Top Ten Tuesdays

[keirarts]

One thing to consider is the differences between homage and parody. Shaun of the dead, Hot Fuzz and world's end for example are more affectionate homages to the genres they are using rather than parody. However there are equally compelling arguments that would say I'm wrong.

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by keirarts

One thing to consider is the differences between homage and parody. Shaun of the dead, Hot Fuzz and world's end for example are more affectionate homages to the genres they are using rather than parody. However there are equally compelling arguments that would say I'm wrong.

I think parody is a form of homage. When Quentin Tarantino uses the same framing as The Searchers or wardrobe design as Game of Death in Kill Bill, that's done as a form of homage. When Matt Stone and Trey Parker use and subvert many of the tropes in a Michael Bay action film, that's more parody or satire. Bill and Ted playing chess with Death could either be homage or parody depending on your interpretation of the filmmaker's intentions or, like me when I first saw the film, it might be something you didn't realise is either because you have no knowledge of The Seventh Seal!

I suppose it's easier to make a list by looking for films which appear to be a 'humorous homage' of a previous film/film genre than just go by a strict dictionary definition of parody.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by keirarts

I haven't seen them in a while but I have the set myself.

Ultimately it's the same as with previous lists.

Can you offer sound reasoning?

I'm sorry you've lost me.

Sound reasoning to what?

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

PARODY FILMS

This is my top 10, with the films followed by the thing they are parodying:

1. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (Arthurian legend and mediaeval films)
2. Monty Python's Life of Brian (Religious epics)
3. This Is Spinal Tap (Rock and heavy metal documentaries)
4. The Princess Bride (Fairy stories/damsel-in-distress/sword and sorcery films)
5. Young Frankenstein (Frankenstein films)
6. Shaun of the Dead (zombie/infected films)
7. Shrek (Disney-style fairy tales)
8. Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (Universal's werewolf films)
9. Hot Fuzz (action and buddy cop films)
10. The Great Dictator (The Triumph of the Will and other Nazi propaganda films)

11-20:
Chicken Run (POW films, particularly The Great Escape)
The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (Police procedural dramas)
Mars Attacks! (1950s sci-fi films)
Airplane! (Disaster films, particularly Zero Hour!)
Spaceballs (the Star Wars films)
Blazing Saddles (Westerns)
Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (James Bond and other spy movies)
Team America: World Police (Michael Bay-style patriotic action movies)
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (film noir)
The Rocky Horror Picture Show (sci-fi and horror B-movies)

[keirarts]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

I'm sorry you've lost me.

Sound reasoning to what?

Sound reasoning for why a film is in your list.

For example... "I believe this film deserves to be included in my list as a parody film because...."

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

I'll keep this week's category very clear and concise, and have it devoted to a man who has appeared in action films, romantic comedies, horrors, Westerns, sci-fi and just about everything else.

KURT RUSSELL

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Top 10 Kurt Russell Films

Escape from New York (1981)
Tombstone (1993)
The Thing (1982)
Executive Decision (1996)
Overboard (1987)*
Backdraft (1991)
Bone Tomahawk (2015)
Soldier (1998)
Stargate (1994)
Deepwater Horizon (2016)

Russell has done enough films to not bother with elongated cameo appearances such as the Fast and Furious series. I've only seen The Hateful Eight once and although very much enjoyed it doesn't quite make the top 10. Same goes for Breakdown, (although i've seen that two or three times including the cinema) a very good kidnap thriller that seems so claustrophobic despite it being filmed in the wide open spaces of Utah.

[bizarre_eye@Cult Labs]

I've only seen 8 Kurt Russell films...

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

There are a number of films in your list (particularly Backdraft, Executive Decision, and Overboard) which I've only seen once, and quite a while ago. This will probably be another week of buying BDs or browsing Netflix and Prime Video to refresh my memory of those I've seen, and to watch those I haven't for the first time.

Thinking of Overboard, I read an article by Hadley Freeman at the weekend when she was saying how (Molly Ringwald inspired the thoughts with an article in The New Yorker) many 1980s films are 'problematic' when viewed with a 21st-century perspective, specifically with race and sexual politics. She absolutely adore's 1980s films and picked it as her favourite decade, but has this to say about Overboard:

The ultimate example of a story idea that should have been made as a horror film but was somehow instead written up as a romantic comedy. A handyman (Kurt Russell) lies to a woman with amnesia (Goldie Hawn) and tells her she is his wife just so she will clean his house, look after his kids and, ultimately, have sex with him. “Does she run in the opposite direction when she finds out the truth?” SPOILER! She does not. Russell and Hawn famously have one of the stablest relationships in Hollywood, so you have to wonder how they looked at this script and thought, “Yup, that seems normal – sign us up!”

https://www.theguardian.com/film/201...n-hughes-metoo

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by bizarre_eye@Cult Labs

I've only seen 8 Kurt Russell films...

You really should check out Escape from New York and The Thing. I'm sure you'd like them.