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Another Laughs & Enjoys Albert Brooks' LOOKING FOR COMEDY IN THE MUSLIM WORLD!
Hey folks, Harry here... Hope you've survived the latest viral worm bullshit hitting the world's systems. Here's something to make you smile - a new look at Albert Brooks' LOOKING FOR COMEDY IN THE MUSLIM WORLD - that's a helluva title and with this review we now have had 3 really positive looks at his latest film. Don't know about you, but hearing there's a new funny nervey Albert Brooks film out there waiting to be sprung on us... That's a great thing, eh?
Hello,
I read the other reviews on the site for the new Albert Brooks movie (Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World) and they have inspired me to post my
own. I saw a sneak of the movie tonight and I have been thinking about it enough to write something on this site; which is a first for me. Most Hollywood
films are so forgettable that I hardly remember seeing them as I am walking out of the theatre. I admit I have become something of a snob over time.
Actually I like to refer to myself as a Cinema Ex-pat. I am far more intrigued these days by some of the twisted psychological thrillers coming out of
Germany, the creepy horror films from Japan, or even a small character piece from Australia, Spain or Iran.
So my point being that rather than add anything to the reviews that have been posted before in terms of talking about the specifics of the movie I
thought I would talk about its over all spirit, if you will. This is a NON-traditional film. The main character, Albert, does not go on a journey where he is
forced by external or internal pressures to change and grow. In other words, Robert McKee would hate this movie. This movie is not for all markets. But
like "Tarnation" a much smaller more experimental film, which I also really enjoyed, my hope is that it will get great reviews and find a grateful audience.
This probably won't be a blockbuster because it is too unfamiliar to most American audiences to make them comfortable. The comedy is high concept.
It?s the ideas more than the "jokes" that make you laugh and I just don't know if America as a whole is ready for that. This movie makes you work for the
laugh, and by work I mean think.
Towards the end of the movie Albert Brooks says that "in comedy you try things, and some work and some don't" (I am paraphrasing) and it almost
seems for a moment that he is talking directly to the audience. Beseeching them to meet him half way. To at least be willing to step into his vision and
walk around a little bit. He is saying to them "Look I know I've just shown you something you are not accustomed to seeing but isn't that the point of
leaving your house, fighting traffic and plunking down $10 to see a movie? To see something that you haven't seen before?"
I hope that this movie does very well for Mr. Brooks as it is possibly his least conventional but most daring to date; and taking risks, especially as an
elder statesman deserves to be rewarded. I also hope, for all our sakes, that this movie does well as it might inspire a jaded and rigid studio system to
give more unconventional films a run. I congratulate him for not playing it safe.
Thank you,
Jonathan Gale
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+ Expand All
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but he's certainly no Joss Whedon . . .
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This reviewer read like a condescending arrogant little prick, saying nothing about the movie and just talking about how he doubts that the hoards of us stupid american audiences will get it. Everyone wants to think they are the smart ones....but not everyone can be. Still, movie sounds intriguing. www.uneenfilms.com
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Brooks actually saying in the film "in comedy you try things, some work, others don't" doesn't sound like he's beseeching the audience to meet him halfway, it sounds like he's apologizing. The greatest comedians can make everyone laugh, from high-school potheads to intelligent film critics. I've never bought into these filmmakers who's fans say "if you don't find this hilarious, it's just above you" with that said, the premise of this film sounds great and I'll definitely check it out some time
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Go have some tea and crumpets.
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Aug 17, 2005 6:00:10 AM CDT
vikingkitty hates because it is a scared and cowardly bigotted p
by cameron1
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BLACKSBURG - About 60 faculty members from a Saudi Arabian university are taking courses on Virginia Tech's campus this summer. But the program's setup is a bit different than a typical Tech class.
Men and women from King Abdulaziz University are taking identical faculty development courses at Tech, but meet in gender-specific classes. Tech officials said administrators from the Saudi university separated the sexes to mirror classroom settings at their home institution, which operates separate campuses for men and women.
"This is the way they teach their courses over there, and this is the way they wish their courses to be taught over here," said Tech spokesman Larry Hincker. The university chose to respect the Saudi culture "rather than impress our culture on them," he added -
I confess I have mixed emotions on this film and will see it out of the blatant urge to satisfy my curiousity. Albert Brooks is experimenting in his methods, sure, but will his material be as daring? By this I mean, will the standard plot of a "bumbling American" who touches off an international incident on his tour through the Middle East really be more than the sum of its parts? For as daring as Brooks may want to be, will the whole enterprise just come off as more high-minded Hollywood shorthand criticism of "what utter bufoons we are for trying to change the Middle East"? I sincerely hope that isn't the case. As for a comedy that really REALLY doesn't play it safe, there's always "Team America: World Police" on DVD.
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Albert Brooks seems to be implying that finding comedy in the middle east is a daring, near-impossible thing to do, and yet Team America already did it to the extreme
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I got caught up in the moment. Reading this "review" sounded too much like having to listen to some of my pompous coworkers use flowery language to disguise the fact they have nothing interesting to say. This whole "review" could be summarized as, "It's unconventional, and probably not for mainstream audiences, but I enjoyed it. Thank you."
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A classic comedy. In fact, Brooks' early films were quite ahead of their time. Real Life was about reality TV and was made in 1980, a decade before the Real World would be foisted on us. Lost in America lampooned 80s yuppies long before Gordon Gecko told us that greed was good. Albert Brooks is a great comedian.
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No, the point is to be entertained.
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What strikes me funny is that so many people think that Team America was 'edgy' in making fun of the Middle East, when in fact they weren't making fun of the Middle East at all, they were making fun of the American perception of the Middle East.
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I think the title of Brooks' "Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World" means that the movie is about trying to discover what Muslims generally think is funny--how their sense of humor compares to the rest of world's. Team America was simply making fun of issues dealing with Muslims. Completely different things. And the only thing Parker and Stone do to the extreme is pander to the Fear Factor demographic while simultaneously sucking off George Bush--which seems like an impossible balancing act, yet they manage to pull it off.
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Aug 17, 2005 11:06:09 AM CDT
Ack, BigJim - ya know not everything worth doing is so you can b
by weedymcsmokey
Film is a powerful communicative tool that doesn't always have to make you laugh, or scare you, or just distract you for two hours to be worthwhile. It can also open you up to ideas and people you otherwise would never have and never meet. Try it sometime, it can be very fulfilling. But watch out - occassionally it can even be challenging.
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I'm KING OF THE ROOM!!! **crickets** I'm just waiting for the complete Albert Brooks dvd-collection to come out in the indefinite future so i can get an editing-buddy at work to burn me a montage dvd. I've always found him a "comedian" whose ideas work better as concepts with just a few actually LOL-able moments abounding in each (Like the abovementioned Stan Spielberg scene). (Also loved the guy in heaven in "Defending Your Life" whose main contribution to humanity was coming up with the idea of putting the word "all" in front of "nude" on top of stripclubs.)
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http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/08/17/iraq.violence/index.html
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Aug 17, 2005 5:11:16 PM CDT
I agree with you, Weedy. However, just because it is something
by big jim
I have never seen a 6 hour documentary on paint drying narrated by Paris Hilton, nor do I want to. If a film has something important to pass on to the audience it needs to be, in some way, entertaining. If the audience falls asleep or walks out due to lack of interest then the filmaker has not done his job. I won't go see a movie if I think I will be bored. If I am interested, I am entertained. I have no fear of the unknown, just boredom. That being said, I am looking forward to seeing this movie. I enjoy Albert Brooks' films. And who knows, while I'm being entertained I may actually learn something.
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Presenting the new gameshow, "Once, Twice, Three Times a Battered Hijab!" Coming to a liberally tolerant yet militantly armed mosque near you!
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I know nothing about the movie.
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