Tag: comedy

  • Walk of Fame Movie Adventures: Sons of the Desert and William Seiter

    Oliver Hardy & Stan Laurel in Sons of the Desert.
    Oliver Hardy & Stan Laurel in Sons of the Desert.

    I’ve never watched Laurel & hardy, but based on this movie, this seems to be the formula for most of their comedy:

    • Ollie acts like a blowhard.
    • Stan does an absurd and funny thing.
    • Ollie slowly and exactly describes the thing Stan just did.
    • Ollie mugs to the camera.
    • Repeat.

    Can you tell which one I thought was funnier?

    Composite picture. On the left, a mockup of William Seiter's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. On the Right, a black and white portrait photo of William Seiter.

    William Seiter’s Wikipedia entry says “Seiter earned a reputation for his charming comedies that were moderately paced and kept the laughs coming quietly, rather than resorting to obvious jokes and slapstick.” He must have abandoned that for this movie.

    …and now it’s time for another “you’ll only know the reference if you’re a movie poster fanatic” fake poster!

    A fake poster for Sons of the Desert mimicking the poster for Dog Day Afternoon.
    Fediverse reactions

  • Streaming Movie Adventures: Happy Gilmore 2

    An illustration Happy Gilmore about to take a swing with a golf club while a crowd behind him watches. He is orange and black and the rest of the image is two shades of blue.
    Shooter McGavin and Happy Gilmore face each other in a graveyard.

    My theory for how Adam Sandler movies get cast:

    Sandler hangs out with someone. Somewhere along the way (and with ZERO pressure) he says “Hey, I’m making a movie. Wanna be in it?” If the other person asks if the movie is good, Sandler says “it’ll be fun.” The other person knows Sandler is right, so they say “Why not?”

    I knew when this movie was announced that I almost certainly wouldn’t care about it. I only watched because I read about the insane opening sequence and had to see if it was as bizarre as it sounded (and yes it is). But I have nothing against it. It’s a silly, pretty harmless story made by a bunch of people enjoying getting paid for goofing around; who could complain about that?

    …and now, can I interest you in a fake poster?

    A poster for Happy Gilmore 2 mimicking the poster for Fight Club.
    Fediverse reactions

  • Retro Movie Adventures: Hellzapoppin (1941)

    Chic Johnson and Ole Olsen mugging in a scene from Hellzapoppin. They are rendered in shades of red, orange and yellow. The background is unidentifiable blue and purple shapes.
    Martha Raye standing in front of a target, mouth wide open, surrounded by arrows.

    Great- now I’ve got a crush on 1941 Martha Raye. Thanks, Hellzapoppin.

    I love that they realized the stage show of Hellzapoppin would never work as a movie, so they didn’t even bother to try and make a direct translation of the show. It’s 84 minutes packed with topical (at the time) jokes, music, and special effects strung together by a plot that Olsen & Johnson are actively mocking.

    Hellzapoppin isn’t streaming anywhere, but there’s a really good restoration on YouTube.

    Today’s fake poster was inspired by the “poppin” part of “Hellzapoppin,” and features a secret link to They Might Be Giants.

    A poster for Hellzapoppin mimicking the poster for Mary Poppins.