Monday, January 21, 2008

Who is Making This Stuff?

I don't get this "spoof movie" craze. More accurately, I don't understand how these movies are so successful. My friends can attest that I enjoy lowbrow humour, but these movies (Epic Movie, Scary Movie and a bunch of others) take comedy to the lowest level possible.

Most recently, ads for "Meet The Spartans" have been popping up like genital warts (or so I hear). Every time I see these ads, I just shake my head and ask myself (or my wife) how can people find this funny?

One TV ads for Meet The Spartans really makes me laugh…of course, not at the movie, but at the absurdity of the "humour" in the scene:

Spoof "Rambo" says "Say Hello to my little friend:", which is a parody of Scarface, then, when Rambo moves out of the way, there is a "mini-Rambo" behind him, which is a spoof of Austin Powers/Mini Me. 3 spoofs in one 6 second clip, not to mention the fact that the whole mini-me Austin Powers thing has been done to death.

Sanjaya or whatever his name yelling "I'm not gay" and falling into the pit from "300," "Donald Trump", "firing" Spiderman and then losing his hair…talk about hilarity!

The formula is simple. Take cartoonish pop culture figures and juxtapose them into other scenes from movies/tv/pop culture and hilarity ensues. Meet The Spartans is going to make HUGE money at the box office.

Maybe I will take a stab at writing one of these films. It will be called "Oh no you didn't??!?!" and spoof slasher horror movies and Barbershop/Beautyshop (sequal to Barbershop, in case you couldn't figure that one out).

"What's that Michael Myers? You killed my best friend at the BARBERSHOP! OH NO YOU DIDN'T!!"…I think I could be on to something here.

Speaking of horror movies…

Cloverfield

So, I went to see it on Sunday and I am happy to report that there were no cell phone or laser pointer toting punks in the crowd. Maybe 12:45 on a Sunday is the best time to see a new release movie! While I didn't love the film, I did enjoy myself tremendously. It was a fun-filled, edge-of-your-seat thrill ride for 90 minutes. Apparently Cloverfield only cost $30 million to make and it already has pulled in $41 million in its first week of domestic release, so I wouldn't at all be surprised to see some type of prequel/sequel made. I wonder how many times New York City has taken a beating in movies?

What I didn't like:


- The acting was SO cheesy, especially "Rob"

- some of the decisions made by the characters to be questionable at best. Would one really try to walk across town, through the path of a gigantic monster to find someone when the entire city is being destroyed? 3 out of the 4 of us who went to see the film said no chance in hell!

- It took a bit too long to get to the Monster trashing city part, although the music in the party scene was pretty good.

- Where do you buy a video camera that has a light, night vision capabilities and can take a beating like the camera in Cloverfield?

What I liked:

- The way that it was shot. The filmmakers really did a great job of putting you in heat of the action.

- The Monster. It was kick ass, from all angles. My favourite shot was when Hud is capturing the carnage from the helicopter and it really puts the monster in perspective, along with the destruction that it is creating.

- The fact that the film doesn't let tell you everything. Not enough films do this, or leave things up to your imagination.

Here are my Random Thoughts ™ for the week:

- Oranges. Florida Oranges are great this time of year. Sweet and delicious. I've had 3 in the last 24 hours. No scurvy for me!

- Semi Pro. Saw a preview before Cloverfield. Looks great. Also proof that I enjoy lowbrow humour! Here is the "R" rated trailer. Love that Will Farrell:




- Blogging. Turns out there is lots of cool things that you can add to your blog, like the poll on the side of the screen. Help me settle a bet with some of my friends by voting in the poll!

- Slash. I am enjoying his autobiography. The guy was (and still is) an animal! Here is a classic GNR clip from 1988, about where I am in the book...I bet he was really high when he was playing Rocket Queen, one of my favourite GNR songs of all time.



- Superbowl. Man, I can't believe that Favre and the Packers blew it, leaving us with a less than desirable matchup and likely a 19-0 Patriots team.

- PS2 Upconverted to HD - I bought a $12 PS2 component cable and I can not believe how much better PS2 looks on my HDTV. If you have an HD and a PS2, you should definitely order it. I got my cord here:
- Bad Fight Scenes. YouTube is a wonderful place. Especially for wonderful for things like this amazing fight scene:



Well, that's it for Blog #2. Let me know what you think. Sorry for wasting your time!

5 comments:

Unknown said...

Hey Dave,

Component cables do make a world of difference. Make sure that you set the HD option in the PS2 setup. Do you have an up converting DVD player?

Also, if you need any other cables for HD, check out www.monoprice.com. I won't tell you what they have your PS2 cable priced at, but needless to say that these guys are the cheapest, yet best quality cables, I've ever found.

Dave said...

Yes, I do have an upconverting DVD player and have noticed a HUGE difference as well.

Thanks for the link!

Faiza said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Faiza said...

Dave,

Royal Gala apples seem to be especially delicious at this time of year! Yummy!

Faiza

Hammer said...

Two comments on the clip:
1. That is clearly G'NR at their peak, and a great clip to boot!
2. I found it very touching when Axl lit Slash's cigarette for him.

Two comments on the book:
1. Slash admits that he could only play when loaded, I wonder if he would have been "better" without the junk? Better in quotes because I'm not sure what exactly that would mean!
2. I really have a million comments on the book and also a few on the unaithorised G'NR bio (aka Axl dick suck) book that you lent me. We'll have to go over them over a scotch or two!

Go Giants!

Hammer