Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Comedifans - Episode 016
Thursday, January 26, 2012
The Garbage Film
I love “garbage” films. “Garbage” films is a label that I gave (or maybe someone else has, too) to movies that aren't particularly bad but aren't particularly good that I love watching. It randomly pops up on TV or I own the DVD and it's great to just toss in and watch even if it is just background sound at times. Everyone has to have this type of movie in their lives.
Last night, I watched Two Ninas. Two Ninas is my favorite garbage film. If you're my friend, I love you. However, you may not be a true friend until you've visited my apartment and I have subjected you to this movie. There's nothing special about Two Ninas. It's a pretty standard film. A down on his luck guy meets two girls at nearly the same time (both named Nina, what a coincidence!) and they both bring out two very different things for him, so he dates them both at the same time, and then of course that becomes a mess. It brings together a pre-Office Space Ron Livingston, a bitchy as usual Amanda Peet, a very hot Cara Buono whose character I want to marry, a stage actor named Bray Poor who is probably the only funny character, a post-Law and Order Jill Hennessy and even a cameo by Fred Norris. How more random can it get?
The movie isn't particularly deep. I don't think I laugh at anything in it except a couple moments and it's supposed to be a comedy. But, it's just so 90s and so entertaining that I love it and I can't stop watching it and you'll watch it, too. Hell, you should buy it. I think I saw a ton of copies of it in Wal-Mart's $5 bin years ago. It's probably gone down to the $1 rack at this point.
Check out the trailer at the IMDB link above. Also, if you're wondering what my runner-up garbage movie is, here's the trailer.
Nobody plays the field like Dangerfield!
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Comedifans - Episode 015
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Comedifans - Episode 014
MLK Day: A Great Day and A Call for More Holidays
Martin Luther King Day is one of my favorite holidays for multiple reasons. Say what you would like about Martin Luther King (I'm not sure why you'd have an issue with him), but he was the face of the Civil Rights Movement, essentially one of the first people that I think of when I think of the words “American history,” and his work has an impact even to this day. It's nice to spend a day to reflect on that and peace and equality among all. Though, somehow, Martin Luther King Day often goes overlooked and may be the most underrated holiday. It seemingly comes across as a holiday that people just accept and either do or do not get a day off (which, by the way, I'm not a big fan of major companies not recognizing federal holidays or, at the least, providing extra incentive to their employees for working such holidays). But, people should take the time to reflect on the impact and should be able to enjoy a day off.
Speaking of the time, Martin Luther King Day is a nicely placed federal holiday on our calendar year. We've just completed the Christmas holiday, and hey, here's another holiday just a few weeks later to relax again. Now, the unfortunate thing is we now have to go full throttle with no holidays until Memorial Day (we can't count the equally wishy-washy Presidents' Day, which I don't get a day off for – again, I don't agree with that).
As mentioned in Bill Simmons's podcast from January 5 with Kevin Wildes, we do need more holidays. I like the suggested idea in the podcast of a Susan B. Anthony day. If we choose Anthony's death day purely out of calendar convenience, it will land on March 13. This is a great spot for another holiday especially if it's a fixed day of that week, which will always rotate to a different day every year, and gives the chance for the Susan B. Anthony Women's Rights Holiday to also land on St. Patrick's Day. Double success!
Anyway, here are the main points: Martin Luther King Day is a great holiday. We should all celebrate it and get the day off. Every federal holiday should be a day off. One more federal holiday would make the calendar even better. Susan B. Anthony was a woman, and yet her death date is more important for calendar purposes than her birth date for actual respect for her life.
The "Rocky III" of Martin Luther Kings.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Comedifans - Episode 013
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Wendell Hyde: Best One-Time TV Appearance
The guest star is always a fun part to the television sitcom episode. It's even better if they are “special.” However, sometimes they are “special” for other reasons such as if a great guest star can turn a one-time performance into something memorable. Seinfeld perfected this practice to the point that it brought back all its memorable one-time performances in its series finale. On a personal level, my favorite of those performances was Phillip Baker Hall's brilliant turn as Mr. Bookman in "The Library."
While Seinfeld made it a practice, there are few other shows that have had great one-time appearances. However, the best one-time appearance to me on a television show was a character named Wendell Hyde on The Adventures of Pete and Pete.
If you've gotten to know me well, then you know that I rave about The Adventures of Pete and Pete. While it may have appeared on Nickelodeon, I think that it is legitimately one of the greatest television shows of all-time, and convinced it played an integral role in forming my comedic mind at a young age. But, it's likely a show that is only known to a specific age group.
In arguably one of the best Pete and Pete episodes, “Yellow Fever,” Wendell Hyde makes his only appearance. The episode revolves around a field trip aboard the school bus that goes haywire due to a number of different personal issues between the characters from Driver Stu Benedict's recent break-up to the potential breakdown of the friendship of Big Pete and Ellen. It is a hilarious episode that relies on a number of its absurd supporting characters aboard the bus including Wendell, a young man whose dream is to be a singer at weddings and bar mitzvahs.
Though this video can't do justice entirely as it is best to watch the episode in its entirety, a beautiful person on YouTube put together Wendell's finest moments from the episode. It may not come off as well in this edited clip, but the moment of chaos on the bus is one of the funniest scenes in television in general and consistently makes me laugh non-stop whenever I watch it. Enjoy this video. It deserves at least a million rather than the 3,000 or so that it is currently at.
As for Wendell, he was played by actor Rick Faugno, who originated the role of Frankie Valli in Jersey Boys in Las Vegas and continues to act in a one-man show at the Las Vegas Hilton.