Posts Tagged ‘suicide’
4 items.
I might be stepping outside of regular continuity a little bit with today’s strip. In fact, I could very well be brushing up against the 4th wall – which I usually try to avoid for fear of structural damage.
But this time out, I decided to do something different. I was little tired of the same mechanics of telling a joke and wanted to go in a different direction. Is it a little gimmicky? Sure. But you can’t fault me for trying new things. Actually, I’m kind of proud of the way it turned out!
For anyone who is sensitive to these kinds of things, I’m not making fun of Kabuki or of Japanese culture. In fact, like most people, I’m facinated by everything about the country. I even took a course on Japan in college. This is just a little homage – my way of tipping the hat without mentioning anime.
The overly-dramatic events of today’s strip aren’t too far from truth. At least the genesis of the conflict.
Cami and I have a system where we abuse each other with our movies choices. It’s actually working quite well for us. I drag her to something like The Hulk where she rolls her eyes for two hours. Then a day or two later, she shuffles me out the door to watch some clap-trap like Alex & Emma.
You all know my feeling about The Hulk, but I haven’t talked about Alex & Emma.
We should have picked up a clue when we read the film came in 7th on its opening weekend. We should have thought twice when we could only find the movie playing in ONE theater that wasn’t 50 miles away. This, in a town of a dozen multiplexes.
But no. The system is there for a reason. If the movie looked good once, by God, we’re going.
So we went.
And the movie was HORRIBLE!
The first hour and a half is basically watching Kate Hudson and Luke Wilson (two actors completely without chemistry) write a book. If you thought READING books was fun, then certainly watching a movie about people WRITING a book is going to be right up there with chocolate-flavored heroin.
WRONG!
The movie kept flipping between the dingy, busted down reality the authors live in, and the glossy, white, Gatsby-esque, flapper reality of the book. At what point the two real-life characters fall in love is kind of a mystery. It seems like they never have the time.
I could go on about it, but I’m really even too tired to recall it and it’s not worht the effort.
Just know that it’s terrible, director Rob Reiner is screwing up his career and that I expected as much from Luke Wilson, but Kate Hudson deserves better.
It’s kind of funny how the system failed us this time around. We both picked movies we were sure at least one of us would love. As it turned out, both of us hated both movies. I guess you win some, you lose some.
This weekend looks like Charlie’s Angels is on the docket. I think I’ve got a rant simmering somewhere, so I’ll save it for Friday.
In the meantime, the new Mars Volta CD is kicking my ass and I have a ticket to see Deftones next Wednesday. Yes – I rock.
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I wish I could concentrate a little better on today’s blog, but I’ve been listening to the new Deftones album at full-blast and am having trouble remembering my last name. I get to see them live in less than a week! *GLEE!*
Time to focus.
Cami is really amped up to see Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle this weekend. The jokers marketing this picture totally have her number. I asked her why she wanted to see it, and she said “Because the girls are strong, they kick ass, and they look great.”
Girl-power packaged as summer entertainment. And for the men? A random ass-shot here and there.
Clearly this is not a marketing ploy I object to. Actually, the trailer for this movie is probably one of the best edited I’ve seen this year. It’s high energy, a little kitchy and it looks like a lot of fun.
Of course Bernie Mac looks stuck in a thankless role when the close the trailer with the poor man squeezed into a wetsuit complaining about sand up his ass, but oh well.
I know that if I go to see Charlie’s Angels this weekend, I’ll have fun while I’m there – but hate myself in the morning. I wish we had something more cerebral lined up on deck to swab the mind afterwords, but since 28 Days Later is the only other new offering, it looks like I’m going to have to rely on alcohol instead.
Speaking of which, 28 Days Later is NOT the sequel to that Sandra Bullock movie where she plays an alcoholic, it’s a zomibe flick. Although I would wager such a sequel would be scarier…
For the record, I was never a big fan of the first Charlie’s Angels movie. It stunk with Drew Barrymore’s influence. Every frame screamed “Lookit me! I’m a PRODUCER now!” I doubt this offering will be any different.
The only thing I liked about the first movie was Crispin Glover’s performance as The Thin Man. He was the LAST actor I would have picked for that role and he really impressed me. Sam Rockwell as the villian did a good job, too. But I’ve always liked his work – even in Galaxy Quest.
Everyone is talking about Demi Moore’s role in the film, heralding it as her “comeback” role. If that’s the case, I feel friggin’ sorry for her. What? She couldn’t get a role in The Hours?
To me, Demi Moore is the ultimate in negative female stereotypes. Just the amount of fuss people are making over her “spectacular body – and at 40! no less is proof of that. I don’t care what anyone says about her as an actress. Her legacy is Striptease – end of story. Just like Elizabeth Berkley’s is Showgirls. That’s all anyone will remember either of them for.
And the less said about it, the better.
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Hello! Just wanted to give birthday shout outs to my friends Adam and Mark. Adam’s birthday was Friday and Mark’s is today. Good job guys, you make it look easy.
On a sadder note, Dr. Hunter S. Thompson died Sunday of an apparent suicide. More information can be found here.
I watched Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas with my buddy Steve 63 times during the last two years of college, cementing me as a Thompson fan. If you haven’t read The Rum Diary and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas you are missing out. I also really enjoyed Hell’s Angels. Some of his other, more political work is less favorable to me as it is not as timeless.
I encourage you to check out his work.
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For those of you concerned that today marks the last appearance of Goth Jared, fear not. His lack of planning and available resources see to his continued status as a member of the living. Click here to learn his fate.
I hope you don’t find today’s comic too macabre. I’m certainly not aiming to make fun of suicide. But think of it this way – If your kids can handle the concept of an animated Johnny Depp marrying the rotting corpse of woman while cavorting around town with a bunch of dead people (Ala Tim Burton’s The Corpse Bride), then they should be able to handle today’s comic. After all, how many times have we seen Tom and Jerry inflict mortal harm upon each other?
All in good fun people!
No really commentary for today except to say that Cami and I are planning to paint the afternoon red when we catch a matinee of Just Like Heaven on Sunday. After that, expect a full week of strips continuing to have fun with The Corpse Bride.
Not ∗that∗ kind of fun, you sickos.
In the meantime, if you have a LiveJournal account and would like to add the Theater Hopper feed to your friends list, I would be much obliged. You’ll get all the latest comic and blog postings delivered directly to your friends list. Can’t be that kind of service with a stick.
Or a corpse.
Or whatever.
Have a great weekend, everybody!
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