The other day I took in a triple feature consisting of the following very different films: Shane Meadows’ Somers Town; the political farce In the Loop; and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Two things each of these films did share are they all come from the UK (the last is a co-production at least) and they all were more naturally funny than Funny People, which I watched the next day.
I’m not sure if it’s my inherent Anglophilia that causes me to appreciate the humor of Jim Broadbent in a fantasy blockbuster more than Seth Rogen or Adam Sandler in the latest from the reigning king of American comedy, but I did realize that I should probably be watching more British cinema, much of which is humorous whether labeled comedy or not, and less Hollywood comedies, most of which tend to be overwritten and forced nowadays.
This isn’t to say I’m going to turn all blueblood snob and ignore the domestic stuff. I still enjoyed Funny People for the bittersweet tale(s) that it is, and I’ll continue loving Keaton more than Chaplin and the Marx Brothers more than any comedy group that has or will ever come out of Great Britain. However, I am looking to expand on my so-far limited familiarity with British comedy, which barely extends further than the must-see bunch listed below. So please leave a comment with any other recommendations you have for myself and anyone else interested. …Read more
It’s no secret that Obama is ahead in the polls. Democrats don’t want to jinx it by saying they’ve got it in the bag, and Republicans don’t want to loose hope that an upset is still possible. Still, at this late stage in the game, a lot is being said about the endorsements Obama is getting. Colin Powell and The Chicago Tribune are both big ones, but smaller endorsements are coming out of the woodwork as well. Neil Cicierega, internet-famous for his Potter Puppet Pals YouTube videos, has finally broken his silence and thrown his support behind Barack Obama. It seems like the above video also has something to do with Pokémon, and it may or may not cause epileptic seizures. Two observations:
One, I just did some math and found out that 18 year-olds who will be heading to the poles for the first time next month, those all-important young voters, were six years old when Pokémon made its American debut! Six! I feel really old now. I guess appealing to voters’ ironic/nostalgic connection to Pokémon is not so silly after all.
Two, I can’t help but wonder if this sort of thing will exist four years from now. Let’s just assume Obama is going to win (according to some polls, he has a 10 point lead with less than two weeks to go). Assuming his first term goes relatively well, can he expect the same kind of grass-roots support, especially from hipsters? How much of this kind of support is based on his policies, and how much is based on the fact that he’s not George W. Bush? Come 2012, will John Cleese, Matt Damon, and Hayden Penettierre produce viral videos where the message is, “Let’s keep things the same!” It’s hard to imagine.
What’s better than hearing from young, generally apolitical American movie actors on their opinions regarding the presidential election? Hearing from old, generally funny British movie actors on their opinions regarding the election. I’m not sure what is so interesting about John Cleese talking smack about Sarah Palin, but it’s become a very popular clip, despite the fact that it’s just Cleese chatting and not, as I wish he was, presenting an anarchic parody sketch featuring a talking parrot intended to represent the vice presidential candidate. Perhaps the Monty Python gang could have written something as silly as the McCain/Palin campaign, but I’d much rather see proof of that than hear about it.
So why am I featuring the clip today? Well, perhaps in anticipation of W., this will just be a week filled with celebrity endorsement videos. No, I’d rather not, especially since a lot of them, like the Hayden Panettiere ad on FunnyorDie.com are not even a little bit amusing. Besides, yesterday’s clip already pointed out that these things aren’t exactly all that film-related (and at least Joseph Gordon-Levitt had visual aids). So here’s the real reason I’m commenting on this video: please, John Cleese, or anybody else, make some political videos that are actually funny. Remember how great the Will Ferrell as George W. Bush ads for ACT were four years ago? That’s what I’m talking about. Paris Hilton spouting her economic policy a while back was fine and all, but when a few mediocre and obvious sketches from SNL represent the best political parody we have at a time so close to a major presidential election, it’s time for someone to rise to the occasion of hilarity.
We’ve had a bit of trouble getting this episode to go through the iTunes feed, so we hope this re-post will fix the problem. The original post, with episode description and embedded player, is here.
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