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Inspector Abberline 5th November 2016 05:19 PM

Dirty Work (1933)
 
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Dirty Work (1933)

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Professor Noodle is a mad scientist,but even mad scientists need there chimney swept every now and again.Who is that knocking on the door? Mr. Laurel and Mr. Hardy.chimney sweeps for hire,when asking where they might find the fireplace,Jessup the butler helpfully suggests "in that room, you'll find it standing against the wall" since there is no Charlie Hall or James Finlayson,to torment them in this short film its left to Jessop the butler,who is mildly sarcastic to say the least. Dirty Work has all your usual Laurel and Hardy film requisite's,bricks falling on Ollie's head,Stan shovelling soot into Ollie's trousers,Ollie falling off the roof of the house and straight through the top of a greenhouse.Also this has the rather immortal line from Ollie "I have nothing to say",whenever he is indignant or just rather irritated by something Stan has done to him,which is quite a lot.This line will end the film also as Ollie suffers even more at the hands of Stan,although you wonder if anything could be worse than sticking your sweeping brush on the end of a shotgun,luckily Ollie ducks,although later on even more bricks will be finding there way onto Oliver's head. Prof Noodle who is a mad scientist (is there any other?) is working on potion to make people younger,this also works on ducks to,as he shows the duo his solution in action and turns a duckling into an egg.Well when you got a massive tank of water and Stan and Ollie in the same room it goes without saying someones in trouble.Unfortunately for Ollie,it is he who gets pushed into the tank of water,the end result being a chimp in a bowler hat. Strangely what I find fascinating about this film is the amount of soot and dirt they generate,and by the end of it they are caked in the stuff,plus some marvellous sound effects whenever a brick or shovel is hit over the duo's heads.

Inspector Abberline 6th November 2016 10:31 PM

The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case
 
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The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case

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The duo are dreamily sitting on the dock of a bay,when a newspaper flies into the face of a sleeping Ollie,he awakes all startled and see's an article about an Ebeneezer Laurel who has died,and requests that his relatives attend the reading of the will. Ollie soon perks up and starts questioning Stan about his heritage,Which leads to one of the funniest lines in the film.
Oliver: Now we're getting somewhere. Is he living?
Stanley: No. He fell through a trap door and broke his neck.
Oliver: Was he building a house?
Stanley: No, they were hanging him.
So after a rather confusing conversation,the duo are off to the Laurel residence to claim Stan's inheritance.What they find is the police,who are investigating the late Ebeneezer death and are holding the rest of the family for suspicion of murder. After yet another confusing conversation between the police and Stan,
Detective: "Where were you November the fifteenth?"
Stan: "November? (thinks about it) Septober, Octember, Nowonder..."
Afterwards the duo spend most of the time,running around and screaming as bats,cats and bed sheets seem to scare them witless. The film is in the style of Old Dark House ,with lightening and thunder as Stan and Ollie manage to stumble and crash around the mansion.Its also a fairly spooky little film,very much in the same vein as OLIVER THE EIGHTH,even the ending they reused again for Oliver The Eighth ( I wonder what is the earliest film that used the dream ending?). All together Murder Case is a bit slow in parts and certainly not one of there funniest films,it relies to heavily on slapstick and not enough on dialogue.But Stan has some great lines,as he continually gets into some rather confusing conversations every so often.Ollie on the other hand sees the situation to make some money out of his sidekick only to find a murderous butler and his cross dressing sidekick.It is a fun film,let down by two many repeated slapstick scenes,and an ending which at the time was probably original but now seems hackneyed.

Demdike@Cult Labs 11th November 2016 05:36 PM

The Dictator (2012)

If like me you think Sacha Baron Cohen's previous two films, 2006's Borat and 2009's Bruno are the funniest comedies released this century then you are sure to enjoy The Dictator.

Where Baron Cohen almost reinvented movie comedy with his aggressive clowning in mock documentary format on those two films, in The Dictator he opts out of this approach and goes down the character fiction format of debut feature Ali G Indahouse (2002) which in my opinion didn't work anywhere near as well.

Here Cohen plays Arab tyrant Admiral General Haffaz Aladeen of Wadiya who goes to New York to defend his country's nuclear weapons program from UN investigation. However following a coup he is forced to join up with Zoey (Anna Faris), a human rights activist who offers him a job at her socially progressive, alternative lifestyle co-op in a bid to get his country back.

The jokes come thick and fast and are as non politically correct as anything in Borat, even sharing in that films anti-Semitism and sexist view points. Whilst the film is constantly amusing there are few actual laugh out loud moments but those that work really do cause a riot. For the most part this is fairly standard gross out comedy which is beginning to feel formulaic but because of Baron Cohen's comedy timing it still works well which hopefully doesn't really come over as a contradiction.

On the whole The Dictator is an hour and a half of non-PC comedy which i've enjoyed the two times i've watched it.


Nosferatu@Cult Labs 11th November 2016 05:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs (Post 511042)
The Dictator (2012)

I'm not the biggest fan of Sasha Baron Cohen's starring roles, always finding him preferable in supporting roles such as in Hugo and Sweeney Todd. It has also been a long time since I saw Brüno or Borat, both films I found better than Ali G Indahouse, but inferior to The Dictator. I thought it benefited from being a 'straight', comedy and without the faux documentary of Brüno and Borat, both making the audience complicit in the cruelty inflicted on those who are not in on the joke.

Inspector Abberline 20th November 2016 07:18 PM

Way Out West (1937)
 
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Way Out West. (1937)

Probably one of the most well known films,mainly down to the song "Trail Of The Lonesome Pine",and anybody who listened to the radio back in the mid 1970's,especially Ed Stewpot on Saturday morning Junior Choice,will remember this getting plenty of air play when released as a single in 1975 and getting to number 2 in the singles chart. This and there dance number to the song "At The Ball, That's All" sung by The Avalon Boys,are just two of the most memorable scenes from there careers,I expect even today most people would recognise those scenes even if they had not seen the film.iconic as they are.Way Out West see the duo try to deliver the deeds to a goldmine left to Mary Roberts and played by Rosina Lawrence,only for the pair to fall foul of the ever devious James Finlayson as Mickey Finn and his wife Lola Marcel (Sharon Lynn)..Unlike some movies which have musical interludes,they never feels intrusive or stops the flow of comedy,and at 65 mins running time,it never out stays its welcome.With any of there films,I can forgive any thing as long as the film is peppered with some cracking one liners and Way Out West is no exception,When Lola is impersonating Mary Roberts she asks the duo "Is it true that he's dead?" ,and with no sign of irony or tact Stan replies "well we hope he is, they buried him!" ,which as a joke is brilliant and has been borrowed or plagiarised many times since.Its also filled with many silly moments of slapstick,and some rather riotous fun,especially when Lola searches Stan for the deeds,which Stan seems to be enjoying a little to much. Way Out West. is probably there best feature length film,mainly due to the fact it was produced by Hal Roach so its still in that golden era of there films.

Inspector Abberline 24th November 2016 08:19 PM

One Good Turn (1931)
 
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One Good Turn (1931)

It's kind of interesting that the comedy duo never shied away from portraying the down and outs,especially considering this was the period of America’s great depression,which just showed that they were pretty much the underdogs and the people's champion.Whereas James Finlayson always seemed to portray the money grabbing landlord or the unscrupulous businessman.In One Good turn Finlayson is pretty much sending himself up by playing an actor who is portraying a landlord who is threatening to evict a little old lady in a play that he is rehearsing. Stan and Ollie have to face the fact they are penniless and decide to beg for food,where upon they come across the house of Mary Carr who is billed unceremoniously as just the Old lady. One Good Turn is quite interesting,its a bit like Ken Loach directing one of there films,the boys are unemployed and desperate for food to the extent they will work for food,something that there audience at the time may have been familiar with during the depression,The other factor here,is that the two of them are constantly at each others throat ,it seems that being poor makes them even more irritable and argumentative.With misunderstandings a plenty and arguments and threats of betrayal as even more accusation's of dishonesty are banded about Oliver: "What". Don't try to alibi. You know you stole this money from that old lady. Why guilt is written all over you. It all ends on a rather apocalyptic note as Stan goes axe crazy and takes his revenge on Ollie.

Inspector Abberline 28th November 2016 10:02 PM

The Fixer Uppers (1935)
 
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The Fixer Uppers (1935)

This seasonal offering see's the boys selling Christmas cards door to door,unfortunately for them there cards have the worst rhymes ever, "A merry Christmas, husband/ Happy New Year's nigh!/ I wish you Easter greetings/ Hooray for the Fourth of July!" .Eventually they come across the rather lovely Mae Busch,who is doing some rather unconvincing crying,due to the fact she feels her husband Charles Middleton as Pierre Gustave,no longer loves her.When the boys find out what is upsetting Mae,Stan has the rather confabulated plan of making her husband jealous by him witnessing her kiss another man,this is one of those classic Stan plan's that never sound the same twice when Ollie asks him to repeat it and the more he explains it the more confusing the plan gets.It all gets a bit X-rated when Mae Busch demonstrates to the duo how to give a passionate kiss,with the resulting kiss making Stan faint,in retaliation he plants a kiss on Mae with the result she faints this time.Where upon Stan tells Ollie "Well she started it!". The plot is not exactly sophisticated and it all goes a bit farcical with all the stuff about the husband catching his wife in a tryst.It also has a bizarre twist of fate,where the pair get drunk after taunting the husband on the phone,only for them to be taken back to Mae's house and dumped in her bed by the police when there blind drunk,and coming to in Mae bedroom,much to the husbands surprise and Ollie.There seems to be a lot of criticism with the older two reel shorts,with people feeling that by this time they had exhausted the format (which is crazy considering the Three Stooges made nearly 190 short films in the career) but I feel that The Fixer Uppers is much maligned but has some merit and is still a worth while watch.

Inspector Abberline 2nd December 2016 09:56 AM

Love and Death (1975)
 
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Love and Death (1975)

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Woody Allen takes his New York Jewish shtick and plonks his persona right in the middle of Russia during the Napoleonic wars, where even as a child he is given to religious dreams and asking the Grim Reaper some poignant question about the after life "Are there girls? " While managing to live through a battle that sees Boris (Woody Allen) become a war hero accidentally of course. Diane Keaton is again Allen's love interest and all round foil. Woody's humour ranges from the downright silly, see the scene where Allen and Keaton are trying to knock someone out with a wine bottle to philosophical pseudo debates that are just as silly but probably give the intellectuals in the audience something to laugh at as well.
The genius of Allen's early films was that he could pretty much get laugh 's from any subject matter, I remember watching Love and Death on television when I was an early teen, and while I did not get any of the literature references, it still gets a laugh just from absurdity of it all. The black drill sergeant putting Boris through his paces, or the explanation about why Young Gregor's son was older than Old Gregor.Nobody could figure out how that happened and What's it like to be dead? You know the chicken at Tresky's Restaurant? It's worse. And since I have never read any of the classic Russian novels the film is supposedly spoofing its is a testament to Allen's comedy that it does not really matter, because at the end of the day all it seems to come down to basically is love and death, or more to the point sex. Also the newly released Arrow Blu Ray is a very nice upgrade, while the film does not boast any special effects as such, it looks like it should, a film from the 1970's,no fancy what ever the **** they do with restorations, it just looks like a film no more no less. Love and Death is my favourite Woody Allen after Broadway Danny Rose, and they both stand well to repeated viewings, which is always a good sign. And remember Never shoot up in the air when you're standing under it.

Inspector Abberline 3rd December 2016 08:46 PM

On the Buses (1971)
 
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On the Buses (1971)

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While not exactly a festive film,no bank holiday or holiday period seems complete without a dose of On The Buses,to clear the away them winter blues and put awry smile on ones face (unless your a miserable PC grinch of course).This is proper period drama,forget all that Downton bollocks,nicotine stained fingers,wimpy bars,HP sauce bottles and every body seemingly wearing brown clothes with kipper ties against dis coloring wallpaper in a country that seemed like it was living under a cloud of smog.While every woman seemed to be wearing mini skirts and either bending over or walking up the stairs while being letched at by men with terrible haircuts and rotten teeth..At the the time this was released in the UK,On the Buses was up against some stiff competition at the cinema but still managed to beat Diamonds Are Forever at the box office.And while you could accuse the films and TV series of sexism,the first film tackles the issue of feminism full on.Both Stan Butler (Reg Varney) and Jack (Bob Grant) arrogantly flaunt the bus companies rules and regulations,and make poor oid Blakey (Stephen Lewis) live a misery,they believe they are able to do as they please,and with the power of unions behind them,they see themselves as being untouchable.But the management have a secret weapon to combat the duos arrogance,female bus drivers,who are not only a threat to the masculinity,(they are all pretty much a butch looking bunch of ladies to say the least) who are not easily intimadated but also a threat to the mens overtime as the more drivers there are ,means less work.But do not worry before it gets to much like a Ken Loach film we have plenty of sex mad house wife's,some amazingly bad bus driving and a dose of toilet humor just to make sure the film keeps up with with the British Standards on saucy UK comedies.

Demdike@Cult Labs 3rd December 2016 10:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Inspector Abberline (Post 512835)
On the Buses (1971)

Think you've posted this in the wrong thread.

This is the comedy thread. :xmastongue:

Inspector Abberline 4th December 2016 08:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs (Post 512840)
Think you've posted this in the wrong thread.

This is the comedy thread. :xmastongue:

You are nearly almost as funny as the review I read on Amazon the other day,which went like this -

Quote:

Two Stars
Don't like black & white films :xmascomp:

Nosferatu@Cult Labs 4th December 2016 09:57 AM

Because because it was broadcast before I was born and not really repeated during the late-1980s or mid-90s, I haven't seen a single episode of On the Buses, nor shows such as Rising Damp, Till Death Us Do Part, or Are You Being Served?, and I haven't seen any of the On the Buses films either. I'm not sure whether it's something I'd enjoy, but I am prepared to give it a chance.

Demdike@Cult Labs 4th December 2016 10:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nosferatu@Cult Labs (Post 512847)
Because because it was broadcast before I was born and not really repeated during the late-1980s or mid-90s, I haven't seen a single episode of On the Buses, nor shows such as Rising Damp, Till Death Us Do Part, or Are You Being Served?, and I haven't seen any of the On the Buses films either. I'm not sure whether it's something I'd enjoy, but I am prepared to give it a chance.

I'm happy to have the three Buses films in my collection.

As the Inspector frequently tells me, they are some of Hammers most successful films. :xmashumbug:

Inspector Abberline 4th December 2016 10:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs (Post 512848)
I'm happy to have the three Buses films in my collection.

As the Inspector frequently tells me, they are some of Hammers most successful films. :xmashumbug:

Consarnit I was gonna come at you with that fact for when you dissed the show yet again....:xmashumbug:

As for Nos,Im always amazed when people say they have'nt watched stuff I grew up with,all the major sitcoms of the 70's are pretty much ingrained in my memories as a child,I forget that there is probably a 20 to 30n years gap in some of are ages,saying that i would'nt watch half the bollocks that passes it self off as TV today,but thats because im a miserable old git.

Susan Foreman 4th December 2016 11:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nosferatu@Cult Labs (Post 512847)
Because because it was broadcast before I was born and not really repeated during the late-1980s or mid-90s, I haven't seen a single episode of On the Buses, nor shows such as Rising Damp, Till Death Us Do Part, or Are You Being Served?, and I haven't seen any of the On the Buses films either

Quote:

Originally Posted by Inspector Abberline (Post 512853)
Im always amazed when people say they have'nt watched stuff I grew up with,all the major sitcoms of the 70's are pretty much ingrained in my memories as a child

Bloody kids of today, eh Inspector

Quote:

Originally Posted by Inspector Abberline (Post 512853)
saying that i would'nt watch half the bollocks that passes it self off as TV today

There speaks a man of taste*

*Probably the only time the words 'Inspector' and 'taste' will be used in the same sentence...ever!

Demdike@Cult Labs 4th December 2016 11:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Inspector Abberline (Post 512853)
Consarnit I was gonna come at you with that fact for when you dissed the show yet again....:xmashumbug:

As for Nos,Im always amazed when people say they have'nt watched stuff I grew up with,all the major sitcoms of the 70's are pretty much ingrained in my memories as a child,I forget that there is probably a 20 to 30n years gap in some of are ages,saying that i would'nt watch half the bollocks that passes it self off as TV today,but thats because im a miserable old git.

:D

I think there is a lot of good tv about it's just knowing what it is. Personally i don't think there has been a decent British comedy since The League of Gentleman although that might be because the ones i've tried haven't impressed at all.

Same goes for British tv in general especially drama. As mentioned on here numerous times i really enjoyed The Night Manager earlier on this year as well as War and Peace which made me finally decide to check out Downton Abbey (Yes i noticed your tiny little line earlier :tongue1:) and i'm really pleased i did as i'm now half way through the second series and it's absolutely outstanding.

Drama, humour, thrills and it's so well written. Julian Fellowes has that knack that i've only seen from Russell T Davies previously, in that he can create a fully rounded character with just two lines of dialogue. If Nos is reading this he should definitely give it a go as i'm sure he'd like it. That complete box set on current viewing is easily the best tv i've bought this year. Yet like you, in my ignorance i've always dissed it as a series.

nosferatu42 4th December 2016 11:46 AM

I really like Peep show, IT crowd and Inbetweeners out of recent comedies but can't think of much else. ( some of Drifters is funny ,but it's a bit hit and miss.)
Oh and Mighty Boosh was after League and i really liked that too.:ladyxmas:

nosferatu42 4th December 2016 11:48 AM

Did you ever watch Black Mirror Dem, one of the only recent drama series i've taken to, they are all individual stories but well worth watching.

Demdike@Cult Labs 4th December 2016 11:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nosferatu42 (Post 512864)
I really like Peep show, IT crowd and Inbetweeners out of recent comedies but can't think of much else. ( some of Drifters is funny ,but it's a bit hit and miss.)
Oh and Mighty Boosh was after League and i really liked that too.:ladyxmas:

They were both a few years ago now and yes i forgot about them. Same goes for the excellent Misfits but that was comedy drama really.

Demdike@Cult Labs 4th December 2016 11:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nosferatu42 (Post 512866)
Did you ever watch Black Mirror Dem, one of the only recent drama series i've taken to, they are all individual stories but well worth watching.

No i haven't.

Inspector Abberline 4th December 2016 11:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs (Post 512863)
:D

I think there is a lot of good tv about it's just knowing what it is. Personally i don't think there has been a decent British comedy since The League of Gentleman although that might be because the ones i've tried haven't impressed at all.

Same goes for British tv in general especially drama. As mentioned on here numerous times i really enjoyed The Night Manager earlier on this year as well as War and Peace which made me finally decide to check out Downton Abbey (Yes i noticed your tiny little line earlier :tongue1:) and i'm really pleased i did as i'm now half way through the second series and it's absolutely outstanding.

Drama, humour, thrills and it's so well written. Julian Fellowes has that knack that i've only seen from Russell T Davies previously, in that he can create a fully rounded character with just two lines of dialogue. If Nos is reading this he should definitely give it a go as i'm sure he'd like it. That complete box set on current viewing is easily the best tv i've bought this year. Yet like you, in my ignorance i've always dissed it as a series.


Yes I threw Downton in just to see if your awake.Im just not a fan iof any of these Marvel/DC universe,I fed up to the back teeth of police drama wether its uk or us and apart from Jeeves and Wooster hate period tv.Comedy is abit trickier,I use to love all those panel shows,but now find them tedious,Mrs Brown boiys I just thought was rubbish.Man Down with Greg Davies was very good,but sufferd when Rik Maysl died.Still Game the brilliant scotish sitcom came back with a cracking new series,after that its box sets from the 1970,apoart from One foot in the Grave,which I recently rewatched and enjoyed immensely then its the holy grail of comedy Seinfeld,box set is never far from my dvd player.I just do not have the energy to watch anything because these new series seem to go on foreverrrrrrrrrrrrr:xmashumbug:

Demdike@Cult Labs 4th December 2016 11:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Inspector Abberline (Post 512869)
Yes I threw Downton in just to see if your awake.Im just not a fan iof any of these Marvel/DC universe,I fed up to the back teeth of police drama wether its uk or us and apart from Jeeves and Wooster hate period tv.Comedy is abit trickier,I use to love all those panel shows,but now find them tedious,Mrs Brown boiys I just thought was rubbish.Man Down with Greg Davies was very good,but sufferd when Rik Maysl died.Still Game the brilliant scotish sitcom came back with a cracking new series,after that its box sets from the 1970,apoart from One foot in the Grave,which I recently rewatched and enjoyed immensely then its the holy grail of comedy Seinfeld,box set is never far from my dvd player.I just do not have the energy to watch anything because these new series seem to go on foreverrrrrrrrrrrrr:xmashumbug:

Downton isn't quite like the Marvel universe. :tongue1:

I've just watched the second series of Jeeves and Wooster again. It's superb. You do know where the Bassets live, it's the same stately home as Downton Abbey ? Totleigh Towers, Bertie and Jeeves are regular visitors.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highclere_Castle

Inspector Abberline 6th December 2016 06:34 PM

Fling in the Ring 1955
 
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Fling in the Ring 1955

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In this short we see the trio train a boxer for his big fight,Chopper Kane (Richard Wessel),but the fix is in,and Chopper has to take a dive when he fights his opponent.In what crazy topsy-turvy world would anyone employ the Stooges to do anything but smack each other senseless let alone train a boxer. No curly as this was the era of Shemp before he was replaced by Curly Joe,now I have been a bit offish about the Stooges without Curly,but now I have watched quite a few shorts with Shemp,im slowly warming to the guy.At first I thought he looks to much like Moe,but after watching a few more short films with Shemp he definitely does grow on you,in fact he is probably my favourite Stooge after the great Curly.And while any Sam Raimi fan worth his salt knows that him and Bruce Campbell are Stooges fans,it's not until you watch a few of their short films do you start to see and hear a lot of the influences that have carried over into Raimi's Evil Dead films. Shemp goes a bit axe happy at one point,while waiting in the doorway for the bad guys to walk through,Shemp hits them over the head with an axe,knocking them out one by one,and he is using the sharp end to...OUCH.Still its a Three Stooges film so inevitably things go a bit awry for Shemp and the axe goes flying in the air and lands firmly on his head....OUCH. Colombia have released all of the Stooges short features,and for their age they look remarkably good in the PQ department,in fact there one of the best black and white releases I've seen in a while,no print damage or anything,certainly a lot better condition than a lot of the Laurel and Hardy prints available.

Nosferatu@Cult Labs 6th December 2016 06:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Inspector Abberline (Post 513118)
Fling in the Ring 1955

Fortunately, this is available on YouTube so, thanks to the Inspector's glowing review, I'll watch it a little later this evening

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=caSbqeMN6VM

Nosferatu@Cult Labs 6th December 2016 08:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nosferatu@Cult Labs (Post 513121)
Fortunately, this is available on YouTube so, thanks to the Inspector's glowing review, I'll watch it a little later this evening

I watched the 16 minute short and really enjoyed. I'm not a Three Stages fan – I haven't seen enough to form an opinion either way – but it was enough to make me want to check out more of their films, which I'll probably do over the next few weeks on YouTube.

Inspector Abberline 9th December 2016 03:01 PM

Holiday on the Buses (1973)
 
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Holiday on the Buses (1973)

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With the package holiday boom of the 1970's in full swing,it seemed that the going abroad was no longer the prerogative of the rich anymore,and that anyone can enjoy the joys of the Costa Brava. Of course in this new era of liberation for the working class was reflected in the films of the day.So Carry on Abroad (1972) went to Mediterranean island Elsbels,Are You Being Served? (1977 ) went to the sunny resort of Costa Plonka, (check out those hilarious comedy names for the foreign resorts).Mean while the cast of On the Buses for there third big screen outing go to the sunny climbs of Prestatyn, North Wales to enjoy the charms of a Butlins style holiday camp. So what happens when Town & District bus company two best or worst ( Stan Butler (Reg Varney) and Jack (Bob Grant) ), depending on your view-point,employees get sacked for being lecherous incompetent dim wits,well it seems they get employed by a holiday camp to take their campers on holiday tours.But of course all this holiday mischief just gives the boys more reasons to chase skirt,blow up toilet bowls,trying to have sex on a choppy ferry and just generally annoying Blakey (Stephen Lewis),who by coincidence got sacked and ended up at the same holiday camp as head security guard. The sauce level is raised slightly with a bit of nudity (female of course,not sure the world was ready for Reg and Bob to do full frontal nudity at that time.) and of course the highlight is the scene where Anna Karen as Olive,loses her bikini bottoms in the indoor swimming pool,and we get the full shot of her naked bottom. Alas reports has it that it was a stand in bottom and not Anna Karen's rear,also this seems to be one of the few times of any censorship problems,the bum shot is usually snipped if the film is shown during the daytime.So how does the Buses trilogy compare to other such great movie trilogies? Is it better than The Godfather films,definitely,better than Star Wars yes certainly,more funnier than Lord of the Rings maybe not.But does any of those films have geriatric love-making or Arthur Mullard no.

Inspector Abberline 11th December 2016 08:07 PM

Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1984)
 
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Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1984)

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rubbing the clitoris, sir? The good thing about a comedy sketch film is that you get more for your money,and If there is a sketch you do not like ,just sit there as another will be along shortly.And while when it first came out back in 84,it was considered not as good as previous Python movies,time has been very good and it stands miles better than most recent comedy efforts.And what I liked about it back then and still do was its gory attitude to comedy.Like the salad days sketch from there tv show which spoofed SAm Peckinpah,Meaning of Life is full of amputees,new born babies,severed heads,liver transplants And of course exploding fat men.
SERGEANT: Right, sir! I'll organise a party... right away, sir.
AINSWORTH: Well, it's hardly the time for that, is it Sergeant?
And while not every sketch works there is still plenty to enjoy,there are a few things that are fairly self indulgent,and could of easily of been edited out,where's the fishy or the French waiter taking us to his house where he was born or even death by being chased by topless women could of easily gone without much notice being taken.What you do get is the feeling that it does not matter where you are born ,live or die there will always be some sort of bureaucracy and maybe a musical number if we are lucky.It is also nice to see Terry Gilliams rather good The Crimson Permanent Assurance short film,which continues the look and feel of his film Time Bandits,put places in the rather choppy waters of insurance and finance,it so bizarre seeing a building literally up root it self and sail away,but the genius that is Gilliam anything is possible.
Since the chance of seeing another Python film is diminishing with the years,it was a pleasant surprise to see that Meaning of Life, for all its faults still held up today,and that Eric Idle's songs no matter what the subject matter,penis size or what have you are ridiculously catchy still.

Demdike@Cult Labs 11th December 2016 10:21 PM

This sequence was filmed only a couple of miles from me in Colne, Lancashire.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NEfuNDaJRu...h49m02s170.png

Inspector Abberline 11th December 2016 10:55 PM

holy cow
 
1 Attachment(s)
Quote:

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs (Post 513663)
This sequence was filmed only a couple of miles from me in Colne, Lancashire.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NEfuNDaJRu...h49m02s170.png

Are you the one in nurse's outfit???. Speaking all things Python,I just ordered this,not for the film as such but the cardboard castle......:xmaslol::xmaslol::xmaslol::xmaslol:

Attachment 184858

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SC31NbYqvU

gag 11th December 2016 11:58 PM

Cant go wrong with on the buses. Classic comedy even tho dated now.
Doesnt rely on real smutt and vulgar, done rudely but in best possible taste like the carry on films, todays comedies rely to much on vulgarity and swearing and ok if not done to ott. Humour at its best, old comedies like that steptoe and son are stuff you can never get tired of. And how comedies should be, kept simple but at times realistic .
And as for Monty python they are a world of their own, way ahead of their time that was a required and misunderstood taste in its day, and as time went by got the recognition they deserved and has become cult classic in every possible sense. And inspired a hell of a lot of todays comedians and comedy sketches, all of the monty python team are genuises in their own rights, eg john cleese in fawlty towers, enough said speaks for itself.

Susan Foreman 12th December 2016 05:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gag (Post 513677)
Cant go wrong with on the buses. Classic comedy even tho dated now.
Doesnt rely on real smutt and vulgar, done rudely but in best possible taste like the carry on films, todays comedies rely to much on vulgarity and swearing and ok if not done to ott

Did anyone catch the sketch on the David Walliams show recently? It truly was painful:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFTUG6z-9-4

Harry Enfield did something similar back in the late 80's, and it was much better:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Q7n4IAV05E

The problem is, after the initial surge, the 'Carry On' films became a parody of themselves, and how is it possible to create a parody of a parody?

gag 12th December 2016 08:15 AM

Dont know why my comment has come up twice, and one being slightly longer than the other

Inspector Abberline 13th December 2016 09:23 PM

David Brent: Life on the Road (2016)
 
1 Attachment(s)
David Brent: Life on the Road (2016)


Attachment 184898

It is probably fair to say that if you are not already a fan of Ricky Gervais and The Office (UK version) ,then this film is not likely to change your mind.Not seen since his appearance on Comic Relief with Doc Brown and there song Equality Street,Brent is back and following his dream to be a rock god with his newly re-formed band Foregone Conclusion.David Brent is back working as a salesman at Lavichem,selling tampons and generally being David Brent.This part of the movie,seems to be trying to recreate the original television series,we have Tom Bennett as Nigel,basically a mini Brent ,Jo Hartley as Pauline a love interest for David,Mandeep Dhillon as Karen Parashar the receptionist and Andrew Brooke as Jezza the office bully.This is really going over ground we have already seen before,Brent does all the usual things like make sexist jokes and ludicrous comic voices which gets him hauled up in front of the very PC Human Resource manager.What is new is the fact that he admits to having a nervous breakdown and is now seeking counselling with a therapist,which has a great gag where Brent is about to go into the therapist office only for a woman leaving to ask him out and then give him a dead bee as a present,its quirky little scenes like that are reminiscent of his show Derek.The only real surprise is that the band Foregone Conclusion with Brent as the lead singer,are pretty good in that middle of the road way,obviously the songs are ludicrous and funny in equal measure,this is mainly because the band is made up of real musicians and not comics or actors pretending to be musicians.The other high point is Doc Brown as Brent's rather un-willing side kick and Foregone Conclusion's rapper,but is there mainly for Brent to annoy and embarrass with his lyrics and general demeanour.The whole fly on the wall docudrama comedy,seems almost out of date and well past its sell by date,especially considering that most real life reality shows are unintentionally funny any way.David Brent: Life on the Road is not a bad film,but it just feels redundant,and well worn.And the main reason being is that without his usual writing partner Steve Merchant not being involved you do feel that there is something missing from the whole film.Still there is plenty of cringeworthy comedy on offer and it did make me laugh,which is the main thing.

Demdike@Cult Labs 13th December 2016 10:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Inspector Abberline (Post 513923)
David Brent: Life on the Road (2016)

It is probably fair to say that if you are not already a fan of Ricky Gervais and The Office (UK version) ,then this film is not likely to change your mind.Not seen since his appearance on Comic Relief with Doc Brown and there song Equality Street,Brent is back and following his dream to be a rock god with his newly re-formed band Foregone Conclusion.David Brent is back working as a salesman at Lavichem,selling tampons and generally being David Brent.This part of the movie,seems to be trying to recreate the original television series,we have Tom Bennett as Nigel,basically a mini Brent ,Jo Hartley as Pauline a love interest for David,Mandeep Dhillon as Karen Parashar the receptionist and Andrew Brooke as Jezza the office bully.This is really going over ground we have already seen before,Brent does all the usual things like make sexist jokes and ludicrous comic voices which gets him hauled up in front of the very PC Human Resource manager.What is new is the fact that he admits to having a nervous breakdown and is now seeking counselling with a therapist,which has a great gag where Brent is about to go into the therapist office only for a woman leaving to ask him out and then give him a dead bee as a present,its quirky little scenes like that are reminiscent of his show Derek.The only real surprise is that the band Foregone Conclusion with Brent as the lead singer,are pretty good in that middle of the road way,obviously the songs are ludicrous and funny in equal measure,this is mainly because the band is made up of real musicians and not comics or actors pretending to be musicians.The other high point is Doc Brown as Brent's rather un-willing side kick and Foregone Conclusion's rapper,but is there mainly for Brent to annoy and embarrass with his lyrics and general demeanour.The whole fly on the wall docudrama comedy,seems almost out of date and well past its sell by date,especially considering that most real life reality shows are unintentionally funny any way.David Brent: Life on the Road is not a bad film,but it just feels redundant,and well worn.And the main reason being is that without his usual writing partner Steve Merchant not being involved you do feel that there is something missing from the whole film.Still there is plenty of cringeworthy comedy on offer and it did make me laugh,which is the main thing.

I was thinking of re-watching The Office next year. How do you think this film would fair to bring it all to a close?

Inspector Abberline 13th December 2016 11:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs (Post 513928)
I was thinking of re-watching The Office next year. How do you think this film would fair to bring it all to a close?

It certainly would not hurt your viewing,But there is definitely something missing from the film without Merchant's involvement,I miss that Lanky, Goggle-eyed Freak.

Demdike@Cult Labs 13th December 2016 11:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Inspector Abberline (Post 513936)
It certainly would not hurt your viewing,But there is definitely something missing from the film without Merchant's involvement,I miss that Lanky, Goggle-eyed Freak.

Are none of The Office regulars in it at all? Not even in as a cameo?

Inspector Abberline 14th December 2016 01:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs (Post 513937)
Are none of The Office regulars in it at all? Not even in as a cameo?

nope..none are in it,they make reference to the fact he use to work at Wernham Hogg but that's about it.

Inspector Abberline 14th December 2016 05:37 AM

OFFICE CHRISTMAS PARTY
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0T9Z9BjZ_40

Susan Foreman 14th December 2016 05:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Inspector Abberline (Post 513947)

She needs to get a blouse that actually fits her!

Demdike@Cult Labs 14th December 2016 11:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Susan Foreman (Post 513949)
She needs to get a blouse that actually fits her!

Fits her nicely if you ask me.


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