Posts Tagged ‘gun’
4 items.
Jun25
For the first time in a few weeks, I don’t have a movie review to share with you guys on a Monday. For some of you this is probably a welcome relief. For others, maybe somewhat jarring.
Movies weren’t in the cards for Cami and I this weekend. Henry came down with his first illness – an eye and ear infection – and we had a couple of rough nights. He’s been to his doctor and he’s on antibiotics now. When I left the house, he was all smiles and bouncing like crazy in his bouncy seat. So, it’s all good.
Of course, even if Henry were well, I doubt we would have made any plans. Evan Almighty was number one at the box office this weekend, but it’s $30 million take in the fact of it’s $250 million budget pretty much categorizes it as a bomb. Surprisingly, 1408 took a huge chunk out of it’s potential take by grabbing $20 million on it’s own. So I guess I was wrong in my assessment last week that the film was on no one’s radar.
On Wednesday, Live Free or Die Hard comes out and that’s what today’s sketch is in honor of. More specifically, me as a generic action hero. I have some strong opinions about LFoDH, but I think I’ll reserve them for Wednesday. As I alluded to last week, I might start upping production of the comic to twice a week with one comic on Wednesday and the other on Friday. I think I’m going to kick that off this week. So, you have that to look forward to!
Come back later today for an announcement regarding tonight’s Triple Feature talkcast and news about a brand new contest you can participate in!
[ No Comments ]
I think I’ve mentioned this before, but Jared is someone in the comic I like to characterize as keeping his lunacy just below the surface. He’s the guy who could snap at any moment, but he treats it like it’s common knowledge. It could all be a front, but you’re never quite sure. He’s kind of like Creed from The Office with the creepiness factor dialed down.
I kind of wanted to leave it open to interpretation in this strip as to whether Jared regularly packs heat when he goes to the theater or if this really was an accessory to his viewing of Punsiher: War Zone.
Truthfully, I just wanted another excuse to draw The Punisher’s death’s head symbol. It’s just so damn imposing. Probably one of the top 5 design choices in comics, if you ask me.
Reviews are starting to surface for Punisher: War Zone and the consensus is pretty much what you’d expect. It’s shot very well, but it’s violence and tone is repulsive. Read this review from Roger Ebert. It expertly describes what makes the movie difficult to endure, but it actually makes me want to see it more!
I feel a little bit guilty about this because I think the movie is pandering to it’s audience by making the violence so graphic and I’ve been totally suckered by it. Essentially, Punisher: War Zone is torture porn for the action movie crowd. For someone like myself who has been a vocal critic of films like Saw and Hostel, it’s completely hypocritical for me to be so excited about Punisher: War Zone.
I was sent a promotional link that I’m reluctant to share because it is VERY, VERY graphic and I try to keep things PG-13 around here. But I’ve pretty much endorsed the film anyway and the clip does a very good job of illustrating my point. What I’m linking to is basically the reddest of red band trailers. You will see people shot in the face, people whose head’s are blown clean from their bodies and critic blurbs that use four-letter words. In other words, if you are very young or you are accessing the site from work, THIS CLIP IS NOT FOR YOU!
If you’re old enough to vote and have a cast-iron stomach, you can the red, red, red band trailer for Punisher: War Zone here.
Punisher: War Zone was produced by Lionsgate and their name has been increasingly associated in my mind with producing schlockly, degrading, violent, lewd and offensive movies. They’ve made it their job to provoke people and some of it appeals to the lowest common denominator. There are high points. They producedBill Mahr’s Religulous andOliver Stone’sW. ealier in the year. But they also produced the aforementioned Saw and Hostel films as well as Transporter 3, Good Luck Chuck, Bratz: The Movie, Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector,Employee of the Month and Alone in the Dark.
I’m skewing things a little bit to bolster my argument. Actually, if you look over their history of films since they were formed in 1998, the studio has some Oscar and indiepedigree. Affliction, Buffalo 66, Gods and Monsters, Amores Perros, American Psycho, Requiem for a Dream, Shadow of the Vampire, Monster’s Ball, Fahrenheit 9/11, Crash. All I’m saying is in the last few years, they’y seem to be producing more dreck. Certainly other studios do the same, it just seems more pronounced to me with Lionsgate. Maybe it’s neither here nor there, but it’s something I’ve noticed.
To that end, I’ll probably see Punisher: War Zone on Saturday night. I would go tonight, but we’ll be out celebrating my father-in-law’s birthday. I’m really looking forward to taking a two year-old to a nice resturant an hour past his bedtime. Should be fun!
Have a great weekend, everyone! I’ll see you here Monday!
[ No Comments ]
Oct12
So here’s the follow up to the cliffhanger I left you with on Friday – the continuation of Tom’s misadventures after sharing spoiler information about Zombieland on Twitter.
Friday’s comic was based on real-events. Things from this point on are entirely fictional. I felt compelled to share that just in case anyone was confused.
In case you happen to be new to the site, this isn’t the first time the Nerd Police have slapped the irons on Tom. Their first appearance was WAAAAYYYY back in 2005 when Jared rats him out for confusing Hitchhiker’s Guide to The Galaxy with Doctor Who. Much hilarity ensues.
I had been looking for an excuse to bring the Nerd Police back, even though the characters undergo no development in any way, shape or form. They’re just a couple of nameless thugs with horn rim glasses and I like ’em that way! The concept is funny, at least. Well, funny to me, I guess.
Anyway, not much else to talk about with this comic except to say stay tuned for Wednesday’s comic and watch where the story line goes.
In the meantime, be sure to listen to The Triple Feature movie podcast live tonight at 9PM CST over at TalkShoe.com
We took last week off after my hard drive crashed and Gordon had a biopsy taken off his tongue which left 5 stitches in his mouth. Good times!
But this week I know we’ll at least be talking about Zombieland and probably more. Also, I know that Joe just got back from Baltimore Comic Con this weekend, so maybe he has some stories to share about that.
So be there to listen LIVE at 9PM CST. Participate in the live chat, ask us questions and even get on air with us (if you are so inclined.) We hope to see you there!
[ 10 Comments ]
Today’s comic was one of the rare gems where I had the punchline in mind first and had to work my way backward for the setup. I knew that things would end with Jason Statham shooting up a car and offering his professional opinion. I just didn’t know how to get there.
Funnily enough, it wasn’t until late in the game last night that I came up with that horrible pun to put a button on it. But there you have it.
The Mechanic is another straight-up Statham actioneer that I had a modicum of interest in seeing which then waned when I saw a shiny object on the sidewalk.
This is not meant as a critique or as an indicator of my refined taste. After all, I proudly saw Crank: High Voltage in the theater. It’s just that… I don’t know… aren’t all these movies starting to feel the same to you? Interchangeable, even?
I’ll give Statham credit for mixing it up in movies like The Expendables or Snatch. He’s show that he’s not 100% ego and can place nice with an ensemble when he wants to. That’s the difference between Statham and action-film relics like Jean Claude Van Damme or Steven Segal – Statham doesn’t make it all about him. That should help keep him out of the Direct-To-DVD category for a while.
What leaves me scratching my head is why Ben Foster turned up in this thing. Foster has the kind of chip on his shoulder that could make him a junior Ryan Gossling, but he shows up in odd places. The Messenger was a strike at legitimacy and I think he could find more roles like that if he wanted.
I’m not articulating this well, but I feel like Foster is one to watch. Ever since I saw him in 3:10 to Yuma, I thought there was something tangible there. Forceful, but undisciplined. I think it’ll be a treat watching him evolve as an actor.
Not much more for me to share this morning except that I’m making a few cosmetic changes to Theater Hopper’s RSS feed. So if you follow us there and have opinions about the new logo or menu items, let me know, would you? I don’t follow my own site on RSS very closely, but that’s a door I want to leave open for people who do.
Actually, not only do I want to leave the door open, but I want to make sure the room is well-decorated. If you have any ideas on how to improve the RSS layout, please let me know.
Speaking of the RSS feed, I’ve thrown in a 728 x 90 Project Wonderful ad to the feed. So if you want a little extra coverage for your web site, check it out.
I’m also testing the waters again with a 125 x 125 Project Wonderful ad next to the comic. So if you want to throw your hat in the ring, rates are cheap. Bid away!
I might throw a 160 x 600 ad in that space in the future. I haven’t decided yet. I don’t want the site to be overrun with ads, but Project Wonderful is a unique opportunity for others to advertise on the site an an affordable rate. So I kind of want to make it worth their while. The success of the 125 x 125 ad will determine how that moves forward.
One last thing I’ll mention, if you’re not already a fan of the Theater Hopper Facebook page, please consider following. We’ve been hovering around 900 followers for the last month or so and I would be a real treat to see if we could push that over 1,000. I think that would be a significant milestone.
At any rate, that’s all I’ve got. Did anyone happen to see The Mechanic over the weekend? What are your thoughts? Leave your comments below!
[ 8 Comments ]
