A New 'Top 10 Comedies'

Back in May, 2006, I listed my top 10 comedies, ranked in order. The list was as follows:

1. A Shot in the Dark
2. Some Like It Hot
3. The Producers
4. Annie Hall
5. The Graduate
6. Clue
7. Dr. Strangelove
8. Ghostbusters
9. Blazing Saddles
10. Clerks

Needless to say, that list is a bit dated. Both in terms of when the movies came out, as well as my taste in comedies. Yet, all ten of those are hilarious movies. Yet, I feel I must update. So here it is:

10. Forgetting Sarah Marshall

The obligatory 'hip new movies.' But yes, this is a great comedy. I know it will stand up as time goes on, whereas similar Judd Apatow films like 'Knocked Up' and 'Superbad' have already faded into obscurity. Comedy is a tough field to crack into (successfully), but Jason Segel has made it happen--not only with his acting in the film, but the fact that he wrote it himself. Quite the accomplishment.

9 more after the jump.

9. Clue

A slight drop for this slapstick of a good time, but it still holds a special place in my movie heart. The complete absurdity of the movie and how implausible it all is only adds to the humor. While there are moments of blunt humor, the film also has subtle notes that I pick up on more every viewing. That is what makes a great film.

8. Bridget Jones's Diary

Oh yes I did. If there is one thing that pushes a comedy from the 'funny' category to the 'endearing' category, it is a lovable main character. It worked for Juno, and it works here. Bridget Jones, who has more faults than most, is impossible to not love by the end of the film. Sure, this is a 'rom-com,' but that doesn't mean it's not funny.

7. City Lights

How was there no Chaplin on my list before? What an enormous error. City Lights is a triumph not only in pure comedy of our protagonist, but in the goodness it shows and the sappy ending (that gets me every time). I rarely say this, but this is a film everyone should see.

6. The Producers

I haven't watched this film in a while, yet still laugh when thinking of some of the lines from it. Sure, line-for-line Blazing Saddles may be the funnier film, but the mere concept of The Producers alone makes it a supreme laughfest. A producer and an accountant who try to find a play they know will flop so they can score big? Springtime for Hitler? So brilliant.

5. This Is Spinal Tap

Borat was funny. The mockumentary is a great film concept. And it all started with the fictional band Spinal Tap. Yet, they have a song on Guitar Hero, so they're sort of a real band. Why this film works so well is because all of the actors play their own music and really convince us of the band. And they are completely clueless. The characters, not the actors. And clueless people, when done right, are a home run. Like in the movie 'Clueless.' And, here, as well.

4. Dr. Strangelove

I feel like anything I explain about this film would be an insult to its greatness. This film is so brilliant in every single aspect that even stating its brilliance is an understatement. Why is it so brilliant? Peter Sellers' multiple roles is certainly a factor, but we cannot overlook George C. Scott and Stanley Kubrick, also two of cinemas greatest treasures. Name-dropping is not enough, because what these three people have created (with the help of others, obviously, but...) is a timeless comedy that is funny and satirical all the way through, until the very last moment of the film, in the War Room, where the greatest last line of any movie is delivered. If you have not seen it, there is no way I am ruining it for you.

3. A Shot in the Dark

As I said above, when a character is portrayed as clueless and it is done effectively, it is very funny. Peter Sellers' Inspector Clouseau is a model for such characters. He is so bad at his job he can barely walk around his apartment without tripping over himself. Yet, he thinks he is the most brilliant Inspector in all of France, and insists on frequently giving advice. The scene where he plays a game of billiards with Ballon is the funniest scene of any film. It is pure brilliance, and most of the film is pretty close to this standard. A definite good laugh.

2. Annie Hall

I would have no trouble filling up this whole list with Woody Allen films, but I have restricted myself to only one. Manhattan is a great film, but that shall be on another list someday. Annie Hall is a jumbled story of Alvy Singer and Annie Hall, told in every way imaginable--flashbacks, stage plays, cartoons, breaking the fourth wall, voice over, subtitles revealing what the characters 'really' think, and on and on. Woody Allen, here, has decided to satisfy all of his whims, and when all of these elements mix with some of his traditional stand-up and one-liners, it's quite exhilarating.

1. Some Like It Hot

I feel like such a tool listing this as my number one, because AFI did as well. But, alas, here I am. What can I say that I have not already on this blog? Everything about the film is pitch-perfect, especially Tony Curtis' Junior. I think that's my favorite part. Or Marilyn Monroe. Or the mere concept of men forced to cross-dress to escape being murdered. All of those jokes that, if told today, would not be nearly as funny or clean as they were back in 1950. This film is one that always makes me feel a little bit better, and I will always enjoy, and will always stop whatever I'm doing to watch if it is on. It's certainly one of the greatest.

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Role Models Opens Tomorrow

I love me some Paul Rudd. And Seann William Scott. But mainly Paul Rudd. Here's a trailer for a new comedy, 'Role Models,' which opens tomorrow. Should be quite funny. See it so we can talk about it!

(first = theatrical, second = red band [a lot funnier])

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And the Winner Is....

Barack Obama.

Today my students constantly asked me who I voted for. I'm hesitant to talk about these issues in the classroom environment because I think people should decide for themselves who to vote for, not throw away their vote in mimicry of someone they look up to (teacher, parent, etc.). Though, often, the people you look up to have the same ideals as you, so voting along those lines would make perfect sense.

I did ask a couple people who they voted for, and always followed up with, "Why?" The "why" is important.

One student said they "voted for McCain because Sarah Palin is hot."

Another student said they "voted for Obama because he's black."

Neither of these are good reasons. Obviously.

As I try to tell people when the subject comes up: I do not personally care, or judge, based on who you vote for. I judge you based on how well you can defend your reasons. If you think McCain was the better candidate because of his policies, and can identify which ones you agree with, good for you. Same with Obama. Be informed!

America made the right decision today.

More commentary after the cut.

Who you vote for should be based on what you value the most. I think McCain is better in almost all military affairs, but I think our economy, energy sources, and diplomacy are more important. Electing Barack Obama shows progression. Electing John McCain would have shown repetition. And had McCain been elected, America would have shown repetition.

A few people I know have said that the economy is going to fail now. Sorry, but the economy is already failing. Yes, it could get worse. But the policies that have been around are what brought us here, and if it's broke, I'm definitely going to try to fix it.

As a person, I almost like McCain. Almost. Sure, he's only a mediocre public speaker (and a horrible debater), but he means well. Unfortunately he had a huge handicap in Sarah Palin. I've made a couple posts about her before, so I'll refrain. I'll just say that she was the incorrect choice as a running mate.

I don't want to get overly political on the blog, so if you want more details on what I agree/disagree with from the candidates, ask me in person.

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Christina Aguilera Keeps Gettin'... Better?

I love Christina Aguilera.

There. I said it.

Her music is great (for the most part--Stripped is one of my favorite albums ever), she seems to have her life together (compared to lots of other celebrities these days), and hey, she's hot (I think we can all at least agree on this one).

On Nov. 11th a 'greatest hits' album comes out. Here is the track listing, via Target:

Genie in a Bottle; What a Girl Wants; I Turn to You; Come on Over (All I Want is You); Dirrty; Fighter; Beautiful; Ain’t No Other Man; Candyman; Hurt; Genie 2.0; Keeps Gettin’ Better; Dynamite; You are What You are (Beautiful)

The album is titled Keeps Gettin' Better and has a couple new songs, one of which is--you guessed it--Keeps Gettin' Better. You can hear the new single on her MySpace, on youtube, or on your radio 374 times a day.

However, like many artists who claim something about their work, the title is inaccurate. I've listened to the new single a dozen or so times, and I just can't like it. I try to like it. I really do. Back to Basics had some good songs on it, but it looks like Christina has a flop this time around. And by 'flop,' I mean it will still get countless plays because it's still better than most other pop music that comes out these days.

With that said, the album will be available ("exclusively") at Target on the 11th, or through your favorite pirated music source a few days before then.

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A Thing About Great Performances

I hope there are at least a few people out there who value my opinion, as well as a few who value my opinion on movies. I've seen many, know quite a lot about them, and keep up with all sorts of trivia, upcoming releases, and reviews. And, as any intelligent person can, can defend my thoughts with examples. Like I always tell the students in my classes: What you think is important, but never, ever forget the why.

With that said, I would like the state that a single great performance does not make a movie great. Let me give some examples:

The other day I watched the film 'My Left Foot.' This is a very good film. Daniel Day-Lewis is one of the best actors there is, and his performance in this film was one of the best I've ever seen. The film itself, though, I felt was only 'good.' Therefore, I will not give this film a 10/10, or even a 9.5/10 strictly based on how great DD-L was. I can think of quite a few people who would.

More examples....

Meryl Streep in 'Sophie's Choice.' I don't think anyone loves Meryl Streep more than I do, except maybe her husband. She's had so many great roles--the best of which was as the concentration camp survivor Sophie. Off the top of my head, this is the best female performance I can think up. But the movie itself? Good, not great. Yes, the scenes with Sophie are emotionally extreme, but the other actors, a bit of the writing, and some pacing issues prevent the film from being great.

Let's go with an example in the opposite direction.

Take Peter Lorre's role in the classic, 'M.' 'M' is undoubtedly a great film. If I was hard-pressed to create a list of the ten best films out there, 'M' would be a close contender. The film is driven by not only Peter Lorre's phenomenal performance (compare his work here to, say, 'The Maltese Falcon'), but by the shadows and corridors, the whistling tune, the script, the direction, and all of the other actors. A film is an ensemble. One must not overlook that.

Also, take Bette Davis as Margo Channing in 'All About Eve.' Again, one of the best acting jobs of all time. No one's gonna deny that. But how tricky that after each viewing, I find myself more and more fascinated by Anne Baxter's Eve. Or the immensely articulate, perfectly paced Addison DeWitt. Or even the small Marilyn Monroe cameo. And that's just the acting. The script is sensational, mixing a buffet of highbrow allusions with blunt banter that strikes to the core. Joe Mankiewicz was a genius. This is a great film.

I shall end with one more example.

Jamie Foxx in 'Ray.' Now, who doesn't love Ray Charles? No doubt Jamie Foxx did a fantastic job in the role. But watch this film and 'Walk the Line' in the same day. Notice the almost identical storyline, sans blindness. Now, that's not the writer or director's fault, because these are based on true events. But the plot of 'Ray' borders on cliche, and even though Jamie Foxx was great, the movie is far from.

With these things and this philosophy in mind, if I ever give a movie a 10/10 simply because of one performance, you have my permission to slap me.

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Sarah Palin is Done

I see no way in which the Republicans can win this election. John McCain is a decent guy and if he was President I really wouldn't mind too much. Sarah Palin, however, is a complete idiot.

Check out this article from CNN.

In quick summary, the article states how Palin has been going against party advisers to further her own agenda, aiming for prosperity of her own in 2012. Not only that, but it mentions what I've thought about her SNL appearance but haven't been able to express so articulately:

"She's no longer playing for 2008; she's playing 2012," Democratic pollster Peter Hart said. "And the difficulty is, when she went on 'Saturday Night Live,' she became a reinforcement of her caricature. She never allowed herself to be vetted, and at the end of the day, voters turned against her both in terms of qualifications and personally."

Political figures go on talk shows all the time--no problem there. Not only is the Tina Fey impression getting monotonous itself, but Palin going on SNL was a new low point. It didn't relate a feeling of, "Oh that's funny, they're embellishing how I act for comedic value." Instead, it seemed more like she supported all of the exaggerations. Why fuel the fire?

In non-SNL related commentary, the article also points out how she went against the party's statements, for example she claimed robocalls were "irritating" while the campaign defended their use. Now, was she trying to be candid with us? Bond as a human being? Possibly. But if that's the case, at least make sure you and the rest of your party are on the same page. Apparently no one knew this was how she felt.

So either: A) She's deliberately going against Republican advisers, or B) she's just dumb and doesn't pay attention. Whichever way, I think she should stay as far from any political office as possible (maybe this is why she's out in Alaska and not in the continental U.S. Haaaaaaha).

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Palin Really Bugs Me

An article on Yahoo! says that Sarah Palin is getting a lot of attention because of $150,000 spend on her wardrobe and hair.

I'm not going to debate whether that is excessive or not -- whether it is or is not is up to you to decide.

But in the article, the first thing she says is:

"I think Hillary Clinton was held to a different standard in her primary race," Palin said in an interview with the Chicago Tribune posted on the newspaper's Web site Thursday night. "Do you remember the conversations that took place about her, say superficial things that they don't talk about with men, her wardrobe and her hairstyles, all of that? That's a bit of that double standard."

So her first point is that it's a double standard -- that we criticize women and not men on their wardrobe and hairstyle. Sure, maybe. But I guarantee you that if a male politician came to a debate in khaki pants and a polo instead of a suit, or his hair wasn't combed just right, he would get as much flak as Sarah Palin would. But yes, sure, no one pays attention to how much men spend on clothes. Fine.

But then Palin says:

"It's kind of painful to be criticized for something when all the facts are not out there and are not reported," Palin said.

Whoa! So first you want to pull out the double standard card, which basically admits that you did spend that much but so do men so people shouldn't attack you. Then you change the argument, saying that people don't have "all the facts." Really? What facts are we missing? Your hair and wardrobe is expensive.

What Sarah Palin is trying to do is play offense and defense. She's defending herself by saying that it's a double standard and she shouldn't be under the microscope on her spending, while playing offense and stating that your facts are WRONG! Not a bad tactic, except for the fact that claiming a double standard admits to the facts being correct. If they were incorrect you would have a bogus comparison and not care about the double standard -- also, you would correct them. Sarah Palin does neither.

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Sad Truth About the Digital Age

I'm sure I've been doing this for a while, but I just recently realized it: Sometimes I think in acronyms. Not 'lol' or 'rofl,' thankfully. But here are a couple popular ones:

I very often think 'idc' instead of 'I don't care.' Which is weird since I don't use it very often when I'm IMing/texting... or not near as much as 'idk,' but I never think 'idk,' I always think 'I don't know.'

Another common one is 'w/e.' And I do think the slash, so I think 'w slash e.' I admit that I think 'whatever' a lot more than anyone not in the film Clueless should.

This is not a good sign for the future of civilization.

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More Blog Cleanup

I'm going to go through and un-publish some more posts. I think I'm slowly trying to phase out my college career and move into a more professional lifestyle.... Okay, not really. But some things are better left in the past, and some are better kept around as a history lesson. I'm going to draw another line of distinction.

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