Theater Hopper
About Links Store Contact Thorum

Archive for October 3rd, 2005

2 items.
Oct03

THE JACKET WAS TWEED

October 3rd, 2005 | by Tom
  • Comics
1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars6 Stars7 Stars8 Stars9 Stars10 Stars
(6 votes, average: 8.00 out of 10)
THE JACKET WAS TWEED

Tom asks the question that all intellectuals have sought the answer to for generations.

I recently switched out the style on my incentive sketches so that they actually looked more like sketches. Novel idea, I know. But things were starting to get a little too polished. Plus, I had a few requests in the THorum to leave the pencil lines in. Some people were curious as to my technique. Yup. Really pulling back the veil here. Check it out, if you’re interested.

I wanted today’s comic to be more of a commentary on the lack of any quality film this year akin to the message delivered last Wednesday. Instead it turned into a larger commentary on media at-large.

The monkey smoking on "tee-vee" was literally something I was watching as I drew the strip last night. Cami had America’s Funniest Home Videos on in the background (now in it’s 16th season!) I failed to see the humor in a many training a monkey to grip a cigarette and pursing it between its lips. Yet the canned laughter coming from the audience seemed to find it uproarious!

I dunno. Things are getting better. Cami and I are actually looking at the docket of films to be released this week and are excited again. In Her Shoes is very much at the top of our list. Waiting… and Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit seem like fun matine diversions. Big weekend ahead. We’re both chomping at the bit to see Cameron Crowe’s Elizabethtown on the 14th.

We didn’t get a chance to see A History of Violence, which I am still pressing for. But both of us have our radar up for Capote, which I hear delivers a phenomenal performance by Philip Seymour Hoffman. Gotta see that before it slides out of the art houses.

I will claim a major victory this weekend in that I got Cami to watch Citizen Kane on Friday night. I know it was a successful initiative when she was talking about it two days later. She even brought it up to her parents when we had lunch with them today!

I know it sounds like hyperbole to categorize Citizen Kane as the best movie ever. Certainly enough critics have adorned it with that title. But if you haven’t seen it yet, you owe it to yourself. Admire the direction and how almost every movie since then has stolen from it. If you enjoy the film and dig deeper, it’s history is fascinating.

For example, most people know that Orson Welles was taking aim at media mogul William Randolph Hearst by mirroring his life as a scoundrel. Did you know that Hearst banned any review of the film in any of his papers and that blacklisting remained in effect until the 1970’s until finally the Los Angeles Times reviewed it?

Did you know at the time of its release in 1940, the film was a commercial and critical flop. Even when its name was read at that year’s Academy Awards, it was booed by the audience. It wasn’t until it was re-released 9 years later in 1950 that it began to gain critical acclaim.

Appreciate some of the finer nuances of the direction like how all the important characters are shot from low angles to give them a looming presence and how all the secondary characters are shot from up high to make them look diminished.

Also note the ceilings on most of the sets. This was totally unheard of in the 1940’s when most movies were filmed on sound stages. Or how Welles and cinematographer Gregg Toland pioneered "deep focus", a technique that keeps every object in the foreground, center, and background in simultaneous focus.

It’s a watershed film in every sense of the word. Go rent it. Hell – BUY it now.

└ Tags: give up, intellect, jacket, Monkey, smoking, spectacles, thesaurus
[ No Comments ]

ALL ABOARD!

October 3rd, 2005 | by Tom
Posted In: Blog

Eagle-eyed regulars to the site will have noticed that I’m adjusting a few things in the space between the comic and the blog.

Those whose senses are keener will notice that I have forgone my membership with Dayfree Press and joined forces with the good people at Boxcar Comics.

If you tend to make the rounds in web comics circles, this is already old news. I just made the switch today and already word has traveled fast. Feels like I’m playing catch-up to my own decisions. It’s flatting, I suppose. It means you guys are still interested.

>Why the big move? It’s nothing against Dayfree. I’ve been with those guys since the beginning and I think they are all wonderful, creative, hard-working people. I have learned from them in a myriad of ways. How to communicate with you guys better, for example. How to set up a store. How to set up a forum. What resources to explore. Basically every question I ever had about publishing on-line, odds were strong that someone over there had the answer to your problem.

Boxcar offers a very similar community environment, similar traffic-sharing opportunities and support. What makes this group more appealing when they’ve been around less than 6 months versus Dayfree which has been around for two years?

It wasn’t an easy decision, I can tell you that. I knew about Boxcar from the very beginning. Zach from Joe and Monkey would talk to me about it all the time. I kept it at arm’s-length because nothing had materialized yet and I didn’t like the idea of turning my back on the creators at Dayfree.

But as the months progressed and things took shape, I knew it was a matter of time before I switched sides. It’s not because Boxcar was able to assemble a stronger roster of comics. Not that at all. In fact, I think both Dayfree and Boxcar are equally strong. What turned the tide was really quite simple.

After nearly three and a half years of making this web comic, I wouldn’t have gotten twice as far without friends. Zach from Joe and Monkey, Mitch from Nothing Nice to Say and Joe Dunn from The Coffee Achievers. These are all guys I know personally. We’ve been to comic book conventions together. Shared meals and had drinks. Laughed our asses off and told stories. Some of them I’ve been e-mailing since we started this crazy racket. We came up together. They’re close friends. People I never thought I would meet in my lifetime and they’re some of the most sincere confidants one could wish for. I tore me up to see these guys ∗over here∗ and there I was ∗over there∗

So I had to make the switch.

My leaving Dayfree is not and indicator of their quality. I have come to know and love each of the comics that are stabled there and plan to continue supporting them through words and deeds. Like I said before, they all do great work. I plan to keep reading every one of their comics.

But sometimes opportunity knocks and you have to answer.

Godspeed to Dayfree. Thanks for all you’ve done.

└ Tags: Boxcar Comics, Dayfree Press, Joe and Monkey, Mitch Clem, Nothing Nice to Say, Zach Miller
[ No Comments ]

Related Posts ¬

    Dec 30, 2005THE YEAR IN REVIEW
    Apr 3, 2006KUDOS TO ZACH
    Aug 3, 2005I WANNA BE THE CABOOSE!
    Sep 1, 2004THE WORLD OF BUZZCOMIX
    Jan 3, 2005IT’S AWESOME

Archives

    Tweets by @tombrazelton
    • The Comic
    • The Author
    • The Cast
    • Supporting
      Theater Hopper
    • Press
    • Ranked Comics
    • Year Three Backers
    Enter your email address:

    Delivered by FeedBurner

    Tag Cloud

    Adam Sandler advertising announcement auction Ben Affleck buzzComix Charlie Christmas costume death dream dress up DVD fire first appearance Guest Strip Halloween help Hollywood Iron Man Iron Man 2 Jimmy Joe and Monkey Joe Dunn Nothing Nice to Say Oscar Oscars Pixar podcast punch review Robert Downey Jr. Shia LaBeouf Spider-Man store theater The Triple Feature Top Web Comics trailer Truman Victor vote voting Wizard World Chicago Zach Miller
    HOME | ABOUT | LINKS | STORE | CONTACT | TOP RATED
    THEATER HOPPER by Tom Brazelton - The internet's longest running movie-themed webcomic. Updating every Monday, Wednesday and Friday since 2002. All content © Tom Brazelton, Theater Hopper Inc. 2002 - 2009 unless otherwise noted. Please seek author's permission before reproduction. // Privacy Policy

    Integrated by Frumph |Powered by WordPress with ComicPress |Subscribe: RSS