uncritical mass

so, as sassyass sassyasks, was borat the "funniest movie of all time?"

the bartlebee and i went to see this film last night at the olde tyme mechanical carriage picture theatre in coburg-town. first off, we love the drive-in. lucky for us they still had some of those speaker-on-pole things for people like us whats ain't got working radios. we made up some popped corn and watched the sun set all pretty-like and eagerly anticipated the comic-stylings of the borat.

and then we watched the movie and went home.

[spoilers here, ye be warned]

i did not think it was the funniest movie of all time. in fact, i thought it was only approximately as funny as an average ali g show episode. sure, everyone likes to watch two unattractive naked men carrying an anal fister get into a crowded elevator. sure, we all want to stuff pamela anderson into a hand-knit sack. and when he threw his bag on the ground in frustration and it squawked? that made me snort.

but i will stand out of line here and disagree. it was funny. it wasn't that funny.

thinking about this reminds me of my vague theory of comfortable agreement. i suspect that what people really like is NOT quality material (be it films, books, radioactive isotopes) but agreeing with other people. it makes us comfortable to know that we can express an opinion and have people nod and smile and say, "oh yes, quite."

sometimes people agree on things for good reasons (the godfather : critical mass) and sometimes they agree on things for incomprehensible reasons (braveheart : uncritical mass). some studio flack makes an appealing ad campaign and a critic or two joins the chorus and then everyone decides that some vaguely average film is the bee's knees (or, conversely, the bee's testes -- such as with Ishtar, really not that bad a film).

so, in the spirit of being disagreeable, here are some films that i think are really funny that nobody gives a good god-damn about:

1) Tapeheads. young john cusack and tim robbins decide to become videographers in a send up of MTV, politics and ninja bitch fights. features the line, "teach me to read" in it's funniest incarnation and some raps about waffles.

2) Josie and the Pussycats. no really. it's funny. a crassly commercial film about the crass commercialization of media. the fact that most people who watch it miss the point and are commercialized by the film warning about commercialization? that's funny.

3) Schizopolis. i'm not going to try and describe this film. instead just mull over this bit of dialogue: "Oliver Stone? Never heard of him. Send meat." see? it's by soderburgh who directed erin broccolivich and it's JUST LIKE THAT except completely different.

4) The Arrival. sure, this isn't supposed to be a comedy but don't let that stop you. life is much better once you realize that everything Charlie Sheen is in is comedy. in this one he plays a scientist. see? funny. (for bonus points, find his book of poetry, Peace of My Mind -- it's fucking hysterical. sean has a copy if you know sean.)

5) Borat. no just kidding.

6) The Miracle of Morgan's Creek. preston sturges is one weird dude. this 1944 film about a woman who gets knocked up by a soldier is subversively bewilderingly funny. features my favorite name of all time: ignatz ratskywatsky. just try and say that with a straight face.

feel free to disagree. or add your own recommendations. those are just off the top of my head.