Category Archives: Comedy

“Last Night at the Alamo” (1984) dir. Eagle Pennell

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Before “Eastbound and Down” and the rest of Jody Hill’s brilliantly dark and funny oeuvre of delusional losers, there was Eagle Pennell’s funny and sad “Last Night at the Alamo.”  Written by Kim Henkel, the man who wrote the original screenplay for “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” and one of the best truly indie movies of all time, “Last Night at the Alamo” tells the tale of the Alamo’s (a Houston dive bar) last night in business. The regulars are an interesting bunch: William (aka Ichabod) is a hot-headed, but dim young man in his early 20s; Claude is a man whose blue collar world is threatened when his wife insists they move the suburbs and she subsequently throws him out for drinking too much; and then there’s Cowboy, the legendary BMOC at the bar, who has a big plan to save the bar … or go to Hollywood to become a cowboy actor.  There’s other regulars too, as well as assorted bartenders, girlfriends, wives, and former lovers, who fade in and out of the scenery, as the night continues.

The Alamo’s closing represents more than the closing of their favorite watering hole.  This is a place where all the men go to be big shots after difficult days on the job or in their lives.  It’s obvious the men feel small outside the Alamo, because they strut around and pathetically act like badasses within its confines.  The Alamo’s closing means that these men will now be reduced the lives they lead … with their favorite escape hatch closing behind them.

The film has some serious moments, but it’s also hysterically and profanely funny.  One of the best scenes in the film is the very first one, where William drives to the Alamo after work with his girlfriend and he rants and screams about everything from having to borrow an undesirable vehicle because his regular ride needs repair to his girlfriend complaining about his cursing and drinking, etc.  If the opening scene doesn’t grab you, the rest of the film won’t.

If you’re at all a fan of Jody Hill or Danny McBride, “Last Night at the Alamo” is an absolute must-see.

In addition, you must see the feature length documentary about Pennell, called “The King of Texas: The Life and Death of Independent Filmmaker Eagle Pennell,” a terrific but painful and sad documentary about the tragic life of “Last Night at the Alamo”‘s director.

“The Big Lebowski” (1998) dir. Joel and Ethan Coen

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I’m a day late, but not a buck short on this 15th anniversary greeting for one of the greatest cult movies of the last 25 years. “The Big Lebowski” was the Coen Brothers’ follow-up to the the critically-acclaimed, multiple-award winning “Fargo” from 1996. Having loved “Fargo,” I went to see “The Big Lebowski” on its opening weekend in 1998.

My initial reaction? I enjoyed some parts of it, but ultimately thought this was a kind of “f–k you” film they made after the success of “Fargo.” There were just so many weird parts that (at first) didn’t seem to fit together that I concluded that this was a film that was going to be repository of every weird and cool idea that the Coen Brothers had, but weren’t able to put into their other movies.

It wasn’t until I watched it again a few years later that I (finally) got what made “The Big Lebowski” one of the best films the Coens ever had any involvement with. The film is not a mere depository for strange ideas. It’s a wonderful take on Raymond Chandler L.A. detective noir, only instead of a a cynical detective with a secret heart of gold as the hero, we get an aging, overweight stoner who just wants his damn rug back, man. I don’t know why this second viewing struck me more funny than the first, but it did. And I laugh more and more each time I see it. This would make a great double-bill with Robert Altman’s piss-take on Raymond Chandler “The Long Goodbye.”

“The Big Lebowski” arguably contains Jeff Bridges’ best-ever performance as Jeff “The Dude” Lebowski, John Goodman’s best-ever performance as Jeff’s gun-crazed bowling partner Walter, and a host of other stellar supporting performances by Steve Buscemi, David Huddleston, Julianne Moore, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Tara Reid.

The scene here is Jeff “The Dude” Lebowski’s porno film fantasy based on his love of bowling and his general dudeness. Nothing too salacious here, but probably not safe for work. The Dude abides!

Bill Hicks’s Banned “Letterman” Appearance … With a Public Apology from David Letterman to Bill’s Mother Mary

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Comedian Bill Hicks was one of the greatest stand-up comedians and … dare I say it … modern philosophers. Hicks was very controversial due to his language and “take no prisoners” attitude. But Hicks was not a shock comic, like Andrew Dice Clay. Hicks had some very profound things to say about how we as a culture choose to close our minds and hearts, allowing “the demons run amok.” He constantly urged everyone to “squeegee (our) Third Eye,” wake up, and open our hearts and minds again.

On June 16, 1993, Hicks was diagnosed with liver and pancreatic cancer. He let very few people know of his condition and worked nonstop even while receiving chemotherapy.

On October 1, 1993, Hicks made his 12th appearance on David Letterman’s late night show, but his entire performance was cut from the final show due to Letterman and his producer being nervous about a religious joke that Hicks had made. Hicks succumbed to cancer on February 7, 1994. He was 32 years old.

Letterman expressed regret for his decision to cut Hicks’s performance and on January 30, 2009, Letterman broadcast Hicks’s entire routine uncut, had Hicks’s mother Mary on as a guest, and publicly apologized to Mary for the way he treated Hicks. A very classy thing to do.

The clip above features Hicks’s entire cut performance as well as Letterman’s interview and apology to Mary.  The clip below is Hicks’ most profound statement about life.   It’s a routine called “It’s Just a Ride” …

The World is like a ride in an amusement park, and when you choose to go on it you think it’s real, because that’s how powerful our minds are. And the ride goes up and down and round and round, and it has thrills and chills and is very brightly colored, and it’s very loud. And it’s fun, for a while.

Some people have been on the ride for a long time, and they’ve begun to question, ‘Is this real, or is this just a ride?’, and other people have remembered, and they’ve come back to us and they say ‘Hey, don’t worry. Don’t be afraid, ever, because this is just a ride.’ and we … KILL THOSE PEOPLE.

“Shut him up! We have a lot invested in this ride! SHUT HIM UP! Look at my furrows of worry. Look at my big bank account, and my family. This just has to be real.”

It’s just a ride.

But we always kill those good guys who try and tell us that. You ever noticed that? And let the demons run amok. But it doesn’t matter, because … It’s just a ride.

And we can change it anytime we want. It’s only a choice. No effort, no work, no job, no savings of money. A choice, right now, between fear and love. The eyes of fear wants you to put bigger locks on your door, buy guns, close yourself off. The eyes of love, instead see all of us as one.

Here’s what we can do to change the world right now, to a better ride:  take all that money we spent on weapons and defense each year and instead spend it feeding, clothing, and educating the poor of the world, which it would many times over, not one human being excluded, and WE CAN EXPLORE SPACE, TOGETHER, BOTH INNER AND OUTER, forever … in peace.

“Lenny Bruce Tries to do a Clean Show” from “Lenny” (1974) dir. Bob Fosse

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From Bob Fosse’s terrific, but sad biopic of the late comedian Lenny Bruce comes this scene where Lenny (played by Dustin Hoffman) attempts to do a stand-up routine without saying a certain word that got him arrested a few nights earlier. As he points out, the routine is far dirtier without the bad word than with the word. A funny and clever way to make a very crucial point … that the truth, as ugly as it may be at times, is far less offensive than the lie that’s often used to mask the truth.

“The Reagans Speak Out on Drugs” (1988) dir. Cliff Roth

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One of the earliest … and funniest … mash-ups, memes, what have you … ever created. This is Cliff Roth’s ingeniously edited pre-digital masterpiece where Ronald and Nancy Reagan deliver a pro-drug message to the nation. Hysterically funny stuff. And if you like what you see, please check out the terrific article about Roth from io9’s website about how he put it all together back in the day.

http://io9.com/5988426/the-man-who-created-one-of-the-first-internet-memes–before-the-internet?fb_action_ids=10151449301062092&fb_action_types=og.likes&fb_source=other_multiline&action_object_map=

Doug Stanhope on Artists “Dying too Young”

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From Doug Stanhope’s unbelievably awesome comedy special “No Refunds” from 2007 is his take on artists who people think died too young. Stanhope’s comments on Jimi Hendrix and Lenny Bruce may seem sacrilegious … but it doesn’t make them any less true. Not safe for work or little ones by any stretch of the imagination.

“One of our base commanders … went a little funny in the head…” from “Dr. Strangelove” (1964) dir. Stanley Kubrick

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One of the funniest scenes in movie history. Peter Sellers plays an American president giving a courtesy phone call to the Soviet premier letting them know that nuclear weapons are heading their way. As Sellers’ president Merkin Muffley advises: “I’m sorry, too, Dmitri… I’m very sorry… All right, you’re sorrier than I am, but I am as sorry as well… I am as sorry as you are, Dmitri! Don’t say that you’re more sorry than I am, because I’m capable of being just as sorry as you are… So we’re both sorry, all right?… All right.”  The fact that Rex Harrison won on Oscar over Sellers that year is a major tragedy.

“The Quaalude Scene” from “Modern Romance” (1981) dir. Albert Brooks

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Before Larry David’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” there were Albert Brooks’s squirm-inducing comedies. “Modern Romance” is the funniest of Brooks’s comedies and also the most uncomfortable to watch.

In this scene, Brooks’s ultra-neurotic character just broke up his long-time girlfriend and now, regretting his decision to do so, is completely miserable. A work colleague gives him some quaaludes to help him out and he takes all of them. Brooks’s character goes through the entire emotional gamut in under 10 minutes, including several luded-out phone calls. Hysterically funny … and while I’ve never taken ludes, I can’t say I haven’t made some embarrassing phone calls myself in an altered state of mind back in the day.

According to legend, this was one of Stanley Kubrick’s favorite films.

“The Sure Thing” (1985) dir. Rob Reiner

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Now back to “Sneakin’ in the Movies” … By the winter of 1985, I had had unparallelled success buying tickets to R-rated films before the age of 17 in my very conservative home town, probably due to my height. So, when me and some friends of mine wanted to see “Porky’s Revenge” on opening weekend, we thought we had a lock on achieving this goal … (OK, I hear you sneering out there … like you were sipping espresso at the local art house discussing a revival of “L’Avventura” when you were 15 … kiss my Antonioni!) …

However, when I went to buy the tickets, I heard words I had never heard before at a box-office: “May I see some ID?” I fumbled out the lame “Oh, I think I left it at home” and bought 3 tickets to a PG-13 film called “The Sure Thing” instead. Since my friends and I were bound and determined to see “Porky’s Revenge,” we simply walked into the theater showing “Porky’s Revenge” and sat down. Unfortunately for us, several other people our age had the same idea, because the film sold out and there were about 50 patrons who bought tickets who couldn’t find a seat. The usher sized up what was happening real fast and announced “We know there are people here that shouldn’t be here. I’m going to come back in 3 minutes and start checking ticket stubs.” We took that as our cue to check out “The Sure Thing.”

Now, “The Sure Thing” was not a completely unknown choice. I knew Rob Reiner (director of “This is Spinal Tap”) had directed it and it had gotten some good notices by critics, so I figured it couldn’t be that bad. Granted, the premise is rom-com hell to the nth degree (wacky-nutty he-man tries to impress a beautiful but uptight woman), but I remember the film got a lot of praise at the time because it was a teen sex comedy with heart … unusual at the time (this was 14-years before “American Pie”). Anyway, I wound up liking it a lot, thought it was funny as hell, and loved John Cusack’s character Walter Gibson.

Riding a wave of nostalgia recently, I watched it again … and well … I’m sorry to say this movie has not aged well … at all. Don’t get me wrong. I really like Cusack as an actor, like many of Rob Reiner’s films, and still have a little crush on Daphne Zuniga, the lead actress. But Cusack’s character in this film is a complete tool. Maybe that contradictory “wacky-nutty-he-man” thing was mildly sexy to women 30 years ago, but I can’t imagine any woman giving this d-bag a fifth look these days. If you disagree, then I think you’re confusing your memory with other Cusack characters (i.e. “Say Anything”) who were a lot more charming … mainly because they didn’t try so hard. This film is so annoying that even Katherine Heigl wouldn’t act in it. Sometimes, memories and nostalgia are not what they’re cracked up to be.