Posts Tagged ‘make up’
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Seems like after being away from the scene for so long, you’d think I’d return by utilizing my own characters instead of a pink-haired make-up artist and a poorly designed caricature of Paul Bettany. What can I say? I’m an odd duck.
Cami and I have been catching up on the pop culture we missed since we were in Europe at the end of May. An adventure I lovingly refer to as "The Deep Dive." As of this weekend, we’re preparing to surface. We’re almost entirely caught up.
We went to see The DaVinci Code last weekend and – as capivated as I was by Paul Bettany’s performance – it struck me that it wasn’t much of a stretch in casting a painfully pale and pasty Brit to play the albino monk. In the back of my head, I always kind of thought Bettany was an albino anyway. Something about his giant forehead and his nearly transparent eyebrows.
I never read Dan Brown’s book mostly because I don’t get into mainstream fiction. Mostly entertainment retrospectives and biographies. So I didn’t have much in terms of bias going into the movie. I thought there were some sincerely gaps in logic. For people that are supposed to be so well educated, they make some supremely dumb decisions while evading the police. Nothing real people would actually do. Then again, the police in this movie are inept at almost every turn. So perhaps it’s tit for tat.
I feel a little odd talking about The DaVinci Code when the movie has been in theaters for more than two weeks. Typically I pride myself on being more timely. But it’s a pretty big movie and I didn’t want to look back at 2006 having let it slip through my fingers.
I have a couple of other posts that I want to make, so expect them later. Signing off for the moment because it’s late. Despite the simplicity of today’s comic, it took me a while to get back into the rhythm of producing a new comic so long after being out of commission.
More to come!
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I can’t think of a good reason that Cami and Tom would ever interact with The Silver Surfer, but once I started mulling around in my head how a jaded city-dweller might react to a man coated head to toe in a reflective material, the jokes just started flowing. I mean, you’ve all seen those street performers who dress up in tin foil and then move like a robot when you drop a coin into their hat, right?
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What this has to say specifically about Fantastic Four: Rise of The Silver Surfer, I don’t know. I guess really all I was after was an excuse to draw The Silver Surfer. I think he turned out pretty well! Sometimes you just want to give into your baser geek instincts. Just be thankful that I didn’t make reference to the fact that The Silver Surfer does not wear pants.
Whoops! I guess I just did. He’s nakers!
Despite my better judgment, I’ll probably end up seeing the new Fantastic Four movie this weekend and most likely I’ll be seeing it alone. Cami has no interest, but gave me “permission” to see it by myself. She said it would count as an early Father’s Day present. I told her I still wanted an ugly tie. Meanwhile, I’m still trying to figure out at what point I got hooked enough to see the movie without my number one partner in crime.
If you remember, the first movie was a dud among fans and critics alike, it still managed to rake in $155 million in box office. Okay, so that means a sequel was a foregone conclusion. Still, all the negative press and warnings from friends was enough to keep me away. So, although I was initially curious, I chose to stay away. So right there, that should tell you that I have no strong investment in the franchise. By Christmas, the movie magically ended up in my DVD collection, but it wasn’t like I was the first one in line to buy it.
So why now do I suddenly care about The Fantastic Four? Why do I want to see this movie on opening weekend and why am I willing to fly solo to do it?
Credit where credit is due: You gotta hand it to whomever cut that theatrical trailer. Go visit the movie’s web site and see for yourself if you don’t believe me.
This is an example of where marketing trumps content. The trailer is cut in such a way to deliver the maximum amount of foreboding, action, humor and interest. Who is The Silver Surfer? Why is he here? Why can’t we see the reflection of the camera in his reflective skin?
For someone who’s been reading comics for 22 years, the small snippet of action provided in the trailer demonstrates everything I ever wanted The Silver Surfer to do on screen plus some things I didn’t even know I wanted him to do! Phasing through buildings? Hanging upside down from his board? All great stuff! Plus, he chokes The Human Torch – and who can’t say that actor didn’t have it coming?
There are some warning signs, to be sure. Rumor is that The Surfer’s master – Galactus – doesn’t show up as a gigantic dude in a purple mini-skirt, but some kind of sentient cloud. Eh, okay. We’ll see. Also, the blue contacts, overly blonde hair and drastic amount of bronzer they’ve slapped on Jessica Alba makes her look like a tranny.
But these are issues I have my radar up for going in, so if I can ignore them or if there is enough action featuring The Surfer to satiate my demand, all will be right with the world.
I think the movie has the advantage of not having to cycle through exposition like ALL super-hero movies are forced to. It’s the reason why X-Men 2, Superman 2 and Spider-Man 2 are the superior films in their franchises. So now that they’ve worked the kinks out, there’s a lot more to be excited for.
What say you? Is there anyone else in the audience excited to see The Silver Surfer kick a little ass this weekend? Raise your hand if you’re a comic book nerd and holla back in the comments section! I want to hear your fears, superstitions and excitement (or lack thereof) about Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer!
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So this marks the end of the week-long story sprung from The Invasion of The Body Snatchers remake – The Invasion. I hope you liked it. Any opportunity I can take to throw in Victor acting weird, I’ll take.
Not much new in theaters this weekend to get excited about. I guess since all the kids are going back to school, it’s going to be slim pickin’s until fall. That’s when all of the sensitive indie movies I love so much start cropping up.
Early box office projections are pitting War against The Nanny Diaries for the top spot this weekend. My money is on War (and I have a comic about that coming up on Monday!) Despite the fact that The Nanny Diaries has a strong cast, to me it looks like a warmed over reinterpretation of Raising Helen – and no, that’s not a compliment.
Plus, I think you have to fess up to the fact that Scarlett Johansson is not a big enough star to open movies on the strength of her name alone. I think she’s a serviceable actress and the 22 movies to her credit in her short time as an actress are impressive. But no one sees a movie she’s in strictly for her performances. She’s not Sandra Bullock, or whatever.
And no, that’s not a compliment.
This weekend looks like Cami and I will finally get around to seeing Superbad, which I’ve been looking forward to ever since I watched the red band trailer online a few months ago. If the red band trailer is any indication, the commercials and TV spots aren’t doing the movie justice.
As excited as I was to see the movie, there’s certainly been a lot of hype surrounding it. So I was pleased somewhat when I was talking to friends this week about it. They love the film, but couldn’t get into specifics. That’s a good sign. It means the majority of the movie is so funny, they’re not going to be able to pick their favorite lines until it comes out on DVD.
Of course, that doesn’t stop people from trying. I’ve already seen five or six different web sites peddling their own McLovin t-shirt designs. Everyone has appeared to latch onto that as a comedic touch point for the film.
All the same, I’m expecting to have a good time.
Real quick – I made a change in the store over the weekend where all items are now $15 and I am now providing discounts on shipping for bundled purchases. Save 50% on shipping on any two purchase, 65% off on any three purchase or 75% off on any four purchases. This system was a lot easier than the bundling system I had previously installed. Plus, since I’m planning on adding more t-shirt designs in the future, it’ll be easier to maintain.
I’ve also recently talked to the 3rd party vendor that wrote the code for the shopping cart I use for my site and they’re coming out with a discount code option in the next few weeks. So that means if you input a special code at checkout, you can save extra money. I plan on running promotions every so often to people who sign up to the mailing list. So if you want to be ready when that comes around, sign up now.
Since Wizard World Chicago, I’ve gotten the itch to make some changes to the site. I’m meeting with a web design company here in Des Moines on Monday for a consultation on some more air-tight features for the site. Hopefully I can bring back the comments section soon plus do a better job of integrating the Top 50 voting, social bookmarking, “share this comic with a friend” and so on.
Something that’s been bugging me a lot lately are the banner ads. I’m sure they’re no favorite of yours, either. I’d like to get rid of them, but frankly, I’ve come to rely on them. The revenue I make with them helps cover hosting fees as well as afford me the opportunity to do things like t-shirts, books and make convention appearances. All of this feeds into the site and either helps maintain it or helps it grow.
If you look at any of the big guys, they have advertising to help support them. So, in my instance, I don’t think ads will be going away any time soon. I just need to find a better way to make them harmonious with the site.
What is your opinion about advertising? Do you find the ads I’m running now intrusive? Excessive? How would you feel if they were removed and replaced with in-context text advertisements? Links that appear over key phrases in the blog copy that lead you somewhere off site? I have a strong lead on the latter option and I’m thinking it’s a viable solution moving forward.
This is an instance where the comments field would come in really handy for some quick and dirty feedback. But as such, you’ll have to e-mail me with your thoughts. I’m soliciting your feedback. If you have strong opinions either way, I would like to hear from you!
That’s about it for me. I hope everyone has a great weekend and I’ll see you back here on Monday!
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