more for pre-teens anyway. The movie looks like no exception. My question is why no one know professionally is talking about it?
People are talking about The Bounty Hunter, though – and for all the wrong reasons. The Bounty Hunter looks like the kind of movie stars like Gerard Butler and Jennifer Aniston either make at the beginning of their career or at the end of it. Butler can kind of be excused, though. He’s clearly trying to balance his tough-guy roles with romantic comedies. I’m not really buying him in these romantic roles, but he gets an “E” for effort.
Poor Jennifer Aniston, though. She looks like she’s grasping at straws. She’s never really been in a movie besides The Good Girl or maybe The Break-Up that anyone has taken seriously. All of her projects seem to be one notch slightly above a movie you’d see in Lifetime: Television For Women. I’m curious if her fan base would continue to support her if she hadn’t been so mercilessly dumped by Brad Pitt.
This is an utterly stupid point to make, but I’m going to make it anyway. Aniston has basically become a figurehead for rejected women and equally helping and hurting her career. People like to root for her, yet she continues to make crappy films – which only makes people root for her more. It’s a weird stigma she’s living with that excuses crappy performance. Consider it the “Aww, you’ll do better NEXT time, honey”-Factor. I have to imagine that it feels fairly condescending.
I don’t know what I would do differently if I were in Aniston’s shoes. Probably try to do some straight-up comedy. Play to your strengths. I mean, I know she has comedy movies in her past, but they each have romantic elements. I’m taking straight-up goofball comedy. Think Kevin Smith or Judd Apatow. Something edgier. Something that doesn’t require a marshmallow ending.
It seems like she kind of avoided comedy for a while because she didn’t want to be type-cast as Rachel from Friends for the rest of her career. These days? I think there are worse things to be associated with. Just my two cents.
As for the St. Patrick’s Day, it would be fun to go out and celebrate. But, the truth is, I’ve never really been a fan of fighting the crowds at a bar on the holiday. I did it a couple of times when I was in my 20’s but got tired of it pretty quickly. What’s the point in going out for St. Patrick’s Day if you have to wait in line for 15 minutes to get a beer? I might as well get drunk at home, you know? It’s much easier to identify signs of alcoholism sitting on your own couch.
I guess maybe you have to show up for those tent parties early to get properly blitzed before the Regular Joe’s get off work at 5:00. I’ve known real-life Jared to take a day off from work in the past to do exactly that. I don’t know. Maybe he had the right idea.
That’s it for me. If you have any thoughts about Diary of a Wimpy Kid, The Bounty Hunter, Gerard Butler, Jennifer Aniston or St. Patrick’s Day, please leave your comments below!
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