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Ph.D Webcomic Gets Adapted Into Feature Film

Posted by timothy on from the grad-students-get-free-cheese dept.

Technically Inept writes with the lead paragraph from a report at Comics Alliance: "To the best of my knowledge, Jorge Cham's Piled Higher and Deeper (better known as PhD Comics) is the first webcomic to be adapted into a feature-length film. After months spent on a college campus screening tour, Piled Higher and Deeper: The Movie is finally available for purchase and streaming. And, like its comic inspiration, the PhD pokes fun at the frustrations of graduate students, those noble folks who enter academia with dreams of changing the world and inspiring young minds, only to be thwarted by indifferent professors, lazy undergrads and the ever-present fear that they'll never graduate." The short review linked makes this sound like a very watchable movie.

6 of 126 comments (clear)

  1. Saw it, loved it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    I saw this at a screening in March, and it was very good. The references to the comics would be lost on non-readers, but the movie is enjoyable even without them.

  2. Not the first among ALL webcomics, but bravo still by bugbeak · · Score: 4, Informative

    There is a South Korean movie based on a popular webcomic here that was released last year called Moss.

  3. Re:PhD, xkcd and Penny Arcade by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    People have different tastes than me and all their tastes are wrong!

    I summarized your post.

  4. Actually... by idbeholda · · Score: 3, Informative

    I believe Undercover Brother was technically the first.

  5. Here's my review by JoshWurzel · · Score: 5, Informative

    I read a lot of webcomics and I always buy the printed compilations and other goodies. So I buying the DVD a good use of money to support the art of webcomics from which I derive much entertainment. That said, in my opinion, the movie was only so-so.

    Pros:
    1) hit many great jokes from the strip - the conference in hawaii, Tajel's hippie-ness, lab role stereotypes, trying to secure funding, etc.
    2) I thought male leads more-or-less matched their hand-drawn counterparts
    3) I also thought DVD extras were entertaining, particularly the commentary

    Cons:
    1) the main character had two different haircuts! Thought it was two different characters at one point! I found it really distracting.
    2) sound quality was awful
    3) acting for the main characters wasn't great, and was flat out awful for all the non-main characters
    4) the female leads were not well matched to their hand-drawn counterparts. This is more of a nit-pick than a real flaw. The girl playing Tajel was gorgeous, though!
    5) I thought Tajel & Slackenery's roles were marginalized, while Cecila's romance was given unnecessary prominence. I'll agree that Cecila and the unnamed main character are the "leads", but in the comic they don't dominate like they did in the movie.

    Bottom line: the movie was made by students, with students, for students. And I think it showed. I don't recommend it for people who aren't fans of the strip. But for people who are fans of the strip I found it to be a good use of an hour, if for no other reason then seeing your favorite strips acted out live.

  6. Re:PhD, xkcd and Penny Arcade by mbkennel · · Score: 3, Informative

    Cripes. A bleeeeeeping cooler-than-thou grad student *comic strip* snob.

    May thy dissertation committee complain interminably about footnotes and papers you didn't cite, for ever and ever.