Michael Hutchison: December 2007 Archives
Kurt Belcher and Phil Neundorf, two gents I had the pleasure of working with on "Job Wanted", are attempting to get a book published by Alterna Comics and they need your vote.
All you have to do is post a comment and give them a star rating (the higher the better). No registration is necessary and the comment process is simple. They need to be in the top five vote-getters to advance, so please spread the word and tell your friends.
All you have to do is post a comment and give them a star rating (the higher the better). No registration is necessary and the comment process is simple. They need to be in the top five vote-getters to advance, so please spread the word and tell your friends.
Sorry. Got on a kick.
I've been getting into Five For Fighting (a/k/a Jon Ondrasik) recently, mainly due to Jon's recent tour of the radio talk shows to promote his new project "CD For The Troops." I figured it's about time I bought some Five For Fighting albums, but I wanted to check out more of his music. Not content with those 30-second iTunes samples that cut off right before the chorus ramps up, I headed over to YouTube to browse his videos...
...and I found this:
Cool, isn't it?
Oh, and I found some even better resolution videos online.
Do me a favor? If you feel like buying some Five For Fighting albums, grab them from our Astore. I have to renew our site's hosting soon and could use some kickback dough!
...and I found this:
Cool, isn't it?
Oh, and I found some even better resolution videos online.
Do me a favor? If you feel like buying some Five For Fighting albums, grab them from our Astore. I have to renew our site's hosting soon and could use some kickback dough!
I know some people were excited about the trailer for AvP2. Seeing the two beasties battling it out on Earth, in America, in the present... it at least sounded like a better plot. Plus, it was clearly going to be an R-rated movie, as the previous film should have been. Still, it was curious that there wasn't a lot more publicity for the sequel than a red-banded trailer released online.
That smell? That's the smell of a studio dumping a turd of a movie near the holidays in hopes of scooping up cash from the people who are just hanging out a theater looking for something to watch. The movie is doing terribly in the reviews, though it did manage to garner some $10 million on its Christmas Day opening. My guess is that word of mouth will ensure that the film doesn't make too much beyond the opening day take.
I think the big problem is the lack of humans we care about. Alien means little without Ripley’s character in it, which is why Alien is all the poorer in these post-Ripley films. Predator was all about Arnold, not the Predator; the main problem with Predator 2 was that the good ensemble cast was headed up by Danny Glover.
That smell? That's the smell of a studio dumping a turd of a movie near the holidays in hopes of scooping up cash from the people who are just hanging out a theater looking for something to watch. The movie is doing terribly in the reviews, though it did manage to garner some $10 million on its Christmas Day opening. My guess is that word of mouth will ensure that the film doesn't make too much beyond the opening day take.
I think the big problem is the lack of humans we care about. Alien means little without Ripley’s character in it, which is why Alien is all the poorer in these post-Ripley films. Predator was all about Arnold, not the Predator; the main problem with Predator 2 was that the good ensemble cast was headed up by Danny Glover.
What the AVP films needed, and what any future (fingers crossed) Predator film needs is a bankable star that people care about playing a likable character. Heck, put Keanu Reeves and Drew Barrymore up against a Predator and I’d go see it. (Yes, so would all the people who hate them…in hopes that they lose.)
This is the second trailer. The first one was on the Superman/Doomsday DVD
Now George Lucas has just gone too far!
Operation Gratitude, who we've supported with our "Comics For Soldiers" fundraiser for the last few weeks, just announced that they have sent off their 300,000th care package. Actually, that happened on December 15th... and by the time I logged in to create this blog entry the number on their counter was up to 314,786, meaning they have packaged up another 15,000 just in the last 4 days. Amazing!
Though their holiday drive to gather items to put in the care packages is over, It's never too late to donate money. Remember, $10 pays for one care package. $50, a not-too-unreasonable amount for the average comic fan, pays for five care packages. You may donate easily with Paypal or by sending them a check.
Thanks to all of you who have donated.
Though their holiday drive to gather items to put in the care packages is over, It's never too late to donate money. Remember, $10 pays for one care package. $50, a not-too-unreasonable amount for the average comic fan, pays for five care packages. You may donate easily with Paypal or by sending them a check.
Thanks to all of you who have donated.
The Bunnies are now re-enacting movies at their own URL: starzbunniestheater.com
Up first: Spider-Man 3. I guess it says something about that mess of a movie that the re-enactment can barely skim all of the plot elements in 30 seconds.
Up first: Spider-Man 3. I guess it says something about that mess of a movie that the re-enactment can barely skim all of the plot elements in 30 seconds.
Heath Ledger is turning in a good performance as the Joker so far, even though it's clear that they're deviating more from the comic book origins. (No chemical bath as far as we can tell...it's just a mysterious psycho in makeup)
Check it out at atasteforthetheatrical.com
Check it out at atasteforthetheatrical.com
Invest in films online with fake dollars!
Okay, I don't know what the point is. I guess it's just fun. I mean, you can get stuff. Like, if you earn 3 million "dollars" profit you can exchange it for 3 actual dollars off of a shirt that says "Hollywood Stock Exchange" on it.
Okay, I don't know what the point is. I guess it's just fun. I mean, you can get stuff. Like, if you earn 3 million "dollars" profit you can exchange it for 3 actual dollars off of a shirt that says "Hollywood Stock Exchange" on it.
After watching The Grudge 2 last night (and recently watching both the original and the extended version), and then thinking about that movie series and the Ringu movies, I've come to the conclusion that Japanese horror films are all based on Japanese women having creepy hair. I mean, Ringu/The Ring and Ju-on/The Grudge both draw 90% of their scares just from the sudden appearance or zooming close-up of a woman with her eyes wide open behind her stringy hair.
My heart goes out to Japanese women. I'm sure there are good portrayals of them in Japanese films somewhere, but as far as films that get any international play there seems to be three stereotypes:
- Stringy-haired, pop-eyed evil spirits
- Geishas
- Baby-voiced, giggling, uniformed schoolgirls whose panties get a lot of screentime
While we're on this subject, the trailer is up for One Missed Call, yet another American adaptation of a Japanese horror film. This one's written by Andrew Klavan of the Libertas blog. Way to go, Andy!
How long will it take you to deduce his identity?
There are only a few days left of the Operation Gratitude donation drive, and they are also closing in on their 300,000th care package sent.
As part of our first Comics For Soldiers drive, I have just mailed off 40 copies of "Job Wanted" and 100 copies of "Metro Med", all of which were signed, for Operation Gratitude to include in their care packages. I've also sent a check for $100, enough to cover 10 care packages. I'm mentioning this not to brag but to emphasize that I'm walking the walk and not just exhorting you to donate while I play it safe.
Shortly after I announced our effort, I heard from the great Nick Post of the Midwest Comic Book Association. He asked how many comic books I wanted for a donation to Operation Gratitude. I told him to put together a fair-sized box. He replied, "I was thinking more along the lines of 'How many pallets?'" (Did I mention Nick is one of the best friends the comic book industry could have?)
It's not too late, folks. Donate comics, games Beanie Babies or small toys. If nothing else, send cash. They always need the money for sending more care packages.
As part of our first Comics For Soldiers drive, I have just mailed off 40 copies of "Job Wanted" and 100 copies of "Metro Med", all of which were signed, for Operation Gratitude to include in their care packages. I've also sent a check for $100, enough to cover 10 care packages. I'm mentioning this not to brag but to emphasize that I'm walking the walk and not just exhorting you to donate while I play it safe.
Shortly after I announced our effort, I heard from the great Nick Post of the Midwest Comic Book Association. He asked how many comic books I wanted for a donation to Operation Gratitude. I told him to put together a fair-sized box. He replied, "I was thinking more along the lines of 'How many pallets?'" (Did I mention Nick is one of the best friends the comic book industry could have?)
It's not too late, folks. Donate comics, games Beanie Babies or small toys. If nothing else, send cash. They always need the money for sending more care packages.
One of the areas I'm awful at is art criticism. I can't draw much more than stick figures, so when I look at Rob Liefeld's art I have to say, "Hey, it's way better than I can do!"
Sure, the human body doesn't bend like that, and that poor woman has the worst case of scoliosis I've ever seen, and I don't see how it's possible to see an overhead view and a front shot and a back shot of Wonder Girl in one panel and when I was designing a four-armed character for Metro Med the first thing I asked myself was, "How would his skeleton be modified to make that work?" while Liefeld just sticks an arm out of a body mass and calls it done. But when all's said and done, I can't draw. Liefeld can. Those forty great art pieces by Liefeld prove it.
Be warned: the vulgarity is thick. But warranted.
Sure, the human body doesn't bend like that, and that poor woman has the worst case of scoliosis I've ever seen, and I don't see how it's possible to see an overhead view and a front shot and a back shot of Wonder Girl in one panel and when I was designing a four-armed character for Metro Med the first thing I asked myself was, "How would his skeleton be modified to make that work?" while Liefeld just sticks an arm out of a body mass and calls it done. But when all's said and done, I can't draw. Liefeld can. Those forty great art pieces by Liefeld prove it.
Be warned: the vulgarity is thick. But warranted.
There's a movie trailer that I want to warn you all about. If you are at all interested in enjoying a good thriller without having it totally ruined before you go in, then pay attention. This provides the perfect opportunity to do a list I've wanted to do for some time.
Here's the first of my Rules For Not Messing Up A Movie Trailer:
That said, there is an art to doing a trailer well. "The Simpsons Movie" managed to do several joke-filled trailers that never even hinted at the movie's plot. You could be excused for thinking the movie is about Spider-Pig.
Cloverfield, if that is its real name... all we know is that it's something about a movie monster attack seen through the eyes of the average citizen.
I'd be perfectly happy with not seeing anything more about the movie until it debuts. As it stands, that fabulous teaser trailer has me anxious to go to the theater opening night, even though my wife and I have pledged to wait to see the DVDs on our home theater for most any but the best movies. I've been worried that the follow-up trailers will actually show the monster, and I was right to worry:
It's possible to make a movie trailer that is exciting, creepy, intriguing, and yet when the trailer is over you have only the slightest grasp of the plot and no idea how it plays out. Check out the trailer for "No Country For Old Men":
While it would have been great to have even fewer spoilers, I love that trailer. Seeing it won't wreck the movie at all. It has some eerie visuals and all I can tell is that it has a bag of stolen money and some people after it including a vicious killer. Now, Iron Man has a more narrative trailer, telling you quite a bit of story...but only the first act. If you must do a narrative, that's an acceptable alternative.
Robert Zemeckis, damn his eyes, had a different strategy for trailers back around 2000. He believed, at least at that time, that audiences wanted to know exactly what they would see if they went to the full movie. Thus, his trailer for "What Lies Beneath" reveals the true villain of a mystery story, even though the actual movie takes great pains to mislead you from knowing the truth that the trailer reveals! His trailer for "Cast Away" showed the ENDING of the movie!
Notice, I'm not linking to these trailers and I'm being vague about the secrets. Even 8 years later, I believe in not spoiling movies. Plenty of you won't have seen them, especially if you're a teen-ager and they were made half your life ago. "What Lies Beneath" is worth a viewing, while "Cast Away" is more of a disappointment but even so I'm not going to ruin the ending.
This brings us up to the movie we're going to discuss next. And the subject of this movie is heavily ironic. See...I'm not going to link you to the trailer, and I'd advise you to not go look it up after you read this, either.
If you do, you will be sorry.
The trailer for this movie gives away the entire plot (as far as I can tell, of course) of a thriller movie that I think I could have really enjoyed.
Why did I say this is ironic? Because the movie, "Untraceable", is about a web site which kills people. A psycho captures innocent victims and hooks them up to a machine which kills them a teeny tiny bit every time someone visits the web site. Like the video tape that kills you a week after you watch it, this web site becomes ntorious. Netizens click on it just to see if it's real, and in so doing kill the person a little more. The police don't know whether to warn the public that the site is very real and they should be cautioned to not visit, or to not mention it at all because any mention publicizes the URL.
Much like the way I'm trying to warn you off of watching the Untraceable trailer and I know a bunch of you who'd never heard of it before are going to seek it out and thus see this bad trailer which seems to contain every plot point from the first 80 minutes of the movie.
I'd like to talk more about this, but I truly don't want to spoil this movie. I'll put my spoilers in the extended area, and someday when the movie is out and you've watched it you can come back and read what I wrote. Please, don't watch the trailer. I'm begging you not to ruin it for yourself.
Here's the first of my Rules For Not Messing Up A Movie Trailer:
- Don't make it a 30-/60- second version of the movie telling the whole story in order, possibly even giving away the ending.
That said, there is an art to doing a trailer well. "The Simpsons Movie" managed to do several joke-filled trailers that never even hinted at the movie's plot. You could be excused for thinking the movie is about Spider-Pig.
Cloverfield, if that is its real name... all we know is that it's something about a movie monster attack seen through the eyes of the average citizen.
I'd be perfectly happy with not seeing anything more about the movie until it debuts. As it stands, that fabulous teaser trailer has me anxious to go to the theater opening night, even though my wife and I have pledged to wait to see the DVDs on our home theater for most any but the best movies. I've been worried that the follow-up trailers will actually show the monster, and I was right to worry:
It's possible to make a movie trailer that is exciting, creepy, intriguing, and yet when the trailer is over you have only the slightest grasp of the plot and no idea how it plays out. Check out the trailer for "No Country For Old Men":
While it would have been great to have even fewer spoilers, I love that trailer. Seeing it won't wreck the movie at all. It has some eerie visuals and all I can tell is that it has a bag of stolen money and some people after it including a vicious killer. Now, Iron Man has a more narrative trailer, telling you quite a bit of story...but only the first act. If you must do a narrative, that's an acceptable alternative.
Robert Zemeckis, damn his eyes, had a different strategy for trailers back around 2000. He believed, at least at that time, that audiences wanted to know exactly what they would see if they went to the full movie. Thus, his trailer for "What Lies Beneath" reveals the true villain of a mystery story, even though the actual movie takes great pains to mislead you from knowing the truth that the trailer reveals! His trailer for "Cast Away" showed the ENDING of the movie!
Notice, I'm not linking to these trailers and I'm being vague about the secrets. Even 8 years later, I believe in not spoiling movies. Plenty of you won't have seen them, especially if you're a teen-ager and they were made half your life ago. "What Lies Beneath" is worth a viewing, while "Cast Away" is more of a disappointment but even so I'm not going to ruin the ending.
This brings us up to the movie we're going to discuss next. And the subject of this movie is heavily ironic. See...I'm not going to link you to the trailer, and I'd advise you to not go look it up after you read this, either.
If you do, you will be sorry.
The trailer for this movie gives away the entire plot (as far as I can tell, of course) of a thriller movie that I think I could have really enjoyed.
Why did I say this is ironic? Because the movie, "Untraceable", is about a web site which kills people. A psycho captures innocent victims and hooks them up to a machine which kills them a teeny tiny bit every time someone visits the web site. Like the video tape that kills you a week after you watch it, this web site becomes ntorious. Netizens click on it just to see if it's real, and in so doing kill the person a little more. The police don't know whether to warn the public that the site is very real and they should be cautioned to not visit, or to not mention it at all because any mention publicizes the URL.
Much like the way I'm trying to warn you off of watching the Untraceable trailer and I know a bunch of you who'd never heard of it before are going to seek it out and thus see this bad trailer which seems to contain every plot point from the first 80 minutes of the movie.
I'd like to talk more about this, but I truly don't want to spoil this movie. I'll put my spoilers in the extended area, and someday when the movie is out and you've watched it you can come back and read what I wrote. Please, don't watch the trailer. I'm begging you not to ruin it for yourself.
Continue reading First rule of how to do a trailer right.
I know it's a guest strip, but this is still one of my favorite PvP cartoons. There's just something about it.
I want to like "Major Movie Star", Jessica Simpson's take on Paris Hilton crossed with Private Benjamin. The plot, about a broke movie star who joins the Army as research for a role and then decides to stay in, may seem rather light-hearted fare. Frankly, after Valley of Elah, Syriana, Redacted, No End In Sight, Rendition, Charlie Wilson's War, A Mighty Heart, Lions For Lambs, Stop Loss, Why We Fight, I'd like to see just one pro-military movie out of Hollywood even if it is a comedy for a bubbly blonde. It'll do until Kathryn Bigelow's "The Hurt Locker" debuts.
Most people hate this movie in advance because they don't like Simpson, they hate that she's pretty and they resent that she started as a pop star. Frankly, I don't think she merits much of the resentment she gets. I saw "Employee of the Month" and her acting was better than that of most of the so-called actors in it.
Unfortunately, the trailer sucks. I don't mean that the movie looks like it sucks, though that is the outcome of a bad trailer. This is a terrible trailer. Goofy music, a yuk-yuk announcer from 1970's live-action Disney films, the mere mention of Steve Guttenberg (curse you, Stonecutters!)... and, as the Lord is my witness... boinging and slide-rule sound effects! I bet someone could take the same footage, a different announcer and a different edit to make a rocking trailer.
And dang she looks good in uniform!
In other news, the Prince Caspian trailer is out.
Most people hate this movie in advance because they don't like Simpson, they hate that she's pretty and they resent that she started as a pop star. Frankly, I don't think she merits much of the resentment she gets. I saw "Employee of the Month" and her acting was better than that of most of the so-called actors in it.
Unfortunately, the trailer sucks. I don't mean that the movie looks like it sucks, though that is the outcome of a bad trailer. This is a terrible trailer. Goofy music, a yuk-yuk announcer from 1970's live-action Disney films, the mere mention of Steve Guttenberg (curse you, Stonecutters!)... and, as the Lord is my witness... boinging and slide-rule sound effects! I bet someone could take the same footage, a different announcer and a different edit to make a rocking trailer.
And dang she looks good in uniform!
In other news, the Prince Caspian trailer is out.
So, last Monday (after my frustrating weekend of searching for a Nintendo Wii) I peruse the Mayo Clinic online classifieds. Believe it or not...there are two people selling used Wii's! As they posted the ads on the Intranet (i.e. it's only open to people logging in at work) on a Friday during a holiday when most everyone is absent, I lucked out.
I get a call at my desk on Tuesday. This college girl is selling the Wii that she bought with her brother in August... along with two extra games (Wii Play and Mario Party 8) and 3 extra sets of controllers and nunchucks, all for $500. She wonders if I'm still interested.
"Yes, I am!" (Calm but definite. Don't give a hint of how much I want it.)
She asks if I could stop by to look at it sometime that week. I tell her I'll be there in an hour.
Melinda and I arrive at her door. Her mom and sister are there as well. She says she'll show us how it works, prove everything's in working order and make sure we have all the parts. So she fires up the Wii sports and we play a round of tennis. During all this, her mom and sister keep saying things like, "I had no idea we had this game!" and "Wow...this IS fun! Why don't you kids play it anymore?" I half-jokingly shout to Melinda to write the check immediately.
I'd like you to think that my absence from the blog for the last week is because I've been playing Wii games. Actually, it's because we bought an all-new big screen TV as our Christmas present, which then necessitated buying a new DVD player that upconverts, and then a stereo receiver capable of accepting HDMI cables, and then buying HDMI cables at Best Buy for $70, then returning them when I find out I can get them for a buck through Amazon, then returning the receiver to buy a different receiver as well as some new speakers because my previous surround sound system came as a set and it works as a unit, then returning the DVD player when we find out that it doesn't have a tuner! And this weekend, after getting the thing finally hooked up and almost comprehending the labyrinthine wiring, we had a huge storm and I spent an entire day shoveling and plowing.
So that was my week...how's about you?
OH! I'm thinking of doing some game reviews on the site. I'll let you know.
I get a call at my desk on Tuesday. This college girl is selling the Wii that she bought with her brother in August... along with two extra games (Wii Play and Mario Party 8) and 3 extra sets of controllers and nunchucks, all for $500. She wonders if I'm still interested.
"Yes, I am!" (Calm but definite. Don't give a hint of how much I want it.)
She asks if I could stop by to look at it sometime that week. I tell her I'll be there in an hour.
Melinda and I arrive at her door. Her mom and sister are there as well. She says she'll show us how it works, prove everything's in working order and make sure we have all the parts. So she fires up the Wii sports and we play a round of tennis. During all this, her mom and sister keep saying things like, "I had no idea we had this game!" and "Wow...this IS fun! Why don't you kids play it anymore?" I half-jokingly shout to Melinda to write the check immediately.
I'd like you to think that my absence from the blog for the last week is because I've been playing Wii games. Actually, it's because we bought an all-new big screen TV as our Christmas present, which then necessitated buying a new DVD player that upconverts, and then a stereo receiver capable of accepting HDMI cables, and then buying HDMI cables at Best Buy for $70, then returning them when I find out I can get them for a buck through Amazon, then returning the receiver to buy a different receiver as well as some new speakers because my previous surround sound system came as a set and it works as a unit, then returning the DVD player when we find out that it doesn't have a tuner! And this weekend, after getting the thing finally hooked up and almost comprehending the labyrinthine wiring, we had a huge storm and I spent an entire day shoveling and plowing.
So that was my week...how's about you?
OH! I'm thinking of doing some game reviews on the site. I'll let you know.