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Will Ferrell Corner


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Well, I like Ferrell. He has had some duds but generally I like him.

Comedy is very individual. This has never been more obvious to me than watching a few recent movies.

#1 Napolean Dynamite. I admit it, I don't get it. The premise of the movie is funny. The characters are funny. A few funny things happen in the movie but as a whole, not funny. I guess I'm too shallow or stupid to consider a movie funny because the theme is funny without the actual movie being funny.

#2 That Aquatic movie with Bill Murry. Same story, funny idea for a movie but not a funny movie. Very few truly funny moments.

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The problem with many of these movies is what I refer to as "premise overload". They're barely funny as a 5 minute SNL sketch but can't sustain interest over the course of two hours.

What was the last comedy anyone saw that was consistently funny and kept your interest for the duration? It seems like most have one or two funny bits (which are frequently spoiled by the previews) and not much else.

The only recent one that comes to mind for me is "Sideways" and even that was a little hit-and-miss IMHO.

I sure loved Peter Sellers. The Pink Panther films, The Party, Being There (not so much a comedy, but very funny in spots) sure stand out in my memory as well-made, consistently funny and engaging films. I guess I'm a bit of a Blake Edwards fan- when he was good, he was very, very good (and unfortunately the opposite is true).

Hal Ashby directed Being There IIRC.

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The problem with many of these movies is what I refer to as "premise overload". They're barely funny as a 5 minute SNL sketch but can't sustain interest over the course of two hours.

What was the last comedy anyone saw that was consistently funny and kept your interest for the duration? It seems like most have one or two funny bits (which are frequently spoiled by the previews) and not much else.

My memory's pretty bad with these kinds of things, but comedies that were consistently funny (to me) from the past ten years: Meet the Parents, Royal Tenenbaums, The Big Lebowski, Something About Mary, the 1st Austin Powers movie. Do Being John Malkovich or Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind count? What about Shrek or the Incredibles? I could probably rattle off at least a dozen more if I cared.

I watched Wayne's World last night, though, and it hasn't held up that well as a movie. That sequence with Mike Myers and Tia Carrere speaking Chinese is still classic.

Guy

Edited by Guy Berger
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Just out of curiosity, since SNL alumni seem to be a side subject here, does anyone else miss A. Whitney Brown? His editorials were some of the funniest bits on the show for me, particularly when they sailed right over the heads of the studio audience...

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Chiming in late here, but I think Ferrell can be funny. He's actually very good at playing the comic oaf and making it genuinely amusing, instead of merely oafish. (I can't comment on his elfish performance, not having seen it.)

I thought Anchorman was funny, in the same way that, say, the first Austin Powers was funny, because it was so off the wall at times. I wonder what posters to this forum think of the jazz flute scene in this film? I thought it was hilarious, capturing jazz flute schtick to a t (I've never been a fan of the flute in jazz, Dolphy excepted). Jazz flute is a pretty off the wall thing to satirize in a mainstream movie, no? The whole film has an interestingly skewed perspective, going for the odd as often as for the obvious. Certainly not a masterpiece (or even, really, a good movie) but a very good comedy, with a nice ensemble feel to it not far removed from the Christopher Guest films.

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Jazzmoose Posted May 22 2005, 10:14 PM

Just out of curiosity, since SNL alumni seem to be a side subject here, does anyone else miss A. Whitney Brown? His editorials were some of the funniest bits on the show for me, particularly when they sailed right over the heads of the studio audience...

I always like A. Whitney Brown, a very clever comedian. Some of the more intellectual stuff ever on SNL.

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I thought Anchorman was funny, in the same way that, say, the first Austin Powers was funny, because it was so off the wall at times.

I was thinking the same thing... though the 1st AP movie is definitely better than AM, IMHO -- it managed to keep the craziness going the whole way through.

Guy

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SANTA'S COMING!!!!!!!!!

Elf is all I have seen with Will Ferrell.    Really funny dude, a natural.  Co-workers say check out Old School, so I will.

Old School is a riot, but I don't think he's all that funny. Actually, I think with the exception of Vince Vaughan, none of them really acquit themselves all that well. But, the movie was filled with little tidbits that are just hilarious in spite of the actors involved. I would have loved to have seen that movie done with some truly great comedic actors.

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  • 1 year later...

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