Posts Tagged ‘New Year’s Eve’
7 items.
This blog was lost in The Great Server Crash of January 2004. These blogs are automatically generated by a PHP script operating through the site. It takes my words and translates them into HTML before saving them to the server. Due to an internal error caused by my hosting provider, this blog was lost before I had a chance to save a hard copy to my machine at home.
One thing is for certain, though. It was likely insightful AND hilarious!
Please enjoy the rest of the archives…
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So today is the last day of 2004. And, as one would stand to reason, this is the last Theater Hopper comic of 2004. I love it when these little milestones occur. It’s just so… tidy.
I got the idea for today’s comic from href=”http://www.theaterhopper.com/thorum/”>the THorum where we actually discussed the Worst Movie of the Year. I had chosen Super Babies: Baby Geniuses 2 as my contender for the title, even though I admitted I hadn’t seen the movie.
The resulting discussion got me thinking. I’ll spare you the details of the actual conversation. It’s all archived in the THorum for you to read at your leisure.
Anyway, the conversation got me thinking. Here I was, unobjectively labeling this movie as the worst of the year, but essentially talking out of my butt having not seen it. I was reminded of more politically charged climate earlier in the year and all of the critics who were shouting down Michael Moore and Fahrenheit 9/11 without seeing one frame of celluloid.
Obviously comparing Fahrenheit 9/11 to Baby Geniuses 2 is a bit like comparing apples and oranges, but it’s the attitudes about the film I am dissecting.
I don’t know. I really don’t have anything deep to go into here. Just random thoughts about how media and perception shape our opinions. Frankly, it’s all so unimportant to close the year with. I have headier matters to tackle.
If you’ve noticed a pensive tone in today’s comic, that’s intentional. I also felt a dash of the romantic was in order. Such is the coming of the New Year. The opportunity for change can be both terrifying and exciting.
You’ll be seeing some changes to Theater Hopper starting next Monday, January 3, 2005. This is a bit of advanced warning.
Basically I’ve decided to change how I approach creating the comic every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. In August of 2005 I will have been doing this for 3 years. It’s time to stop flying by the seat of my pants when it comes to this stuff and take my preparation a little more seriously.
I know you guys aren’t aware of the behind-the-scenes stuff or the effort that goes into the comic. But it’s surprisingly little. I’m usually coming up with gags the day I sit down to draw the comic.
Instead of being strictly a gag strip, I’ve decided to push Theater Hopper and its characters into deeper waters. I’ve found the topical aspects of the comic help to keep it timely, but that timeliness has a shelf life. I mean, has anyone cared about my opinions on Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets since I did a strip on it in November 2002?
I’ve found that the best feedback I’ve received has been for the slower-paced character development arcs. When I undertook the month long exploration into Jimmy becoming unemployed, it really struck a nerve. People wanted to see more of that and I knew it was the direction I needed to go.
The objective is to make the characters more human, more relatable. And not just these talking heads when it comes to pop culture. I want them to become something more than a filter for me to pass my opinions though. I want you to actually care about them.
For those of you that are worried about all this talk of new directions, please take comfort in knowing that Theater Hopper will still take place in the world surrounding movies and pop culture. It will just have less to say about the specific details.
For those of you who are worried we’re going to go all serious on you, don’t be. I still plan on batting Ben Affleck around from time to time.
The idea is to move away from comics that specifically reference “Movie X” or “Movie Y” coming out onto DVD and instead plotting out longer story lines in advance.
Next Monday, I’ll be introducing an all-new original character to the cast. Her name is Charlie and she’s a rival from Cami’s past. Her introduction will signal the new beginning of Theater Hopper.
New Year. New Beginning. See you Monday.
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I always love it when a comic falls on New Year’s Eve. I dunno – it just feels like a great way to cap the year. I was feeling so celebratory, in fact, I decided to give you TWO extra panels in today strip.
Okay, so they’re pretty much for pacing a visual gag, but extra comics is extra comics!
I had kind of a hard time putting together today’s strip. Not just because the holidays have put me woefully out of sync with my regular routines. But when it came for Cami to share her pick for the best (worst?) movie of 2007, I was racking my brain trying to think of a film that was universally hated.
I combed a few “Worst of…” lists, which is almost ridiculous in it’s futility. I mean, I understand highlighting the best films makes for interesting copy and might motivate people to check out films they probably wouldn’t otherwise see. But ranking the worst? If they’re bad, can’t we just agree that they’re bad. Do you actually need to rank them and say “Movie X” is worse than “Movie Y?”
This coming from the guy who makes fun of movies semi-professionally.
Anyway, I was combing a few of the “Worst of…” lists and the only one that came up consistently was Norbit. I wasn’t sure if that was the movie to hold up as the shining beacon for terrible movies everywhere because I think it came back in January. Would anyone even remember it? Certainly there are probably less ambitious films, like I Know Who Killed Me, or some kind of horror kill-fest with no-name actors. But at least Norbit was more of a high-profile failure.
Whatever. If Norbit doesn’t work for you, just insert whatever movie you think was the greatest waste of your time this year. The joke works all the same.
I wish I could share with you my picks for the best films of 2007. But I’m holding off on that for right now. It’s something I plan to unveil with Gordon and Joe during our broadcast of The Triple Feature talkcast!
But before I get to far ahead of myself, I need to remind listeners that there will NOT be a show this evening due to the New Year’s festivities. Instead, our show this week will be on Wednesday, January 2 at 9:00 PM CST.
Secondly, our show this week WON’T be our picks for the best films of ’07, but rather a recap show where we plan on talking about all the movies we saw over the holidays. We took a week off last week, so there will be a lot of ground to cover. I was able to see National Treasure: Book of Secrets, Walk Hard – The Dewey Cox Story and Alien vs. Predator: Requiem (curiously, all movies with a sub header in their title). I know Gordon and Joe saw much, much more than that so I know we’ll have a LOT to talk about.
Be sure to call in live and let us know what movies you enjoyed this holiday season! There were a lot of great one’s to choose from. We’re still trying to find time to see Juno, Sweeny Todd and Atonement without completely abandoning Henry!
…
Switch gears abruptly, since it’s the end of the year and since 2007 has been a year of considerable change for me, I hope you’ll endulge me for a moment as I stop to kind of take stock of things and examine where things ended up for Theater Hopper in 2007.
Obviously the biggest change for me personally was when we brought our first son Henry into the world on February 18. I don’t really know how much or how little to mention Henry in the blog about about movies. But Theater Hopper has always been as much of a sounding board for my personal life as it has been for my semi-professional life. I’ll never forget all of the wonderful e-mails that people sent in after we made the announcement. I’ve kept all of them and one day I’ll share them with Henry.
I worried for a while if having a baby would signal the end of Theater Hopper. In the back of my head, I kind of thought that’s how it was supposed to happen. But then I kind of set my sights on crossing the 5 year anniversary mark and found a way to make it work.
I can tell you that between 2006, when I released my first two books, and 2007 the site has taken a hit traffic wise. I mean, if you look at the archive page and scroll down to 2007, you can see it’s almost a patchwork quilt of guest strips, DVD reviews and movie reviews. These were all ways I sought to diversify Theater Hopper and add value to the site when the responsibilities of parenting prevented me from working on comics. Instead, I think it left people with the impression that I was inconsistent.
I know in 2007 I want to work to make the site better and streamline things more. I’ve been working on a redesign that will take advantage of WordPress and will shed some of the advertising. I want to work hard to bring people back. I want to put out a third book. I want to try and do a few more conventions and stir up interest in the comic again. I want to create a community around Theater Hopper and get discussions going again. And, hopefully, as time moves on, being a parent and being a father are two things I can merge together.
What I do know is that I have some of the best, most kind-hearted fans I could hope for. The e-mails you send… they’re unbelievable. Every now and again, someone will send a note thanking me for the work I put into the site and entertaining them each week. My first thought is typically “But I could be doing so much more!” because I don’t think I’m ever going to reach a place where I’m comfortable and can say “This is the best that I can do.” I want to keep improving as much as myself as for you.
But my second thought is always “I should be thanking *you*.” Because you guys really keep me going. How cool is it that I’ve found an audience for my voice? What an incredible validation. I mean, I’d do Theater Hopper regardless if I got any attention for it. But you’d have to be stupid not to be appreciative of the people who support you.
So, thank you for everything prior and everything yet to come. I can’t say it enough. Thank you.
Have a safe and happy New Year’s Eve. I’ll see you here in 2008.
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Hey, guys. Today’s blog will be short as I was up extremely late putting the finishing touches on today’s comic. You’d think I would have taken the month off to build up a buffer or strategize how I was going to produce the comic while taking care of a new baby. But ohhhhhh no. I’m flying by the seat of my pants, as usual.
What’s important is that I’m back, baby!
I thought it would be kind of fun to address my hiatus in the comic with a short story arc. And, as in most soap operas, a coma was an easy out.
I really thought about doing a comic a couple weeks ago when the Iron Man 2 trailer hit the web. It didn’t seem fair that I was away from the site while that was happening. So this is a fun opportunity to revisit it.
If you haven’t seen the trailer yet, by the way, here it is.
…and, really, I’m only adding it because – like I said – today’s blog post will be extremely short.
HEY! Something that I wanted to mention that should excite you! Tonight we’re recording a new episode of The Triple Feature – our first since November 30. We have a lot of movies to catch up on and also a VERY. IMPORTANT. ANNOUNCEMENT.
So, if you want to know what’s going on before everyone else, be sure to listen to The Triple Feature LIVE tonight at 9:00 PM CST.
Now, I must scurry off to bed. But please take this opportunity to discuss the Iron Man 2 trailer. I know it’s probably been examined to death elsewhere, but I was bummed that I didn’t have a chance to have this conversation with you. So let’s have it now!
Leave your comments below!
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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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To be clear, I have no interest in seeing this movie. That a trailer even exists for it 6 months out seems… ambitious at best, delusional at worst. This film is sitcom-level piffle that will be immediately forgotten two weeks after release. But humor me. Watch the trailer anyway…
These stunt-casting movies like New Year’s Eve, Valentine’s Day and Love, Actually that feature a cavalcade of celebrity cameos are almost becoming a genre unto themselves. They’re like the Laff-A-Lympics of cinema.
…and they must be stopped.
“Coming Spring of 2012… ARBOR DAY!“
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First things first, see that little graphic to the left? That’s a button you can use to vote for Theater Hopper at Top Web Comics. As a reward, you get an incentive image that I’ve drawn. I polled my followers on Facebook and Twitter for ideas and someone thought it would be interesting to see a Muppet version of Cami. So that’s what you can expect to find if you click on that link.
I’ve flirted with Top Web Comics several times over the years and I’m giving it another spin for a couple of reasons. I was probably prompted by nostalgia since I’ve been busy adding transcripts and cleaning up the archives lately. I’ve been neck-deep in posts from 2003 and there are a lot of references to Top Web Comics from that time.
I also saw Paul Taylor from Wapsi Square pointing his readers to Top Web Comics recently and it made me a little homesick.
I’m not necessarily under the impressing that we’ll make much of a dent in the Top 10 especially since I’m only updating once a week now. But I like the ritual aspect of it. Drawing the comic, then drawing something ancillary to it. I have a stack of these sketches left over from the last time I attempted this in 2009 and I’m thinking I might add them to the Theater Hopper store soon. If someone wants to buy them, great. If not, no big loss, either.
By the way, Storenvy, my storefront generator recently announced some new discount and promotional options built into their site. So keep an eye out for some good deals there in the future. I’ve got way too much inventory right now that I want to get rid of. I’m prepared to get drastic.
Anyway, onto the comic.
First, I have to apologize for the comic being late this week. But I have good reason. The reason is two feet tall with pigtails.
Pearl turned 2 years-old on Saturday and (as I am wont to do on my children’s birthdays) I wanted to share a picture with you here.
I had mentioned Pearl’s birthday on Twitter over the weekend and I received several messages from people who couldn’t believe how fast time had gone by. Lots of people commenting on how it was like I just announced she was born yesterday… and now she’s 2!
Believe me, I empathize. The time has gone by very fast.
We had a great time celebrating with Pearl over the weekend and I want to thank everyone for their well-wishes.
The birthday fun didn’t stop there, though. Oh, not at all! On Sunday, we celebrated my father-in-law’s birthday. So between the two of them, I didn’t have much time to think about anything else. By the time Sunday evening rolled around, I was shot.
BUT THE COMIC!… We still haven’t talked about the comic, have we?
I knew when I put director Garry Marshall’s New Year’s Eve in my sights, I wanted to do something to the comic I did about his previous film, Valentine’s Day. That comic was very well received and – to be truthful – it’s a blast coming up with the oddball celebrity choices to list on the fake IMDB page.
My problem, however, was not wanting to recycle the same joke. I didn’t want to be guilty of plagiarizing myself. So, I went to Twitter with my problem.
Most people said the same thing: “The producers of New Year’s Eve didn’t show any originality with their new film. Why should you?”
But I got to give it up to Josh Anderson from Sketch Layer who came up with the idea to have Tom show up as a cast member in the film.
I decided to ad a little bit of a paranoid spin to the concept and sneak the cameraman into the last panel. But the genesis of the idea was all Josh. So thanks, Josh!
I don’t know if I have much more to say about the comic than that. But talking about the comic last night on Twitter gave me some ideas going forward. We’ll see what happens.
In the meantime, I would really appreciate it if you used the li’l old ShareThis links below this post to help spread the comic around. Since it was late, it helps to let people know that the site’s been updated.
Thanks again for your patience. See you soon!
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