I saw a Monty Python double bill at the New Beverly last night. It was Monty Python and the Holy Grail and The Meaning of Life. I had seen Holy Grail before, but not Meaning of Life. I had been in denial up until last night about how funny Holy Grail was. I knew when I saw it before that I felt it was overrated. It took a second viewing to reveal that I actually did feel this. Although I do enjoy the movie a lot, it is no where near as good as the movie quoters will lead you to believe.
But Meaning of Life... that's a different story. It is probably the least talked about of the Monty Python movies, but I enjoyed it more than the rest. Perhaps the fact that it wasn't following a steady storyline gave it more room to spread the Monty Python wings and have a level of humor more similar to the Flying Circus stuff (where the genius truly lies). I haven't laughed as much as I did during the Sexual Intercourse Class scene in a long time (and I just watched Borat the night before, which has buzz of being the possible "funniest movie ever").
Monday, November 06, 2006
Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation
I love Borat on the Ali G Show. I loved the trailer for Borat. I figured it had to be really good. There were crowds of people to see it. I had to sit on the floor because the theater was sold out. I was pumped.
But the movie itself was disappointing. While the Borat character works so well in interviews, about half of the movie is Borat setting up plotpoints so that the movie isn't directionless. The segments of plot just make the movie more pitiful and the jokes don't seem very funny when they're not used in a satirical way, as they are in interviews. I just wasn't entertained by a lot of the lame excuses at creating a plot. They were pretty bad. But I must admit that the legitimate Borat moments that included interviews and/or hidden cameras create some of the most genuine laughs created in a movie theater. It's just impossible to gather up all of those moments and create a movie without A) doing what they did here, or B) making a random collection of segments (ala Jackass). Either way the film would not have been perfect. They did what they did and it works for a lot of laughs. It's just not perfect. Hardly.
But the movie itself was disappointing. While the Borat character works so well in interviews, about half of the movie is Borat setting up plotpoints so that the movie isn't directionless. The segments of plot just make the movie more pitiful and the jokes don't seem very funny when they're not used in a satirical way, as they are in interviews. I just wasn't entertained by a lot of the lame excuses at creating a plot. They were pretty bad. But I must admit that the legitimate Borat moments that included interviews and/or hidden cameras create some of the most genuine laughs created in a movie theater. It's just impossible to gather up all of those moments and create a movie without A) doing what they did here, or B) making a random collection of segments (ala Jackass). Either way the film would not have been perfect. They did what they did and it works for a lot of laughs. It's just not perfect. Hardly.
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