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Posts Tagged ‘DVD’
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I JUST WANTED TO USE THE WORD ERGO IN A SENTANCE
on October 15, 2003 at 12:00 am
(7 votes, average: 6.57 out of 10)
So The Matrix Reloaded came out on DVD yesterday, shortening the gap between theatrical release and home video purchase to 3 months instead of the standard 6. In the future, they're just gonna download these movies into our brains Johnny Mnemonic-style.
"Whoa!"
I'm leery to buy Reloaded because I imagine after The Matrix Revolutions hits, they'll collect all three movies into some super DVD package that will actually induce Matrix-like hallucinations when you remove the shrink wrap.
It's hard to believe that Revolutions is less than 3 weeks away. I predicted to Cami that once Reloaded hit store shelves, it would mark the beginning of a media onslaught to sell, sell, SELL America on the franchise again.
The producers of the film have to admit that they lost a lot of people with the second installment. Now they have the job of convincing us that it will all make sense in the end.
They'll probably succeed, too. Looking at the trailers, it seems as if they're really amplifying the action and cutting back on the philosophical/religious stuff. At the end of the day, audiences will have less difficulty understanding things blowing up.
Personally, one of my favorite scenes in Reloaded was the one spoofed in today's comic - Neo meeting The Architect. I thought the dialogue was rich and interesting, even if it was a bit wordy. I look at that scene as the lynch pin of the movie - everything before it and after it somehow relates to what was revealed in its running time.
Of course, the best Matrix spoof ever was devised around this scene. It was the opening sketch of this year's MTV Movie Awards and featured Will Ferrell as the bearded know-it-all. If you didn't see it, I weep for you. "CONCORDANTLY! ERGO!"
There's been a lot of fuss made about the 25th anniversary of Animal House - commemorated this week with a new Dolby-quality output of the seminal 1978 gross-out comedy on DVD this last Tuesday.
I admire Animal House less for what it is and more for the path it paved. Up until that point, erection jokes really weren't getting their play in American cinema. It just goes to show, all of the most awesome movies were made in the 1970's.
I was thinking about Animal House and its level of raunchiness. Not only the "gross-out" stuff, but the general sneering attitude toward women and minorities. I sincerely doubt the movie would ever be made in these P.C. times.
I was never in a fraternity in college. Blissfully, my alma mater was host to a fairly anemic Greek system. But my Dad was a frat guy and he swears by Animal House. It's probably his favorite movie. He loves to tell me stories about initiation pranks where they would cover a banana in chunky peanut butter, drop it in a toilet and force blindfolded pledges to retrieve it. That's exactly the level of sophomoric hi-jinks Animal House pitches. I find it more roguishly charming than truly outrageous. Almost cute.
If you compare hazing rituals like that one to the 24-hour keg stand most fraternities pass off as tradition these days, it makes me think my Dad rode the crest of the wave. I envy him in that respect.
Why such a goofball movie makes me think these things is beyond me. But it must have something to do with the enduring legacy of the film. Thanks to Animal House, every college guys aims for a similar experience...
...or at least wish they had.
Did Cami purchase Spirited Away for me on DVD? True. Is Spirited Away a most awesome movie? True. Do I see spirits in my house and mistake them for Jared. Sometimes.
Often times I create strips and I worry that I am only speaking to a few of you in the audience. Experience has taught me that those worries are total bollocks and you guys are whip-smart when it comes to the references. But for those of you who AREN'T... go out and rent Spirited Away right now. It will fill that empty part of your soul with a feeling not unlike cotton candy. Warm and sweet.
Just because I want to get it out of the way, I want to mention that the poster sale is continuing and they're rolling out like gangbusters! The tally on the left tells you we're almost past the one-fourth mark, but don't let it fool you. I can think of maybe a half dozen readers who have notified me that their payment would be coming by snail mail. Don't sit around on this one! Order your poster today!
Would it help you to know that Zachary Miller from No Pants Tuesday and Aric Christensen from Fish Strips have bought posters? Cave in to the peer pressure! CAVE!
Speaking of web comics, Mark from Jayhoo and Jawhoo mentioned "ripping off" his design for his bonus materials page from my design here on the site. To this I respond - "Good for you!" and "Glad I could help!"
Mark produces top shelf toon action and I feel doesn't get the recognition he deserves. Lend this man your moral support. He deserves your respect and admiration.
I wanna talk about some trivial crap, because I haven't done that in a while. Things have felt so business-minded around here, it's like I can't goof off anymore. So, some randomness...
I've been playing the demo for Amplitude on my PS2 over and over. It has a track from Garbage's last album called "Cherry Lips". I am hooked on this song. So much, in fact, I had to go out and buy the album.
One song I am NOT hook on is "Believe" by Cher. A co-worker carelessly left the song on "repeat" in her computer's CD player and then took off for lunch. Our lunch hours overlap at weird times, so I ended up listening to this song on repeat for 3 HOURS! I couldn't find the damn CD player on her machine and didn't want to turn it off cold because, y'know, I'm the GOOD guy.
And here's a dose of irony for you: I left early from work because I had an eye appointment in the afternoon. I go to the optometrist, tell them I'm here and then sit in the waiting room. What's the first song that comes over the PA system? You guessed it. "Believe" by Cher. NEVER AGAIN!
You know what movie is good. About A Boy. Why is it I like Hugh Grant more when he's playing an unrepentant bastard?
Hot Buttered Funk is the shiznit. That is all.
For the record, yes, I did give my wife My Big Fat Greek Wedding on DVD for a Valentine's Day present. Considering my total loathing of the picture, I think that's a pretty clear indicator of how much I appreciate her.
Nothing shows affection like purchasing movies you hate for the ones you love.
We watched the film, and I didn't find it nearly as offensive as I did when I saw it on the big screen. I still don't like the picture, but I attribute a less bile-inducing response to subjected exposure. Kind of like pornography - if you see a lot of it, the stuff eventually fails to elicit a response.
Not that I would know anything about pornography, but I have been watching my local Fox affiliate lately...
Valentine's Day was kind of a bust here in Central Iowa. We were buried by almost a foot of snow. Of course, this isn't going on DURING THE DAY (so I can go home from work early), but at about 7 o'clock when everyone about to hit the town. We were going to go to a nice restaurant in another town, but due to all the snow and ice, ate at a sports bar close to home. We still had a good time, though. Probably a better time than we would have had at the fancy place. Pabst Blue Ribbon will do that for 'ya.
We spent the better part of Saturday locked in the house, unable to leave until plows came by about 5PM. Thank God they did because we had tickets to see Lewis Black from The Daily Show at a local comedy club at 10. Probably the funniest hour I've spent in a darkened room. A bucket full of Budwiser will do that for 'ya. 
We were able to move about more freely on Sunday and I had a chance to get out and see a matinee of Daredevil. A heavy price will have to be paid, of course. I promised Cami we would see a late show of How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days tonight. The title of today's comic never rang so true.
I thought Daredevil was a really good movie and it surprised me in a lot of ways. Namely, the violence. It's pretty severe. There are lots of stabbings similar to the one that started last week's storyline. Daredevil is DEFINITELY NOT a movie to take your kids to.
I've whipped up a review that goes into more detail regarding my reaction to the film. You might want to check that out if you're interested.
In other geek news, I was happier than a pig in mucky-muck to watch The Simpsons 300th episode tonight. The dynamic of being a fan has changed since the show hit its stride in the 3rd season. Apparently, it's cool to slag the show now. But I'm still a big a fan as ever. Just thought I would share that.
After The Simpsons, I stuck with Fox and watched the Married... with Children reunion show. It's been a while since I've seen the show in syndication and it made me realize how much of my warped sense of humor was inspired by that show. I don't know if the program really ever got the respect it deserved. In retrospect, it was pretty trashy. But it did do a lot to break down barriers in television. Certain things you just didn't see on television before Married... With Children was on the air. They changed the rules on a lot of things. I still think Ed O'Neil is one funny S.O.B.
Looks like it pays to check out the site on days other than Monday, Wednesday and Friday, eh?! You just got treated to an extra strip! You lucky dog you!
A few factors went in to producing an extra strip for Tuesday. Remember yesterday when I was talking about all of the great jokes I could come up with this week? Well, I decided to put my money where my mouth is and dish out the funny.
That's right. Just because I FEEL LIKE IT, I'm putting together a FULL WEEK of strips. So, I know you'll be checking back tomorrow out of force of habit, but be double sure to come back on Thursday for another helping. Tie a ribbon around your finger if it helps you to remember.
Gotta give a shout out to Zach over at No Pants Tuesday for the kind words about Monday's strip. It really motivated me to push the full week of strips. So if you want to thank anybody, thank Zach and visit his site often.
Nate's compliments came at a really good time. No lie, just last Friday I was talking to Jared about how I felt I was spinning my wheels creatively. It felt like all I was doing was drawing the characters in the same static poses in front of different backgrounds for 3 months, or something. I was seriously considering switching up the art style and had done a few tests in Illustrator and Flash to see if the characters would look any better polished up a bit. I was in serious doubt about my ability. Nate inadvertently gave me a shot in the arm, so kudos to him.
Never mind that the competition already has the market cornered in vector-based art. Guess I'll have to suck it up and be the lone hand-drawn cartoonist in movie-themed web comics. 
I guess since I'm running with this good feeling, I want to extend myself to another individual in a Pay It Forward kind of way. So I wanna give another shout out to Mitch over at Nothing Nice to Say. Mitch has been a little down lately, and I wanted to publicly state that the man is a fantastic human being.
I've only talked to Mitch a handful of times, trading e-mails every so often. But it doesn't take a genius to recognize that he is a true talent who writes excellent strips and even more incisive blogs. The dude might be too smart for his own brain.
Anyone taking shots at Mitch needs to back the hell off. Everyone goes through a rough patch now and then. No one needs a screaming chorus of interweb geeks breathing down his neck about it. So to my man Mitch, here's to 'ya.
That about does it for the good karma joy ride. I was gonna write another brier patch of industry garbage, but I'll let sleeping dogs lie.
Just be sure to check out the strip each day this week. Will Tom live or die?! THERE'S ONLY ONE WAY TO FIND OUT!
Later, peeps.
I don't really have a lot to say about this strip. It plays a lot like an inside joke to me because I'm taking a device I've been using a lot lately (i.e. dressing up the characters like those in popular films) and kind of turning it on it's head. It doesn't mean much if you haven't been paying attention to the site recently.
I will say Cami laughed really hard for probably 10 minutes after looking at the strip tonight. I didn't add any dialogue, but I think she was really caught off guard by the miniature version of myself sitting next to my regular self on the couch. Something about that she found hilarious.
I don't have my review for My Big Fat Greek Wedding prepared yet, but I thought I would take a moment to post an e-mail I received in response to it. It comes from Jamie Kendall from over at The Magic Armadillo. I didn't ask for permission to post these statements, so maybe if you visit the site a bunch of times, all will be forgiven.
Jamie is a fellow Iowan (albeit exiled at the moment) so there are some references to some specific locations here in the Des Moines area. That's not the point. Absorb the brilliant sentiment of our shared hatred for this awful excuse of a chick flick. I felt Jamie did a good job of putting it into words.
i worked over the summer at the fleur cinema and cafe. it was a quality, fun, respectable independent theater, and i enjoyed my job immensely. about 2 weeks into my working there, we received a movie... a movie so hideously omnipresent as to cause myself and my friend and coworker sam to loathe its very presence. my big fat greek wedding lasted the ENTIRE TIME i was there, and every single goddamned week it outsold EVERY other movie, no matter how good every other movie was. now it's time for winter break. i'm going to go back to iowa and work at the same theater. and greek wedding is STILL THERE. i hate that irreverent hour and a half of presence with a burning passion rivaling that of the sun. everywhere i go, i meet with nothing but good reviews. my manager, my parents, everybody but me, sam, my projectionist josh, and some guy i know who never saw it, loved it. and it is the bane of my existence. i curse its name when i go to work. every person who got a ticket to see it made me more and more lose all faith in humanity. it is my nemesis. i applaud you for speaking out against it, for love there is not between two such rivals as we and my mediocre skills warrant not an audience for which i can speak out properly my opinions.
I felt that pretty much summed it up. More later when I can get to it.
There seems to be a lot of geek-centric material coming out in the last few weeks. First Spider-Man, now Star Wars. In a couple of weeks it will be Lord of the Rings.
I guess that's good marketing for you. Gear up those big ticket sellers for the holidays when you know geeks for miles around will be lined up around the block for the privilege to bring a copy into their own home.
I'm pitching another story arc that is similar to last week. I know this just looks like I'm recycling ideas, but quite frankly, I'm getting a real thrill out of dressing up the characters in different costumes. It's good to stretch your artistic muscles every now and again.
Speaking of which, I've started to employ some new coloring and highlighting techniques. I hope you noticed them. Aric from Fish Strips noticed so he gets the free link for today!
The weather in Iowa is totally backwards right now. On Saturday, it was in the high 60's, sunny and pleasant. Sunday night, the wind is howling like a banshee and it's snowing.
It's enough to make you want to sleep. And I do. So I will.
Goodnight!
Part of me wishes I could have done this strip Monday to commemorate the DVD release of Spider-Man, but I was on such a role inserting Cami into the strips, why kill a good thing?
Besides, this leaves room for me to do a whole week of Spider-Man strips. I've got some ideas, so stay tuned for those.
My love for all things Spider-Man knows no bounds. I've been reading the comics since I was about 8. I've since had to let it slide for financial reasons and, admittedly, the clone storyline of the late 90's did a lot to sour my expectations of my favorite friendly, neighborhood wall-crawler. But the initial appeal and awe of Spider-Man will never wane. He's the best super hero hands down in my book.
What a relief after almost a decade of legal wrangling that Sam Raimi didn't screw it up when he brought ol' web-head to the silver screen. Sure, there were moments of camp and, in certain parts of the web-slinging screamed "YOU ARE WATCHING A SPECIAL EFFECT", there is a lot of love and admiration of the character in the film. Because of it, I respect it.
Shameful as it is to admit, I didn't wait in line overnight to pick up my copy of the movie when it came out on Friday. This time of year is often nebulous and frustrating because since I have both my birthday and Christmas in December, I can't go out and buy some of the movies or CD's I want.
I talk so much about the new releases that I can't be sure someone hasn't already gone out and purchased something for me as a gift. So from the beginning of November until the end of the year, I'm caught in a self-imposed media lockout. I realize that if I end up getting a second copy of a movie, I can just take it back, but it's never worth the hassle. Have you ever tried returning something to Target without the receipt? Plus, if someone is going out of their way to get me anything at all, it's too heartbreaking to tell them "Sorry, I already have this" Everyone wants to feel like they put some thought into their gift giving. I can't bear to bring that disappointment in their lives because I can't display a little self-restraint.
But don't think it doesn't tear me up to see those Spider-Man displays everywhere I turn...
Ignore the science of today's strip. I don't know if jaundice causes your hair to fall out or eyes to bulge, but I do know it will color you skin. It's a visual joke, so just roll with the punches.
Really all I know about jaundice is that baby's get it sometimes because they don't have enough iron in their blood, right? They give them pills for that, I think?
...reason #1024 I didn't go to med school.
All things the same, it should be known I'm a hard-core Simpsons fan. Before they started putting out complete seasons on DVD, I was taping episodes from syndication. I think by the time the first season had been release, I had accumulated about ten 6-hour tapes. I had a lot of friends borrow and dub those tapes. I could have made a killing selling my episodes commercial-free and burned to DVD-R if I were a little more quick on the uptake.
...reason #563 I didn't become a small-time hustler.
To those who were unaware, I was finally able to get back into the forums. What quark of fate allowed this to happen I can't isolate, but it's good to be back.
Right now I'm working on integrating the look of the forums a little closer to the rest of the site. So this means if you start seeing similar graphics, colors or fonts from what you're used to, you aren't hallucinating. It's intentional.
I'm also working on incorporating Blogger to the main page so that Jared can make updates just as I do. If you go to any other comic site, you'll know what I'm attempting to do.
The snare I'm caught on at the moment is getting the archived blogs to sync up with prior toons. I want to make it so you can read these posts with the appropriate strip. If you have any tips, send them my way.
Things with the site are going pretty well. We're into our third week of production and have accumulated over 1,100 unique hits. I think that's pretty good for coming out of nowhere. Of course, I have you to thank.
Keep coming back to the site. Jared and I are working out a plan to post some of our old "battle comics" from when we were in junior high. It'll probably be tied to a donation objective - i.e. Users donate "x" amount of money and we post the old toons for all to see. So anyway, start loosening those wallets.
I'll be back here soon...
