'Selfless'
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.
overwrought and bizarrely soapy and grotesqueNeato. I marked your post so that I'll remember to look for that DVD.
I used to like Jack Black when I thought he was only pretending to be the kind of comedian that, now, I'm pretty sure he actually is. I don't pretend this makes sense.
But I think that the last movie I saw him in was High Fidelity, so my ambivalence is all based on Letterman appearances.
Napoleon Dynamite is not funny if you really ever rode the short bus to school. More like "And?" (I don't know why I'm saying that right now except there are moments in pop culture where I'm really aware of being in a...subculture or something. Yes, I knew guys like that.)
I couldn't stand Napoleon Dynamite, either. Let's mock the nerds! No, they're really awesome! But let's mock them, anyway! Blah.
I used to like Jack Black when I thought he was only pretending to be the kind of comedian that, now, I'm pretty sure he actually is. I don't pretend this makes sense.
This makes perfect sense to me. Jack Black playing Jeepers Creepers Superstar on Mr. Show: awesome. Jack Black playing Chris Farley and pretending to be Latino: the diametric opposite of awesome.
I loved Napoleon Dynamite. I thought it was just wonderful. Of course, it has no bearing on any reality I've ever lived, so it's entirely in the realm of fantasy. Maybe if I'd actually gone to school in America I might feel different.
People seem to have widely varying responses to that movie.
Speaking of, I saw Dogville this past week, which I found both repugnant and brilliant. Originally, I was more disgusted with the movie than admiring, but I can't shake the damn thing, either.
I was channel flipping a couple of days ago and landed on a countdown of 100 funniest movies (on Bravo maybe?) and Napoleon Dynamite made the top 10. I couldn't believe it. Of course, from what I saw they didn't seem to be considering anything made before the late 70s/early 80s ( Animal House was number 1). I just didn't think ND was that funny.
I thought the opening credits were the best and most clever part of the movie. It was all downhill from there, with a couple scattered laughs (I'm still fond of the "bred for their skills in magic" line).
Okay, I just found a list. It was Bravo. ND was actually #14. I turned the special on at #15. Here's the top 20:
20. The Jerk
19. Wedding Crashers
18. Stripes
17. M*A*S*H
16. Old School
15. Fast Times At Ridgemont High
14. Napoleon Dynamite
13. Naked Gun Series
12. The Producers
11. Pee-Wee's Big Adventure
10. Arthur
9. Ace Ventura: Pet Detective
8. Blazing Saddles
7. The Wedding Singer
6. Airplane
5. South Park: Bigger, Longer, Uncut
4. There's Something About Mary
3. Shrek
2. Caddyshack
1. Animal House
Speaking of, I saw Dogville this past week, which I found both repugnant and brilliant. Originally, I was more disgusted with the movie than admiring, but I can't shake the damn thing, either.
That was pretty much my reaction. I was cursing Lars under my breath for 2+ hours, and then the last scene came up and just blew me away. (Er, so to speak.)
Still didn't leave me with any desire to see Manderlay, though. Once was enough.
I was watching that Bravo thing on my plane ride home from CA. It was just so much bullshit I could hardly stand it. Bravo actually called it "The 100 Funniest Movies of All Time", and yet the oldest movie was Dr. Strangelove.