Silent Comedians (4)

Silent Comedians (3)

Silent Comedians (2)

Silent Comedians

Mel Brooks

It's hard to believe, after the last quarter century, but Mel Brooks, and his comedies in the 1970s and earlier (The Producers, Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, High Anxiety), were once critically acclaimed, and- especially pre-Annie Hall- he was considered a better filmmaker than Woody Allen.

Then, things all went downhill. Political relevance faded to second rate slapstick, like this video, from 1983:



It's always an interesting question to ask- why does an artist 'lose it'? Did they ever really have it? Did dumb critics and dumber audiences merely think they had it? Or, like so many rock bands that nosedive after they hit 30 years of age- The Who, The Rolling Stones, Deep Purple, Metallica, etc.- is lesser art (not the higher arts) somehow prone to be a thing for the young? After all, Woody Allen's zaniest comedies were in his youth.

Maybe there's a combination of things?

So, why did Mel Brooks falter and Woody Allen grow into a film director on par with the best of the world? Where is Brooks' Crimes And Misdemeanors, Hannah And Her Sisters, or Stardust Memories?

My take is that Brooks, like many one hit wonder bands, was saving his best material, over many years, and blew his load early. Think of rock groups that have a great first album, filled with songs they spent years perfecting on the road, and then go into a studio for the followup and are dry.

But, whether right or wrong, it's still a bummer that there have been no Brooks films of value for almost three decades.

Brüno

My friend and I recently saw Brüno, starring Sacha Baron Cohen, in theatres. While I still haven’t seen Borat, I have seen pieces of it here and there, and what I’ve seen has admittedly been quite funny. So my expectations for this movie were high, as I’ve been pretty tired of ho-hum movies that I’ve seen at the bigger theatres of late.

While I’ve encountered a few people who said they loved the movie and thought it was hilarious…both my friend and I were seriously underwhelmed by this movie. Simply put, we just didn’t think it was that funny. Yes, it had some good moments, but you could experience many of them just by watching the trailer for the film.

Some of the unfunniest material involved some celebrity guest appearances, like the Paula Abdul cameo, or the overdone ‘celebrity charity recording’ spoof at the end of the film. As well, certain pop culture references made in the film will date it quickly. And while there were some funny parts of the film involving some more outrageous aspects gay sexuality, nothing was particularly shocking …in a world where videos like “2 Girls, 1 Cup” or “2 Guys, 1 Horse” can circulate freely on the internet, how could it be?

In his review of Borat, Dan said that film was "a wonderful critique- nay, full out assault, on the asininity of Political Correctness." Aside from this film not being that funny, the Brüno character wasn’t really used to reveal anything of any depth, whether that be about American attitudes towards homosexuality, or celebrity obsession, or even the narcissism of the type of gay man Brüno is parodying. Cohen and his collaborators just didn’t push it far enough in their writing for the film, and even if they still hadn’t had much to say, they could have said it in much funnier ways. Ah well, here's to hoping that Borat is better, whenever I do end up renting it.

Whatever Works

The latest Woody film.

Looks funny bit definitely a slice of Woody Lite.

The trailer: