Posts Tagged ‘Shia LaBeouf’

28 items.

ALWAYS INVITED

by Tom on July 31st, 2009
31 votes, average: 7.61 out of 10
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ALWAYS INVITED

I kind of got more than I bargained for with this little arc about my hand injury, Tom's grand lie and whatnot. I really didn't expect it to last two weeks, but I'm very satisfied with the conclusion. I hope you are, too.

Incidentally, if the last panel of today's comic looks a little familiar, that was intentional. I parodied my own work - Jared's first encounter with Shia LaBeouf - which you can find here. Ah, memories... Memories and poorly drawn caricatures of Harrison Ford.

Not much else to mention today. Cami is going out of town this weekend with my mother-in-law and sister-in-law so I'm on full-time Henry duty starting today. I'm trying to think of things we can do that will keep him away from television. He's become very demanding as of late. His hunger for Wow Wow Wubzy and Go, Diego Go know no bounds.

Depending on the weather we might hit up a local wading pool or maybe the zoo. But if it's not warm enough or if it rains, we'll be trapped in the house. I don't know if I have enough Play-Doh to last us the entire weekend.

From a movie standpoint, it's kind of bad timing that Cami is leaving town. 500 Days of Summer, The Hurt Locker and Funny People all open here today. I don't know if we'll have any time to see them together before I leave for Chicago Comic Con on Thursday.

G.I. Joe opens August 7 and will probably be the movie Zach, Gordon, the Digital Pimp crew and I end up seeing (as is our annual tradition). So I don't know when I'm going to get caught up on the others.

Oh, well. More important things to worry about at the moment. Now where did I leave that Play-Doh?...

Have a great weekend, everyone!

8 Comments

THE DANGERS OF TECHNOLOGY

by Tom on July 29th, 2009
34 votes, average: 8.35 out of 10
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THE DANGERS OF TECHNOLOGY

I knew at some point I wanted Tom's fantastic story to be uncovered as a lie. In terms of bringing David "back," it was really the best of both worlds. I got to dust off an old character without actually keeping him in continuity.

It was also a great way to cover any gaps in logic there might be. People asked pretty early on how Shia could possibly mistake Tom for Jared when they've never even met. Frankly, I never thought that was something that would come up. I should have my characters lie more often! It's the perfect catch-all solution!

I realize that the punchline to today's comic is kind of "hur-hur," but the great thing about it is that it was something literally said by real-life Jared after I posted to my Facebook page about my adventures in the ER. At the time, I kind of groaned at the pun. But now I appreciate it for what it is. Thanks, good buddy!

Not much else for me to talk about today except if you're trying to find Monday's recording of The Triple Feature, we had to scrap the show. Joe had to back out for personal reasons and that left us at a disadvantage. Joe and Gordon were going to talk about 500 Days of Summer but I haven't seen it yet because it doesn't come out in theaters here until Friday. No offense to Gordon, but it would be kind of a boring show if he was the only one talking about the movie (and I think he'd be the first to agree with me on that point.)

The other thing I'll mention is that my good friend Zach Miller from Joe and Monkey found the floor map for Chicago Comic Con so now you'll know where to find us on Artist Alley. Zach and I will be sharing table #3414 and we'll be standing right next to our friend Joe Dunn and the rest of the Digital Pimp Crew at table #3416.

If you'd like to view the map, you can do so here.

Chicago Comic Con is being held at the Rosemont Convention Center in Rosemont, IL August 6 - 9. If you're in the area, please stop by our booth. It would be a thrill to meet you and I'm giving out free buttons!

Until then, stay frosty!

5 Comments

DAVID REBORN

by Tom on July 22nd, 2009
31 votes, average: 5.58 out of 10
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DAVID REBORN

Sorry, guys. Today's blog post is very short. I was up late last night working on the comic and had to be out the door early to go have my car worked on.

In the meantime, here's a link to the comic where Jared - not Tom - smashed Shia LaBeouf's hand with a hammer.

Also, if you're somewhat new to the strip (or simply don't remember the character) start here to get acquainted with David. He was introduced and killed off rather quickly. So if his appearance doesn't ring any bells, I wouldn't be surprised.

Beyond that, trust that this storyline is actually going somewhere and I might be back later in the day with some more updates.

Cheers!

9 Comments

UPSET ABOUT THE HAND

by Tom on July 20th, 2009
19 votes, average: 5.84 out of 10
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UPSET ABOUT THE HAND

First I just want to say thanks to everyone who wrote a comment or sent an e-mail expressing support or concern after I shared the story of my hand injury last week. I've always maintained that Theater Hopper fans are some of the most courteous, supportive and understanding fans in all webcomics and your words encouraged me to get back on the horse that much faster.

That said, a few of you were teasing me a little bit when it came to my hand injury being similar to that of Shia LaBeouf's while he was filming Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. A bit of karma played against me for giving the actor such a hard time in the past.

It's cool, it's cool. While my injury was nowhere near as serious as LaBeouf's, turnabout is fair play, I suppose. I gotta give LaBeouf credit, though. He showed up for work with his injury. I don't know if I would have done the same.

Then again, if a $200 million action sequel were resting on my shoulders and Michael Bay could provide a kevlar cast that looked like skin, I'd probably find the proper motivation to go back to work.

A few of you suggested that I write my injury into the comic. While I recognized that it would be therapeutic to do so, I wasn't sure how to go about doing it. Then I got an e-mail from one CP Newcombe who gave me a nugget of a great idea. Immediately upon reading it, I could think of at least five different directions to take the storyline. So you have CP to thank for this next little story arc that not only bring Shia LaBeouf back into the Theater Hopper, but another long-lost character once thought dead. Who could it be? You have to wait to find out!

I things that are not hand-related, Cami and I saw Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince over the weekend. Cami didn't like it because she felt the film took too many liberties with the book and was hard to follow. She recognizes that certain changes had to be made to adapt the book to the screen, but was ultimately disappointing.

I, on the other hand, was perfectly happy with the movie and I attribute much of that to the fact that I've never read a single Harry Potter book.

I tried reading the first book before the first movie came out, but I found Rowling's use of language too impenetrable and annoying to bother to continue. It's all the made up words. They distracted me.

So, as a result, my exposure to Harry Potter has occurred exclusively in the domain of film. Aside from the fourth movie (which I thought was horrid), I've enjoyed them all so far.

I suppose now that I've had some time to get away from the movie a little bit, there were some things about The Half-Blood Prince that bothered me. Certain revelations that should have a large impact simply don't shock the way they should and there's a little too much hemming and hawing over the multiple romantic subplots to keep the tension going.

Something I've noticed about the last few films is that their visual tone has become darker and darker, but the plot elements don't always match up to this. Things should be getting deadlier and more serious for Harry, but the films seem to force this balance with the light stuff which then feels out of place.

I know Joe had some pretty strong opinions on the movie, so I'm sure we'll debate these issues and more on tonight's episode of The Triple Feature. I strongly encourage you to listen live at 9:00 PM CST. You can participate in the chat field with the other listeners and we always have a lot of fun. Plus, you get to the listen to the behind-the-scenes stuff before and after we record the show. I've been told by some it's the sole reason they listen to the live broadcast.

Hope you can fit us in tonight and that everyone has a great week. Thanks again for all your support and I'll talk to you soon!

8 Comments

THE BIG COVER UP

by Tom on June 24th, 2009
27 votes, average: 5.70 out of 10
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THE BIG COVER UP

No incentive sketch today, guys. I'm running WAY behind and I wanted to get the comic up and running first without messing around with a sketch.

Sorry that the comic is so late. To explain myself, I offer these pictures:

Family Room Painting

Family Room Painting

It's a huge, 12 foot long triptych that I painted for our family room that I completed and hung last night.

Of course, like an idiot, I was working for about 4 hours in my garage painting the last panel with a heat index of 110 outside. By the time I was done hanging it up, my back was killing me and I was completely drained. So I decided to take advantage of my unemployment situation, sack out early and get up in the morning to finish the comic.

So, again, sorry for the delay.

This painting is something I've been "working" on since January, but could never really find the time to complete until I got 8 hours back during my day a few weeks ago. It's the perfect solution for our family room, which is ridiculously long and impossible to decorate. We've spent years trying to find the right configuration and I think we finally have the room the way we want it. The triptych anchors a very long and very blank wall and I know that Cami is over the moon about it.

In fact, this morning, when Henry came downstairs for breakfast, he noticed the painting right away and said "I like your paintings, Daddy." So I think I did okay.

As for the "let's make Shia a bad-ass conspiracy," obviously it doesn't hold water. But he was really on a bender this time last year, getting arrested at a Walgreen's and kind of flirting with the law. I always kept the idea tucked away in the most cynical corner of my brain that it was all orchestrated on purpose to distance LaBeouf from his Disney past. But, again, I'm just playing it up for laughs.

I mean, smashing someone's hand with a hammer? Funny, right?! I'm chuckling about it even now. Thank you, Tom & Jerry cartoons for warping my sense of humor.

Not much else to talk about today except that I'm off to see a 12:00 PM showing of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Once again, taking advantage of the unemployment situation. But don't worry. I'm also looking for jobs during this downtime as well.

I just figured that since my hopes weren't all that high for Transformers, it would be better for me to see it during a matinee rather than try to fight the crowds on Friday. Why make an unpleasant situation more unpleasant, right?

Originally, I was going to go to the theater that's 5 minutes from my house. But as I was looking up show times, I saw the movie is also playing at the only IMAX theater in central Iowa. So, despite my reservations, I think I'm going to drive the extra 20 minutes in the car and shell out the extra three bucks at the ticket counter to see it on the big, big, big screen. I'll let you know how it goes.

Anyone else planning on seeing the show in IMAX? What are your expectations for the movie? Leave your thoughts in the comments below!

Oh, and thanks for being patient with me today!...

13 Comments

TO TIDE YOU OVER

by Tom on June 22nd, 2009
29 votes, average: 6.83 out of 10
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TO TIDE YOU OVER

I was up late Sunday night working on today's comic and right now I'm at home watching Henry as he's now going to day care three times a week.

As such, I'm going to need a little bit of sleep before I dive into the blog post that will accompany this strip. I have a couple of important things to talk about and I want to be sure I have my ducks in a row mentally before I proceed.

You can expect an update to the site in the afternoon while Henry is down for his nap and I can dedicate a little concentration to what I need to say.

In the meantime, please enjoy this interview of Shia LaBeouf from last Friday's Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien. Apparently, Shia was being paid each time he used the word "outrageous" because I counted 6 times his vocabulary made employ of the word.

Then again, I probably shouldn't be surprised considering how fond he is of repeating certain words.

Enjoy. It's outrageous!

7 Comments

INDIFFERENCE IS A DISH BEST SERVED COLD

by Tom on September 24th, 2008
7 votes, average: 9.29 out of 10
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INDIFFERENCE IS A DISH BEST SERVED COLD

I'm kind of over my Shia hate. At least for right now I am. I dunno. Eagle Eye doesn't look like the kind of movie I need to get worked up about. I liked it much better when it was Enemy of the State. No, scratch that. I think it was better when it was called The Game.

Talk to me next summer when Transformers 2 comes out.

I might end up seeing Eagle Eye this weekend, though. But only if Choke doesn't end up in a theater near me. I'd much rather see that. As far as Eagle Eye is concerned, I'm down for seeing any movie that doesn't have the where-with-all to pull a trailer featuring a vehicle doing a jack knife through an intersection after LaBeouf's last run in with the law. Way to brush that little episode out of the corners of our collective memory bank, Dreamworks marketing department!

But hey, Shia's stubble is starting to look really nice. A little less Trash 'Stach for this outing, eh, Shia?

Besides, you've got to love a movie that uses the line "They're hacking into the POWER GRID!"

Uh-huh. Sure they are.

Oh, golly. Would you look at that? Here I am talking about how I'm off the Shia Hate Train and all it takes is a couple of scratches to find it bubbling below the surface. What a hypocrite I am.

Oh, well. Gotta pack it in for now. I have a big presentation about Limited-Effects Theory for my Mass Communications course this evening. So I'm kind of distracted thinking about that - hoping I don't blow the introduction. Wish me luck and be sure to come back to the site tomorrow for a review of Sex and the City, recently released on DVD. I'm switching it up for this one. I'll be interviewing Cami and asking her what she thought of the film! So something unique for your Thursday!

Stay tuned!

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GUEST STRIP – RYAN ESTRADA

by Tom on September 17th, 2008
7 votes, average: 6.71 out of 10
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GUEST STRIP – RYAN ESTRADA

Do not adjust the internet. Ryan Estrada has taken over. Your regularly scheduled Theater Hopper will resume on Friday.

Hat's off to Ryan Estrada and his wholesale hijacking of this comic and every other. I always get a kick out of seeing Ryan make his mark in this way and am more than happy to play along. Hey, it gives a night off!

So what have I been doing with my night off? Well, I was watching Speed Racer, which came out on DVD yesterday (expect a full review in the near future). I'm kind of kicking myself that I didn't see this in the theater because I'm now a big fan of the visual style. But you know how it goes... They bungled the advertising on this thing - couldn't decide if it was supposed to be a blockbuster or a kid's movie (for the record, it's for kids). Plus, The Wachowski's kind of pissed away their cred after the third Matrix movie.

But, yeah... the movie is a visual feast.

Then again, I'm only half way through it... which was actually going to be my next complaint. For a movie that's supposed to be all about speed, it's ponderously slow with it's pacing. So we'll see how the second act turns out. I don't want to give up too much of my review just yet!

Short and sweet today, guys. That's all I have for you. I'll see you here on Friday with a brand new comic!

Have a great day!

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RESPECTED ELDER

by Tom on August 6th, 2008
2 votes, average: 9.00 out of 10
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RESPECTED ELDER

Every once in a while the universe gives you an opportunity to correct a wrong. And - as unfortunate as the accident was - Morgan Freeman's recent car crash in a weird way provided me the opportunity to make fun of myself after last week's poorly received anti-Shia comic.

Again, however, I paint myself into the corner or "What if things had ended differently?!"Thankfully, as we all know by now, Mr. Freeman is in stable condition and expected to make a full recovery.

Interesting how fast the news spread on this one. People were sending me e-mails about it before I even had a chance to read the news. Of course, Mr. Freeman's condition went from critical to stable and back and forth. I also find it odd how the news reports couldn't seem to get it right regarding his injuries. I heard everything from broken arms and ribs to broken hands and feet.

We talked about this a little bit during Monday night's Triple Feature podcast and I commented on how I thought it was cool that Freeman flipped a 1997 Nissan Maxima. In some way, I saw that as him "keeping it real." Turns out the car belonged to the passenger of the vehicle. I guess Freeman was driving her home. Who knows?

What matters is that everyone is recovering and doing well.

And that Morgan Freeman cannot be killed by conventional means.

Shifting gears for a moment, I'm in a bit of a situation.

If you happen to be one of my LiveJournal friends or Twitter followers, you know that I suffered a catastrophic failure last night in regards to my external hard drive. It's a real problem. This hard drive contains every single Theater Hopper comic produced since 2003. Not to mention the work I was doing on Theater Hopper: Year Three and basically every other piece of art I've produced in relation to the site for the last five years

The drive also contains over 15,000 MP3 files, and all of our download photographs and videos. Henry walking, for example. Important stuff.

I don't know what happened. The drive was working fine on Monday night. I tried firing it up on Tuesday to work on today's comic and it wouldn't connect. The light is on, so I know it's getting power and the driver appears in the device manager so I know my desktop is at least aware of the external drive. But when it fires up, it clicks three times like it's trying to turn over and then powers down.

I don't know a lot about computers, but I know that clicking sound isn't good.

I'm gathering consensus from around the internet and people are helping me troubleshoot it. Most everyone thinks that the drive has failed and I am screwed.

I've had a few suggestions like "Leave in the freezer for 8 hours, boot it up and then try to move the data over." Kind of sounds like a wives tale, but I've had at least two people suggest it. Problem is, even if it works, I don't have enough storage anywhere else to move it to. More importantly, if an attempt is made, I cannot accept anything less than 100% recovery.

I really need your help with this. If you have any suggestions, please e-mail me at theaterhopper@hotmail.com. Even if it's just suggesting a data recovery firm that you've worked with and had a good experience with. I'm completely directionless on this. I literally feel sick to my stomach.

Once I decide a course of action (which will probably be sending the drive to recovery) I'll probably start some kind of fund raising drive or art auction. From what I've been told so far, data recovery doesn't come cheap and I have no way to cover the costs right now. So, I guess keep an eye out for that in the future.

I appreciate your help and consideration. Have a great week and I'll talk to you soon.

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YOU EXPECT ME TO SAY SOMETHING

by Tom on July 28th, 2008
5 votes, average: 7.20 out of 10
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YOU EXPECT ME TO SAY SOMETHING

There are so many other things I could have done a comic about today.

For example, I could have talked about how I saw Step Brothers over the weekend and how much fun I had with that. Or I could have talked about something like Darren Aronofsky directing the Robocop reboot. Anything, really. My options are wide open.

But when Shia LaBeouf flips his SUV and is arrested on suspicion of D.U.I. - well, all your plans go out the window. Especially in my case when I've established myself as the anti-Shia guy. You expect me to say something.

Now, thankfully, Shia and the passengers in his car were not seriously hurt. Nor was anyone in the other vehicle he crashed into. LaBeouf was taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and was treated for injuries to his left hand and  knee, as well as a minor head injury. Obviously, if things had turned out differently, I wouldn't be poking fun in this way.

I'm still a little sketchy about the whole thing. I certainly don't want to come off like I'm celebrating the accident or LaBeouf's potential for a downfall. That's why it's important to keep this in context.

Back in November of 2007 when I kicked off this whole anti-Shia thing as a means to replace Ben Affleck as the comic's punching bag, I established that there was just something about LaBeouf that rubbed me the wrong way. Here's what I said at the time:

I'm here to tell you that the kid is a fraud. And I think, secretly, there are some of you out there that agree. I'm planning on tapping into the vast undercurrent of LaBeouf hatred that's out there and riding it all the way to the bank.

I don't know what I don't like about the kid. I've just never liked him. Admittedly, I didn't know much about him as a person when he was starring in stuff like Charlies Angels: Full Throttle or Holes, but he just seemed way too cocky. He hadn't done anything to earn the chip on his shoulder.

He seems like one of those kids that's been pushed into show business by an over-zealous parent and they take it REALLY SERIOUSLY as a way to earn their parent's love. As if being a professional or some kind of mini-adult will earn them more respect. Like Dakota Fanning or Haley Joel Osment, or something.

That's fine. I appreciate an actor who is serious about their craft. But all of these actors started out as CHILD actors. And in order to perform at the level they do, you have to lobotomize a part of your childhood to do it. Let's face it: That never turns out well.

I think what makes Shia particularly annoying is that he's a sanctimonious hypocrite. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, he derided the party-hard actors and actresses of his generation by saying that he isn't a big partier and stays home with his friends instead of getting into trouble. Not two months later and Us Weekly reports a story about him gallivanting around Hollywood trying to pick up chicks.

Don't get me wrong. If I was his age and making millions of dollars, I'd probably succumb to the temptation. But what I WOULDN'T do is go to the press and talk about how committed I am to acting and how stupid everyone else is for partying. Dumb, dumb, dumb Shia.

Now, this morning, The Chicago Tribune is reporting that LaBeouf was arrested in Chicago for trespassing after he refused to leave a Walgreens drug store! It doesn't get any better than this! (Thanks to Josh Anderson for forwarding me the link).

I've got the whole week to make my case against Shia, but I have to admit that last news item couldn't have come at a better time. Mark my words, kids - LaBeouf is going down!

Now, at lot of this was tongue-in-cheek and I really don't wish the kid any harm. But, you gotta admit, I kind of called it.

Shia is 22 years-old. He's still young and he's gonna make mistakes. I kind of equate these last few run-in's with the law to a kid going to college for the first time and completely running off the chain. I hope whatever is going on isn't symptomatic of larger problems like alcoholism or anything else. I hope it's just an overblown case of immaturity and the unfortunate glare of the media spotlight.

I think LaBeouf is within his right to go out and night and get crazy. If I was 22, loaded with cash and starred in some of the biggest franchise films of the century, I'd probably feel like celebrating, too. Heck, we can even overlook the hypocrisy of that EW interview where he claimed he was better than the rest of young Hollywood. Whatever.

Just... next time, man? Call a cab.

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