Archive for January, 2011
22 items.
I don’t know about you guys, but I’m feeling pretty good about 2011.
After staring into space for 15 minutes, I returned from the abyss with this idea in mind and I smiled to myself. It’s such a simple and straight-forward joke, I’m shocked that – in eight years of making comics – I didn’t think of it sooner.
And if you’re under the impression that seeing a triple feature of Gulliver’s Travels, Yogi Bear and Little Fockers won’t leave you feeling hung over in the morning, you are free to test your skepticism in at your local multiplex. WILL YOU RISK IT?
In reality, our New Year’s Eve was pretty mild at the Brazelton residence. Cami and I don’t care for big parties. We went to Times Square to ring in 2004 and that kind of put us off New Year’s Eve celebrations for the rest of our lives.
Instead, we stayed close to the house, put Pearl to bed at 6:00, played Chutes and Ladders with Henry before putting him to bed, enjoyed a mixed drink, watched Andy Cohen’s “Wig Drop” on Bravo (still not sure how I got talked into watching that) and promptly went to bed at 12:01 AM.
But, hey. We’re old! What do you want?
At any rate, I hope everyone else had a safe and happy new year. Personally, I’m feeling very optimistic about 2011. Looking over the last two years of my life, I’m feeling a little bit impervious. Lost a job in 2009, lost friends and family members, suffered unemployment for a year, had a baby, found a job, moved into a new house and finished my Master’s degree.
If 2009 and 2010 couldn’t crush my spirit, what hope does 2011 have? Now is the time to assert my dominance, take 2011 over my knee and spank the ever-loving crap out of it. 2011 is MY year. Anyone else want a piece of the action?
I thought so. Let’s do this.
Happy New Year, one and all. If you’re feeling so bold, why don’t you tell us in the comments how you celebrated and what you’re planning to do in 2011 to make things great. I’m looking forward to your replies!
Cheers.
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I’m having a bit of a crisis as I write this blog. It took me a while to put together this 6 panel strip and I think I may have committed to the idea too early. Because I realized after I finished the comic, uploaded it and started writing the transcript for the web site that there really isn’t much of a punchline. Just an angry exchange.
There should have been more of a twist at the end. Maybe a bottle of Jergen’s falling out of Tom’s pocket, or something. “I HAVE DRY SKIN!” could have been his defense. Alas, I finished too early.
And if you think you can make a joke out of that last statement, the work is already half-way done for you.
The genesis of the comic’s plot came from a truthful place, however. I’ve been begging Cami to see Black Swan with me for weeks. She’s declined citing a certain level of discomfort with the much-publicized lesbian hook-up between Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis.
I’ve talked to friends who have seen the movie and they’ve confirmed it’s no big deal. Nothing graphic. But Cami has not been persuaded.
I don’t know exactly what kind of debauchery she thinks will be splashed on the screen, but she remains unconvinced that this is a movie she needs to see.
Truthfully, the shine has worn off a little bit for me as well. Now that the critical praise has died down, it’s evident to me that Black Swan is a Grade-A mind trip – a Darren Aronofsky specialty.
You have to be in the right frame of mind to watch Aronofsky’s films. They’re challenging and often uncomfortable. That’s a hard sell when you’re the parent of two small children and your movie choices are limited. Do you pick the film that entertains or the film that discombobulates you for three days?
Hey! You have work in the morning and the kids need their breakfast! Sorry, son. Daddy’s mind has been scrambled by an auteur who sought to explore the psycho-sexual underbelly of the bleeding arts.
Like I said – a tough sell.
I’m trying to convince Cami that she’ll be kicking herself when Portman wins the Oscar for Best Actress. At this point, it seems almost inevitable. She has the groundswell behind her and Academy voters are sheep. I don’t mean to imply she’s not deserving (without seeing the movie, I can’t say for sure). But when it comes to the Oscars, once a campaign goes in a certain direction, it’s hard to turn the tides.
I guess I’d like to talk to the family that thought this might be a good film to watch over the Christmas holiday when it originally came out. I imagine there were some grandmothers expecting an intriguing film about ballet that were in for a rude awakening…
How about you? Have you seen Black Swan yet? Does it live up to the hype? Was it everything you thought it would be? Leave your opinions in the comments below.
Oh, and also – if you have time – be sure to check out the new Bonus Materials section of the site. It’s a secondary blog where I post trailers, reviews and other movie-related odds and ends… Stuff that doesn’t really have a place on the home page or that is unrelated to the comic.
Credit where credit is due – I stole this idea completely from Gordon McAlpin’s Deleted Scenes blog over at Multiplex. But he gave me his blessing and things are cool. We’re like internet brothers who will loan each other our jackets on a windy day.
Aww…
Anyway, swing by the new blog. I’ll be updating it occasionally. Sometimes multiple times a day, sometimes not at all. I just wanted something untethered from the comic where I could post random bits. Y’know… someplace that WASN’T Facebook.
Although, in truth, they’re probably end up there as well.
Don’t forget to toss in your two cents about Black Swan! New comic next week! Cheers!
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I’m kind of interested in checking out The Mechanic. Not for Jason Statham. But I’m curious to see if the film takes advantage of Ben Foster’s innate “mad dog” quality. If you’ve seen 3:10 to Yuma, you know what I’m talking about. He overdid it in that flick, but a macho actioneer like The Mechanic would be the perfect outlet for that persona, don’t you think? The trailer seems to indicate he’s delivering an understated performance, which I think could be a mistake.
Thoughts?
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According to All Headline News, Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes are boycotting the Oscars this year because they were offended by co-host Anne Hathaway’s impersonation of Holmes when she hosted Saturday Night Live in November.
Quote All Headline News:
A source told the Daily mail, “Tom and Katie don’t want to cross paths with Anne. They used to be friends and took Anne to a Tina Turner concert in 2008 when Anne split up from her boyfriend Raffaello Follieri.”
“Katie feels they were really supportive at a difficult time so she feels let down that Anne took to national TV to make fun of her.”
“Anne didn’t even warn her it was going to be on TV.”
If you missed the sketch in question, Hulu still has it up on their site:
Personally, I thought the impersonation was fairly accurate and I remember it being well-received when reviews of Hathaway’s turn as host came in.
This leaves me to wonder, “Exactly how thin-skinned are Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes?” Considering the rest of the world now thinks of Katie Holmes as some kind of brainwashed Stepford Wife, Hathaway’s impersonation of her was fairly tame. To me, it came of as much more playful – almost affectionate.
If nothing else, this raises Hathaway’s cool-quotient in my book by, like, a million points. Pissing off Tom Cruise for fun and profit? WIN!
What’s your take?
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Since we recently received 7+ inches of snow here in Iowa yesterday, I thought sharing this video was appropriate…
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Lesse… take a little Independence Day, toss in some Michael Bay gung-ho, pro-military sentiment and sprinkle it with a dash of alien tech from District 9 and it looks like you’ve got the next big, dumb summer blockbuster on your hands!
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If you’re a comic book nerd like I am, yesterday was a big day in terms of publicity photos leaked to the internet of actors dressed up like super heroes.
I submit for your approval Andrew Garfield as Spider-Man and (from an upcoming issue of Entertainment Weekly) Chris Evans as Captain America.
At first glance, I don’t really have a problem with either of these costume designs. I like the streamlined look of the new Spider-Man costume and I think it’s kind of clever how they integrated the spider emblem on the front into the ribcage. I also noticed they did something a little different with the gloves and made them more pointed at the cuff. Most importantly, they took off the raised webbing of the previous costume, which I always thought was impractical.
I think the texture of the costume is a little weird. It looks like leather, or something. Like the original costume, I have a hard time believing that this is something Peter Parker could have stitched together on his own. Not that a comic book movie has to be 100% plausible. It’s just something that sticks out in my mind.
If you look closely, there appear to be shiny, metallic nubs on the wrists. Possible web-shooters, anyone? I’ll be very eager to see what that looks like on-screen.
As for Evans and his Captain America duds, it looks right for the most part – if a little bulky. I have no complaints about the wings being painted on to his helmet and I think they made the costume the right amount of blue. So he still looks like Captain America, but also doesn’t look like a walking cartoon.
The most important detail to get right for me is the shield and they’ve obviously done that, so I’m not too concerned with this look. It’s very much in-step with the Ultimates version of Captain America and that’s never a bad thing.
What’s your take on these costume photos? Leave your comments below!
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I think everyone was left scratching their heads when The Hollywood Foreign Press nominated The Tourist, Burlesque and Red for Best Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical. But, for me, it was the final revelation that the Emperor TRULY wears no clothes.
I mean, the Best Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical category has always been a bit off a goof. Especially considering that the two genres have very little (if anything) to do with each other. And besides, how many musicals does Hollywood produce a year? One? Maybe two?
When you look at the nominees in this category, you begin to understand why comedic actors are rarely nominated for Oscars. Because, apparently, what counts as “comedy” in that town is REALLY friggin’ subjective.
I missed the first hour of the Golden Globes because I was busy being a parent (or some such nonsense) and was reading Henry stories before putting him to bed. I kind of wish I had caught the first hour because I heard Trent Reznor won Best Score for his work in The Social Network, went on stage to collect his award and that would have been very surreal to see.
But I started watching in the second hour and after about :30 minutes, thought to myself, “I’d really rather be playing video games right now.”
I managed to stick it out for the rest of the show. Chalk it up to exhaustion and not wanting to get up off the couch. But as I laid there, I asked myself “How do I get sucked into this every year? How does The Hollywood Foreign Press manage to convince me that this is important? That they’re not plying all of these celebrities with booze so the can take pictures with them later? Why does this matter?”
I still haven’t come up with a good answer for you on that one, but I’ll be sure to get back to you when I do.
More than the nominees or the winners, it seems like people are talking about Ricky Gervais as the event’s host. I guess his opening monologue was pretty incendiary and Robert Downey Jr. shot back at one point. I missed that stuff.
The stuff I did manage to see I thought was a little mean-spirited. Not that I’m against knocking celebrities off their high horses (obviously), but I’ve always kind of found Gervais to be insufferable. It’s that snarky, know-it-all tone and ridiculous grin, I think.
No doubt that Gervais is devastatingly smart, but Gervais’s put downs are never about getting the target to laugh at themselves. It’s straight up insults – “You’re a drunk! You can’t get work! You’re stupid!” – and it’s not entertaining to watch.
As I pointed out on the Theater Hopper Facebook page, I was left with the distinct impression that Gervais was doing everything in his power NOT to be asked back as host next year. Mission accomplished, bro.
If you’re curious, I’ve posted all of the Golden Globe winners in the new Theater Hopper blog – Bonus Materials. Be sure to check that out. I float a lot of odds and ends in there, so be sure to check back often. Or, feel free to subscribe to the Theater Hopper RSS feed. The blog posts show up there as well.
In the meantime, did you watch the Golden Globes last night? Were you as flummoxed as I was? What is your reaction to the nominees and the winners? Leave your comments below!
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In case you had money on the line, here are the winners of the 2011 Golden Globes.
MOTION PICTURES
Best Picture, Drama: “The Social Network.”
Best Picture, Musical or Comedy: “The Kids Are All Right.”
Best Actor, Drama: Colin Firth, “The King’s Speech.”
Best Actress, Drama: Natalie Portman, “Black Swan.”
Best Director: David Fincher, “The Social Network.”
Best Actress, Musical or Comedy: Annette Bening, “The Kids Are All Right.”
Best Actor, Musical or Comedy: Paul Giamatti, “Barney’s Version.”
Best Supporting Actor: Christian Bale, “The Fighter.”
Best Supporting Actress: Melissa Leo, “The Fighter.”
Best Foreign Language: “In a Better World.”
Best Animated Film: “Toy Story 3.”
Best Screenplay: Aaron Sorkin, “The Social Network.”
Best Original Score: “The Social Network.”
Best Original Song: “You Haven’t Seen the Last of Me,” (written by Diane Warren), “Burlesque.”
TELEVISION
Best Series, Drama: “Boardwalk Empire,” HBO.
Best Actor, Drama: Steve Buscemi, “Boardwalk Empire.”
Best Actress, Drama: Katey Sagal, “Sons of Anarchy.”
Best Series, Musical or Comedy: “Glee,” Fox.
Best Actor, Musical or Comedy: Jim Parsons, “The Big Bang Theory.”
Best Actress, Musical or Comedy: Laura Linney, “The Big C.”
Best Miniseries or Movie: “Carlos,” Sundance Channel.
Best Actress, Miniseries or Movie: Claire Danes, “Temple Grandin.”
Best Actor, Miniseries or Movie: Al Pacino, “You Don’t Know Jack.”
Best Supporting Actress, Series, Miniseries or Movie: Jane Lynch, “Glee.”
Best Supporting Actor, Series, Miniseries or Movie: Chris Colfer, “Glee.”
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