Hey, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab.
It’s been a long week. Very busy. And I’m just plain tired. Friday morning sees me waking up after four hours of sleep and going to the Chinese with two of my best friends to see ATTACK OF THE CLONES. It was a great showing, more convenient than I could have hoped (it’s just a few blocks from my house), and my enjoyment of the film grows each time I see it. But by the time it’s over, I’m beat, and there’s still about 100 things I need to do. My buddies take off, and I’m trying to figure out if there’s time for a half-hour nap when the phone rings.
It’s an invitation. A chance to see something. Small window of opportunity. How soon can I be there? And no matter how tired I am, when calls like this come in, it’s always a good idea to go.
So forty minutes later, I’m sitting in a screening room I’ve never been in before. The lights go down, and a warning comes up to the effect of: “The people doing this are professionals. Paramount and MTV Films discourages you and you idiot buddies from doing anything you see here.” There’s the familiar twang of a guitar, and then we see a golf cart crash headlong through a fence and shatter a porcelain animal before crashing, hard. There’s a few more golf cart stunts, including a particularly horrific crash in which one person is thrown clear.
And then there’s the signature shot of Johnny Knoxville watching something and wincing. And I started laughing, the same way I always do when I see JACKASS. God help me, I think it’s one of the best pure comedy shows on TV. It’s not deep. It’s not well-written. It’s not particularly visually arresting. But it never tries to be any of those things. JACKASS is a record of what happens when you have a bunch of guys who don’t mind being hurt who are all determined to outdo each other. The chemistry between Steve-O and Weeman and Ryan Dunn and Bam Magera and the insanely funny Chris Pontius and Preston Lacy and all the other regulars is the reason it’s funny. Pain isn’t funny by definition. These guys in pain is hysterical.
The trailer is just a quick collection of mayhem. It’s so much to absorb that I asked if we could see it again, then again. I love that this is an R-rated film, that Paramount has done the right thing, the same way they did with SOUTH PARK. There’s no mistake about this being made for kids; it’s not. It’s very much a film for adult fans to go and see in a theater, where the restrictions of TV don’t matter at all. I’m curious to see how somone in a mouse costume crawling through erupting mousetraps or Weeman dropping through a Rube Goldberg-like device or Johnny Knoxville getting his nipples bitten by a baby alligator all cuts together.
You’ll be able to see this trailer next Wednesday on ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT, or on the web right after that. I’m sure I’ll be able to come up with a link to the trailer when it hits for you. I’m sure this Talk Back is going to feature as many detractors of the series as supporters, if not more. I’m always amused by how many of them (A) haven’t seen the show or (B) think that it’s targeted at children somehow. We’ve gotten so used to the idea that EVERYTHING has to be childproofed that we’ve forgotten the concept of something that simply isn’t intended for kids in any way. As a responsible adult, I like the notion of watching these particular guys maiming and crippling themselves for my entertainment.
You don’t have to agree with me, of course. Roger Ebert made a great point onstage at his recent Overlooked Film Festival, where he said, “There are two things you can’t argue in film: comedy and erotica. If something doesn’t make you laugh, no one can tell you why it’s funny, and likewise, it’s hard to argue someone out of an erection.” JACKASS is one of those things that makes me laugh. It’s that simple. The trailer made me laugh, and it gives you a very good idea of whether or not the film is going to make you laugh. Keep your eyes peeled for it on TV this Wednesday, or else check back here, where we’ll post a link to it as soon as it hits the web.
Now if only I can figure out how to smuggle these guys into the SCOOBY-DOO premiere...
"Moriarty" out.
