Posts Tagged ‘Pulp Fiction’
4 items.
Today’s strip was stripped almost verbatim from a conversation Jared and I had at lunch earlier in the week. He wasn’t as blunt as he is in the punchline, but I could tell he was thinking it!
The strip might give the impression that I’ve grown tired of Samuel L. Jackson’s choice of characters or that I don’t want to see S.W.A.T. this weekend. Nothing could be further from the truth. I actually enjoy his performances a great deal. It’s fun to watch an actor who seems like he’s really enjoying himself.
Still, you can’t deny the observation. There seems to be less carefully crafted character work in his cannon post-Pulp Fiction than there was before it.
Sure there are some interesting stretches like The Red Violin or The Cavemen’s Valentine, but most of his mainstream work stays close to the Jules Winnfield template.
I wonder if a breakout role like that is more of a luxury or a burden? Does the public expect a certain level of outlandishness from Jackson having come to be familiar with him through that signature role? Is he anything like that in real life, or is he more even-tempered?
Either way, I enjoy watching him on screen and find him a fascinating actor. Much like Christopher Walken or Jack Nicholson, we let him get away with so much more because his charisma is more interesting to watch than anything he could craft on screen. It’s rare and a real treat.
I wanted to thank everyone again for keeping Theater Hopper in the Top 10 at TWC. I’m thankful we’ve been able to make it last. The competition has been really stiff the last few days.
I also wanted to thank all the people who sent me congratulations for Theater Hopper’s first year. Stepping back for a minute, it really is an accomplishment. But the thanks should go to you guys for being so supportive.
Brian Carroll from Instant Classic sent me an excellent piece of artwork to commemorate the occasion and it has found a home on the Bonus Materials page. You should really take a look at it. I’m very proud of it – mostly for what it symbolizes: The great friends I’ve made from doing this strip.
There are also three new pieces of fan art, sent in from a week or two ago when I was asking for guest strips. I ran out of spots to display them on the front page, but that’s not a reason to hide this work away from the public! All three strips are quality and appreciate the effort that went into every one of them!
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Mar04
You know, I had planned to come in here Friday morning to post a little extra commentary and totally spaced it off. It’s now early Friday evening and I feel like a total moron.
Indulge me, won’t you, as I fill in some copy before I go out with my wife for a riotous night of pizza, beer and bowling?
I’ll be up front and admit that, yeah – Be Cool looked kind of good to me. Of course, the reviews coming back haven’t been very kind. I guess I don’t know why that surprises me. As much as I often enjoy watch John Travolta smear his charm across the screen, he’s been in a steady decline for a while now.
I think I was probably less interested in watching Travolta this time around than I was at watching some of the secondary characters. Vince Vaughn, The Rock, Harvey Keitel, Steven Tyler…
*THE REST OF THIS BLOG POST WAS LOST WHEN THEATER HOPPER MOVED TO WORDPRESS IN JANUARY 2009*
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Mar09
Before I started working on today’s strip, buzzComix was apparently having some kind of server glitch. As a result, I thought I didn’t have to prepare an incentive sketch for you guys to check out by voting for Theater Hopper.
Right before I posted today’s comic, it looks like the site came back up, which left me scrambling for something for you guys to check out.
Whoops!
Anyway, I didn’t want to post this image because I didn’t want to jinx it, but my back was against the wall. It’s a t-shirt design I did for a company called OMG Clothing. It’s called “Ask Me How I Became a Pirate” and it’s pretty straight forward. If you want the whole story behind how I was commissioned for the design, you can read all about it in the THorum, here.
Anyway, vote for TH at buzzComix if you want to check it out.
As far as the comic goes – Yes, there is a rumor circulating that Quentin Tarantino might direct the next installment in the Friday the 13th franchise. This after plans for the oft-discussed Freddy Vs. Jason Vs. Ash crossover movie fell through. Apparently Sam Raimi wanted to make his own Evil Dead sequel. Who knew he had time to throw Bruce Campbell a bone between Spider-Man movies?
New Line studio executives are taking preventive measures not to get the horror fanboys too worked up just yet. They confess to taking a meeting with Tarantino, but it hasn’t moved beyond the talking stage.
Still, this is the furthest Tarantino has gotten promoting a cockamamie franchise reboot through the media thus far. His lobbying to direct the next James Bond picture Casino Royale got the thumbs up from Pierce Brosnan before being shot down by producers.
What’s my take on the whole affair? At first glance, it would seem that Tarantino was wildly grasping at straws and potentially putting his career in jeopardy – Especially after the critical success of Kill Bill Vol. 1 and 2.
But then you let the idea marinate for a while, and it starts to sound okay to you. I mean, honestly – Why not? How cool would it be if all sorts of A-list directors started helming Z-level franchises? Personally, I can’t wait to see what Spielberg would do with Hellraiser! He’d probably turn pinhead into a tortured soul with childhood abandonment issues and who regressed into his own world to escape. Of course, that world involves torture and S&M outfits, but you have to stay true to the source material…
I think ever since Pulp Fiction cracked the field wide open for indie fare to make it to a mainstream audience, Tarantino has been riding a wave of publicity where-in he casts himself as the maverick Hollywood outsider. For him, no suggestion is too “out there”. And, who knows? – Some studio might decide to take a chance on his offbeat ideas. After all, “This was the mind that created Pulp Fiction,” the might think to themselves.
Still, I believe it’s only a matter of time before the post-Pulp Fiction blank check that was handed over to Tarantino creatively will expire if he continues to whore himself out to whatever fanboy flight of fancy flutters into his frame.
It’ll be interesting to see where this one goes.
More blogging later today. I want to welcome back an old friend that’s returned to the fold…
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I don’t know if you heard the good word or not, but both Pulp Fiction and Jackie Brown were released on Blu-ray this Tuesday.
Considering how long I’ve waited for both of these films to be released on Blu-ray and considering how integral both films were to the development of my taste in film during my formative high school and college years, I thought it was worth sharing the trailers for the Blu-ray editions here.
Incidentally, if you wanted to pick up either Pulp Fiction or Jackie Brown on Blu-ray for your collection, I’ve provided handy links right there so you can do that…
It’s been a while since I’ve seen Jackie Brown, so I’m eager to revisit it. Pulp Fiction, of course, I can quote backwards and forwards.
What’s your impression of these two seminal Quentin Tarantino films? Leave your comments below!
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