Posts Tagged ‘swimming’

3 items.

DIFFERENTIATION

by Tom on March 26th, 2007
5 votes, average: 9.00 out of 10
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DIFFERENTIATION

Sometimes it's funny to write a straight up the middle "ba-da-dump-tssh!" kind of joke and let the chips fall where they may. Say what you will, but I had a lot of fun doing the little pieces of character expressions in this one.

Blades of Glory is a movie that I've been excited about ever since I saw the early trailers. Will Ferrell in his custom cocky snarl uttering "You're welcome, Stockholm..." just gets to me for some reason. I think this movie is going to be a real hoot. Ferrell is always at his best when he plays the cock-sure buffoon.

I recognize that Ferrell isn't everyone's cup of tea. Every time I comment on how much I love his movies, invariably someone comes out of the woodwork to tell me how much he sucks. Obviously humor is probably the most subjective of art forms and the further out on a limb a performer goes, the more likely he is to attract equally forceful detractors. Whoever it shakes out, I've thrown my lot in with Ferrell and that's pretty much all she wrote. Even in his worst movies, I can still find things I like.

Cami and I were able to get away for the house for a little while this weekend and see Reign Over Me and I really liked it. I'll be doing a short, 100 word review of the movie that I will be submitting to The Des Moines Register as part of an online contest where they are looking to hire a new stable of reviewers. I wrote a post about it on Friday. There's an online component to this competition. They're going to select a handful of reviews and let their readers decide which one's the like best. The reviewers with the most votes get added to the team. I'm going to call you guys in for backup when the time comes. Until then, keep your eyes peeled.

I was going to tell a story about the trials we went through to get there, but I have a comic about Reign Over Me in mind for Wednesday and I think I'll wait to share it then. We'll be talking about Reign Over Me during tonight's Triple Feature talkcast and I might tell the story there, so you might get a little preview. We'll also be talking about Netflix and the rumor that the company is attempting to make deals with local public libraries to distribute through them. We're still doing a little bit of research on that one, so it'll be interesting to see how it shakes out.

If neither of those options interest you, what about the promise of free stuff?

In a partnership with 20th Century Fox, I will be giving away copies of Copying Beethoven starring Ed Harris and which will be coming out on DVD next Tuesday, April 3rd. But the only way you can win is if you listen to tonight's show.

At the end of the broadcast, I will be sharing one half of a secret code. Listen in and write it down. Then, be sure to come back to Theater Hopper on Wednesday for the second half of the secret code that will be right here in the blog. Send in the complete code to theaterhopper@hotmail.com with the subject "Beethoven" along with you name, age and full mailing address and the winners will be selected at random!

It would be great if we could get a lot of participation on this one. The more we generate buzz for this promotion, the greater likelihood that we'll be able to do bigger and better promotions like this one in the future! So remember The Triple Feature talkcast TONIGHT at 9:00 PM CST.

In the meantime, be sure to check out Copying Beethoven when it comes out on DVD April 3rd!

See you then!

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WE’RE RUNNING OUT OF SPORTS

by Tom on March 19th, 2007
8 votes, average: 8.25 out of 10
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WE’RE RUNNING OUT OF SPORTS

When I saw the trailers for Pride about a month ago, two thoughts came to mind:

  1. Terrance Howard lost a bet.
  2. It's official: We've run out of sports through which to teach modern audiences the values of self-reliance and understanding differences.

I don't mean to belittle competitive swimmers. I had a few friends in high school who were on the swim team and it was their whole existence. I understand the crazy athleticism and determination it takes to shave tenths of seconds off your lap time. I mean, these were guys who would shave all their hair off their bodies before a meet to reduce drag - and I mean everything. Say goodbye to emoting with your eyebrows for a month!

But let's face it - laps in a swimming pool isn't going to keep me glued to my seat. Sure, there's the possibility someone might drown. But that would be kind of a downer for a supposedly uplifting movie like this one, don't you think?

And what's with this movie being centered around the swimming program of The Philadelphia Department of Recreation? What's so special about it? I'm aware that the film is based on historical events. Apparently the coach that Howard plays is a big deal, but I've never heard of him. I guess he's like a motivational speaker for kids, or something, but he uses swimming instead of obtuse metaphors about climbing ladders and avoiding snakes. Who knows?

This might all come off as very ignorant. Admittedly, I'm probably not the target demo for this movie. But if your trailers have me scratching my head and asking this many questions, then you're in trouble. That's one man's opinions. Am I wrong? Let me know in the comments.

By-the-by, don't forget to check out this week's episode of The Triple Feature talkcast at 9:00 PM CST over at TalkShoe. Since no good movies came out last week, Gordon, Joe and I will be discussing the recently DVD release of Casino Royale along with all of our favorite Bond movies. If for no other reason, be sure to tune in tonight to listen to Gordon fake his way through an hour long conversation about James Bond. Is it possible to hear a man sweat over the radio?

Talk to you later!

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REFRESHING

by Tom on September 4th, 2002
15 votes, average: 7.93 out of 10
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REFRESHING

For the record, the characters in today's strip didn't shrink, but are resting in a giant soda. Just spelling it out for the extremely literal among you.

It's weird what emerges when you're staring into the infinite abyss of a blank piece of paper. Today's toon is the result of just such a journey.

I'm enjoying this current "summer fun" arc - if you can call it that. Of course, I'm not enjoying it quite as much as the idea that I would ever wear a hot pink tank top and neon green shorts.

If I can sneak our newest character Jimmy into every strip this week, I think I'm going to do it. If for the sake of continuity.

I'm adding some new interactive elements to the site. Everyone should check out our new free for all links section. There are a few tweaks left to be made, but I think it's a great opportunity to allow the readers of the site to indirectly express themselves.

The concept is simple. Visit the free for all links, add a link to a site within one of the categories, then tent you fingers and fiendishly grin as you unleash the most awesome web site onto an unsuspecting public. I'm implementing the feature in hopes of being clued in on some of the best corners of the net I've yet to unearth.

I'll be monitoring this area closely and have set up some roadblocks to prevent you from log-jamming the area with crap links or pop-ups. Don't even think about adding links to dirty picture sites. I've got all your mothers phone numbers and I'm not afraid to tattle on you. How did I get all of you mothers phone numbers? That's for me to know and for you to find out.

Anyway, check it out. It should be fun. It's just the tip of the iceberg in terms of diversified content I have planned for the site. Stay tuned.

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