Posts Tagged ‘Queen Latifah’
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I don’t know what it is, but something about Steve Martin’s latest movie smacks of desperation. From the trailers, it looks like Martin was in it for the payday. Damn shame, ’cause I’m a big fan.
I can’t understand why any rational person would pay good money to see Bringing Down the House in the theater. This looks like a movie we’ve seen a thousand times before. And I’m not kidding when it looks like the bastard spawn of Housesitter and Bulworth.
Just like in Housesitter, Martin is saddled with an unruly woman who commandeers his home and stodgy, white bread world. Bulworth has this element, too, but with a political spin — i.e. White man becomes enlightened of black struggles by hanging out in clubs with them, smokin’ blunts and downing a 40 ounce.
I about passed out when I watched the previews for this film with Martin decked out in hip hop regalia talkin’ smack to the brothers in the hood. I’m sorry, but there is something gross and UNFUNNY about a 50 year old white man using Ebonics (which is another load, by the way) for comedic purposes.
It’s like when they put Gwenneth Paltrow in that fat suit for Shallow Hal. The jokes weren’t originating from the character, they WERE the character. It’s all supposed to be an inside joke where everyone says “Okay, we all know Gwenneth is thin an attractive, but let’s make her fat and ugly! That’s it! That’s the joke!”
Pass.
I think most people will agree that Martin is at his best when he is being subtle and intelligent. Why stoop to this? It’s Sgt. Bilko all over again. Steve, Steve, Steve…
Anyway, today is my last strip before going on vacation to New York. I’m excited to go and I miss Cami a lot. It will be good to see her again. Three days is a long time.
While I’m away, keep coming back to the site for an ultra dose of guest strip mayhem! I already have 4 in the bin, and I’m expecting at least two more. That’s 6 strips people. You’re getting a better deal here than if you had me doing the work!
And don’t forget to check us out on the 17th when I get back, because we’re going to premier the Theater Hopper Documentary. It’s going to be a blast!
Before I take off, I want to give a general shout out to everyone who is helping to keep the site running while I’m away. The individual artists providing their guest strips will get their due on the day their strip is posted, so don’t worry about that.
But I really want to thank Jared for uploading all of this new content. I’m preparing all of the guest strip pages in advance while Jared does the dirty work of getting them posted. With his help, he’s allowed me to take a something that would otherwise result in plummeting readership and turn it into a genuine opportunity. Thanks.
To the rest of you, take care! I’ll be back in this spot on the 17th!
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Probably a more effecitve incentive sketch would have been to draw Cami actually kicking Chuck Norris in the nuts. I wanted to do it, but Thursday was just crazy and I didn’t get started on the strip until late. So I went for some juvenile photo manipulation. I dunno. It’s kind of growing on me! NO I AM NOT ON DRUGS!
I guess Cami was watching Ebert & Roeper last week and they gave a glowing review to Queen Latifah’s new movie Last Holiday. I didn’t see it, but I guess they were going on and on about what a great movie it was. Funny and light and restores your faith in confident comedies that aren’t trying so hard. Neither of us cared dime-one about this movie until a week ago. Now Cami is all hepped up to see it. Let’s just say I’m not putting a lot of confidence into a director named Wayne Wang, okay?
I suppose one could do much worse. Bloodrayne, anyone? But I’m more interested in seeing the 1950 original than I am of this remake. It stars Alex Guinness. And although I already know how it ends, I have to think it’s a more satisfying rental. We’ll see. Cami and I are also talking about seeing Capote this weekend in an attempt to stay ahead of Oscar nominations. I suppose if we really wanted to stay ahead, we would have gone to see it when it came out back in September.
Not much else to report except to direct your attention to the Bonus Materials section. I recently added some long-lost Fan Art from some very talented individuals. Included in the works is a VERY SPICY rendition of our very own Charlie by Aikida’s Josh Meinzer. Scroll down to the bottom of the page to see it. Check it out along with the other great contributions!
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I always feel like I’m taking a risk by relying on a visual gag for the punchline of a comic. You never know how it’s going to play. But I was so much more interested in coming up with a list of fake names for Valentine’s Day, I decided to throw caution to the wind.
Incidentally, do you know how long it takes to make a high-res recreation of an IMDB page? Longer than it takes to draw, ink, color and shade two panels of this comic – I’ll tell you that much!
Obviously I’m having a little fun by suggesting Sgt. Slaughter is in Valentine’s Day. But as ridiculous as the cast list is for this thing, he might has well be.
Cami only gave you a sample of who shows up in this movie. Check out the names attached to this thing:
Jessica Alba, Kathy Bates, Jessica Biel, Bradley Cooper, Eric Dane, Patrick Dempsey, Hector Elizondo, Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner, Topher Grace, Anne Hathaway, Ashton Kutcher, Queen Latifah, Taylor Lautner, George Lopez, Shirley MacLaine, Emma Roberts, Julia Roberts, and Taylor Swift.
Those are 19 big names. A handful of these actors are Oscar winners! That’s ri-donk-ulous! What kind of dirt does director Garry Marshall have on these people to group them together in an American knock-off of Love, Actually? It’s scary how much clout that guy has. Must be carry-over from his days as a writer on Laverne & Shirley.
I was actually kind of open to the idea of seeing Valentine’s Day until I heard Garry Marshall was directing it. As a director, his work is all about schmaltz and playing it safe. Look at his directing credits over the last 10 years – The Other Sister, Runaway Bride, The Princess Diaries, Raising Helen, The Princess Diaries 2 and Georgia Rule. I look at these films and the women in the audience who he targets and cynically assume that he must think all women are stupid.
Critical reaction to Valentine’s Day has been overwhelmingly negative with a 16% rotten rating at Rotten Tomatoes as of this writing. If it is at all a success at the box office, it will be based on its star power and simplistic branding. “A movie called Valentine’s Day being released on Valentine’s Day weekend? I simply must go!” This is why I scold Rob Zombie for not getting his Halloween remakes released closer to Halloween. People will go because they feel like they’re supposed to go.
I don’t know the details of the film, but I think I know the premise. If it’s about Valentine’s Day, certainly it’s about finding love or that special someone on the titular day and the frustrations that come along with that.
Does anyone truly believe that Jennifer Garner or Bradley Cooper would have trouble finding a date on Valentine’s Day? I mean, MAYBE Topher Grace. But c’mon!
Cami and I haven’t talked much about the film, but I can kind of sense that she’s not interested in seeing it. Instead, for Valentine’s Day, we’re going to leave the kids with my folks and have a nice dinner. That’s going to be about it. That’s just fine with me!
What are your Valentine’s Day plans? Do you plan on seeing Valentine’s Day the movie? If so, is there a particular actor that drew you in? Do you feel the large cast of actors will be helpful or a hindrance to the movie? Leave your comments below!
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