Some quick words about the Kickstarter fund raising campaign for Theater Hopper: Year Three before launching into the blog...
The project received a couple more pledges since Monday and I wanted to say thanks. We're now up to 37% funded, but I need to keep pushing forward. I keep looking for that magical "tipping point" that sends pledges into overdrive, but it hasn't happened yet. Hopefully, I will have some time over the holidays to draw that Monsters, Inc. drawing I was talking about earlier that I was planning to give away in a random drawing once we reach $1,500 in pledges. I was also planning on recording myself as I create the drawing and posting that on the updates page, so look for that in the future.
In the meantime, I know there are several of you that are in a situation where you can't pledge to the project - either because of financial reasons or because (for some weird reason) Kickstarter doesn't allow international credit cards. But there is still a way you can help!
If you currently own a copy of Theater Hopper: Year One or Theater Hopper: Year Two, please go to the project's comments page and leave feedback about those books. It's hard for me to ask you to do this without sounding completely narcissistic, but the previous books are probably the best evidence I have to help me justify a third book. I'm hoping that personal testimonies regarding the content and quality of the first two books will help to convince potential pledge candidates that this is a worthwhile project to lend their support to.
Additionally, you can also use the social media links under the video on the project homepage to help spread the word - Email, Facebook, Delicious, MySpace, Twitter and Digg. They're all there for you to help you tell your online social networks about this project.
Okay, that went on a little longer than I thought. So let's get to the blog, shall we?
When I first saw the posters for Ninja Assassin earlier this fall, I didn't pay much attention. It looked a little generic to me.
But I started to turn around on that idea when I saw the trailer and watched some of the commercials that cropped up. My favorite commercial is this one. Before they launch into the action, the voice over guy darkly informs us that "WARNING: Only one ninja was harmed during the making of this film. The rest of them... were killed!"
Guess what, buddy? You just earned my $8.00.
Incidentally, I should warn you that the commercial is pretty graphic and bloody. They say it's a red-band commercial, which I don't think I've ever seen before. I couldn't find the "clean" version that used the warning message, but I swear I've seen it on television in the last couple of weeks.
In my rational mind, I know that Ninja Assassin is going to be pure, bombastic cheese. But I think it's going to be a nice cathartic release after the Thanksgiving holiday. To put it another way, I don't think sitting through a thematically dense film like Precious is the antidote to a day spent overeating with your family. Ninja Assassin seems like an appropriate "switch off your brain and relax" kind of movie.
Plus, like Shoot 'Em Up a couple of years ago, I'm totally on board with the title. You know exactly what you're going to get with this movie. You will see ninjas. You will see assassinations. Case closed.
Okay, fine. Does it help you to know that it was produced by The Wachowski Brothers and directed by the guy that did V For Vendetta? Because it is. To that end, I think you can expect a certain level of polish to the visuals, even if the standard revenge plot and dialogue leave something to be desired.
So there you have it. That's what I'm doing with my weekend. I'm going to watch acrobatic Asians pretend to slice each other up like so much turkey. For the Americans in the audience, what's your plan post-holiday? Is anyone going to brave the Black Friday sales or have you guys been making your purchases online this year? What about Ninja Assassin? Any interest or does it look like schlock to you?
LEAVE YOUR COMMENTS BELOW!
