Quick clips for Thursday October 16
Napoleonic humor has layers...wait, that's neopolitan humor
Steve Carrell is funny as hell as Michael Scott on "The Office" and, to be fair, stole the show in Anchorman (forget "I love lamp," I could watch him make lewd jokes to Christina Applegate all day, in character or not). Then he made Evan Almighty, a crime for which a tribunal should be summoned. I'm not saying that Variety's news that Stevey will be playing the role of a dim soldier in Napoleon's army in his latest film, Brigadier Gerard!, reassured me about his big-screen trajectory, but it was a part created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and not crafted by a sequel-hungry producer of a Jim Carrey project. So there's that. I do like the idea of a historically based comedy (after all, 10,000 BC was hilarious), but I'm just not sure about Carrell's ability to carry a movie. Being funny in a simple role that plays to your strength is one thing (and, I would argue, he didn't even get that perfect until the second season of the show), but turning into a character that doesn't rely on making stupid faces and running into things requires a lot more work. Beyond that, I long for the days when television actors were content being really good television actors. What's wrong with doing one thing so well that you get rich and famous for it? I blame the media...and parents...and the teachers. Basically, everyone.
Further on down then Road
So Viggo Mortensen, the second member-flashing actor mentioned in as many days, was all set to get himself another Oscar nomination (if he doesn't already have one for Appaloosa, which he may if people other than our own Ben Coffman saw that movie), and then this happens: The Hollywood Reporter suggests that The Road, an apocalyptic thriller based on the best-selling (and Oprah-recommended) novel (which may or may not feature more Mortensen flashing "Lil Viggo"), will be bumped to 2009. This is a big blow, not just for fans of "Lil Viggo," but for The Weinstein Company, who is basically inventing new ways to fail. After Speed Racer (RIP), the company needed some good news but word is that director John Hillcoat's movie is way, way, way away from being done, which means releasing it in 3 weeks is not likely. While a bump to December is possible, rushing out a sub-par project won't solve anything other than a void in the release calendar (which likely means I'll be seeing a Tyler Perry movie that week or some such crap). The important thing isn't when this gets released but that it's good when it comes out. That said, you don't release an Oscar contender in January, so if it misses December we may not see it for a year. For a man of Harvey Weinstein's size, this can't be doing good things for his cardiac system or digestive tract. I'm bettin' he's jump-starting his ticker with a fork and an electric socket while fighting off the calls of Montezuma.
Stiller to stick finger in water, test if AIDS is funny yet
There are some things that you don't make fun of: babies dying, genocide, the Bears losing, and AIDS. According to GQ magazine, Ben Stiller is going to star in a musical about a guy who gets AIDS and swears it's a comedy. Oh, and it's written by Elton John. Now, this could be some vintage "Stiller humor," but the article painted it as though it were real and no one has popped up disputing this. Now, while I'm as desperate as anyone for the first truly successful AIDS/musical/comedy (why, just yesterday I was bemoaning the lack of crotch jokes in Rent), this is quite possibly the strangest news that I've ever reported or heard. My wife says I am too prone to hyperbole but, honest to God, tell me that Elton John writing a comedic AIDS musical for Ben Stiller isn't the single most insane sentence you've ever read. If it isn't, good Lord is your life strange. I'm all for pushing the boundaries of comedy, using it to shake taboos, but Stiller lost his "edgy" card right about the time he started doing crap like Dodgeball. Mind you, Tropic Thunder was a pretty decent step in the right direction, but we've got light years to go before I sign off sight unseen on a project as crazy as this one. You'll notice I haven't proposed any titles yet. Why? Because I'm pretty sure that AIDS is still not funny. Until proven otherwise, I'll stick to mocking famous people.
Steve Carrell is funny as hell as Michael Scott on "The Office" and, to be fair, stole the show in Anchorman (forget "I love lamp," I could watch him make lewd jokes to Christina Applegate all day, in character or not). Then he made Evan Almighty, a crime for which a tribunal should be summoned. I'm not saying that Variety's news that Stevey will be playing the role of a dim soldier in Napoleon's army in his latest film, Brigadier Gerard!, reassured me about his big-screen trajectory, but it was a part created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and not crafted by a sequel-hungry producer of a Jim Carrey project. So there's that. I do like the idea of a historically based comedy (after all, 10,000 BC was hilarious), but I'm just not sure about Carrell's ability to carry a movie. Being funny in a simple role that plays to your strength is one thing (and, I would argue, he didn't even get that perfect until the second season of the show), but turning into a character that doesn't rely on making stupid faces and running into things requires a lot more work. Beyond that, I long for the days when television actors were content being really good television actors. What's wrong with doing one thing so well that you get rich and famous for it? I blame the media...and parents...and the teachers. Basically, everyone.
Further on down then Road
So Viggo Mortensen, the second member-flashing actor mentioned in as many days, was all set to get himself another Oscar nomination (if he doesn't already have one for Appaloosa, which he may if people other than our own Ben Coffman saw that movie), and then this happens: The Hollywood Reporter suggests that The Road, an apocalyptic thriller based on the best-selling (and Oprah-recommended) novel (which may or may not feature more Mortensen flashing "Lil Viggo"), will be bumped to 2009. This is a big blow, not just for fans of "Lil Viggo," but for The Weinstein Company, who is basically inventing new ways to fail. After Speed Racer (RIP), the company needed some good news but word is that director John Hillcoat's movie is way, way, way away from being done, which means releasing it in 3 weeks is not likely. While a bump to December is possible, rushing out a sub-par project won't solve anything other than a void in the release calendar (which likely means I'll be seeing a Tyler Perry movie that week or some such crap). The important thing isn't when this gets released but that it's good when it comes out. That said, you don't release an Oscar contender in January, so if it misses December we may not see it for a year. For a man of Harvey Weinstein's size, this can't be doing good things for his cardiac system or digestive tract. I'm bettin' he's jump-starting his ticker with a fork and an electric socket while fighting off the calls of Montezuma.
Stiller to stick finger in water, test if AIDS is funny yet
There are some things that you don't make fun of: babies dying, genocide, the Bears losing, and AIDS. According to GQ magazine, Ben Stiller is going to star in a musical about a guy who gets AIDS and swears it's a comedy. Oh, and it's written by Elton John. Now, this could be some vintage "Stiller humor," but the article painted it as though it were real and no one has popped up disputing this. Now, while I'm as desperate as anyone for the first truly successful AIDS/musical/comedy (why, just yesterday I was bemoaning the lack of crotch jokes in Rent), this is quite possibly the strangest news that I've ever reported or heard. My wife says I am too prone to hyperbole but, honest to God, tell me that Elton John writing a comedic AIDS musical for Ben Stiller isn't the single most insane sentence you've ever read. If it isn't, good Lord is your life strange. I'm all for pushing the boundaries of comedy, using it to shake taboos, but Stiller lost his "edgy" card right about the time he started doing crap like Dodgeball. Mind you, Tropic Thunder was a pretty decent step in the right direction, but we've got light years to go before I sign off sight unseen on a project as crazy as this one. You'll notice I haven't proposed any titles yet. Why? Because I'm pretty sure that AIDS is still not funny. Until proven otherwise, I'll stick to mocking famous people.
posted by Ryan at
9:13 AM
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