What happened to comedy?
Chuck Fox
<-----Original Article----->
Humor us, please!
Film comedies just keep getting dumber and dumber
By Mark Caro
Tribune movie reporter
July 8, 2001
Years from now film scholars may debate at what point movie comedies reached
their all-time low.
Was it when Chris Klein got his arm stuck up a cow's rectum in "Say It Isn't
So"? How about when someone mistook a cancerous testicle for candy in
"Tomcats"?
Does Tom Green get the nod for hosing down his dad with something
unspeakable in "Freddy Got Fingered"? Or is the nadir yet to come in the
spate of sequels and knock-offs intended to lure teenage boys to the
multiplexes?
The current sad state of film comedies isn't just a matter of gross-out
one-upmanship, although that certainly plays a major role. Vulgarity can be
funny, as Mel Brooks, Woody Allen, Monty Python, John Belushi and the
Farrelly brothers have shown on occasion.
The problem here is a deeper one. Look at a list of American comedies
released just this year -- or worse yet, try to watch them all -- and you
can't help but wonder: Where have all the howlers gone?
Granted, there was no golden age when everything was great, and comedies are
notoriously difficult to pull off, which is why the Oscars should quit
snubbing them. But such an onslaught of crimes against humor can't be a
coincidence, particularly given that so many commit similar offenses: an
over-reliance on toilet humor and shock-value gags; poorly drawn, unengaging
characters; unjustified nastiness; incoherent storytelling; and no
discernable subject matter beyond the jokes.
"Something may be happening in popular culture -- the kindly word would be
'democratization,' but there seems to be an appeal to the lowest and dumbest
in the audience and a mean-spiritedness that wears thin very quickly," said
Harold Ramis, who co-wrote "National Lampoon's Animal House" and
"Ghostbusters" and co-wrote and directed "Caddyshack" and "Groundhog Day,"
all of which made the American Film Institute's recent list of the top 100
American comedies.
"They're aiming for a common denominator, and it just winds up being so
low," agreed Joan Cusack, currently starring in her own ABC-TV sitcom, "What
About Joan?", after years of delivering strong comedic performances in
movies. "But I don't understand why that is, exactly. Do people in charge
think America's dumb?"
That would be one logical conclusion. Another would be that the people
making and marketing these movies aren't necessarily smart about what will
make audiences laugh.
Consider the 2001 roster of comedies. It includes "Double Take," "The
Wedding Planner," "Monkeybone," "Down to Earth," "Saving Silverman," "See
Spot Run," "Company Man," "Heartbreakers," "Say It Isn't So," "Just
Visiting," "Someone Like You," "Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles," "Tomcats,"
"Joe Dirt," "Freddy Got Fingered," "Town and Country," "The Animal,"
"Evolution," "What's the Worst that Could Happen?", "Dr. Dolittle 2,"
"Pootie Tang" and "Scary Movie 2." Some are less heinous than others, but
none will be vying for the next AFI comedies list.
About the only comedy this year that could be considered an unqualified
critical and commercial success is "Bridget Jones's Diary," which happens to
be British, adult-oriented, based on a well-regarded novel and the product
of a semi-independent distributor (Miramax).
Among American films, audiences probably have laughed hardest at "Shrek," a
computer-animated family film packed with pop-culture jokes. And even
"Shrek" resorts to flatulence gags.
Thin dividing line
To be fair, there's a dangerously thin line between funny and unfunny.
"When you do a comedy, either everybody was laughing or it stunk," Chris
Rock said. "There's no middle ground."
Rock made this comment before the release of his "Down to Earth," which
audiences and critics subsequently deemed to be on the wrong side of the
equation. If Rock, a very funny man on stage, can't necessarily tell what
will connect on screen (his new "Pootie Tang" isn't being hailed as a
classic either), how can the Hollywood executives who exert influence over
comedies be expected to do so?
Different ideas of funny
"In my dark days at the studios [as an executive at Paramount and MGM/UA],
it was always more frustrating to get a comedy through because every studio
executive has a different idea of what's funny," Variety editor-in-chief
Peter Bart said. "Most people who work for studios are not exactly famous
for their sense of humor. I think the studios are suspicious of their own
abilities to judge comedies, so they're subjected to much more testing and
fiddling around with the final product."
Comedies are important to a studio's balance sheet because they don't
necessarily require pricey special effects or big-name stars, yet they can
generate blockbuster box-office figures, like the $100 million-plus that
"Scary Movie," "American Pie" and "There's Something about Mary" each
grossed in North American theaters alone.
Although many of this spring's comedies' bombed, toss-offs like "Dude,
Where's My Car?" and "The Animal" each generated grosses in the $50 million
range, more than $30 million over their estimated price tags.
Because the demographic driving these numbers is thought to be teenage boys,
the studios direct their efforts accordingly.
Targeting teenage boys
"They expect you to just aim for the 16-year-old boys on Friday night," said
director Garry Marshall, who made "Pretty Woman" as well as the upcoming
G-rated "The Princess Diaries." "That's the money, and the rest is who
cares? But I think somebody cares."
In many recent comedies, you can feel the impact of focus groups and general
audience pandering, such as in the outbreak of on-screen gas-passing.
There's no way the makers of "Cats & Dogs," "Shrek," "What's the Worst That
Could Happen?" and "Monkeybone" all independently thought that animal (or
ogre) flatulence is funny. Film critic Dave Kehr, who writes for the New
York Times and Citysearch.com, said the audience-testing effect is apparent
in the upcoming John Cusack/Catherine Zeta-Jones/Julia Roberts comedy
"America's Sweethearts."
"It's a fairly honorable attempt to do an old-fashioned character farce, and
you have the feeling that someone went through it and put in all these dumb
sex jokes so the audiences today can relate to it," Kehr said, noting that
the movie's ending was reshot to reprise a gag involving a dog burying his
head in Billy Crystal's lap. "I just can't see this happening in a Lubitsch
film."
One difference is that Ernst Lubitsch was able to put forth a singular
vision in his classic comedies of the 1930s and 1940s.
The focus on focus groups
"I think the great comedies of the past tended to be those where there was a
writer or director whose work was considered untouchable, whether it was
Paddy Chayefsky [`Network'] or Neil Simon in his early days when he wrote
`The Odd Couple' or Woody Allen in his prime," Bart said. "Those comedies
tended to come from people who had final control over their product, and it
wasn't subjected to focus groups."
Second City founder Bernie Sahlins complained that too many movies violate a
key Second City rule: Always play at the top of your intelligence.
"You have to play to your audience as if they're at least as smart as you
are and probably smarter," Sahlins said. "Audiences know when you're talking
down to them, and they hate you for it."
Nothing but gags
Not helping matters is that many current comedies are about the gags and
nothing else.
"I think that's the legacy of Mel Brooks," Kehr said. "He decided that you
could just make an extended sketch instead of a movie, and it's worked well
for him."
Brooks and Allen, at least in his early comedies, brought the influence of
television to the big screen in the late '60s and early '70s. Yet their
brand of irreverence itself was making a statement during the societal
upheaval that accompanied the Vietnam War. Even a movie like 1978's "Animal
House," though set in the early 1960s, was striking a blow for individuals
against institutions.
"Politically and culturally there hasn't been a galvanizing movement or set
of events comparable to the late `60s that would point to a new comedy,"
Ramis said. "I see funny stuff and smart people, but I haven't seen anything
really new. Seeing Tom Green doing a kind of reality comedy really is no
different from stuff we were trying in the mid-70s."
The current best comedy track record, at least on the acting side, may
belong to Ben Stiller, who has inspired audiences to laugh through his tears
in "Meet the Parents," "There's Something about Mary" and "Flirting with
Disaster." Wes Anderson's "Rushmore" may be the best comic film of recent
years, though many viewers seemed perplexed by its lack of overt jokes.
Aside from the love 'em/hate 'em Farrelly brothers ("There's Something about
Mary," "Kingpin"), what other major movie-comedy talents have emerged over
the past few years? Adam Sandler? Rob Schneider? Green? Please.
Most of the new comedies share a certain toothlessness and general
irrelevance. Classic comedies as diverse as Charlie Chaplin's "City Lights"
(1931), Lubitsch's "Ninotchka" (1939) and Robert Altman's "M*A*S*H" (1970)
commented on the world that moviegoers experienced outside the theater. Now
the most common reference points lie in the world of pop culture. The "Scary
Movie" and "Austin Powers" movies would be incomprehensible without a
background in TV and movie staples.
Continuing the pop-will-eat-itself trend, an upcoming comedy called
"Showtime" stars Eddie Murphy and Robert De Niro as cops who prepare to
appear on a reality TV show by studying the rules of cop buddy movies and
shows.The ascension of gags and high concepts has come largely at the
expense of well-drawn characters. "There's Something about Mary" wouldn't
have worked if people didn't care about the Ben Stiller and Cameron Diaz
characters, yet many filmmakers simply have tried to raise the gross-out
ante and copy the animal-abuse humor.
"If you create real characters, you can do much more sophisticated stuff,
because then people understand why something's funny for the person," Cusack
said.
Ramis agreed. "If I'm not interested in the person, if the situation isn't
believable even in the special rules and circumstances of the situation and
if the character isn't interesting, then everything feels arbitrary and
pushed and trivial," he said.
Cable TV offers hope
Is there relief in sight? Given that the ceiling on gross-out jokes must be
approaching, the pendulum is due to swing the other way. Consider that
television comedy, at least on cable, has risen in sophistication, so maybe
movies will follow. Right? Right?
To Sahlins, the key is for filmmakers to realize that comedy, like tragedy,
is an art form. "Many people who make comedies think it's a matter of being
either silly or sexy," he said. "It requires in a way even more intelligence
than a non-comedy because you have to make it real and believable, and
that's the hard part. If you look at the comedies that have endured in the
theater, they're all comedies that are well written, the characters are
people you care about, and they tell the truth."
Amen.
<-----End Article----->
Chuck
____________________________________________________________________________
http://playboy.com@hookingupwithhefschicks@63.136.85.138/grotto.html
Observation will press the button and imagination will do the rest.
____________________________________________________________________________
replace "spamisgak" with "writer"
Lou Grantt
suck.
Lou
--
********************************************************
Lou Grantt, Editor Hollywood Scriptwriter
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"Chuck Fox" <spam...@all-accesstv.com> wrote in message
news:B76F19DE.3620%spam...@all-accesstv.com...
Bed Sores
double feature at the drive-in of "Fast & Furious" and "Scary Movie 2", I'm
considering the possiblity that ALL new movies suck.
"Lou Grantt" <lgr...@socal.rr.com> wrote in message
news:MPn27.38026$7a.59...@typhoon.we.rr.com...
Paulo Joe Jingy
Bed Sores wrote:
> I believe "suck" is not a strong enough word. Having just recently endured a
> double feature at the drive-in of "Fast & Furious" and "Scary Movie 2", I'm
> considering the possiblity that ALL new movies suck.
Okay, what part of the country do you live in that still has drive-ins? All of
them I've seen in the last few years are either swap meets or they're grown
over.
Paulo Joe Jingy
Chuck Fox wrote:
> <-----Original Article----->
>
> Humor us, please!
> Film comedies just keep getting dumber and dumber
>
> By Mark Caro
> Tribune movie reporter
> July 8, 2001
---snip---
> "In my dark days at the studios [as an executive at Paramount and MGM/UA],
> it was always more frustrating to get a comedy through because every studio
> executive has a different idea of what's funny,"
In a room full of people they all have a different idea of what is funny.
I think that's why Monty Python was so popular. They had all types of humor in
the same show. Something was bound to get you.
andrea bachrach
sent me flying off my chair! I landed right on the dog who was hooked-up
to his gal pal and they got squished flat!!! Har! Har! Har!
ModernComedyWriterGirl
WillingToWorkWithWayans
Our motto:
No stoop is too low to stoop to, if there's money on it!!
My boring website has been updated a bit, but it's still pretty
boring. LOL!!! It will be taken down if I ever get rich and
famous.... so you'd better check it out now!!! Here is the URL:
http://hometown.aol.com/cassandraq
Gene Harris
>This thread is so funny ! It made me laugh so hard I cut a big one that
>sent me flying off my chair! I landed right on the dog who was hooked-up
>to his gal pal and they got squished flat!!! Har! Har! Har!
Now THAT'S funny!
You sure there wasn't a birthday cake involved somehow?
Gene
L.
Jingy <phant...@my-deja.com> wrote:
>Okay, what part of the country do you live in that still has drive-ins? All of
>them I've seen in the last few years are either swap meets or they're grown
>over.
i recently heard that a NEW drive-in just opened
in, believe it or not, downtown toronto. can
anyone confirm this?
L.
Chuck Fox
7/10/01 12:50 PM:
>> Okay, what part of the country do you live in that still has drive-ins? All
>> of
>> them I've seen in the last few years are either swap meets or they're grown
>> over.
The Cascade Drive-In in suburban West Chicago is still rocking.
And to boot they're playing Scary Movie 2 and Pootie Tang!
Skip Press
Is it called the Celine Drivein?
Or will the French-speakers strike until they agree to call it Le Cinema
du Merde?
--
A wide screen just makes a bad film twice as bad.
-- Samuel Goldwyn
All the best,
Skip Press, the Duke of URL
Hollywood and Somewhat Important News at
http://home.earthlink.net/~skippress/wsnBDFB.html
MC
Skip Press <skip_...@excite.com> wrote:
> Or will the French-speakers strike until they agree to call it Le Cinema
> du Merde?
That would be Le Cinéma de *la* merde.
By the way, if you ever watch Inside the Actors Studio, you'll know that
James Lipton, he of the prematurely orange beard, quotes the famous
questions originated by Bernard Pivot of the French (from France) TV
show Bouillon de Culture. That's carried on a French TV network in
Quebec, and suffering from insomnia last night I tuned in, and there
amongst the guests was James Lipton.
If you thought he was prissy, precious and pretentious on American TV I
got news: On French TV he's UNBELIEVABLY prissy, precious and
pretentious, and his fellow (French) guests clearly couldn't figure out
what he was doing on the show..
Skip Press
MC <copeS...@total.net> wrote:
Mon sympathies with those French folks. I can't figure out what Lipton's
doing in LIFE. Of course, I'm not sure he really is alive.
--
Good authors, too, who once knew better words
Now only use four-letter words
Writing prose . . .
Anything goes.
-- Cole Porter
Jes
Did Lipton get a shot at the Pivot questions?
================================
::remove asterisks for email::
Bed Sores
"Paulo Joe Jingy" <phant...@my-deja.com> wrote in message
news:3B492240...@my-deja.com...
Wisconsin, although there are few left. Which I don't really understand
since it seems like a very cheap business to run, with little overhead. It
was the first time I've been to one since pre-teens. I hear that the ones
that are left are filled on a regular basis.
MC
Skip Press <skip_...@excite.com> wrote:
> >If you thought he was prissy, precious and pretentious on American TV I
> >got news: On French TV he's UNBELIEVABLY prissy, precious and
> >pretentious, and his fellow (French) guests clearly couldn't figure out
> >what he was doing on the show..
>
> Mon sympathies with those French folks. I can't figure out what Lipton's
> doing in LIFE. Of course, I'm not sure he really is alive.
By the way, those questions: In English, whenever he asks "What's your
favorite swear word, pretty much all he ever gets in return is "shit" or
"fuck" or some minor variant of them -- which might make you wonder why
he reveres Pivot and his questions. The answer is, that when Pivot asks
that question in French he gets *fantastic* responses. French swearing
is *so* much more creative and funny. Make us anglo-saxons sound like a
bunch of monosyllabic trailer trash..
MC
*minorsage*@sendcoffee.com (Jes) wrote:
> Did Lipton get a shot at the Pivot questions?
No. This was a group discussion with about 8 guests sitting in a circle,
talking about all kinds of things to do with the state of siege of
French language, culture and so on, rather than a one on one
concentrating on a career in the arts. (One example of the state of
siege: A guest from Quebec produced a letter sent to her by the Air
France frequent flyer programme -- it was in English).
Skip Press
MC <copeS...@total.net> wrote:
My favorite swear word is "merde" but you have to do it with just the
right inflection. My favorite phrase is "Whoowee, that's slicker than
owlshit!" The first from Paris, France. The latter from Paris, Texas.
--
I don't feel we did wrong in taking this great country away from them. There
were great numbers of people who needed new land, and the Indians were
selfishly trying to keep it for themselves.
-- John Wayne
Better Duck
of
them I've seen in the last few years are either swap meets or they're grown
over. >>
Ft Lauderdale, FL. 10 screen drive-in
A.I.
Baby Boy
Cats and Dogs
crazy/beautiful
Dr. Doolittle 2
The Fast and the Furrious
Kiss the Dragon
Pootie Tang
Scary Movie 2
Swordfish
Laura Ashcroft - Womb Raider
Swap-shop, worlds largest indoor flea market, free circus 7 days a week.
Florida's 2nd largest tourist attraction.
BD
Better Duck
right inflection. >>
My favorite is bah fangool (sp?) Its perfect for throwing a cinder block
through a car windshield. You say the "bah" part - as your raising the block
over head, then as you throw it soccer style, you say the "fangool" part, the
"ool" should be faded out as the windshield shatters...
BD
L.
Better Duck
Not really, Sonny Corleone fan.
BD
BrickRage
>From: bett...@aol.com (Better Duck)
>Ft Lauderdale, FL. 10 screen drive-in
>Florida's 2nd largest tourist attraction.
>
Cool. What's the name of this Mecca?
Nesci
"Don't get up gentlemen, I'm only passing through." Dylan
The FAQ for this newsgroup is http://www.communicator.com/faqs.html
BrickRage
>From: bett...@aol.com (Better Duck)
>My favorite is bah fangool (sp?) Its perfect for throwing a cinder block
>through a car windshield.
Well, Diddy, it might sound like that spelling in Bensonhoist, but like in
Spanish the "bah" is actually a "Vah" and like us guineas are so fond of doing,
you sort of lop off the last syllable. "Prosciutto", for instance, is said
"proh-ZHOOT".
vaffanculo
+ fuck off Also the standard expression for disagreeing strongly with another
Mannaggia!
BrickRage
>From: MC copeS...@total.net
>If you thought he was prissy, precious and pretentious on American TV I
>> >got news: On French TV he's UNBELIEVABLY prissy, precious and
>> >pretentious, and his fellow (French) guests clearly couldn't figure out
>> >what he was doing on the show..
Lipton: And finally, if there is a God, what would you like to hear
Him say to you as you entered Heaven?
Clint Eastwood: Right now, James Lipton is in Hell being humped by The
Devil!"
spam]@world.std.com Blair P. Houghton
>Pootie Tang
I keep coming back to the same question.
Why didn't they just call this movie "Pussy", "Cunt", or "Dubya"?
--Blair
"And it got clobbered by talking animals."
MC
bric...@aol.com (BrickRage) wrote:
> Mannaggia!
>
>
> Nesci
My Italian friend Joyce has a great expression for us WASPs: To her
we're all "cakes" -- which is short for "mangia cakes." IOW we're the
only people in the world who would eat bland, boring, white-bread
poundcake. There are websites devoted to Montreal Italian English, by
the way.
MC
bric...@aol.com (BrickRage) wrote:
> Lipton: And finally, if there is a God, what would you like to hear
> Him say to you as you entered Heaven?
>
> Clint Eastwood: Right now, James Lipton is in Hell being humped by The
> Devil!"
>
For real? I'll make a point of watching the rerun if so.
Skip Press
blair[no spam]@world.std.com (Blair P. Houghton) wrote:
>Better Duck <bett...@aol.com> wrote:
>>Pootie Tang
>
>I keep coming back to the same question.
>
>Why didn't they just call this movie "Pussy", "Cunt", or "Dubya"?
The subtitle that isn't on the poster is "Blair-ly."
--
When all things are equal, translucence in writing is more effective
than transparency, just as glow is more revealing than glare.
-- James Thurber
BrickRage
>From: MC copeS...@total.net
>(BrickRage) wrote:
>
>> Lipton: And finally, if there is a God, what would you like to hear
>> Him say to you as you entered Heaven?
>>
>> Clint Eastwood: Right now, James Lipton is in Hell being humped by The
>> Devil!"
>>
>
>For real? I'll make a point of watching the rerun if so.
Apocryphal. But I love imagining Clint's hoarse-whisper delivery of the line.
Brevity
No, it was a quote from a Saturday Night Live parody of Lipton's
"Inside the Actor's Studio" that I posted here in a message quite some
time ago.
Bob Stone
Associate Editor
Hollywood Scriptwriter
http://www.hollywoodscriptwriter.com
buy HS items at http://www.cafepress/hsstore
(remove the x to reply via email)
BrickRage
>From: xabra...@hotmail.com (Brevity)
>>> Lipton: And finally, if there is a God, what would you like to hear
>>> Him say to you as you entered Heaven?
>>>
>>> Clint Eastwood: Right now, James Lipton is in Hell being humped by The
>>> Devil!"
>No, it was a quote from a Saturday Night Live parody of Lipton's
>"Inside the Actor's Studio" that I posted here in a message quite some
>time ago.
Sorry for not crediting where it came from, Bob. I'd written it down, but plumb
forgot where I got it. I know that's the same excuse Spielberg uses, but...
Steve Richer
--
Steve Richer
http://www3.sympatico.ca/sricher/
Two Steps from Greatness
"MC" <copeS...@total.net> wrote in message
news:copeSPAMZAP-2141...@news.total.net...
MC
xabra...@hotmail.com wrote:
> >For real? I'll make a point of watching the rerun if so.
>
> No, it was a quote from a Saturday Night Live parody of Lipton's
> "Inside the Actor's Studio" that I posted here in a message quite some
> time ago.
I liked it better when I thought it was real... sigh..
Brevity
>
>>From: xabra...@hotmail.com (Brevity)
>
>>>> Lipton: And finally, if there is a God, what would you like to hear
>>>> Him say to you as you entered Heaven?
>>>>
>>>> Clint Eastwood: Right now, James Lipton is in Hell being humped by The
>>>> Devil!"
>
>>No, it was a quote from a Saturday Night Live parody of Lipton's
>>"Inside the Actor's Studio" that I posted here in a message quite some
>>time ago.
>
>Sorry for not crediting where it came from, Bob. I'd written it down, but plumb
>forgot where I got it. I know that's the same excuse Spielberg uses, but...
>
>Nesci
I wasn't sure if you were quoting my quote of SNL, or SNL. If, in
fact, it came from my quote, I may have had the question a bit wrong.
The way Lipton poses it is: "If there is a God, what would you like to
hear Him say as you enter the pearly gates?" How SNL had it (my way
or the right way) I don't know. The response, though, was an SNL
classic, in my opinion.
But what do I know?
Brevity
It was real. Just look for it on an SNL rerun, and not an "Inside The
Actor's Studio" rerun.
BrickRage
>From: xabra...@hotmail.com (Brevity)
>>>>> Lipton: And finally, if there is a God, what would you like to hear
>>>>> Him say to you as you entered Heaven?
>>>>>
>>>>> Clint Eastwood: Right now, James Lipton is in Hell being humped by The
>>>>> Devil!"
>I wasn't sure if you were quoting my quote of SNL, or SNL.
> How SNL had it (my way
>or the right way) I don't know. The response, though, was an SNL
>classic, in my opinion.
I think I might have seen it, and yes it was a classic. Will Ferrell, is that
his name (?), does a dead-on Lipton, the shifty eyes, the hand on the scraggly
beard, etc.
Once in a while they'll do something interesting, but it's been sadly lacking
in good satire for years now.
MC
Richer" <sri...@sympatico.ca> wrote:
> You got a URL handy?
>
Nope, but try a search under "St. Leonard" and "Italian" and
"Dictionary"
MC
<copeS...@total.net> wrote:
> > You got a URL handy?
> >
>
> Nope, but try a search under "St. Leonard" and "Italian" and
> "Dictionary"
I just did & came up with this:
Dena Jo
> What does "va (something) napoli" mean? They say it on "Friends".
I don't recall hearing the phrase on "Friends," but Napoli is Naples, and I
think va means go. If your question doesn't get answered and you hear the
phrase again and can at least phonetically reproduce the missing word, let
me know. My sister is fluent in Italian.
--
Dena Jo
ICQ: 116627453
BrickRage
>From: Jeri Jo Thomas kata...@earthlink.net
>BrickRage said ...
>
> Q:vaffanculo
> Q:+ fuck off Also the standard expression for disagreeing strongly with
>another
> Q:
>What does "va (something) napoli" mean? They say it on "Friends".
The "something" is the operative verb there, JJ. "Va" is generally "go" or "go
ahead and..." as in "Go screw yourself".
Napoli is Naples. What the Friends want each other to do in Naples (or "as they
do in Naples") I don't have a clue.
Maybe check MC's French Canadian Italian site:
Brevity
>BrickRage said ...
>
> Q:Lipton: And finally, if there is a God, what would you like to hear
> Q:Him say to you as you entered Heaven?
> Q:
> Q:Clint Eastwood: Right now, James Lipton is in Hell being humped by The
> Q:Devil!"
> Q:
>Funny. But if people feel like this about the guy, and I must
>admit he comes off as rather smarmy, why do they go on the show?
>For the audience?
Well, Lipton does make every star feel like the absolute best
performer in the world. His intro and questions are stuffed with the
kind of ego massaging phrases that would make any basically shy,
fearful, and unsure of themselves star feel like the only big name in
the world. Also it gives tham a chance to expound on the art of
acting, without having to deal with the kinds of questions they
usually get from TV interviewers. Lipton only has about five
quetions, repeated in every show. In one, he names a film, and asks,
"How did that role come to you?" In another, he asks stars how they
choose parts, and what they look for in a script. These can be good
points for writers to hear. And at then end, the Q&A with the
students really seems to appeal to most of them. We only get to see
about ten minutes of it, though. I'd rather see more of that, and a
little less Lipton.
Brevity
>
>>From: xabra...@hotmail.com (Brevity)
>
>>>>>> Lipton: And finally, if there is a God, what would you like to hear
>>>>>> Him say to you as you entered Heaven?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Clint Eastwood: Right now, James Lipton is in Hell being humped by The
>>>>>> Devil!"
>
>>I wasn't sure if you were quoting my quote of SNL, or SNL.
>
>> How SNL had it (my way
>>or the right way) I don't know. The response, though, was an SNL
>>classic, in my opinion.
>
>I think I might have seen it, and yes it was a classic. Will Ferrell, is that
>his name (?), does a dead-on Lipton, the shifty eyes, the hand on the scraggly
>beard, etc.
>
>Once in a while they'll do something interesting, but it's been sadly lacking
>in good satire for years now.
>
>Nesci
Absolutely. I watch it mostly out of hope that there will be a moment
like the Lipton take off, but they are so few and far between. With
it, the keep it short, make a few comic points and get out. With so
many sketches, they drag them on and on, belaboring the same point
over and over, and get out of it on a down note. If they didn't have
applause signs, I'm sure many of the skits would end in silence.
One opinion. Others will differ.
MC
Thomas <kata...@earthlink.net> wrote:
> Funny. But if people feel like this about the guy, and I must
> admit he comes off as rather smarmy, why do they go on the show?
> For the audience?
For the opportunity to appear erudite in front of an adoring audience.
Not many actors would pass up *that* opportunity!
Steve Richer
--
Steve Richer
http://www3.sympatico.ca/sricher/
Two Steps from Greatness
"MC" <copeS...@total.net> wrote in message
news:copeSPAMZAP-010B...@news.total.net...
AlbertPeasemarch
> > "You have to play to your audience as if they're at least as smart as you
> > are and probably smarter," Sahlins said. "Audiences know when you're
> talking
> > down to them, and they hate you for it."
Is anyone else a fan of the film "Tin Men"?
I`d say that`s my favourite comedy film; it's rooted in real life and
business, as well as being hilarious.
I have a sudden urge to watch it, but I can`t because its 2 a.m. and I
dont have it on video.
Blast it!
Albert Peasemarch. (Giving the cat another goldfish.)
MC
willis...@yahoo.co.uk (AlbertPeasemarch) wrote:
> Is anyone else a fan of the film "Tin Men"?
Yes. A very wise and clever film,
KelL
In article <B76F19DE.3620%spam...@all-accesstv.com>,
Chuck Fox <spam...@all-accesstv.com> wrote:
> <-----Original Article----->
>
> Humor us, please!
> Film comedies just keep getting dumber and dumber
>
> By Mark Caro
> Tribune movie reporter
> July 8, 2001
>
> Years from now film scholars may debate at what point movie comedies reached
> their all-time low.
>
> Was it when Chris Klein got his arm stuck up a cow's rectum in "Say It Isn't
> So"? How about when someone mistook a cancerous testicle for candy in
> "Tomcats"?
>
> Does Tom Green get the nod for hosing down his dad with something
> unspeakable in "Freddy Got Fingered"? Or is the nadir yet to come in the
> spate of sequels and knock-offs intended to lure teenage boys to the
> multiplexes?
>
> The current sad state of film comedies isn't just a matter of gross-out
> one-upmanship, although that certainly plays a major role. Vulgarity can be
> funny, as Mel Brooks, Woody Allen, Monty Python, John Belushi and the
> Farrelly brothers have shown on occasion.
>
> The problem here is a deeper one. Look at a list of American comedies
> released just this year -- or worse yet, try to watch them all -- and you
> can't help but wonder: Where have all the howlers gone?
>
> Granted, there was no golden age when everything was great, and comedies are
> notoriously difficult to pull off, which is why the Oscars should quit
> snubbing them. But such an onslaught of crimes against humor can't be a
> coincidence, particularly given that so many commit similar offenses: an
> over-reliance on toilet humor and shock-value gags; poorly drawn, unengaging
> characters; unjustified nastiness; incoherent storytelling; and no
> discernable subject matter beyond the jokes.
>
> "Something may be happening in popular culture -- the kindly word would be
> 'democratization,' but there seems to be an appeal to the lowest and dumbest
> in the audience and a mean-spiritedness that wears thin very quickly," said
> Harold Ramis, who co-wrote "National Lampoon's Animal House" and
> "Ghostbusters" and co-wrote and directed "Caddyshack" and "Groundhog Day,"
> all of which made the American Film Institute's recent list of the top 100
> American comedies.
>
> "They're aiming for a common denominator, and it just winds up being so
> low," agreed Joan Cusack, currently starring in her own ABC-TV sitcom, "What
> About Joan?", after years of delivering strong comedic performances in
> movies. "But I don't understand why that is, exactly. Do people in charge
> think America's dumb?"
>
> That would be one logical conclusion. Another would be that the people
> making and marketing these movies aren't necessarily smart about what will
> make audiences laugh.
>
> Consider the 2001 roster of comedies. It includes "Double Take," "The
> Wedding Planner," "Monkeybone," "Down to Earth," "Saving Silverman," "See
> Spot Run," "Company Man," "Heartbreakers," "Say It Isn't So," "Just
> Visiting," "Someone Like You," "Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles," "Tomcats,"
> "Joe Dirt," "Freddy Got Fingered," "Town and Country," "The Animal,"
> "Evolution," "What's the Worst that Could Happen?", "Dr. Dolittle 2,"
> "Pootie Tang" and "Scary Movie 2." Some are less heinous than others, but
> none will be vying for the next AFI comedies list.
>
> About the only comedy this year that could be considered an unqualified
> critical and commercial success is "Bridget Jones's Diary," which happens to
> be British, adult-oriented, based on a well-regarded novel and the product
> of a semi-independent distributor (Miramax).
>
> Among American films, audiences probably have laughed hardest at "Shrek," a
> computer-animated family film packed with pop-culture jokes. And even
> "Shrek" resorts to flatulence gags.
>
>
> Thin dividing line
>
> To be fair, there's a dangerously thin line between funny and unfunny.
>
> "When you do a comedy, either everybody was laughing or it stunk," Chris
> Rock said. "There's no middle ground."
>
> Rock made this comment before the release of his "Down to Earth," which
> audiences and critics subsequently deemed to be on the wrong side of the
> equation. If Rock, a very funny man on stage, can't necessarily tell what
> will connect on screen (his new "Pootie Tang" isn't being hailed as a
> classic either), how can the Hollywood executives who exert influence over
> comedies be expected to do so?
>
>
> Different ideas of funny
>
> "In my dark days at the studios [as an executive at Paramount and MGM/UA],
> it was always more frustrating to get a comedy through because every studio
> executive has a different idea of what's funny," Variety editor-in-chief
> Peter Bart said. "Most people who work for studios are not exactly famous
> for their sense of humor. I think the studios are suspicious of their own
> abilities to judge comedies, so they're subjected to much more testing and
> fiddling around with the final product."
>
> Comedies are important to a studio's balance sheet because they don't
> necessarily require pricey special effects or big-name stars, yet they can
> generate blockbuster box-office figures, like the $100 million-plus that
> "Scary Movie," "American Pie" and "There's Something about Mary" each
> grossed in North American theaters alone.
>
> Although many of this spring's comedies' bombed, toss-offs like "Dude,
> Where's My Car?" and "The Animal" each generated grosses in the $50 million
> range, more than $30 million over their estimated price tags.
>
> Because the demographic driving these numbers is thought to be teenage boys,
> the studios direct their efforts accordingly.
>
>
> Targeting teenage boys
>
> "They expect you to just aim for the 16-year-old boys on Friday night," said
> director Garry Marshall, who made "Pretty Woman" as well as the upcoming
> G-rated "The Princess Diaries." "That's the money, and the rest is who
> cares? But I think somebody cares."
>
> In many recent comedies, you can feel the impact of focus groups and general
> audience pandering, such as in the outbreak of on-screen gas-passing.
> There's no way the makers of "Cats & Dogs," "Shrek," "What's the Worst That
> Could Happen?" and "Monkeybone" all independently thought that animal (or
> ogre) flatulence is funny. Film critic Dave Kehr, who writes for the New
> York Times and Citysearch.com, said the audience-testing effect is apparent
> in the upcoming John Cusack/Catherine Zeta-Jones/Julia Roberts comedy
> "America's Sweethearts."
>
> "It's a fairly honorable attempt to do an old-fashioned character farce, and
> you have the feeling that someone went through it and put in all these dumb
> sex jokes so the audiences today can relate to it," Kehr said, noting that
> the movie's ending was reshot to reprise a gag involving a dog burying his
> head in Billy Crystal's lap. "I just can't see this happening in a Lubitsch
> film."
>
> One difference is that Ernst Lubitsch was able to put forth a singular
> vision in his classic comedies of the 1930s and 1940s.
>
>
> The focus on focus groups
>
> "I think the great comedies of the past tended to be those where there was a
> writer or director whose work was considered untouchable, whether it was
> Paddy Chayefsky [`Network'] or Neil Simon in his early days when he wrote
> `The Odd Couple' or Woody Allen in his prime," Bart said. "Those comedies
> tended to come from people who had final control over their product, and it
> wasn't subjected to focus groups."
>
> Second City founder Bernie Sahlins complained that too many movies violate a
> key Second City rule: Always play at the top of your intelligence.
>
> "You have to play to your audience as if they're at least as smart as you
> are and probably smarter," Sahlins said. "Audiences know when you're talking
> down to them, and they hate you for it."
>
>
> Nothing but gags
>
> Not helping matters is that many current comedies are about the gags and
> nothing else.
>
> "I think that's the legacy of Mel Brooks," Kehr said. "He decided that you
> could just make an extended sketch instead of a movie, and it's worked well
> for him."
>
> Brooks and Allen, at least in his early comedies, brought the influence of
> television to the big screen in the late '60s and early '70s. Yet their
> brand of irreverence itself was making a statement during the societal
> upheaval that accompanied the Vietnam War. Even a movie like 1978's "Animal
> House," though set in the early 1960s, was striking a blow for individuals
> against institutions.
>
> "Politically and culturally there hasn't been a galvanizing movement or set
> of events comparable to the late `60s that would point to a new comedy,"
> Ramis said. "I see funny stuff and smart people, but I haven't seen anything
> really new. Seeing Tom Green doing a kind of reality comedy really is no
> different from stuff we were trying in the mid-70s."
>
> The current best comedy track record, at least on the acting side, may
> belong to Ben Stiller, who has inspired audiences to laugh through his tears
> in "Meet the Parents," "There's Something about Mary" and "Flirting with
> Disaster." Wes Anderson's "Rushmore" may be the best comic film of recent
> years, though many viewers seemed perplexed by its lack of overt jokes.
> Aside from the love 'em/hate 'em Farrelly brothers ("There's Something about
> Mary," "Kingpin"), what other major movie-comedy talents have emerged over
> the past few years? Adam Sandler? Rob Schneider? Green? Please.
>
> Most of the new comedies share a certain toothlessness and general
> irrelevance. Classic comedies as diverse as Charlie Chaplin's "City Lights"
> (1931), Lubitsch's "Ninotchka" (1939) and Robert Altman's "M*A*S*H" (1970)
> commented on the world that moviegoers experienced outside the theater. Now
> the most common reference points lie in the world of pop culture. The "Scary
> Movie" and "Austin Powers" movies would be incomprehensible without a
> background in TV and movie staples.
>
> Continuing the pop-will-eat-itself trend, an upcoming comedy called
> "Showtime" stars Eddie Murphy and Robert De Niro as cops who prepare to
> appear on a reality TV show by studying the rules of cop buddy movies and
> shows.The ascension of gags and high concepts has come largely at the
> expense of well-drawn characters. "There's Something about Mary" wouldn't
> have worked if people didn't care about the Ben Stiller and Cameron Diaz
> characters, yet many filmmakers simply have tried to raise the gross-out
> ante and copy the animal-abuse humor.
>
> "If you create real characters, you can do much more sophisticated stuff,
> because then people understand why something's funny for the person," Cusack
> said.
>
> Ramis agreed. "If I'm not interested in the person, if the situation isn't
> believable even in the special rules and circumstances of the situation and
> if the character isn't interesting, then everything feels arbitrary and
> pushed and trivial," he said.
>
>
> Cable TV offers hope
>
> Is there relief in sight? Given that the ceiling on gross-out jokes must be
> approaching, the pendulum is due to swing the other way. Consider that
> television comedy, at least on cable, has risen in sophistication, so maybe
> movies will follow. Right? Right?
>
> To Sahlins, the key is for filmmakers to realize that comedy, like tragedy,
> is an art form. "Many people who make comedies think it's a matter of being
> either silly or sexy," he said. "It requires in a way even more intelligence
> than a non-comedy because you have to make it real and believable, and
> that's the hard part. If you look at the comedies that have endured in the
> theater, they're all comedies that are well written, the characters are
> people you care about, and they tell the truth."
>
> Amen.
>
> <-----End Article----->
>
> Chuck
> ____________________________________________________________________________
>
> http://playboy.com@hookingupwithhefschicks@63.136.85.138/grotto.html
>
> Observation will press the button and imagination will do the rest.
> ____________________________________________________________________________
>
> replace "spamisgak" with "writer"
>
>
--
KellyL
AFTRA/Actor/Director
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