Keeping the Faith, Smashmouth, Get Over It and Muppet Treasure Island.
Keeping the Faith has shown me that Ben Stiller can be funny actor without mooking around like an idiot. Here he plays alongside Edward Norton (who looks like he’s having fun in a role for once) and the chemistry is surprisingly good. Every time I watch it I laugh out loud. Not only that, but it’s also a rather touching movie which has lots to say about love and (duh) faith. This movie is actually a personal favourite.
PS: Watch for the scene with spiky-headed guy from X-Men 3 as a karaoke machine salesman.
Smashmouth in Rat Race by Sam Linton
For all its flaws, I really enjoyed this movie. Its harkening back to zany “chase” comedies such as It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World and Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines is well worth the expense of having to endure some of its more questionable choices. This is actually a very funny movie if you give it a chance, it just happens to be marred by one of the worst endings ever to bedevil any film. For those who haven’t seen it, everyone gives away the money they’ve been after all movie to Smashmouth (yes, that Smashmouth) after they’ve somehow stumbled onstage at a famine relief concert. I didn’t bother prefacing that with a SPOILER ALERT because it does a pretty good job of spoiling the movie on its own. But, if you can ignore the ending (and the use of the Baha Men’s reprehensible cover of Anslem Douglas’ originally enjoyable “Who Let the Dog Out?” [the subject of a future “In defence of”, perhaps?]), Rat Race is actually pretty good. John Cleese and Rowan Atkinson are fun, even if they are phoning it in. Seth Green, Breckin Meyer, Jon Lovitz, Amy Smart and even Cuba Gooding “Snow Dogs” Jr. give solid comedic performances. Hell, you can even look at the horrible ending in a positive light if you suppress your gag reflex. Next time you see something completely out of the blue, a really obvious Deus ex Machina, just say to yourself “Hey! It’s Smashmouth!” It adds a pleasant ironic distance to the previous concept of “grinning and bearing it.”
Get Over It by Alexander B. Huls
On the surface, Get Over It is just another teen romantic-comedy. Well, beneath the surface, it basically is too. In fact, it’s not even an original one at that. Mix together 10 Things I Hate About You, Some Kind of Wonderful and She’s All That and presto: Get Over It. What does differentiate the film from the rest of the teen (not wolf) pack, and the reason it holds a special place in my heart, is its feverish, kooky, often-bizarre energy. At times this movie is just so weird and over-the-top, it makes one wonder if it’s satire. It often reminds me of one of my favorite teen comedies, Better Off Dead. I mean this movie has a musical production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in it, with original songs (composed by a flamboyant musical director played by Martin Short), one of which is in boy band style. Yet despite all its absurdity, it does hit surprisingly poignant (albeit a bit derivative) moments along the way.
Also there is a hot scene of Kirsten Dunst in a bikini. You know, if that’s your thing.
Muppet Treasure Island by Doug Nayler
Whether intentionally or by coincidence, the history of the Muppets is often portrayed much like that of Western Civilization. According to popular chronology the Muppets reached their Grecian pinnacle in the late 70s and early 80s under the direction of creator Jim Henson. The wildly popular Muppet Show, the outstandingly innovative children’s TV juggernauts Sesame Street and Fraggle Rock, and the original trilogy of Muppet films (The Muppet Movie, The Great Muppet Caper, and The Muppets Take Manhattan) are considered to be the creative height of all things Muppet. Following the tragic early death of Henson in 1990, the franchise began to slowly erode. The Muppet Show became copied by scribes into shows of increasingly inferior quality, such as MuppeTelevision and Muppets Tonight. Likewise, the filmic output eventually declined into their final theatrical outing to date, the disappointing Muppets From Space. The franchise is now considered to be in the depths of its Dark Ages, with hopes among many for an eventual renaissance.
However, I refute this history as I think it is biased by the history makers. Indeed, this history is the history of my elders. A generation that has its affection for the Muppets tied up in the aforementioned original successes. And since this is where their allegiances lie, the book writers view any later output to be inferior. I stand here to argue that two films featuring the Muppets were released in the 1990s that were just as vital, creative, and original as their forebears. Those films are 1992’s A Muppet Christmas Carol, and 1996’s Muppet Treasure Island. While Christmas Carol still gets its dues being pulled back out into syndication each year during the holidays, Treasure Island has been greatly forgotten. Which I feel is a great shame.
Treasure Island takes great fun in its elaborate period sets, and satirical jabs at British colonial and class reality of the 18th century, as well as pirate genre film archetypes. Indeed, the film includes some of the funniest bits to be found in a Muppet film for years: Fozzy’s foppish, eccentric aristocrat guided by Mr. Bimbo, the man who lives in his finger. Gonzo’s discovery of Henry Kissinger’s Diplomacy amongst a pirate’s personal belongings. Honestly, just go to Youtube right now and search for “Muppet Treasure Island Roll Call.” Tell me that sequence isn’t one of the best ever to appear in a Muppet movie.
I will admit that the Muppets have lost something in terms of their popularity and relevance since Henson’s death. The last few made-for-TV efforts have definitely been quite lacking. But Muppet Treasure Island offers a great mix of comedy, drama, adventure, music, and satire that most people have simply forgotten about. It may not have made the most money, but damnit, it sure was a lot of fun. So go out and give it another chance. And ignore the way the guy at the Blockbuster glares at your pedophile-looking-ass the whole time you’re renting it.
