The preview made me laugh
Bookworm on Aug 15 2008 at 9:32 am | Filed under: Hollywood, Silly Stuff
My Dad and I used to watch old slapstick together on Saturday and Sunday morning TV: Laurel & Hardy, Abbot & Costello, Charlie Chaplin, even the Three Stooges (whom I didn’t like). I’ve always had a fondness, therefore, for silly humor. When I finally saw Airplane, I thought it was one of the funniest movies I’ve ever seen. I still get a kick out of it and look forward to the time when I feel my kids are old enough (a) to get most of the jokes and (b) not to be vulnerable to too much of its vulgarity.
I guess it’s no surprise, then, that I found amusing the preview for David Zucker’s newest film, American Carol. Politics aside (and it does aim to slap around far Left politics), the preview shows vintage Zucker-esque broad humor, with slapping, updated versions of ancient jokes* and boob grabbing. Here’s the preview:
While the politics may put staunch progressives off, I suspect that there are many people, especially young men, who will be drawn to the puerile humor.
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*I call this an ancient joke (and it’s also a very bad one) because I first heard it in 1973, immediately after the Yom Kippur War:
The Arabs were very excited. Studies had shown that a large number of men in the Israeli Army were named David. Their plan was to go to the battlefield, call out the name “David,” and kill whoever responded to that name. Things didn’t go quite as planned. When the Arabs called out “David” no one stood up. Instead, they heard a voice yell out “Is that you Mohammed?” Half the Arabs stood up in response and the Israelis shot them.
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This is one of those infamous trench humor jokes.
You know, where two opposing sides have to sit in trenches next to each other and then they start devising ways to kill each other but make it seem like they are not.
Michael Moore is often in his own world. If you ever see one of his speeches or what not, you might notice one of his idiosyncrasies. He likes to live in and speak of his own world, which is not our world.
I predict this movie will do better at the box office than Redacted, Valley of Elah, Rendition, Stop-Loss and Lions for Lambs combined. Of course, that’s hardly a risky prediction.
McCainiacs thinking outside of the box…
In 1980 (and again in 1984), Ronald Reagan won in significant part because traditionally Democratic voters abandoned their party to vote for him. Those same “Reagan Democrats” have shown up frequently in the news today. Indeed, McCain is specifically…
The brilliant ZAZ guys – David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, Jerry Zucker – are the Beatles of lowbrow comedic humor to me. They’ve been split up for a while. Individually they’re still pretty good, but the gestalt of the team was magical. Airplane, Ruthless People, Police Squad, The Naked Gun trilogy…
In recent years David Zucker – director of “An American Carol” – has been producing over-the-top humorous political ads.
The Madeline Albright/Kim Jong Il ad
The Taxman Cometh ad:
The James Baker and the Iraq Study Group ad
The last ad uses real video that is particularly damning to Neville Chamberlain forever. (“Well, THAT negotiation went well!”)
I have hopes for this new movie by David Zucker. But as with so many SNL flops, he might not be able to sustain a feature-length film. I and many coworkers will be there in a theatre Friday night, Oct 3rd, with high hopes for cheering it on, however!
This is a good article about conservatives within Hollywood beginning to speak up, to break their cowed silence. It focuses on Zucker’s upcoming film.
A trip down nostalgia lane. Quotes from “Airplane”…
Ted Striker: My orders came through. My squadron ships out tomorrow. We’re bombing the storage depots at Daiquiri at 1800 hours. We’re coming in from the north, below their radar.
Elaine Dickinson: When will you be back?
Ted Striker: I can’t tell you that. It’s classified.
———-
Rumack: You’d better tell the Captain we’ve got to land as soon as we can. This woman has to be gotten to a hospital.
Elaine Dickinson: A hospital? What is it?
Rumack: It’s a big building with patients, but that’s not important right now.
———-
Rumack: Elaine, you’re a member of this crew. Can you face some unpleasant facts?
Elaine Dickinson: No.
———-
[as the plane prepares to take off]
Hanging Lady: Nervous?
Ted Striker: Yes.
Hanging Lady: First time?
Ted Striker: No, I’ve been nervous lots of times.
———-
Elaine Dickinson: There’s no reason to become alarmed, and we hope you’ll enjoy the rest of your flight. By the way, is there anyone on board who knows how to fly a plane?
———-
Ted Striker: Surely you can’t be serious.
Rumack: I am serious… and don’t call me Shirley.
———-
Rumack: Captain, how soon can you land?
Captain Oveur: I can’t tell.
Rumack: You can tell me. I’m a doctor.
Captain Oveur: No. I mean I’m just not sure.
Rumack: Well, can’t you take a guess?
Captain Oveur: Well, not for another two hours.
Rumack: You can’t take a guess for another two hours?
———-
Ted Striker: I flew single engine fighters in the Air Force, but this plane has four engines. It’s an entirely different kind of flying altogether.
Rumack, Randy: [together] It’s an entirely different kind of flying.
———-
Rumack: What was it we had for dinner tonight?
Elaine Dickinson: Well, we had a choice of steak or fish.
Rumack: Yes, yes, I remember, I had lasagna.
———-
Male announcer: The white zone is for immediate loading and unloading of passengers only. There is no stopping in a red zone.
Female announcer: The white zone is for immediate loading and unloading of passengers only. There is no stopping in a red zone.
Male announcer: The red zone is for immediate loading and unloading of passengers only. There is no stopping in a white zone.
Female announcer: No, the white zone is for loading. Now, there is no stopping in a RED zone.
Male announcer: The red zone has always been for loading.
Female announcer: Don’t you tell me which zone is for loading, and which zone is for unloading.
Male announcer: Look Betty, don’t start up with your white zone shit again. There’s just no stopping in a white zone.
Female announcer: Oh really, Vernon? Why pretend, we both know perfectly well what this is about. You want me to have an abortion.
———-
[Flashback, about a bar he frequented during the war]
Ted Striker: It was a rough place – the seediest dive on the wharf. Populated with every reject and cutthroat from Bombay to Calcutta. It’s worse than Detroit.
———-
Female announcer: Captain Oveur, white courtesy phone. Captain Clarence Oveur, white courtesy phone.
Female announcer: [Oveur picks up the red phone] No, the white phone.
This is going to be too much fun. October 3rd could be the new Independence Day.
Al
I’m looking forward to paying the $10 or whatever it is today to see this movie. I liked all the Naked Gun movies, the Police Squad TV series, Hot Shots and Kentucky Fried Movie, as well as Airplane, which I first saw the year after it came out on HBO.
Speaking of lines, these are classic ones from that movie also:
Steve McCroskey: Johnny, how ’bout some more coffee?
Johnny: No, thanks!
[reading newspaper headlines]
Rex Kramer: Passengers certain to die!
Steve McCroskey: Airline negligent.
Johnny: There’s a sale at Penney’s!
Steve McCroskey: Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit drinking.
Steve McCroskey: Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit smoking.
Steve McCroskey: Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue.
Steve McCroskey: Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit amphetamines
Ted Striker: Because of my mistake, six men didn’t return from that raid.
Elaine Dickinson: Seven. Lieutenant Zip died this morning.
Ted Striker: It’s Lieutenant Hurwitz. Severe shell-shock. Thinks he’s Ethel Merman.
Lieutenant Hurwitz: [singing] You’ll be swell, you’ll be great. Gonna have the whole world on a plate. Startin’ here, startin’ now. Honey, everything’s comin’ up roses…
The classic dialogue in Airplane! is remembered today.
However, the ZAZ guys also played an audio joke on viewers. Remember the exterior visuals of that jet plane flying thru the night sky?
The engine sounds were actually those from a propeller plane.
JackCoupal, I agree. The sight gags and audio gags are even funnier than the dialogue transcripts. But they’re harder to capture in blog comments…
The Point/Counterpoint guy: “They bought their tickets. They knew what they were getting into. I say… let em crash.” And later… “Boy Trapped in Refrigerator Eats Own Foot”
Lead reporter: “OK boys… let’s take some pictures.”
The lineup of passengers in the aisle, seeking to handle the hysterical woman passenger.
Etc…