Archive for ‘Blog’
644 items.
Okay, this was the post that you were meant to read this morning, but the one I couldn’t get to until I put Henry down for his afternoon nap.
Regarding Transformers, that can wait. I’m going to be talking about it all week, so there’s no need to dive neck-deep into it now.
Although, I must confess today’s strip is autobiographical. I’m less interested in seeing the movie than I am in finding out how they wrote Shia LaBeouf’s hand injury into the storyline. I anticipate that it will be richly satisfying.
Anyway… onto business.
As you know, a few weeks ago I lost my job. This came at a bad time for a lot of reasons, but one among the myriad of reasons is that I was about to send my registration for Artist Alley at Wizard World Chicago, August 6 – 9. Losing my job halted that action in it’s tracks.
Although Theater Hopper is its own entity and has its own money, I wasn’t sure if it was appropriate to attend a convention when I might have to dip into that money once my severance is gone.
I won’t bore you with the mental tug-of-war I put myself in the middle of. But, eventually, when I talked to Cami about it, she didn’t see where there was a problem and told me to go for it. Bless her for being as supportive as she is.
So, long story short, I’m going. I’m sharing a table with Zach Miller from Joe and Monkey, hanging out with the guys from Digital Pimp Online and hopefully selling some new merchandise.
Ah, but there’s the rub. I don’t exactly HAVE any new merchandise.
People who pre-ordered Theater Hopper: Year Three know this. I’ve been sitting on a finished draft of that book for months, but I haven’t had the money to have it printed up. Pre-orders stalled and I’m still trying to raise funds.
I thought I would bolster that effort by designing a new shirt – Spoiler Alert! – in hopes that the revenue from the sale of those shirts would help bridge the gap on the funds I need to print the book.
That didn’t happen, either.
I’m not pointing fingers at anyone but myself. In all honesty, I haven’t been talking about Year Three or the new shirt. So, beyond the intifada announcement, why would I expect there to be any orders? I haven’t been talking about it, so people haven’t been ordering. It’s really that simple.
Well, here’s what I’m going to do: I’m going to kick my plan back into gear and I’m trying to push the Spoiler Alert! tees hard before I go to Wizard World Chicago. I’m confident that this design will be a big seller in Chicago and I want to get this shirt to the printer before I leave for the convention.
With your help, I can raise the money I need to get the shirts printed up, take to Chicago and produce the profit I need to put Year Three back on track for publication.
To help us with our goal, I’ve created this handy bar graph:
As you can see, I need a minimum of 50 shirt orders before July 31 to make this work. If I can sell more than that, great. If the sale of merchandise extends beyond the Spoiler Alert! shirt and into the Spoiler 1 and 2 shirts, the Theater Hopper: Year One or Year Two books… that’d be great as well! Every little bit helps! What’s important is that we inch that bar to the left as far as we can before July 31.
I’ve been gun shy about this kind of promotion since Theater Hopper: Year Two came out in the fall of 2007. Well, I can’t afford to sit on my hands any longer. I’ve set a goal for myself and I need your help! So let’s see what we can do about racking up some pre-orders!!!
As always, I appreciate your support, patience and enthusiasm. Thanks again and I will talk to you soon!
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Before I forget, I want to remind everyone to check out The Triple Feature podcast at 9:00 PM CST.
Tonight we’re discussing Moon, The Proposal and Year One.
Also, as a special treat, in partnership with MovieMake-Out.com, we’re discussing our picks for the Top 10 Best Sci-Fi movies with special guest Trisha Lynn!
We might go a little longer than our usual hour-long recording time, so know that you’re going to get your money’s worth!
BE THERE!
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Yesterday the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that it would be widening the field of nominees for Best Picture from 5 to 10.
When I first heard the news I though, “Hmm, that’s interesting.” But the more I think about it, the more upset I become.
This isn’t the first time the Academy has nominated 10 films for Best Picture. In fact, it was par for the course when the awards show was created back in the 1930s and was a practice they continued well into the 1940s.
But the big difference these days is that there are FAR fewer studios producing movies and a much smaller number of films being released each year. Also, the Oscar’s weren’t broadcast until 1953. So what’s the real reason behind widening the field to 10?
Follow the money.
If you ask me, this is all one huge money-making scheme. 10 films get nominated and now 10 films are “must see” in the theater. If you don’t catch them in the theater, now studios can slap the “Oscar nominated” title on the DVD and claim their film is an avatar of quality. If you don’t catch it on DVD, maybe you’ll watch the Oscar broadcast because – hey – something is new and different! Nevermind all of the entertainment media that will now be forced to write about, speculate, categorize, rank and rate 10 Best Picture nominees.
Remember the Oscars last year when they didn’t have a host and instead had actors come up and give little speeches to the nominees about how great they are. Remember that Zac Efron was one of those presenters?
Yeah… this 10 nominations thing is just another gimmick, but on a much larger scale.
My question is, if they’re going to nominate 10 films for Best Picture, then why not 10 nominees for Best Director? How many films have won Best Picture without their directors winning in their categories? Why not 10 Best Actors, Best Actresses?
Some of you probably think that 10 Best Picture nominations is a good thing. Would Wall-E or The Dark Night have been nominated last year under this structure? Will this open the door to more independent movies being recognized by the Academy and a larger audience? Perhaps.
But if they’re going to widen the field this far, then the Academy needs to get ride of “ghettoized” categories like “Best Foreign Language Film,” “Best Animated Feature Film” and “Best Documentary Feature.” All of them are ridiculous categories to begin with and treats their genre’s like second class citizens. Any of the films nominated in those categories can stand shoulder-to-shoulder with films from other genres.
Well, except Bolt. Seriously, what were they thinking nominating that last year?
What the Academy fails to realize – especially when they attempt these naked gimmicks to boost their ratings – is that movie goers haven’t lost interest in because they’ve become bored with the tradition. If anything, that’s THE REASON they huddle around their television each year.
No. People have become disenfranchised from the Oscar’s because their choices reflect no sincerity, originality or taste. That, coupled with the fact that a Best Picture nomination has become a political campaign among the studios to jockey for a position at the end of the year that will increase their odds of the Academy (and their narrow memories) to nominate their films.
The Reader, for example, was sent to theaters in limited release on December 10 to meet the Oscar deadline but wasn’t released wide until January 9. By then, reviews were ancient, no one was talking about it and demand for the film was nil. It barely reached middle America except in a few art houses. How are we supposed to get excited for a film like this when there is no opportunity to see it?
If this change results in sincere diversity among the Best Picture nominees, then I will happily eat crow. If Up is nominated alongside The Hurt Locker, no one will be more pleased than me.
But I see no reason for the Academy’s decision to remotely change how Hollywood does business. The studios have a formula and they’re sticking to it. The rest of us are just along for the ride.
What is your reaction to the Academy’s announcement? Are you excited for the change of pace or do you thing the Academy has an ulterior motivation. Do 10 Best Picture nominations dilute the value of the Oscars or is the trophy bragging rights and not an indicator of true quality?
Leave your comments below! Let’s get a dialogue going!
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I just wanted to take a moment to call attention to a new advertisement we have running next to the comic. It’s called R8 IT and it’s a polling application sponsored by NCM.
Basically, it asks you questions about current movies and you rank them. Questions like “Rate Megan Fox’s foxiness” or “Optimus Prime on the big screen versus the original toy.” from Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Fun stuff. The great thing about the app is that you can submit your contact information for a chance to win FREE MOVIE TICKETS FOR ONE YEAR!
There are other features as well. From the app you can access showtimes, trailers, photos and more information about current movies.
NCM is kind of a big deal when it comes to delivering relevant content to movie related web sites. So I encourage you to check out the application, explore a little bit and take advantage of the promotional information they’re serving up through the site. It’s very cool.
Thanks and talk to you soon!
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Last Monday I posted to the site my goal of selling some merchandise to help me raise the money I need to send the Spoiler Alert t-shirt design to the printer. Consequentially, I would complete the pre-orders and take the rest of the inventory to Wizard World Chicago on August 6 and take the profits made from the convention to help bankroll the production of Theater Hopper: Year Three.
I created a little graphic that went into the blog posts but realized pretty quickly that a visual aid such as this was easy to ignore. So I made a little cosmetic change to the header of the site in hopes of strongly reinforcing my goal and the progress made so far.
Please help me meet my goal of selling 50 shirts by July 31. It doesn’t have to be the Spoiler Alert shirt. It can be any of the shirts. They all cost the same and the money goes to the same goal.
Thousands of you come to the site every day. I only need a fraction of you to help make this possible. If you’ve been thinking at all about buying a book or a shirt, now is the time to do it.
I appreciate your support.
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I get sent news releases, trailers and photos from studios all the time and I generally do a very poor job of passing them on to you.
Part of the reason behind this is because there are a million and one movie blogs and they all tend to post the same stuff at the same time. So there’s no reason Theater Hopper will ever become your exclusive outlet for this kind of thing.
The other piece of the puzzle is, frankly… a lot of the stuff I’m sent is crap. Or at least *I* think it’s crap. If you’d like to see more photos, trailers and press releases from the studios here on the site, let me know. Maybe it will lead to something.
Anyway, I was just sent a trailer for a movie I am legitimately excited to see – Judd Apatow’s Funny People coming out on July 31.
Be forewarned that this is the red band trailer, so the language is a little salty. But if you’ve seen The 40 Year-Old Virgin or Knocked Up, you’re probably already on board with it.
Anyway, enjoy!
For a little extra fun, check out some of the web sites created in support of the film – several of them featuring work from different characters in the film!
So what do you guys think? Are you interested in seeing Funny People? I think it’s going to be interesting to watch Adam Sandler interact with other talented comedians. His films tend to isolate him, put the focus on him. I’m curious to see how he handles himself in an ensemble.
For me, Funny People kind of feels like the last hurrah of the blockbuster season. Yeah, yeah – I know G.I. Joe – The Rise of Cobra comes out after that. But does anyone think that counts?
Leave your comments below!
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I posted the red band trailer for Funny People on Wednesday and informally polled people if they were interested in seeing more of the promotional communication sent my way by the studios. I’ve been reluctant to post them partially because of the time commitment but largely because I assumed you guys were getting this information elsewhere.
I was surprised by how many of you said that Theater Hopper was the only site you go to for movie news. Which is… really flattering. Actually, it makes me feel like I’ve been lying down on the job!
So, until people tell me otherwise, I’m going to keep floating stuff your way. And, at the risk of looking like a complete hypocrite, here’s some stuff for Bruno. Which, as you know, is in theaters today, Friday, July 10.
Fandango Free Ringtone Ticketing Promotion Page
Buy tickets in advance for BRÜNO and choose one of three FREE exclusive ringtones! To get your tickets, check out http://www.fandango.com/promo/bruno!
Live The Life of Brüno!
Want to know what it’s like to be Brüno and get plugged in to the latest and greatest in entertainment, fashion, and celebrity? Then you need to be at the 2010 NewNowNext Awards! Enter now, and you and a friend will have a chance to win your very own tickets to next year’s show! http://www.logoonline.com/sweepstakes/bruno/
You could win:
- A trip for two to New York City to attend the 2010 NewNowNext Awards
- Two nights accommodations at a boutique hotel
- VIP tickets to the event
- Red carpet access and the opportunity to speak with presenters, nominees and guests
- A chance to write a blog post for NewNowNext.com about your red carpet experience
Brüno Playlist
Do you want to know about Brüno’s favorite singers? Or better yet, do you want to hear Brüno sing? Then check out his personal Playlist page and listen to artists like George Michael and tune in to Brüno’s awesome new hit, “In Oder Aus!” http://www.playlist.com/brunomovie
Enjoy!
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This has nothing to do with the comic. But it’s a funny little story related to my hand injury that just popped into my head that I thought you would enjoy.
This took place last Thursday, the day after my visit to the ER. I wasn’t doing much of anything that day except sitting around with an ice pack on my hand, admonishing myself, going “Owie, owie, owie, you stupid muther…”
At some point in the afternoon, there was a knock on my door. I went upstairs to see who it was and it was a solicitor.
A clean-shaven middle-aged man with a handful of pictures informed me that he was going door-to-door asking home owners if they would appreciate his business painting their house numbers on the curb in front of their homes.
“Perhaps you’re familiar with our work,” he asked, as he flashed a series of photographs in front of me. Most of the photographs were of plain house numbers. But some of them were also adorned with the logos of popular sports teams. A Chicago Cubs logo here, a Kansas City Chiefs logo there.
“No, I’m afraid I’m not familiar with your work,” I said.
“You know, the real reason you want to get your numbers painted on the curb,” the man said as he continued his pitch, “is because they’re much more visible to emergency vehicles. These emergency vehicles can’t see the house numbers when they’re so far away from the street.”
“That’s funny,” I said, holding up my bandaged left hand, “because we actually had a little situation here yesterday that required a visit from an emergency vehicle and they seemed to find the house just fine!”
“Uh? Oh! Oh my,” the man stuttered.
“I’m not trying to give you a hard time,” I said. “I understand what you’re doing. But I don’t think we’ll be in need of your services.”
We wished each other well and the man went on his way.
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A couple of people expressed interest in seeing a photo of my stitches. So, while changing the dressing on my hand last night, I snapped a shot and posted it from my Twitter account.
It’s not for the faint of heart, so I’m not posting the image here in the blog. But if you follow this link, you can see the damage I did to myself.
Enjoy?
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