ComedyWatch

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Somewhere on this site, among the myriad treads, there's probably an existing one which already serves the same essential function as this one....but I can't be bothered to look for it, so here's a new version.

The premise here is self explanatory: Most of us on this site enjoy comedy at least as much as we enjoy horror. So it's time we had a place to discuss which humorously inclined tv programming/films/books we may have seen/read or are hoping to see/read soon.

Right now, I'm working through the Kevin Smith Jay AskewVerse films again. Watched Clerks and Mallrats already this week, am in the middle of Dogma, which I'll  follow with Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back before concluding with Clerks II (I don't have Chasing Amy).

Anyone else rocking the laughter right now? Discuss.

[GiveMeGore]

I caught Will Ferrels "Everything Must Go" yesterday. He plays an alcoholic who loses his high paying job....he gets home and finds all of his stuff out on the lawn. His wife changed all the locks, shut off his cell phone, blocked his banking account and stopped all his credit cards. So he says fuck it, and just lives out on the lawn for a few days pounding beers. Decent little independent feature that has some chuckles but it's nothing spectacular. Boring at times..... but I'm glad I caught it.

Also watched the first Harold and Kumar over the weekend. Just good times had by all......

[GeneralCinema]

The Sasquatch Gang is always great for a comedy fix. 

[GiveMeGore]

Watched BeerFest last night. I'm a big fan of the Broken Lizard crew. Great blend of mild slapstick with really clever punchlines and a ton of subtle humor, which gives their films a great deal of re-watch value. I own all of their features. Club Dread and Super Troopers stand out the most. I'm hoping for Pot Fest to finally get wrapped up.

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Watched BeerFest last night. I'm a big fan of the Broken Lizard crew. Great blend of mild slapstick with really clever punchlines and a ton of subtle humor, which gives their films a great deal of re-watch value. I own all of their features. Club Dread and Super Troopers stand out the most. I'm hoping for Pot Fest to finally get wrapped up.

Agreed. Broken Lizard currently inhabits that space once occupied by the Zucker brothers back in the early days when they were performing under the name of the Kentucky Fried Theater. Super Troopers is pure gold and Club Dread was one of the most tragically under appreciated horror comedies of the past two decades. I need to check out BeerFest. I would pay to see any flick called Pot Fest that Broken Lizard develops.


Just revisited the definitive cult/indie flick Repo Man, featuring  a young Emilio Estevez. Epic flick...just batshit crazy out there. To me it represents exactly what a cult flick should aspire to be. It's the kind of movie designed to be seen in a small theater at 1 am on Friday night somewhere in New York.  Flick has one of the funniest double-edged running gags ever in that every item purchased in a store is represented by the most basic of generic marketing ..ie beer is sold in six packs of white cans simply labeled "beer", potato chips are in white bags with the word "potato chips' written on them. Same with bread, soda,etc. . The other side of this thematic joke is  that - every time we see  someone buying these items -a few minutes after they leave the store in question, it's almost always revealed that the store is in the process of being robbed by the same three thugs, all of whom happen to be (marginal) friends of the Esteves character. Not to mention that the movie features a terrific performance by Harry Dean Stanton as Bud,a burnt out Repo man who takes Estevez under his wing. 

Interesting side note- Repo Man is set in the fictional town of Edge City. That's also the name of the city where The Mask takes place (both the original comics and the film ). I'm thinking there's an intentional reference there, since The Mask appeared years after Repo Man bowed.

[GiveMeGore]

Watched BeerFest last night. I'm a big fan of the Broken Lizard crew. Great blend of mild slapstick with really clever punchlines and a ton of subtle humor, which gives their films a great deal of re-watch value. I own all of their features. Club Dread and Super Troopers stand out the most. I'm hoping for Pot Fest to finally get wrapped up.

Agreed. Broken Lizard currently inhabits that space once occupied by the Zucker brothers back in the early days when they were performing under the name of the Kentucky Fried Theater. Super Troopers is pure gold and Club Dread was one of the most tragically under appreciated horror comedies of the past two decades. I need to check out BeerFest. I would pay to see any flick called Pot Fest that Broken Lizard develops.

Have you seen The Slammin' Salmon? Great movie. I wasnt a HUGE fan after first viewing but I've enjoyed it more and more every time I watched it again. A ton of subtle humor and the Champ just steals the show. Entire feature is set at a restaurant. Literally.

I read an interview with Kevin Heffernan recently and he said they're definitely still making Pot Fest. You never seen Beer Fest, dude? Wow.....  you need to get on that. Movie has it all. 90 minutes of fun.

[GeneralCinema]

Watched BeerFest last night. I'm a big fan of the Broken Lizard crew. Great blend of mild slapstick with really clever punchlines and a ton of subtle humor, which gives their films a great deal of re-watch value. I own all of their features. Club Dread and Super Troopers stand out the most. I'm hoping for Pot Fest to finally get wrapped up.

Agreed. Broken Lizard currently inhabits that space once occupied by the Zucker brothers back in the early days when they were performing under the name of the Kentucky Fried Theater. Super Troopers is pure gold and Club Dread was one of the most tragically under appreciated horror comedies of the past two decades. I need to check out BeerFest. I would pay to see any flick called Pot Fest that Broken Lizard develops.

Have you seen The Slammin' Salmon? Great movie. I wasnt a HUGE fan after first viewing but I've enjoyed it more and more every time I watched it again. A ton of subtle humor and the Champ just steals the show. Entire feature is set at a restaurant. Literally.

I read an interview with Kevin Heffernan recently and he said they're definitely still making Pot Fest. You never seen Beer Fest, dude? Wow.....  you need to get on that. Movie has it all. 90 minutes of fun.

Beerfest is a riot!  "He's got the eye of the Jew!"  Haha!!!

[traumamama]

So far I've only seen The Slammin' Salmon on Comedy Central, but even though it was edited and there were commercials, I still enjoyed it.  I agree that Club Dread is terribly underrated.  It's actually my favorite out of all the Broken Lizard movies, including Super Troopers.  Splat, I think I talked about watching Repo Man for the first time a few months ago, what a great movie.

I watched I Love You Phillip Morris over the weekend, Jim Carrey was great in it.

Other than that, the only comedy I've really been watching is on TV.  With South Park, Workaholics, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and The League on every week I can't complain too much.

[GiveMeGore]

I watched I Love You Phillip Morris over the weekend, Jim Carrey was great in it.

"I'm going to make some changes.......I'm going to be a faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaag"

Seriously, how talented is Jim Carrey? How convincing of a homosexual did he portray in that movie? Unbelievable.

I almost pissed myself when he goes "aww, you don't love me"  after his partner 'spit'. hahahaha


South Park, Workaholics, and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. You pretty much wrapped up the only programs I'm currently watching on televison at the moment.

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Tonight it was Top Secret! ,the Zucker Brothers follow up to Airplane! which essentially kick started Val Kilmer's film career. One of the funniest films to come out of the 1980's.
 
Excellent example:
 
Doctor Flamond: You see, a year ago, I was close to perfecting the first magnetic desalinization process so revolutionary, it was capable of removing the salt from over 500 million gallons of seawater a day. Do you realize what that could mean to the starving nations of the earth?

Nick Rivers: Wow. They'd have enough salt to last forever.

Seriously, this movie doesn't get nearly enough appreciation.


"This is not Mel Torme."

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Revisited Better Off Dead yesterday.

That movie is priceless. mere words cannot encapsulate my love for that flick. All that is good and decent in comedy can be summed up with the throwaway line " "Gee, I'm real sorry your mom blew up, Ricky. The doctors said she'll be okay ,though. She just won't be able to eat any spicy foods for a while."

[Marshal Earp]

I watched I Love You Phillip Morris over the weekend, Jim Carrey was great in it.

"I'm going to make some changes.......I'm going to be a faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaag"

Seriously, how talented is Jim Carrey? How convincing of a homosexual did he portray in that movie? Unbelievable.

I almost pissed myself when he goes "aww, you don't love me"  after his partner 'spit'. hahahaha


South Park, Workaholics, and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. You pretty much wrapped up the only programs I'm currently watching on televison at the moment.

"Me Myself and Irene" is not only the most underated Jim Carey film by a mile, but I also consider it to be one of the most hillarious movies ever made, period. I can't remember a theatre going experience in my life that had such deep gut laughters that actually hurt, it's that funny:

-little boy drinking soda staring at Jim Carey-

-Jim Carey nods and smiles-

-little boy drinking soda staring at Jim Carey-

-little boy drinking soda staring at Jim Carey-

Jim Carey "What are you staring at fucker?"



Seriously, I could go on about this movie for hours.

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Today it was Airplane II :The Sequel, which isn't as good as the original but still manages to get in some fairly clever laughs along the way (plus, it boasts a terrific comedic turn by William Shatner) and Hot Shots! Part Deux, which I did think was superior to its predecessor.

Favorite moment from Airplane II:

Shatner: "Meet me at the tower."
First officer: "We don't have a tower sir."
Shatner : "No tower?"
First officer: "Just a bridge,sir."
Shatner: "Why the hell aren't I notified about these things?"

Favorite moments from Hot Shots! Part Deux:

-After plummeting to earth from a height of about a thousand feet at a rate of roughly a hundred miles per hour following an explosion, Topper Harley (Charlie Sheen) sits up and is asked if he's okay, to which he replies:
"That's right Cindy. It's twenty three past the hour and, now, here are the Buckinghams with "Kind of a drag"" before falling onto his face and passing out.


- Sheen is sitting in the back of a river boat in Iraq and we hear his thoughts as voice over narration as he writes a letter. This is suddenly overshadowed by the sight and sound of Martin Sheen -also in a boat on the river- looking at a dossier and reciting his dialogue from the very scene in Apocalypse Now that this sequence is parodying. As both boats pass one another, Martin Sheen and Charlie Sheen stand up, point at one another and simultaneously shout  "I loved you in "Wall street", each giving the other thumbs up as the boats speed in opposite directions.

Somebody want to tell me what happened to American comedy over the past two decades? Comedy as a genre today is a wretched mess compared to what we used to get.

[GiveMeGore]

Somebody want to tell me what happened to American comedy over the past two decades? Comedy as a genre today is a wretched mess compared to what we used to get.

Gotta disagree there, man. Every week comedies come out. Everybody loves a good laugh, so the market is saturated with them. Doesnt take Newton to explain that law of averages.....obviously the majority of them are going to drop a duece right on our faces. But I truly believe some of the Apatows family tree of efforts like Superbad and Knocked Up are going to be looked at 10-20 years from now in the same light you look at Harold Ramis or John Hughes flicks from a generation passed. Classics.

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Somebody want to tell me what happened to American comedy over the past two decades? Comedy as a genre today is a wretched mess compared to what we used to get.

Gotta disagree there, man. Every week comedies come out. Everybody loves a good laugh, so the market is saturated with them. Doesnt take Newton to explain that law of averages.....obviously the majority of them are going to drop a duece right on our faces. But I truly believe some of the Apatows family tree of efforts like Superbad and Knocked Up are going to be looked at 10-20 years from now in the same light you look at Harold Ramis or John Hughes flicks from a generation passed. Classics.

Meh. I'll give you Superbad..that is a classic. I'm not as blown away by Knocked Up as most people though. That movie and Forgetting Sarah Marshall are to Apatow  what Talledega Nights and Semi Pro are to Will Ferrel- not bad films,but largely forgettable an hour after the movie ends.

I'll even that between 2004 and 2007 there were a small cluster of comedies that achieved the kind of vibe I'm talking about- Superbad, 40 Year Old Virgin, Old School and I'll even give a nod to Anchorman (though I think the other titles are funnier films).

But from 1980-1990 here's what we can list:

Stripes
Scrooged
Vacation
Christmas vacation
The Naked Gun
Ghostbusters
Beetlejuice
Pee Wee's Big Adventure (the original Tim Burton one)
Airplane!
Top Secret
Porky's
A Christmas Story
Real Genius
The Blues Brothers
Sixteen Candles
The Breakfast Club
Weird Science
Home Alone
Up In Smoke
Police Academy
Fast Times at Ridgemont High
Ruthless People.
UHF

Yeah..a lot of comedies arrive in theaters every year. that's my point: most of them are ass squared man. ..same as it was back in the 80's and nineties. But it definitely seems that there was a much higher ratio of truly memorable comedy films coming out back then than there are now. Just about every title I listed here either became a phenomenon when it was released or earned a devoted fan base before the same decade was over ( A Christmas Story absolutely tanked theatrically in the 1980's, but by 1990 it was already a lot of folks' favorite holiday film). so much so that a lot of times people today still choose one of these titles to kill an afternoon or evening with.
One other thing I've noticed specifically- parody is a dead art form. Looking at some of the titles on this list and then considering crap like Epic Movie, Date Movie or Meet the Spartans makes me cringe.