Posts Tagged ‘Netflix’
3 items.
“Why did you draw yourself like Gollum?”
That was the first question Cami asked me when I showed her the artwork for today’s strip. I noticed it myself after I inked it and I think it works! Old Tom should look like of goblin-like, don’t you think?
I’m really happy with the way this comic turned out. Pretty much once I decided that future-Tom should live in an environment reminiscent of The Jetsons, things started falling into place. Sometimes I think of a point I want to make first and then wrap a joke around it. This is me just being silly. It feels good.
Of course you know I had to throw in a Futurama reference for good measure.
As for The Bucket List? I don’t know. In real-life, I’m not all that excited about it. While I’m attracted to any movie that stars Jack Nicholson or Morgan Freeman, I’m not attracted to a film whose main conceit is “Hey! These guys are gonna die soon!” I don’t need to be reminded of that. Basically, to me, The Bucket List looks like Grumpy Old Men with a mortality twist and I don’t trust director Rob Riener to be capable enough of reigning in the schmaltz.
That’s it for now. I know I talked about getting you my Best of 2007 list today and I still want to make that a reality. I just have to delay it for the time being. I’m going to try and get it done over my lunch hour, though. So come back this afternoon!
See you then!
[ No Comments ]
Pretty much all weekend long I’ve been talking about Star Trek. So much so, that Cami feels she’s missing out a little bit.
Over dinner I expressed that it was too bad that she never got into Star Trek: The Next Generation because it was a really good show.
Much to my surprise, she said, “I’d be open to watching some of those shows if we can rent them using Netflix.”
I just about fell out of my chair.
So now I’m thinking that I have an incredible opportunity to expose my wife to a cultural touchstone, but I’m not sure where to start.
Logically, you would think “Start at the beginning.” But here’s the thing… as much as I love The Next Generation, I don’t think the first three seasons are very good. My rule of thumb is, if Ryker doesn’t have a beard, it’s a bad episode. If Tasha Yar is in it, it’s a bad episode. If Worf doesn’t have his ponytail, bad episode. If Wesley Crusher is in it… Well, you get the idea.
I have it in my head to start Cami out on Season 4, but I’m worried she might miss out on some important character development. Admittedly, it’s been years since I’ve sat down to watch a complete episode. I would catch them from time to time on Spike or G4, but I was never patient enough to sit through the whole thing. Renting the past seasons on DVD would be a way for me to get caught up as well.
So I guess the question is this: For someone who has never watched Star Trek before – let alone The Next Generation – where is a good place to start? Would you suggest starting from the beginning, or do you think there are better episodes to be found in later seasons?
Leave your comments below!
[ 17 Comments ]
First things first, guys. I have a bit of site business to attend to.
Whether or not you’ve been following me on Twitter or Facebook and the myriad of updates I’ve posted pertaining to the matter, there has been a long-standing drama unfolding over the last few months. Specifically, I’m talking about the development of… A NEW T-SHIRT DESIGN!
Check it!
The design of this shirt has been going on for so long, I don’t even remember when I first came up with the idea for it. I want to say last Christmas. That may or may not be true.
What IS true is that I need to give a big shout-out to Joel Watson from Hijinks Ensue and Gordon McAlpin from Multiplex for helping me refine the idea. This shirt would not look at all good without their influence. If you guys know Joel at all, he is like a t-shirt making machine. He’s knows his stuff and he provided me with a lot of great art tips as well. So thanks, guys! I’ll be pestering you again real soon!
Anyway, I’m running a pre-sale on this shirt now through Friday to help me raise the funds to print up the first batch. The goal is to take this new design to Wizard World Chicago – which I will be attending – August 11 – 14.
Shirts are $12.00 and I would really appreciate it if you bought one now rather than later. Plus, don’t you want to be the first on your block to have one? Thanks, guys. You’re the coolest!
Now, onto the comic!
Despite taking all kinds of box office records and breaking them over it’s knee like dry kindling, I’m not doing a comic about Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 2. I just… don’t care. Sorry, Gryffindor. I stuck it out through six moves, but totally gave up after The Half-Blood Prince. While I applaud the continuity that director David Yates brought to the series (it was sorely lacking), there’s just something about his murky style that flattened the franchise for me and made the last few movies completely unmemorable.
And for the record, no, I never read the books (please consult recent t-shirt design above). I don’t have the knowledge of the characters and events that help fill in the gaps within the movies. So, sorry. Just not my bag, baby.
I have a Harry Potter in mind for another comic, but I’m worried it won’t be timely for next week. So we’ll see what can be done about a bonus comic this week. After all, I have to keep that pre-sale up in the air, don’t I?
As for today’s comic, lots of people were steamed about Netflix’s price increase last week. I was actually sent more than one e-mail asking me to sign a petition against the company or to add my name to the disgruntled customers who are walking out on them.
I don’t begrudge these individuals their right to be mad about this situation. Certainly I am just as easily offended in other matters. But this time around?… I’m coo’ with it.
Look, even before I read the reports about how the studios were putting the squeeze on Netflix for licensing right (an estimated $2 Billion with a “B” projected for next fiscal year), I was already pretty much on Netflix’s side anyway.
Netflix is a monster of the first order. It clogs up the USPS and it sucks down bandwidth from servers like mad. Why shouldn’t they be allowed to adjust their pricing to compensate.
Yeah, nearly doubling their prices is pretty severe – and I was one of the DVD + streaming combo customers affected – but when you look at the big picture, a movie like this is necessary to keep the company afloat.
Frankly, I hope this pushes Netflix further into the realm of streaming. That’s where it’s all going anyway. Typically I’m the kind of guy that says companies should provide content in every conceivable format people expect to find it. But Netflix opened the bottle when it made streaming available. They can’t stuff it back in now and go back to mailing out discs. Not gonna happen.
So, yeah. I’m not signing any petitions. But I did drop my service package from streaming + 1 DVD to strictly streaming. And I’m okay with that.
Don’t work, folks. It’s ALLLLLL going to be okay.
SIDEBAR: Today’s comic was inspired by a Twitter conversation I had with Dustin Rowles over at Pajiba. He originally made the comment about download movies directly to one’s brain. Immediately, my thoughts turned to Johnny Mnemonic – a “cyberpunk” movie about a mnemonic courier played by (who else) Keanu Reeves with an 80 gig hard drive implanted in his head.
Man, remember the days when 80 gigs was considered to be a lot of storage? Like, an inconceivable amount of storage? Oh, 1995. You were adorable.
Fair warning, Johnny Mnemonic is horrible. Probably the worst of the mid-90’s “internet” movies that got the technology all wrong. Granted, at least Johnny Mnemonic is set in the future so they have a little wiggle room when it comes to depicting an internet built completely in Virtual Reality. It’s not like Sandra Bullock in The Net, y’know. But still… pretty bad.
Wanna taste? Here you go…
Johnny Mnemonic gets a pass from me thanks to a cameo from Henry Rollins – one of his first movie roles, I believe. And he’s as hammy and over-the-top as you would expect him to be. But I love it anyway.
I remember making a bunch of my friends watch Johnny Mnemonic when we were in high school. Not just a bunch of guys, but guys and girls together watching this awful, awful movie. BEGGING for it to be over. I’m shocked I wasn’t thrown out of the group when it was over. I’m pretty sure they all hated me at that moment.
Anyway, lots of fun for all.
Don’t forget to pre-order the new shirt and be on the lookout for another comic this week. Fingers crossed!
[ 23 Comments ]
