Miscellaneous Movie Musings - Page 33

Snowflake · 06-06-2006, 12:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gemini Cricket

This is the Bette Davis movie, right? Not a movie about people eating each other...

I can't wait for you to see it. Make sure you put a mini-review somewhere...

No, the Monte Wooley character, Sheridan Whiteside, devours people. Some seriously funny lines in this film and watch for Mary Wickes making one of her early film appearences (I can't recall if this or Now Voyager was first).

Alex · 06-06-2006, 12:54 PM

Lisa and I seem to have similar ideas on what is not funny. We're both right about Monty Python and we're both right about Bill and Ted.

scaeagles · 06-06-2006, 12:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alex Stroup

we're both right about Bill and Ted.

And your opinion on Bill and Ted?

Not Afraid · 06-06-2006, 01:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alex Stroup

Lisa and I seem to have similar ideas on what is not funny. We're both right about Monty Python and we're both right about Bill and Ted.

We agree on many things, Alex.

Cadaverous Pallor · 06-06-2006, 04:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scaeagles

And your opinion on Bill and Ted?

I would assume it's the same as NA's above.

innerSpaceman · 06-06-2006, 07:25 PM

Yes, and they are in fact the two people on earth who are correct about Monty Python. Decidedly not funny. The other 5 billion 333 million 241 thousand 6 hundred 12 are dead wrong.

Alex · 06-06-2006, 07:34 PM

Glad you agree. Eventually the world came to understand that Benny Hill was not funny and eventually the world will come to understand that Monty Python was not funny. Yes there were isolated funny bits but as a general rule, they weren't.

Not Afraid and I are the Eratosthenes of the idea that Monty Python is not funny. Hopefully it will take less than 2,000 years to be shown correct. But I'm willing to wait that long for the vindication that I know is inevitable.

Not Afraid · 06-06-2006, 07:38 PM

And, with Benny Hill, we are three for three. Me, you and Eratosthenes. We should form a secret society. Maybe old E will join us in spirit.

wendybeth · 06-06-2006, 07:49 PM

Just out of curiosity, Alex- who do you think is funny?

Alex · 06-06-2006, 09:07 PM

There's a lot I find funny and humorous. But whatever it seems to be in British sketch comedy that Americans seem to love doesn't work for me. Actually I'm not a big fan of sketch comedy in general. It is a format that rarely works for me (SNL, Mad TV, Almost Live, Second City, etc., are all shows I can pass on with no regrets).

Another element to what is funny is that for me it would seem that I have never found something that is funny on re-experience. A joke is only funny the first time, and each retelling just makes it less and less so. So while there may have been things in Monty Python I found funny initially (and now I've forgotten), that has been wiped clean by endless repetition, particularly by people who aren't nearly so talented - such as the geeks in high school you were kind of ashamed to find yourself among. The Knights Who Say Ni may originally have been funny in context (though I would say it wasn't; the movie has other funny parts) but it has been deprived of any oxygen by the people who think simply saying "ni" at an odd moment is reason to have adult diapers on hand.

I'm a big fan of stand-up since I think that it is an environment that removes the need for continuity and context that ruins sketch comedy. I prefer restrained exaggeration and biting sarcasm over pratfalls and poop jokes. P.J. O'Rourke over David Sedaris. Douglas Adams was only funny when he was writing non-fiction.

On television I seem to tend more towards the smart low-brow to the sophisticated highbrow. Everybody Loves Raymond was really very funny. Sports Night wasn't. Arrested Devleopment and Scrubs are both brilliant in different ways. The jokes in Playboy are better than the jokes in The New Yorker but they're all mostly lame. "On the internet, nobody knows you're a dog" was never funny. It may have been telling of a deeper truth but not funny.

However, other than High Anxiety and the "Puttin' on the Ritz" bit in Young Frankenstein, Mel Brooks (low brow) has never been funny but Albert Brooks (high brow) always is, even when the movie itself is crap.

On the AFI list of the top 100 comedies, the funniest, in descending order are, are #93, #55, #44, #82, and #34. Half of the movies on that list are not, to me, funny at all. His Girl Friday is a great movie but I don't find it funny, just fun. Same with Harvey, one of my all time favorites.

To wrap it up, I wonder if I pushed the solidarity too far with Not Afraid with my semi-diss of David Sedaris.

06-06-2006, 12:54 PM	#322
Alex . Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 13,354	Lisa and I seem to have similar ideas on what is not funny. We're both right about Monty Python and we're both right about Bill and Ted.
	Submit to Quotes

06-06-2006, 07:25 PM	#326
innerSpaceman Kink of Swank Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Inner Space Posts: 13,075	Yes, and they are in fact the two people on earth who are correct about Monty Python. Decidedly not funny. The other 5 billion 333 million 241 thousand 6 hundred 12 are dead wrong.
	Submit to Quotes

06-06-2006, 07:34 PM	#327
Alex . Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 13,354	Glad you agree. Eventually the world came to understand that Benny Hill was not funny and eventually the world will come to understand that Monty Python was not funny. Yes there were isolated funny bits but as a general rule, they weren't. Not Afraid and I are the Eratosthenes of the idea that Monty Python is not funny. Hopefully it will take less than 2,000 years to be shown correct. But I'm willing to wait that long for the vindication that I know is inevitable.
	Submit to Quotes

06-06-2006, 07:38 PM	#328
Not Afraid HI! Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 17,108	And, with Benny Hill, we are three for three. Me, you and Eratosthenes. We should form a secret society. Maybe old E will join us in spirit.
	Submit to Quotes

06-06-2006, 07:49 PM	#329
wendybeth Nevermind Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 7,847	Just out of curiosity, Alex- who do you think is funny? __________________
	Submit to Quotes

06-06-2006, 09:07 PM	#330
Alex . Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 13,354	There's a lot I find funny and humorous. But whatever it seems to be in British sketch comedy that Americans seem to love doesn't work for me. Actually I'm not a big fan of sketch comedy in general. It is a format that rarely works for me (SNL, Mad TV, Almost Live, Second City, etc., are all shows I can pass on with no regrets). Another element to what is funny is that for me it would seem that I have never found something that is funny on re-experience. A joke is only funny the first time, and each retelling just makes it less and less so. So while there may have been things in Monty Python I found funny initially (and now I've forgotten), that has been wiped clean by endless repetition, particularly by people who aren't nearly so talented - such as the geeks in high school you were kind of ashamed to find yourself among. The Knights Who Say Ni may originally have been funny in context (though I would say it wasn't; the movie has other funny parts) but it has been deprived of any oxygen by the people who think simply saying "ni" at an odd moment is reason to have adult diapers on hand. I'm a big fan of stand-up since I think that it is an environment that removes the need for continuity and context that ruins sketch comedy. I prefer restrained exaggeration and biting sarcasm over pratfalls and poop jokes. P.J. O'Rourke over David Sedaris. Douglas Adams was only funny when he was writing non-fiction. On television I seem to tend more towards the smart low-brow to the sophisticated highbrow. Everybody Loves Raymond was really very funny. Sports Night wasn't. Arrested Devleopment and Scrubs are both brilliant in different ways. The jokes in Playboy are better than the jokes in The New Yorker but they're all mostly lame. "On the internet, nobody knows you're a dog" was never funny. It may have been telling of a deeper truth but not funny. However, other than High Anxiety and the "Puttin' on the Ritz" bit in Young Frankenstein, Mel Brooks (low brow) has never been funny but Albert Brooks (high brow) always is, even when the movie itself is crap. On the AFI list of the top 100 comedies, the funniest, in descending order are, are #93, #55, #44, #82, and #34. Half of the movies on that list are not, to me, funny at all. His Girl Friday is a great movie but I don't find it funny, just fun. Same with Harvey, one of my all time favorites. To wrap it up, I wonder if I pushed the solidarity too far with Not Afraid with my semi-diss of David Sedaris.
	Submit to Quotes