I have ginormous adoration for the Marx Brothers. My sense of humor trends towards the absurd.
Ah, yes, of course. The gypsies, they gave you your soul. The gypsies are filthy people. Ptui! We shall speak of them no more.
Ilona Costa Bianchi ,'The Girl in Question'
Buffista Movies 3: Panned and Scanned
A place to talk about movies--Old and new, good and bad, high art and high cheese. It's the place to place your kittens on the award winners, gossip about upcoming fims and discuss DVD releases and extras. Spoiler policy: White font all plot-related discussion until a movie's been in wide release two weeks, and keep the major HSQ in white font until two weeks after the video/DVD release.
Sean K - Oct 27, 2004 10:24:44 am PDT #5232 of 10001
You can't leave me to my own devices; my devices are Nap and Eat. -Zenkitty
DavidS - Oct 27, 2004 10:29:23 am PDT #5233 of 10001
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."
The Marx Brothers' comedic routines were honed in front of a live audience, so watching their movies alone makes the pacing seem slow, where if you watch them in a theater full of people they are timed perfectly so lines happen right at the end of laughs and you don't miss anything.
I get that. Some comedies are much better in theater.
Lawrence Of Arabia is my One True You Have To See It On A Big Screen movie. Scale is so important to that movie.
Nutty - Oct 27, 2004 10:50:04 am PDT #5234 of 10001
"Mister Spock is on his fanny, sir. Reports heavy damage."
I would tend to agree; however, I first saw the movie, in letterbox format, on TNT. So it was even tinier than if it had been pan and scan on TV -- and even so I dug it.
I mean, I dug it even more, seeing it on a big screen (key for me was realizing the Brattle would play the whole overture before turning on the visual part of the movie at all), but it was not impossible to see its importance on a tiny screen in a bedroom in Wallingford, CT.
Jessica - Oct 27, 2004 11:03:30 am PDT #5235 of 10001
And then Ortus came and said "It's Ortin' time" and they all Orted off into the sunset
There's a new Marx Brothers DVD set out, btw. (All of their MGM movies, IIRC.)
I think that if you are the kind of person who rants against pan-n-scan, you'll be able to appreciate Lawrence of Arabia on a television. If you're the kind of person who doesn't like those annoying black bars on the screen, then you'll need to see it in a theatre. t /unrepentent widescreen snob
§ ita § - Oct 27, 2004 11:27:57 am PDT #5236 of 10001
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.
Calli - Oct 27, 2004 11:29:08 am PDT #5237 of 10001
I must obey the inscrutable exhortations of my soul—Calvin and Hobbs
She'd be better with the dialog. And seriously, I'd love to see Queen L. and Hugh in a movie together.
Aims - Oct 27, 2004 11:29:52 am PDT #5238 of 10001
Shit's all sorts of different now.
Huh. *THAT* would be interesting. At least, to my comic-ignorant senses. Could she pull it off?
Jim - Oct 27, 2004 11:38:10 am PDT #5239 of 10001
Ficht nicht mit Der Raketemensch!
On the other hand, I rewatched This Is Spinal Tap over the weekend because it was a Komedy Klassic. It still doesn't make me laugh.
oh, thank God, I thought I was alone...
Polter-Cow - Oct 27, 2004 11:38:18 am PDT #5240 of 10001
What else besides ramen can you scoop? YOU CAN SCOOP THIS WORLD FROM DARKNESS!
I have ginormous adoration for the Marx Brothers. My sense of humor trends towards the absurd.
I've only seen Duck Soup, and it was great. I've heard A Night at the Opera is really good.
Sean K - Oct 27, 2004 11:41:15 am PDT #5241 of 10001
You can't leave me to my own devices; my devices are Nap and Eat. -Zenkitty
That one's funny too.
And then, once you've seen a few Marx Bros movies, you should read the first half of the Cerebus comic books. They feature characters based on the Marx Brothers, and Dave Sim can really bring the funny.
(He can also really bring the annoying misogyny, but that's another story...)