Wierd/Bizzarre=Funny?

[unclejack]

Hey yall, two things to post here...First of all, I love this site. I try posting stuff about classic movies and foreign movies on one other movie forum I subscribe to and no one knows what I'm talkin about. It's refreshing to run into people with a little good taste in movies.
The second thing is this...since I'm turning into such a critic of Hollywood and am growing increasingly tired of the unoriginal plots and cheap attempts at remakes that they keep churning out, I wanted to throw this thought out there. Has anyone noticed that Hollywood doesn't seem to know what's funny anymore? I've started noticin that in the past five or ten years..there have been a few truly funny movies released in the past and Hollywood keeps trying to live up to their status and keeps falling far short. The movies that have come out that I think have been a huge success and that I'm a fan of when it comes to comedy are: (to name a few) Dumb and Dumber, There's Something About Mary, Just Friends, Zoolander, and many more. I could name alot more but If I went further back but I'm really just speakin of recent movies.
I think Hollywood sees what a big hit that brand of zany, slapstick humor can be at times and they seem to think that wierd/bizzarre automatically translates into funny. No, from what I've seen Hollywood producin, I've found that wierd just equals wierd. Here are a few examples of movies that I don't think even stand in the shaddow of those epic comedies:
Anchorman, Dodgeball, Balls of Fury, and many more. Austin Powers is kinda middle ground for me, their funny the first time you watchy them but after a while they grate on your nerves. Anyway, granted there are a few good laughs in each of those movies but some of the stuff in those movies is shockingly bizzare just for the sake of being bizzarre and I don't react with laughter towards that kind of stuff. Anchorman is a perfect example of that. What in the world was funny about seeing Will Ferrel walkin around town dressed like a bum drinkin a carton of milk like it was booze or somethin? Dodgeball...a guy trying to make love to a piece of pizza...oh just hillarious..or not. Balls of Fury I haven't seen but the preview alone tell me it is just more of the same. Anyone else tired of these cheap attempts at comedy that come off as just lame and wierd?

[TK-421]

Well, the history of movie-making is riddled with and not-so-funny films. You named a few of these in your post, unclejack. I would not call them weird (spelling) but really, Zoolander?

There are plenty of really good comedies. Unfortunately, most are not that funny, like the American Pie series of movies comes to mid as being quite unfunny (and humour that got old real fast). Anyway, I enjoy a good slapstick when it's well done. I'm a fan of Monty Python-type humour as well as some of the more dry humour. Two of the funniest films I have seen are The Royal Tennebaums and Little Miss Sunshine.

[unclejack]

Yeah, I never saw little miss sunshine but I have Royal Tennenbaums on dvd and I love it. It's funny but I like it for the drama more than anything. I think it's a great story and has a great ending.
Anyway, maybe I didn't use the best examples but I was more talkin about movies that are wierd just for the sake of being wierd. I mean there has to be some sort of comedic draw to it. One tv show that I find to be intensely unfunny is madtv. Although I do like some of the skits, some if it is so freaky that I just have no interest. Many of the comedies I see comin out read like that to me. It's like they decided to make the most off the wall thing they could think of and thought it would be funny by itself. Anyway, maybe it's just me and the way my mind works. I'm quirky like that.

[roddglenn]

Little Miss Sunshine is one of the greats of recent years. Some other decent comedies of late were 40 Year Old Virgin, Wedding Crashers, Old School and Team America

[TK-421]

Sorry, roddglenn, but I did not find any of those movies were particularly funny. Although I busted a few ribs at South Park the movie.

Now, a classics like Planes, Trains and Automobiles; Animal House; these were very funny.

[unclejack]

I agree, the only movie you listed I've seen is old school and that was just ok, but not great. The rest I have no desire whatsoever to see.

[roddglenn]

I was talking about recent comedies. Planes Trains, Animal House, Blazing Saddles, Stir Crazy, Young Frankenstein etc are all fantastic comedies.

I'm surprised that you like Zoolander but not the likes of Old School etc - it's very much in the same vein. I found Zoolander to be too over the top stupid with Ben Stiller being even more OTT than he was in Dodgeball (far prefer Dodgeball to Zoolander).

If you haven't seen 40 Year Old Virgin I suggest you give it a go - it is a brilliant comedy with some great characters and a strong story. Team America is just a rip roaringly funny satire of the US in general. Wedding Crashers is good too, but not in the same league (Vince Vaughn is better than Owen Wilson in it).

[unclejack]

I actually have to differ with you on that one. I hated dodgeball and loved Zoolander. I know it's stupid but it's stupid in a way that is funny. Dodgeball was just stupid, no funny, just stupid.

[roddglenn]

Well, I guess it's just down to personal taste then.

[littlemissattitude]

Count me as a big fan of Zoolander. It's very absurdity is what makes it so funny. On the other hand, Dodgeball was all right, but I won't go out of my way to see it again, while I will watch Zoolander any time I have a chance. And Wedding Crashers...eh. I just don't like Vince Vaughan that much, I guess. The other Ben Stiller/Owen Wilson collaboration I really enjoy is Starsky & Hutch...again, quite absurd but also quite funny (although that might be because I was such a fan of the original series back in the day).

Someone mentioned The Royal Tennenbaums...it took me several tries to see that one all the way through, but I found it rewarding in the end.

If you are looking for the weird/funny, however, I'd recommend an older film, Harold and Maude, from 1971 and starring Bud Cort and Ruth Gordon. I won't even attempt to describe it. Just see it.

[j. d. worthington]

Originally Posted by littlemissattitude

If you are looking for the weird/funny, however, I'd recommend an older film, Harold and Maude, from 1971 and starring Bud Cort and Ruth Gordon. I won't even attempt to describe it. Just see it.

The thing about Harold and Maude is that it also had a lot to say about out attitudes toward a lot of things... it asked a lot of questions and was a very intelligent film... it also didn't avoid being poignant and tragic when it needed to be....