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Part 6 |
Comedy Films John Belushi
In the early 80s, John's younger brother Jim built a comedic career of his own by appearing in bit and supporting roles in various films and on SNL. By the mid-to-late 80s, Jim had established himself in comedies, serious dramatic roles (e.g., Salvador (1986) and Red Heat (1988)), and comedic dramas (e.g., About Last Night... (1986)). Later, he would appear in the comedic ABC-TV family sitcom, According to Jim. Steve Martin Steve Martin (from The Smothers Brothers variety show, and from Saturday Night Live as a guest host and one of the 'Wild and Crazy Guys') often collaborated with director Carl Reiner (from 1979-1984), and appeared in other varied films including:
Chevy Chase Chevy Chase, another slapstick performer on SNL in the mid-70s noted for his numerous pratfalls (and he pioneered the "Weekend Update" segment), starred in many of the National Lampoon Vacation films (see above) as bumbling Clark Griswold, as well as in the comedy classics: Caddyshack (1980), and as the arrogant title character Irwin M. Fletcher - an undercover newspaper reporter in Fletch (1985) (sequeled as Fletch Lives (1989)). One of his earliest films was the offensive, anti-establishment sketch comedy film The Groove Tube (1972) composed of a series of satirical skits. He also co-starred with other funnymen Steve Martin and Martin Short in John Landis' comedy farce Three Amigos (1986). Bill Murray
Gilda Radner Another of the original SNL cast members, comic genius Gilda Radner (who married actor Gene Wilder in 1984) brought a madcap, zany persona to characters on the show such as loud-mouthed Roseanne Roseanna-danna ("Just goes to show ya — it's always somethin'! If it's not one thing, it's something else!"), nerdy Lisa Lupner ("That was so funny I almost forgot to Laff!"), talk-show host Baba WaWa, and Emily Litella ("Never mind"). She and Wilder starred in Hanky Panky (1982) and the Wilder-directed sex comedy The Woman in Red (1984) and Haunted Honeymoon (1986), before her career was cut short by ovarian cancer and death in 1989. Lily Tomlin The offbeat comedienne first gained popularity as a regular on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In in the late 60s and early 70s, and was best known for her indelible collection of wacky characters, including:
She also appeared in a number of dramatic films, including Altman's Nashville (1975) as troubled gospel singer Linnea Reese (a Best Supporting Actress nominated role) who was womanized by Keith Carradine, The Late Show (1977), and in writer/director Jane Wagner's romantic flop Moment by Moment (1978) opposite John Travolta, as well as comedies, including 9 to 5 (1980) alongside Dolly Parton and Jane Fonda, The Incredible Shrinking Woman (1981), All of Me (1984) with co-star Steve Martin, and opposite Bette Midler in Big Business (1988). On the Broadway stage, she also had two successful one-person shows: Appearing Nitely (1976) and the Tony-winning The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe (1986, 1991-film). Albert Brooks
Eddie Murphy John Landis directed SNL's Eddie Murphy as a con-artist hustler reversing roles and exchanging jobs with a wealthy Wall Street stockbroker (SNL's Dan Aykroyd) in the test of Social Darwinism in Trading Places (1983), with Jamie Lee Curtis in a memorable and sexy role as a prostitute. John Landis' hit Coming to America (1988) was an enormous success for both director and actor Murphy (and co-star Arsenio Hall), who portrayed a pampered African price who journeyed to America to find a new bride. Murphy's career was uneven at best -- at the Golden Raspberry (Razzie) Awards in 2007, Eddie Murphy received a single-year record five nominations for one film: Norbit (2007): three acting nominations (one for each character he played: Norbit, Mr. Wong, and Rasputia), one for Worst Couple (for his multiple characters again) and one for Worst Screenplay. He won three Razzies - for his acting roles (Worst Actor, Worst Supporting Actor, Worst Supporting Actress). Billy Crystal
His first major role was in the modern-day romantic comedy When Harry Met Sally...(1989) opposite Meg Ryan as a clever but uncommitted guy, followed by the dude ranch comedy City Slickers (1991) with Best Supporting Actor Oscar-winner Jack Palance as hard-bitten cattle-drive master Curly (with its sequel City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly's Gold (1994)). His first-directed film was Mr. Saturday Night (1992) - a fictional biography of his own self-destructive Buddy Young, Jr. character. Further films included the romantic comedy (and box-office flop) Forget Paris (1995), Woody Allen's dark comedy Deconstructing Harry (1997), the buddy comedy My Giant (1998), director Harold Ramis' popular comedy Analyze This (1999) (and its sequel Analyze That (2002)) with Crystal as the therapist of mobster Robert De Niro, and then he served as the voice for one-eyed round-shaped Mike Wazowski in Pixar's animated comedy Monsters, Inc. (2001). Jim Carrey TV's manic, hyper-nutty and energetic, rubbery In Living Color star Jim Carrey appeared in three back-to-back hits to jump-start his emergence as a comedy star:
Then he appeared as a compulsive lawyer-liar compelled to tell the truth in Liar Liar (1996). He also portrayed the Riddler in Batman Forever (1995), and a malevolent repairman in director Ben Stiller's dark and negatively-received The Cable Guy (1996) (he became the first actor to be paid $20 million to star in this film!) He won back-to-back Golden Globe awards for Best Actor in a Drama and Comedy/Musical for Peter Weir's The Truman Show (1998), and for Milos Forman's Man on the Moon (1999) - in the role of uniquely complex comedian Andy Kaufman. [Oscar nominations for both roles were denied to Carrey.] Carrey also portrayed the mean and green lead character in director Ron Howard's Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000), the top-grossing film of its year. His career continued to flourish with appearances in major comedy films, including Me, Myself & Irene (2000), Bruce Almighty (2003), Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004), Fun with Dick and Jane (2005), and Yes Man (2008). John Hughes - Teen Film Director of "Coming of Age" Films:
Hughes also scripted Pretty in Pink (1986) - a comedy/drama involving the angst romance of a poor, outcast girl (Molly Ringwald) falling for an elitist rich boy (Andrew McCarthy). In the following year, Hughes directed a reversed-role 'sequel' titled Some Kind of Wonderful (1987), about a teenaged boy's (Eric Stoltz) romantic attraction to teen queen co-star Lea Thompson while ignoring his faithful, long-suffering, tom-boy companion and true friend Mary Stuart Masterson. One of Hughes' best teenage comedy films was Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986), the story of a malingering, high school risk-taking, spirited prankster and malingerer Ferris (Matthew Broderick) taking another day off (from school and Principal Rooney) for misadventures in Chicago with his friend (Mia Sara); the film was filled with tips on how to fake a high fever, break into a computer system, and crash a parade. Other "Coming of Age" Films and Teen Comedies:
Two coming-of-age films competed for attention in 1980: The Blue Lagoon (1980) with Pacific Island-shipwrecked Brooke Shields growing into sexual maturity with male counterpart Christopher Atkins. And in the exploitative, dramatic coming-of-age , Little Darlings (1980), two 15 year-olds girls Tatum O'Neal and Kristy McNichol, contrasting a spoiled rich girl with a street-smart poor girl, raced to see who could lose her virginity first during summer camp. The startling dark comedy Heathers (1989) tackled such controversial issues as teenage cliques and teen suicide. The seriously dramatic Dead Poets Society (1989) with comedian Robin Williams portrayed an unorthodox but inspiring English/poetry teacher at a New England prep school known for teaching his students to "Seize the Day" (Carpe Diem) and rip out the introduction to their poetry textbooks. The witty, funny Clueless (1995) (again directed by Amy Heckerling) starred Alicia Silverstone as Cher - a spoiled, rich, shallow but beautiful student in a W. Beverly Hills high school who helped a fellow student get into the 'in' crowd. Dazed and Confused (1993) was set on the last academic day (and night) of a Texas high school in the Bicentennial year of 1976 as seen through the eyes of graduating seniors and a new crop of entering freshmen students, while Grosse Pointe Blank (1997) (with John Cusack as a professional hitman attending a reunion dance in his Michigan hometown) and Romy & Michele's High School Reunion (1997) (with Mira Sorvino and Lisa Kudrow as dim-witted but scheming reunion-goers) both retroactively looked back to the 1980s as seen during a 10th HS reunion. Low-Brow, Raunchy, Gross-Out Comedies at the Turn of the Century and into the 21st Century: Teen comedies - designed for both teens and adults - took a turn towards humiliation, bodily functions, and toilet humor with the sophomoric There's Something About Mary (1998), starring Cameron Diaz, Matt Dillon, and Ben Stiller. Likewise, the gross, disgusting teenflick farce American Pie (1999) poked fun at the rite of passage of losing one's virginity. Other films notable as low-brow comedies included the films of Adam Sandler (i.e., Billy Madison (1995), The Waterboy (1998), I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry (2007), and You Don't Mess With the Zohan (2008)) and the Austin Powers films with Mike Myers (i.e., Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997), Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999) and Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002)). Chris Kattan and Will Ferrel starred as two obnoxious lounge lizard brothers in A Night at the Roxbury (1998), and Rob Schneider starred in a number of Adam Sandler-produced films (via Happy Madison Productions) including Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo (1999), The Hot Chick (2002), and Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo (2005). Although PG and PG-13-rated films were generally proven to be the biggest moneymakers, the new 2000s decade was destined to show that semi-offensive R-rated comedies, including retooled romantic comedies and 'bromances' (guy-meets-guy romances) containing generous portions of profanity, sex and nudity, and debauchery, could also be popular - and appealing to male audiences. But sometimes success bred repetitiveness and exploitation. Although there were some bright spots, it was a decade of many prurient films with abundant and gratuitous T&A nudity, in-the-toilet gross-out humor and jokes about oral sex, farts and excrement, homosexuality, penis size, and incest - and more.
The four American Pie Presents: sequels were released in both R-rated and Unrated versions (including the scenes that were removed in order to receive an R-rating):
Three more R-rated, un-PC gross-out comedy films (for strong sexual content, gross humor, language and some drug content) followed the same pattern of rowdy hijinks, topless nudity, and raunch. They were the tired and contrived sex-and-school romp National Lampoon's Van Wilder (2002) about a seventh year undergraduate student (Ryan Reynolds) at Coolidge College who, among other things, hired well-endowed young women to be "topless tutors." It was followed by an unconnected sequel Van Wilder 2: The Rise of Taj (2006), and a prequel Van Wilder: Freshman Year (2009).
Two strangely-popular mockumentary comedies were released by marquee comedian Sacha Baron Cohen: the satirical Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2006) - about a fictitious, anti-Semitic, sexist and racist Kazakhstani journalist who traveled through the US and interacted in unscripted situations. His follow-up film Bruno (2009) - was about a flamboyantly gay Austrian fashion journalist. The two films were among the most popular (and controversial) comedies of the decade. Two other hit comedies in 2005 proved that pushing the boundaries of good taste were profitable:
Apatow also directed Knocked Up (2007) and Funny People (2009) and served as producer for the successful Anchorman (2004), Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006) with Will Ferrell, the genitalia-obsessed Superbad (2007), Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008) and the slapstick buddy-comedy Step Brothers (2008). The low-budget comedy Superbad (2007) went on to become the highest grossing (domestic) high school teen comedy of all time. Apatow helped to foster the burgeoning careers of Steve Carell, Paul Rudd and Seth Rogen. A new generation of comic male actors, dubbed the 'Frat Pack' or 'Slacker Pack' (Jack Black, Will Ferrell, Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, and Owen and Luke Wilson) had emerged in the 2000s, and appeared together in many films, including Old School (2003), actor/director/producer Stiller's own Zoolander (2001), Dodgeball (2004) and Tropic Thunder (2008). However, at the Golden Raspberry (Razzie) Awards for 2004, actor Ben Stiller was nominated for Worst Actor for a record five titles in one year - for Along Came Polly (2004), Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004), Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (2004), Envy (2004) and Starsky & Hutch (2004). |
Another
member of NBC's SNL cast (originally a member of the Second City comedy troupe in Chicago) was John Belushi. Often considered the most famous
and popular of the group, he was best noted for two films both directed by
John Landis: National Lampoon's Animal House (1978), a classic college
frat-based comedy of 'misfit slobs vs. elite snobs'; and The Blues Brothers
(1980) in which he acted as vocalist Jake Blues opposite Dan Aykroyd as
harpist Elwood Blues (characters derived from skits and appearances on SNL).
In between those films, he also starred in Steven Spielberg's strange action
comedy 1941 (1979), a satirical disaster film that bombed. On March
5, 1982, Belushi died in Hollywood of an accidental drug overdose, ironically
repeated in 1997 by Chris Farley, another overweight SNL cast member
who idolized Belushi. [Farley also went on to films from SNL, and starred
with fellow former cast member David Spade in slapstick low-brow comedies
such as Tommy Boy (1995) and Black Sheep (1996).] 
director
Carl Reiner's farcical The Jerk (1979) - Martin's debut film
Both
a writer and dry-witted cast member on SNL in the mid-70s, Bill Murray
further established himself with numerous TV and film appearances afterwards
in both slapstick comedies and serious adult dramas, including: Meatballs
(1979) as head camp counselor Tripper, Caddyshack (1980) as lunatic
golf course gardener Carl Spackler, Stripes (1981) as reluctant Army
trainee John Winger, 
school-spirited,
virginal college student Suzie Sorority 
Albert
Brooks, a regular on The Dean Martin Show in the early 70s and a bit
actor in many films (such as 
Versatile
stand-up performer and comedic actor began his career as gay character Jodie
Dallas (the first openly gay character in TV history) on the TV drama Soap,
and soon after starred in his debut film - Joan Rivers' directed film Rabbit
Test (1978) as the world's first pregnant man. He made several TV movies
and had a number of guest appearances, and soon became a regular on SNL by the mid 80s, with a few signature characters: Buddy Young, Jr., Sammy Davis,
Jr., Willie the Masochist ("I hate it when that happens"), and the
suave Fernando Lamas (with his catchphrase "You look maaaahvelous").
His next starring roles were in Rob Reiner's rock-group mockumentary This
Is Spinal Tap (1984) and in the romantic fantasy adventure The Princess
Bride (1987) as a wizened dwarf reanimator named Miracle Max, in addition
to appearances in the cop buddy film Running Scared (1986) with Gregory
Hines, and in Danny DeVito's dark Hitchcock spoof Throw Momma From the
Train (1987). 
There
were also a number of comedic, "teen"-oriented coming-of-age or
'rites of passage' films directed toward a youth audience, frequently
emphasizing the tensions of the adolescent and post-adolescent
years, the problems of growing up, the high school years, aspects
of peer pressure, teen parties, money, rebellion, friendship, romantic
relationships among teens, and family strains. Rock 'n roll musical
scores accompany many of them. Sixteen Candles
(1984) told the tale of a sixteen year old girl (Molly Ringwald)
suffering romantic angst
while geeky freshman Ted the "Geek" (Anthony Michael Hall) vainly
tried to romance her. Teenpix film director/writer John Hughes' The
Breakfast Club (1985) was about a group of high school students
during a weekend detention and struggling with issues of conformity
and parental values; Emilio Estevez was the jock, Ally Sheedy the
weirdo, Judd Nelson the delinquent, Anthony Michael Hall the brainy
nerd, and Molly Ringwald the socialite.
George Lucas' much-loved and imitated, light-hearted 'coming of age' film, 
National
Lampoon's Animal House (1978), Porky's (1981) and Police
Academy (1984) set the tone for teen gross-out comedies of
the late 1970s and 1980s. Female director
Amy Heckerling's Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982) provided
a view of life in a Southern California high school (composed
of many teenage future stars including Nicolas Cage, Eric Stoltz,
and Forest Whitaker). Writer/director Barry Levinson's bittersweet
autobiographical Diner (1982), his debut film (with screen
debuts for Paul Reiser and Ellen Barkin), followed a group of
twenty-something guys (including a breakthrough role for Kevin
Bacon) who met regularly in an all-night Baltimore diner in the
late 50s for talk about women and life. (With the addition of Tin
Men (1987) and Avalon (1990), Levinson created a so-called
trilogy of films.) The nostalgic coming-of-age comedy Heaven
Help Us (1985),
set in Brooklyn NY's St. Basil's Catholic Boys' Prep School in
the mid-1960s, followed the progress of transfer student Michael
Dunn (Andrew McCarthy) who pursued a shy romance with troubled
young tomboy Danni (Mary Stuart Masterson), a soda-fountain clerk,
while rebelliously clashing with the repressive and sadistic Catholic
faculty.
As if the original box-office teen comedy hit American Pie (1999) and its first two sequels (American Pie 2 (2001) and American Wedding (2003)) weren't enough - the oft-told tale of high school (and college) boys searching for sex - four more direct-to-video (DVD) spinoffs were also generated. One of the significant commercial trends in the film industry, exemplified by these films, was to release 'unrated' versions of R-rated (and PG 13-rated) films on DVD and videocassette, often with additional racy content that would have undoubtedly changed their original MPAA ratings.
The R-rated Not Another Teen Movie (2001) was also released to serve as a tasteless parody of Hollywood teen (high school) flicks from the last few decades. It used cliched lines of dialogue and most of its unoriginal characters were stereotypical teen portrayals (for example, the Pretty Ugly Girl, the Popular Jock, the Bitchy Cheerleader, the Token Black Guy, the Dream Girl, the Naked Foreign Exchange Student). 
Judd Apatow's directorial debut breakthrough film The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005), a hilarious sex comedy that signaled the return of raunchy R-rated fare, about a middle-aged male virgin (Steve Carell) seeking a sex partner and finding love with an appealing, intelligent newly-single mother (Catherine Keener)