MAD ENOUGH TO TEAR THE 50 COTTON, 50 POLY
October 20th, 2004 | by Tom(6 votes, average: 8.50 out of 10)
C’mon. You didn’t think I was going to let the week slide by without taking some shots at our resident, Theater Hopper punching bag Ben Affleck did you?
If you REALLY want to see Jared blow his top, click here and vote for Theater Hopper at buzzComix to view the extra, incentive sketch.
Watching the trailers for Surviving Christmas, I don’t have much to complain about. The movie seems like a fairly harmless holiday confection where desperate people learn valuable lessons about themselves, their families and “THE MEANING OF CHRISTMAS” ™. A pleasant distraction.
TOO BAD THEY’RE RELEASING IT IN FRONT OF THE WRONG, STINKING HOLIDAY!
Halloween is two weeks away. What business does a Christmas movie have cluttering up the multiplexes, confusing the issue? The Grudge, I understand. Saw, I understand. Surviving Christmas… I do not understand.
DreamWorks, what are you thinking? I don’t remember a disconnecting in marketing this bad since Disney released The Santa Clause 2 on October 27, 2002.
All I’m saying is that Surviving Christmas better be really funny if it’s going to get over the hump of not one, but two holidays in two months before putting it’s intended target – Christmas – between its sights.
Will the movie even last that long in theaters? It could potentially be on video and on sale for the holidays before it even makes it to the celebration of its namesake!
I was going to extend compliments to the considerable talents of Affleck’s co-stars James Gandolfini, Christina Applegate and Catherine O’Hara. But at this point, I’m having trouble circumnavigating the absurdity of it all.
Today’s comic was extremely cathartic to draw.
I dunno. For the last few days I’ve been hustling really hard to bring awareness to the book – and I would say so far things are going well. But sometimes you need a break from it, am I right? Today I just wanted to get away from that for a little while and pour myself into the comic. It felt good to get a little bit of that stress and worry of my back by parlaying it into cartoon violence.
I know the perspective is a little wonky on this one. I was trying to do this kind of top-down angle on Jared to give his uppercut more dynamic force. It didn’t really work out, but I think you get the gist of what’s going on. I mean, he’s pucnched the head of a Benbot clean off it’s shoulders! Isn’t that worth something?
I’ve never done a full splash like this before. I’ve played with panel number and size in the past, but never taken a full-step back and utlized the whole canvas. What a freeing feeling! I most certainly have to add this to my arsenal of tricks for the next storyline.
I wanted to show a lot more robot carnage in today’s comic, but there just wasn’t enough room to show Jared dismantaling all of these dopplegangers in a tiny self-storage unit. I decided one powerful image would have to do the trick.
I’m planning on wrapping things up tomorrow. May is on the horizon and a lot of tentpole pictures are coming up that I want to talk about. Specifically, all this Tom Cruise/Katie Holmes baby crap. Did you hear their daughter was born last night? Hey, what else is going on in Cruise’s life right now? Isn’t Mission Impossible: III supposed to open on May 5? What an AMAZING coincidence!
NOT.
You know in some underground bunker somewhere Cruise is mega-pissed that Katie couldn’t hold the baby in an extra week or two so they could get maximum press coverage.
Maybe when this whole Ben Affleck thing is over, I might turn my sights onto Cruise. Considering the extent of his excentricities, I could have a lot of fun with that.
More news later. Some thanks I want to send out. But for now… rest.
I realize that describing George Clooney’s Leatherheads as a movie about 1920’s football players who wear leather helmets simplifies things a little bit. But beyond the romantic rivalry aspect, I can’t figure out what this film is supposed to be about? Is it about guys playing football before there were rules? I’m not sure I understand the incentive behind seeing this?
I suppose star power is supposed to be the draw. I like Clooney. I like him a lot. He has a relaxed charm and he’s fun to watch on screen even in bad movies. I also like John Krasinski and I think he’s an excellent comedic sparring partner. RenĂ©e Zellweger is in the film and I’m kind of meh about that. There really hasn’t been a picture I’ve enjoyed her in. Too much squinting.
Joe and I talked about this during Monday’s Triple Feature podcast, but I also kind of resent how she’s become the go-to gal pal of 1920’s and 1930’s period pieces. Between Chicago and Cinderella Man, she’s starting to corner the market. Quit encouraging her, people! Before you know it, she’ll start to think she has moxy or… or PIZAZZ – and we’ll never get rid of her!
Dan Hopper over at BestWeekEver.TV has a fairly thorough breakdown behind the reason why he thinks Leatherheads might not be very good and I found myself agreeing with his position. Like him, I was excited about the film when I first heard about it, but the more I see of it, the less I like. It has the look of a one-trick pony and I still haven’t gotten over the hurt of watching Clooney fall into a similar guise in Intolerable Cruelty. Look, I know the whole sun-dappled sepia tone romp vibe worked out great in O Brother, Where Art Thou – but this one doesn’t look up to snuff.
Cami has expressed interest in seeing Leatherheads this weekend, which kind of surprises me considering its sports theme. I don’t know if we’re going to go to the effort of arranging a babysitter when Smart People comes out next week. That movie feels more our speed. We’ll see.
That’s about it for me today. I hope everyone has a great Wednesday!