Even during his days on Second City, John Candy was one of the most restrained and brilliant comedy personalities of his time, a man who had genuine wit and charisma, and garnered laughs by his quick timing alone. Before Chris Farley presented the assumption that in order for a large man to be funny he had to take falls and be the butt of violent physical gags, John Candy had a class to his humor that showed the heavy guy didn’t have to always be the subject of vicious antics and mean spirited humor. Sure, in “Uncle Buck,” Candy does take his hits and falls, but the entire movie is based more around his charm, razor sharp wit, and ability to improvise at the drop of a hat. Not that Chris Farley wasn’t a laugh riot, but heavy men could do more than provide laughs for the more attractive people in the movies.
Tag Archives: Comedy
This is 40 (2012)
For the majority of Judd Apatow’s film career, there seemed to have been a trend of movies about bromances and guys growing up thanks to gorgeous women in their lives. “This is 40” breaks that trend and seems more intent on two purposes: One it wants to desperately trot out Judd Apatow’s daughters as cute, witty, and irresistible to the point where casting agents will have to bring them on to their next movies, and two: to redeem the utterly despicable character Leslie Mann played in “Knocked Up.” Touted as a “sort of sequel to Knocked Up,” Judd Apatow sets his sights on the life of supporting characters Pete and Debbie to explore what they’re doing now that they’re turning forty and are still rather unlikable people.
Sell Your Own Damn Movie! [Paperback]
It should serve as no surprise that since its initial release, “Sell Your Own Dan Movie!” has sold big with aspiring filmmakers across the country, and it should also serve as no surprise that “Sell Your Own Damn Movie!” is probably the best how to guide for indie filmmakers on how to get their completed films out there and consumed for mass audiences. Whether you love Troma to death or hate Lloyd Kaufman like date rape, there’s no denying that the man has amassed decades of experience in indie filmmaking and has built an encyclopedic knowledge on the do’s and don’t’s on selling your film and how to get certain audiences aware of your creative work.
Co-author Lloyd Kaufman has a lot of wonderful and genius advice for indie flmmakers on how to sell their movies and get them in to festivals, and he does so with a ingenuity and humor that’s admirable. True, the book is mainly a how to guide, but it’s also laugh out loud funny. The chapters are filled with addendums that will make you giggle more times than you can count, and often times co-author Sara Antill adds her own addendums to Kaufman’s own anecdotes or false information that will spark some real gut busters from the reader. The list of ways you can raise money for festival entry fees is probably the funniest part of the book. While Kaufman and Antill definitely have their fun and lighten the mood with their dry wit and sharp humor, the book doesn’t hold back with its facts and truths. Getting your film seen is tough, getting it out there is even worse. Odds are you won’t get a distribution deal, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try as hard as you can.
The "Holliston" Christmas Special
It’s free on Hulu and I don’t know a single person who has FEARNet. Just in case you were wondering why I watched this Christmas special in spite of the fact I’m not a humongous fan of the horror sitcom “Holliston.”
Now that that’s out of the way, in spite of my reservations with the series, “The Holliston Christmas Special” is a very solid and often entertaining affair. Granted, the humor is still somewhat hit or miss, but the hour long special that’s set during Christmas avoids all the pitfalls of the holiday special and works on its own track. Corrie and Laura are still really damn good looking, so much so it’s distracting, and they stop by Adam and Joe’s house to ring in the holidays with them. In spite of Adam’s refusal to celebrate since he’s Jewish, the girls inflict Christmas cheer on them with a Chinese dinner. When the lights go out all over Holliston the group has to huddle together to wait out the outage, and the cold.
Celebrating the One and Only "The Simpsons"
The canvas of television has changed drastically since “The Simpsons” premiered. Reality TV was a fresh concept, FOX was only just starting out, and the animated sitcom was a wildly unexplored idea. Before “The Simpsons” the only real animated sitcoms we had was “The Flintstones,” a pop culture gem that spoofed “The Honeymooners” and was intended for adults. Instead it ran for five seasons and eventually became a franchise meant for children. Then there was “The Jetsons” a rip off of “The Flintstones” that focused on a family in the future, another mature series that became a hit with children later on in its run. Back then it was pretty apparent that just about everyone assumed animation was strictly for children.
Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
It’s rare that a film targeted toward the Christmas holiday can manage to not only capture the magic of the holiday spirit and its intent, but the beauty of the human spirit. George Seaton’s iconic “Miracle on 34th Street” isn’t just about Christmas and the spirit of the yearly event, but the kindness of the human soul and the remarkable things we’re capable of when our hearts are in the right place. It’s interesting to note that though “Miracle on 34th Street” lives on as a family film and a holiday movie, George Seaton’s picture stands on its own as a raucous comedy, and one that will draw laughs thanks to some great slapstick and hilarious one-liners that still manage to hit their marks.
Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (2012)
If this sequel had any balls, they’d take the reins of Johnny Blaze and hand the character over to someone talented like Idris Elba. At least then there’d be an interesting angle to this wretched sequel to a painfully mediocre movie that barely anyone remembers. Nicolas Cage once again proves he has no business being in film, reclaiming the role of Johnny Blaze, the balding mid-fifties biker who was cursed as Ghost Rider after making a deal with the devil. In case you didn’t know that, there’s five minutes of bad exposition along with Cage narration explaining the entire mythology of the Rider and what he does in particular, cue terrible animation. Most of the time during the opening animation, Cage sounds like even he doesn’t take this garbage seriously, and spend most of it making light of what is supposed to be a terrifying and mystifying character in the comic book universe.