Posts Tagged ‘prank’
5 items.
I don’t know if the theaters in your hometown do this, but at every theater I got to, I am bombarded by STUPID, LOCAL ADVERTISEMENTS! This annoys me to no end because I like to get to the theater early so as not to miss any previews. If you get there too early, being subjected to these ads is the equivalent to Chinese water torture.
In the theater, these ads are placed into a slide projector that automatically forwards. There is usually a mix between local ads and those for Coca-Cola (who has obviously sunk a lot of cash into sponsoring this subtle invasion of privacy). I don’t know whose ads offend me more – the shoddily designed local spots that aggravate my keen sense of composition and information hierarchy. Or the Coca-Cola ads – who’s lame trivia and “fun” games insult my intelligence.
Of course, to top it all off, they’ve got “Movie Tunes” blaring over the PA system before the start of the show. Movie Tunes masquerades itself as a radio station with one of the world’s largest listener-ship. Yeah, you’d have a pretty large listener-ship too if the audience was held captive. That’s like saying Saddam Hussien is the world’s most convincing public speaker.
Does anyone remember a time when you could go into a theater before a movie started and have a nice conversation? To hell with that!
A few things I’ll mention:
I want to give a shout out to Ctrl+Alt+Del. This strip has been getting a lot of attention lately and it’s well deserved. The drawing of this toon is excellent. It’s shaded and colored and looks like an animated short, or something. And the writing is top shelf to boot.
I also got an e-mail from my friend Nick who sent me a really funny short essay about working as a movie-theater projectionist which I will be posting to the site sometime later today. Nick and I are college buddies and he’s been in a couple of strips on the site. Nick graduated an English major, so soon you will be treated to the wonders of correct grammar, spelling and punctuation!
Sometimes I think I spoil you.
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I know that technically Bulletproof Monk came out on Wednesday, but if the reviews are any indication, not many of you are running out to see it. That’s why I can make a joke about it today and pass it off a relevant content!
Some of you may not know, but Bulletproof Monk is based of a comic book. The premise is pure Saturday afternoon cheese. Opening in 1943 Tibet, Nazi’s come looking for a sacred scroll that will imbue whoever reads it with unimaginable power.
But every 60 years, the scroll is assigned a protector who takes on supernatural powers from his trainer that keeps him from aging and, essentially, bulletproof.
But, of course, like any good premise, Hollywood has to muck it up by throwing in Sean William Scott, AKA Stiffler from the American Pie movies. So evident is the bad casting in this respect that you can see it from space. The less said, the better.
Still, it WOULD be funny to watch Stiffler pull the old “semen in your beer” trick on Chow Yun Fat. Just for the expression on his face.
Good news, gang! Posters are back from the printer! And because you’ve all been so good, I’m unveiling the FULL DESIGN there on your right. That’s what the bad boy will look like, and you can take it home with you starting Monday!
That’s right! On Monday I’ll start taking orders, so be sure to check the site early so you can get one of the lower numbers in the 100 print run. Once again, I can’t stress enough, once they are gone THEY’RE GONE! I WON’T REMAKE THESE!
Each poster will be signed and numbered by me and I would be happy to include a personal message on your poster or otherwise on a separate letter. Each poster will be rolled up and mailed in an INDESTRUCTIBLE cardboard tube to prevent damage.
The only glitch now is finding a place that sells them in bulk. Most office supply stores only carry a dozen or so at a time, but that shouldn’t be difficult to get around.
Expect full details regarding payment, shipping and the remaining nitty-gritty on Monday. Demand looks to be pretty high, so be sure and check the site EARLY!
Beyond that, I plan on kicking back and taking it easy this weekend. Here’s hoping you have a great Easter/Passover as well!
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I’m pretty happy with today’s comic – unusual for a Monday. It’s fun because I get to take pot shots at two of my favorite targets – The Wynnsong 16 theaters and those American Idol jokers. Meh. They’ll be off the cultural radar soon enough.
I had a very odd movie-watching experience this weekend. On Saturday night, Cami and I went to see the documentary Spellbound at a local arthouse. It’s about 8 kids all about middle-school age competing in the 1999 National Spelling Bee.
The film was interesting on several levels. One, it made evident what a horrible speller I am. Two, it cast its light on a subject that is uniquely American, but what very few people know of. And three, the level of talent in this contest cuts through class, race and social standing making it one of the most true representations of middle America in recent memory. I liked it a lot.
If you’d like to read a more developed line of thought about the movie, be sure to check out the reviews page. My good friend Nick Caster typed up a few words on the film I know you will enjoy. I’ve been sitting on his review for a little while now, so hopefully he won’t mind.
On the other side of the movie-going coin, I caught a matinee of The Hulk this afternoon. I hated it. A lot. I won’t bother going into it here, because I’ve also recently written up a review – which visitors to the site know only happens when I’ve had a very vicreal reaction to something.
I don’t know how my words are going to be received since there was a lot of build-up on my part to see and enjoy this movie. I don’t want to sound hypocritical. But where the movie falls, it falls hard and I had a difficult time even enjoying it.
If you have thoughts, please share them in the forum.
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Sorry I didn’t come back and finish my thoughts on Jersey Girl and The Ladykillers like I said I would on Monday. I came home that evening and was feeling really sick. I think it was the weather screwing with me. Can barometric pressure DO that?
Anyway, to make up for things (in a typical, American half-ass way), I thought I would give you a quick synopsis of both films.
Jersey Girl: A fine romantic comedy by most standards, but because it was penned and directed by Kevin Smith, I judge it by a different set of standards. Smith betrays his talent for dialogue by using cheap cliche’s throughout the movie. There are scenes in the movie that feel tossed in to help retain Smith’s edge, but he should stop trying to play to two audiences. He could really do anything he wants, but he shouldn’t compromise. Jersey Girl feels like a compromise.
Liv Tyler comes off well. So does George Carlin. But this will not be the hit – or the performance – that will save Ben Affleck’s floundering career.
The Ladykillers: Typical Coen Brother’s fare. A kind of mash-up of O Brother, Where Art Thou? and Intolerable Cruelty. A southern-fried caper flick filled with untrustworthy people. The humor is very black and the overall message is very cynical. Tom Hanks delivers a very fine performance, but it’s all “actory” twitches and gimmicks. Nothing substantial. One character suffers from I.B.S. – Irritable Bowel Syndrome – and it manifests during unfortunate times. Since when did the Coen’s have to resort to toilet humor?
Hmm… those short recaps were a little longer than I thought. Anyway, those were my takes on this weekend’s cineplex fodder.
Lots of good stuff coming out this weekend. Hellboy and Walking Tall being the two I’m most interested. I’ll have more to say about Hellboy on Friday, but I’m thinking of renting The Rundown before seeing Walking Tall as a kind of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson action movie primer. I never saw it in the theater and regretted it. I’ve heard nothing but good things. Walking Tall seems to play in a similar vein and it looks really good to me. Is it odd that Cami agreed to see Walking Tall and not Hellboy with me this weekend?
I’ll probably have to end up seeing The Prince and Me at some point, so I guess fair is fair.
I was hoping to have some big news for you associated with today’s post, but it’s been postponed a little while. If I can get my business together, you should be hearing something about it relatively soon. Sooner, at least, than my Jersey Girl/Ladykillers reviews.
Trust me. It’s a big deal. You’ll want to keep checking this space to find out what I have in store.
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Fart humor? Oh, yeah. I WENT THERE! Edgy, no?
Even when Truman is causing mischief, he’s still utterly adorable, isn’t he? Enjoy this sketch of him in quiet repose.
No rhyme or reason to today’s strip except I felt we had all gone too long without seeing Truman in action and I missed him.
Do I have any opinions about The Fog? Other than it’s an excuse to pull together too-pretty television stars for a pointless remake of a mediocre horror movie, no.
I mean, I don’t know if the remake picks up the pace at all, but the original was ponderously slow. I mean, it’s a fog for crying out loud! Run away! Buy a really strong fan and hide behind it! Not one of John Carpenter’s more inspired ideas, that’s for sure. I suppose he was trying to tap into that slow, building sense of dread like there was in zombie movies of the day. I didn’t work.
Please take this moment to visit the store and consider buying t-shirt, hoodie or baby doll tee. All three, if you so desire. After October 31, I can’t afford you the luxury any longer. Some designs will come back. Some won’t. But it’ll be the last time you’ll get your hands on ANY of them for a while.
Buy a hoodie, kids. It’s getting cold outside! Bundle up!
Also be sure to scroll up a little bit to that space between the comic and the blog and sign up for the Theater Hopper mailing list. I’m going to have some big announcements in the coming weeks and mailing list people will be the first to know! They were the first to know about the store being closed and they were the first to know about my pal Jared’s stop-motion film "A Clay In The Life" before I announce it in this space on the site!
Lastly, for you consideration – I want to present to you two options for being notified of the most current updates to the site.
First, if you have a LiveJournal account, add the Theater Hopper syndication feed to your friends list. Every time a new comic is posted, LiveJournal updates. Same goes with news posts. And you can leave comments! Instant feedback – very handy! I check for messages in there often, so go for it!
The second option is for people who don’t have LiveJournal accounts. It’s called Comic Alert! and it’s a cool little system that utilizes Theater Hopper’s RSS feed to notify you VIA e-mail when the strip updates. It’s really easy to sign up for. So if you’re interested, leave your contact information and add Theater Hopper to your favorites. In fact, to help get you started, here’s a link to Theater Hopper’s listing in the system. Leave a review while you’re at it!
Thanks, all!
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