Thursday, August 10, 2006

i've not written much about comedies, i think. pity, since i love 'em. the genre is so like horror, easy to louse up, very difficult to get right. the tone, pitch, timing, in short, everything need to be on balance to make a side-splitter. the same goes for horror, or better, terror. in order to scare the shit outta people there must be the appropriate atmosphere, gore, shock, and that unknown quantity to make it stick. that is hard to do. ed wood, god love him, couldn't make a scary movie even if a master, such as james whale did 4/5ths of the pre-production and production, and also lent a hand on the post-production of the finished movie. on the other hand, hitchcock could make a simple walk to the grocery store in broad daylight a frightening ordeal.

so here is a short list of my favorite funny films of the past 25 years or so. should i go back 75-80 years, i'd include almost everything by the maestro buster keaton, and the unsung harold lloyd. both master of physical comedy, both with their beautiful, wonderful faces: keaton's stoicism, lloyd's bemusement married with futility.

here goes, in no particular order, and no ranking. these are a handful of films i return to again and again, which sustains for me a gut-busting hilarity. i must warn you, my silly bone is rather strong. i laugh at the stupidest shit imaginable. example: my favorite series of commercials on tv now are the messin' with sasquatch campaign. these dumbass ads keep getting funnier each viewing.

blazing saddles

young frankenstein

raising arizona

kingpin

the jerk

that's it at the moment. two on this list were made by mel brooks in his most fecund period of filmmaking: the early 1970s. they are irreverent, shocking, bold and skewers everybody and everything the camera shoots. in other words, brooks films of the period are mad works of genius.

3 Comments:

At 3:06 PM, Blogger michaelf said...

richard - the funniest movie ive seen for a long time is a new b/w french film called 'avida' - something of a surrealist homage, tho that gives perhaps the wrong impression, it also has nods to jacques tati - many hilarious scenes & much walking out at the screening i was at .. mainly its about misfits at a zoo ..

~

im just been at the melbourne film fest, so ill just briefly add my other faves from 2 & a half weeks of viewing: 'the sun' - new totally great sokurov film about hirohito in the days after japans wwii capitulation: now the best film ive seen about a poet (relegating henry fool to second); 'bamako' very interesting new film from mali, made up of a trial of the world bank & co, interspersed with everyday life in a village, and a brief western as shown on tv: an amazing film fragment starring danny glover who seems to be the good guy because he shoots the bad guys who shoot random africans 'they dont need 2 teachers - bang' amazing stuff; and two older films: 'love & duty' 30s silent film from china, lead actress is fantastic & plays several roles, it follows the main character through decades where she makes 'mistakes' such as abandoning her children & husband for the man (or nincompoop) she loves - about 2 & a half hours too, but v watchable; & godards 'sympathy for the devil' i am a godard fan, i think this is one of his best, so well done in terms of concept/structure, not quite what i was expecting, the film is just about that one song, & particular contexts of the song .. no rock personality or drama .. i rode home composing a review, thinking about foucaults this is not a pipe, the dynamic b/w representation & resemblance .. does 'sympathy for the devil' (song & or film) resemble or represent the 60s? did the film support the song or vice versa? doublepluscool by me

 
At 8:04 PM, Blogger richard lopez said...

michael: i'm a sucker for films about writers, esp. poets, no matter how bad the particular films can be. i've not seen either _henry fool_ or _the sun_ so i'll definitely have to check them out. i've yet still to see the _the libertine_ where johnny depp protrays the poet john wilmot, earl of rochester. and i've got a soft spot for the ol' earl's excesses in his verse, and perhaps even his life.

can you name and recommend any more of yr favorite movies about poets?

r

 
At 2:17 PM, Blogger michaelf said...

richard - there are no others - i dont think - ive heard il postino isnt as bad as it sounded but i havent seen it - if i think of anything ill let u know - the sun is only poetically speaking a film about a poet - but hirohito does write & read poems in the film - basketball diaries wasnt that good, sylvia .. wasnt there one about eliot? was it based on tom & viv? i read the play .. didnt think much of it .. films about writers are generally bad, whether real or fictional .. the main plot usually turns on writers block .. arrgghh .. because it wouldnt be interesting to have them write .. carrington: one of my least favourite films - blech .. michael douglas .. what was that called wonder something .. a good one is ruiz's proust film .. postcards from america the film on artist & writer david wojnarowicz was wonderful
.. there was a reasonably good fictional film about two writers out here recently - cant recall the name but starred jeff daniels & laura linney .. hannah & her sisters & probably other earlier woody films .. films about poets are even worse than films about writers .. theyre usually so unconvincing.. its one thing to convince an audience the actor is a prose writer with writers block, but convincing us theyre poets is another thing .. oh i thought of one: nerolio (i think?) about pasolini, tho im not sure if it refers to his poetry now .. theres some great lives of colonial australian poets crying out to be made .. they were as suicidal as the dada & confessional poets .. & one of our best indigenous poets, robert walker was killed by prison guards in gaol .. one of the best films ive seen about a writer is 'the nights belong to the novelist' about elizabeth jolley, with hilarious dramatised scenes from her novels. above are all dramas - im sure there are good docos?

(i suppose u cd say 'chopper' was about a writer!? mark chopper read does write about his criminal exploits - havent read them tho; ned kelly was also a writer..)

 

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