Posts Tagged ‘The Rock’
6 items.
Okay, so you know how on Monday I said I would be out of town on Wednesday and you wouldn’t see a new comic from me today? Well, I kinda lied. Turns out one of my guest strip guys flaked, so I had to improvise. That’s why you see the comic you see today.
Something close to this actually happened last week between Cami and myself. As you recall, Cami flatly refused to see Hellboy, but admitted that Walking Tall had piqued her interest. I thought it would be fun to rent another movie starring The Rock called The Rundown as a sort of appetizer.
I picked up the rental from my local blockbuster last Wednesday expecting to watch it with Cami that night. Well, it turns out she had a work-related function to attend that night. Thursday night wasn’t much better because she had a night class. And Friday… well, Friday we go out. So no movie watching there. Then on SATURDAY, she was out of town…
You get the idea.
It was Sunday before we were together long enough to watch the movie together. I was getting ready to pop in the VCR and Cami asked me why I hadn’t gone ahead and watched it without her when she was gone all those evenings. I told her I was saving it to watch with her.
She let out the most terrifying, prolonged belly-laugh I had ever heard. Totally spontaneous, half mocking and 100% unexpected. Gee, thanks. I love you, too.
We sat down to watch the film and she feel asleep. Let’s put it this way: The hassle of watching The Rundown wasn’t worth the late fee I racked up.
Anyway, that’s enough storytelling for one evening. Be sure to visit the site on Friday because I have a guest strip all lined up for you. And it’s for REAL this time!
See you all next week when I get back from Vegas!
[ No Comments ]
Ten points to the first person who guesses the movie that today’s comic title is referencing.
Before I commence with the blogging, I gotta warn you, today’s buzzComix incentive sketch is probably the most disturbing thing you’ve seen from me in a while. If you don’t want to start your Monday on a sour note, DON’T CLICK THIS LINK!
I think today’s estrogen-inspired comic is funnier to me considering that Jared and I had a genuine guys-night-out on Saturday. We went to see a regional hockey game, had a whole lot of beer, then went to a sports bar and had a whole lot more beer and didn’t go home until close to 2 in the morning. So monly!
It’s sweet when the wives let us get away for a while…
Big burly action guys doing soft and fuzzy family comedies is nothing new. Schwarzenegger did it first with Kindergarten Cop. Stallone followed suit with a lesser degree with Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot. Heck, even old-school action guy Burt Reynolds did Cop and A Half. So I guess it should be no surprise when action guys with a sagging career like Vin Diesel follow the same formula.
For my money, Vin should stick to doing voice-overs for giant robots.
And by the way, what narcotic was America collectively under the spell of to give The Pacifier a $30 million opening weekend? Geeze, people!
Something that I got a big kick out of was seeing Aikida back in action. I don’t know where Fenris learned his new coloring technique, but I want to steal a page from that book!
Also, I just wanted to give a quick shout-out to Bernie over at Alien Loves Predator who recently announced that he and his wife will be having twins! Congrats, Bernie!
[ 1 Comment ]
How does The Rock get his eyebrow to do that high-arch thing? Simple. Through an exhaustive and dedicated work out regimen. He whipped that eyebrow into shape in no time!
Normally it isn’t within my sphere of influence to criticism movies based on video games. I usually leave that to the big guns. They’re the ones with the fram of reference. But with virtually no buzz surrounding Doom when it hits theaters this Friday, I had to kick a sick dog.
Can anyone tell me of any movie based on a video game that was successful? Tomb Raider, maybe. But I think that was because horny gamers wanted to see Angelina Jolie in a tank top for two hours.
I would consider Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within an artistic success, but financially it was a dud and it’s plot was as contrived and obtuse as the games it was inspired by. I suppose in that way, it’s the most faithful adaptation of a video game to silver screen so far!
Naturally anything with Uwe Boll’s name on it is considered box office poison. Alone in the Dark? House of the Dead? ∗RETCH!∗ Take a look at his track record and I assure you that Bloodrayne will follow suit next January? Can someone explain how they tricked Ben Kingsley into doing this movie? My best guess is that it involved a lot of zeros.
Same goes for The Rock and the big-screen adaptation of Doom. Did Doom even have a plot? I guess Hell breaks loose on Mars, right? I mean, literally. And there’s a chainsaw and a big gun or something. Wow. Sounds like a wise investment of your entertainment dollar.
Maybe I would be interested in soaking up some Grade-Z schlock if all the monsters these days weren’t computer generated gobbledy-gook. At least have the good sense to give us some really intricate puppets for them to blast holes into.
Remember the head-exploding scene in Scanners? They did that stuff by filling a latex head with dog food and rabbit livers, and shooting it from behind with a 12-gauge shotgun. Like, for real. It would never happen today, but that’s Cronenberg for you.
Not much else to say at the moment. Have to get up early tomorrow morning for a photo shoot I’m conducting. Ta, ta!
[ No Comments ]
I’m not as adverse to Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson making kids movies as I depict myself in this comic. But I have to admit scratching my head in puzzlement when I first saw the trailer for The Game Plan. THIS was the guy that was supposed to replace Schwarzenegger? It might be a moot point. Truthfully, I don’t think we’ll ever see another era in action movies quite like what we had in the early 80’s. To that end, The Rock is smart for doing a kids movie – if it’s well crafted. As my good friend Joe pointed out, “one needs only say The Pacifier to know that even a successful family vehicle can stall an action heroes career.”
I think The Rock will emerge unscathed. I think that he moves quickly enough from role to role that audiences aren’t associating him with any one chracter – and that’s good. Plus, the guy has enough natural charisma, he won’t have trouble finding work.
People hold up Schwarzenegger as the pinnacle of action movie heroism but they kind of overlook the fact that action movies were all he was good for until he became bankable on name-recognition alone. Let’s face it – there’s not a lot of work for a near-mute, extremely musclebound guy in leading man roles. In many respects, Schwarzenegger had to pay his dues first.
Not much else going on at the moment. Although I want to remind you about the DVD giveaway I have happening right now. Two copies of Stargate Atlantis: Season Three. All you have to do is bookmark you three favorite Theater Hopper strips using the social bookmarking network of your choice and then e-mail me either a screen cap or a link to your profile page for the proof along with your name and mailing address to be entered. I can tell you right now that so far only FOUR people have entered the contest. So if you want some free stuff, your odds are pretty good. It’s a small way to help promote Theater Hopper and get something for yourself to boot.
I realize that Stargate Atlantis is probably a niche interest for some of you. But the next opportunity I get, I’m going to try this with a more popular selection and see if it sticks. Stay tuned.
I kind of got some bad news this week in regard to a site redesign I had been planning. I was trying to work with a local web design firm to help me impliment some air-tight comic archiving, blogging and content systems as well as helping me more fully integrate the site with social bookmarking networks. We had a few conversations over the phone, I met with them in person and outlined my thoughts, even the president of the company got involved to oversee things.
Then I get a note from them this week saying that they really aren’t equipped to partner with me in this way. Typically they design a site from concept to completion and don’t do much in terms of consulting. I was kind of pissed. I spent a month waiting for them to steer the ship in a certain direction and they totally bailed.
I’m very interested in taking Theater Hopper to the next level and I think a lot of that will rest of me elevating the design and interactive elements of the site to a competitive level. I need outside help to do this because I’ve been stewing in my own juices for too long.
Does anyone have suggestions? I want to work with a company. Not a freelancer. I need someone who will be accountable and on the clock if something breaks.
I’ve been fortunate enough to have some great people help me keep things running around here for a long time. I’m not discounting their efforts. But I want to build on their foundation and I don’t know where to go.
Part of me wonders if I should just switch everything over to WordPress and use the ComicSpace mod. I know a few people who have tried it and liked it. But the more I think about it, the more I’m convinced I need a customized buisness solution to meet my needs.
If you have any suggestions, please e-mail them to me at theaterhopper@hotmail.com.
Have a great weekend, everybody!
[ No Comments ]
I was looking at the poster for The Tooth Fairy trying to think of a joke that wasn’t completely obvious – when it occurred to me that we have two new movies in theaters this weekend with winged protagonists.
Okay, okay. Paul Bettany’s Michael from Legion is a fallen angel who cuts off his own wings, but you know what I mean. It’s kind of a weird coincidence, don’t you think?
And seriously, what is up with making Paul Bettany a bad-ass and sticking The Rock in a piffle of a kids movie? I understand this softening of action heroes is a great way to reach a new audience, but The Rock hasn’t kicked ass on screen since when? Doom? That was five years ago. Does that even count?
Remember when The Rundown came out and there was that passing-of-the-torch moment between The Rock and Arnold Schwarzenegger? Does anyone feel like The Rock has been given the opportunity to live up to that promise? Because I certainly don’t.
Look, I get it. The Rock has charisma. You can plug him into virtually any scenario and he makes it work. That’s why he’s in been in movies like Be Cool and Planet 51. I get it.
But can we mix in a few more action roles? Because The Tooth Fairy looks suspiciously like The Game Plan from a few years ago – a hard-nose, selfish sports guy learns about life and love through an unusual set of circumstances. They’re practically typecasting him at this point. Just my .02 cents.
Incidentally, as it relates to the comic, this isn’t the first time I’ve suggested a mash-up between films. Check out this jem from 2002 when I suggested they combine Star Trek: Nemesis with Maid In Manhattan. HILARIOUS!
That’s about all for me today. Are any of you planning on seeing The Tooth Fairy? Who thinks The Rock makes a better action star than a family film star? Is anyone aching to see The Rundown 2? Leave your comments below!
[ 20 Comments ]
When G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra came out in 2009, I wanted to like it, but it was basically a live-action cartoon. Granted, when Channing Tatum is the lead, that pretty much happens by default. But, overall the movie was just too goofy.
Case in point:
But today, Paramount has released the first trailer for G.I. Joe: Retaliation and the result seems a little more… grown up.
First of all, any movie that draws Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson away from Disney kiddie movies automatically gets my approval. And from what we can see in this trailer, he appears to be in full bad-ass mode.
Second, it really seems like the sequel has done a good job of eliminating the elements from the first movie that didn’t work. Sienna Miller and Marlon Wayans, I’m looking at you. Or, rather, I guess I’m NOT looking at you!
Lastly… OMG – they’re going to give Snake Eyes something to DO?
I’m feeling… strangely optimisitic about G.I. Joe: Retaliation. What’s your take? Leave your comments below!
[ 6 Comments ]
