Posts Tagged ‘Martin Scorsese’
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I want to remind everyone that we’re still offering incentives for your vote at BuzzComix. Just click on that link to take a look at the extra sketch created for the promotion.
Along Came Polly was number one at the box office this weekend. It took a pretty big haul – a little over $27 million. I’ll admit, it looked interesting to me at first. But then I sat back and thought about it. Ben Stiller has played the “neurotic-guy-looking-for-love-and-confronts-his-fears” character in romantic comedies too many times. There’s only so many ways you can devise to humiliate and mortify this archetype on screen. Frankly, it’s old hat.
Everyone knows that Stiller has the chops to do something more. Reality Bites, Permanent Midnight and The Royal Tenenbaums are all proof of that. So why go slumming in these sitcom-level features? And if you’re going to do a movie for a paycheck, why not switch it up a bit?
I feel bad for Jennifer Aniston. Another great talent – comic timing you could set your watch by. But from the reviews I’ve read, it sounds like she’s stuck in another thankless girlfriend role. When you consider Bruce Almighty, Rock Star and Office Space, she’s racking up a gnarly little streak, too.
Some of you might have noticed that the forums have been reinstalled. Well, they’re not in full-swing just yet. I’ve decided to hold off on that until I can make a few more tweaks.
Something about the old forum that really kind of burned me was that I couldn’t get it to look anything like the rest of the site. I’ve tried monkeying around with the administration controls, but I can’t get the level of customization that I’m after. From the looks of things, I need to lay out my own version of the forum complete with the background images and color schemes that I want. Trouble is, I’m not sure how to do that without rendering the whole thing inoperable.
That’s why I’m putting out the call to you guys. I need someone with PHPBB2 experience – to help me whip this thing into shape. If you have experience with your own forum or know someone who does, please referr them to me. I would be interested in talking to them.
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I had a very rich and fulfilling weekend on Saturday and Sunday. So stupendous was this passage in time, I’m left virtually without anything to complain or comment on!
I can say that Cami and I went see Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind on Saturday evening and it’s easily the best film I’ve seen so far this year. It’s very smart and doesn’t compromise. It has Charlie Kaufman’s signature all over it. And while Jon Brion’s score was a little loopy/creepy at times, the film was balanced by several moments of levity and true, human emotions.
Kaufman is brilliant in terms of placing his characters in outlandish situations while still grounding them in a realistic environment. Everything from the everyday clothes they wear, how they haphazardly decorate their apartments – even the non-Hollywood, unflattering lighting and lack of make-up create a very credible universe.
Great performances all around. Director Michel Gondry was able to extract something very innocent and pure from Jim Carrey. Is this the kind of person Carrey really is? Mellow, unassuming… LIKEABLE – when he’s not performing? Remember when Robin Williams finally realized he should tone it down a notch and how much easier it became to watch him? Same with Carrey here.
I left the theater with a lot of hope. I think at it’s core, Eternal Sunshine is a very optimistic film – probably one of the most romantic pictures I’ve seen in a long time. I like it message that, essentially, all the little idiosyncracies about your partner that annoy you are fundamentally meaningless in the big picture. The fact that people would be so willing to throw away love over such trifles is one of humanities great follies.
Of course, compounded with the central message of nurturing love are several great ethical debates about emerging technologies and their applications without testing. In many respects, Eternal Sunshine could be seen as a cautionary tale! The movie works on so many levels – comedy, romance… even horror in some parts. I can’t wait to start talking about it with other people who have seen it.
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Nominees for the 79th Annual Academy Awards were announced this morning and I was pleased to see that I’ve already seen three of the five films nominated for Best Picture. That means I have less ground to cover before the ceremony on February 25.
I suppose what surprised me most is that Leonard DiCaprio was nominated for his performance in Blood Diamond and not The Departed. I was also shocked to see Alan Arkin nominated for Best Supporting Actor for Little Miss Sunshine. But that’s a pleasant surprise. Marky Mark nominated in the same category for his performance in The Departed? Not sure what to make of that.
All I know is if Martin Scorsese doesn’t walk away with Best Director this year, it’ll be a crying shame. But I think Clint Eastwood is going to give him a run for his money.
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Today’s comic is as much about comic Tom slapping Jared for a terrible joke as it is about real-life Tom slapping himself for not coming up with a better one.
I don’t mean to be overtly critical of myself. I’m just explaining the genesis of today’s comic. Sitting around, staring into space and trying to come up with a joke about Shutter Island is no small task.
The marketing for the film has done a very good job of obscuring exactly what about Shutter Island makes it so terrifying. From what I can gather, it’s about the criminally insane, twisted experiments and some kind of psychological time bomb Leonard DiCaprio has roiling under the surface as he tries to solve a missing person case. But beyond that, I can’t connect the dots.
Added to this, Martin Scorsese directed it. Certainly the man is not above making mistakes (Kundun, anyone?) but the man gets a pass on his name alone. Scorsese lives and breathes film and it is evident in his work. It’s a rare treat to watch a film maker whose love of movie transcends money or art. Watching Scorsese’s films, you get the distinct feeling that he tells these stories because he has to. For that alone, I’ll watch anything he directs.
So how do you make fun of a movie you know nothing about directed by an auteur you greatly admire? Like I said, no small task. When the chips are down, just have your characters slap each other silly!
What do you guys make of Shutter Island? Are you excited to see it? Does it concern you at all that the film is being released in the dead-zone traditionally known as February? Would it encourage you to learn that Scorsese picked this weekend on purpose after DiCaprio’s availability pushed the film past awards season?
It was 19 years ago this weekend that Silence of The Lambs was released. If you recall, it did pretty well at the Oscars. It was the last film to earn all 5 major awards – Best Actor, Actress, Director, Screenplay and Film.
I’m skeptical that Shutter Island can repeat the same feat, but I’m excited to watch Scorsese slip on his horror boots again. If it’s anything like his last foray into the genre – 1991’s Cape Fear – then we’re in good hands.
Leave your thoughts about Shutter Island in the comments below!
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I agonized for a little while whether or not I would have any dialogue in the last panel. While putting the comic together, I found the visual of Tom having a psychotic breakdown almost funny enough on its own. But I thought, “Why leave things to chance?” and added the oft-repeated phrase originally spoken by Will Ferrell as fashion designer/international assassin Mugatu in Zoolander.
I felt a little guilty lifting the phrase because I don’t want people to think that I’m in the habit of stealing jokes. That’s why I give credit where credit is due.
While a more creative writer might have been able to conjure up his own humorous phrase expressing disbelief, I also felt like the “crazy pills” line felt natural coming out of Tom’s mouth. It sounds like something he would say because it’s something that I say from time to time.
People do that. They adopt words or phrases they hear in popular culture and repeat them. That’s how they become sayings.
I’ll give you another example that involves Will Ferrell. “Strategery.” Who would have thought that a made-up word satirizing George W. Bush’s speech patterns would become so popular? It’s practically in the Oxford Dictionary.
Anyway, I’m just saying that “crazy pills” isn’t so much joke stealing as it is “joke referencing.” If you find it uninspired or it offends you… Well, I’ll try better next time.
It is factual that Cami has no interest in seeing Shutter Island. Which flummoxed me up until I started to talk to other women about the movie. No other women in my life, it seemed, held any interest in seeing Martin Scorsese’s newest picture. I can kind of see why. The commercials are creepy. The tone appears to be very dark. Shutter Island doesn’t exactly look like a “feel good” movie.
Of course, this is not to say that Shutter Island is a turn off for ALL women. I’m sure there will be several women in the audience this weekend. Just not any of the women I know.
But I am undeterred. I will see the movie by myself if I have to. And I have to. The last movie I saw in the theater was It’s Complicated. I owe this to myself.
I’m very interested in watching Scorsese turn the screws. I’m picking up a distinct Hitchcock vibe from this film. Maybe it’s the 1950’s time period the movie is set in. Certainly the psychological horror aspects play into things. Ultimately, to me, this looks like Scorsese’s love letter to Psycho, or something. I can’t wait.
We’ve already talked a little bit about Shutter Island in the comment section from Wednesday’s comic, but I’m curious to get your take on why women have negative feelings toward the movie? You’d think they’d at least give Leonardo DiCaprio a cursory pass. But I guess he’s moved beyond his heart throb phase, huh?
Too bad he looks perpetually 12 years-old.
What are your theories about Shutter Island? NO SPOILERS! Leave your comments below!
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So here’s the comic from Wednesday that I owe you. If you were keeping up with the blog, you’ll know the reason the comic was delayed was due to a job interview I wanted to prepare for. I also wanted to make sure I got the proper amount of sleep.
I’m pretty sure most of you don’t know what my schedule is like. Frankly, you don’t need to know because it’s boring and self-serving to share it. But in this case, I’ll make an exception because I want you to understand.
Typically, I produce the comic the evening before it goes live on the site. Sometimes I’ll be able to get ahead of it a little by doing the pencils and inks over my lunch hour at my day job. But when I get home, it usually isn’t until after 8:00 that we manage to get Henry and Pearl settled down for the night. When you consider the everyday household chores that need to be done after that, there’s actually a very small window that I can work on the comic.
On Tuesday nights, I have night classes, so that window is even smaller. Instead of beating myself up trying to get a comic done for Wednesday, I thought it made more sense to prepare for my interview and get a good night’s sleep.
I didn’t receive any complaints and you guys have been more than supportive, so thank you. I just wanted to explain because, well, I felt like I owed you at least that much.
As for the job interview… How did it go? Frankly, I thought it went great. It really couldn’t have gone any better.
I don’t want to get into details because I don’t want to jinx it. Plus, as a rule, I don’t like to talk about work-related things online. You can’t be too careful.
Let’s just say it went very well and I’ll let you know how things turn out. Thanks for your patience and understanding. Now, let’s talk about the comic!
I was really pounding my head against the wall on this one because I didn’t know how to build on what I had established with Monday’s comic. Complicating matters, I came up with a great idea for a comic that I could use on Friday. So I was kind of caught between and a hard place.
I have to admit I was surprised by the feedback I received on Monday’s comic in the comments area. I expected some push back from Tim Burton and Johnny Depp fans. That’s fine. What I didn’t expect where the people who were saying “Thank you! I’ve felt this way about Burton and Depp for years, but couldn’t find the words.” That’s kind of a weird feeling.
I try to address certain truths with my humor. After all, what generally makes something funny is when several people recognize the same truth that they don’t typically address. The ol’ “He’s saying what we’re all thinking!” formula. I aim for that, but it manifests itself in the relationship humor I explore with Tom and Cami. Usually it doesn’t crop up in this kind of commentary about actors or directors. So it caught me a little off guard.
It sparked a debate, though – which I like. But I felt like if Tom was going to take the “anti” Burton/Depp stance, Jared needed to be the counter balance.
And, so, I did some research.
Check out this Wiki of director/actor collaborations. It’s mind-boggling. Some of them get tossed out because the pairings worked together on a string of sequels. Steven Spielberg and Harrison Ford, for example. But some of these partnerships appear very genuine.
Of course, my complaint with Burton and Depp isn’t that they’ve collaborated so many times. Just that there is a sameness to what they’ve produced. But, being fair, can I really argue that John Ford and John Wayne didn’t do the same thing? Or Scorsese and DeNiro, for that matter. It’s food for thought.
Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed today’s comic. If you have anything you’d like to add, feel free to leave your comments below.
Until then, be sure to come back tomorrow for a brand new comic!
Thanks again!
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