From the Brink

Fill Your Pockets with More Brink!

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. Strine) — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 01:49:00 +0000

Sure, reading comics on the web through a cold, bright, emotionless monitor is fun, but there's nothing quite like that feeling of kicking back with a good book - especially one full of Brinkerhoff comics!

Volume 2 of the Pocket Full of Brink series is now available for your living room/bedroom/bathroom reading pleasure. Watch as Brinkerhoff faces speed dating, coping with the death of a coworker, losing out on love to the messiah, and more in a conveniently-sized collection of caliginous comedy.

Also available is Pocket Full of Brink, Volume 1, containing the origins of Waveday, the bar fight, the harassment, and of course, The Divorce.

Click now to start your Brinkerhoff collection today. And remember: Books full of snarky, mean-spirited rabbits make great gifts!

Welcome Back!

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. Strine) — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 17:13:00 +0000

Although 6 months have past in all of our lives, Brinkerhoff's world picks up right where it left off. If you need reminders of where we're at, make sure to read back through the archives to catch up.

For me, a lot of things have happened in those 6 months, but I think I'll save those stories for another day. For now I just want to enjoy the moment of being back. I'm not making a deal out of it, and haven't advertised the return anywhere outside of this website. Brinkerhoff has always been a word-of-mouth kind of thing, anyway.

It's really been great turning out these new strips. I really missed that connection with my imagination and to these characters. At the end of the day Brinkerhoff's existence is entirely predicated on the personal enjoyment of its creation. For those that are having fun on the journey with me, all the better. There's a lot of fun stories to tell and I can't wait to tell them.

I have a great deal of appreciation for those that have been kind enough to support this comic by buying books and shirts, but rest assured, I'll never think of you as "customers". Every product I make is something I've wanted to own for myself. I'm Brinkerhoff's biggest fan and the biggest perk I have is the ability to make stuff with his face on it.

So, now we're back. Thanks again to everyone checking back on what seemed to be an abandoned link. I also appreciate everyone who e-mailed for status reports. 6 months was long time to wait, but I'm glad you're back on board with me. The only bad news I have to report is that with its return Brinkerhoff can't be on the same schedule as it was before. Life still keeps me pretty busy and I can't keep up the same 5-day-a-week routine that the first 2 years of this comic maintained. My time is still at a premium, but I couldn't not do Brinkerhoff anymore, so a compromise had to be reached. What I came up with was 2 strips a week, Mondays and Wednesdays, for you to get your Brinkerhoff fix. I know it's not what many of you were hoping for, but this is still a hobby for me. If Brinkerhoff suddenly, somehow became a cash cow that could justify more of a time commitment, I could accommodate that (in fact, that would kick several kinds of ass), but it's just not reality. For now, we'll consider Monday and Wednesday just a little more worthwhile to roll out of bed for.

See you back here on Monday.

Sorry to Keep You Waiting...

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. Strine) — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 06:50:00 +0000

Major Announcement #1:
Brink is back.
Mark your calendars for Wednesday, July 2nd as Brinkerhoff returns with all new strips full of the same wit, wisdom, and bulls*** you've come to love. It's been a while, so make sure you read up on the archives between now and then, because we're starting right back up where we left off.

Major Announcement #2:
Brinkerhoff is now available in a convenient pocket-sized book form. Introducing "Pocket Full of Brink - Volume 1". Now you can take Brinkerhoff everywhere you want to go, wirelessly. Brink has never been so portable. This is the first of several volumes collecting the Brinkerhoff archives, unedited and unrestrained - just like we like him. Get yours now at http://www.lulu.com/content/2610851

Lend an Ear, Friend...

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. Strine) — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 21:28:00 +0000

BRINKERHOFF FANS!!

Stay tuned for some major announcements coming NEXT WEEK.

(Non-fans of Brinkerhoff can go about your regular daily routines.)

Hippity Hoppity, Hippity Hoppity...

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. Strine) — Thu, 29 May 2008 03:14:00 +0000

The wait is almost over. The rabbit will return because he never left. Stay tuned. Details coming soon.

Where, oh where...?

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. Strine) — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 19:09:00 +0000

Where the hell have I been?

Any ideas?

What do you do when all the "teachers" come off as self-righteous? Is it worse that they don't even see it in themselves? Nothing's so definitive that you can't question the "facts" or the source, itself.

Who's really in charge? Who's my boss?

Why aren't I reading comics anymore?

"I Bet It Tastes Like Licorice"

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. Strine) — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 16:45:00 +0000

During your patient wait for new Brinkerhoff content, many of you have expressed an interest in a printed collection of Brink goodness. The closest thing I've got to that is his first comic, "I Bet It Tastes Like Licorice." It's a full color, 28-page comic book that covers the first 3 months of the comic's inception, and is still a fun read for old and new fans, alike. Everything's in there, including all of the original liners that used to accompany the strips. It's now available online at IndyPlanet.

Thanks for sticking around, and for your kind words during this respite. I have been writing more and as soon as I get some time, I will post more, so stay tuned...

Terrible twos

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. Strine) — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 07:15:00 +0000

As of this writing, Brinkerhoff has officially turned two years old. This little rabbit has cantankerously snowballed his way, 5 days-a-week, through one crappy situation after another. It's been a fun ride and represents one of the most fun hobbies I've ever had. Unfortunately, that's what it really is: a hobby. Events in my real life have recently forced me to refocus where I spend the limited hours I have in my day.

Long story short - after 524 strips, I have had to make the tough decision to cut back on regular Brinkerhoff weekly web production starting today. To be honest, if I was making more money from this venture, or was doing gangbusters traffic-wise, it would probably be a different story. I will continue Brinkerhoff on a limited basis online and in it's regular printed outlets, but the web updates will be sporadic. I apologize to all of my regular readers, and I really do appreciate your support and understanding, but this is just the way it'll have to be for a while. If you want to know when new stuff is posted, you can either check back at brinkcomic.com, subscribe to this blog, or get your RSS feed on. Until then, feel free to dig back into some archive goodness.

To be perfectly honest, for a long time I've wondered where Brinkerhoff really fits in in the grand scheme of things. He's obviously way too racy for syndication, he's too unconventional for comic books, and he really doesn't have that many peers in the webcomics community. Oftentimes I'm left trying to explain to people that it's not really a comic. It just looks like one.

Going forward, I've got some fun ideas about how Brink's future might pan out. Rest assured, you'll see him pop up sometime soon in some exciting possibilities. Thanks for reading.

Happy Holidays

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. Strine) — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 05:04:00 +0000

I don't really know what you celebrate out there, but I wanted to say have a merry or happy whatever it is you do. If you don't do something, that's cool. Sometimes it's nice to reflect on what you've got, though, and this is as good a time as any.

I'll be enjoying family and gifts and good times. As much as this year has brought us (marriage, kitchen remodel, lost job, new job), I'm even more excited about all the changes coming next year. This kid doesn't know what he/she's in for, and neither do we. I'm fortunate for what I've got and I know it. Everything in the future is just gravy.

Have a great holiday season, all. Thanks for reading.

Oh, yeah... don't forget to get your 2008 Brinkerhoff calender. The link is above. Think of your purchase like a birthday present for him as we celebrate the strip's 2nd anniversary on Wednesday, January 2nd. The terrible 2's inDEED!

#501

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. Strine) — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 14:27:00 +0000

Congratulations, reader! You're just stumbled upon Brinkerhoff's comic 501st strip. If you're a new reader, that means you can go back in the archives and enjoy 500 more episodes just like this one (albeit in a more 4-panel consistency).

Most comics celebrate a milestone when it hits a round number, but I wanted to buck tradition a bit and let the odometer roll over one as a promise toward the future. For this update I was more that ready to shake up Brinkerhoff's life a little, thus the 16-panel opus you see. Also, there's no way I was wasting a 16-panel strip on a Thursday.

Thanks to everyone that's dug Brinkerhoff's action so far. If you'd like to show any gracious appreciation, and get some holiday shopping done, feel free to click on some of the merch links.

See you next week, when I think I'll be a bit more retrospective.

Positive

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. Strine) — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 14:21:00 +0000

Bummer x2

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. Strine) — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 16:42:00 +0000

Yesterday wasn't the best day of my life.

First, I got this:

Dear Gabe,
My apologies for my tardy response. Thanks for giving Image Comics the opportunity to review your proposal. It's obvious that you've put a great deal of time and effort into this book - but I don't feel that it's quite strong enough to make it in this competitive market. I wish I could go on at length and give you a number of pointers to help you improve your book but I can't. We simply get too many proposals for me to be able to critique them all. The bottom line is that, unfortunately, your book isn't one that we're interested in publishing.
Thanks for your interest in Image Comics.

-Erik Larsen
Publisher
Image Comics, Inc.

Bummer, huh?

I had just gotten done reading that, when I was called into a special meeting at work. I didn't feel too special when I left it because the end result was the end of my employment with them.

I'm still dealing with how I feel about that. Currently, it's a mix of disappointment and a strange sense of relief. If you feel like lending a hand as I float between jobs, feel free to start your holiday shopping with one of my books, shirts, or new calendar.

Thanks, and keep reading.

Ugly Hill Guest Strip

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. Strine) — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 16:13:00 +0000

As I download the awesomeness that is the new Alter Bridge album, I wanted to mention the guest strip that got posted today.

I can only really call a handful of webcomics "favorites", but Paul Southworth's Ugly Hill definitely ranks on that list. It shares a lot of the same traits that I like about Brinkerhoff. It's clean, sharp, and snarky, with just enough cruelty thrown in to tickle my twisted funny bone. When I saw that Paul and his wife welcomed their new offspring into the world, I knew he'd probably need a hand with the comic, so I took the opportunity to send him an unsolicited guest strip. I figured he'd probably lean on his Blank Label mates to help him out, but I sent it off, anyway, even if was a thank-you/congratulations gift from one staunchly hetero-cartoonist to another.

Here's what I got from him a day later:
"Thanks! I could use a few more guest strips to round out the next couple of weeks, and yours is SO GREAT. They look like little Ugly Hill figures! I really appreciate you taking the time to do one for me, and will run it with pride!
Paul"

No, Paul. Thank YOU. And congratulations, again.

Bigger Than Jake

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. Strine) — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 15:17:00 +0000

This was a fun little project that thankfully survived last year's hard drive crash. It was my first attempt at learning the ropes of Flash animation. It's nothing like Brinkerhoff or Bodinski or The Zoo, but I think you'll recognize my style of humor in it. Be warned - it's been called "cute".

The most fun I had with it was getting to work with my youngest brother, Connor, who's always been a big supporter of whatever I get into. Being a newly indoctrinated teenager, he's our link to what's cool and what sucks. He play's the voice of the title character "Jake". Even though puberty changed his voice since we finished this animation, I'll still find a way for him to be involved in future projects. After all, family will work for free!

Here's a fun bit o' history: Jake and his robot was one of the post-Zoo comic strip ideas I was batting around before I settled on Brinkerhoff. Oh, what could've been...

Keep on moving

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. Strine) — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 17:30:00 +0000

Here's another one to check out.
My YouTube channel is at www.youtube.com/user/gabestrine, by the way.

Movin' right along

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. Strine) — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 23:42:00 +0000

Clicky clicky for coolness.

A fun little experiment. Oh, the possibilites...

Getting a Wild Hare

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. Strine) — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 16:17:00 +0000

UPDATE:
Thanks to everyone who's downlaoded their first Wild Hare. If you've got a sec', drop me a line and let me know how ya' liked it. Thanks also to Digital Strips who did a nice little write-up about the premiere of the first Wild Hare.

There was a day when you could get a lot of things for just 25¢: a cup of coffee, a phone call, a vagrant to stop bugging you... These days the best you can do with your quarter is get a tartar sauce to go with your french fries.

Until now.

Put that 25¢ to good use and your own exclusive super-size Brinkerhoff comic strip. Today I'm introducing a new series of Brinkerhoff episodes called "Wild Hare". These comics are bonus uber-sized comic strips for uber-fans of Brinkerhoff. Basically they're ideas that I have that are too large to fit into the regular 4 panel daily strip or even to stretch out over a few strips. Sometimes they'll be offbeat. Sometimes they'll develop characters in the periphery of Brinkerhoff's world. It's a great way to get more Brinkerhoff and support the strip at the same time.

Each comic is a downloadable high resolution digital file that looks great in your favorite PDF viewer (Acrobat, Preview, etc.), or printed out for when you're away from your computer. (I've heard it's possible. Weird, huh?)

Start your Wild Hare collection with the first installment, "Stung" by visiting http://www.lulu.com/content/1131391 and look for more coming soon. I'll keep a listing of the episodes at the new Wild Hare section of brinkcomic.com.

Con Artist

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. Strine) — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 21:37:00 +0000

I'm sorry I didn't post these sooner, but when I was at the Emerald City Comicon, I got to feel like a real live con artist, meaning I was asked to do a couple of custom sketches - not grifting people out of their money.

I thought you guys might get a kick out of them, especially since they show Brink in a hand drawn style. Click on 'em for full size.

The first is from a guy who was filling a sketchbook full of artists doing their characters performing handstands. Strange, but a theme's a theme.

Next is a drawing for a guy who's big into replicating old-fashioned comic monsters. So here's Brink in full-out Godzilla mode.

Alter Bridge

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. Strine) — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 15:09:00 +0000

I love me some good guitar-driven rock. I'm not much into the indie scene, rap and country are parodies of their former selves, and most of the rest of the radio just bores me. Gimmie' some Godsmack, Megadeth, Wolfmother, Shinedown, or Pearl Jam and I'm a happy camper. I'll even admit to liking Linkin Park until they aborted any uniqueness they had with the new album.

When Creed first came out, I didn't pay much attention to them. Before we all found out what a pious prick Scott Stapp was, I disliked him on his voice, alone. It was just too Vedder-istic. At best, it was too manufactured. At worst, preachy.

Fast forward to 2004 when a co-worker came by my desk (we'll call him Chris, since that's his name) and laid One Day Remains on my desk. He asked if I had heard Alter Bridge yet and left me with the disk. I listened to it 3 consecutive times. When Chris came back to my desk and asked what I thought, I told him I dug it... a lot. He told me it was Creed, minus Scott, replaced by the guy who sang at his first wedding. You see, Myles Kennedy is from Spokane and did a lot of gigs in and around town as the lead of the Mayfield Four, a band I remember seeing in high school. Local boy makes it big. Myles even had a bit part at the end of the movie "Rock Star" stepping in for Mark Wahlberg's character and becoming that band's new lead singer. Irony? Coincidence? Cool as hell?

My fandom was complete when I saw them at the Big Easy on Halloween night, 2004. They put on a great show that still lasts in my memory. Damn, damn good stuff.

Alter Bridge continued to spin in my ipod through my divorce, unemployment, and re-employment. The band's music was even a part of the equation in my new love life. Almost every time I reffed at ComedySportz, my intro music was Mark Tremonti kicking out a lil' Metallingus.

The wait has been long, while they toured the world and changed record labels, but they're finally back. On October 9th, Blackbird will be released. Hopefully it'll be a lot more The System Has Failed, and a lot less Minutes to Midnight. I'm not getting paid anything to endorse them, obviously. I'm just spreading the word. Check out a couple of their new tracks at http://www.myspace.com/alterbridge

Operation: Shout Out

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. Strine) — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 17:38:00 +0000

Let's get some grassroots goin', shall we?
I call upon the Brinkerhoff faithful. If you enjoy reading this comic and want to see it grow in popularity, there are some little things you can do right now to do to help out.

[ The Setup: ]
I read a lot of fine comics and comic blogs on the web. It doesn't take a rocket surgeon to know that a mere mention (or, better yet, link) to another comic can do wonders for said comic. Success on the web is all about word-of-mouth. Most of you probably got here through a link or a tiny little ad somewhere on another site you frequent, right? Also, the community of webcomics has been turning into a "who you know" situation. Brinkerhoff just needs to "get known".

I've sent communications and guest strips. I've sent greetings and compliments. I've bought books. I've advertised. All of these efforts have been for the genuine love of those works and my desire to help support their efforts. The problem is, I'm just one guy. One voice. One e-mail address. They know who I am. They've heard from me before.

[ Your Mission: ]
Click on the links below and just tell 'em that Brinkerhoff says "hi". Get clever. Have fun. Be nice. Spell check. You can put in whatever else you want, just keep it above the belt. We're looking for fame, not infamy. Brinkerhoff is just needs a shout out here and there. There are still so many readers that could be loving Brink as much as you do, they just gotta' hear about it.

Some of the suggestions you might encourage for this shout-out campaign include:
• a front page/blog link
• a newspost mention
• an addition to a link list
• a passing glance on a busy street
• the finger (of their choosing)

[ Important: ]
DO NOT SPAM THEM.
You hate it and so will they. We're looking for many voices from multiple addresses, not thousands from one. These are all great guys and I don't want this to turn into a dick move. We're just extending some greetings.

[ The List: ]
Please copy and paste the addresses, replacing the [at] with @. I didn't want to give links to the spam robots. Feel free to go off of this list, too. There's a bunch more out there that even I don't know about. (Kinda' gets back to my point, eh?)

• Scott Kurtz - PvP - kurtz[at]pvponline.com

• Jerry Holkins - Penny Arcade - tycho[at]penny-arcade.com

• Kris Straub - Starslip Crisis - kris[at]starslip.com

• Zach Miller - Joe and Monkey - squid[at]joeandmonkey.com

• Howard Taylor - Schlock Mercenary - howard.taylor[at]gmail.com

• Dave Kellet - Sheldon - dave[at]davekellet.com

• David Malki! - Wondermark - dave[at]wondermark.com

• Paul Southworth - Ugly Hill - pskl13[at]yahoo.com

• R. Stevens - Diesel Sweeties - clango[at]dieselsweeties.com

• Ryan North - Dinosaur Comics - ryan[at]qwantz.com

• James Turner - Beaver and Steve - james[at]eruditebaboon.uk

• Chris Onstad - Achewood - chris[at]achewood.com

• D.J. Coffman - Yirmumah! - yirmail[at]yirmumah.net

Good luck, and thanks.

Of Kitchens and Comics

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. Strine) — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 22:10:00 +0000

Another productive weekend on the kitchen is behind us. Our deadline is next weekend and we're just about there. We were helped out by Kelly's mom who came over to visit from Seattle and got grout-tastic. Her dad came by to help get the crown moulding up and install the dishwasher. My mom and my brother, Connor, also came by to check-in and see how we were doing. On Sunday, we were revisited by Kelly's dad and step-mom for a follow-up pop-in, too. All of their help and well-wishes were extremely appreciated.
So now all we've got left is a bit more window moulding work, with accompanying touch-up, the repair and wall patching for the oven hood venting, floor moulding, cabinet moulding and finishing, and a bunch of other little things.

And oh, yeah, we're also hosting our wedding reception parties this weekend. Talk about cutting it close.

When we get done with this whole thing and get our house back together I think the last thing we'll want to do is be in that house for a while. The last 2 months have just been a tornado of activity. Exhaustion is a quaint roadside retreat in the rearview mirror. We both look forward to relaxing after this is all over.

I've been happy to be able to produce Brinkerhoff on a consistent basis through all of this, too. Maybe I'm more surprised than just happy. The process has been as scattered as the rooms in our house have been. Even worse was the month-long up-then-down-then-up again headaches of the server switch.
The best I've felt was when I was working 3 days ahead. I'm looking forward to getting back to my more comfortable 1-2 weeks ahead. I don't know why, but I feel more creative and connected to the comic with that kind of buffer. Additionally, I've got some extra Brinkerhoff projects that I'd like to finally get started on. Trust me - you'll like 'em.

Now I've got to back to work.

Looking Back and Stuff...

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. Strine) — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 23:16:00 +0000

The 2007 Exhaustion Tour is finally nearing the end of it's run.
Kitchen 3.0 is now 92% complete.

As we're finally winding down the big kitchen remodel, my wife and I find ourselves slowly forgiving the little things that could've gone better. We don't really acknowledge them as mistakes, per se, since the whole things been one big arduous and exhausting learning experience. I was worried we'd be obsessive over that stuff, but the good has by far outweighed the bad. We're exhausted, but taken as a whole we're proud of what we've accomplished.

It got me to thinking about my life as an artist, and how hard it's always been to look back on my past work without wanting to burn down any building in which it was housed. All of my college work is in boxes and portfolios, to be seen and scrutinized either posthumously or by nosy future children looking for a little patriarchal ribbing.

All of the work since college has been for corporate or freelance reasons, so I'm pretty disconnected from it. None of it has really carried any meaning for me. It was a means to a meal. It's not been very "artistic", but it's kept me from starving.

It's been with my cartooning that I've found some comfort in returning. Whenever I pull my printed copy of The Zoo treasury off the shelf, I'm both reminiscing and rediscovering. I really enjoyed those characters back then, and I still do. A lot of it still makes me laugh. I'm glad for the work I put into it. There's a few things I still nitpick artistically, but it still holds a lot of value to me.

Bodinski's Blog is a wild, untamed beast wrapped up in a cute little round caricature. I had so many strong emotions when making it, I barely remember being a part of most of the process. Each time I pick it up, I'm not struck by the fact that I find something new. Some of the references are starting to be lost on me. I don't mourn what I've forgotten, though. I think it's my brain's way of telling me leaving the past in the past.

Overall, Brinkerhoff has been my favorite thing to revisit. I often go through the archives in the process of making the comic, and I re-laugh at some of the things that have happened in that rabbit's past. Sometimes I feel, dare I say, proud of what I find. I have to admit that I like the writing. I set up some ground rules for the way that the comic would be paced and put together and I like the way things have turned out to this point. It's different. It has a voice. For me, Brinkerhoff is fun. It's been rewarding for the 1 1/2 years and 402 strips it's produced. I'm excited to see where it goes. I'm excited to look back on it tomorrow.

Up, Down, All Around

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. Strine) — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 15:42:00 +0000

No, your eyes aren't deceiving you. Brinkerhoff is still undergoing some server difficulties. ComicGenesis (where Brinkerhoff is hosted) is still migrating to their new server, so this is just the latest hiccup.

I'll try to sum up what's going on without confusing you or myself:
Apparently, the powers that be said that once the domains and content are sent over to the new hardware there was the possibility that some comics and content need to be reposted. I quickly composed myself with the addition of alcohol to innards when noticing the last week's worth of strips disappeared, so I sent those back into the cue. Unfortunately, that cue is now WAAAAY backed-up.
The good news is, at least you're able to see the page you're reading now, so that's better than it's been, right?

If you'd like to check out last week's strips (and today's, for that matter) click on the mirror site at Drunk Duck. As a matter of fact, you might want to bookmark it once you get there since even I don't know when this long national nightmare will be over. It's had to plan on anything cool with the site when you don't know if it'll be up.

Thanks again for your patience. Continue enjoying the funny.

Of Mice and Machines...

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. Strine) — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 23:42:00 +0000

Caution: Structureless meandering ahead...

I saw the first showing of the Transformers movie last night and got exactly what I expected. I wanted big robots fighting.

I saw Ratatouille last Friday and also got what I wanted: a great fucking movie.

It's easy to discredit Michael Bay whenever he tries to do something beside an action sequence. He's just not that good working out of his comfort zone. He doesn't show any patience. He's most comfortable in a set piece, blowing stuff up. He's awkward like an adolescent when it comes to human interaction. Luckily he's usually saved from his most glaring faults by the casts he's been able to work with. Put simply, the Transformers movie would've had some real problems if not for Shia Labeouf. He saves some corny stuff when he has to. All that said, Bay was still one of the best men for a movie like this.

What I realized most with Bay's directing style is that his framing is very much like a comic book. He thinks very much like a designer. Each shot is mapped out with dominant, subdominant, and subordinate elements. He also thinks on that third level, too, though. He can see what's going to be edited in next and tries to balance that out. Close-ups sit next to longer shots, while middle range shots tend to get slightly more screen time for panning and zooming.

What I think I liked most about the movie is that I wasn't disappointed. Not exactly high praise, I know, but I'm still one of the many suffering from the "Jar Jar Effect." Disappointments have been the norm for me as I see movie after movie kick me in the solarplexes when I just wanted to like it. Pirates 2 was a clunker, so I didn't even other with 3. I loved Sin City, but then had to see Jessica Alba turn around and do Fantastic 4? That's kinda' like being in a really good, waking up accidentally, and trying to return to the dream only to find everything's gone to shit. I could look past Halle Berry as Storm ( I still say it should have been Angela Bassett), but not 3 times. I didn't mind the first 2 Spiderman movies, but the third one left such a rotten taste in my mouth I actually don't like Spiderman, the character, anymore. Seriously. I can't even buy a Spidey comic anymore, for fear he'll rip off his mask in front of half of New York, again.

Hollywood's beyond bloated. They have been for a long time. It's a machine that churns out a LOT of garbage. Every once in a while we'll get a morsel of delectable residue, but our lowered expectations can only help us stomach so much.

Ratatouille reminded me what it was like to fall in love with a movie again. It was good enough to inspire me on artistic levels left dormant by past mediocrity. The difference with that movie and so many others is the teamwork and solid vision of the filmmakers. When you get done watching it, you feel like every "t" is crossed and every "i" dotted. They cared enough to make a great movie. Any disagreements, behind-the-scenes arguments, or conflicts (if there were any) never made their way on screen. There was no "hip" dance number at the end, dated attempts at humor, or fart jokes.) Imagine that-a whole movie about food and no jokes about things coming out the wrong way. It was just a solid story told in a solid way, top-to-bottom.

The thing that both the Transformers and Ratatouille have in common is the appeal to the kid inside of me. I wanted to be a 12-year-old wanting to be Sam Witwicky. I wanted to live in that world and experience that adventure. I wanted to be a chef in the kitchen with all of the cool rats, cooking and entertaining an appreciative crowd. In both movies I got to escape. I got to laugh. I got to cheer. What I didn't do was groan, or fidget, or look at my watch.

I still hate paying $9.50 for an admission, though.

Chris Benoit 1967-2007

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. Strine) — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 23:50:00 +0000

What kind of demons would turn a hero into a monster. A killer. A corpse. I was a fan of Chris Benoit for most of his career. When I would get hassled by people about how "fake" wrestling was, I would always refer them to one of his matches. Around "the boys" he was quiet and reserved, a consummate professional. Somewhere behind the facade something was very, very wrong.

When I heard he and his family died this weekend I was floored. To know now that it's a possible double murder of his wife and seven year-old son and suicide... I just don't know what to think. He exemplified what professional wrestling could be at it's best. In some was he made it more respectable because you couldn't help but respect him. Now it's all different. Now it's all changed.

It's tough enough being a fan of professional wrestling. This will be chalked-up as another black eye on the business. History tells us it won't be the last. I just never thought it would come from Chris. None of us did.

My heart (what's left of it) goes out to everyone affected by this tragedy.