Posts Tagged ‘Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’
10 items.
Jan08
I know it’s not incredibly inventive to joke about Harrison Ford being of retirement age when he puts on fedora for a fourth time this summer. In fact, I’ve commented on his decline as an action hero before. In my opinion, he needs to move onto more character pieces and leave the action movies to the young bucks – whoever they might be.
Frankly, I’m seeing a disturbing trend when it comes to trotting out these old action stars. Slyvester Stallone was first out of the gate with Rocky Balboa. He’ll do it again in Rambo 4: Pearl of the Cobra in 2008. Bruce Willis is dusting off John McClane in Live Free or Die Hard this summer. As reported last week, they’ve settled on a script and Harrison Ford will be playing Indiana Jones for the fourth time in 2008. It’s only a matter of time before Arnold Schwarzennegger’s term as California governor expires and I’ll bet dollars to donuts that he’ll throw his hat back into movie-making since all these other old guys are doing it. It’s riduculous and it has to stop. To that end, I’ve dedicated myself to making fun of this new trend in ’07 where ever I might see it.
Quick bit of news – we’re bringing back the talkcast.
Be sure to join myself, Joe Dunn from Joe Loves Crappy Movies and Gordon McAlpin from Multiplex tonight at 9:00 PM CST when we debut our new joint talkcast appropriately titled "The Triple Feature." The three of us will be getting together for an hour every Monday night at 9:00 PM to discuss the latest movie releases, comics and pop culture. We’ll be taking your calls throughout the show, so be sure to visit the TalkShoe web site about 15 minutes before hand so you’re in the room when we start broadcasting.
I think Joe and Gordon are itching to talk about Children of Men, which I’ve yet to see. But I can probably talk about the site redesign, or something, if things get slow.
If you want a sense of what to expect, you can download the first three shows from last year. They’re a lot longer than what we plan on doing in ’07, but Joe and Gordon made appearances in a few of them and you can download them to get a sense of how we interact. They’re a lot of fun to listen to!
I didn’t get an opportunity to make it to the theater this weekend. Cami’s baby shower was on Saturday afternoon and we pretty much spent all day Sunday organizing everything and washing clothes. It’s a crazy time to be alive! Can you believe A Night at the Museum took in $24 million in it’s third week? That means its box office is up to $164 million. Does that mean there is a sequel in the works? It’s the runaway hit of the holidays! Have you guys seen it? What did you think?
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Nov09
Every time I think I’ve put a bow on an arc, I always think of different ways that I could stretch it into infinity.
Today’s comic was supposed to be the end of the Shia LaBeouf arc. But obviously the way I’ve set up the punchline in today’s comic, there has to be some kind of action taken against Shia next week, don’t you think?
I guess I’ve been hip-deep in this storyline so long, I don’t know if you guys are into it anymore? If you have a free minute, send me some feedback, won’t you?
So far this week, I think I’ve made a pretty good case against Shia – both in the comic and in the blog. I wanted to squeeze more examples into today’s comic, but there wasn’t enough room in the second panel to do that.
Regardless of the damming testimony I’ve come up with so far, I knew that photo from the set of the upcoming Indiana Jones movie was my secret weapon. First of all, that leather jacket isn’t working for me. It communicates only one thing – “Greaser.” I don’t need you screwing up my Indiana Jones movie with any shenanigans from Grease.
Second, Shia SHOULD NOT BE DRIVING THE MOTORCYCLE WITH INDIANA JONES RIDING BITCH! You want to ride a motorcycle, that’s fine. Here’s a Vespa. But if you’re hanging out with Indiana Jones – guess what? – HE’S DRIVING!
You want another reason to hate Shia? Check out this production photo from the set of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull:
WHAT IS UP WITH THAT MOUSTACHE? KNOCK IT OFF!
Probably the most dispiriting aspect of this whole Shia debacle is that he appears to have become Steven Spielberg’s protege. And with Vanity Fair declaring him “the next Tom Hanks,” there are too many favorable associations floating around this kid. Did he make some kind of bargain with Lucifer? Because, if not, I think we should all strongly consider having Steven Spielberg committed to a mental institution.
That’s as much venom as I have for you today. Have a great weekend!
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Apologies for the delay on today’s blog. I uploaded the comic last night and forgot about it because today I am taking the day off from my 9 to 5 so I can work on a Theater Hopper redesign. I’m really excited, but worried I won’t get everything done before Cami brings Henry home from day care once she gets off work. At least I can lay down a good foundation without a lot of distraction. Although it’s very tempting to want to play Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess all day!
I feel kind of self-conscious about today’s comic especially after Friday’s comic. You wouldn’t believe how many messages of support I got for that comic. More importantly, you wouldn’t believe the number of converts I brought over to my way of thinking after that comic! Lots of people were sending e-mails saying “I thought you were kind of off base with your hatred for Shia LaBeouf, but seeing that picture with Harrison Ford riding bitch has me convinced!” I knew that photo was my secret weapon.
At any rate, I know that social awkwardness on a plane or in a confined space isn’t really new, but I had to figure out a way to get Jared face-to-face with his new nemisis and anything else would have been too abrupt. I’m really enjoying telling this story and feel like I could go on and on with it, but I’m probably going to try and wrap it up this week. I’ve been doing it for about a month and I’m starting to miss the topical stuff. Plus, heading into the holidays, there are going to be a lot of films I want to talk about.
Speaking of movies I want to talk about, we’re going to be talking about A BUNCH of movies tonight on The Triple Feature talkcast. Specifically, we’ll be talking about No Country For Old Men, the new Coen Brothers movie out now in limited release. In support of the new film, we’ll be talking at length about the Coen Brother’s contribution to film over the last 25 years. So if you have opinions about Raising Arizona, The Big Lebowski or Fargo, call in! We’d love to talk to you!
The show starts at 9:00 PM CST. Be there or be square!
See you guys then. For me, it’s back to the redesign!
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Sorry today’s comic was late. Like, REALLY late. I didn’t get a chance to post it until after 11:00 PM. The reason for the delay is that Henry has come down with a wicked cold and has been running a fever. So, we’ve been watching him pretty closely. As such I don’t have much of a blog post for you today. Sorry. But, hey! Harrison Ford! That’s cool, right?
If you’re interested, be sure to check out my review of Ratatouille which came out on DVD yesterday. Or you can keep yourselves busy by downloading Monday’s broadcast of The Triple Feature. We’ve really been on fire these last few episodes. I’ve been really proud of how they’ve turned out.
I’ll have another review on the site tomorrow – The Pixar Short Films Collection, Volume 1 – so be on the lookout for that.
Thanks for your understanding. I appreciate it!
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First off, apologies for the lateness of today’s comic. I was having all kind of issues with my internet provider over the weekend. Of course, we had a huge blizzard here in Iowa that probably had something to do with it, so I can’t get too mad with them.
Good thing I was a home when things got turned back on so I could post to the site.
But, waitaminute. Shouldn’t I be at work? What am I doing at home on a Monday morning? You can thank this guy.
That’s my boy Henry and he’s one year-old today! Both Cami and I took the day off to celebrate with him.
I wish I had something more profound to say about my experiences in the last year, but the entire process of fatherhood is so completely transformative, I’m not sure I recognize the person I was before Henry came into my life – so it’s difficult to pinpoint what’s different.
In many ways I feel like Henry has always been here with us. I can’t really remember the days where Cami and I would simply lay around on a Saturday and watch an I Love the 80’s marathon on VH1 anymore. (That’s probably for the best.)
Certainly Henry is much different than the little sleepy lump we brought home from the hospital a year ago. Watching him develop has been an everyday miracle. I know most parents feel this way, but I felt like we really lucked out with Henry. He has a great temperment and a sense of humor. Loves to laugh and smile. Very verbal. He’s already identifying things like blocks, books and ball. In the last week, he’s been standing himself up. He’s *this* close to walking now. It’s amazing.
I don’t post many pictures of Henry in this space and that’s been by design. Partially to protect him and partially because of relevance. I mean, this is a web comic about movies, you know?
But I was looking over all of the wonderful e-mails of support readers sent a year ago when Henry was born and thought you guys would appreciate seeing how far the little guy has come. One day I’m going to show him those e-mails and explain to him how so many people welcomed him into the world without ever knowing him. There are good people in the world. You guys are some of the best.
Part of me wondered if I would have to set Theater Hopper aside after Henry was born. It’s been a bumpy ride over the last year, but I think we’ve found a way to make it work. A large part of that is because of your patience and support. Thanks for continuing to read Theater Hopper, thank you for your encouragement and thanks for supporting me and my family.
I’ll be back with more news later in the day. Big news, actually, that will affect the future of Theater Hopper in a really good way. But for now, I have to help decorate a birthday cake!
See you soon!
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May26
MOVIE REVIEW – INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL
May 26th, 2008 |
(2 votes, average: 7.00 out of 10)
Typically, when a franchise fill series takes the better part of a generation to introduce another sequel into the pop culture landscape, the entry could be misconstrued as a money grab.
But, for whatever reason, the latest installment of the Indiana Jones is a film that fans have been chomping at the bit to see. Chalk it up to excellent marketing, and indelible heroic lead or perhaps the sands of time fogging the lens of nostalgia.
After all these years, does Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of The Crystal Skull hold up? Infuriatingly, yes and no. While not a dour or violent as the exhausting Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom, Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of The Crystal Skull suffers from one too many head scratching, credibility straining moments that pull the view right out of the movie and suck the life from it.
However, the movie starts with a bang – literally. We catch up with our hero in 1957. Indy has been kidnapped and taken to a mysterious government warehouse in the middle of the Nevada dessert. His captor is KGB agent Irina Spalko, played with a hint of dominatrix glee by Cate Blanchet. She wants Indy to find an artifact that will give the Soviet army the upper hand in the escalating Cold War.
Indy’s romp and eventual escape from his Russian captors are the most exhilirating moments of the movie. And, although the sequence ends with one of those head-scratching moments I was referring to, you let it slide. Because it’s exactly the kind of "by the skin of your teeth" escape you wan to see Indiana Jones make.
Later on, when a switchblade-wielding greaser named Mutt Williams comes looking for Jones to help him track down his mother, also kidnapped by the Russians, it isn’t long before Indy is drawn back into the conflict.
What follows is a slow unraveling of the film’s initial bounce and swagger. The film begins to feel less like a treasure hunt and more like a series of unending action sequences.
Part of Indiana Jones’s appeal is that he is an everyman hero who can be hurt and complains about the obstacles being thrown in his path. While there is a certain amount of that bruiser charm on display here (largely at the expense of star Harrison Ford’s advancing age), eventually you feel like there simply isn’t enough time between harrowing escapes and near-misses for Indy to reflect on his mortality in a humorous way. The pacing of the film gives neither the audience or our hero time to rest.
By the time the film reaches it’s ultimate conclusion, it all kind of feels like a blur. Less of a “whodunnit” and more of a “whatwuzthat?”
The performances in the film are all well done – especially Harrison Ford who inhabits Indiana Jones so thoroughly, it’s the most fun I’ve had watching him on screen in years. Shia LaBeouf comes off less annoying than I expected, toning down his more frantic actorly tics and zeroing in on the "not quite a nerd, not quite a hunk" niche he occupies so well.
But some of the characters feel perfunctory. Ray Winstone as a duplicitous adventurer adds nothing but dead-weight and false conflict to the proceedings. Karen Allen returns as Marion Ravenwood – Indiana Jones’s one, true love. But her contribution feels less like a contextual advancement of the plot but more of a "fill in the blank" role required to explain relationships between characters.
With these check marks in the minus column, the movie doesn’t fail completely. Even though I recognize some of the more awful, groan-inducing moments (Shia LaBeouf – Kind of the Monkeys, anyone?) the movie delivered the kind of entertainment I was looking for. In some ways, it ignites the imagination in unexpected ways.
For example, it was alluded that Jones spent his time between adventures operating behind enemy lines in World War II and was designated the Army rank of Colonel. Both my wife and I turned to each other at the same time and said”I want to see THAT movie!”
But, for what is is, Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of The Crystal Skull does not disappoint.
I think fanboys who are looking to pick apart every last detail of the movie won’t have a problem finding weaknesses in it’s armor. But, within it’s given context, how disappointed can you be? The sci-fi elements of the film fit within the 1950’s time period the movie takes place. The fantastic escapes and cartoonish villains really aren’t any worse than what Indy has faced in the past.
This is the double-edged sword of nostalgia. Some people will remember the original movies for being better than they were. Or, at least assume that Kingdom of Skull will always be the runt of the litter.
My biggest complaints have to do less with content and more with execution. Director Steven Spielberg swore up and down that the film would rely on practical effects and there is a little too much CGI for my taste in this picture. Some of the more knowing nods to past adventures could have been eliminated and the movie probably could have benefited from a little bit of a trim on its running time.
But overall? Fun is fun and Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of The Crystal Skull is an adventure I would line up for again in a heartbeat.
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Ah, it feels good to get back in the swing of things.
Real quick, thanks to Wes Molebash, Brandon J. Carr and Clay & Hampton Yount covering for me last week while I was away helping to see my Dad through his open heart surgery. I took off Monday as well and filled in with a review of Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of The Crystal Skull. We were having some site isues on Monday, so it was posted late.
For those of you who are wondering, we brought Dad home on Sunday, less than a week after his operation. Everything went better than expected. They were able to repair my Dad’s mitral valve and he was out of the ICU in less than 24 hours. I was amazed that they had him up on his feet and walking so soon after surgery.
Right now Dad is at home, building his strength back up. Even the little things wipe him out completely. But, fortunately, we found that he doesn’t have to do physical therapy and only needs to walk on a daily basis to help build him back up again. After 6 weeks, he’ll be clear to go back to work part time.
Everything leading up to the surgery was pretty scary. There was a lot of invariables. Turns out the surgery was the easy part. It’ll be a long road to recovery, but my Dad’s young age plays to his advantage and I know he’ll be up and around in no time.< I wanted to reiterate my thanks to everyone who sent positive messages of support. I really appreciated them. I wish I could respond to everyone individually. But, at this point, I'm just trying to get caught up. Thanks again. It means a great deal to me. ... Back to movies, I was able to catch Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of The Crystal Skull Friday night before Cami and I left for Rochester to visit my Dad. We left Henry with my in-laws for the weekend and it was a nice break for the two of us. As I mentioned in the review, I liked the film. I left feeling entertained and that the film - at least partially - lived up to the hype. HOWEVER, I'm not turning a blind eye to some of the more ostentatious "WTF" moments. Most notably during the jungle chase when Shia LaBeouf character gets knocked off a moving vehicle and gets tangled up in some hanging vines. In true, implausible fashion, it’s not long before he extracts himself from the situation by mimicking the CGI monkeys that have surrounded him by swinging vine to vine, Tarzan style. I turned to Cami during that scene and say “Boy, you can really see George Lucas’s Ewok-lovin’ mitts all over this one!”
There’s been a lot of hullaballoo on the internet about these credibility straining moments in KotCS and some of them I’m willing to give a pass on. But I haven’t talked to ANYONE who thought that vine-swinging sequence with the monkeys was kosher.
It’s symptomatic with the "everything and the kitchen sink" approach Spielberg took to the film. Truthfully, that whole jungle chase sequence is a perfect example. It’s not enough to have a chase sequence. You have to have a chase sequence where people are constantly falling off the roof of the car, rear-ending each other, throwing passengers from one car to the other, firing hood-mounted machine guns at each other, engaging in a 50 MPH sword fight with each other, nearly ramming each other off steep cliffs before finally ending up in a river and plunging down three impossibly large waterfalls.
Oh, yeah – and monkeys who know the difference between the greaser good guy and the Soviet dominatrix bad guy and will help in a fight.
Truthfully, if you want to talk overblown, don’t forget the CG gophers in the opening sequence of the movie. I don’t know why real gophers couldn’t have been used. CG gophers strip credibility from the film when their inclusion offers nothing of value. Do we REALLY need a CG gopher to give Harrison Ford a quizzical look after a harrowing escape? REALLY? Because guess what? That shot just cost $50,000.
It’s bloated and wasteful and indicative of filmmakers over reliance on this technology. Especially when the director vows up and down to use practical effects whenever possible in a year’s worth of interviews. If you’re going to use CG, at least make it so I can’t TELL if it’s CG!
I’m kind of beating up on the film a little bit. Actually, a lot – especially for a movie I professed to enjoy. I started to fall into the same trap during last night’s recording of The Triple Feature. If you missed that show, you can download it here. I encourage you to do so. We had a very lively exchange. I had a lot of fun.
Beyond that, I’ll leave you with an illustration I found over at the Digital Pimp Online forum. It comes from illustrator Jolly Jack and I think it sums things up nicely…
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I think today’s comic makes a pretty good point about resuscitated franchises. But, truthfully, I probably wouldn’t have noticed the trend if The X-Files: I Want to Believe and The Mummy: Tomb of The Dragon Emperor weren’t released one week apart.
By the way, do you guys notice that sequels don’t have a number behind them anymore. You never see "X-Files 2" or "The Mummy 3" in any advertising or promotional materials. There’s always a subtitle to suggest that these stories are episodic and not the same old plots and characters being rehashed for a quick buck.
Originally, I wanted to make a joke about how long it was taking to bring these sequels to theaters. The punchline would have been somewhere along the lines of Jared sarcastically suggesting that Hollywood spit out their lame retreads at a faster rate so we can get on with our lives. “Don’t make us wait so long next time!” It would have been a little wordy.
I don’t mind sequels, but I appreciate the films more when they service a larger story. The Lord of The Rings or the Harry Potter movies immediately spring to mind.
Of course, there are those movies that are kind of a one-shot deal, prove popular and then expand into a larger mythology in their sequels. You could put Star Wars, Back to the Future and The Matrix in that category.
But X-Files, The Mummy and – yes- even Indiana Jones are all naked money grabs. The fact of the matter is, if you had a larger story to tell, you would have told it by now.
There are degrees to how critical I am towards some of these movies. Like the comic explains, Indiana Jones was a movie people wanted to see. There was demand for it after two decades. We may not have gotten the movie that we hoped for, but we held out for a pretty long time.
I can see some people who would be excited for another Mummy movie, even though The Mummy Returns was kind of stupid and it’s spin-off The Scorpion King was half-baked. I admire them for taking it another direction with the Chinese terracotta warrior angle. Although I wonder if Arnold Vosloo is pissed. Remember when the media made him “the next big thing?”
But what’s up with X-Files? Where was the demand for this? The last movie was 10 years ago, the television show ended 5 years ago and the last two seasons were crap. I could understand revisiting things further down the line if they answered some of the lingering questions from the established mythology, but from what I’ve heard, they went in a completely different direction and produced what is – in essence – a mediocre, two hour television episode. Whatever.
Lingering doubts toward The Mummy aside, I’m still kind of curious to check it out. It’s August already and summer is slipping through our fingers. I could go for one more lap around the Brainless Romp Amphitheater. Let’s go on a ride.
I don’t know if that’ll happen, though. Cami has no interest in the movie. Henry might be spending the night with my in-laws on Saturday, though and we’re going to have to find a way to fill the time. Cami thinks Swing Vote looks good. She’s a Kevin Costner fan. Personally, I think it looks like Hollywood pandering to NASCAR dads.
But I could get into that on Monday as well.
That’s all for me. It’s been quite a week. I hope you enjoy the weekend and I’ll see you here on Monday!
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No incentive sketch today, guys. I’m running WAY behind and I wanted to get the comic up and running first without messing around with a sketch.
Sorry that the comic is so late. To explain myself, I offer these pictures:
It’s a huge, 12 foot long triptych that I painted for our family room that I completed and hung last night.
Of course, like an idiot, I was working for about 4 hours in my garage painting the last panel with a heat index of 110 outside. By the time I was done hanging it up, my back was killing me and I was completely drained. So I decided to take advantage of my unemployment situation, sack out early and get up in the morning to finish the comic.
So, again, sorry for the delay.
This painting is something I’ve been “working” on since January, but could never really find the time to complete until I got 8 hours back during my day a few weeks ago. It’s the perfect solution for our family room, which is ridiculously long and impossible to decorate. We’ve spent years trying to find the right configuration and I think we finally have the room the way we want it. The triptych anchors a very long and very blank wall and I know that Cami is over the moon about it.
In fact, this morning, when Henry came downstairs for breakfast, he noticed the painting right away and said “I like your paintings, Daddy.” So I think I did okay.
As for the “let’s make Shia a bad-ass conspiracy,” obviously it doesn’t hold water. But he was really on a bender this time last year, getting arrested at a Walgreen’s and kind of flirting with the law. I always kept the idea tucked away in the most cynical corner of my brain that it was all orchestrated on purpose to distance LaBeouf from his Disney past. But, again, I’m just playing it up for laughs.
I mean, smashing someone’s hand with a hammer? Funny, right?! I’m chuckling about it even now. Thank you, Tom & Jerry cartoons for warping my sense of humor.
Not much else to talk about today except that I’m off to see a 12:00 PM showing of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Once again, taking advantage of the unemployment situation. But don’t worry. I’m also looking for jobs during this downtime as well.
I just figured that since my hopes weren’t all that high for Transformers, it would be better for me to see it during a matinee rather than try to fight the crowds on Friday. Why make an unpleasant situation more unpleasant, right?
Originally, I was going to go to the theater that’s 5 minutes from my house. But as I was looking up show times, I saw the movie is also playing at the only IMAX theater in central Iowa. So, despite my reservations, I think I’m going to drive the extra 20 minutes in the car and shell out the extra three bucks at the ticket counter to see it on the big, big, big screen. I’ll let you know how it goes.
Anyone else planning on seeing the show in IMAX? What are your expectations for the movie? Leave your thoughts in the comments below!
Oh, and thanks for being patient with me today!…
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As you may have noticed, I’ve advanced the timeline of the story by four months. If you remember, it was January when this whole thing started. People were wearing coats! Time to bring everything up to speed.
What happened in those missing 4 months? Not much. Jimmy and Charlie went on a few dates. Tom and Cami caught up on Mad Men using Netflix streaming. I think Truman found a bone, or something? Trust me, you didn’t miss much.
I knew I had to advance the timeline to accommodate the inevitable comics I’ll be doing about The Avengers. But there was an ancillary experience I had at C2E2 in Chicago a couple of weeks ago that inspired today’s comic and, well… here’s the story.
So, after driving all morning, I pulled into the McCormick Center pretty much right as the doors were opening to the public at 1:00 PM. That made load-in a little stressful, but I got set up fairly quickly.
After getting settled, meeting a few fans and drawing a few sketches, word started getting back to me that no other than Shia LaBeouf was at the convention!
This isn’t a huge deal. Celebrities come to conventions all the time. He was probably speaking on a panel or something, right?
WRONG. He’s was in Artist Alley. Apparently he was there to promote a comic that he had worked on.
Everyone I talked to about Shia’s appearance that afternoon had the same initial reaction that I did. “Bullsh*t!” So I scoured Twitter for confirmation and specifics.
It didn’t take long before people confirmed that Shia was in attendance. Several people had tweeted photos they had taken with him. An opportunity had presented itself. I had to go meet him. But where WAS he?
Eventually I learned that he was in Artist Alley, table O22.
For some perspective, I was at table O2.
You know that scene from When A Stranger Calls when the police office tells the babysitter “The calls are coming from inside the house!” Yeah. It felt like that.
So I knew it was now or never. I had to get a picture with the guy. Readers of this comic know my feelings about Shia LaBeouf, if I punk out now, I’d never live it down. So I start walking down the aisle.
As I approach the end of the aisle, I see a huge line near the tables. I immediately assume it was for Shia, but quickly realize that George Pérez was at the table right next to him doing commissioned sketches and the line was for him.
And if you don’t know who George Pérez is, then I strongly recommend you read more comics.
Anyway, no one was in line to see Shia, so I walked right up to him to say hello.
“Hi, there,” I said. “I don’t mean to bother you, but I was wondering if I could get a quick picture with you?”
LaBeouf was more than gracious. “Sure!” he said. As I leaned back over the table to get in the shot with him, he put out his hand and said “Bring it in here,” to go for the bro shake. And that’s why I look a little more awkward than usual in this photo…
I know it’s a little blurry and I know that Shia’s face is obscured a little bit by his hat a little bit, but that’s him.
It was over pretty quickly. I thanked him for his time, shook his hand and told him to have a good show. In retrospect, I probably should have bought one of his books, but I seriously didn’t have a game plan before walking up to the guy. I knew if I thought about it for too long, I’d lose my nerve. So I swooped in there to get my photo trophy and swooped out.
Back at my table, panic started to settle in a little bit because I realized that my banner was promoting some mild anti-Shia sentiment on it…
I wouldn’t have thought twice about it except that he was in the SAME ROW that I was. What if he walked by it and saw it? What if he approached me about it and commented on it. He’s punched people for less, you know!
I tweeted my concerns about the banner and several of my follower suggested that I take it down to him and have him sign it.
While I can’t deny that would have been unbelievably cool, I couldn’t envision a scenario where I could approach the guy and NOT come off like a complete jerk.
“Excuse me, Mr. LaBeouf? Yeah, I just got my picture taken with you – No, I didn’t buy one of your comics – and I’m exhibiting just up the aisle from you a little way. I was wondering if you would sign my banner? Y’see, my comic is about movies and I regularly make comics about how much I think you suck. Oh! You drew a penis on my main character’s forehead! Ha, ha, ha! Delightful! Thank you very much for your time, Mr. LaBeouf.”
So, no. I didn’t get Shia LaBeouf to sign my banner. I thought it best to let sleeping dogs lie.
For the rest of the weekend, people kept talking to me about Shia LaBeouf. Often I would take out my phone and show them the picture I took with him. Incidentally, I heard from someone who was standing in line to speak with him a story about another con-goer that asked him to draw a sketch of Megan Fox naked. LaBeouf gave him a dirty look and slapped together a quick stick figure before telling him to take off. I actually thought that was kind of cool.
I guess he was only there on Friday and didn’t come back Saturday or Sunday. But, honestly, could you expect him to?
So… what do we do with this experience?
I’ve taken lots of shots at LaBeouf over the years. Mostly it was for fun. After I decided Jared didn’t hate Ben Affleck anymore, the comic needed a new straw man and LaBeouf was an easy target.
Did I ever truly hate LaBeouf? No, I can’t say that I ever gave him that much thought. But a lot of other people really seemed to hate him and I felt like I kind of taped into that. But – and here’s what everyone gets wrong – it’s not how I really felt about the guy. I took my moderate dislike of him as an actor and amplified it for the sake of the comic. After that, it became it’s own thing. Was it exploitative? Sure. Do I regret it? Well, yeah. I do.
It’s easy to forget that these actors are people. We build them up and we tear them down. We do it because it’s fun. I’m guilty of it and I’ve also been victim to it. It’s just how things are.
But I have to give LaBeouf credit for showing up to promote his comic on Artist Alley the way he did. He didn’t use his celebrity to pull strings or get preferential treatment. He met with fans, put in the time and promoted his book just like anyone else. I can’t fault him for that.
Are his comics any good? Critical consensus says “No.” But I don’t think that accounts for much. Have you ever been to an Artist Alley at a large comic book convention? It’s just like anything else. You’ll see some amazing stuff and you’ll see some real crap. Shia’s comics maybe aren’t my cuppa tea, but I’ve seen worse. MUCH worse. And those guys NEVER get reviewed. So let’s keep it in perspective.
As for Theater Hopper… well you saw how that played out in the comic.
Everything about this last arc is about evolving the characters – even if it’s only by a fraction – so that when it’s all said and done, you know that everyone is “okay.”
It didn’t seem fair to me to advance Charlie and Jimmy’s relationship or put Tom and Cami on the path to parenthood without giving Jared the opportunity to grow a little as well.
Even if “Movie Jumpers” looks totally lame.
Anyway, that’s where we are today and that’s my Shia LaBeouf story. I seriously can’t believe I’m leaving comics behind. Because I sure as hell wouldn’t have a story like that to tell without ’em.
Keep checking the site. I’ve got Avengers comics comic up soon…
…and the return of CARDBOARD IRON MAN.
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