Posts Tagged ‘mustache’
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Well, I’m back from the holiday and thoroughly exhausted. But it’s always good to be with family. No qualms about falling asleep on the couch with a pool of drool under your chin. Here’s hoping your break is treating you just as well.
Got to see Gangs of New York over the holiday and really liked it. DiCaprio and Diaz were passable, but dropped their accents too often for my liking – the lazy, pampered fops. Daniel Day-Lewis, on the other hand, is a revelation. His turn as Bill the Butcher isn’t just a good performance in this movie, but a great performance across the span of the history of film.
He is entirely convincing as the violent and corrupt Butcher. You’d never know it was an Irishman under all that grease and grime. He locks on to this flat Noo-Yawk accent and never lets go. His fervor is palpable. He did an excellent job.
Hopefully I can write up a review for it, but right now, I’m pounding out my two cents on Star Trek: Nemesis. The die-hard Trekkers won’t be happy. I plan on giving it a drubbing. With luck, the review will be up later today. Come back later for a heaping helping.
I’m been having some serious problems with my local theater lately – The Wynnsong 16. The last few times I’ve been there, I’ve encountered screw up after screw up. Tickets issued for the wrong time, being charged full price for a matinee, down right snide concession workers. When we went to see Gangs, the sound was off and we were listening to Movie Tunes for the first 15 minutes. I’ve got a list of stories as long as my arm and I’m pissed about it.
Don’t misunderstand me. I’m a realist. I know they don’t pay these kids squat. They’re motivated by little else than moving your dead weight out of line and wrestling with the next moron. I should know. I’ve worked in movie theaters. But never in my years would I be bald-faced rude to customers. I may dismiss you, but I never went out of my way to harm you. It’s a whole new ball game now.
I thought about writing an essay for the site and really going into detail about my disappointment. I’m sure everyone else has run into these characters. I felt it would surely strike a universal chord.
Then I realized that I have the ultimate soapbox – the strip! So expect next week to detail some of my true-life adventures butting heads with the dimwits at Wynnsong 16. When it’s all over, maybe someone from the theater will have read it and some change will take place. Or maybe I’ll get some free tickets just to shut me up. Who knows?
Major respect to Mark over at Jayhoo & Jawhoo. He put together a killer strip where Tom and Jared cameo along with Dexter and Seethe of Movie Punks, Zach from No Pants Tuesday, Dave of Snafu, Aric and Mike of Fish Strips and Blake and Fletcher of Nothing Nice to Say. I’m practically wetting myself that an artist of Mark’s caliber has lumped me in with these web comic all-stars. I barely feel in their league.
So as due and proper, I want everyone to visit Jayhoo & Jawhoo right now and comb through the archives. I feel strongly that Mark makes one of the best comics out there and is modestly kicking our asses in the art department all under our noses.
Plus, he’s a really great guy to boot. Merry Christmas to you too, ya hoser!
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If you’re not catching the Dudley Do-Right reference, you’re not watching enough Boomerang.
I would like to see The Italian Job this weekend, if only because F. Gary Gray is behind the lens and because I really enjoyed The Negotiator. I know going into the theater that it will not be better than the 1969 original and that the obligatory Mini car chase will feel more like a car commercial than a true action sequence benchmark.
Still, I have to see it. Anyone who can get Mos Def and Seth Green in a movie together deserves something.
I would lump Ed Norton in that group, but in several recent interviews, he’s explained that his participating in the film was a contractual obligation and not one of choice. That sours things a little for me, because I’m a big fan of Ed’s. But it bringing the whole “mustache issue” into sharper focus. No question the thing looks like an anemic caterpillar resting on his lip, but knowing Ed, it’s an “actorly touch” he integrated into the character to piss someone off. If anything, I’ll see the movie for him. Even when he’s bad, he’s better than most. I could give a damn about Mark Wahlberg or Charlize Theron.
That said, my number one priority this weekend is seeing Finding Nemo. I’m a Pixar NUT and can’t wait to see what they’ve cooked up this time. It’ll be interesting to see how close they can get to mimicking sea life with computer graphics. I imagine pretty darn close.
Expect a Nemo strip on Friday.
Say, before I forget, if you haven’t joined the forums yet, you should look into it. We already have a crew of 50 and we’re having a blast. Check it out!
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For today’s Web Comics List incentive sketch, I drew a picture of the man himself – Burt Reynolds.
My rendition looks a little lop-sided and goofy. But I think that’s okay, because the real Burt Reynolds is lop-sided and goofy. I keed! I keed!
I know today’s comic kind of feels like a non sequitur and you may think that it’s coming out of nowhere. But there is actually a good reason for all this talk about Burt Reynolds, Tom Selleck and moustaches. Today is actually the unoffical celebration of national Burt Reynolds Day. To mark the occassion, several participating web comics have done strips centered around Mr. Reynolds. As I figure the majority of Burt’s work is in the movies, it seemed to fall well within our thematic scope. And thus, a commemorative comic was made. I hope you enjoyed it!
The holiday was the brain child of Boxcar Comics partner DJ Coffman. If you want the whole scoop behind the christening of the holiday, I strongly encourage you to check out his comic Yirmumah. Answers lie within.
As it happens, Burt’s birthday is on Saturday. Can you believe he’s 70? Yeah. Me either. Maybe you’d like to visit his web site or wish him well with an e-mail.
Not much else to report. Looks like Cami and I will be going to either The Pink Panther or Firewall. It’s a toss up. We know we’ll be dissapointed either way we turn. Do we risk Steve Martin trampling on Peter Seller’s legacy? Or do we bear witness to Harrison Ford’s physical decline as an action star – rolling our eyes as he beats up Paul Bettany.
Then again, I could probably take that pasty Brit to the cleaners, so maybe it’s not entirely implausible.
Have a great weekend, everybody!
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Not everyone looks terrible with a 1970’s porn mustache. Vote for Theater Hopper at Top Web Comics and you can see the bonus sketch that proves it!
The dialogue in today’s comic is a little dicey and I’m not quite sure how it got away from me. What started out as having a little fun at the expense of Bill Hader’s character in Adventureland and his unfortunate facial hair turned into a dissertation on 70’s porn, cocaine and pedophilia. Yikes! Cover grandma’s ears!
Oddly, Adventureland takes place in 1987. So I’m not exactly sure where Hader got the idea to accessories his character with a soup strainer that would make John Holmes jealous.
And if you don’t know who John Holmes is, don’t Google him while you’re at work. I’m warning you now.
I’d really like to see Adventureland, but I don’t think I’ll have time this weekend while I’m at the Emerald City Comicon. I’m really excited to be going, but it’s been a roller coaster for me. At one point I thought about not going. It’s REALLY far out of my comfort zone for a couple of different reasons. But I suppose that’s kind of the point. It’s good to push yourself a little bit.
I’ve been encouraged by the comments I’ve been getting from readers telling me that they’re looking forward to meeting me. A few people have promised to stop by. Some of them are excited to get sketches. That gives me hope. At least I won’t be standing around with a confused look on my face. I’m really exited to meet you guys.
I was particularly excited to see a note from Porkfry on my Twitter account last night. I guess he’ll be in attendance and said he wants to meet me.
Web comics fans might recognize Porkyfry as an reoccurring ancillary characters in Penny Arcade (here’s one of his early appearances). He’s a real person, a game tester and a friend of Mike and Jerry’s.
But I’ve known Porkfry since about 2003 when the two of us used to knock around inside a forum community called Hot Buttered Funk. Porkfry is good people. So it’s really cool that, half a decade later, we’d get a chance to meet. I should have gone to the Emerald City Comicon much sooner!
But I’m excited to meet EVERYONE that stops by my table on Artist Alley this weekend. Remember: You can find me in the back of the hall at table H-05 where you can buy books, shirts, sketches or just shoot the breeze. Here’s a map.
Also don’t forget that I’ll be sitting on the Business of Webcomics panel at 1:00 PM, Sunday, April 5 in panel room 3AB with Robert Khoo from Penny Arcade, Danielle Corsetto from Girls With Slingshots and Jeph Jacques from Questionable Content. I’m REALLY looking forward to that.
I probably won’t have access to the site or to e-mail while I’m at the show (I’m leaving the laptop at home), but I’ll likely be Twittering from the show floor. So if you’re attending and you catch one of my Tweets, come by and say Hi!
Until then, I’ll be spending the morning with Cami (who is taking the day off) and Henry before they drop me off at the airport this afternoon. It’ll be nice to have some time with them instead of seeing her off to work and Henry off to daycare before I seal myself up in a metal tube and fly West.
That’s all for now! Talk to you soon!
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For today’s incentive sketch, I decided to make a point. A handle bar mustache and a neck tattoo don’t make you a bad ass. They make you look ridiculous. Vote for Theater Hopper at Top Web Comics to see what I’m talking about.
The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 comes out on Friday over a VERY slow weekend with very few other releases. It seems weird that there is a lull like this at the top of the blockbuster season.
I have a cursory interest in the film, but only for Tony Scott’s particular brand of action directing. Even though his last two film Deja Vu and Domino were muddled messes, Scott gets a good length of leash for Man on Fire.
I’m not particularly interested in either Denzel Washington or John Travolta – which is kind of sad considering their roles as A-list talent. I think Denzel looks like too much of a sad sack in this one. Certainly the man is allowed to branch out from his typical action hero template, but it’s not how I’m used to seeing him. Washington should be running roughshod over this production. Instead, he almost looks incidental.
Travolta as the hilariously code-named villain “Ryder,” (Get it? Subway rider? Ryder?! HAW!) looks ridiculous to me for all the reasons outlined in the comic. I’m wondering at what point everyone sat down and figured out what this character’s look was going to be. It is as if in the back of someone’s head they decided “mustache = evil” and someone up the decision-making change vetoed them on the Snidely Whiplash protruding number that Travolta could twist around his finger. “Sorry, guys. We’re going with the handle bar ‘stache.”
Travolta has played charming villains before. Most notably in Broken Arrow and Swordfish. He didn’t have to bring a visual shorthand to that performance, so why is he doing it now? I guess those guys were supposed to be smooth operators. Maybe Ryder is a little more blue collar? Even so, if this is Travolta’s idea of a working man villain, it’s laughably bad.
The reviews I’ve read so far have said that Travolta brings a strong intensity to the character, so maybe I’m way off base with my criticisms. All I’m saying is that first impressions matter and Travolta as Ryder does not make a good one.
Switching gears here, I’ve been getting feedback from a few people that they’re getting error messages when they try to log onto the site. Their browsers are warning them of malware? I’m not encountering any errors, so I’m trying to gather consensus. If you are having any problems with the site, please let me know in the comments below. Try to tell me what’s on the screen when the error comes up and specifically what the error message is.
Myself and my web administrator have combed through the site’s code and we can’t find any malicious links so we’re suspecting it’s one of the ads being served through the ad network that’s causing a problem. We want to try to isolate that ad and shut it off.
Then again, we could be on a wild goose chase. Any information from you guys would be helpful.
If you have nothing to add about the errors, why don’t you let us know what you think of The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 instead? Are you going to see it this weekend? What do you think about Travolta’s look? Leave your thoughts below!
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Sorry today’s comic was so late. I kind of had a bad day Tuesday and by the time it came to putting together today’s comic, I had a headache, was kind of dispirited and not into it.
You’d think since I’m not working full time now that I would be more available to work on comics or watch movies, but I don’t do either of those things.
I apply for jobs, I’ve been on a few interviews and the rest of the time I spend either cleaning the house or waiting for someone to send me an e-mail with a job offer.
I don’t mean to bum you guys out or burden you with my problems. Like I said, I had a bad day yesterday. That doesn’t mean today is going to be a bad day. In fact, sometimes, you need a bad day before you can have a good day.
Let’s talk about the comic, shall we?
We talked about Bruno a little bit on Monday’s episode of The Triple Feature (which, by the way, was PACKED with listeners during the live show – thanks everybody!) I addressed my concerns about Sacha Baron Cohen using “GOTCHA!” tactics to get unwilling participants to expose their homophobia. Joe and Gordon thought I was making a big deal about nothing and that homophobes SHOULD be made fun of whether their wear their bias on their sleeve or not.
On the one hand I agree with them. But on the other, I look at a character like Bruno who provokes and provokes and provokes with outrageous behavior until Sacha Baron Cohen gets the results he wants. Then, when people throw up their arms in disgust or frustration, points at them and says, “See! See! These backwoods hicks aren’t tolerant!”
People are entitled to their opinion – however wrong it may be. But I feel like if you’re going to ridicule them for it, they should at least be on a level playing field. I mean, what’s entertaining about watching someone like Cohen shoot fish in a barrel?
I don’t interpret a character like Bruno as tool of social satire. I don’t think Cohen is using him to expose homophobes in a way that makes their fear or intolerance unjustifiable. To these people, Bruno is the embodiment of those fears. Bruno is a gross caricature of the worst stereotypical traits of gay man.
If I were gay, I would hate to think that I could be so humorless that I couldn’t appreciate Bruno making fun of gay/fashion “culture.” But at the same time, considering the social struggle of homosexuals in America, I don’t think you can look at a character like Bruno and say “This is advancing our cause.”
To put it another way, what if you had Jerry Lewis running around in blackface during the Civil Rights era making fun of racist Southerns. Do you think it would help or hurt?
Fundamentally, I think Sacha Baron Cohen is an intelligent, committed and utterly fearless performer. The fact that he attracts this kind of controversy through comedy and sets the stage for this kind of introspection is proof that he’s doing something right.
But at the same time, I get this vibe off him that he thinks everything is ridiculous and everyone is stupid and it makes it kind of hard for me to respect the guy. For that reason, I’m not especially looking forward to seeing Bruno.
Will I still see Bruno? Of course. If for no other reason than because, invariably, the film will be treated like a cultural event. It’s the ultimate in water cooler conversation (except I don’t have a water cooler to hang around these days).
Gordon accused me of only wanting to see the film so I could discuss it through Theater Hopper. He’s not wrong. A certain amount of this is homework. But I think, too, when you walk in with lowered expectations, there is the opportunity for walking out of the movie surprised.
What about the rest of you? Do you think Cohen will be able to catch you off-guard with Bruno as well as he did with Borat? How long can Cohen’s shock tactics last? How do you feel about generating comedy from awkward or provocative social situations? Are Cohen’s films effective social satire or a 2 hour version of Candid Camera? Leave your comments below!
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