Posts Tagged ‘similarities’
3 items.
Oct21
THE WAY TO A MAN’S HEART IS THROUGH HIS TRIVIA
October 21st, 2005 |
(7 votes, average: 6.71 out of 10)
I wanted to do something kind of romantic for today’s incentive sketch. It seemed like this would have been the natural conclusion of today’s strip if it were five panels instead of four…
The punchline for today’s comic was originally going to be something different. Something to the effect that Cami suggests Tom read more books and Tom storming off in a huff.
But after drawing the third panel and the pure look of glee on Tom’s face… I decided to go another way with it. I’m happy with the result. As fun as it is to wring humor out of the foibles of marriage, I also like to promote the fact that Tom and Cami have a very well adjusted relationship.
That goes for INSIDE the comic and OUTSIDE as well!
So, Shopgirl comes out today and it kind of snuck up on me. Back when I read Steve Martin’s original novella back in 2001 or 2002 (got it as a Christmas stocking gift, if I remember correctly) I thought about how great this would be if it were a movie. Martin writes in a very economical style. Things are very precisely described and there is never much superfluous conversation between the characters. It was ready-made for a port to the big screen. Four years later, here it is.
For those that haven’t read the book, it’s essentially about an older man (Martin) with great wealth and fine taste forging a relationship with a very disillusioned (and heavily medicated) young woman (Claire Danes) who sells gloves at Neiman Marcus in Beverly Hills. In many ways, both people are looking to have aspects of their lives fulfilled by the other person. It’s kind of a right place, right time scenario. But as things evolve, the two uncover that they are not the perfect fit they built each other up to be in their heads.
On plot alone, Shopgirl is going to get a lot of comparisons to Lost in Translation. The situation likely amplified by Martin and Bill Murray’s Saturday Night Live connection. Still, I have high hopes that the movie will do a good job communicating Martin’s trademark dry wit sprinkled with a dash of melancholy. No one captures the prefabricated detachment born of the utter irreality of Los Angeles better than Martin.
With hope, Cami and I will see Shopgirl sometime this weekend. We both loved the book – one of the few we actually agree on!
Wait, that’s not right. It’s not so much that we don’t agree on literature as we don’t read the same kind of literature. Shopgirl was one of those rare books that had crossover appeal in our household. Ironically, Martin’s follow-up "The Pleasure of my Company" also earned a similar distinction.
Needless to say, we’re fans. Our radar is up for this one.
I’ll be back later with a familiar reminder. Or, you could cut right to the chase and order a t-shirt, hoodie or baby-doll tee before I close off that section of the store October 31. Your choice.
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In today’s incentive image, Tom and Cami enjoy a refreshing summertime treat. Vote for Theater Hopper at Top Web Comics to see for yourself!
I don’t know how fair it is to compare Eddie Murphy’s Imagine That to Adam Sandler’s Bedtime Stories. The children’s imaginary world translated into a fantasy/reality situation. They weren’t the source of out-and-out business predictions like they are in Imagine That .
Still, it’s noticeable that there are two movies with such similar thematic elements coming out so close to each other.
Maybe it’s not so weird when you consider how different studios have outright stolen from each other and put competing films back to back over the years.
A Bug’s Life and Antz. Volcano and Dante’s Peak. Mission to Mars and Red Planet. It happens a lot. I’m sure there’s more if I actually sat down to think about it. Maybe you guys have some similarly-themed movies you can share in the comments section below?
I don’t have much more to share except we’re still trying to get to the problem of this malware error people are getting when they are trying to access the site.
From what we’ve learned, it seems to be only affecting Safari and Google Chrome users. I’ve been doing some searches online and have discovered we’re not the only one suffering this problem, but I’m not finding much in terms of solutions.
I’ve been bombed with e-mails and Tweets from people telling me that they can’t access the site. I feel personally responsible to everyone who notifies me of the error and is trying to help. But I can’t respond to all of you. I’m sorry. Please don’t take it as a snub. I’m just trying to focus my efforts on solving the problem.
I’m doing everything to update security on my own machine, we’ve combed through the code of the site, we’re trying to isolate ads from our network that could be causing the problem. We’re even looking through the THorum to see if it could be originating there. It’s a lot of trial and error, but it’s all part of the regular maintenance that goes into the site.
If it’s any consolation, please know that I am not DELIBERATELY trying to infect your machines with malware. Frankly, I’m not that smart (which is probably how the site ended up in this position to begin with.)
Please trust that we’re doing everything we can.
In the meantime, let me know your thoughts about Imagine That. Are you planning on seeing it, maybe taking your kids or a younger sibling? Or have you grown tired of Eddie Murphy’s family movie shtick and are secretly hoping he makes a sequel to Eddie Murphy: Raw instead?
Thanks again for everyone’s patience and have a great weekend!
[ 21 Comments ]
I know it’s kind of cheap to compare Due Date to Planes, Trains and Automobiles. But no matter how I looked at it, that was the most glaring thing about the movie I could make fun of.
I mean, sure, I could have taken a shot at Zach Galifianakis and his bearded weirdo shtick. But that’s kind of like making fun of a fourth grader for eating paste. He’s not hurting anyone. Just leave him be.
Incidentally, does anyone have the sneaking suspicion that Zach Galifianakis might already be wearing out his welcome? I like the guy, but I think he’s best in small doses. Sticking him into the middle of a quasi-mainstream comedy like Due Date doesn’t seem like the brightest idea to me because it puts a lot of pressure on the guy to go toe-to-toe with the lead actor (in this case, Robert Downey Jr.) instead of leaving him to operate on the fringe, tossing in odd and funny one-liners.
I cast serious doubt over Due Date at the end of the first trailer that came out back in July when Galifianakis tells Downey Jr. “You’d better check yourself… before your wreck yourself.”
I know that’s a weird detail to focus on. But, for me, it became representative of an awareness Galifianakis seems to be developing about his performances. Before, he was weird for weird’s sake – which is entertaining – but now he needs to be weird because audiences expect him to be weird – which is patronizing.
At this point, the weirdest think Galifianakis can do is play a role completely straight.
Obviously, my excuse for seeing Due Date is for Robert Downey Jr.. I just kind of wish they flipped the script a little bit in terms of the movie’s plot. An uptight dude and a weirdo? Like I pointed out in the comic… it’s too much like Planes, Trains and Automobiles. If they wanted to make a REALLY interesting road movie, they should have paired Downey Jr. up with Vince Vaughn – just to see which actor could out-motormouth the other one!
I think what surprised me most about Due Date was how badly Cami wanted to see it. I still haven’t been able to pinpoint why. Which can only mean one thing – she has a secret crush on Zach Galifianakis. I can see why. Never underestimate the appeal of an overweight weirdo. She married me, didn’t she?
So what did you guys think about Due Date? Anyone skip it and see Megamind instead? Leave your comments below!
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