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Monday, 14 August 2006
Ricky Bobby reconsidered
Having been warned away from "Talladega Nights," and having dutifully passed on the warning to you, I feel duty-bound to pass on any new evidence I encounter to the contrary.
I was sitting in a waiting room this morning, and had just heard via whatever "news" program was on the tube that always seems to be on in such places that the saga of Ricky Bobby had been the big money-maker over the weekend. This caused me to feel very superior to all those folks who had been duped into wasting their hard-earned means on something that I knew better than to go see.
Then I found, among all the magazines that I would never read (with titles like "Self," which I suppose is some sort of libertarian think tank journal), a copy of the Sporting News . In it was a "My Turn" column under the name of the fictional Mr. Bobby himself, under a picture of Will Farrell in his NASCAR outfit.
And it was funny, in a snickering sort of eighth-grade locker room kind of way -- which means it was wittier than most of the comedies Hollywood turns out these days. If whoever actually wrote this had anything to do with writing the picture, maybe it's better than I had heard.
And if they didn't get this guy to write it, why not?
Posted by Brad Warthen at 10:44 AM in Media, Movies, Popular culture, Sports
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Comments
If you don't laugh at Talladega Nights, you don't have a sense of humor.
Or at least you have the personality of a person I have no interest in knowing.
The movie is funny.
Just sayin...
Posted by: Jeremy | Aug 14, 2006 11:36:25 AM
Er...that came off as harsh, but I think I made my point.
Posted by: Jeremy | Aug 14, 2006 11:39:22 AM
One of the funniest movies I have ever seen! Hands down. Glad I spent my hard earned money on it. "If you don't like big red, go **** yourself!" HAHAHA
Posted by: PalmettoNeocon | Aug 14, 2006 11:53:20 AM
Yes, but can it hope to possibly compete with the previous high-banking mark set by Stroker Ace and the (unintentionally comedic) Days of Thunder?
Posted by: Capital A | Aug 14, 2006 11:56:06 AM
Brad, your earlier post on Taledega Nights inspired me to watch some older movies that somehow I've missed. Saturday I saw Philadelphia with Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington. Great Movie. This was made only 13 years ago but I was astonished at how dated everything looked. Cel phones, computers, clothes, hair styles, automobiles all seemed so old-fashioned. Time really does fly by.
Posted by: bud | Aug 14, 2006 1:36:08 PM
Philadelphia is my favorite Hank's film,and it also made me actually appreciate opera for the first time in my life.
Posted by: bill | Aug 14, 2006 2:17:26 PM
oops...Hanks'
Posted by: bill | Aug 14, 2006 2:19:40 PM
My 15-year-old daughter saw Talladega Nights twice.
She thought that it was funny the second time, too.
30 seconds of Will Farrell on The Larry King Show was enough for me.
Posted by: Ready to Hurl | Aug 14, 2006 4:45:50 PM
30 seconds of anything on Larry King's show will cause nausea in most people. Example of tough LK question to terrorist: What did you feel like when you wired your 6 month old baby boy with a detonator. I mean - did you think back to his first word, first steps, or what?
Posted by: Dave | Aug 14, 2006 5:27:57 PM
I never saw "Philadelphia," and I'll admit I've sort of avoided it, for pretty much the same reason that I avoided "Schindler's List" for the longest time -- promotions for it looked so amazingly depressing that I had trouble catching myself in the right mood.
My favorite Hanks movies range from the awe-inspiring ("Saving Private Ryan") to the silly-but-hilarious ("Volunteers") to the just plain, all-around entertaining ("That Thing You Do").
By comparison, Will Ferrell's career thus far has been rather underwhelming. I did enjoy "Elf" a lot more than I thought I would, and not just because it had Zooey Deschanel in it. And I'll admit to taking a certain guilty pleasure in watching "Old School." But I still approach his work with a certain wariness.
Posted by: Brad Warthen | Aug 14, 2006 5:35:15 PM
"Philadephia" and "Schindler's List" are pretty depressing and not the kind of movies you want to buy for repeated viewings.I heard good things about "Elf" but still haven't gotten the nerve to rent.My favorite comedy of all time is "Serial Mom".It's pretty juvenile but Kathleen Turner gives a great performance and I've watched it more than any movie ever made(talk about guilty pleasures).Seems like most SNL alumni do their best work on the show when you only have to take them in small doses.
Posted by: bill | Aug 15, 2006 8:36:49 AM
I just wish someone could explain why Turner "turned" into a man over the last twenty years. She used to be a mega-hottie and now...is that really her? Cybill Shepherd suffers from the same phenomenon.
Christopher Walken could be considered an honorary SNL alumni. His cameos can make any film watchable. I rented Domino just for his "...too many rednecks..." and "...like night...of the living dead!" lines.
Blockbuster Online is a good thing.
Posted by: Capital A | Aug 15, 2006 8:53:29 AM
Turner was incredibly "hot" in "Body Heat",but she hasn't aged real well(lotsa women don't),and that raspy voice just keeps getting raspier.Most of her recent work has been on stage and I've heard she's pretty incredible in the remake of "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf".It's kinda sad,though,how Hollywood chews up and spits out women.
Posted by: bill | Aug 15, 2006 9:19:58 AM
Some women in Hollywood age well. Jane Fonda for instance still looks great. It must be that koolaid she drank in Hanoi.
Posted by: bud | Aug 15, 2006 11:55:58 AM
I haven't seen Talladega nights yet...NASCAR parodies itself so often I'm not sure I want to. My favorite comedic movie has to be "Murder by Death." What other movie features Truman Capote, Nancy Walker, and Alec Guiness all playing the same character? And the combination of the blind butler with the deaf/mute maid is too hysterically unPC to be believed.
Posted by: Uncle Elmer | Aug 15, 2006 12:40:34 PM
Turner was incredibly "hot" in "Body Heat",but she hasn't aged real well(lotsa women don't),
Of course all men age beautifully.
Posted by: kc | Aug 15, 2006 1:12:44 PM
kc,Don't get me wrong,what I'm saying,is that the ugly old men still get plenty of work in Hollywood.I was using the term "hot" sarcastically because of Cap A's somewhat sexist post about how Turner used to be a "mega-hottie".She's actually a much better actress now due to her years of experince.
Posted by: bill | Aug 15, 2006 1:42:12 PM
I've seen recent pictures and she's actually still a beautiful woman.But this is a culture obsessed with youth.
Posted by: bill | Aug 15, 2006 1:50:50 PM
Of course all men age beautifully.
Posted by: kc | Aug 15, 2006 11:12:44 AM
I'm not attracted to men or else I would have commented accordingly. It's sexist to state your preference in women?
I'm sure Ms. Turner knew the ins and outs of her chosen career path and properly benifited from her beauty (once upon a time) as well. As clever as she seems in interviews, I'm sure she's no (hot) "babe in the woods." If anything, this proves the cyclical nature of life.
To me, Lauren Bacall was the "hottest" actress of all time. This is based on my perception of her physical beauty and perceived wit. You don't find actresses with the edge she once brandished anymore.
Of course, homosexual men would never be catty enough to go on at great length about the inanity of an obviously-aging Matthew McConaughey playing the role of a 35-year old man in his most recent offering, Failure to Launch. No, I didn't overhear that conversation at the water cooler in the last week since gay males are so much more progressive and unaffected by a person's attractiveness than we simply straightforward men.
Posted by: Capital A | Aug 15, 2006 2:51:31 PM
You sure are defensive, CapA, considering I wasn't even talking to you.
Thanks for the explanation, bill.
Posted by: kc | Aug 15, 2006 4:04:39 PM
Apologies, kc. My post was directed at bill.
That'll teach me to try to cut, paste and think in a hurry. Maybe I failed on two accounts there...
Posted by: Capital A | Aug 15, 2006 8:07:22 PM
Since we're talking about movies, I like the "mad face." It reminds me of the Mr. Potatohead scene in Toy Story II
Posted by: pete | Aug 15, 2006 8:11:06 PM
Capital A - Is Failure to Launch a movie about E.D.?
Posted by: Dave | Aug 16, 2006 5:57:14 AM
Sorry to get your hopes "up", Dave, but, alas, it isn't.
Also, it isn't as terrible as it was reviewed upon release. It was enjoyable.
Ultraviolet, on the other hand... I actually stopped the film at the 41 minute mark and began catching up on files.
Mila Jovovich has aged well, however, if you're a fan of the flat-abbed, death-pixie type.
Posted by: Capital A | Aug 16, 2006 7:52:15 AM
Capital A, I have to disagree. I hated Failure to Launch. It was so predictable and campy. This was a true 7-step formula Chick Flick. The sequence goes as follows: (1) Character A deceives Character B; (2) B falls for A; (3) A eventually falls for B; (4) B finds out about A's deception (5) A appeals to B for forgiveness (6) B trys to fight it but evenutally comes around and all is forgiven. (7) Everyone lives happily ever after.
The Lake House, another Chick Flick, was a pleasure to watch.
Posted by: bud | Aug 16, 2006 9:53:30 AM
