Posts Tagged ‘Judd Apatow’
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You can’t take a pot-shot at comic book nerds without calling forth their patron saint. It’s part of the nerd by-laws, or something. It’s just what you do.
Sidebar: The more I do this comic, the more I realize that I draw from the world of comic books about as often as I do from the world of movies and DVD. I was combing through the archives earlier tonight and it’s kind of funny how many of them refer to graphic novels.
I don’t know if that’s because Hollywood continues to make more and more comic-book movies in the wake of success stories like Spider-Man and X-Men or if it’s simply my alternate influences seeping in.
But I digress…
Main blog: Contrary to the statements of my illustrated avatar, I personally am VERY excited to see The 40 Year-Old Virgin this weekend. I think it’s going to be a hit akin to Wedding Crashers and hopefully the proof that Hollywood needs to cement the notion that R-rated comedies can be successful.
Advance reviews have been great and I don’t doubt it. It has Steve Carell in his first lead role and one where he finally hasn’t been propped up to do the anchorman thing that he cultivated so well from his years on The Daily Show. I think he’s been long past due to break out of that mold and I think he’ll prove exactly how versatile he is with this movie.
Second, Judd Apatow directs and was the co-writer with Carell. Apatow is one of my favorite comedic writers – he being the brain behind both Freaks and Geeks and Undeclared, which I both loved.
Third, I’m hearing rumblings that Virgin’s effectiveness lies not within it’s ability to be raunchy or shock. But rather in the tenderness it shows it’s characters and the sweetness it allows them to exude. It fleshes them out a little more. Evolves them past the point of catch-phrase dispensers.
At any rate, I have another comic lined up for Friday relating to The 40 Year-Old Virgin, so be on the lookout for that.
A couple of other things you need to be on the lookout for are our two new advertisers – Make With The Funny and Deathfist Ninja GKaiser.
The former is a web comic that’s been around for a while now and I find it puzzling that more people don’t know about it. The art is clean, the jokes are funny and the site design is sharp as a tack. What’s the problem people? Get on the bus now and tell all your friends you’ve actually been reading it for the last 2 years.
The later is a relatively new comic to the scene. Largely manga inspired and heavy on a narrative structure. If you like your comics with an little more characterization, this one is for you. I think these guys do a really good job with both panel layout and color. Their talent is only going to get stronger. Their ad is currently running in the THorum<. A banner that currently isn't up there but probably should be is that I've gotten a whole batch of new shirts in from the printer. If you’re thinking about buying one, now would be a good time. I have a full stock in several sizes, but due to the hit I’m taking on lower ad rates, I’ll probably raise prices on t-shirts by the end of the month.
So like I said. If you want a good deal, now is the time.
Speaking of new, attention-getting ads and t-shirts… If you refresh the home page a couple of times, you might see an ad telling you about the t-shirt I designed for Threadless.com. For about a month or two it was out of print, so I posted an ad on Monday telling everyone to request a reprint.
I did it partially for the satisfaction of seeing if they would do a reprint and partly because I’m very proud that my artwork is on a site like Threadless and I’m trying to tell as many people about it as possible.
Anyway, two days after I put up my ad – wouldn’t you know it, they reprint my shirt! Anyway, if you had your eye on it from afar, better scoop one up now before they run out again! If I remember correctly, the first batch emptied out pretty quick! Looks like I’ll have to whip up a new version of that ad now…
That’s about it for now. I’m still working on my recap of Wizard World Chicago from two weeks ago. I have the recap of Wednesday, August 3 up in the THorum. But I need to get cracking and start detailing some of the action on the convention floor. I know some of you guys are curious to know what happened.
Take it sleazy.
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I thought today’s incentive sketch turned out really well, so I thought I would take a little extra time and finish it off with color. I hope you enjoy it!
So there is no confusion, I’m not making fun of virgins in this strip. It’s very important that I stress that. That’s why Tom and Jared don’t make a big deal about Jimmy’s admission. He assumed incorrectly that there would be a negative stigma. Meanwhile, these guys just wanted to see the movie.
I’m not a religious guy, so I’m not necessarily bound by the convictions of the faith. I’ve just seen enough people regret their actions later down the line that I applaud anyone smart enough and emotionally mature enough to wait for the person they plan to be with the rest of their lives.
In terms of my introduction to such matters, you’ll get no such information from me!
In that regard, I feel badly for the star of The 40 Year-Old Virgin – Steve Carell – because I’m sure he has to put up with a litany of dumb questions about his own virginity while he’s making the promotional rounds for this movie. I’m certain that every interviewer who asks him how and when he lost his “special purpose” things they are being bold, original or clever. But Steve’s a sharp tack. I’m sure he has some deadpan comebacks ready for them.
Things have been… interesting for me the last few days. I don’t know if I can explain much more than that without giving away information I don’t want to share. But our family has been through the wringer the last few weeks. This weekend is all about recharging the batteries and staring down some challenges ahead of us. We’re seeing The 40 Year-Old Virgin, of course. But Broken Flowers finally opens in Des Moines this weekend and I’m really excited to see that. A Sunday matinee there awaits us.
Seems like this summer has been such a drag for movies. Anything I’m interested in seeing arrives in theaters in bulk. So I’ll go a few weeks without seeing anything, then go to 2 or 3 movies in a weekend right on top of each other.
I want to be sure and remind everyone about the Theater Hopper LiveJournal syndication feed we’re rockin’. So if you have an LJ account, add us to your friends list and get all of the updates posted to the site as soon as the occur.
Also buy some t-shirts if you’re so inclined. I just got a bundle of them in on Tuesday so it’s very likely that I have your size and can send you one! I have a bunch of orders I wasn’t able to fill because I ran out of inventory, so those guys come first. But I deliberately over-ordered so I would have some ready to go.
I hope you and yours are well. Have a great weekend.
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Apr18
I’m not exactly sure what part of my brain the idea for this comic escaped from. I just started thinking about Forgetting Sarah Marshall and how it’s a Judd Apatow production, ALL of the Judd Apatow productions lined up for release in 2008 and the rest just kind of leaked out of my ear.
I’m sure the working environment on an Apatow film is much less contentious as I’ve depicted here. But you can’t help but notice the low-grade nepotism involved with these movies anymore.
At first I thought it was pretty cool to have the same stable of actors on call for any given movie. Now I can’t imagine a comedy that DOESN’T feature Jason Segel, Seth Rogen, or Jonah Hill in some capacity. Do they even make comedies without their involvement anymore? It’s hard to tell.
Then again, maybe that was the point.
At this stage, Apatow productions have become like the Laff-O-Lympics for my favorite comedy actors. I just watched Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story on DVD last week and there are tons of small cameos from the likes of Jack McBrayer and Ed Helms. Complete throwaway roles that could have been played by anyone. But then they show up on screen and that wave of recognition hits you. “Hey! That’s so-and-so from [insert popular comedy television show here]!” In a weird way, it’s like it adds some kind of credibility to the affair.
As far as Forgetting Sarah Marshall is concerned, it’s a movie I’ve been looking forward to for a while. It looks like it’s got the same mix of crudeness and sweetness and they’re mixing things up a little bit by adding Kristen Bell and Mila Kunis to things. Also, those two actresses are very attractive and I’ll take any advantage I can get in terms of muting the amount of wang that is supposedly in this movie. Reportedly, Segel shows the goods 3 times in this picture. At what point did the wiener become a standard visual gag? I know it looks weird, and everything, but…
Peter Segel is an actor I kind of like, but not really – and mostly for the roles he’s chosen. Specifically, the stalker boyfriend from Undeclared and the dirtbag MILF-chaser in Knocked Up. I don’t watch How I Met Your Mother, but I understand he plays a much more squeaky clean version of himself on that show. So maybe it’s been the wrong exposure for me.
That said, I’m impressed that he wrote the screenplay for this one and somehow managed to wring A NEW MUPPETS MOVIE out of his involvement with Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Apparently there is a sequence with puppets at the end and people from The Henson Company were doing the puppeteering. Segel floated the idea past them and the rest is (soon to be filmed) history.
Cami and I are trying to line up a babysitter this weekend so we can get out of the house and see this. I know I say that a lot, but this is the first movie in a long while that I feel extremely motivated to see. Motivated enough to inconvenience another family member and deep-six their Saturday night to hang out at our house and make sure my baby doesn’t drink a case of Colt 45 while we’re away.
Wow. That’s a visual for you.
One last thing — If you missed it on Wednesday, be sure to download the first recorded broadcast of Boxcar Comics Hobo Jamboree. Myself, Joe Dunn from Joe Loves Crappy Movies, Phil Chan from Martriculated and Clay Yount from Rob & Elliot were all in attendance and we laid down the ground work for what you can expect from our monthly podcast. We had a good time recording it and I’m already looking forward to the next one.
A couple of people wrote to tell me that we didn’t give you guys enough notice to listen to the show live. Sorry about that. It all came together kind of quickly and we just ran to press with it. Next time, we’ll try to talk it up a week or so in advance.
I’m really excited about the progress that Boxcar Comics has been making lately. So far we have one jam comic and this podcast under our belt. We’re working on our second jam comic as we speak. Boxcar has been around since 2005. I think we’ve gotten more done in the last few months than we have in the last few years. I feel good about it. We’ve justified ourselves beyond just sharing traffic. Good times.
That’s all from me! Have a great weekend everybody!
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Jul30
Before I launch into the blog post discussing today’s comic (and since I’m already getting e-mails about it), I wanted to talk about the recent controversy surrounding the DUI arrest of Shia LaBeouf on Sunday. If you were at all offended by Monday’s comic, you’ll want to continue reading.
First, I am aware that the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department cleared LaBeouf of any fault in the accident that sent him to the hospital with head, knee, foot and hand injuries. Apparently another drive ran a red light colliding with LaBeouf’s truck and rolling it over.
That said, LaBeouf was still driving around drunk at three in the morning. So I don’t think this new information completely absolves him of the criticism I’ve lobbed his way in the past. Chalk it up to inexperience with the media on LaBeouf’s part, but you don’t give interviews bragging about how you’re not part of the Hollywood night life and then make headlines for drunk driving. I take a pretty hard line on drunk drivers and, the fact of the matter is, the kid has more than enough money and more than enough resources to call a cab or even hire a limo driver for the night if he wants to go out drinking.
Now, switching gears back to Monday’s comic, I wanted to take this opportunity to apologize.
I don’t do this often because it’s always a catch-22 when you apologize for a joke or something objective. There’s a good chance that there is someone out there who really liked the comic and thought it was funny. By apologizing for it, you’re kind of leaving them out to dry.
But hindsight is 20/20 and looking back on Monday’s comic, I feel I went about the situation in an entirely inappropriate way.
Back in the days when I used to have Ben Affleck for a punching bag, it was all in good fun, clearly over-the-top and had no bearing in the real world. I mean, “Benbots” C’mon!
My mistake with the Shia situation was trying to mine real-life tragedy for laughs and I really had no business trying to incorporate it into the comic as well. There should be a Theater Hopper version of Shia that is a gross caricature, but not a real life version of Shia that I poke with a stick and laugh at his misfortune.
I’m not trying to make excuses, but just so you understand the situation, I literally found out about Shia’s accident probably 30 minutes before I sat down to write the comic. So, in a hurry and under the impression that there was some kind of invisible expectation for me to comment about it, I wrote Monday’s comic. It was poorly conceived and, given the chance to do it again, I would have written it completely differently.
Actually, given a second chance, I’m wondering if I would have even bothered. Truthfully I’m starting to wonder if the abject “hatred” of any celebrity played for laughs is something I should be doing anymore.
Again, it goes back to the subjectivity of the issue. I’ve talked to many people who loved the strips that bash Ben Affleck and Shia LaBeouf. It taps into something they admit feeling themselves, but could not fully articulate. Some people I’ve talked to tell me they never really realized how much those actors annoyed them until I shined this spotlight on them.
On the other hand, I’ve heard from just as many people who feel those comics are harsh and unfair. They find it a turn off and I can see where they’re coming from.
Considering Theater Hopper is a semi-autobiographical comic, people can’t see the line between parody and reality. They ask me “Why do YOU hate Shia so much?”Truth be told, I’m kind of indifferent to the guy. He’s an okay actor, he tries hard. I think he’s a little too concerned about establishing a legacy for himself at a young age and I think the media is partly responsible by labeling him the next Tom Hanks. If you were to boil it down. basically I would say he hasn’t earned his dues. But, hey – in 5 years time, I could totally be eating crow. I recognize that.
But when people read the comics and think I have a personal agenda against the guy, things are being lost in translation. A lot of what’s in the comic is exaggerated for comedic effect. If people aren’t picking up on that, either I’m not doing a very good job communicating the tongue-in-cheek aspect of things or it may be time to move off the subject completely.
I would certainly say for the time being that I consider any Shia comics radioactive. Probably not going to attempt another one for a while. We’ll see if they come back, but my enthusiasm for them has certainly been diminished. I have only my own lack of foresight to blame.
Apologies to anyone offended by Monday’s comic. Thanks for your patience and understanding.
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I get sent news releases, trailers and photos from studios all the time and I generally do a very poor job of passing them on to you.
Part of the reason behind this is because there are a million and one movie blogs and they all tend to post the same stuff at the same time. So there’s no reason Theater Hopper will ever become your exclusive outlet for this kind of thing.
The other piece of the puzzle is, frankly… a lot of the stuff I’m sent is crap. Or at least *I* think it’s crap. If you’d like to see more photos, trailers and press releases from the studios here on the site, let me know. Maybe it will lead to something.
Anyway, I was just sent a trailer for a movie I am legitimately excited to see – Judd Apatow’s Funny People coming out on July 31.
Be forewarned that this is the red band trailer, so the language is a little salty. But if you’ve seen The 40 Year-Old Virgin or Knocked Up, you’re probably already on board with it.
Anyway, enjoy!
For a little extra fun, check out some of the web sites created in support of the film – several of them featuring work from different characters in the film!
So what do you guys think? Are you interested in seeing Funny People? I think it’s going to be interesting to watch Adam Sandler interact with other talented comedians. His films tend to isolate him, put the focus on him. I’m curious to see how he handles himself in an ensemble.
For me, Funny People kind of feels like the last hurrah of the blockbuster season. Yeah, yeah – I know G.I. Joe – The Rise of Cobra comes out after that. But does anyone think that counts?
Leave your comments below!
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