The events in today's strip are 100% true. Cami and I did go to see Lost in Translation on Friday night and the picture was out of frame for nearly 3/4ths of the movie.

Why didn't I go into the lobby and try to find an employee to fix it? The answer to that question, dear reader, will be revealed on Wednesday. In fact, the rest of the week will be devoted to this grand annoyance.

Maybe it's a little cheap to take a real life event and stretch it across a full week of content - but frankly, I find this kind of lackluster presentation disgusting. Since I have a forum unto which I can air my grievances, I plan on doing just that.

I apologize if all the strips aren't "piss-your-pants" funny. But perhaps you can appreciate them on a observational level.

It just that indie theaters are supposed to be the last refuge from this kind of laziness. Art houses are supposed to cater to the kind of people who actually CARE about movies - about content, presentation and quality! Now we're getting the shaft in our last safe haven? Where else can we turn?

What I managed to watch of Lost in Translation, I immediately liked. I knew half way through that I would probably see the film again (if it ever comes to another theater) and would instantly own it on DVD once it becomes available.

Bill Murray's performance was heartbreaking. I won't give away any particular scenes, but in several of them, he does such great emoting with his eyes and his expressions, you know exactly how his character is feeling. If people cried foul when the Academy didn't nominate him from Rushmore, they'll riot in the streets if he doesn't get a nod from Translation.

The movie does a great job of interpreting the experience of travel in a different country - how it can be both exhilarating and terrifying.

Tokyo was a city I've wanted to go to all my life. While I was watching the movie, I didn't want to go there anymore. Through the characters eyes, it's a very scary place. Very busy. Very loud.

But as things progressed, I grew comfortable in the surroundings just like the characters. Now I want to go there more than ever.

I'm going to cut the blog short for now because there are still things I want to talk about for Wednesday and Friday. Plus, I'm working on a great poster for FallCon in Minnesota this Saturday and Sunday. Did I mention I was going to that? I am.

Cami and I were actually excited to see Cold Creek Manor this weekend, but if its 5th place showing at the box office was any indication, the rest of the nation figured out its horrible secret just like we did.

The previews for this movie made it look like a classic haunted house story - which I'm always up for. Poltergeist, for example, is one of my favorite movies.

Instead, after reading several reviews, the plot was revealed to be some kind of country bumpkin vs. city slicker stalker fantasy in the vein of Cape Fear.

I'll buy Dennis Quaid and Sharon Stone as the beleaguered gothamites. But casting Stephen Dorff as the backwoods tormentor is laughable. That guy is L.A. to the bone. I guess they cast Juliette Lewis as his white trash girlfriend - but hasn't she covered this territory before in movies like Natural Born Killers and, well Cape Fear?

I don't know if there would have been as big a backlash if the producers of the film simply fessed up and cut the trailer that represented the movie they made. But I guess Hollywood thinks they can still pull the wool over our eyes.

What the hell happened to Mike Figgis? Back when he directed Leaving Las Vegas, people were holding him up as the next best thing. That was a great movie, and he comes back with this crap?

Dennis Quaid will survive. He still has momentum from The Rookie and an excellent turn in Far From Heaven.

Sharon Stone? Four years after The Muse and Gloria, she still can't pick a lead role to save her life. Here's hoping her supporting performance in the forthcoming Catwoman will treat us to the icy sex queen we come to know and love.