“What is comedy? Comedy is the art of making people laugh without making them puke.”
– Steve Martin
“I am thankful for laughter, except when milk comes out of my nose.”
– Woody Allen
There’s a MASSIVE analysis of comedy down at the bottom. Please read and comment or I’ll feel like all my hard work was for nothing.
In case you missed it…
I gave two stellar reviews this week for summer closers “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” and “The Help” as well as major kudos to Dominic Cooper’s performance in “The Devil’s Double.” Things were not so rosy for “Final Destination 5,” “Another Earth,” or “30 Minutes or Less.” Speaking of the latter, this week’s “F.I.L.M.” was “Roger Dodger,” the film debut of Jesse Eisenberg.
Recommended Reading
Here’s some of the good stuff I was reading. If you don’t like to read, then why are you on my site?
- Brian of “The Soap Box Office” counts down the 10 best non-Pixar animated films made by Disney. Some expected favorites along with some unexpected appearances by unfairly underrated flicks.
- Steven Flores reviews Charlie Chaplin’s “The Great Dictator.” Not to spoil the fun, but I may or may not have my own commentary up my sleeves for a date to be named…
- Whiffer takes a look at “Every Little Step,” which I may have to make a concerted effort to see now that he compared it to “Black Swan.”
- Max of “Anomalous Material” does a part personal essay, part review of “Midnight in Paris” that really makes me want to stop banging my fingers on this keyboard and go to Europe.
- Sam of “Duke and the Movies” gets me excited for “The Guard,” which finally opens in Houston this weekend!
Sunday Funnies
The New York Latino Film Festival’s ad campaign revolved around movie clichés and implausibilities, and they nail some of the stuff we just accept spot on. (via /Film)
The Inadvertent Activist
On Monday, I noticed a humongous uptick in traffic. Naturally, I got a little skeptical, especially when a lot of the hits were coming from Facebook. Then I started getting a lot of redirects from a site called R-Word.org. I had heard of this site before, but in case you haven’t, here’s a video that succinctly states their mission:
They saw that I had called out the filmmakers of “The Change-Up” in my review for senselessly using these people as the butt of a joke. Some people are calling for radical action, and they have done a good job of making their voices heard. But as offensive as it is, the writers have the right to free speech and can say it if they want. The joke falls flat in the movie, and if you do for some reason decide to see it after my D+ review, use it as a reminder to eradicate the word from your casual vernacular. If you want more information on this campaign, click the picture below.
An R-Rated Renaissance?
In The Los Angeles Times back in July, Steven Zeitchik asked this question, “How deep will the R-rated renaissance run?” He cites the statistic that 2011 is “the first year ever that at least four R-rated comedies have topped [$75 million].
I’d like to respond back with this question: is this what a Renaissance supposed to look like? Because all I see is one comedic gem shining amidst a surplus of lackluster and forgettable others. Just because there has been a great quantity hardly means there has been great quality. Before I jump into my own analysis, I’d like to review my reviews of the seven R-rated comedies of summer 2011.
Marshall and the Movies 
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