Posts Tagged ‘time travel’
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Well, so much for posting the strip at 7 or 8 o’clock tonight. But I did post this late Monday evening, so technically I’m not late late. I promise to have Wednesday’s strip piping hot and ready for you in the morning.
The strip today basically makes the point that if you are excited at all to see Extreme Ops, then you have obviously not outgrown the fads of the last 10 years. Any film that would dare to take a plot as insipid as this deserves all the bad box office it gets. I mean, c’mon! Extreme snowboarders do battle with terrorists? These guys have helicopters, sub-machine guns and helicopters. What do the snowboarders have except board wax and, oh wait… like, a TOTALLY RAD outlook on life!
This movie would have bombed 10 years ago when the snowboarding fad was hot. Somebody owes somebody else a favor.
I don’t mean to deride anyone who takes snowboarding seriously. If you’re any better than I am (which implies being able to stand for roughly a minute before tipping over) then you’ve got skills all over me. But let’s face it. There are some people that should have never been convinced by a Mountain Dew commercial to strap a plank onto their feet and rocket down a mountainside. Because odds are, you’re going to look really dumb doing it. I know I would. Give it up and watch syndicated episodes of Friends like everybody else.
Things are kind of hectic in my personal and professional lives right now, so it’s left me little time to pursue my hobby here. I’m just coming down from the Thanksgiving holiday and the feast my wife and I hosted. At work, we’re getting set to launch a new version of our corporate web site – one of my design. I’m the lead on the project and it’s causing me some last minute stress. Once the new version is out there, I’ll throw a link up on the site and you can all check it out. It’ll be up by Friday, so expect it then.
I saw a lot of movies over the holiday. Mostly animated fare. I saw 8 Crazy Nights last Tuesday. It was okay, but typical Adam Sandler. You really have to be in the mood for something stupid to enjoy it.
On Saturday I saw Treasure Planet, which I liked. The art direction is top-notch in this film and the voice talent wasn’t half-bad, either. I was a little wary going in because I really detested Atlantis from a few summers ago. Usually when Disney goes the full-bore action route, they loose a bit of their trademark magic along the way. This time, things held up. I had a good time.
Lastly, I finally hopped on the bandwagon (or rather, was dragged kicking and screaming by Cami) to see My Big Fat Greek Wedding. I HATED this movie. I mean, REALLY hated it. I hated it so much, I’ll probably put together a review detailing exactly where it when wrong.
I knew going in I wasn’t going to like it. Broad ethnic comedies like these never strike the right chord with me. It was just like any other movie where the foibles and quirks of a set of ethnic individuals is played for laughs. Only this time, instead of the family being Italian or Jewish, they were Greek.
People are constantly begging and pleading to be understood and for others not to stoop to making stereotypes. I fail to see how movies like these remedy the situation. I’ll go into it more another time.
For now, beddy-bye. Sorry again for the late post. It won’t happen again or it’ll be 40 lashes with a wet noodle.
Chow.
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For today’s buzzComix incentive sketch, click here to view next summer’s sure-fire action blockbuster!
I hope you like today’s comic. I tried to put a little extra effort into it with the backgrounds and the rest of the art. I wanted to leave things on an up note because I will be away from the site both this Friday and next Monday.
Don’t panic just yet, kiddies. While it’s true I’ll be away on vacation, I’ll leave you in capable hands. I have some guest strips lined up. One of them in the bag is a comic by none other than Instant Classic’s creator Brian Carroll. It’s another I, Robot joke, but it’s a good one.
If there are any enterprising young artists out there that want to try their hand at a guest comic, I am currently entertaining submissions. You can e-mail them to me here. Deadline is Thursday at 11:59 P.M. Please nothing larger than 525 x 525 pixels. I know it’s a short turn around, but I didn’t want to get swamped with too many requests over the course of a week.
If I don’t use your guest strip Friday or Monday (and at this point there is still an opportunity for your work to be seen Saturday, Sunday or next Tuesday) I will definitely use whatever is left over to cover for me while I’m away at Wizard World Chicago, August 13 – 15, so don’t hesitate to show me your work.
Anyway, movie stuff.
Is anyone excited to see I, Robot? No one I’ve talked to has. From the looks of it, the film completely distorts Isaac Asimov’s vision. I’m sure there will be nods to his 3 Laws of Robotics here and there, but for the most part, this looks like a mindless summer blow-em-up. Not exactly the kind of description you would expect to see in reference to Asimov.
Not to explain the joke in today’s comic, but the trailers for I, Robot make what I’ve suggested in the strip somewhat feasible. Only Hollywood would assume Asimov was a Victorian and drop him into a story 50 year’s beyond his death. Average audiences eat that sort of convoluted tripe by the trough-full.
Remember when Will Smith used to “own” the Fourth of July weekend? How the mighty have fallen. This film looks like such a dud to me, I doubt it will even trump the huge amounts of positive buzz Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy has accumulated since it’s opening last week.
I, Robot is dead in the water.
In other news, still no word from Mike Deodato and his inclusion of a Theater Hopper poster in Amazing Spider-Man #509. I e-mailed him, but have received no reply. I’m thinking about posting a message to him publicly in a forum he’s known to frequent. I might give that a try later today.
Speaking of comics, be sure to keep an eye on the site in the next couple of days. I plan on posting information about where you can find me at Wizard World Chicago next month. If you haven’t already, start booking hotel rooms! I want to see as many of you in attendance as possible!
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On Sunday I read the news that there was a huge fire on the Universal Studios backlot and my heart sank. I was shaken by it; I don’t know why. And then I felt ashamed by it because it doesn’t seem like there is a year that goes by that huge wildfires rip through the state of Califorinia, decimating homes and leaving families with nothing… but the thought of a movie studio burning to the ground! *GASP!*… It just felt very selfish in comparison. Nevermind the other natural disasters that seem to be happening with greater and greater frequency all around the world. The earthquake in China — even the F5 tornadoes that recently hit here in Iowa. And I’m worried about a movie studo?
I seem to have lost my perspective. Have I bummed you out yet?
All the same, the events on Sunday (ignighted by workers using a blowtorch, incidentally) inspired this comic. So art is born again! Can you see The Circle of Life? I have a few other comics that will be posted in a short storyline, so I hope you appreciate them over the next few days. It’s not often one gets an excuse to do a Back to the Future parody, so I’m taking this flux capacitor and running with it.
I remember going to Universal Studios in Hollywood almost over 20 years ago – and in no way is that depressing. I believe I was 13 years old. My parents and I had gone to Arizona to visit relatives for Thanksgiving and then we hopped a flight to L.A. as part of an extended vacation.
I remember L.A. being very plastic and very fake. And this was during the early 90’s, pre-grunge. So everything was awash in bright neon green and pink. It was like some kind of Revlon candy land. It didn’t help that we were there over the weekend the Santa Ana winds blew into town. We didn’t know anything about it and were almost trapped outside of our hotel with sand and debris whipping down the street. They had locked up the glass doors in front to keep the vaccum of the high winds from blowing them out. We had to get inside through a service entrance. It was like our own mini disaster movie!
I’ve not had a strong desire to return to L.A. since, but if I *were* to go there, Universal Studios would be the main draw. We went there first-thing when we arrived in the city and I loved it.
Going to Universal Studios – Hollywood is a much more stratifying experience than going to the one in Florida or even MGM Studios (re: Disney Hollywood Studios) because it’s so much more authentic and so much less of a theme park experience (despite the theme park elements). We didn’t run into any filming productions when we were on the back lot tour, but several of the outdoor sets were immediately recognizable from other films. I remember when our tram turned the corner into Clocktower Square from Back to the Future and the spectacle of fantasy colliding with reality was almost too much for a young nerd to handle. It was so cool.
I feel kind of lame admitting it. I mean, I’ve since traveled the world and I’ve seen amazing, indelible, historical structures. But I speak with such effusive praise for a movie set? For a facade? I have no excuse for it. Seeing Clocktower Square from Back to the Future had as much impact on me as when I was standing 10 inches away from “Sunflowers” by Vincent Van Gogh at The National Gallery in London. I felt like I was face-to-face with history.
Kind of says a lot about the truncated American time line when a movie set from 30 years ago blows your mind.
That’s about all I have to say for today. Be sure to check back on Friday for the next installment of this Back to the Future mini-arc.
Have a great day!
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I got a lot of really good feedback from Wednesday’s Back to the Future twist, so I thought I would press on with the mini-arc that unfolded in front of my eyes after hearing about the Universal Studios backlot fire from last Sunday.
I was pretty confident that I was in safe waters making a Back to the Future reference. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t love at least one of those movies.
It’s funny, though… Considering the current spoiler-drenched, I-have-a-LiveJournal-account-so-my-opinion-counts-more-than-yours culture the internet has spawned, I wonder how well the Back to the Future franchise would have fared with movie fans today.
As far as I can remember, they were one of the first franchises to film their second and third installments back-to-back. Something that the last two Matrix and Pirates of the Caribbean movies did as well. I suppose you could say the same about the Lord of the Rings films, but they knew out of the gate there was too much story to film for one movie.
Would fans have been patient with the several paradoxes in the second movie? Would they appreciate the hard left turn the franchise takes when it skips into 1885 and the old west? Part of me thinks fans would not be as kind today… and that kind of depresses me.
I was thinking some more about the studio fire and how the Clocktower Square set had been damaged. Immiediately my mind went to business and I mocked up this t-shirt:
It’s nothing special. I doubt I would put it into production. Nevermind that Snorg Tees has one of their own – one that didn’t outright steal the design and layout from the flyer prop in the movie.
But it made me feel better to make it.
Now, if you want to talk REALLY geeky, check out what the fine folks at ThinkGeek.com have put together for you – Your OWN Flux Capacitor!
Only $249.99 – a giveaway!
Man, I seriously gotta watch these movies this weekend!
That’s about it for me. I’ll see you back here on Monday with more Back to the Future action!
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I realize that I’ve probably run my course with these Back to the Future comics. After all, there’s only so many times I can substitute a reference for a punchline. But I just had to bring things full circle after Friday’s comic. After all, who doesn’t want to see Doc Brown crash through a window? Now if only my Christopher Llyod caricature could have been better…
Cami and I saw You Don’t Mess With The Zohan yesterday afternoon and I had a pretty good time. I was surprised because Cami didn’t like the movie much. Typically she’s all over Adam Sandler films. But I think this one was too juvenile and weird even for her!
You have to expect a certain level of mental handicap when walking into an Adam Sandler movie, but I had a much better time with this one than most because I think Sandler really lets the thing run it’s course and he looks like he,himself is having fun for once.. He’s not reaching for THE BIG MESSAGE – which is weird, considering how the plot is primarilly centered around the conflict between Israel and Palistine.
Typically Sandler’s protagonists are about finding their way to maturity. Whether it’s the slacker who becomes a Dad in Big Daddy or the hectic family man who realizes what’s truly important in life in Click. But in this film, Sandler’s Israeli counter terrorist (an apparently super hero?) Zohan is a character who is TOO mature – a warrior who has seen too much and wants to escape all the fighting by becoming a hair dresser in America.
Considering just how complicated the conflict between Israel and Palistine has become, I thinkZohan does the right thing by making a complete mockery of it. Any attempt to frame it within a real world context would have fallen flat on it’s face. Although, in fairness, the movie tens to make the Palistinian side a little more ludicris than the Israeli side. In fact, any scene featuring Rob Schneider as a cab driver / wannabe terrorist is cringe-inducing in more than the typical Schneider-esque way. Some of it borders on complete cultural insensitivity.
But I don’t know if it’s fair to weighZohan in these terms. The film iscompletely stupid with no long term geo-political ramifications. Just… just go with it, will you? You’ll have more fun if you do.
If you saw Zohan over the weekend and want to talk about it, be sure to tune in LIVE to The Triple Feature podcast tonight at 9:00 PM CST over at TalkShoe. We’ll be talking about You Don’t Mess With The Zohan, Kung Fu Panda and Sex and the City.
I know I promised we’d talk about Sex and the City last week (and we did, a little bit), but none of us had actually seen the movie. Well, I saw it last week and I know for a fact that Joe did as well. So we’ll have a little more to talk about this week. Be sure to tun in and listen to my anecdote about the parade of gay guys who joined us in the screening we took part in!
Also, we’ll probably take a little time to talk about The Incredible Hulk coming out this weekend. Personally, I wasn’t that amped up to see the movie until just the last week or so. Early reviews from press screenings are coming back strong. Some are saying it’s just as good as Iron Man. There’s even a rumored cameo from Captain America. Is this Marvel setting the stage for an Avengers movie down the road? It sure looks like it!
I’m psyched because I have a friend of a friend that has the hook-up at a local theater. He’s going to let us in for a special midnight screening on Thursday and I’m really looking forward to it.
Heck – even without all of that extra stuff, there’s still this to consider:
Geeks have known about the Iron Man cameo for months. It’s damn-near marketinggenius to confirm it in the television advertising. Watch out. This weekend will be all about HULK!! SMASH!!
Join us this evening on The Triple Feature podcast to discuss it. See you at 9:00 PM CST!
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