Why Leslie Nielsen set in motion a chain of events that may very well destroy comedy

Zoombie · Aug 19, 2008

Okay, maybe that was a sensationalist title, but thats the basic summary!

Here's the long one.

a long long time ago, in a movie theater not so far away from here came...AIRPLANE. Ah, Airplane. I think it was one of the first of its kind which is why people found it so ingeniously hilarious. It was the first of a genera that I shall call ROBOT CHICKEN movies.

Reality doesn't matter, plot doesn't matter, characterization doesn't matter. Just take a vague parody and CRAM as many logic defying jokes in there as you can.

Now, Airplane did a fairly good job. It was fast, it had some fairly good actors, and it was (brace yourself for a shock) actually funny.

The only problem is someone noticed how easy it is to write humor like this...and then came up with a movie we call Scary Movie.

Okay, okay, Scar Movie was pretty funny. Not as good as Airplane, but-

Scary Movie 2. Well, all right, but-

Scary Movie 3. Scary Movie 4.

All right, you guys can-

Meet the Spartans

Epic Movie

Disaster Movie

Stop! STOP! There is something shared between all these "X" Movies. Firstly, they take 5-10 other movies that were actually high quality (or not) and then they shove in jokes.

There's one problem...

They're not funny. They haven't BEEN funny for a while. And they've managed to offend EVEN ME!

EVEN ME, the liberal, almost impossible to offend atheist. They offend the WRITER in me, damn it!

These are parodies that have forgotten what is, in my opinion, the cardinal rule of all parodies: BE A GOOD "X" MOVIE

Example!

Shaun of the Dead. It wasn't just a funny parody. It was also a good zombie movie! And it was a good romance movie. That's why it worked so amazingly well. That's why its STILL funny, even after the jokes have become familiar. Because the characters start one place, and end up in another place. They start as one person, and end as another person. There is an ARC

Same with Galaxy Quest. Its got a great sci-fi premise, a good cast of characters, and they all have an arc!

I'm not saying that EVERY parody needs to be as good as Galaxy Quest, Shaun of the Dead, or Hot Fuzz.

No, that'd be silly.

But is it REALLY too much to ask for at least semi-good characters, and an actual plot.

Really?

Judg · Aug 19, 2008

Leslie Nielsen, perhaps?

I have been trying to persuade my children that randomness in and of itself is not funny. Especially when there's too much of it. We have to agree to disagree.

Zoombie · Aug 19, 2008

Pishaw, who needs to spell.

Shadow_Ferret · Aug 19, 2008

Actually, Airplane! was merely part of a trend that had started many years earlier of that sort of parody. Groove Tube and Kentucky Fried Movie came out several years prior to Airplane!

And I'm sure if I actually bothered to research it, I'd find even earlier examples of it. Maybe we could trace it all the way back to Abbott and Costello Meets...

Judg · Aug 19, 2008

Pishaw, who needs to spell.

Offended writers, perhaps?

Nakhlasmoke · Aug 19, 2008

Although i actually quite liked Not Another Teen Movie.

*hides*

Zoombie · Aug 19, 2008

Shadow_Ferret said:
Actually, Airplane! was merely part of a trend that had started many years earlier of that sort of parody. Groove Tube and Kentucky Fried Movie came out several years prior to Airplane!

And I'm sure if I actually bothered to research it, I'd find even earlier examples of it. Maybe we could trace it all the way back to Abbott and Costello Meets...

Well, Airplane was the first I'd heard off/seen...but yeah, that does sound fun and interesting. reserch away, Shadow Ferrit!

Judg said:
Offended writers, perhaps?

<grumble grumble>

My spell checker doesn't apply to the title of my posts for some reason.

Nakhlasmoke said:
Although i actually quite liked Not Another Teen Movie.

*hides*

Hey, I rather liked Scary Movie...and Robot Chicken! Its just, these movies only work when they're...you know, *actually funny*

maxmordon · Aug 19, 2008

Nakhlasmoke said:
Although i actually quite liked Not Another Teen Movie.

*hides*

I also think that's pretty much the only good one.

The problem is not Neilsen, the problem is the people. As long these movies continue to be profitable (and they are quite) the studio will continue to make it. An example:

Date movie:

Budget$20 million

Domestic US$ $48,548,426
Non-Domestic US$ $36,247,230
World-Wide US$ $84,795,656

Epic Movie:

Budget$20 million
Epic Movie debuted at #1 at the box office with a gross of $18.6 million over the opening weekend.[1] As of May 8, 2007 the film has grossed $86.8 million, with $39,739,367 of that amount earned domestically, making the film another reasonable financial success in the (genre) Movie films, despite negative reviews from critics.[2] The film was an economic success for its producers not least because it had a comparatively low budget, estimated at $20 million (the same as Date Movie).

Meet the Spartans:

Budget$30,000,000Gross revenue$84,172,546

Superhero Movie:

Budget$35,000,000Gross revenue$59,292,183

In conclusion: Viewers are morons

Zoombie · Aug 19, 2008

Or are they!?

These movies may have made more than their costs, but are they ANYWHERE nearly as high as, say, a *actually* good movie, like, say, The Dark Knight or Wall-E

So, I guess dumb sells...

But greatness keeps selling.

Also the whole Neilsen thing was a joke...I make jokes. Har har har. Bah.

Ageless Stranger · Aug 19, 2008

Zoombie, I too wrote a thread about this a few weeks ago and was stunned to find that most people didn't like these movies. I was further stunned to find that no one I knew personally, liked these movies. I was further stunned when maxmordon presented me with the figures. I can't believe that people are spending that much money on these terrible films. I'm still partially convinced that it's just one really rich guy watching the movies over and over and over again. Either that, or many of my fellow humans need brain surgery post-haste.

KTC · Aug 19, 2008

I hate anything with that idiot in it...from movies to commercials to elevators. Idiot, idiot, idiot. I like the spelling in the thread title...the respect the idiot deserves.

Ageless Stranger · Aug 19, 2008

KTC said:
I hate anything with that idiot in it...from movies to commercials to elevators. Idiot, idiot, idiot. I like the spelling in the thread title...the respect the idiot deserves.

Surely you can't be serious?

CaroGirl · Aug 19, 2008

KTC said:
I hate anything with that idiot in it...from movies to commercials to elevators. Idiot, idiot, idiot. I like the spelling in the thread title...the respect the idiot deserves.

Aw, really? I like Leslie Nielsen. He seems like a good natured soul who doesn't take himself too seriously.

At least he's not a politician like his brother.

Sheryl Nantus · Aug 19, 2008

KTC said:
I hate anything with that idiot in it...from movies to commercials to elevators. Idiot, idiot, idiot. I like the spelling in the thread title...the respect the idiot deserves.

a great Canadian actor like him should be revered.

at least as much as Shatner.

Zoombie · Aug 19, 2008

Hey, Nielsen was AMAZING in Forbidden Planet

We're being radar scanned!

KTC · Aug 19, 2008

Sheryl Nantus said:
a great Canadian actor like him should be revered.

at least as much as Shatner.

ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He was never even ACCIDENTALLY funny. I'm ashamed that he is Canadian...absolutely downtrodden.

WriteKnight · Aug 19, 2008

Oooh, classic shot from 'Forbidden Planet'! Yeah, you can trace the parodies back at least to the "Abbot and Costello meets Frankenstein" days... that's if you're conceding that Ed Wood was a serious filmmaker.

For my money "Top Secret" did the best job, and got no respect. Check out Val Kilmer in "Skeet Surfing" musical number. But for non-sequiter sight-gag comedy, nobody beats Ernie Kovacs - yeah you young punks, go find out who he was, and what he did in the early days of television - LIVE.

(And for the record, he was 'before my time' too. But I was an RTV major in college)

Zoombie · Aug 19, 2008

Hey...I...Love...how...SHATNER...talks...like...THIS...all...the...tiME...its...REALLY...quite...FUN!

nevada · Aug 19, 2008

A little while ago someone posted a thread about a radio host who said that bad books shouldn't be published because good books wouldnt get published and peple wouldn't get to read the good books. something like that.

http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2531477#post2531477

Most people believed that the radio host was wrong. That in fact high-grossing books allowed the publishing companies to take a chance on smaller-grossing movies. Also, more importantly, that he was a conceited snob who had no right to say what was good or bad based on his own high-faluting standards, especially since the point he was making was wrong.

(Zoombie, I'm not saying you're a snob, I just realized how that sounded. sorry. lol)

All I'm saying is that obviously, based on those numbers, there are many, many people who enjoy those movies. Who are we to say they shouldn't make those movies cause they are stupid. People who see Date Movie say they shouldn't make movies like Atonement because movies like that are stupid. So if Hollywood listened to everybody, they would stop making movies all together.

If you don't like Date Movie and its ilk, don't go see it. Nobody is dragging you by your hair and chaining you to the seat.

I think we're all flashing back to childhood when we _had_ to eat our brussels sprouts because Mom said so, and we forced them down, gagging and praying we wouldn't throw up at the dinner table. Or was that just me? lol

They want to make stupid movies? Whatever. I'll go see Dark Knight again.

And lay off Leslie Neilson. LOL

Toothpaste · Aug 19, 2008

Nielson was actually a great thing for comedies. Up until he was cast in Airplane, he had been a serious actor. The casting of him in Airplane was done so that they would have a dead serious dramatic actor playing that role, and delivering those lines dead pan. The best comedy in my mind is when the character doesn't know he/she is being funny. So many movies now are all wink wink to the audience, what made Airplane fab was how seriously it took itself (okay there were some just silly moments too). Now those "Date Movie" etc films that have come since don't understand that referencing something isn't necessarily deep satire. The people who make these movies obviously haven't watched comedies over the years, haven't any sort of depth of understanding, or even respect, for the comic art form.

But don't blame Leslie Nielson for it! So he moved onto some really stupid films, he as an actor is still very solid - check out some of the smaller films he's had cameos in for that.

dpaterso · Aug 19, 2008

I renamed this thread, dammit! The man stars in my all-time favorite Sci-Fi movie! (See above.)

-Derek

Zoombie · Aug 19, 2008

Ah thanks for fixing that...I tried fixing that, but it wouldn't FIX!

Zoombie · Aug 19, 2008

Blegh, joke people! Joke!

I even said that it was sensationalist and misleading in my very first post.

Anywho, I know no one is dragging me to these movies.

Well, they *are* making me watch the trailers...

But, as we all know, the 1st amendment gives us the freedom to tell other people how to think.

Also, I really love Airplane. But its still a chain of movies that have ended up with...

<shudder> "X" movie.

Jcomp · Aug 19, 2008

WriteKnight said:
For my money "Top Secret" did the best job, and got no respect. Check out Val Kilmer in "Skeet Surfing" musical number. But for non-sequiter sight-gag comedy, nobody beats Ernie Kovacs - yeah you young punks, go find out who he was, and what he did in the early days of television - LIVE.

(And for the record, he was 'before my time' too. But I was an RTV major in college)

"If everybody had a twelve guage...
and a surfboard tooooo.....
you'd see 'em shootin' and surfin'...
from here to Malibuuuuu..."

Hilarious. Spoof comedy can work if you actually try to make it funny. Airplane and the first Naked Gun are hilarious. Blazing Saddles is a spoof comedy, and it's one of the best comedies of all time. It actually does take skill and talent to do these successfully. It's not easy to write unless you suck at it, which is pretty much the case for anything.

The problem with recent spoof comedies is that they don't even try to make jokes, they're just making random references. The other problem is that you can browse Youtube and find competent, fairly funny spoofs done by amateurs that are more timely, so these types of comedies would have to try that much harder to find jokes not already used.

But like max said, they've found an audience. It's my same beef with the Saw franchise. I'm more upset with fans lining the creator's pockets than with guys who see a cash cow and want to milk it dry.

Kitty Pryde · Aug 19, 2008

Ageless Stranger said:
Surely you can't be serious?

OK, I'll bite.

I am serious. And don't call me Shirley!

(embarrassing true fact: my father trained me to say this line before my third birthday so that he could film me saying it in my birthday video. the look on my little face says that i already knew he was a big dork way back then.)

Why Leslie Nielsen set in motion a chain of events that may very well destroy comedy

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