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Oct11

WE LOVE YOU FOR YOUR FAULTS

October 11th, 2004 | by Tom
  • Comics
1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars6 Stars7 Stars8 Stars9 Stars10 Stars
(9 votes, average: 8.89 out of 10)
WE LOVE YOU FOR YOUR FAULTS

If Tom were a grid-iron great, what would he look like? Click this link to vote for Theater Hopper at buzzComix to find out!

Well, here we are. The first strip back from the extended storyline that concluded last week. It’s a little jarring for me to try and get back into gag strip mode. It’s kind of like turning the ignition on a car that’s already running. It makes that horrible grinding noise and then you feel like an idiot?

Yeah, kind of like that.

I haven’t seen Friday Night Lights yet, but I’ll admit to being curious about it. The reviews HAVE been good. Cami and I were watching Dinner For Five on IFC and they had both Billy Bob Thorton and director Peter Berg talking about it. It helped to generate interest for me. Cami even said we should go see it.

I guess there’s just something in the back of my head that says “Don’t bother.” It probably has more to do with persistent sports movies cliches…

# THE REST OF THIS BLOG POST WAS LOST WHEN THEATER HOPPER MOVED TO WORDPRESS IN JANUARY 2009 #

└ Tags: Billy Bob Thorton, cliche, Friday Night Lights, Peter Berg, sports
[ No Comments ]
Mar19

WE’RE RUNNING OUT OF SPORTS

March 19th, 2007 | by Tom
  • Comics
1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars6 Stars7 Stars8 Stars9 Stars10 Stars
(8 votes, average: 8.25 out of 10)
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!

└ Tags: cliche, Department of Recreation, Pride, sports, swimming
[ No Comments ]
Oct02

WHIP IT GOOD

October 2nd, 2009 | by Tom
  • Comics
1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars6 Stars7 Stars8 Stars9 Stars10 Stars
(17 votes, average: 6.00 out of 10)
WHIP IT GOOD

On Monday I talked a little bit about seeing a sneak preview of Whip It! last Saturday. I promised a review at some point. A review the never came. So, instead, you get this comic and I’ll kind of splice in portions of the review I was going to write here in the blog post.

I think I said on Monday that Drew Barrymore’s directorial debut has a certain level of enthusiasm that I think can be attributed by Barrymore’s usual rah-rah “Girl Power” mantra. Despite being a film about hard-nosed roller derby chicks, the film is optimistic and sunny.

Ellen Page as the film’s heroine is serviceable. Her character is a mousy beauty pageant competitor by day and a roller derby chick by night. Unfortunately, she doesn’t really fit into either of those roles very well.

To me she seems too sharp, her wit to acerbic, to be some mousy teen bullied into pageant life by an overbearing mother. Conversely, she doesn’t have the physical presence to skate around a rink and throw elbows.

The film explains away some of the later by acknowledging Page’s pocket-sized physique. Her roller derby alter-ego “Babe Ruthless” gets by on her speed and agility and less on her right hook.

Still, I think it would have been interesting to see someone like Kat Dennings in the role. Then I might have found the dichotomy between pageant queen and roller girl a little more believable.

As I mentioned in the comic, the cast for this film is amazing. Not just for the depth of the semi-recognizable names, but for the variety. In what other film are you going to see the stunt woman from Death Proof roller skate with the female rapper who was once First Lady of Ruff Ryders?

Gotta give points to the casting director for bringing Juliette Lewis into the mix. Sinewy, snide and possibly smelly, Lewis fits perfectly into the role of Page’s riot grrl nemesis.

Special acknowledgment, however, I think needs to be given to Kristen Wiig, who finally stepped out from behind the Nervous Nellie persona she’s perfected on Saturday Night Live and in supporting roles from films like Adventureland and Knocked Up.

Despite the eccentricity of being a roller derby competitor, Wiig plays her character like a normal, everyday person. At this point, playing someone normally was probably the most shocking thing she could do!

Story-wise, there’s nothing in Whip It! that you haven’t seen in a thousand other coming-of-age comedies. Basically, an awkward girl finds something she’s passionate about and comes out of her shell in opposition to her parents wishes. Do the parents come around at the end? Of course. Are valuable life lessons learned? You betcha.

But like I said, there’s a positive vibe reverberating off this movie and a certain zest of life to the characters. The live their lives on the fringe of society in an already liberal-minded alternate reality known as Austin, Texas. They skate in abandoned warehouses under pseudonyms, get drunk and listen to loud music. Their exploits are liberating and we, the audience, get to live vicariously through that.

That’s pretty much the role of any good movie. If you can watch the characters on screen and say “I wanna hang out with them,” or “I wanna do that,” then there has been some transformative effect that has allowed you to transcend whatever hang-ups or stress is waiting for you back in the real world. By that measure, Whip It! is a rollicking success.

So what about you? Any plans to hang out with Smashly Simpson and The Hurl Scouts this weekend? Does Whip It! look like a film that interests you? Did any of you manage to catch the sneak preview on Saturday? If so, what did you think? Leave your comments below!

└ Tags: Alia Shawkat, Drew Barrymore, Ellen Page, EVE, Juliette Lewis, Kristen Wiig, Marcia Gay Harden, roller derby, sneak preview, sports, Whip It!, Will Ferrell, Zoe Bell
[ 14 Comments ]

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