Posts Tagged ‘Premonition’
3 items.
First of all, let me just say, the fact that 300 earned $70 million this weekend blew my mind! I was expecting it to do well. Heck – even better than the $40 million that most box office analysts were predicting. But $70 million? That’s insane. That means people were probably seeing it more than once this weekend. Considering the fact that Wild Hogs held on to the number two spot (inexplicably) with $28 million means that a lot of people went to the movies this weekend.
Sadly, I was no one of them. I didn’t make it to the theater this weekend. Cami and I are keeping a close eye on Henry for the time being. I don’t mind. I look forward to it all week while I’m at work.
Incidentally, we were able to get out of the house together for a couple of hours on Sunday while my parents baby sat. Cami was going a little stir-crazy in the house not having left it for nearly a month. Psychologically, it’s good that she gets out into the world again, even if it’s only for a short period of time. She did really well, all things considered. It had to have been hard being away from Henry when she’s been at his side nearly 24 hours since the day he was born. Cami and I spend a lot of time together, but the time she spends with Henry is a new level of intense!
Back to box office talk for a second, I don’t think 300 has much to fear from Sandra Bulluck’s Premonition when it opens this weekend. That doesn’t mean we can’t have a little fun with the concept of the movie for this week’s comics.
Does anyone find it odd that Premonition doesn’t really have any competition this weekend? The producers of the Saw movies have put together another scare fest with Dead Silence that will bring out the horror-faithful. But beyond that, the potential benefit of additional box office for having the most high profile new release is Bullock’s to lose.
Do people really like Bullock in these psychological thrillers? I can understand why she might be shying away from the prospect of Miss Congeniality 3, but the last movie I recall where she slipped on these shoes was Murder By Numbers and no one really remembers her performance from that. They all remember Ryan Gosling’s introduction to mainstream audiences. Seems to me audiences appreciate her in the more cute and cuddly romantic comedy roles that Drew Barrymore will be stealing from her in another 5 years.
I don’t have anything much more insightful than that when it comes to Bullock’s career or Premonition in particular. But I have a whole week of madcap fun planned for the strips. So if you’re into over-the-top cartoon violence, be sure to check us out!
Another thing you’ll want to check out tonight is The Triple Feature talkcast featuring myself, Joe Dunn from Joe Loves Crappy Movies and Gordon McAlpin from Multiplex. I forget what we’re talking about this week because I can barely keep track of time these days, but it will probably be about the success of 300. So if you saw the movie this weekend and want to call into the show to discuss it, you have a great opportunity! Just go to TalkShoe, download their client, download a call-in program like Skype or SJPhone (it’s free) and say "Hello!" We had a really good turn out last week. It would be great if we could boost those numbers. We want you to participate!
When you’re done reading this, scroll down a little bit. I want you to leave me some feedback on another issue and I don’t want it getting lost in the comments of this post. If you guys want to reply here and let me know what you thought about 300, fire away! What was your favorite moment? What were the crowds like? What did they respond to?
Let me know!
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“Popcorn safety goggles?!” Oh, man! Where do I come up with this stuff?
I cop to a continuation of the joke from Monday’s strip, but I don’t feel bad about it. I have a joke in mind for Friday’s comic that I think will wrap this little arc up into a nice, neat package. Besides, it’s not like there’s anything else besides Premonition coming out this weekend.
Sure, there’s lots of advertising around Dead Silence, but I find I don’t have much to say about horror movies because they’re all pretty much the same. And then there’s Chris Rock’s directorial debut I Think I Love My Wife. Which to me looks like some kind of 1980’s situational comedy about the differences between men and women. I’m pretty sure I can’t make a joke there without getting in trouble with Cami.
So Premonition is the gravy train I’m riding for material this week. If you don’t like it, hang tight. TMNT comes out next week. I’m sure I’ll have some nostalgia-laced commentary for that little time warp.
Incidentally, the lack of interesting movies this week was something Gordon, Joe and I talked about in our weekly talkcast, The Triple Feature this past Monday at 9:00 PM. If you missed it, you can always download it from iTunes. We also talked about 300 and how it’s unprecedented success (the largest opening for film in March ever) might affect the production of the graphic novel gold standard, Watchmen. I thought it was a really good show. Check it out!
And while I’m slingin’ links, I have to give both Gordon and Joe props for their excellent 300-themed comics. You can view their respective efforts here and here. To be honest, I was jealous I didn’t come up with either joke myself. But it’s the kind of writing that would have required me to actually *ahem* see the movie. So I’m kind of wringing my hands over that one. By the way, did you know these comics were Multiplex’s 125th and Joe Loves Crappy Movies 300th? Milestones all around!
Switching gears for a second… I made a post on Monday that seemed to generate a lot of interest. Basically, I posted a drawing that I did of Sean Bean, but didn’t share that fact with you guys. I asked you to guess who it was because I was going to use the rendering as part of a t-shirt design that referenced an earlier comic and I wanted to make sure people could identify who it was supposed to be without being prompted.
The responses were really interesting. Some people knew right away that it was Bean. Others thought it looked like Ben Affleck or Ben Affleck (which was weird). Other people couldn’t make a guess because they’re really not familiar with Sean Bean’s body of work. A fair assessment. He’s not all that well-known.
So what did I learn from this feedback? I learned that if I produced the shirt, the majority of you would get the reference and that’s a good thing. But I also learned that because I used Bean’s IMDB publicity photo, I might be making myself vulnerable to some legal action. So what do we do?
Well, this brought to the fore something I’ve been thinking about for a while and that’s my caricature skills. They’re kind of bad. I mean, does this look like Samuel L. Jackson to you? Yeah, me neither. So I’ve decided to do something about it.
Yesterday I ordered a couple of
At any rate, I was really pleased to see the level of participation in the comments area from Monday’s post so I think I’m going to continue posting caricatures and let you guys guess who the person is supposed to be as a regular thing. It’s fun, it gives you guys something to talk about and it’ll help me improve my art. Sound like a plan? Let me know what you think in the comments! Natch!
What about the shirt design? I think I might still go ahead and finish it just because it was a very rich vision in my head and I’d like to see it completed. That doesn’t mean I’ll produce that version of the shirt. I might swap out the image of Bean from Monday’s post with another once I start to get a little better with the caricature. We’ll see. In the meantime, I have other designs I want to try. So it’s no big deal.
That’s it for today! See you Friday!
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He’s dodged meat cleavers, exploding popcorn kernels and strangulation by 35mm film. Let’s face it – The Movie Gods want Tom to live! Either that, or Cami’s ESP needs a tune-up.
I know some people get confused about where the line blurs between real-life Tom and comic Tom. So that I don’t have to field a bunch of questions about it later, my real-life Dad is very much alive and well and was not strangled by any film that crashed through the projection booth window. That probably sounds silly to most of you, but you’d be amazed at how literal some people can be. Yup, today’s punchline was a tip of the hat to The Naked Gun. Nothing more, nothing less.
I don’t have much more to say about this weekend’s movie offerings, but I am curious if anyone saw Andy Barker P.I. on NBC last night? Tony Hale from Arrested Development is a video store clerk in the strip mall where Andy Richter’s character works. He shows him a Sandra Bullock doll from Miss Congeniality he made himself to make fun of the movie. "Oh, Sandra. Why do you make such confusing movie choices? he asked.
Too perfect.
Anyway, I have some site news to share and I’m also looking for a little bit of help.
I’m finally starting to get around to adding back some of the links that have been missing since the redesign. It’s been almost three months and it really should have happened sooner, but the advertising page and the press page are now in production. If you’re interested in advertising in either one of the huge ad bars on the site, the advertising place is where you can get set up. Incidentally, my friends from Alma Mater stumbled onto the page on the server, even though there was no direct link to it and made a purchase. So you should check out their comic and reward their ingenuity.
The press page pretty much speaks for itself. It has links to all the interviews I’ve done along with all the profiles, site and book reviews related to Theater Hopper. I like to consider it my little digital Fortress of Solitude where I keep all my trophies. I thought you guys would get a kick out of reading some of that stuff if you missed it the first time around. It’s also a way to say thanks to the publications that actually gave me the time of day.
The tour page has been in production a while and is also fairly self-explanatory. I’m just reminding you of it because it’s been floating out there by itself for a while and you might not have checked into it. I had to drop Kansas City’s Planet Comicon. No one else I knew was going to be there and that’s too long to be away from Cami and Henry. So, your best bet this year is going to be seeing me at Wizard World Chicago. I wish I could go to some of the bigger shows like the San Diego Comicon or whatever. But I just don’t have the money to fly anywhere. Oh, well.
Anyway – the part I need your help with!…
I’m working on the FAQ page and I’m curious what you guys want to know about me or about the site? I don’t want to slap a bunch of fake “questions” onto the page and answer them in some kind of removed, third person fashion. I’d really like to include you guys in the process. So, if there’s something you want to know about Theater Hopper – how long it takes me to make a comic, what materials I use – or anything about me, like how long I’ve been cartooning, what my favorite movie is or how do I come up with strip ideas – leave them in the comments section of this blog. I’ll take the best questions any build the page out. Hopefully in the next couple of days, you’ll see your question answered and will have provided a great service to the other readers!
So, fire away and have a great weekend!
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