davidh777

davidh777

Reserved

Trevor

In for my usual month of horror comedies slowly transitioning to holiday comedies!

EdTheRipper

As much as I love the horror challenge, I enjoy this one a bit more because it helps clear up the logjam of comedies on the DVR that comes from not watching any for a month.

Mr Awesome

I'm surprised there's not a universal checklist of sub-genres, formats and creators like the other challenges, like with the animation challenge.

davidh777

This challenge has historically done theme nights instead of a checklist, but participation has been light. We probably could adapt that lschedule into a checklist if desired. I can’t say I know offhand what all the other challenges do because I’m not real active in the lists and stuff myself.

Cardsfan111

I'm often surprised when watching old sitcoms to discover they aren't as family friendly as I remember them. Watched the first couple of episodes of Happy Days and the plots have revolved around Richie trying to score with a girl who has a reputation for being "loose" and Richie getting drunk at a stag party. Granted, I know the show does shift gears a bit. Fonzie had very few lines or appearances early on.

Indy24LA

I think my main goal this month is to get thru as much Superstore as I can.

davidh777

I finally gave in to the Netflix suggestions (and I happened to have 90 minutes of free time) and watched the Keanu Reeves-Winona Ryder flick Destination Wedding. Their constant sniping was annoying, but the dialogue (and it was nearly all two-handed dialogue) was funny. Overall I liked it.

MrTerrific

I like that this challenge gives me a reason to watch TOMMY BOY with one of my favorite duos, Chris Farley and David Spade. Great for quite a few laughs.

Travis McClain

My Horror Challenge project was the Universal Classic Monsters box set. I got a much later start than I intended and didn't quite finish on time. The upshot, though, is that by pure happenstance, I didn't get to the three Abbott and Costello Meet... features until Halloween night, so those have constituted the start of my Comedy Challenge this year. I've known of Abbott and Costello since as long ago as I can remember, but I've watched surprisingly little of their actual work. I've seen the "Who's on First?" segment plenty, for instance, but never actually sat down to watch The Naughty Nineties.

I learned from supplements on the ...Frankenstein disc that Abbott and Costello resisted making that film, as they disliked the script and wanted to instead make another movie in their standard format built around their stand-up routines. I got a sense of what that meant when I got to ...Invisible Man, but it was clear by time they made ...the Mummy that they got their way entirely. That one has so little to do with the Mummy series that it feels like a spoof going out of its way to avoid a copyright infringement suit. That didn't bother me, because I actively dislike that series (at best, I find it boring), but their shtick wore real thin real fast. I wonder to what extent they were tired of it by then themselves.

It's ...Frankenstein that's by far the most satisfying. I'd seen it once before, 10 years and 1 day earlier. I liked it then; I loved it this time. Not only is it my favorite of the three A&C movies in this box set, but it's my #6 favorite overall! I laughed from start to finish, whereas I barely snorted during the others. The key reason that one works is that the Monsters play it straight. Lon Chaney, Jr. also didn't want to make that film, apparently, but he was as fine as Larry Talbot in it as he had been in his last two appearances. The centerpiece, though, is Bela Lugosi, who absolutely crushes it as Count Dracula. His intensity creates the space for the Abbott and Costello humor to play out differently than in the other two movies. Lugosi sneaks in some comedic moments of his own, especially when we first see him peering out from inside his coffin at Costello. And as a Universal Monsters fan, I appreciate that the finale gave us the Dracula vs. Wolf Man fight that House of Frankenstein and House of Dracula failed to give us, and it's played as seriously as the fights in any of the other Monsters movies.

The Invisible Man series was easily the most eclectic anyway, with each film having its own cast and even its own genre. The A&C film, I learned, was originally written to be a straight film but was reworked to become this comedy. I liked the story but I found the gags trying. I'm one of those viewers who get mad when they watch an invisible person who is trying to lay low start doing things out in the open in front of everyone like eating and drinking in a crowded restaurant, their glasses and silverware seemingly floating in the air for all to see. The film works overall, but neither it or ...the Mummy made me laugh much.

davidh777

I hate getting sucked into the Netflix recommendations again, like when they add an ancient movie (Something Borrowed, 2011) and push it because it’s new to them, but I had never seen it, and it fit my mood. And it was perfectly fine and likely not something I’ll ever watch again until Netflix pushes it again in 10 years.

I’m unfamiliar with Ginifer Goodwin’s TV work, but she looked like the new It Girl with this and He’s Just Not That Into You (2009), but she didn’t really break out after that. I like her enough, but I guess the moviegoing public was just not that into her.

Cardsfan111

I meant to get to the Abbott & Costello films in October myself, but I'm going to be sure to check them out soon.

I just finished All of Me, the 1984 Steve Martin/Lily Tomlin flick. It was a first time watch after picking it up a Half Price Books last month. I can't believe I had gone so long without checking it out. Martin was absolutely hilarious.

Mr Awesome

Dug into some B/W rewatches, last weekend i started the dive into 80s. Doing some Bugs Bunny shorts cause those are always a hoot.

wishbone

Watching The Office (UK) again I forgot how #cringe Ricky Gervais was as David Brent. Some of it was hard to watch and I have seen it before. It was an interesting look back at office life in the early 2000s too.

So senior managment thought David was good to promote even though nothing was really shown to validate that in the series. In the US version Michael Scott was good at sales but not so good at management but apart from selling office supplies in a brief scene from the Christmas Special I did not get the sense that David Brent was at least good in sales. I guess Wernham Hogg just needed a warm body in the management chair.

I was looking forward to the ending, not just Tim and Dawn's resolution, but David dropping his need to be liked and connecting with Carol at the Christmas party as well telling Finchy to eff off. Such a great series.

BobO'Link

I picked up The Office (UK) after watching a few seasons of the US version. I typically find it interesting to see the origins of series that jump the pond and often find the originals far superior to their US counterparts. In what was a first, I discovered I did *not* like The Office (UK) at all. It completely fell flat and I lay most of that on Ricky Gervais' character. I doubt I'll ever give it a 2nd chance.

Trevor

Pretty sure last night was my first time seeing American Graffiti. Not sure how I’ve avoided it this long, but then, my memory isn’t the greatest. Film was better then I expected, perhaps Lucas’ finest directing.

Travis McClain

It's an all-time favorite of mine. I have no idea how many times I've seen it over the years, but I've seen it on VHS, DVD, Blu-ray, in a theater, and finally last year got to see it at a drive-in. I wanted to see it at a drive-in for ages. It just feels like the perfect setting. A lot of people left within the first fifteen minutes or so because the screen was so dim. I had a front row spot and could see well enough, but I can understand how anyone even two rows back might have struggled. The drive-in owner came on the speaker system when it ended and explained that he'd called the theaters association and asked about it and was told that was just how the film looks, which is apparently why most drive-ins won't show it. He then said that they would probably not show it again.

In any case, the dialogue is rich, the performances are solid, and I love how perfectly it captures the feeling of this last night of summer for teens. Every time I go back to it, I identify a bit more with someone different though it's Richard Dreyfuss's Curt that I relate to most. Mackenzie Phillips cracks me up in her precocious scenes. Charles Martin Smith has some of the best lines in the whole thing. And, of course, Lucas's use of source music to create the illusion of real time is brilliant.

Indy24LA

I watched Hudson Hawk for the first time and it was unsurprisingly awful. I'd avoided it all these years, but heard it gained a kinda cult status, but it's a cult I don't wanna join.

davidh777

Now that Seinfeld is on Netflix, I'm somewhat tempted to watch some, even though I rarely watch my DVDs. I used to repeat all the lines with friends in the office, but now I wonder how it holds up. Some have said that the characters' self-absorption doesn't fly as well these days.

Travis McClain

I was a dedicated fan during its original run. At the time, the only one I found excessively self-absorbed was George. He never learned any lessons, but he suffered enough consequences of his own making that I was content. The others I generally found to be oblivious to what they were doing. Or they handled poorly a situation that aggravated them, but they were usually situations that would aggravate me, too, so even if I disagreed with their reactions I still sided with them that the situation was aggravating.

Since its original run, I haven't gone back through it properly. I've caught sporadic reruns over the years, though, and honestly I find them hard to watch. I was too young to understand why TV Guide gushed over Julia Louis Dreyfuss at the time. I felt it was the over the top Jason Alexander and Michael Richards who gave the show its identity. Now, I can scarcely stomach Alexander. I find him exhausting. It's not that I'm put off by how over the top he is. It's that he's straight up awful. And Jerry Stiller is the impossible for me to tolerate anymore, in anything I've seen.

BobO'Link

I've mostly disliked Jerry Stiller *long* before Seinfeld. And then he shows up as a regular on King of Queens. At least on that one I could somewhat tolerate him but...

Travis McClain

God, I hated King of Queens. My ex-wife watched it. Sometimes I think the divorce was for the best.

Cardsfan111

I've spent the last week watching episodes from the first season of The Fall Guy. This initial season is 40 years old and I vaguely remember it as a kid. It's been fun because of the '80's stars that I've seen pop up. The one I'm currently viewing features the always lovely Erin Gray. Also an appearance from Lou Ferrigno as the Hulk, including a few scenes with him in only partial makeup which was cool to see.

Trevor

Speaking of Seinfeld, my most frequent viewing of the month so far has been Curb Your Enthusiam It’s one of those shows that I know I’ll love and get a smile, and good conversations about it’s social awkwardness, so I sort of ignore it. Need to keep binging and finally get past season three someday.