Welcome to the show folks...
Today I have two tales that involve three fat guys, and no, none of the fat guy stories involve me, thanks for bringing that up. (Runs away to ease pain with a bag of chocolate chip cookies.)
CHRIS FARLEY THE PLAY?
Somebody's putting together a play about the last 18 months of the life of the late comedian Chris Farley.
My question: Why?
You see, I never thought Chris Farley was very
funny. I know he has his fans who think he's the most wonderful comedian in the world, I just think he's grievously overrated and unoriginal. And it's not just my dislike of his period of SNL, I saw him on a show about Second City Chicago, and even then his antics left me cold. They were doing different improv games and in every scene, all he did was come up with some excuse to jump around screaming his head off. Context of the scene didn't matter, the actions of his partners didn't matter, he'd just freak out and thrash around.
I didn't find him particularly original on SNL, simply rehashing and amplifying the surface elements of some of John Belushi shtick, even in the manner of death by drugs.
But my main beef wasn't with him as a person, I'm sure he was lovely in rare moments of sobriety, it was with the overall theme of his comedy. In the 90s we saw the emergence of what I call the "Laugh At The Loser" school of comedy. Before then comedy was about underdogs sticking it to the often pompous and inane powers that be sharp tongues and slapstick action, a tradition that goes all the way back to vaudeville. John Cleese expressed this philosophy best by saying something along the lines of: "Imagine a man with a facial tic who hears voices in his head. Make him a homeless drug addict, and you have a tragedy, make him a Lord and head of the Secret Service and you have a comedy."
In the 90s things changed. They shifted to presenting characters that come out as losers, who stay losers, and the laughter was to be derived not from them getting a leg up on a cruel world in wacky ways, but from how big a loser this loser really is. Farley didn't invent this, but he did milk it for all it was worth.
I just couldn't get into that, I just couldn't get into him, and I can't see how any portrayal of his last death spiral could be anything more than a PSA about the dangers of drugs.
FAT GUYS GO TO WAR!
Filmmaker Michael Moore is suing the Weinsteins for $2.7 million that he believes they owe him for his film Fahrenheit 9/11, on top of the $19.8 million he's already been paid for it.
Personally, I'm amazed he got anything for his film knowing the intricacies and inanities of Hollywood accounting.
Now some are saying Moore is being greedy for starting this lawsuit, but I can see his point. He needs to get his hands on every penny he thinks is his due, because of one simple truth:
Nobody gives a rat's ass about Michael Moore anymore.
There was a time when Michael Moore was a star. Hollywood rushed to kiss his broad behind because he was very good at hating all the people they love to hate.
Well the people they hated the most are out of office, Moore's most recent efforts came and went like a fart at chili cook-off, and nobody cares about him and his "look at me and gimme money" antics anymore. Moore has a swanky lifestyle to maintain, and that means he has to be as greedy and grasping as the people he loves to malign in his movies.
Personally, I'd like to see him and the Weinsteins fight like pit bulls in a sack. It could be the most entertaining thing either of them have done in years.
Today I have two tales that involve three fat guys, and no, none of the fat guy stories involve me, thanks for bringing that up. (Runs away to ease pain with a bag of chocolate chip cookies.)
CHRIS FARLEY THE PLAY?
Somebody's putting together a play about the last 18 months of the life of the late comedian Chris Farley.
My question: Why?
You see, I never thought Chris Farley was very
funny. I know he has his fans who think he's the most wonderful comedian in the world, I just think he's grievously overrated and unoriginal. And it's not just my dislike of his period of SNL, I saw him on a show about Second City Chicago, and even then his antics left me cold. They were doing different improv games and in every scene, all he did was come up with some excuse to jump around screaming his head off. Context of the scene didn't matter, the actions of his partners didn't matter, he'd just freak out and thrash around.I didn't find him particularly original on SNL, simply rehashing and amplifying the surface elements of some of John Belushi shtick, even in the manner of death by drugs.
But my main beef wasn't with him as a person, I'm sure he was lovely in rare moments of sobriety, it was with the overall theme of his comedy. In the 90s we saw the emergence of what I call the "Laugh At The Loser" school of comedy. Before then comedy was about underdogs sticking it to the often pompous and inane powers that be sharp tongues and slapstick action, a tradition that goes all the way back to vaudeville. John Cleese expressed this philosophy best by saying something along the lines of: "Imagine a man with a facial tic who hears voices in his head. Make him a homeless drug addict, and you have a tragedy, make him a Lord and head of the Secret Service and you have a comedy."
In the 90s things changed. They shifted to presenting characters that come out as losers, who stay losers, and the laughter was to be derived not from them getting a leg up on a cruel world in wacky ways, but from how big a loser this loser really is. Farley didn't invent this, but he did milk it for all it was worth.
I just couldn't get into that, I just couldn't get into him, and I can't see how any portrayal of his last death spiral could be anything more than a PSA about the dangers of drugs.
FAT GUYS GO TO WAR!
Filmmaker Michael Moore is suing the Weinsteins for $2.7 million that he believes they owe him for his film Fahrenheit 9/11, on top of the $19.8 million he's already been paid for it.
Personally, I'm amazed he got anything for his film knowing the intricacies and inanities of Hollywood accounting.Now some are saying Moore is being greedy for starting this lawsuit, but I can see his point. He needs to get his hands on every penny he thinks is his due, because of one simple truth:
Nobody gives a rat's ass about Michael Moore anymore.
There was a time when Michael Moore was a star. Hollywood rushed to kiss his broad behind because he was very good at hating all the people they love to hate.
Well the people they hated the most are out of office, Moore's most recent efforts came and went like a fart at chili cook-off, and nobody cares about him and his "look at me and gimme money" antics anymore. Moore has a swanky lifestyle to maintain, and that means he has to be as greedy and grasping as the people he loves to malign in his movies.
Personally, I'd like to see him and the Weinsteins fight like pit bulls in a sack. It could be the most entertaining thing either of them have done in years.
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