Which movie did you watch today and how would you rate it?

[angelo]

Roxanne and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels were always my favorites.

The Jerk is hard to beat for laugh out loud comedy.
I wonder what the snowflakes say about this film?

I don't get into those sorts of comedies. The Jerk, Dumb and Dumber, Step-Brothers. Characters too stupid for me to believe.

The Jerk is far better than those other so-called comedies. It probably has something to do with the casting and the actual actors. I'll bet no producer would dare make a film like the " Jerk " today.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

I don't get into those sorts of comedies. The Jerk, Dumb and Dumber, Step-Brothers. Characters too stupid for me to believe.

The Jerk is far better than those other so-called comedies. It probably has something to do with the casting and the actual actors. I'll bet no producer would dare make a film like the " Jerk " today.

Why exactly? It'd certainly get an R rating, which isn't a great thing for a film's potential gross, but otherwise, what makes this film unmakeable? I mean other than your completely misunderstood hold on social issues in the US.

 

[angelo]

I don't get into those sorts of comedies. The Jerk, Dumb and Dumber, Step-Brothers. Characters too stupid for me to believe.

The Jerk is far better than those other so-called comedies. It probably has something to do with the casting and the actual actors. I'll bet no producer would dare make a film like the " Jerk " today.

Why exactly? It'd certainly get an R rating, which isn't a great thing for a film's potential gross, but otherwise, what makes this film unmakeable? I mean other than your completely misunderstood hold on social issues in the US.

The snowflakes and the PC brigades would be up in arms about the typecasting of blacks as been poor peasants.
Mel Brooks has himself stated that a film such as Blazing Saddles could not be made today.

 

[DrZoidberg]

Mel Brooks has himself stated that a film such as Blazing Saddles could not be made today.

Because it wouldn't be interesting. Back then racism vs blacks was so normalised that hardly anybody reacted when people said racist things. Brooks just took that everyday racism is put it on screen in a context where it's laid clear what's happening. And then it became funny. In that context it was an anti-racist film. But we don't have that society any longer. So if it would be made today it would just come across as a racist film. When we watch it today we react positively because we know the context and accept it.

If you wanted to remake Blazing Saddles today and find the same note, you'd need to remake it to be about Muslim Arabs. But even so, racism against them isn't quite as overt as anti-black racism of 60'ies USA. So I'm not sure it would fly. Not to mention our cultures media savviness and their meta-meta-meta-meta humour. It's harder to write today.

It's not a question of not offending. It's about making it funny. Funny is funny. If it isn't funny it doesn't matter how clever or pc something is. Also... Blazing Saddles was written by Richard Prior when Prior was at his funniest. It's debatable whether we've seen a comedic genius of that stature since. The thing with funny is that you get away with being edgy as fuck. Edgy humour that falls flat is usually just horrendously offensive. Blazing Saddles walks a razors edge and nails it all the time. That's amazing writing. It's hard.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Why exactly? It'd certainly get an R rating, which isn't a great thing for a film's potential gross, but otherwise, what makes this film unmakeable? I mean other than your completely misunderstood hold on social issues in the US.

The snowflakes and the PC brigades would be up in arms about the typecasting of blacks as been poor peasants.
Mel Brooks has himself stated that a film such as Blazing Saddles could not be made today.

I saw Rent this past Summer. The social power behind it was nothing like in the late 90’s.

 

[angelo]

Another bug bear of mine are vastly inferior remakes of classic movies.

I recently watched " The Time Machine." [the remake] I agree the special effects are vastly superior to the original with Rod Taylor in the lead. But the original in my opinion was the better movie. 5/10 for the remake. 9/10 for the original.

 

[Sarpedon]

Harold and Kumar go to White Castle is a good modern day Blazing Saddles. Its a little old now, but not anachronistic.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Mel Brooks has himself stated that a film such as Blazing Saddles could not be made today.

Because it wouldn't be interesting. Back then racism vs blacks was so normalised that hardly anybody reacted when people said racist things. Brooks just took that everyday racism is put it on screen in a context where it's laid clear what's happening. And then it became funny. In that context it was an anti-racist film. But we don't have that society any longer. So if it would be made today it would just come across as a racist film. When we watch it today we react positively because we know the context and accept it.

If you wanted to remake Blazing Saddles today and find the same note, you'd need to remake it to be about Muslim Arabs. But even so, racism against them isn't quite as overt as anti-black racism of 60'ies USA. So I'm not sure it would fly. Not to mention our cultures media savviness and their meta-meta-meta-meta humour. It's harder to write today.

It's not a question of not offending. It's about making it funny. Funny is funny. If it isn't funny it doesn't matter how clever or pc something is. Also... Blazing Saddles was written by Richard Prior when Prior was at his funniest. It's debatable whether we've seen a comedic genius of that stature since. The thing with funny is that you get away with being edgy as fuck. Edgy humour that falls flat is usually just horrendously offensive. Blazing Saddles walks a razors edge and nails it all the time. That's amazing writing. It's hard.

Roberto Benigni's Life is Beautiful is as close to the edge as you can get. Jerry Lewis tried a film on the Holocaust and it was locked in the vault. Benigni sadly hasn't been able to recreate the craft of Life is Beautiful, but that film and the likes of Blazing Saddles emphasize that the craft at writing such a film typically requires fine tuning clearly what is and what ISN'T being laughed at.

 

[angelo]

Blazing Saddles had a record run at the cinema, and made people laugh out loud, which most so-called comedies of recent times and today fail miserably.

 

[DrZoidberg]

Blazing Saddles had a record run at the cinema, and made people laugh out loud, which most so-called comedies of recent times and today fail miserably.

Because writing comedy is hard. I can probably count all the laugh out loud movies I've seen on my fingers. It's not a question of that today's comedians have lost their way. It's always been a very slow trickle. This shit is hard to do. There's never been a time when we were overrun by floods of great comedy (and mixed metaphors).

 

[Tars Tarkus]

I recently watched: Darkest Dungeons an honest to goodness adaptation of a Chick Tract. 5/10 for competence, 8/10 for laughs.

It is available on Netflix.

Thanks for the recommendation , Sarpedon! The actors totally nail the Jack Chick shit. I'm kind of hoping some fundy church's use this film as one of their Saturday night special events thing. The college 'orientation' video with the early 50's vibe is hilarious.

 

[angelo]

The silent movies of old had some people in stitches without a word been uttered. Admittedly all were slapstick. But I can think of some very funny modern era comedies like Naked Gun, Flying High, [Airplane in some countries] Pink Panther movies, and others of their ilk that were hilarious.

 

[blastula]

I recently watched: Darkest Dungeons an honest to goodness adaptation of a Chick Tract. 5/10 for competence, 8/10 for laughs.

It is available on Netflix.

Thanks for the recommendation , Sarpedon! The actors totally nail the Jack Chick shit. I'm kind of hoping some fundy church's use this film as one of their Saturday night special events thing. The college 'orientation' video with the early 50's vibe is hilarious.

Don't see it on Netflix. Is that where you watched it?

 

[Sarpedon]

Umm, I saw it at someone else's house actually. I thought they had netflix. I guess I can't swear to it since I don't stream netflix myself so I'm not entirely sure what it looks like.

 

[Opoponax]

I recently watched: Darkest Dungeons an honest to goodness adaptation of a Chick Tract. 5/10 for competence, 8/10 for laughs.

It is available on Netflix.

Thanks for the recommendation , Sarpedon! The actors totally nail the Jack Chick shit. I'm kind of hoping some fundy church's use this film as one of their Saturday night special events thing. The college 'orientation' video with the early 50's vibe is hilarious.

Don't see it on Netflix. Is that where you watched it?

You can see it on Netflix. They have it cut up into four on-the-edge-of-your-seat episodes.

 

[Tars Tarkus]

I recently watched: Darkest Dungeons an honest to goodness adaptation of a Chick Tract. 5/10 for competence, 8/10 for laughs.

It is available on Netflix.

Thanks for the recommendation , Sarpedon! The actors totally nail the Jack Chick shit. I'm kind of hoping some fundy church's use this film as one of their Saturday night special events thing. The college 'orientation' video with the early 50's vibe is hilarious.

Don't see it on Netflix. Is that where you watched it?

Youtube!

 

[Underseer]

God on Trial
10/10​

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_on_Trial
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1173494/

I'm pretty sure this is the second time I've mentioned this movie in this thread, but I can't recommend this movie enough. A group of Jews in a Nazi concentration camp hold a mock trial and charge God in abstentia of abandoning the Covenant. The acting and writing is stellar, and if this doesn't tug at your heartstrings, you're not human.

 

[Opoponax]

Halloween 2 (the new one)

It was meh.

I remember Jamie Lee Curtiss being a better actress than this. Maybe I remember wrong. In this film she's an over the top, shrieking paranoid loon who's lunacy is eventually justified (and man, no one saw that coming!).

There's some good quality horror in this one, and it's not an absolutely terrible flick, but it offers nothing special or new.

5/10

 

[Underseer]

Halloween 2 (the new one)

It was meh.

I remember Jamie Lee Curtiss being a better actress than this. Maybe I remember wrong. In this film she's an over the top, shrieking paranoid loon who's lunacy is eventually justified (and man, no one saw that coming!).

There's some good quality horror in this one, and it's not an absolutely terrible flick, but it offers nothing special or new.

5/10

The main characters are white people. Doesn't that automatically make a movie good? Or does the presence of non-white characters automatically make a movie bad? Or does it only work if the main hero is white and male? I have a hard time keeping all the snowflake-whining straight.

 

[angelo]

God on Trial
10/10​

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_on_Trial
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1173494/

View attachment 18377

I'm pretty sure this is the second time I've mentioned this movie in this thread, but I can't recommend this movie enough. A group of Jews in a Nazi concentration camp hold a mock trial and charge God in abstentia of abandoning the Covenant. The acting and writing is stellar, and if this doesn't tug at your heartstrings, you're not human.

And God was found guilty on all charges, and rightly so. One would think that that's all the proof that's necessary to prove there's no God. But still many of the sheeple still worship this fictitious being in many forms.