Can Tonto Save the New Lone Ranger?


Although I like this character poster of Johnny Depp as Tonto, I wonder how the movie, The Lone Ranger is going to do at the box office.  My guess is it will either do really well or bomb.

In other words, I have no clue.

Fans of the traditional Lone Ranger (you know, folks old enough to remember the Clayton Moore and Jay Silverheels Lone Ranger from the 50s tv series) will probably stay away.  Of course if you’re old enough to remember the tv series, you’re probably not the demographic the movie is aiming for.

The question then becomes will Depp’s Pirate of the Caribbean fans show up?

But wait… is Johnny Depp the only selling point to this movie?  What about Armie Hammer who is starring as The Lone Ranger?

Let me put it to you like this, I don’t think it’s Hammer Time.

If Depp’s fans don’t show up, the box office for The Lone Ranger will limp off in a cloud of dust with a weak, “Hi – No Silver, the Box Office It Got AWAY!”

Roger Ebert Had Jokes, er… Cartoons

Roger Ebert, was one of the most popular movie reviewers of our time, the first film critic to win a Pulitzer prize, and a fan of cartoons.

Mr. Ebert was a regular contributor to The New Yorker’s Cartoon Caption contest and had even won the contest on at least one occasion.  Robert Mankoff takes a look at some of Roger Ebert’s Final Cartoon Captions at The New Yorker.

The cartoon that is posted above features one of Ebert’s captions, but it wasn’t the one that got him the win (“I’m not going to say the word I’m thinking of.”) or even the one that I thought was the funniest (“Now watch how I lift my tray table to it’s original and upright position.”).  We’ll save those for folks that click over to the original New Yorker piece.

“R” is for Rocky by Mike Torrance

Mike Torrance aka The Krayola Kidd rocks his riff on a Rocky card that is part of a sequence/set that I think you’re going to like.

You can see more of Mike’s art at The Daily Sketch with The Krayola Kidd (and if you’ve never checked out Mike’s site, you ought to if only to see his Walking Dead cards!) and his Deviant Art site. Mike is available for commissions and his prices are very reasonable.

R.I.P. Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert, arguably the most popular movie reviewer of our time, and unarguably the first film critic to win a Pulitzer prize, passed away today after a long battle with cancer.

Just two days ago Mr. Ebert had posted that he was taking a Leave of Presence from his role as film critic for the Chicago Sun-Times.  While Mr. Ebert was stepping away due to his health and treatments for the cancer that had returned, he was far from retiring.  Mr. Ebert spoke about more movie reviews and writing he planned to do, a redesigned website, and digital presence as well a Roger Ebert video game or app.

So it was a surprise to learn that today Roger Ebert passed on.

Of course it wouldn’t have surprised him.  As Mr. Ebert wrote in his piece, I Do Not Fear Death:

I know it is coming, and I do not fear it, because I believe there is nothing on the other side of death to fear…

R.I.P. Roger Ebert.