Posts Tagged ‘Will Ferrell’
16 items.
Nov07
Today’s comic is about 90% true to real life. I did spend a fair amount of time trying to convince Cami to see The Matrix Revolutions, but she wasn’t impressed with the last one and the bad reviews were keeping her away from the new one.
I actually threatened not to see Love, Actually as punishment for her not wanted to see a movie *I* was really excited about. You see, that’s how our system works. She goes to movies I want to see be she doesn’t and in exchange, I got to movies she wants to go to but I don’t. We take turns torturing each other.
Of course, when I made the threat, Cami had to mentally pull up a list of movies BESIDES Revolutions she knew I was excited to see. When she tried to barter a matinee of Elf for one Love, Actually, I told her it wouldn’t wash. She’s been just as excited for this movie as I have.
I don’t know what it is about Will Ferrell that we find so appealing. For me I think it’s his level of commitment. Whether it a skit on Saturday Night Live or a bit part in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, he’s totally there for all of it. Every scene. Every line. And he’s not afraid to make himself look like the fool. It’s that kind of selflessness in comedy that I respect.
Every review I’ve read on Elf so far has been positive. It makes me wonder that if Revolutions had opened today instead of Wednesday if Elf wouldn’t nudge it out at the box office…
Interpret that how you like. I’m probably not going to give my opinion one way or the other on Revolutions. It seems like people on both sides of the fence have too much invested in it for me to go too far into detail regarding my reactions to it.
While the last two movies were not executed at the level of precision that I would have hoped for, I still think The Matrix universe is one of the most richly detailed in all cinema. It’s still a great concept and will most likely live within the lexicon of our culture for the next few generations. Regardless of where it goes from here, anyone with even a passing interest in science fiction owes it to themselves to be familiar with all 3 movies.
And that’s all I have to say about that.
Before I wrap things up, I wanted to thank everyone who voted for Theater Hopper at buzzComix this week. You guys really showed ’em what’s what. We cracked the Top 10 and found a cozy little spot around number 8. This, of course, blows my mind. Thank you so much for your support and keep up the great work!
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Jul09
So how does a rotted corpse wearing a “Will Ferrell Sux” t-shirt end up tied from a tree by his thumbs? Click here to find out!
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy opens today and I’ve been looking forward to seeing it for quite a while. I know Elf was Will Ferrell’s first leading role, but I think Anchorman looks like it was written with his specific talents in mind. Just the name “Ron Burgundy” communicates so much to me. It sounds like a stage name a jock without any creativity would give to himself. It also has vague porn star undertones, which I think makes it even funnier.
Even though I hold Ferrell’s talent in great esteem, I think what will really push Anchorman over the top is the great cast they’ve assembled. Christina Applegate, David Koechner, Fred Willard and Chris Parnell are all great. Steven Carell has the newsman shtick down pat. They also have the woefully underrated Paul Rudd, who can knock an abstract comedic performance out of the park. Anyone who’s seen Wet, Hot American Summer knows what I’m talking about.
I guess the film also has a ton of cameos. Be on the lookout for Fred Armisen, Danny Trejo, Judd Apatow, Luke Wilson, Jack Black, Stephen Root, Tim Robbins, Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn. I really like how some of these actors who have been in other pictures together are gravitating toward each other and appearing in each other’s films. It’s quite the little company they’ve put together!
That’s about all I can say for Anchorman at the moment, so I suppose it’s best to turn my attention to another bit of news.
You might of noticed in the upper right hand corner above the comic that today’s strip marks our 300th comic. That’s a lot of doodles, my friends. Almost a year’s worth (if I was drawing every day).
I’ve been doing Theater Hopper almost two years. We celebrate that milestone in less than a month. Although I’m reluctant to do organize any crazy celebration anytime we pass markers on the road, I like to at least point them out from time to time. Because without you guys, there wouldn’t be 300 strips.
Thanks for your support. You keep reading ’em, I’ll keep writing ’em!
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No blog just yet because it’s about 1:30 ayem as I’m wrapping things up.
But I wanted to let everyone know about the brand new Theater Hopper LiveJournal feed! If you have a LiveJournal account, add us to your friends list and you’ll be first in the loop when the comic updates!
I’ll be back later with some thoughts on the new releases this weekend including Land of the Dead, Herbie: Fully Loaded and Bewitched.
Mostly snarky comments, not much in depth. Although I plan to see Bewitched if there is time this weekend. Gots ‘ta have my Will Ferrell dosage!
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My wife and I also saw Bewitched on Saturday night. Patti wanted to go to it bad enough that she endoured the Friday night show of Land of the Dead.
Bewitched – Be Boring. Okay, the inherent problem within the story is that Will Ferrell’s character gets too much screen time and Nicole Kidman’s character doesn’t do much of anything. I felt this was echoed and even magnified for the actual movie.
Some of the effects were cool – such as Michael Caine’s appearances in the grocery store, but it would take many more tricks to make this film interesting.
The end of the movie is a little sketchy for me as I was fighting sleep. I was doing those little head bobs during the last fifteen minutes of this movie, but I’m fairly certain I only missed a bunch of talking and an obvious ending. This A-list cast couldn’t wiggle their noses and save this script.
Land of the Dead: I am a fan of this series and am also pretty certain that the dead will walk one day, but this film was just okay. I’d say it was much better than Day of the Dead, but it doesn’t hold a candle to Night of the Living Dead or Dawn of the Dead (original or remake). If they have spent so much time with Zombies and are short on supplies, why do they fire 30 rounds on full automatic into the torsos of the Zombies? Use your head man! (and shoot theirs!)
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If you’re a die-hard Will Ferrell fan like me, you can’t wait for Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby coming out on August 4. It’s the same team that put together Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, so you know it’s going to be good.
Anyway, it’s a little early yet, but I thought I would share with you this game that I found online where you – as Ricky Bobby – have to sign as many objects as you can in Victory Row after winning a big race. It’s pretty funny to check out just for the stuff they put in front of you to sign.
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As you may have noticed, there hasn’t been a newspost on the front page for a couple of days. The reason behind this was due to a server outtage with our hosting company. As I understand it, a hardware problem and not a software problem and much more difficult to fix. The GOOD news is that there was no data loss, just interrupted service. So I can’t be too mad about it.
Still, this stuff always seems to happen when I have a bunch of news to share. As such, I’m going to hold off on some of that for tomorrow’s update when more of you are checking the site. For now, I’m just going to talk about Monday’s comic.
Making fun of The Wayans Brothers is a little like shooting fish in a barrell, so I thought I would extend the metaphor by rendering them as bottom feeders. I’ve never found The Wayans Brothers particularly funny. I mean, I respect Keenan Ivory Wayans for his success as a director. I still think I’m Gonna GIt You Sucka is one of the most inventive parodies ever. I even like some of the stuff Damon Wayans has done. And, of course, you can’t overlook the success of In Living Color for bringing a new perspective to sketch comedy.
But as far as I’m concerned, both Marlon and Shawn Wayans are complete hacks. The take the concepts that appeal to the lowest common denominator and then find ways to debase them further. I saw the trailers for Little Man and immediately found new respect for White Chicks. At least there you could say that the concept of a couple of black guys wandering around in "whiteface" was satirically absurd or hovering around the "so bad, it’s good" category.
Little Man comes off far worse because I can’t think about it without remembering that Bugs Bunny cartoon where a similarly tiny buglar lays low with the "wrascrawly wabbit" until the heat dies down after a heist. Baby Face Fenster was his name, I think. The sight of him shaving in the bathroom mirror with an electric razor, a tatto of an anchor brazenly displayed across his arm is one of those "WTF" pop culture moments from my childhood. An image I’ve yet to shake. I tried finding screencaps of the cartoon online, but couldn’t turn anything up. If you guys find anything or know what I’m talking about, let me know.
So Little Man becomes worse than derivative. It becomes plagiaristic.
As a side bar, if you guys disagree with me about Talledega Nights, you’d better get used to it right now. In my mind, Will Ferrell is bulletproof. I can admit that I’m a Will Ferrell apologist and I make no excuses for it. Talledega Nights is probably the one movie registering strongest on my radar for the summer and I can’t wait to see it.
I suppose that should make me more sensitive to the reasoning behind why others find The Wayans Brothers hilarious, but, well… it doesn’t!
Sorry that the art for Monday’s comic couldn’t have been a little better. An area that I’ve been trying to develop is celebrity caricature. I figure "What good is a comic that riffs on celebrities if I can’t draw them worth a squat?" But the truth is, I was painfully short on time.
Between finishing Monday’s comic and taking the weekend to prepare for Wizard World Chicago, I was also putting the finishing touches on a guest strip for my main main Joe Dunn and his site Joe Loves Crappy Movies. Joe is getting married on the 22nd and deserves some time off. Drawing 15 comics a week can be taxing!
I was also finishing up my contribution to the 2006 Web Cartoonist Choice Awards presentation. I was selected to present "Outstanding Comic," which I was very honored to do. There’s been some controversy about the winners being announced before the presentation could go on line. I don’t know much about it. But you should keep your eye on their site as well as Comixpedia for news when the show goes online. I had a chance to see some of the other contributions on a test site and there are some really funny presentations in there.
I meantioned Wizard World Chicago. I have some news about that and wanted to share it last Friday. Due to the server outtage, I couldn’t. So everyone be sure to come back to the site tomorrow for all the details of where you can find me and who you can find me with. Also, if you plan on being in the Chicagoland area this year, I’m putting together a big book release party and you’re invited! More details on that soon!
Until then, don’t forget that our t-shirt sale is still going on until July 31. All shirts are $9.99 (plus shipping and handling) and every order comes with a free poster! I’m prepping envelopes now and will be sending shirts out soon, so get your favorite shirt while you still can
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Sometimes it’s funny to write a straight up the middle "ba-da-dump-tssh!" kind of joke and let the chips fall where they may. Say what you will, but I had a lot of fun doing the little pieces of character expressions in this one.
Blades of Glory is a movie that I’ve been excited about ever since I saw the early trailers. Will Ferrell in his custom cocky snarl uttering "You’re welcome, Stockholm…" just gets to me for some reason. I think this movie is going to be a real hoot. Ferrell is always at his best when he plays the cock-sure buffoon.
I recognize that Ferrell isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. Every time I comment on how much I love his movies, invariably someone comes out of the woodwork to tell me how much he sucks. Obviously humor is probably the most subjective of art forms and the further out on a limb a performer goes, the more likely he is to attract equally forceful detractors. Whoever it shakes out, I’ve thrown my lot in with Ferrell and that’s pretty much all she wrote. Even in his worst movies, I can still find things I like.
Cami and I were able to get away for the house for a little while this weekend and see Reign Over Me and I really liked it. I’ll be doing a short, 100 word review of the movie that I will be submitting to The Des Moines Register as part of an online contest where they are looking to hire a new stable of reviewers. I wrote a post about it on Friday. There’s an online component to this competition. They’re going to select a handful of reviews and let their readers decide which one’s the like best. The reviewers with the most votes get added to the team. I’m going to call you guys in for backup when the time comes. Until then, keep your eyes peeled.
I was going to tell a story about the trials we went through to get there, but I have a comic about Reign Over Me in mind for Wednesday and I think I’ll wait to share it then. We’ll be talking about Reign Over Me during tonight’s Triple Feature talkcast and I might tell the story there, so you might get a little preview. We’ll also be talking about Netflix and the rumor that the company is attempting to make deals with local public libraries to distribute through them. We’re still doing a little bit of research on that one, so it’ll be interesting to see how it shakes out.
If neither of those options interest you, what about the promise of free stuff?
In a partnership with 20th Century Fox, I will be giving away copies of Copying Beethoven starring Ed Harris and which will be coming out on DVD next Tuesday, April 3rd. But the only way you can win is if you listen to tonight’s show.
At the end of the broadcast, I will be sharing one half of a secret code. Listen in and write it down. Then, be sure to come back to Theater Hopper on Wednesday for the second half of the secret code that will be right here in the blog. Send in the complete code to theaterhopper@hotmail.com with the subject "Beethoven" along with you name, age and full mailing address and the winners will be selected at random!
It would be great if we could get a lot of participation on this one. The more we generate buzz for this promotion, the greater likelihood that we’ll be able to do bigger and better promotions like this one in the future! So remember The Triple Feature talkcast TONIGHT at 9:00 PM CST.
In the meantime, be sure to check out Copying Beethoven when it comes out on DVD April 3rd!
See you then!
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Okay, I feel a little guilty for enjoying this as much as I did because it depict what Will Ferrell does as an interchangeable series of predictable routines and I think that’s oversimplifying things a bit.
All the same, check out College Humor’s Will Ferrell Movie Generator and prepare to laugh.
It was the inclusion of the completely random catch phrases and quotes that did it for me.
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In Wednesday’s blog I talked about today’s comic being a continuation on our discussion of the subjectivity of comedy. I’m also aware that I mentioned Tom would be on the receiving end of additional come-uppance for his negative comments toward Witless Protection and fans of Larry the Cable Guy.
Then I hit on this idea of a perpetual cycle of abuse involving atomic wedgies and I had to go that route.
Jared’s opinion of Will Ferrell has been stated once before and the outcome was similarly disasterous. So it’s nice to revisit that motif while maintaining continuity.
Back to our conversation about subjectivity in comedy… It’s not really fair for me to pick on fans of Larry the Cable Guy because I am a die hard Will Ferrell fan and am waiting in breathless anticipation for his new movie Semi-Pro, coming out next Friday.
In my rational mind, I know that this is just another dip in the same well for Ferrell. Again he plays a paunchy, unweildy sports start who fancies himself God’s gift to women. It’s a character we’ve seen him play several times before and the odds of diminishing returns are stacked against a film like Semi-Pro because there’s only so many times you can do the same thing before audiences get bored. Just ask Mike Meyers.
It’s somewhat depressing to me that Ferrell chose to make Semi-Pro so soon after Blades of Glory. Considering the range and emotional maturity he displayed in Stranger Than Fiction, I had kind of hoped he would be more attracted to those kinds of roles and that he would “return to his roots,” so to speak, only when it was financial necessity or if he had to raise his profile a little.
I think fans like me are never going to get tired of his buffoonish persona. But good things come in small doses. I mean, both Old School Dos and a potential sequel to Anchorman are in the works. That’ll keep me happy for the next 10 years. But don’t lower your stock by putting out a half dozen sports comedies in the meantime.
Excuse me. I slid off into a rant.
My point (contrary to the tone of the last few paragraphs) is that I LIKE Will Ferrell. I like him a lot. I like him to the detriment of my own time, money and patience. I like him to the point that I wlll see him in nearly any movie he’s in just for a glimpse of something brilliant or some quotable line that I’ll be regurgitating for the next two weeks. You’re talking to the guy who saw Ferrell’s remake of Bewitched IN. THE. THEATER!
So, in other words, I probably shouldn’t be throwing stones at the Larry the Cable Guy fans.
That’s all I’ve got for now. QUICK REMINDER – Me and The Triple Feature crew will be doing a special post-Oscars broadcast Sunday night at 11:00 PM CST. We’re going to give your our gut reaction to the awards ceremony while it’s still fresh in our heads. What do we think of the winners? Who got screwed? Who’s wearing the prettiest dress? All that jazz. Then, Monday, we’re doing our regular show at our regular time with a more in-depth discussion of the Oscar telecast while we take your calls.
For those of you who don’t know (maybe those of you reading this post over at FirstShowing.net), The Triple Feature is a podcast that I host every Monday night with two of my web comic buddies. Both of my friends write and draw their own movie-related webcomics. Joe Dun from Joe Loves Crappy Movies and Gordon McAlpin from Multiplex. We’ve known each other for a few years, have hung out at conventions together and then in late 2006 decided “Hey! We all like talking about movies! Let’s start a podcast!”
And The Triple Feature was born.
We host our podcast at TalkShoe.com and we love it because it allows us to record our show in real-time while accepting calls from listeners and fielding discussion topics in the same-time chat field they offer. If you’ve never listened to a podcast through Talk Shoe, you should give it a try. We love communicating with our listeners and love it when they call in to ask us questions! Sign up now so you’ll be ready for the next two shows!
So, remember – post-Oscar show at 11:00 PM CST Sunday and full recap of the Oscars Monday at 9:00 PM CST. Mark it down on your calendars and we’ll see you then!
Have a great weekend, everybody!
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I know I kind of covered a little ground already in regards to Semi-Pro, but I decided to revisit that territory after having the chance to sit down and watch the film over the weekend.
How was it? In a word – “terrible.”
You have no idea what the weight of that lone word means coming out of my mouth. I’m a huge Will Ferrell fan. How huge? How about “A Night at the Roxbury wasn’t that bad” huge? I’m willing to forgive a lot when it comes to Ferrell’s misfires.
I’ve never been able to fully explain what it is about Ferrell I find so interesting. I think the majority of it has to do with his delivery. Just the way he’ll put emphasis on a certain word in a sentance hit me just right.
For example, there’s a scene in the trailer where a woman suspiciously asks Ferrell’s minor-league basketball lethario Jackie Moon if he’s ever been to an orgy…
“I just GOT BACK from an orgy!” he responds, incredulously.
On paper… not funny. But Ferrell makes it funny.
Incidentally, that scene is nowhere NEAR the final cut of the movie. Actually, there are a lot of scenes in the trailer that aren’t in the movie. The thing is, even if you tossed them back in, I don’t think it would have made a lick of difference.
That’s the problem with this train wreck – it has no direction from an editorial standpoint. So the jokes that are mixed in to the plot have no anchor to the events happening inside said plot. Everything feels very random or loosely tethered together at best. You could have swapped out any of those missing scenes from the trailers with the final cut and not gained anything.
If you’re unaware, Semi-Pro is about a minor-league 1970’s basketball team – the Flint, Michigan Tropics – who have a chance to be absorbed into the NBA after a franchise merger. They’re lead by owner / coach / power-forward Jackie Moon, who cami into posession of the team with the earnings of his #1 hit single “Love Me Sexy” – which really only exists to give Ferrell the opportunity to sing a goofy disco-era sex ballad. It works. The song is damn catchy.
The movie does a good job establishing Moon and a tireless, inventive and somewhat reckless promoter who will do anything for his team. But when shallow stunts fail to draw in the crowds Moon needs to be considered for the merger, he brings in former NBA Champion Ed Monix, played by Woody Harrelson. And it’s at this point that the movie comes completely off the rails.
Narratively, it wouldn’t be interesting to watch an entire movie of endless promotional schemes cooked up by Ferrell’s character. Actual basketball has to come into play. So Harrelson as Monix attempts to whip the team into shape in order to win a few games. Traded for a washing machine, the real reason he accepted the gig is to be closer to a former flame played by Maura Tierney who happens to be dating Monix’s biggest fan played by Rob Corddry.
These are all distraction that subtract focus away from Ferrell. Not that Ferrell can’t be an effective ensemble player. His tenure on Saturday Night Live and his apperances in Anchorman and Old School prove that.
The problem is that you have two divergent storylines going on. Monix’s attempt to rekindle his relationship has nothing to do with the Tropics winning “the big game” or anything else, for that matter. What’s worse is that Harrelson appears to be playing the role completely straight. We’ve al seen what Harrelson can do in a movie like Kingpin. It’s a shame he didn’t bring a little more of that to the table.
Someone who also plays it straight is Andrew Daly, who plays the Tropics play-by-play commentator – and he gets more laughs doing it. In fact, I’d say he stole the picture right out from under everyone else. No small feat considering the level of (supposed) comedic talent available in this movie.
Semi-Pro ranks as one of Ferrell’s worst. It’s right up there with Kicking and Screaming and Bewitched, if you ask me. What makes it that much more of a dissapointment is the potential lost. Considering this film seems to mix the two obscure genre’s Ferrell has mined some of his best gags from – 70’s kitched and weird sports – you’d think it would be a home run. Instead it comes off like a desperate, garbled mess.
In fact, you can instantly see how desperate the film is considering the high number of obscenities in the picture. I’m all for a comedy reaching for the hard “R” rating is what’s being offered is shocking or outrageous. But in Semi-Pro, they’re just throwing it around casually. And, believe me, you’ve never noticed how much Will Ferrell DOESN’T swear in his movies until you sit through a film where he does almost NOTHING BUT swear through the entire running time.
If you’re a Ferrell fan like me, stay far, far away from Semi-Pro. Instead, watch this trailer for his next movie, Step Brothers with John C. Reily – which looks much more promising.
That said, I’m sure that we’ll have LOTS to go over tonight during our LIVE broadcast of The Triple Feature podcast over at TalkShoe.com. Be sure to join us at 9:00PM CST with your comments and opinions! We’d be happy to take your calls!
BE THERE!
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