Posts Tagged ‘rumor’
4 items.
Wouldn’t you know it? Just as soon as I sit down and invest a bunch of time into drawing a strip about Steven Spielberg directing a remake of Mary Poppins, a spokesperson for the director has to come forward and squash the rumor.
Here’s how it all went down according to the Internet Movie Database’s Movie News page:
Spielberg Quashes ‘Mary Poppins’ Rumors
Steven Spielberg has played down rumours he is planning to remake Mary Poppins. The Saving Private Ryan director was linked to the project by Sir Richard Eyre, the director of the London stage show of Mary Poppins. He said, "Spielberg wants to make a new film of Mary Poppins and we’ve talked about it a lot. "It will be hard to outdo the original but kids love the story and I’m sure that the remake will be a real success." But Spielberg’s representative Marvin Levy counters, "I never heard of this and couldn’t imagine Steven ever doing a remake of a classic – and a (Walt Disney) classic at that. "There’s a Broadway show from Disney but nothing involving us in any way."
This always happens. Go to the trouble of spoofing a Wizard of Oz sequel starring Drew Barrymore? Talks fizzle out. Quentin Tarantino might direct the next installment in the Friday the 13th franchise? Nope. He says that was never going to happen.
So, are there any projects in the pipeline that you guys want me to put a stop to? Because I’ll do a comic about it and that’ll be all she wrote!
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I’m trying to remember where I read that report that said that Ben Affleck literally got down on hands and knees and begged Kevin Smith for a cameo in Clerks II. Oddly, I can’t seem to find it anywhere online! Funny how a rumor starts, isn’t it?
Yes, this is commentary!
I do remember reading the rumor, but there probably isn’t much truth to it. A Kevin Smith without an Affleck cameo is like a day without sunshine. Actually, what I heard is that Affleck was invited to come back to the Askewniverse, but accepted only under the terms that he would be in the background and not play one of his previous Kevin Smith-created characters. After a while on set, Affleck felt it was weird to be there and not have a line, so Smith forged one for him on the spot. I’m sure not unlike a childhood game of "Telephone," the message got jumbled along the way – but I was having so much fun with the idea that Jared had severely stepped up his operations beyond simply physical beatings, I couldn’t turn my back on it.
Clerks II commentary aside, I wanted to take a moment to talk to you about Wizard World Chicago coming up in two weeks, August 4 – 6 at the lovely Rosemont Convention Center right next to the fabulous (and always on-time) O’Hare Airport.
This will be my thrid year going to Wizard World Chicago and I’m hitting the ground running. I will have copies of my new book "Theater Hopper: Year One" for sale and I’m going to try and pass it around to as many members of the media that I can.
To help generate interest, I am having a book-launch party in my hotel room on Saturday night, August 5. It’ll probably start around 7:00 or 8:00 and go until we either run out of beer or get bored and want to go somewhere else. But the idea is not only to celebrate with fans, but to let the media know that web comics are a happenin’ scene and that Theater Hopper ain’t too shabby on it’s own!
If you plan on being in attendance at Wizard World Chicago, please be sure to stop by my book on Artist’s Alley to get your invitation. I don’t really want to share my hotel room number over the internet and I don’t know it offhand anyway. So it all works out. Stop by the booth, get the invite and come hang out with us. You can find me at booth 3134 A and you can view a map of the convention floor here (look on the second page, to the right). Everyone is welcome to visit me at the booth, but 21 and over for the party, please. Here’s a close-up of Artist’s Alley in case you can’t open the larger PDF:
I need to let you know that Zach Miller from Joe and Monkey will also be releasing a book (Volume 2 of his hilarious comic) that weekend and the book release party is a joint effort. There will also be several other web comic stars in attendance. Not only at the party, but on the convention floor. The Theater Hopper booth can be found in immediate proximity of Gordon McAlpin of Multiplex, Joe Dunn of Digital Pimp Online, illustrator extraordinaire and convention stalwart Taki Soma and the previously mentioned Zach Miller. It’s going to be a hell of a time.
If any of you happen to have connections in the comic press, web comic press or small press publication… press, please let me know so I can notify members of the media in advance. I’m not looking to get signed by any production house or anything. Pretty much just looking to network and inform people about Theater Hopper. I can’t tell you how many conventions I go to where people look at my booth and say "So it’s online?" They’re not expecting it. I feel it’s time to get over the hump and bring web comics to a wider audience. With book in tow, I hope to make that happen!
I will have more news to share about Wizard World Chicago in the coming weeks, but I wanted to start talking about it now. I hope to see several of you in attendance and I thank you for your support!
Oh, and if you’ve pre-ordered a copy of "Theater Hopper: Year One," don’t worry. I’m setting aside copies for all of you. Once back from Chicago, I plan on mailing them out as soon as possible. So you should be seeing your book sometime by mid-August (barring the length of time it takes for me to draw your sketch inside the book!)
Thanks again to everyone who has helped to make this possible. I finally feel I have something concrete to exhibit at Wizard World Chicago and that I’m not just there taking up space to say I had been there. It’s a good feeling!
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You think that girl crying was just a sniffle before it was over with. Oh, no. She’s just getting started! Vote for Theater Hopper at Top Web Comics to see the water works in full effect!
Sorry for the delay on Monday’s comic. I know I promised it to you late yesterday, but the Memorial Day holiday kind of got in the way. I thought I was going to have an opportunity to draw and ink the strip while Henry was napping, but it didn’t work out that way. Then, despiteGordon’s upset stomach, Joe and I decided to go through with recording last night’s The Triple Feature podcast and that pushed my time line back further. When it was all said and done, I said to myself, “This is going to have to be a Tuesday comic instead.”
Incidentally, regarding last night’s The Triple Feature, I strongly suggest you check it out. I think Joe and I had a really good show. We were really clicking. We talked about Angels & Demons and Terminator Salvation and I spent a little time discussing Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian.
Regarding the latter, I saw strong>Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian and liked it. The movie is certainly better than the first because it’s smart enough to put the “divorced Dad just trying to do right by his kid” angle into the background and focuses on what people really came to the theater for – classical sculpture preening like a Brooklyn pigeon for statues of antiquity.
“BOOM! BOOM! FIAHPOWAH!”
Amy Adams plays Ben Stiller’s love interest in the film as aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart. I found Adams winning in the role, even if she was using some kind of clipped 1920’s vocal affectation not entirely dissimilar from Katherine Hepburn (I’m sorry, but I refuse to believe everyone from the 20s and 30s talked with that way).
I do have to admit that the question of Earhart’s sexual orientation crept into my head while watching the movie. Later, when I was discussing today’s comic, Cami did have to correct me as to her marital status, which I was totally oblivious to.
Doing research for the comic, rumors of Earhart’s sexuality were never confirmed. Truthfully, it wouldn’t surprise me if it was an ugly rumor created to discredit her as being “butch” or some such nonsense for entering into the field of aviation – an arena many men of the period did not feel women belonged.
Ultimately, it doesn’t mater. It matters even less within the context of the movie. It’s Earhart’s Spirit of Adventure that Stiller’s character is meant to fall in love with. It’s his wake up call to leave the corporate world he went on to establish himself in and reconnect with his true passion – being a night guard at a magical museum.
Aside from Adams, Hank Azaria is effective as the slapstick villain Kahmunrah. Again, putting on an usual accent, I found his Karloff-esque lisp funny the first few scenes he was in, but distracting later on.
Owen Wilson, Steve Coogan and Robin Williams show up and get a few good lines. Coogan as the Roman General Octavius probably gets the funniest bit in the movie as he charges toward the White House in an attempt to notify the President of the situation at the Smithsonian. Bill Hader also gets in a few funny moments early on as the vain and self-important General Custer. His hair care regimen alone will leave you ROFLing in your popcorn.
There are a ton of cameos in the movie too many to mention. Truthfully, I wouldn’t want to tell you. I think you’d be better off surprised. But nearly every up-and-coming comedic performer of the last 5 years shows up in this thing and it’s fun to go “Hey, I know that person!”
At least it was fun for me. I’m simple like that.
Between all this comedic talent, you can tell there was room left in the script for improvisation. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. Some bits go on a little too long – as if the performers are purposefully trying to push an idea from funny to unfunny an back to “funny” again. They don’t always salvage the effort. But the exchanges are refreshing in the sense that the characters just and spewing boilerplate “Now I will do THIS!” / “No, you can’t!” dialogue at each other.
The last little gripe I’ll make about the movie is that despite the fact it’s promoting history, it’s historically inaccurate. There is a chase sequence inside the Air & Space Museum where Stiller and Adams’ characters dislodge the Wright Brothers plane from it’s ceiling mount and fly it out of the building. Not only do they fly it out of the building, they fly around inside the building for a while. Not only do the fly around inside the building for a while, they make a series of impossible maneuvers, dipping and diving around the other aircraft on displace before launching into the skies over Washington D.C. for a languid, romantic moment.
I’m sorry – but wasn’t this the plane that was only able to maintain flight for about 12 seconds?
I don’t mean to be a milksop. I recognize that the movie is fantasy and has to bend the rules a little bit to be entertaining. After all, if I’m going to nit-pick the aerobatic prowess of the world’s first airplane, there’s probably something I should say about a magical Egyptian tablet that brings wax sculptures to life, right?
But intentionally or not, a movie like this will generate an interest in history. It’s basically on big commercial for the Smithsonian. Shouldn’t the producers be a little bit more responsible with what they are portraying on screen?
Or, considering the audience the movie is targeted toward – young kids – is it acceptable to tell a small lie to foster interest in the larger truth? Personally, I’m not a fan of the idea that kids deserve dumbed down entertainment. Kids are capable of understanding much more than we give them credit for. But I suppose if it get’s them away from video games, I’m okay with the idea that the Wright’s plane can perform loops…
I feel like there is more I can be blogging about. I also caught Terminator Salvation this weekend and have some opinions on that. But I think I’ll wrap things up for now.
Did anyone here catch Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian this weekend? What did you think? Did you find it better than the original? Are you able to look over some of the more fantastic elements if it serves the entertainment value of the movie?
Leave your thoughts below!
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I’m not exactly sure where the idea for today’s strip came from. Except that I read the headline that Lindsay Lohan was in talks to join Zack Snyder’s Superman reboot, potentially being cast as Lana Lang- Clark Kent’s high school crush.
The casting news seemed so out of place to me, the only was I could reconcile it in my mind was to presume Snyder wanted someone on-set with access to good drugs.
Y’know… because Lindsay Lohan… has a… has a drug problem.
She takes a lot of drugs, is what I’m saying.
I didn’t really think this one through. I was probably more focused on the reversal in the punchline, if I’m being honest with you.
Something I won’t do in this space is use this news as an opportunity to bash Zack Snyder again. Even I know that I’m sounding a bit like a broken record on that front.
Although I will admit that I’m somewhat curious about the casting decisions so far. For example, Diane Lane and Kevin Costner as Ma and Pa Kent are interesting choices. Individually, the casting makes sense. Amy Adams as Lois Lane makes a little bit of sense if you’re going for the spunky reporter angle. Less so if you’re trying to portray her as a hard-nosed journalist. Then again, Bryan Singer cast Kate Bosworth as Lois, so I suppose there is no where to go but up.
I guess my concern is that all of these casting decisions sound fine on-paper. But I wonder how they are going to perform together as an ensemble? Tossing Lindsay Lohan into the mix would be a real wild card – and I don’t mean that in a positive way.
Truthfully, Lohan is rumored to be in consideration for SO many movies today (as she tries to bouy her sagging career), I’m not convinced this isn’t a little bit of campaigning on her part. Would anyone put it past her to cravenly beg for the park like Sean Young did for Catwoman in Batman Returns?
I tried to find video from when Young went on The Joan Rivers Show dressed as Catwoman before sitting down for an interview about how she’d be perfect for the part. But the clips I found didn’t have any audio. Reportedly, Young also showed up at Warner Bros. Studio in her costume and was thrown off the lot after she tried to meet with Tim Burton.
I guess it’s wait and see with Lohan. I’m not exactly against the idea of her playing Lana Lang. It’s a bit part, a fun cameo, probably. I’m just more confused by the reports than anything else.
Had you already heard the rumor? What was your reaction to it? Does anyone want to grab a Coke with me? LEAVE YOUR COMMENTS BELOW!
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