Salty Rice
Member
Also whoever thought that joke was funny to put it in is a idiot.
The comedy was cringeworthy in this movie.
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Who else hates this style of comedy?
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Also whoever thought that joke was funny to put it in is a idiot.
The comedy was cringeworthy in this movie.
The whole thing took off and they kept milking it. I don't think that tells us a lot about them though
I heard you need a hadouken
That was golden.
I agree OP. I do like it if it doesn't go off rails. If it still follows the scene and actually advances a conflict or resolution and isn't very long I will find it funny, for example I actually laughed at the scene in This is the End where McBride and Franco are threatening to cum on each other and their property.
But yeah, blame Apatow for the "two actors just stand there and fling some improv insult at the other".
But yeah, blame Apatow for the "two actors just stand there and fling some improv insult at the other".
Is this joke too far?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kuha5Im1RaQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kuha5Im1RaQ
Palculator
Unconfirmed Member
It can be okay, the example in the OP is just rubbish.
No.
starchild excalibur
Member
I knew this would be about Ghostbusters given the review thread.
I don't inherently mind this style of humor. It depends on what makes it through on the cutting room floor. A lot of jokes will be bad, but so long as they use the good ones then it works. 21 Jump Street had a lot of ad-libbing going on, too, but no one really shits on it because they probably used the better material and scrapped the rest.
Personally, the style of comedy that I find insufferable is the whole "I'm going to string a series of metaphorical insults together with a bit of pop culture references in there and obscene language" style of humor. Humor that's not derived from comedic timing or irony, just... insult humor.
edit: And it's fine not to like the joke posted in the OP, but it's silly to say it's because of the "style" of humor if by that you mean ad-libbing. The whole joke is that there's a call for action, a "cool" build-up to our heroes getting ready to kick ass, and the obligatory declarative "Let's go," only to have the triumphant moment undermined by one or both members assuming they are the ones to state it. It's not much different from the joke in The Other Guys where you see Sam Jackson and The Rock hyping each other up, getting ready to kick ass, only to have them hit the ground. It's buildup > buildup > anti-climactic execution. It has nothing to do with a stream-of-consciousness style adlib fest.
I don't inherently mind this style of humor. It depends on what makes it through on the cutting room floor. A lot of jokes will be bad, but so long as they use the good ones then it works. 21 Jump Street had a lot of ad-libbing going on, too, but no one really shits on it because they probably used the better material and scrapped the rest.
Personally, the style of comedy that I find insufferable is the whole "I'm going to string a series of metaphorical insults together with a bit of pop culture references in there and obscene language" style of humor. Humor that's not derived from comedic timing or irony, just... insult humor.
edit: And it's fine not to like the joke posted in the OP, but it's silly to say it's because of the "style" of humor if by that you mean ad-libbing. The whole joke is that there's a call for action, a "cool" build-up to our heroes getting ready to kick ass, and the obligatory declarative "Let's go," only to have the triumphant moment undermined by one or both members assuming they are the ones to state it. It's not much different from the joke in The Other Guys where you see Sam Jackson and The Rock hyping each other up, getting ready to kick ass, only to have them hit the ground. It's buildup > buildup > anti-climactic execution. It has nothing to do with a stream-of-consciousness style adlib fest.
MagnaderAlpha
Member
It's a reason don't care much for Feig or Apatow movies(well, except Heavyweights, which is probably my favorite Apatow movie). Line-o-rama was something I never found funny. It's a style that resonates with a lot of people, and I can understand that. But it doesn't resonate with me and I will never like it.
And what the fuck is up with the RLM bullshit? Off topic much?
And what the fuck is up with the RLM bullshit? Off topic much?
King Tubby
Member
It's missing the funny part
I first saw it being used in Apatow productions - Knocked Up and Superbad used this style of comedy pretty often and at the time it felt like a revelation. It felt like natural, casual banter between friends. It was like looking into a window into my own conversations with friends. But you've gotta understand that it only worked because it fit snuggly into the tone of the films entirely; Superbad especially is this really small scale, relatively realistic film about teenagers rubbing up against each other in all of their awkwardness and rawness, so overlapping, improvised dialogue compliments and sells it really well.
When it's this massive scale, over-produced blockbuster where every inch of the production feels sterile, using this style of comedy clashes pretty hard tonally. It almost feels like a last ditch effort to squeeze some humanity into the film without working hard on how to achieve that. And with the technique's rise in popularity, it's almost become its own sterile, overly-produced sort of thing, funnily enough. Like, you're watching the film and then "Oh now's the part where everything stops and everyone breaks out into awkward, story-stopping gags for 30seconds." It's rote and tired at this point.
Any technique can work, but it's important to use it appropriately - when it fits tonally with the rest of the vision, or else you run the risk of it sticking out like a sore thumb and falling very, very flat.
When it's this massive scale, over-produced blockbuster where every inch of the production feels sterile, using this style of comedy clashes pretty hard tonally. It almost feels like a last ditch effort to squeeze some humanity into the film without working hard on how to achieve that. And with the technique's rise in popularity, it's almost become its own sterile, overly-produced sort of thing, funnily enough. Like, you're watching the film and then "Oh now's the part where everything stops and everyone breaks out into awkward, story-stopping gags for 30seconds." It's rote and tired at this point.
Any technique can work, but it's important to use it appropriately - when it fits tonally with the rest of the vision, or else you run the risk of it sticking out like a sore thumb and falling very, very flat.
Not really no. I watched their eraserhead review hoping theyd shit all over it and they sang its praises from the rooftops.
NightShift
Member
This kind of humour really falls flat on its face when it's presented in a goofy way. There must be people who actually laugh at it though to be so popular. Maybe because it's so alien? This stuff only works for me when it is deadpan.
It's out of context is what it is. In the actual review, no.
Cool. The "Angry Internet Reviewer" thing is pretty old.
I dunno. I smirked
BlueTsunami
there is joy in sucking dick
They can be cynical but they genuinely dig some films. What's interesting about them, though, is they do deconstruct certain problem scenes or good scenes. Genuinely entertaining and informative.
It's ironic that people are lambasting RLM for being too cynical, when RLM expresses disappointment only in films that are cynical towards their audience. Their Ghostbusters review, which I doubt any of the naysayers have actually watched, rightfully lays out that the movie is a cynical cash-grab. It's a corporate attempt to exploit "girl power" in two dimensional way in the hopes of causing enough controversy to get people to actually pay money to see it. The RLM guys tried really hard to give the film a fair chance as explained in their review. They go a long time without even mentioning the original film, but ultimately it would be unfair NOT to compare it, since the new Ghostbusters is a remake of the existing property. And it's not just a remake, it's a remake that tells the same story, almost beat-for-beat, in a truly poor and uninspired way.
To any RLM naysayer's surprise, RLM blames the internet haters for causing this movie's success. Instead of it being a rightfully-forgotten remake like the new Robocop, this new Ghostbusters has gained traction strictly due to the controversy. Way to go, internet nerds.
To any RLM naysayer's surprise, RLM blames the internet haters for causing this movie's success. Instead of it being a rightfully-forgotten remake like the new Robocop, this new Ghostbusters has gained traction strictly due to the controversy. Way to go, internet nerds.
Monocle
Member
Ghostbusters is genuinely good though. Good characters, funny jokes, gorgeous effects, entertaining story. I liked it even more the second time I saw it.
That scene was funny.
IISANDERII
Member
There's a fuckton of shit I hate, an assload. I rarely ever go to theatre because they're filled with mostly trash. Example: So many people love Captain America Winter Soldiers; I thought it was utterly mediocre.
But anyway, that little comedy bit don't bother me at all. But maybe I'll look into it lol
Monocle
Member
Maybe her mind was preoccupied? It's not like that doesn't happen in real life sometimes.
Ghostbusters isn't a perfect movie but a lot of the things people rag on are really easy to justify.
Admiral Woofington
Member
The people who shit on them tend to be the people who haven't watched enough so they have an opinion they can't defend over their work. Or people who dislike how some of the fans can be such sponges where they just agree with anything the guys say.
I'm not going to say they can't be fairly negative. The "previously recorded" show that two of the members have for games is fairly fucking negative on big story driven releases, they've made it clear they don't care for narrative over gameplay.
But their movie reviews? They are actually fairly level headed. They shit on movies you generally expect people to shit on, but they've brought surprising opinions just as often as that. You would expect to shit on jurassic world but 1 of the 2 in half in the bag actually liked it. They really enjoyed the new star wars too.
I think the biggest argument I've seen, prequels aside, is over their opinion on boyhood.
SapientWolf
Trucker Sexologist
It wasn't improvised. They had to say the same thing at almost the same time and make it seem spontaneous and awkward. Good improvisation looks completely natural.
Schlock? Yeah, mindless goofy fun.
Snowman Prophet of Doom
Member
The way films do it is as artificial, in its own way, as a Restoration comedy of manners. Not to mention, it virtually always calls attention to itself without really doing anything to elucidate aspects of the characters you wouldn't otherwise get, which would be the whole point of including "lifelike" banter in the first place.
Edit: Also, RLM are not indiscriminate haters. They're mostly bad critics, save for their few shining moments like their breakdown of how the prequel trilogies are staged and how Jack and Jill was basically a scam, but their Ghostbusters review makes it incredibly clear that they wanted to like the movie but found the whole thing to be nothing but barely-structured gags strung together with bad ad-libbing, paper-thin character arcs, no real subtlety nor wit, and Kate McKinnon mugging for cheap yucks.
You have bad taste
Yep. Bob's Burgers, and all the things that came before it like Dr. Katz, Sea Lab, and ATHF. It's a different style of humor, but it's still pretty funny, to me, mostly because that IS how people talk.
I watched RLM talk about Tremors, because I love Tremors too. It was terrible. Do they actually say funny or interesting things when ripping apart movies? Because they were boring as hell talking about a movie they liked...
Messofanego
Banned
It's just lazy writing. Feels like bad improv or something.
I really liked Ghostbusters, but it definitely felt like it suffered form "X jokes per minute" syndrome that lots of modern comedies do. Like, they needed to meet a quota or something. Let it breathe, guys. Sometimes we can just have character moments that are amusing. Not everything needs to be a bit or a gag.
I really liked Ghostbusters, but it definitely felt like it suffered form "X jokes per minute" syndrome that lots of modern comedies do. Like, they needed to meet a quota or something. Let it breathe, guys. Sometimes we can just have character moments that are amusing. Not everything needs to be a bit or a gag.
starchild excalibur
Member
It's interesting to read people try to analyze why certain comedy is good or bad. Some people say it's an ad-lib fest, but as pointed out earlier generally "funny" films like Deadpool or 21 Jump Street has scenes where a lot of the dialog is ad-libbed, or involve continuous back and forth.
Other people say that it tries to hard to include non-stop jokes, but you have films like Airplane or Black Dynamite that have a dense number of jokes per minute. Hell, Armando Ianucci - director of In The Loop - once said on a podcast that he tries to cram his films full of jokes... That he'd see films where people would get out of a car and walk inside a building and wonder what the point of having a joke-less scene like that was.
Other people will argue that it's the timing of the joke. Or hell, the timing of when one person responds over another.
At the end of the day, it really doesn't matter. Comedy is subjective. It works for you or it doesn't. And some films that have a comedic style that you like while other films may have that same comedic style and you hate them.
Even I - someone who found Deadpool boring 20 minutes in because it was just rife with overly-verbose-pop-culture-tinged-with-a-bit-of-vulgarity insult humor - still enjoy In The Loop which is also mostly insult humor. Maybe it's less about the style of humor and more about the content that ultimately makes it to the final cut.
Other people say that it tries to hard to include non-stop jokes, but you have films like Airplane or Black Dynamite that have a dense number of jokes per minute. Hell, Armando Ianucci - director of In The Loop - once said on a podcast that he tries to cram his films full of jokes... That he'd see films where people would get out of a car and walk inside a building and wonder what the point of having a joke-less scene like that was.
Other people will argue that it's the timing of the joke. Or hell, the timing of when one person responds over another.
At the end of the day, it really doesn't matter. Comedy is subjective. It works for you or it doesn't. And some films that have a comedic style that you like while other films may have that same comedic style and you hate them.
Even I - someone who found Deadpool boring 20 minutes in because it was just rife with overly-verbose-pop-culture-tinged-with-a-bit-of-vulgarity insult humor - still enjoy In The Loop which is also mostly insult humor. Maybe it's less about the style of humor and more about the content that ultimately makes it to the final cut.
Messofanego
Banned
Totally agreed, it's more about execution for me than the format. It's why I love Angie Tribeca on TV, seems inspired from the Zucker bros and has me laughing nearly every minute.
teruterubozu
Member
Often the people off camera laugh at everything to kiss-up to the actors. Then they can't figure out what's funny by the time it gets to the editing room.
Is this because there is no real pun? It is bland and inoffensive, but it's just not witty.
It's certainly not limited to Ghostbusters, but the wit of the original film (Listen, do you smell something; I've seen shit that weill turn you white), just isn't there.
I'm not sure if it is nerdy/geeky humour where saying 'err, yeah duh' is meant to be funny. it might be to certain people, but it's not witty.
It's lazy writing and I'm pretty tired of it. I can't remember the last comedy film that I laughed at.
The Martian?
It's certainly not limited to Ghostbusters, but the wit of the original film (Listen, do you smell something; I've seen shit that weill turn you white), just isn't there.
I'm not sure if it is nerdy/geeky humour where saying 'err, yeah duh' is meant to be funny. it might be to certain people, but it's not witty.
It's lazy writing and I'm pretty tired of it. I can't remember the last comedy film that I laughed at.
The Martian?
That's why it was funny, but i don't expect everyone to like it, tbh.
I agree, i loved S1 of Angie Tribeca, and i think the Naked Gun movies and TV show are some of the funniest shit around, but personally i like many different style of comedy, from Solondz to Human Centipede, to cleaner stuff like the above, to more subtle humor where jokes are far and few between.
there are things that are harder to pull off while being funny though, i think ad lib could be one of these.
Just from personal experience, i can think of less examples where i genuinely liked one of these moments, that was actually included in the product, and not some funny outtake (which garner lower expectations, generally, so anything mildly funny in them is augmented).
pixelpatch
Junior Member
Its great, sometimes its good to have cheeeessseeeee
Grizzlyjin
Supersonic, idiotic, disconnecting, not respecting, who would really ever wanna go and top that
It shows up in a lot of a modern comedy films, especially when the cast members have a strong background in improv. Sometimes it works, other times not so much.
It annoys me less than non sequitur humor. So many shows marketed towards millennials (especially YouTube "comics") rely on randomness for the sake of randomness in their humor. I'm not saying it can't be funny, but it's done poorly more often than it is done well.
It annoys me less than non sequitur humor. So many shows marketed towards millennials (especially YouTube "comics") rely on randomness for the sake of randomness in their humor. I'm not saying it can't be funny, but it's done poorly more often than it is done well.
XANDER CAGE
Member
Every time I see a scene like this in a movie now I yearn for the more deadpan version of it from Ocean's 11.
It's weird that big budget movies have stolen just this one specific gag from the 2004-2012 mumblecore movie explosion.
I mean, sure, if I had to point to a part of the Plinkett reviews I could do without, it'd be the abundance of the serial killer jokes. But you're definitely oversimplifying the character with this.
RLM are slasher movie nerds. They made up a character that would both serve as a tongue-in-cheek bit of self-critique (i.e only an obsessive serial murderer would care this much about Star Wars) and it allowed them to play around with their favorite milieu.
Last time I rewatched the reviews there were definitely some gags that fell flat (pretty much every intentionally ironic "my ex wife!!" punchline is an unironic groaner) but the character also gives way to some of the best jokes. Plinkett rummaging around in his basement and picking Star Wars toys out of a pile of bones is a hilarious sight gag, and the subplot in the second one where he "tortures" his captive by asking her to watch Attack of the Clones is a pretty good send-up of horror movie cliches.
It's weird that big budget movies have stolen just this one specific gag from the 2004-2012 mumblecore movie explosion.
I mean, sure, if I had to point to a part of the Plinkett reviews I could do without, it'd be the abundance of the serial killer jokes. But you're definitely oversimplifying the character with this.
RLM are slasher movie nerds. They made up a character that would both serve as a tongue-in-cheek bit of self-critique (i.e only an obsessive serial murderer would care this much about Star Wars) and it allowed them to play around with their favorite milieu.
Last time I rewatched the reviews there were definitely some gags that fell flat (pretty much every intentionally ironic "my ex wife!!" punchline is an unironic groaner) but the character also gives way to some of the best jokes. Plinkett rummaging around in his basement and picking Star Wars toys out of a pile of bones is a hilarious sight gag, and the subplot in the second one where he "tortures" his captive by asking her to watch Attack of the Clones is a pretty good send-up of horror movie cliches.
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