The Silver Screen Oasis

Dan:

Did you see Lewis on "Law and Order: SVU" from last year or so? I thought he was really good as a mentally disturbed man who, when on his meds, was quite normal. Nothing funny but another chance to see he can do drama well as he did in "King of Comedy."

Robin Williams also did a good turn recently on the same show. I think for some of these actors their broad approach to comedy can lead to a large range in drama.

Dan:

Some of your statements are quite true, but the question was put out and we are simply responding to it. I still say it's better that we nit-pik about actors and directors. It keeps us from having bad feelings about each other.

Jim Carrey, like Robin Williams has made some fine films, in fact I thought his role in Majestic was superb. But his stand-up leaves a lot to be desired. I love comedy but since around the 60's comedies have lost their comedic touch by the second half of the movie when suddenly things turn dramatic. The Family Stone was very funny until they both learned something about themselves. You, Me, and Dupree was another that turned dramatic after he did some thinking, etc. etc. etc. I could go on and on about comedies turning serious because when I see a TV trailer for a comedy (as long as it doesn't have any bodily function jokes in it), I will watch it when it comes to my Dish. The rare comedy I've seen lately was Holiday with Jack Black, Cameron Diaz, and Kate Winslet which remained funny until the end, but that doesn't stop my dislike of Black and Diaz. For me, Winslet saved the day.

I think I answered Cinemalover's question by saying the language is a turnoff for me in stand-up, but I DO think comedians have to be fairly good actors simply because they have to be able to read their audience and be able to time their jokes and responses, which makes their movies fun in many cases. I just wish writers would carry the joking out to the end.

Anne

I don't get it.
"TOO SERIOUS TO APPRECIATE COMEDY"
I"ll have to ponder that one. Here, I thought EVERYONE had a sense of humor; Some like slapstick, some more sophisticated drawing room comedy. Some like jokes or puns but EVERYONE laughs at something. Could there really be people who are humorless? I'd really like to hear some opinions. Tell me i'm not alone on my planet. ... mel

Hi Mel:

My mood often governs my height of comedy. Now and then I'll watch something I recall as being hilarious, but don't even cut a smile the second time, and vice versa. At times I'll laugh crazily at something that I never found humorous before, and I know it depends on what's going on in my life at that time.

My favorite funny thing is inside jokes - I laughed at the line about 'Archie Leech' in His Girl Friday, but no one else did, and in Singing in the Rain, there are a lot of digs during the transition from silent to sound in both the dialog and the songs, but many people don't 'get' them. As I've said I see audiences laughing like crazy at Robin Williams but I had no idea what he was talking about, but it turned out to be an inside joke about some street or neighborhood in L.A.

Some people seem to think it diminishes them if they laugh at comedy and I guess you could say they are too serious to enjoy comedy, but that is their problem, certainly not yours. You do not live on a singular planet, some people are just not tuned to comedy.

Anne

melwalton wrote:I don't get it.
"TOO SERIOUS TO APPRECIATE COMEDY"
I"ll have to ponder that one. Here, I thought EVERYONE had a sense of humor; Some like slapstick, some more sophisticated drawing room comedy. Some like jokes or puns but EVERYONE laughs at something. Could there really be people who are humorless? I'd really like to hear some opinions. Tell me i'm not alone on my planet. ... mel

It's sad, but true, Mel - I believe there are people on this Earth who lack a sense of humor, just as there are people who have no appreciation of music (not to say that they are tone deaf, but that music simply doesn't affect them). In fact, there is a woman in my office (an attorney) who I would have to say is humorless - she simply does not react to humor. She is, I think aware of it, and has said that her husband has told her she has no sense of humor. It's truly amazing to see: someone will say something witty, or silly, and she simply stares blankly. It's not that she is slow to get it, she doesn't get it at all. She is a perfectly pleasant person, and she does smile, although you would probably characterize her as on the serious side; she has said that her husband, too, is a serious person, but apparently he recognizes humor when he hears or sees it, otherwise he probably wouldn't know that she does not. But she is dead to humor. I think it's very sad. I couldn't live without laughter, external or internal.

Nothing funnier than people laughing…especially when they’re not
supposed to…
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Dewey, my mother always said I'd laugh at my own funeral. I just love the absurd, and often embarrass myself by laughing when no one else is....
I guess I "suffer fools gladly"!

Jerry Lewis and the Three Stooges. I just don't get them.

Hi ChiO.

I guess I missed your post, but since when has Richard Dreyfuss ever been thought of as a comedian? Sure, he's played some comedic roles (i.e. "What About Bob"), but to my knowledge, he's never done stand up comedy, which to me defines just what a comedian is.

As always,

Hollis

I'm with Hollis about Dreyfuss. He's a fine actor, but not a comedian.

I personally have the worst sense of humor of any person I know. I laugh at completely stupid things. Someone writing on a blackboard and the chalk breaks and they are left with a streak across the board. Slapstick like Lucy or Laverne and Shirley falling on a folded up rug, etc. Not the kind like the 3 Stooges who hurt each other physically. One of my favorites is to laugh during an unusual time - on a bus when everyone is just in a hurry to get home, I'll laugh supposedly at something I'm reading, and if I keep it up long enough usually as infectious as laughter is, within seconds the whole bus is giggling at nothing except the person next to them.

Trying to make people feel good is my idea of a sense of humor.

Anne

Pretty much most of them from the 50s and 60s annoy the heck out of me, especially the Rock Hudson and Doris Day movies. That pair churned out loads of crud. I was pleasantly surprised however by the Hudson and Cardinale film “A Fine Pair” as I enjoyed him in that one. It is probably Day who annoys me the most.

cinemalover wrote: ↑April 11th, 2008, 2:28 pm Humor strikes everyone differently. I know for me that my mood when I'm watching a comedy can adversely affect my receptiveness to the intended humor. I can watch a movie and just cringe, but then catch it years later and be amazed at what I had missed, or vice versa.

But some things are constant, like certain actors that you just can't stand in comic roles no matter how hard they try. Jerry Lewis is not everyone's cup of tea. Bug-eyed Eddie Cantor can cause some to ponder the pain of comedy. And let's not get started on the Three Stooges or the Marx Brothers who have been known to divide entire families.

Which comic actors can absolutely drive you to drink?

I am almost ashamed to admit that the Marx Brothers never thrilled me. Saying such is almost sacrosanct. Robert Benchley, of the famed Algonquin Round Table, has never made me smile. He made a few shorts which perhaps were not so bad, but he had a scene in Remember the Night a 1940 Christmas comedy with Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck. that was apparently made just for him. He has a set piece in the Court room, going on an on. It was like a musical that stops the action so that someone came make some music. But there was no music, instead a choppy monologue that soon had me screaming "Enouuuughhh already," But I shouldn't make fun of him, he was apparently a brilliant writer and essayist. I am not super persnickety, most comics who make comedy their primary purpose are okay with me though I may not always laugh out loud. Now watch, I'll hit SEND and think of half dozen others.

Yep, that'll probably happen. But you will excuse me as I go into my little house. I think there's a Marx movie coming on.

laffite wrote: ↑December 8th, 2022, 10:27 pm

I am almost ashamed to admit that the Marx Brothers never thrilled me. Saying such is almost sacrosanct.

"I think you meant 'sacrilege' here, laffite ol' boy!"

Dargo wrote: ↑December 9th, 2022, 12:49 am

laffite wrote: ↑December 8th, 2022, 10:27 pm

I am almost ashamed to admit that the Marx Brothers never thrilled me. Saying such is almost sacrosanct.

"I think you meant 'sacrilege' here, laffite ol' boy!"

Quite right. Somewhere in there was supposed to be the idea that the Marx Brothers are sacrosanct. It didn't come out right. This is the second bullet I have taken like this today. I have to get a new bullet proof vest, my other one is worn out.

Hey, Snoopy, how's that for wriggling out of criticism?

It sucked.

Okay you can back into your little house now and watch that Marx Brothers Movie.

Damn dog.

laffite wrote: ↑December 9th, 2022, 1:12 am

Dargo wrote: ↑December 9th, 2022, 12:49 am

laffite wrote: ↑December 8th, 2022, 10:27 pm

I am almost ashamed to admit that the Marx Brothers never thrilled me. Saying such is almost sacrosanct.

"I think you meant 'sacrilege' here, laffite ol' boy!"

Quite right. Somewhere in there was supposed to be the idea that the Marx Brothers are sacrosanct. It didn't come out right. This is the second bullet I have taken like this today. I have to get a new bullet proof vest, my other one is worn out.

Hey, Snoopy, how's that for wriggling out of criticism?

It sucked.

Okay you can back into your little house now and watch that Marx Brothers Movie.

Damn dog.

LOL

(...and yet ANOTHER example here of why we need reaction emojis around here, and so we don't have to quote someone's entire thread just to acknowledge how it made us LOL)