Word: comics
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...started sowell, degenerate at points into stock silliness.The shot-for-shot recreation of the assassinationattempt on Don Corleone is funny enough, but itplays like one of Billy Crystal's Oscar-hostingstunts (and was probably meant to). Most of theother in-jokes are subtler. One of them caps off ahilarious comic sequence involving a fewquasi-crooked FBI agents; the joke so cleverlyplanned that it seems to have ended before thefinal superb surprise. The final in joke includesCrystal's "consigliglieri" speech--a parody of the"I will not seek vengeance" bit in The Godfather.While several sections of that scene are veryenjoyable, their...
...place at the Puddig. But this a cyclical debate, rooted in personal perceptions of art. It is a debate which will always haunt, or at least confuse, artists, and especially comedians, who are conscious of their work. It is a debate that informs my perceptions, of all comic productions, whether on the Pudding stage, "South Park" or "The Simpsons...
Doing presto comedy is a special talent; many Whose Line players are improv veterans who have appeared on the Brit version. (And, don't ask us why, a lot of them did time in Canada.) They possess the verbal agility of the Says You! gang, but their real comic eloquence is in body language. Check out Wayne Brady's encyclopedic jive as he enacts "the history of 20th century dance in 30 seconds" or his tail wagging and panting when told he is a superhero named Playful Licking Puppy Boy. A star is born...
...theme of innovation came clear from the start with Daniel Pelzig's "Nine Lives: Songs of Lyle Lovett." The odd juxtaposition of ballet with Lovett's mellow country blues and twangy tunes created a comic atmosphere that was magnified by the black leatherish pants worn by the men and the attitudes adopted by the dancers in their dramatization of the lyrics. Whether pretending to light a cigarette or making an appropriate facial expression, the performers were certainly into the piece. Classical ballet seemed to become one with line dancing in the livelier segments, and interspersed throughout the piece were beautiful...
Rushmore is quirky and clever enough to work, but its meandering style prevents it from becoming a truly great comedy. The laughs are there, but they are also isolated, and the film fails to build any comic momentum. It is an example of a movie that boasts fantastic scenes but which on the whole is not the most polished or cohesive product. The scene in which Max puts on his play--an adaptation of the gritty Al Pacino cop drama Serpico and a hard-boiled Vietnam epic--are comically brilliant, as is the montage that reveals...