Posts Tagged ‘comedy’
7 items.
Hey, guys. I hate to bother you with this every month, but the top list over at buzzComix has reset for the month of August. If you’d like to see Theater Hopper in the Top Ten, then don’t forget to vote everyday!
As a reward for lending your support today, you’ll be treated to a sketch of Jared treating himself! How? Click the link, lads and lassies!
Sorry for the over-use of photos in the background of today’s comic, but I was running short on time today. I actually produced TWO comics back-to-back today, but unfortunately, the majority of you won’t see the other one. I’m including it as a Wizard World Chicago exclusive in the Theater Hopper sampler booklets I’m handing out for free at the convention. If I have any copies left, I will likely offer them as donation incentives. The booklets are 20 black and white strips from the site – hand picked by me – plus the sampler bonus. Something to consider for down the road.
I didn’t get a chance to see Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle this weekend, mostly because I’m saving my movie-going dollar for when a BRAND NEW 20 SCREEN THEATER opens about 5 minutes from my house this Wednesday.
No one outside of Iowa will give a rat’s ass about this, I realize. But on August 4th, the largest commercial shopping venue in the state will open. Along with that, Century Theaters are opening their first movie house in Iowa. This is a great thing for me, because the majority of theaters are owned by the evil Carmike Cinemas.
20 screens seating anywhere from 150 to 500. REAL butter on the popcorn. No TV commercials before the trailers. For these traits ALONE, the Century 20 has it all over anything Carmike could wish to offer. Plus, it will have that “new theater smell.”
At any rate, I plan on seeing Harold and Kumar, The Village, and Napoleon Dynamite sometime this week. Then, on Friday, when Aliens Vs. Predator opens, I’ll see it there, too.
Bye-bye Wynnsong 16. You really should have done a better job trying to keep me as a customer. I doubt I’ll ever visit you again. Even for nostalgia’s sake.
That’s it for now, but I plan on coming back to talk about some big revelations in web comic circles. Plus, probably reflect on the upcoming Wizard World Comic Convention and my preparation for said event.
Come back soon!
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As you may have noticed, there hasn’t been a newspost on the front page for a couple of days. The reason behind this was due to a server outtage with our hosting company. As I understand it, a hardware problem and not a software problem and much more difficult to fix. The GOOD news is that there was no data loss, just interrupted service. So I can’t be too mad about it.
Still, this stuff always seems to happen when I have a bunch of news to share. As such, I’m going to hold off on some of that for tomorrow’s update when more of you are checking the site. For now, I’m just going to talk about Monday’s comic.
Making fun of The Wayans Brothers is a little like shooting fish in a barrell, so I thought I would extend the metaphor by rendering them as bottom feeders. I’ve never found The Wayans Brothers particularly funny. I mean, I respect Keenan Ivory Wayans for his success as a director. I still think I’m Gonna GIt You Sucka is one of the most inventive parodies ever. I even like some of the stuff Damon Wayans has done. And, of course, you can’t overlook the success of In Living Color for bringing a new perspective to sketch comedy.
But as far as I’m concerned, both Marlon and Shawn Wayans are complete hacks. The take the concepts that appeal to the lowest common denominator and then find ways to debase them further. I saw the trailers for Little Man and immediately found new respect for White Chicks. At least there you could say that the concept of a couple of black guys wandering around in "whiteface" was satirically absurd or hovering around the "so bad, it’s good" category.
Little Man comes off far worse because I can’t think about it without remembering that Bugs Bunny cartoon where a similarly tiny buglar lays low with the "wrascrawly wabbit" until the heat dies down after a heist. Baby Face Fenster was his name, I think. The sight of him shaving in the bathroom mirror with an electric razor, a tatto of an anchor brazenly displayed across his arm is one of those "WTF" pop culture moments from my childhood. An image I’ve yet to shake. I tried finding screencaps of the cartoon online, but couldn’t turn anything up. If you guys find anything or know what I’m talking about, let me know.
So Little Man becomes worse than derivative. It becomes plagiaristic.
As a side bar, if you guys disagree with me about Talledega Nights, you’d better get used to it right now. In my mind, Will Ferrell is bulletproof. I can admit that I’m a Will Ferrell apologist and I make no excuses for it. Talledega Nights is probably the one movie registering strongest on my radar for the summer and I can’t wait to see it.
I suppose that should make me more sensitive to the reasoning behind why others find The Wayans Brothers hilarious, but, well… it doesn’t!
Sorry that the art for Monday’s comic couldn’t have been a little better. An area that I’ve been trying to develop is celebrity caricature. I figure "What good is a comic that riffs on celebrities if I can’t draw them worth a squat?" But the truth is, I was painfully short on time.
Between finishing Monday’s comic and taking the weekend to prepare for Wizard World Chicago, I was also putting the finishing touches on a guest strip for my main main Joe Dunn and his site Joe Loves Crappy Movies. Joe is getting married on the 22nd and deserves some time off. Drawing 15 comics a week can be taxing!
I was also finishing up my contribution to the 2006 Web Cartoonist Choice Awards presentation. I was selected to present "Outstanding Comic," which I was very honored to do. There’s been some controversy about the winners being announced before the presentation could go on line. I don’t know much about it. But you should keep your eye on their site as well as Comixpedia for news when the show goes online. I had a chance to see some of the other contributions on a test site and there are some really funny presentations in there.
I meantioned Wizard World Chicago. I have some news about that and wanted to share it last Friday. Due to the server outtage, I couldn’t. So everyone be sure to come back to the site tomorrow for all the details of where you can find me and who you can find me with. Also, if you plan on being in the Chicagoland area this year, I’m putting together a big book release party and you’re invited! More details on that soon!
Until then, don’t forget that our t-shirt sale is still going on until July 31. All shirts are $9.99 (plus shipping and handling) and every order comes with a free poster! I’m prepping envelopes now and will be sending shirts out soon, so get your favorite shirt while you still can
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It’s not often I’m asked to review independent movies. And I’m not talking about “Brad Pitt takes a pay cut to appear in a Coen Brothers” kind of indie movie. I mean an honest-to-goodness grass roots indie film.
So when I was asked to take a look at a screener for Allah Made Me Funny, I thought it was a cool opportunity.
Allah Made Me Funny is a concert movie starring three Muslim comedians – Mohammed Amer, Azhar Usman and Preacher Moss. Certainly after The Kings of Comedy, The Queens of Comedy, The Blue Collar Comedy Tour and even The Comedians of Comedy, gathering a group of comedians who share commonalities is not a new concept. But it’s a welcome one that is poised to take advantage of the heightened awareness of Muslims in our culture.
As these comedians are quick to point out, it became difficult to look a certain way or practice certain believes after 9/11. Which is exactly why a movie like this needs to exist. It takes the representation of Muslims out of the hands of a quick-to-stereotype Hollywood and uses humor as a device that gets people to drop their guard and learn a little something about the Muslim experience.
“Hollywood depicts every Muslim man as what? ‘A terrorist.’ And every Muslim woman? ‘Oppressed,” says Usman. “Clearly these people have not spent any time in a Muslim household because they would recognize immediately that they have these roles reversed! Muslim women are terrorists! Muslim men are oppressed!”
So, wait a minute… You’re telling me that Muslim men have difficulty with overbearing spouses? Hey, they’re just like me!
Mission Accomplished.
Now, before I get too far ahead of myself, certainly the responsibility of educating people unfamiliar with the Muslim faith does not fall on the shoulders of three stand-up comedians. In many instances, there were references made that went completely over my head. But what the movie can do is get a conversation started.
For example, in another bit from Usman, he talks about the Muslim holiday Eid. “The most holy of holy days! It’s kind of hard to ask for a day off from work when you don’t know what that day is!”
As a white kid from the midwest, I have absolutely no idea why that’s funny. I had to Google Eid just to put it into context. (Incidentally, Eid marks the end of Ramadan and I will give myself points for at least knowing what Ramadan is!)
To that end, how funny can a movie be if you have to Google the references to understand them? That’s the tightrope these comedians have to walk, I suppose. But, ultimately, these comedians know that their job is to entertain and the fact that they are Muslim is almost more like wallpaper in the house of their overall persona.
Cut between segments, we get to see these performers at home and with their families. They talk about when they decided to become comedians and the obstacles they overcame. They show them during the writting process, fine-tuning their acts. The movie does a good job of representing these three men as more than avatars for the Muslim faith, but as conscientious professionals and people first.
Allah Made Me Funny is currently showing in select cities now through October 9. If you live in Atlanta, Berkely, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New York or San Diego, I encourage you to check it out. If you’d like to learn more about the movie or the comedians, please visit http://www.allahmademefunny.com
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This weekend is Memorial Day, which is the unofficial start of summer here in the States. And when I think summer, I think baseball.
Now, since I’m not a jock and probably the biggest “indoor kid” you’ll ever meet, I only think about baseball for about 15 minutes. But the thought does cross my mind.
Real-life Jared and I are going to see our Triple-A baseball club – the I-Cubs (Chicago’s farm team) – play the Fresno Grizzlies tonight at 7:05 PM. Or, rather, we’re going to sit in a baseball stadium for 3 hours, drink overpriced beers and catch up with each other’s lives as a baseball game is played in front of us.
All this talk about baseball made me think of a movie I’ve probably seen two dozen times, but don’t own – Major League.
I’ve always enjoyed this movie and I can’t explain why. Probably because the first time I remember watching it was at a friend’s house who got HBO and I remember it being vaguely dirty. Plus, it has that lovable loser angle going for it as it charts the improbably goal of the Cleveland Indians winning The World Series so their owner doesn’t move the team to Florida.
You get to see Charlie Sheen before he became a sex addict, Wesley Snipes before he became a tax cheat and Corbin Bernsen before people stopped caring about Corbin Berson. Tom Berenger does a good job playing an over-the-hill catcher trying to win back his wife (Rene Russo, of all people!) and the voice of the Milwaukee Brewers, Bob Uecker shows up delivering some of the best one-liners and withering play-by-play commentary as the Indian’s at-home radio broadcaster.
There were a couple of unfortunate sequels made to this movie (and the less said about the third one, the better). But the original stands out to me as a comedy with relaxed charm. Comedy always seemed more confident in the 80’s. Less ironic and less self-conscious like it is today. It’s a treat to watch characters deliver a funny line without breaking their stride. These days, a lot of comedies seem to have “WAIT FOR APPLAUSE” pauses built into ever scene.
Or maybe I’m just an old man griping.
I’m curious what your favorite baseball movie might be – and it doesn’t have to be a comedy. Certainly Bull Durham and Field of Dreams are the first two to pop into my minds. But I’m wondering if there are any others. Let me know!
Or, if you just want to talk about Major League, we can do that, too…
Batter up!
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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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Dec11
GUEST STRIP – RYAN ESTRADA
December 11th, 2009 |- Comics »
- Comics »
- Guest Strip
(43 votes, average: 8.86 out of 10)
Today’s guest strip comes from Ryan Estrada. If you’re not familiar with Ryan’s work, you need to make yourself familiar.
Because this guy is gooooood…
How good? He references a complete throw away detail (The Ha-Ha Hut from this comic) in the first line of his guest strip. Attention to detail like that is the kind of professionalism that intimidates me from ever doing a guest strip for anyone else ever again. I’ll just refer all inquiries to Ryan. Because, clearly, he has his bases covered.
I also gotta give it up to Ryan for the joke he came up with for his comic. The career arc he developed for comedians was right on the money and probably applies to more comedians than not. Eddie Murphy was the first one to spring to my mind. Maybe Adam Sandler or a touch of Mike Myers. Who else do you think Ryan’s formula applies to?
Mull that over for a while, leave some comments and then go check out Ryan’s web site. Thanks again to Ryan for providing an excellent guest strip. I loved it!
Switching gears… A quick Kickstarter update.
You guys have been doing great pledging to the Kickstarter fund raising campaign for Theater Hopper: Year Three. We’re now 52% funded and roughly $1,500 away from goal.
But we have 20 days left to meet that goal – less than 3 weeks – so I’m still on pins and needles! When you think about the holidays coming up and the distraction that causes, we really have LESS than 3 weeks to meet our goal!
Please pledge to the fund raising campaign today. As of this posting, we’re $74 away from $2,000. I think if we could top $2,000 today, that would be excellent.
I am trying to push us toward “the tipping point” – that moment where people look at the campaign and say to themselves “Hey, this is really happening! I think I’m going to make a pledge myself” and the whole thing takes off.
I watched it happen with Gordon’s fund raising campaign for the first Multiplex book. He pushed and pushed for weeks. Then, one day, I think he was 70% to goal and I told him “That was the tipping point, man. You’re going to fund this thing no problem.” Within 3 days, the rest of the campaign was funded. It was pretty cool to watch.
Help us get to the tipping point. Pledge today.
Last bit of news… You’ve probably seen it already, but Iron Man 2 released another poster. This time featuring Mikey Rourke as the villain Whiplash.
Please keep in mind that this guy is 57 years-old. Looks pretty good for his age, if you ask me.
Well, you know, except the face that looks like hamburger.
By the way, does anyone else think that it’s AWESOME that we have a superhero movie where the lead actor is 44 years-old and going toe-to-toe with a 57 year-old?
I love Iron Man for several reasons. But I think the filmmakers rejection of youth culture is in my Top 10 “Reasons to love Iron Man” list. Just awesome.
That’s it for today! Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!
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The trailer for new Will Ferrell “dramadey” Everything Must Go showed up online a couple of weeks ago, but I’m just getting around to it now. Actually, it’s been occupying my mind-grapes for that long, so I take that as a good sign. Check it out.
Ferrell plays a borderline alcoholic whose wife throws all of stuff out on the lawn, changes the locks on his house and walks out on him. Sucks to be him. As you can probably predict, great personal growth befalls Ferrell’s character when he decides to sell all of his possessions and separate himself from the failures of his past life.
The movie looks pretty straight forward. But as someone who deeply enjoyed Stranger Than Fiction, I’m looking forward to Everything Must Go because it seems to have a similar feel. How much of that can be contributed to Ferrell dialing it down a notch is purely conjecture at this point.
I know Ferrell is an acquired taste and that any movement into dramatic territory will be immediately dismissed as a craven attempt at legitimacy by his detractors (See Also: Jim Carrey). But what do you think of what you’ve seen so far. Is it worth a look?
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