Posts Tagged ‘summer’
3 items.
Many apologies for posting the strip late today. So late in fact, many of you are probably laying eyes on it for the first time Tuesday.
I was under the assumption that Monday being Labor Day and all, not many people would be visiting the site. How wrong I was when I checked my counter logs and recoiled when over 90 people had stopped by. That’s like throwing a kegger and forgetting the keg. Oopsie! Forty lashes with a wet noodle for me.
I probably would have been quicker with today’s strip if there wasn’t such a complete void where my multiplex used to be. FearDotCom was the only new release this weekend and I wasn’t exactly hyped to see it. I could have taken the extended weekend to catch up on flicks I missed, but looking back on the last 4 weeks, there hasn’t been much worth catching up on.
You’d think the delay would result in an especially witty toon today, but I’m sorry it didn’t work that way. I know writing about the lack of good movies seems like a cop out, but I’m not the only one taking this route.
At least this time out, you get a new character! Yes, meet Jimmy – the hapless movie theater employee. He’s very much the “Leave it to Beaver” type. I figured I was overdue introducing a new element to the strip and figuring that for the amount of time these characters are supposed to be spending in theaters, a new foil was appropriate.
It will become more evident as Jimmy makes more appearances, but the concept behind his character is that he’s a theater worker who actually enjoys his job – quite a departure from most of the popcorn jockeys I’ve encountered. Stick around to read more of his exploits.
I’ll have more later, but I’m off to enjoy the dwindling hours of the holiday and conversely, the summer.
Wednesday’s strip will be on time. I promise.
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Just because summer’s over doesn’t mean the studios aren’t trying to squeeze in some of their outright stinkers before Oscar season heats up.
Into the Blue, for example. A treasure-hunting picture with Jessica Alba and Paul Walker. Wouldn’t this move have been more interesting if it were released in June or July when the weather is warm? It must be a real turkey. In fact, Tom’s convinced he’ll be in sore need of something if made to watch it.
Today’s comic isn’t about Into the Blue specifically, but about the abysmal state of commercial movies in general this year. I only had Jared list a handful of the worst offenders this year, but could have gone on indefinitely. There were a lot of bad movies this year. A lot of sequels and a lot of retreads on franchises that already had footing in television or books. Very little in terms of original screenplays were put in front of audiences this year and I think the industry was punished accordingly with some of the lowest box office receipts in the last 10 years.
I’ve gone on in the past about Hollywood needing to provide more in terms of fulfilling content when in competition against satellite television, video games and even themselves with the Goliath DVD market. Give us something to care about, something we’ve never seen before. We’ll come back. We promise. People are still hungry for authentic theater experience, but there is only so many obstacles you can put in front of them before they decide it’s not worth the effort.
Thank goodness for the autumn. More cerebral films are starting to fill up the multiplexes. I feel like I can start using my brain again.
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Why is Jared not wearing a shirt in this comic? You’ve never partied with Jared, have you? The shirt is always the first thing to go.
I don’t have a lot to say about today’s comic except that beer hats are inherently funny. I don’t know if they were invented in America or not. But there is a unique American-gluttony reflected in the design, don’t you think?
“I’m a busy alcoholic who needs his hands FREE to play pool and grope women who pass by. I can’t be wasting all of my time holding on to a beer with my HANDS. There has GOT to be a better way!”
“What’s this? I can put my beer in my hat and drink it through a flimsy straw?? A MIRACLE!”
“…”
“(can you put two beers on the hat?)”\
Wherever the hat came from, I think it should come with a coupon for one free alcoholism intervention.
Speaking of America, I always wonder how a comic like this plays for my readers who are not American. Do they know what Labor Day is? Do they understand how it’s significance as a holiday that recognizes labor unions has been twisted into an end-of-summer Bacchanalia? Do they care?
I mean, I have a peripheral understanding of Boxing Day. But if a Canadian cartoonist wrote a joke about it for their comic, I would probably nod politely and say to myself “That’s nice.”
These things are touch and go, that’s all I’m saying.
I’ll be frank and admit that it fascinates me that anyone beyond these borders would find any interest in Theater Hopper. But if you are one of the many living in far-away lands, reading today’s comic and saying to yourself “That’s nice,” then I want to thank you for your patience and support.
Thank you.
Cheers to the rest of you celebrating your day off. I hope you enjoyed the comic. Oh, and next time, be more discreet about how you bring alcohol into a theater, won’t you?
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