Posts tagged funny
“Argo” Is Funny and Serious
Oct 20th
Hotshots, October 17, 2012
“Funny and Serious”
“Hotshots” looks at a movie!
Argo is an excellent film based on a true story you might never have heard about concerning the 1979 takeover of the U.S. Embassy for 444 days by Iranian militants.
It is also a very funny film that pokes fun at the filmmaking business in Hollywood, which together makes it a sure-fire candidate to be recognized at the 2013 Academy Awards.
As a matter of fact, the film was a surprise hit at the 2012 Telluride Film Festival, where director Ben Affleck told a screening audience that he tried to make a film that was one part action thriller, one part comedy, and one part inspired by a 1970s film like the 1976 All the President’s Men.
He succeeded, and he should be very proud of the results.
What the world didn’t know at the time was that when the American Embassy was taken over in November 1979, six men and women managed to escape and hide out in the Canadian Embassy.
Affleck also stars as Tony Mendez, a CIA “exfiltration” specialist, and he comes up with a risky and dangerous plan to get the six Americans out of Iran without the militants knowing about it.
Once Tony’s plan is approved, his boss, played by Bryan Cranston, tells him, “The whole world is watching you; they just don’t know it.”
What Tony proposed was that he pretend to be a Canadian filmmaker, get into Iran with all the necessary documents for himself and the six Americans, and then convince the Iranian authorities that all seven of them were a Canadian film crew who were in Iran scouting for locations for a science-fiction movie they were making, using a script for an actual movie in turnaround called Argo.
However, in order to do that, Hollywood has to be convinced that the story is real, as well, and Tony gets the help of a producer played by Alan Arkin and a makeup artist played by John Goodman.
The title of the ARGO movie is used in a very funny and profane way, and you won’t be able to hear the word again without smiling or laughing.
When Tony tells the six Americans what he wants them to do, they aren’t completely cooperative, and the tension keeps building and building until the very end.
Argo is very funny and serious.
I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshots.”
END
“The Intouchables” Is a Refreshing Comedy
Sep 16th
“Refreshing Comedy”
“Hotshots” looks at a movie!
The Intouchables is a French comedy with an unlikely subject: a wealthy man who is paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair hires a young black man from the projects in Paris to be his live-in nurse and take care of him.
One thing that is remarkable about this film is that when I saw the previews for it and all throughout watching it, I believed that Dustin Hoffman plays the quadriplegic, and I was impressed with how well he could speak French. Either that or else his lines were dubbed, and I didn’t quite believe that.
It wasn’t until I obtained the credits for the film that I learned that the actor isn’t Hoffman at all, nor is the actress playing one of the staff the American actress Amy Adams, which I believed.
When the movie opens, we see the rich man, Philippe, and the caretaker, Driss, speeding in Philippe’s Maserati, which Driss is driving. The police start chasing them, and Driss says, “Here they come–100 Euros says I can beat them.”
The scene has a funny ending, which is characteristic of the whole movie.
Then we see a flashback to when Driss interviewed for the job, which he didn’t even want at all, but just wanted a signature to prove that he had interviewed for a job so he could continue to receive his unemployment benefits.
However, something about Driss’s manner intrigues Philippe, and he says that Philippe is ready to try Driss out for a month, but he bets that Driss won’t last two weeks before he quits.
You see, most nurses leave the job after one week, because it is so demanding and requires such hard work.
Driss is impressed by the accommodations that he would live in, but the main reason for accepting the job might be Magalie, one of Philippe’s staff that Driss finds very attractive.
And so the rest of the movie consists of how these two unlikely men affect each other, Driss and his exuberance for life breaking through the walls of depression surrounding Philippe and Philippe’s money and status in life showing Driss that Driss’s previous life was going to lead him nowhere.
So, does Driss stay in the job longer than two weeks?
Does he get anywhere with Magalie?
The Intouchables is a very delightful and refreshing comedy.
I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshot.”