i could never get into rushmore for some reason, tho i LOVED the trailer and have it memorized word for word, song for song because it appears in front of dumb and dumber on both the VHS and DVD <.< >.> the comedic timing is way better in my opinion on the trailer than in the actual movie, LOL! Phil: anchorman is soo up there under dumb and dumber for me!! and it's a judd apatow movie - which is really wierd because apatow's stuff never quite 100% jives with me - to his credit tho, will ferrell and steve carrell ad libbed a LOT of their stuff.
That will take a whole show my friend, a whole show, (mind you - maybe Rushmore is good - I don't know as I couldn't watch anything past the first 10 minutes).
aww, we can't edit our comments any more :/....i also left out that galaxy quest and dodgeball are great pandering/low brow comedies :P! oh and get this, to tie all of this rambling together: when i was in high school, a movie came out called 'heavyweights' where ben stiller plays a psycho camp counselor VERY reminiscent of his dodgeball character. It was hilarious, funny but clearly a 'kids' movie...written by judd apatow. (Which also explains why in anchorman, ben stiller shows up and seth rogan is the camera man.) </early morning rambling> i'm going back to bed!
Love Rushmore - may favorite scenes may those of Murray with his twin sons, Ronny & Donny.
Tom
Random thoughts:
Comics who wink at the camera in that 'hey I'm funny' kinda way do tire after a while, better when they stay in character and stay 'true' to the world around them.
Favourite Ben Stiller role was probably in Keeping the Faith, although Ed Norton over stretched himself in places here, especially when doing drunk.
I mourn the passing of funny Steve Martin from the 80s, could re-watch Roxanne endlessly. There was a flash of a return to form for both he and Murphy in Bowfinger, but the promise of that didn't pay off in their subsequent films.
You'll be pleased to know that I did not go see the Mummy, nor will I go see Love Guru.
I can't speak for Cleese, but it seems that Martin, Murphy, et al, are still capable of being very funny outside of their movie roles -- so I don't know if it's purely bad choices or they just don't care. (Tropic of Thunder, by the way, completely ripped Murphy via a satirical spoof of his "fat" movies in a not-so-subtle way).
Some people hate Adam Sandler (I think he can be very funny in certain situations), and depending on whether or not you liked "Billy Madison" & "Happy Gilmore", the same could possibly be said for his movies (again, some people hate them all).
Are they getting paid too much? Could will Ferrell fall into the same trap?
Well it's certainly open for debate. It got less than stellar reviews. I saw it - I kinda liked it.
But this goes back to my original question for you and the good prof. dr. - what constitutes a good comedy to you guys...you said "if it works, it works". In your podcast you reviewed an obviously terrible movie (the jokes obviously did not work), and two movies which are considered "comedies" - but are more in-depth films than, say, a Mike Myers/Will Ferrell/Eddie Murphy/etc comedy. And so is Tropic of Thunder - very funny - but also some great acting as well....different type of comedy movie - does that make sense?
"Step-Brothers" is a low-brow kind of comedy, but I liked it for the sheer absurdity of the movie's premise - and it's just a series of jokes after that. I get enjoyment from seeing Ferrell in a Crystal Gale t-shirt, then complaining that it was ruined by a cougar (Talladega Nights)....of course if anyone has seen my website, you'd see that stuff is up my alley.
This probably would have been better suited for a video comment, but then Jenny would just skim through it.
+ Also Jenny: agree w/ Jett. Plus, I loved Stiller in "Zoolander", "Cable Guy", and "Royal Tennenbaums".
Definitely - Zoolander and Royal Tennenbaums were the ones that made me say alright, maybe he's warranted all the roles. But then, there was this terrible night... I believe it was in a museum...
One thing that got cut of this week's show is relevant to your comment re: Crystal Gale shirt ruined = ephemeral comedy = makes sense that Mike Meyer's is the voice of Shrek = the film is ephemeral, (spoofs of the the Matrix that will make no sense in a few years) = is a kind of comedy that I find real easy and is, as stated on the show, 'fake comedy' - just tingles the brain with a cultural reference and is not clever in and of itself = was watching the 1967 Casino Royale w/Peter Sellers and it was full of that kind of 'fake comedy' = pretty dire.
Yeah, that's true - their movies are really just a silly premise and a series of jokes, some hit, some don't, and some of the humor will be short lived (crystal gale, on the other hand, will live forever!).
Maybe I used a bad example for comparison to "Step Brothers" - and I'm not trying to defend it as a good movie - Step- Brothers, in thinking back, has very few 'cultural' references (if any) and is more closely tied to the premise of the film where the jokes are based on that. I don't know what point I'm trying to make here......is there a film out there, say like an "Anchorman" or "Dumb and Dumber", that you find funny versus films like "Tootsie" and "Groundhog Day", which I consider two different types of comedy movies?
And to your point, I guess that's why you can watch Charlie Chaplin and 70 years later he's still funny.
Maybe people can become less funny after periods of being in way too many films. For some, it seems they're so happy to be in the spotlight they say yes to more roles than they should. I can't stand Ben Stiller anymore... Night at the Museum was the final blow. I don't know if that or Speed Racer is the worst movie I've ever seen.
Dick Pants! The wife and I were laughing our socks off too - for entirely the same reason as Gareth of course.
I think that Cleese and Martin have suffered from what I once read someone describe as Murphy's Law, which related to the fact that Eddie Murphy has become increasingly unfunny as time has gone by. Murray seems to have escaped this by choosing to take on serious roles, Lost in Translation, Broken Flowers etc and as a result has maintained a great career. Jim Carrey is trying the same route too, with Eternal Sunshine and The Number 23 (I actually prefer him when he's not trying to be funny). So what can we learn from this? Do comic performers only have three career options; stay with comedy and become unfunny, go the straight roles way, or die before before you loose the touch like Sellers?
Of course straight actors that try comedy to draw out their careers can come off even worse - Stop Or My Mom Will Shoot anyone?
I can't believe that Gareth's uproarious laughter has made The Love Guru seem funnier than it was - trust me it's not funny - it's anti-funny.
+ Bill Murray is a unique = he's got something about/around him = jaded/distant/the removal of the artist that keeps him in the funny.
+ Gareth actually did a mini-review of 'Stop or My Mom Will Shoot' when Estelle Getty passed away - but we cut it for time. Make of that what you will.
hey you guys, i'm trying to get Jett's video comments back up - I know it's a favorite around here - but i'm waiting on word from Disqus to see what's up with them. Until then, keep on text commenting, and I hope to have word back soon!
