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Capone On Frank Oz's DEATH AT A FUNERAL!!
Hey all. Capone in Chicago here.
There's no denying that director Frank Oz has made some truly great comedies in his career. I particularly like it when he delves into the darker corners of human behavior for laughs. Films such as DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS, WHAT ABOUT BOB?, and BOWFINGER are some prime examples. But he's also capable of making me laugh with his lighter fare, with such works as IN & OUT, LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS and his Muppet movies.
After his particularly disastrous remake of THE STEPFORD WIVES a couple years ago, Oz now comes at us with something much stronger that plays to his strengths as a gifted comic director. Foregoing any big name actors and trading in his familiar American setting for the quaint English countryside, DEATH AT A FUNERAL is a swirling farce that hits just a little more often than it misses with its entangled multiple storylines, fairly large cast and an army of pompous British aristocrats trying ever so hard to keep a stiff upper lip while the world around them literally falls to pieces.
You will find a few familiar faces in DEATH AT A FUNERAL, especially if your frequent smaller British fare, and a few American faces do make their way into the mix. Alan Tudyk (SEREINTY, KNOCKED UP and the upcoming 3:10 TO YUMA) is quite good as the American fiancé of Martha (Daisy Donovan from MILLIONS). He is nervous about making a good first impression on his future in-laws, a plan that is shot to hell when he accidentally takes a designer drug that for some reason makes him want to be naked and on the roof of the manor house where the titular funeral is taking place. Impressing me even more is Peter Dinklage, the gay lover of the dead man who has photos to prove it and believes he is due some sort of compensation for time served and to keep his mouth shut about the affair. The dead man's sons (played by Matthew McFadyen and Rupert Graves) are at odds about how to handle any number of troubles that crop up during the funeral.
Oz manages his controlled chaos with mixed results. Certainly, these are all fantastic actors who have no trouble selling the mayhem, but Dean Craig's script doesn't give all of his actors the proper outlet for their talents. I'm I huge Ewen Bremner fan, for example, but his character is reduced to begging a woman who wants nothing to do with him. Pathetic is rarely funny. But going back to the Marx Brothers (and trust me, I'm not comparing anything about this film to those of the Marx Brothers), I've always had a soft spot for comedies that portrayed the filthy rich as buffoons and just as incapable of making a sound decision as the rest of us. DEATH AT A FUNERAL isn't particularly sophisticated or refined (unlike its setting), but this talented bunch of actors sell the hell out of the material. In a summer filled with comedies brimming with topical humor and modern references, it was refreshing to see a film that strove to be timeless with its humor. The film is set in the present day, but it could have easily be transported to 50 years ago and been just as fun. There are barrels of laughs here, as well as a lot of heart and decadence.
Capone
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C'mon...get back to it Oz
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trailer looked ok, will give it a go.
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I'm probably going to be raked across the coals for this statement, but most comedians and comedic writers/directors lose touch as they get older and become less funny as a result. Not everone, of course, but it sure seems like the majority.
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Nothing about this will push anyone to the 'plexes, other than post-menopausal women raising a herd of litter boxes.
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welcome back. You've been gone for ages. I used to fancy Daisy Donovan something rotten when she was on the 11 O'clock show. I'm sad to see she's in this shit as she is genuinly funny.
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After all these years, the first preview for DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS, the one containing no actual footage from the movie, remains one of the greatest teasers I've ever seen. Unfortunately, the inferior full-length trailer is all I can find online, hence no link.
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Then again I don't find Ben Stiller to be a laugh riot either so what do I know?
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but I live in the middle of nowhere and wno't see it until it hits DVD probably.on an unrealted note, busy review day for AICN today, I like it it gives me something to do at work besdies you know, work
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No way!
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Frank Oz is operating in some other reality, making movies for an audience that doesn't exist. "Stupid Insiders," I guess I would call 'em. And they do exist, but not at a national level, not in numbers sufficient to make Oz's stupid, insidery movies worthwhile.
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Yeah, the fam and I have been doing some traveling and I dont get online much.Daddylonghead, I do believe you've hit the nail on the head with this film. Its a film designed for a very select, insulated audience made by an insulated guy. I think he needs to get back to his muppet roots ;)
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Alan Tudyk is the Puck of pop culture and Peter Dinklage is God. Seriously. I may even see Underdog because he's in it; I'll definitely see this.
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I thought it said Frank Oz's Death! I was like, NOOOOOOOOOOOO.
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Aug 17, 2007 2:44:15 PM CDT
Who cares? Just revealed: your mum cooks for Uwe Boll!
by stalin vs predator
Or at least I think that's more or less what Uwe tried to tell a reviewer of his recent "film", though considering Uwe's painful syntax and vocabulary, who can really be sure?
http://blog.wired.com/games/2007/08/you-dumb-fck-uw.html
Now THAT is news. -
A Fish Called Wanda for that Earling Studio-style comedy this looks to be aiming for.
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That would have been so sad
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...goes into the 'lighter fare' category as opposed to the 'darker corners' category? It's a story about a Faustian deal with the devil that contains a blood-drinking plant, an innocent driven to murder by his love for a woman, and contains heavy s&m undertones. That's lighter fare?
I need to recalibrate by brain. -
is a couple tacos short of a combo meal...and after having just moved to LA, I am appreciating even more how many hilarious digs at that culture Martin got into the screenplay. Daddylonghead...jsut a quick question...you realize the organization in the movie, that Eddie Murphy's character is a part of, is a thinly veiled version of Scientology, right? I think that's a good litmus test to see if you didn't really get the movie...
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Years ago when I delved into screen writing on a whim I wrote Death and the Family. Set in a funeral home, it was a romantic comedy. Now we get something different a dark satire. Umh, will Hollywood ever quit with the bs of lets make it funnier. I saw the preview I laughed but what is funny about a guy high on a roof
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maybe they didn't buy your script because you can't write coherently.(not for nothing, but it's "should HAVE bought"...but I'm sure the ALL CAPS made your point better than coherent writing could ever have done)
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Say it aint so. He looked fine at lunch last month.
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I could have sworn he was playing a Brit, thought I remembered him putting on the accent in the trailer.
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It's a given!
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I am still in pain from the laughing... Whew....
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Gates McFadden?
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In & Out was one of only three movies I've ever walked out on. It was lifeless and without a single laugh, at least the 3/4's of it that I saw.
With all the good movies Oz has made why bother even mentioning that piece of shit. -
anyone gives a shit about losing credibility with some random talk backer. I may be crazy but I'm not stupid.
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Arrested Development has set the bar pretty damn high for that particular sub-genre. I think everything in that vein will be judged according to that show for a long time to come.
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No debate.
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Go, lil movie, go!
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Best moments in a movie full of good stuff. You won't understand why those lines are funny until you see it, and you will be so glad you did. NO SPOILERS, people! Support this film by letting people Go SEE it to get the story and jokes.
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