 Comedy: July 25, 2018 Issue [#9019] |
  Comedy
This week: Comedy in Action Edited by: Robert Waltz  
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I tend to think of action movies as exuberant morality plays in which good triumphs over evil.
-Sylvester Stallone
If you're gonna do action movies, you're gonna get an injury at some point. It's inevitable.
-Jason Statham
I don't think people are experiencing superhero fatigue. Do you hear people complaining that there are too many action movies? I think it's good entertainment.
-Michael Pena |
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I have a confession to make:
I like action movies.
Give me a good car chase, shootout, exploding thing, or martial arts, and I'll watch the hell out of it.
So I'm pretty excited for this week's opening of the sixth installment in the Mission: Impossible series, and I've spent the past week re-watching the first five.
Okay, a side comment here: People react Pavlovianly whenever I mention that film series. It never fails. So I'm going to assume right now that the first thing you thought of was "Tom Cruise? But he's a weirdo." Or something like that.
Listen - I don't give a damn. I don't pay attention to what actors do when they're not being actors. I simply don't care. Best I can tell, the biggest problem people have with him is that he's in a weird religion. Look, from my point of view, his religion is no more or less weird than anyone else's religion.
Let me give you another example. I like Jason Statham movies. I'll watch the hell out of Jason Statham movies. But everything I know about Jason Statham is as follows:
1) He's an actor.
2) He's... British, maybe? But faking accents is part of point (1).
3) That's about it, really.
Side comment over.
Now, where was I?
Oh, yeah: Mission: Impossible movies.
Hard to imagine, but the first one came out 22 years ago. In other words, a child conceived in the back seat of the theater on its opening day could have just graduated from college. Hey, kid, what were your parents thinking? Should have paid attention to the movie.
Anyway, watching all five back-to-back made me realize the difference between a good action movie (anything with stunts, explosions, car chases, fight scenes, etc.) and a great action movie. And that difference, dear readers, is comedy.
You had to know I'd get around to that eventually.
At some point, the people whose job it is to do such things - I don't know; the producer, the screenwriter, the director, the key grip; someone - decided that what the movies needed was some laughs. Not enough to become a self-parody, but little things. One-liners. Situational failures. Even just facial expressions; one moment that sticks out for me was when someone says a certain plan would be "impossible," the camera just focuses on Ethan Hunt's (Cruise's character) face as he fights a smirk. The impossible, is, after all, what they do - but it's funnier when he doesn't point that out.
The comedy worked. Unlike some movie franchises, the later installments are noticeably more engaging than the earlier ones.
So yeah, they're action movies with dramatic personal and save-the-world high stakes, but once they stopped taking themselves so seriously, they elevated into art.
What's our takeaway here? It is, of course, that comedy is important. It sells. It adds spice to the sometimes-bland dishes of popular entertainment, and provides a nice break from the body count.
Now, having sung its praises, I wouldn't be at all surprised to find that the sixth film will suck. Doesn't matter - that would be funny, too. |
Some funny things for your enjoyment:
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Last time, in "Nerd Camp" , I related my week at a dude ranch in the Rockies.
Christopher Roy Denton  : Loved your nerd camp anecdote, but I think you should have given Nuclear Fireball a go!
Horses and I don't get along at the best of times. Not even ones named Petunia.
Quick-Quill  : I sat in my office convulsing in laughter over this NL. I had to be quiet because I'm supposed to be working, although this was before 8:00. I have tears leaking. Your story, with all the side thoughts, and description made my day. Thank you for the laughter.
I don't know, maybe... don't read Comedy newsletters at work? Glad you liked it. Also glad you didn't get a note from HR.
Sophurky  : That is not the Rocky Mountain High I hoped for you, Robert ... had you taken my suggestion, you might not have minded the sunburn so much.
I'm not sure there was sufficient oxygen to keep anything lit.
Monty  : This is a very interesting News Letter and a fun read.
Thanks!
Mummsy  : Nerd camp sounds like it should be much less strenuous. *sigh* Well, you made it there and back again. But I'm sure you don't plan on making a Hobbit of it ...
Well, it's not like I was expecting to sit around playing D&D or doing math. This was my vacation from that sort of thing.
QPdoll is Grateful  : It's funny, about going outside for different activities. My daughter doesn't do well being out of doors. She calls it the outernet and she's much better with the innernet.
Absolutely stealing "outernet."
River : Hey, Bob. I loved this newsletter. You have a wonderful sense of humour.
And you have excellent taste in editors.
Shannon  : Great newsletter, Robert Waltz! 
Thanks - only trouble is, it's going to be hard to top. Well, that's true of almost anything that's set at 10,000 feet...
And that's it for me for July! See you next month - until then,
LAUGH ON!!!
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