Posts Tagged ‘Beowulf’
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When I came up with the joke for today’s comic, I thought it one of the most clever things I’d ever written. But I think something got lost in translation because I’m not sure I executed it at the level I was imagining it. I feel like I’m trying to find my sea legs after spending so much time on the Shia LaBeouf arc.
I saw Beowulf over the weekend and liked it. I’m kind of surprised at some of the reactions I’ve been reading online. Some people like and and some people really hate it. I have to admit that there is some pretty bad dialogue in the film and there are some shades of “THIS! IS! SPARTA!” in the delivery. But for the most, part I give it a pass simply because it kind of makes sense that people in the middle ages would kind of talk like idiots, right?
I saw the movie in Digital 3D which I wasn’t aware was even an option until a few hours before I went to see the film. I haven’t seen a 3D movie in years, so it was a real treat. The effects weren’t all that obnoxious, but there were a few you could tell were thrown in to tweak the audience. Obviously I don’t have the basis for comparison seeing it in a “standard” format, but I felt watching it in 3D really put me closer to the action and I felt like I was able to pick up much more detail in the animation that I wouldn’t have been able to otherwise.
There’s lots I want to talk about with this film. Everything from the story to the performances to the rotoscoping technology behind the animation. But I’m sitting on my comments. Part of me wants to write a complete review for tomorrow and the other part knows that we’re probably going to talk this one to death on The Triple Feature tonight.
I guess if I was going to encapsulate Beowulf in a sound bite, I would say that my expectations were really low for the film because I was kind of offended by the concept that this motion capture stuff could be considered animation. I’m a traditionalist in that regard and part of me thinks that what Robert Zemekis is doing is a shortcut in the process.
On the other hand, I didn’t want to cast myself as a Luddite and as an animation fan in general, I owed it to myself to investigate this new technology.
The animation has problems, but you can tell they’ve made huge leaps forward since The Polar Express and now I’m kind of interested to see what’s next. My expectations were low and I think that’s why I ended up enjoying the film as much as I did.
Be sure to listen to The Triple Feature podcast tonight at 9:00 PM CST over at TalkShoe.com. I think all three of us have seen the film, so I’m sure there’s going to be a lot of crossfire. More than likely you’ll hear something you can attach yourself to, so check it out!
That’s it for now. See you tomorrow!
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I don’t know how one starts a comic about Beowulf’s 3D glasses and wraps it up with a joke about mopping and waxing a wood floor, but by Jove I’ve done it!
Originally, my joke for this comic was about the warning on the package of the 3-D glasses handed out to the audience at the Digital 3-D or “Real D” (ugh) screenings of Beowulf. It instructed us not to wear the 3-D glasses as substitutes for sunglasses. The practical reason is because they wouldn’t offer and protection against HARMFUL U-V RAYS!!! But in the comic, I was going to make a joke about the glasses that they reveal something horrible about an individual that only the wearer could see. You know, like a reference to They Live. Very timely.
Of course, I don’t know if I’m winning any points in the timeliness department with my reference to Risky Business in today’s strip. But at least it’s slightly more well-known than They Live. I told Cami about the set up to this comic and she said “Will your readers even know what Risky Business is?”
I’m assuming if you’re here, you’re movie-savvy and if you haven’t seen the movie itself, you’ve at least familiar with the scene where Tom Cruise skids across the foyer in his tube socks, underwear lip synching Bob Seger’s “Old Time Rock ‘n Roll.”
He doesn’t wear his Ray Ban’s in that scene, but he does in the movie poster.
That said, do the 3-D glasses from Beowulf really look like Ray Ban’s? You be the judge!
Okay, so maybe not. But it was the first thing I thought of.
(Man, this argument is crumbling all around me!)
Just ignore the glasses for a second and focus on the delightful banter between Tom and Cami in today’s strip. That’s probably what I’m most proud of. There’s always been a relationship angle to Theater Hopper that I like to think plays a little higher since Tom and Cami are married (just like in real life!) and that’s been something missing from the comic for a while. I always enjoy it when Tom and Cami can flirt a little with each other, so I hope you got as much of a kick out of it as I did.
Sorry for not posting a Beowulf review yesterday. But as I predicted, we pretty much exhausted all there was to talk about on Monday’s Triple Feature talkcast. In fact, we may have over-estimated the amount of stuff we were going to talk about because we kind of lose it in the last 10 minutes. Fun for a listen while you’re spacing off at work – download a copy for yourself today TOTALLY FREE!
That’s all I have for now. I’m going to try and shoot for one more comic on Friday, but I’m not sure how the Thanksgiving holiday is going to screw that up. We’re hosting this year and now we have a 9 month-old to add a little spice to the mix. I suppose he has enough relatives to keep him out of our hair for a little while. Should be fun!
Enjoy the holiday and if you’re traveling, be safe!
See you back here again soon!
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