I actually like "Soapdish", probably because I was subjected to a roommate's taste in daytime TV in college. Soaps are not generally my cuppa, but a broad send-up like Soapdish will make me laugh and laugh and laugh...
Mostly, I agree with you on American comedies, but there are some that I can't help but enjoy - mostly teen comedies from the 80's, like "Better Off Dead", "Sixteen Candles", "Adventures in Babysitting". I wouldn't be caught dead at a Judd Apatow movie.
I think I saw "Sixteen Candles" once, but I barely remember. I tend to stick with sci-fi; I WAS a teen in the '80s, but that sort of thing was so alien to my own life that it just didn't really compute.
Judd Apatow--is that the guy who does the dumb drunken films these days?
oh come now, American comedy is broader than that. From the slapstick silents like One Week all through screwball movies like Bringing Up Baby and Holiday to Some like it Hot and Blazing Saddles, just to name a classic few, there are aspects for every taste, truly.
Comedy is a hell of a lot more subjective than drama in my opinion, because it works on making the audience revel in pain inflicted on the characters. Making that mechanism work is difficult to do, and underappreciated or dismissed all too often.
Oh, sure--my own tastes are quite narrow. I guess I just don't like watching people acting stupid, or at least acting stupid without being witty. Maybe that's why I prefer the British sitcoms to the current American stuff--the dialogue's so much better...
I love this movie. Kevin Kline was at his number one best, and I'm not a huge Sally Field fan, but this was a good role for her. I just watched so many soaps growing up that I can't fault this movie for what it is, especially considering the fact that one can write (well always could) and publish their fanfic online. Yeah. This is good stuff.
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branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2009-08-25 08:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-08-25 09:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-08-25 09:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-08-26 02:56 am (UTC)Judd Apatow--is that the guy who does the dumb drunken films these days?
no subject
Date: 2009-08-25 11:01 pm (UTC)Comedy is a hell of a lot more subjective than drama in my opinion, because it works on making the audience revel in pain inflicted on the characters. Making that mechanism work is difficult to do, and underappreciated or dismissed all too often.
my 2 cents there *gets off soapdish--er, box.*
no subject
Date: 2009-08-26 02:58 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-08-26 03:56 am (UTC)Some mix the stupid and the witty beautifully--Blackadder for example, or Thin Blue Line but not as many as you'd think.
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Date: 2009-08-26 02:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-08-27 02:20 am (UTC)