Blogocentric Formulations

Paranoia, Hypocrisy & The Master of Disguise

PROMPT: Provide your thoughts/opinions on a newspaper/magazine article or a radio/television news story from the past week. And if you feel inclined, let loose and blog about your week. Also, feel free to comment on your favorite blog entries from your fellow challengers from the preceding week, though this is not required.


Today's article is actually a televised segment of THE DAILY SHOW from a week or so ago: http://goo.gl/LJZe9G. What I liked about this segment was that it actually dealt with two separate issues that really hit home for me. The first was the main topic of the segment, which was about the ridiculous bill that proposed legalizing the right for business owners to deny service to gay and lesbian customers on the basis of maintaining the integrity of their religious beliefs. Not only does this segment do a brilliant job of asserting just how morally repugnant it is - in this day an age - to try and legislate discrimination against a particular group of people, but it brings up the even more amusing point that Fox News asks why these legislators are so convinced that their faith and conservative religious principles are under attack and require protective legislation... to which John Stewart and the team at The Daily Show reply by showing a montage of clips from Fox News itself over the past few years, with incendiary titles all along the lines of "Religion under attack!"

I think that the media has long been guilty of sensationalist reporting (I'm pretty sure I've blogged about that more than once before), but I think it's a remarkable bit of hypocrisy for Fox News, a blatantly skewed news organization (whether you agree with them or not, there's no question they promote an agenda), to first stoke the fires of paranoia, and then to ponder why everyone is suddenly feels so defensive and like their values are being attacked.

Admittedly, I'm not a regular watcher of THE DAILY SHOW anymore, but when I find clips like this, it reminds me of what I love about the show... they have a remarkable way of pointing out the idiocy, ridiculousness, and sometimes downright facepalm-worthy moments that the public is presented with thanks to our politicians, pundits, and celebrities.

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PROMPT: What's the worst movie you've ever seen?

THE MASTER OF DISGUISE
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0295427/

I'm going to self-limit myself here and throw out anything that I've seen on instant streaming services, and anything made by a student or former student that I saw while in film school... 'cause otherwise I'd have a very long list of terrible movies, many of which never saw a single frame on screen in a movie theater. I've seen a lot of bad movies but I'm going to confine myself to only those that I've actually paid for a ticket to see in the theater.

In retrospect, I probably should have been wary of a movie that (a) had a Saturday Night Live alum starring, and (b) decided to name the Italian-waiter-turned-master-of-disguise-spy protagonist "Pistachio Disguisey." In my defense, though, this was 2002 and following on the heels of Chris Farley's relatively successful feature films, as well as A NIGHT AT THE ROXBURY and SUPERSTAR which were decent hits. And I was a fan of Dana Carvey's earlier post-SNL movies like TRAPPED IN PARADISE and OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS. But, man, I can't remember ever (either before or since) sitting through what was meant to be a comedy and not laughing even once. I distinctly remember seeing it with a three-quarters full theater and not a single audience member laughed for the entire running time of the movie.

Here's the trailer. Watch it if you dare:

I've seen a lot of bad movies over the years, including ones in the theater, but most of them have at least one or two moments where you get a chuckle, or can enjoy yourself. But a comedy that doesn't get a single laugh for more than 85 minutes... including the last fifteen of those which were outtakes during the credits (something I normally find hilarious)? Yeah, that's gotta be worth a Worst Movie Ever nod during a blogging challenge, right?