Inside the Brain of E.C. Henry

A Genre in Dire Need of a New Direction; Exploring Issues in Rom-com Movies: Volume 42

This post has been a long time in coming.  I've felt so disappointed by the overall, trajectory and  direction the romantic comedy genre has been going down for nearly a decade.  Every year it seams the overall health of the romantic comedy genre gets sicker and sicker and sicker.  At some point someone has to have the balls to stand up and say enough is enough; let's re-think our mindset so that we're producing better romantic comedy movies.  

What I'm seeing is that selection of rom-com movies is getting fewer and fewer, and even the ones that get made and get the full Hollywood treatment seamed flawed and skewed at the top-level thinking (or lack thereof).  What I'm getting at is the rich legacy of the genre has NOT been passed to this generation of movie-makers.  Rather the baton keeps getting fumbled away with each new, flawed release.  For the most part I think Hollywood has failed us.  They may contend that their offerings are still making money, hence why stop with the shit; but I contend back that is a piss poor excuse for making lousy movies when it well in your power to making better ones, as their a latent desire by people to go to the movie, hence even with poor offerings SOME people will go see them anyway.  

In my opinion Hollywood has been trying to re-invent what a rom-com is for the past decade.  Started out the with raunch-com movement, but in the last few years has been splicing shit like zombies and computer and sex addiction to the mix.  But in my opinion that attempt at change what we precieve a rom-com should be has resulted in an era where the women have been de-valued in a genre they should rule and be honored in.  

The time for change is NOW!  I feel like we're coming out of the raunch-com era, and re-invetnion era, and it's time for the time of the next evolution of the romantic comedy genre.  I feel the raunch-com era began with "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" (2005: Judd Apatow).  Now that movie was excellent, so good that it's my #6 favorite rom-com of all time.  BUT "The 40-Year-Old Virgin"  spawned a trend that Hollywood should now tap a trend of making their romantic comedy movies more crass, and pander to the male side of the ledger, all of which comes at the expense of women and giving them movies which honor them and give them an idealized from of romance to be their gold standard.   After the "The 40-Year-Old Virgin", total crap movies like "Knocked Up", "Good Luck Chuck," and "Superbad" came out.  But, hey, at least the last one lived up (or should I say down) to its name.  Even today raunch-coms are being release the deplorable "Neighbors" was released this year, and there's others of the same vibe, all forgettable and easily dismissed.  As far as re-inventing goes look to movies like "Her", "Warm Bodies", "Don Juan" and "Thank You for Sharing".  

Harsh words coming from a guy who actually WANTS to be part of the system, eh?  Well, I'm no yes-man.  And I can honestly tell you from the heart that I wish Hollywood was making better romantic comedy movies, but alas they're not.  But I want them too!  Why?  Because I LOVE romantic comedy movies.  The romantic comedy genre is by far my favorite of all genres.  Thus, whether I'm allowed to be a player in it or not, I want it to thrive.  And right now the status quo is not good enough.  Not even close to being good enough.  Changes need to happen, and they need to happen at the highest level of thinking at the studio and development levels.  So I'm going to state my opions and ways of change to improve this beleaguered genre.  Hopefully in all this I'll state some points to ponder to restore this fallen genre back to the place it belongs: at the top admired by millions of its rightful fans.

And how do you know you've made a "good" romantic comedy?  If a dating couple leaves the movie theatre and the girl's arm is wrapped around her date's neck and she's smiling you have made a "good" romantic comedy.  

Point: Rom-coms are date movies.

Romantic comedy genre direction and improvement idea # 1: Ditch trying to make "realistic" movies and cater more to the ideal and dream level of romance.

I see way to many romantic comedy style movies that are focusing way too hard at intercepting current culture and trying hard to relate to day-to-day life.  Romance in the movies is a call to the ideal.  It's a call to a higher dream.  A romantic comedy is place for women to go too see how idealized romance can be.  Some argue that ruins modern romance.  But that's a BULLSHIT argument, flawed at its core.  Why?  Because how else are people supposed to learn to be romantic if they don't learn it from somewhere?  Rom-coms are a place to plant seeds of romance for people to try in their own lives to achieve a form of.

Point: romantic comedies are a place for people to go and have a few laughs while stoking the fires of their imagination for their own romantic endeavors.

Okay, so why would Hollywood execs and development people pander to the lower level thinking of trying to identify with today's culture so much?   I think they're running scared.   They're afraid that if they don't go overboard to show reality that today's marketplace won't be able to relate to their movies.  What they don't realize is that Hollywood is looked to by today's youth to teach them about romance.  That's right not only do people go to movies to be entertained, but with this special genre they're going their to learn.  You don't learn a damn thing if all the filmmakers are showing is a strained attempt at throwing a mirror in your face!  As a filmmaker you gotta have the guts to go out there and call your audience to attention to your theme.  

A good rom-com is like a fairy tale set in modern times.  Think about what I'm saying.  When a married couple describes their courtship and how they got together their telling their version of their own romantic comedy.  It's their fairy tale they're telling, their parroting back life in modern society, no they telling you their version of magic, romantic magic.   And in my opinion Hollywood needs to get back to that, romantic magic OVER being a mirror to what a jaded view of life is like right now.

And even in the fallen era, an occassional jem has been minted.  Take for instance Disney's "Enchanted" (2007: Amy Adams, Patrick Dempsey), which has a storyline where a cartoon fairyland suddenly comes to modern-day New York.  The ideal meets reality, and the result is something like this...

Romantic comedy genre improvement idea # 2: Hollywood needs to realize that bad set pieces are the real killer to romantic comedies, not a predictable structure.   

Set pieces are the lifeblood of romantic comedies.  A set piece is a scene in a movie.    In a romantic comedy scenes need to be either funny, romantic, funny and romantic, or a least interesting drama.  Structure is the composition of all the scenes/set pieces into an overall sequences, as viewed from beginning to end.  If you watch enough movies you can see the structure and pacing is a lot the same.  But where they differentiate is the scenes the comprise that structure.  Some people bemoan the rom-com's as being predictable, this is another IDIOT ARGUMENT.  Why?  Because I submit to you that if you can make the individual set pieces a pleasure to watch, structure disappears.

Point: Good set pieces trump structure.  Always have, always will.

Why do I bring this up?  Because I think part of Hollywood's problem is they think the audience needed something new, that they were bored with the romantic comedy genre, that they erroneously came to the conclusion it was the familar structure, when all along it was their own LAZY--should have known before you even filmed it--FLAWED SET PIECES that doomed many of these movies before they were even released.  (Not: I put the picture of "Definitely, Maybe" here because I felt this was Hollywood's attempt at shaking up the rom-com structure a bit, giving the guy 3 options of who he was destined to be with, I actually likes this movie btw.).  Back to the couples anaolgy as they recount their own courtship; don't they all have a happy ending?  And yet we still love to hear how two people found each other, love, and found bliss.  This is at the core of what romantic comedies are all about, and sadly Hollywood has lost sight of this.

Romantic comedy genre direction and improvement idea # 3: Hollywood filmmakers need to go a better job with their shot callouts and become more camera savy as a whole to improve their attempts at being funny.  

I really feel that most rom-com, and broad comedy movies don't use the camera and shot call out effectively.  It's like their's over reliance on the actor to deliver the laughs.  I think things need to open up at the screenwriting-to-director level.  Camera level shot callouts in the script that build to a comedic punchline.  Don't just leave it to the director and his or her sensibilities to call the camera shot, give the screenwriter the leeway to conceptualize the comedy in shot callouts at the script level.  

New York, Chicago and Hollywood are filled with brilliant comedians.  But a movie is NOT a Saturday Night Live sketch, or stand-up comedy.  In a movie you have the ability to call out different shots and add things in that you can't do in a live, stage performance.  Reaction shots of actors.  Humorous props.  What I'm getting at is I feel Hollywood has gotten lazy in the comedy development process.  They lean to hard on static camera comedy, and have forgotten how shots can stack up on each other to build a funny climax.  

Remember the movie, "A Fish Called Wanda" (1988)"?  One of my favorite scenes in that movie is where John Cleese is turning Jamie Lee Curtis on by talking to her in foreign languages.  

Their in some strange house, and he's undressing in preparation to have sex once the foreign language foreplay is done, but then the family of that house suddenly comes home.  John Cleese is now undressed.  

And to cover up his genital he takes a picuture off the coffee table, which is a picture of the mother of that family!  This set piece is funny because it starts off as seduction: shot of John Cleese dancing around rattling off sentences in foreign languages.  Next shot is of Jamie Lee Curtis' reaction to that: she's into it setting all turned on.  Then comes a shot of the family.  Then comes a shot of John Cleese's face; o shit, I'm naked!  Last comes the caper; the shot where he hides his genitals with a picture of the mother of that family.  

Get the humor?  It's all about reversals, comebacks, and an escalating situation that ends with a punchline.  All handled by camera shot call outs, reactionary shots; the camera is not filming from a static position, but rather is jumping about catching the drama of the moment and comedy highlights as the scene unfolds.  This set piece would not be half as funny if you filmed it all the same shot.  Rather, the comedy comes together in the editing room.  See what I'm talking about now?  Stacking up shots to build to comedic climax.

I mean I really thought "A Million Ways to Die in the West" had a strong premise, but it died on the vine in the comedy department.  Why?  Because the filmmakers and development people didn't breakdown their comedic moments effectively.  And "A Million Ways to Die in the West" isn't the only rom-com style movie that I see failing in the shot callout/edit phase; this phenomenon happens far to regularly.  

Romantic comedy directions and improvement idea # 4: Ditch all the sexually explicit material, and learn the power of inference and the audience members abiltiy to put the sexually infering material together for themselves.

I think a lot of comedy goes out the window when you get raunchy and show people in the nude or in the blows of sex.  It is FAR BETTER to infer dirty things, then to show nudity and dirty acts of sex on film.  A good story teller and filmmaker can infer dirty things, and use the camera in such a way that protects the actress and actor.  I remember this movie I watched years ago, "Observe and Report",  where Seth Rogen was a mall cop and he was chasing a flasher around  a mall.  All I really remember about that movie was the insensitivity of the filmmakers in showing the pervert running around the mall with his ding-a-ling clearly visible.  Why show that?!  Not funny.  Not dramatic.  Just raunchy.  Just gross.  Better to just show the top of the man, then in a separate shot his bare thighs running--NEVER showing the groin.  

This blatant insensitivity and crassness in ALLOWING this make the final cut of the movie makes me wonder if there's a bunch of perverts at the top calling the shots in Hollywood.  I mean why else would you show genitalia in a MAINSTREAM movie?!?  Showing that stuff insults a lot of people's sensitivities, gets them to tune out, resulting in a lower box office draw once word of mouth spread, and worse still makes people leery about seeing the next Hollywood offering, fearing the same treatment is yet to happen again.  

Point: Excessive, sexually visuals revolts people, and gets them to tune you out.

All I can figure is that the higher ups making movies frequent strip clubs, and like to see nudity and people in the blows of sex; such crassness on the screen is a reflection of their own personal tastes.  Hope I'm wrong about that, but that's my gut feeling.  

Point: it's far better to insinuate the sex, than to show it.  When you show sex, you get people to tune you out, and that's something you never want to do.

Romantic comedy direction and improvement idea # 5.  Find a new "it" girl to be the next rom-com queen.  

Meg Ryan will always be my favorite rom-com actress.  I just love her.  But her time has come and gone, and the rom-com genre is in need of a new queen.  A fresh face who's pretty, funny, and can nail the drama points.  Obvious choice, hottest actress going right now: Jennifer Lawrence.  BUT I defer and think someone new is needed.  HUGE fan of Katherine Heigl, back in the late 2000s I thought she was "it", but now after several bombs I think her time has come and gone, it's time for someone knew to grab the reins and be our queen.

Past rom-com queens include:

• Meg Ryan
• Andie MacDowell
• Sandra Bullock
• Drew Barrymore
• Jennifer Aniston
• Renee Zellwegger
• Kate Hudson
• Katherine Heigl

Well, I've said a lot.  And I've spoken from my heart.  I am NOT HAPPY with the way Hollywood has totally trashed the rom-com genre and left it in desolation.  The romantic comedy is a place for women to be treasured.  It is a place where women and who they are is celebrated.  A woman will ALWAYS be the central attraction of a rom-com:

Celebrating women in games of courtship.

Strive for the higher ideals, Hollywood.  Realize that you have a chance to enrich MILLIONS of people's lives with the products you put out.  Think of your legacy.  Make better movies.  Adjust your mindsets so that's even possible.  Pay closer attention to the technical details of comedy--especially as pertains to camera shot call outs.  Go beyond the easy crutch of using past SNL cast members and stand-up comics, and realize the benefit of comedy visionaries both at the script level, development level and directing level.  Currently Hollywood's production of romantic comedy movies is flawed.  Changes need to made, and new direction is needed.  

- E.C. Henry from Bonney Lake, WA 

The Importance of the Kiss; Exploring Issues in Rom-com Movies: Volume 41

Hey off the top of your head, what's the most memorable kiss you can remember seeing in the movies?  Did it even happen in a romantic comedy?  Or was it in some other genre?  Truth be told the whole, kissing in the movies between two members of a couple doesn't really stick in brain as much you think.  And the crazy thing is looking up images to put on this post, I was shocked at how few iconic kissing images from the movies show up when I was running searches.  

So is kissing important?

Fuck, yeah!  Okay so maybe that' a poor choice of words on my part, but I do feel strongly on the subject.  Why?  Because I sincerely believe that romantic comedy movies can be used as teaching tool to my fellow American and people abroad about what it's like to fall in love, and kissing is a vital activity in the falling in love process.

What is a kiss?  And what is its importance?

A kiss signifies both parties willingness to touch in an intimate way.  It is a physical expression of a romantic affection felt for another person.  It affirms desire in a concrete way.  It takes romance out of the head, and settles it with physical touch.

Now there are many kinds of kisses, and ways they can be interpreted.  But what I'm talking about in this post is a kiss between a man and woman, who are foraying into romantic bounds, a.k.a. the heart the of genre I so love: the romantic comedy.

The sad truth of the matter is that so few rom-coms have a kissing moment that is iconic.  When I think iconic kissing scenes in the movies I think of that kiss Mary Jane Watson gave to an upside-down Spider-man in "Spider-man" (2002), I also think of that kiss at the advent of a South Carolina rainstorm between Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gossling in "The Notebook" (2004).  I have to scan my memory banks pretty hard to remember specific kisses in rom-com movies that I felt were memorable.

Okay, I got a couple.  I liked when Toula and Ian Miller kissed on the bridge in "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" (2002).  This kiss was memorable, to me, because I was really rooting for Toula and could identify with a someone who had led a suppressed life and at long last was finding bliss in the form of a kiss.  Another kiss in the movies I liked was when Jenna and Matt jumped off the swing as adults, and Matt seized the once-in-a-lifetime moment and bent down and kissed Jenna in "13 Going on 30" (2004) (2004).  Lastly, I really liked the kiss in the bowling alley shared by Dan and Marie in "Dan in Real Life" (2007) where the kiss is just getting hot with Marie bending in wanting more when Dan's family crashes their moment.  Outside of that...  Sure there's been other kissing, but how much of it was memorable/inspiring?

My point: rom-com's are places of inspiration.  In watching these "date movies" couples are supposed to leave inspired with things to talk about, and even emulate.  I wholeheartedly believe in the importance of romantic kissing.  It's a part of life that makes life worth living.  And what I mean by that is that kissing is part of life that we actually should be looking forward too, as opposed to the mundane tasks such as: going to work, paying the bills, and worrying about the economy and how we're going to get by in the future.

Romance is part of the reward for all the bullshit we're forced to put up with in this life.  And the kiss with that someone special of the opposite sex is a physical fulfillment we can tangibly experience.  The key is your feeling for that other person must be desirous: you gotta wanna get physical with them.  

In movies the kissing scene is best when it feels earned; the couple in question has endured hardship and at long last gets to express their romantic feeling for the other in the form of a kiss.  The audience begins to root for the couple as a product of the hardship, then once fully vested in their plight, gets to experience the "awww" of the moment when at long last the suffering couple comes together and kisses.

I believe "the kiss" is near the heart of the rom-com genre, and it's importance is deserving of study.  

So is any of this related to any of the writing I'm doing right now?  Damn straight it is!  Yep, I'm at the point in my epic fantasy novel where the 1st of 3 love stories begins, and I hope to create a kiss that will be remembered.  Aim big, hit bit.  And I have big ambitions here. You see I'm dealing with a first kiss situation that is going to mean EVERYTHING to main protagonist, but be rather retroactive to the other party.  4th of July fireworks, blackout; you got it, I'm talking head-over-heels reaction by one member of the kissing party.

Do you remember your first kiss of romantic interest?  I'm not taking kisses by relatives, or childhood kisses.  But what I'm talking about is the first kiss you experience that actually meant something to you.

It's been forever since that time for me.  The details of that time are kind of foggy too.  But it did happen for me after I graduated from high school.  She was  a girl I met at a fast food restaurant.  I liked her right away, but it still took me about 6 months to work up the courage to ask her out.  Never had a girlfriend in high school so I had no track record previous to this time to draw upon.  

And this girl who gave me my first memorable kissing experience was straight up trouble, I see that now.  A girl I never should have given my heart to.  Though a senior in high school, this girl I loved had already been in rehab for drug abuse, cocaine I think, but that's not where things went sideways.  You see she was at an age where she was exploring her emerging sexuality--with other guys!  I was never her "boyfriend" but rather just one of her "friends", which was her way of saying she was open to multiple partners.  She gave me that lecture once.  One time at the restaurant one of her male "friends", a butt-ugly logger I might add, even came back to return a pair of her panties.  That was very deflating for me to experience.  Your first love, and just goes so fart south...  Yeah, I can relate to Will Smith's character in that flashback in "Hitch" (2005: Eva Mendes, Kevin James).  But before that we did kiss, especially at her parents porch which was my first make-out session, and that very memorable for me.  So memorable was making out with her, that I actually drove past her house many times in the years that followed just hoping to see her again.

Isn't it weird romance can have such a plus and negative side all wrapped up into one?!   But time heals all hurts, right?  Well... I've come to terms with her in my mind and heart; the first girl I ever fell for was a trap.  I never should have given my heart to the first girl I fell for; she was undeserving.  But in her defense, which I can see now in retrospect, she was young: a senior in high school still exploring the boundaries of her sexual appeal.  No, she wasn't a very smart girl, but pretty enough to get a lot of guys to look past her shortcomings.   

Love and desire to experience romance can lead to critical lapses in judgment.  And I often wonder how different my life would have been had the first girl I fell for hadn't resulted in such a disaster.  It took me a long time to sort through that stuff, I guess if I had more girls post that disastrous experience, the sting of rejection wouldn't have been so bad, but after that experience I really only had one other girl, then a lifetime of empty space...

But it's the kiss that I miss.  The kiss of passion.  The kiss that maters.   A romantic kiss where for a moment in time you lose yourself; you feel accepted, you feel wanted, your feel love.  When you're making out with the girl you love, gone are the insecurities of life.  You feel new.  You feel invigorated.  When you're physically kiss it's like you're in the magician's hat, and you're part of the magic.  Why do you think the girl often times kisses the boy before he's off in the movies to attempt some heroic feat: it's to empower and fuel him.  Because when you have your arms wrapped that someone special and are kissing him or her, there's a bliss that releases.  A happiness.  Someone on this planet likes you enough to let you get romantically physical with them.  Never understate that.  It's so important.  It's such a treasure from God, and it's illusive and can't be found just anywhere.  

There are a lot of girls in this world?  But how many of those girls are ones that actually could see myself falling in love with?  Few.  I'm in mid-40s now, and most of my contemporary girls in my age are instant passes in my mind.  

Thankfully this week I'm going to get to experience something that has been sorely lacking in my life.  Through re-writing of the epic fantasy novel I'm going to get to go into both my kissing character's minds and get to expeiernce a "first kiss" to end all kisses--at least that's the way it is for my lead character.  Just thinking about it now is cathartic for my heart.  I feel a deep sadness, a melancholy that's hard to explain, a longing for a moment like the one I'm going to give these two fictional characters.

Writing can take you to some interesting places, and this week I'm defiantly going to one of them.  I love writing romance.  Gives me an opportunity to live a greater life than the one I'm stuck in right now.   

The bliss of the kiss.  Never underestimate it' power.  I just wish the rom-com genre had more memorable kisses in them.  We need to be teaching this generation important ideals: the good and bad of falling in love, how much a kiss can mean to a person.  Ideals are good, but I feel right now as if the romantic comedy genre as a whole has turned its back on them, and their ablity to inspire and equip.  Romance is learned.  And how do we learn?  By watching.  But the current status of the rom-com genre and where it SHOULD head in the future is a subject for another post.  Another post that I will delivering shortly, in fact prior to typing this one up, I thought long and hard about doing that one instead of this one.  But it's coming shortly, so stay tuned...

In conclusion let me just say I think the power of a kiss that's given between a man and a woman exloring their own bout with romance is something worthy of discussion.  It's one highs of life.  A time of bliss that if you're lucky to have, I hope you treasure it, because a lot of us out there have been starved from such bliss and only know the drudgery of life.  

A good kiss settles the soul.  

A good kiss gives us fuel to carry on.  

A good kiss shared with the one you're heart is set on enriches our lives, and transports us to a magical place.

Overcoming Despondency

I'm in weird frame of mind right now.  Lots of stuff going on, but my worldview feels distorted and oriented towards darkness and sadness.  Outside of when I'm at work (where I'm usually  productive and a force for good) I'm finding myself to be listless, cold, and despondent.

For YEARS I held on to the notion that once I broke into Hollywood, and was a player in the movie-making business my life would change for the better: I'd be around people that were interested in the same things I was (making movies), and would experience a time in my life like I've never had before: lots of friends and an active social life.

But one can only hold on in loneliness for so long, before despondency sets in.  Now, I had taken some measures to fill the void, BUT a lot of those measures are really self-destructive in the long run: alcohol and other vices.   The crazy thing about alcohol is that it initially work; you feel better in the short run.  BUT then the next day and sometimes into the days that follow your mental outlook sours.  

Some days I really doubt that I'll ever break-in, and experience the higher life I've been holding out for.  On June 10th I turned 45.  Yep, half way to 90!  Warped way of looking at it, I know.  My parents bought me gifts, but I was so despondent I had no desire whatsoever to even open them.  Finally, earlier today, on Father's Day, I opened those gifts in the presence of my parents.

My mother is a very godly woman.  And my aunt Dennie wrote a wonderful letter describing how the "angels sang" when I was born, rejoicing at my birth.  I feel very far removed from anyone--let alone angels rejoicing over me.  Most days I just see myself as a failure.  I have all these wonderful stories which I've penned which I'm unable on my own to bring to life.  

I need to start living a more healthy lifestyle.  Maybe instead of drinking beer while watching the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, and the Late Show with Seth Myers I SHOULD be stretching, working on my abdominal core muscles, running on the treadmill, and stretching. 

I just really hate myself right now.  Don't worry I'm not suicidal or anything like that, but I'm just not happy at all with myself, and that's led to a lot of despondency.  Worse thing yet I don't have friends to pull me out of this funk, I have to do it myself.  I guess I can rely on God, and His holy angels, and my parents, but I feel I really something else.  Something's missing in my life.  I have a good idea what that is, but actually getting the stuff to fill that void is a different story.

My writing world is in a weird place too.  I'm at a critical chapter in the story, and my despondency has kept me kinda milling around the same stuff for the last month.  On Friday night I did manage to reach the "cute meet" between my story's protagonist and his love interest.  THAT is going to be fun to re-write, as I do love getting to explore romantic stuff, and a lot of it is re-writing my own history in a way...

Remember about a month ago I mentioned that I might lose my job?  Remember how I wrote that I was so relieved to make it past my seniority date so I'd have 200 hours on the books?  Well, it actually shows I have 220 hours of vacation on the books now.  And since I wrote that 2 people have transferred out of the department I work in, I think our supervior's warning speech scared them into requesting these transfers.  Right now at work my shift supervisor is on her own two week vacation.  So were really short-handed. In all likelihood this is going to result in me having to work 10 hours days, and an additional 8 on Saturday for the next couple of weeks--at least that's what I'm preparing for.  And not only that, but a pressure packed shift, each and everyday as I forsee having no other choice but to shoulder more of the burden of the workload.

The crazy thing about this job is, I don't really care about it.  More despondency.  Sure, I like the money and security and all that.  But the place I work doesn't have my heart.  It's not my final stopping place.  It's a place I go to get by until my fortunes break on what I really want to do.  It's so weird being around all these people who this job means so much to, and by that I'm not trying to be mean, it's just that they don't have the lofty ambitions that I have.  Rather, their focus is in on houses, retirement, and their families.  

Lately I have been going to the movies a lot.  Saw "22 Jump Street" today.  Yes, it was funny, but it wasn't as funny as I thought it would be, having heard Jimmy Fallon play it up, and watching its TV trailer, which I thought was pretty funny.  Sadly the story in "22 Jump Street" really falls apart coming down the home stretch.  And whole octopus in the face scene isn't any funnier when you see it played out the whole way in the opening, drug bust sequence.  

"X-Men: Days of Future Past" was by far the most disappointing movie I've seen in long, long time.  This movie has a cast to die for: James McAvoy, Hugh Jackman, Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Fassbender, exec.  I thought "X-Men: Days of Future Past" had a lackluster story that felt like it was borrowing to much from other movies: "Star Trek", "The Matrix" and "Thor".  The story was boring and hard to follow.  Anyway despite its fine cast, "X-Men: Days of Future Past" was AWFUL!  One of the worst big-budget movies I can ever remember seeing.

"Neighbors" staring Seth Rogen, Zac Effron, and Rose Byrne was way too raunchy for my tastes.  And based on a few very poor and raunchy scenes I cannot, in good conscious recommend this movie to anyone.  In one horrible, awkward, and elongated scene Rose Byrne's character exposes her swollen breasts to that Seth Rogan can "milk them" and give her relief from her condition.  They show the swollen breasts and the veins and it's downright gross, but the raunch doesn't stop there soon Seth Rogan is getting sprayed in the face with their milk.  GROSS.  And there's also conceptual grossness when the college kids decided to shave their pubic hair so they can use a computer modeling program to re-produce dildo replica's of their dicks, which then then sell to girls on campus.  TOTALLY UNFUNNY and conceptually vulgar, I just can believe what depths of depravity MAINSTREAM Hollywood movies are willing to sink to for some low-brow humor.  It just makes me sick.  "Neighbors" wasn't all bad, I did laugh at times, and the interplay between Rose Byrne and Seth Rogan is for the most part very good and believable.  

"A Million Ways to Die in the West" was a movie I actually enjoyed quite a bit.  YES, in last week's review I did blast at how poorly the attempts at comedy came across, but the main storyline between Albert and Ana won me over.  I loved that!  Best rom-com duo of 2014, in my humble opinion.  Charlize Theron is A-MAZING!  HUGE fan of her.  Loved her in "Young Adult" and she hasn't disappointed since then.

"Edge of Tomorrow": the new Tom Cruise movie was pretty good.  Like "X-Men: Days of Future Past" I thought it borrowed too much from "The Matrix", but their was a genuine attempt at introducing new concepts.  The D-Day re-enactment on the beach was pretty awesome.  Somewhere down the line, the makers of Hollywood movies need to do fight scenes better, slow down the action so the audience can actually follow what's going on.  The aliens in "Edge of Tomorrow" just moved to fast, and their world wasn't explained enough for my liking.

Scoreboard (0-10 with 10 being the highest):

"22 Jump Street": 6.0

"X-Men: Days of Future Past": 1.5

"Neighbors": 4.5

"A Million Ways to Die in the West": 7.0

"Edge of Tomorrow": 6.5

 

So what's the plan moving forward?  Well, I know I need to drink a lot less alcohol.   I also need to knuckle down and put in a good 1-2 hours EVERYDAY behind the keyboard, editing the epic fantasy novel.  In short starve out the bad, harmful, self-destructive tendencies, and graft in more healthy and productive activities.  It's not brain science, and its not things that I can't do, thankfully.  I just need to have the discipline to do them.  

For the next 3 weeks or so I'll probably only be able to post on the weekends.  Hopefully, when we're back to full strength at work I'll get to work a few less hours and will have more time and energy to do blog posts.  Till we speak again, stay well and in a good, mental frame of mind.

- E.C. Henry from Bonney Lake, WA

A Million Ways Comedy Died in the West: Movie Review and Tips for Improvement

Lemme just start by saying that I'm a HUGE fan of Seth McFarlane.  I LOVED the movie he did a few years ago called "Ted" (2012: Mark Wahlberg, Mila Kunis), and his 2013 hosting of the Oscars proved that this man has balls of steel; I have never seen the Oscars hosted the way that Seth McFarlane chose to host them.  But I'm afraid that I found Seth's  latest offering, "A Million Ways to Die in the West" (Seth McFarlane, Charlize Theron, Liam Neeson) wasn't as good as it should have been.  I thought the comedy was off, and that suprised me for reasons I'll go into later in this post. 

I really admire Seth McFarlane.  I love the fact that his follow-up movie to "Ted" was something totally different than "Ted".  Thus proving Seth McFarlane is willing to take chances and not turn-out cookie-cutter rip-offs of previous success' he's had.  That's an admirable trait.  One creative to another, I tip my hat to you, Seth McFarlane.  That said, I found of room for improvement in your latest offering, "A Million Ways to Die in the West".

The biggest challenge "A Million Ways to Die in the West" faced was its tone.  Is this a western you should take seriously, as evidenced in the dangers of the west and Liam Neeson's bad guy, OR is this a comedy that tries to spoof the old west and get us to laugh?  This movie tries to have it both ways, and unfortunately its comedy suffers for it.  You could almost say this is a romantic comedy with a western accent, as there is the strong storyline of Albert (Seth McFarlane) and Ana (Charlize Theron) budding romance.  I wouldn't however classify "A Million Ways to Die in the West" as a rom-com, rather it's a comedy with a western accent with a strong romantic comedy, b-storyline.    

So what tone SHOULD this movie have taken?  For my money more time needed to be put in on the comedy angle, and Seth McFarlane's unique take on the old west.  I don't think he was off at all making his main protagonist, Albert, hate the west.  As the wordview that the old west was dangerous place is something that I think an audience would readily buy into.  Where Seth McFarlane and those involved in making this movie at the concept and script development level failed was in taking the bad parts of the west which this script raises and (for the most part) FAILING (for the most part) to make them funny.  

Comedy makes light of things.  It's no cardinal sin to take a negative perspective on a time of life and start there as a basis for comedy.  But once issues are raised, then the comedy to be delivered on.  You don't point bad things out and leave the audience without making them laugh with your punchline at the end of bringing those bad thing up.  Case and point: the ice block dropping scene.  

When I saw a partial clip from the ice block dropping scene in the trailer and heard Seth McFarlane's reaction to it, "Wow, that went south so fast," I laughed.  BUT when I saw the full scene as it plays in the movie I cringed.  In the movie after Seth McFarlane delivers which should have been the punch line the next shot is of the bloody ice block.  Seeing the blood on the ice block TOTALLY RUINS THE COMEDY!  Which leads to --

Comedy improvement idea #1: Never show blood and gore in a comedy as part of the punchline for a set piece, gag or joke.  Why?  It confuses the audience.  Blood and gore triggers repulsion--not laughs.  

You can laugh at someone's misfortune, but if you as filmmaker decide to mix in blood and gore to make the misfortune seam more real, you're leaving the realm of comedy for the realm of horror, and you don't wanna do that.  Blood and splatter belong in b-grade horror movies--not in mainstream comedy movies.

Comedy improvement idea #2: Never introduce a serious issue without an attempt at delivering a comedic punchline.

At the fair Ana and Albert watch a snake oil salesmen get gored by a random bull.  All Albert makes mention of is that this in another example of how dangerous the old west is. Where was the humor here?  This scene is ripe of a punchline, yet one isn't even attempted.  Tonal error at the concept/script level.  What SHOULD HAVE HAPPENED here was a shot of the snake oil salesmen on the horns of the bull saying something comedic like, "On to Buffalo.  Yeah, lets see if I can sell any of my tonics there!"  Or "Okay, so now I'm finally taking"  (grips the bulls horns) the bull by the horns and not missing any opportunities that come my way, might I interest you sir in some tonic"  (pulls a bottle out of his coat pocket) I hear it does wonders for a man if he's having problems with ladies in the bedroom"  (then adds a wiggle of his eyebrows). 

Sure, what I just wrote isn't PERFECTLY funny, it's first draft off the top of my head, but at least it's an attempt at maintaining a comedic vibe.  And that's what "A Million Ways to Die in the West" needed more of, comedic cappers that reminded the audience that they were indeed in a comedy.

 

Moving on, there are a few other ways this movie FAILED misseribly in.  How about being to raunchy.  How about that scene in the bar where Albert is talking with his two friends, one of whom is a prostitute who also works in that very same bar, and then at one point she turns her cheek, and we see it's got cum on it!  This REVOLTED ME, and wasn't funny in the least.  Why Seth McFarlane and people braintrust at the studio who allowed this movie to be released with that in it is beyond me.  It's not funny, it's not revealing character, it's just downright gross and it takes a MAINSTREAM audience out of the action, being revolted and makes them leary of what's coming next.  And, yes, there is another gross thing that happens later.

When Albert's hiding out with the sheep trying to evade detections by bad guy Liam Neeson and his gang of roughnecks one of the sheep pisses in his face.  And can't believe how poorly this was handled by Seth McFarlane and those involved in the overseeing of this movie.  Why show the sheep's dick?  This is a cardinal sin of mixing nudity at a time when your trying to be funny.  The crazy thing is the whole Albert getting peed in the face thing COULD have resulted in laughs instead of groans, with a difference sensitity being implored.  This leads to...

Comedy improvement idea #3: Never show genitalia or nudity when attempting to be funny.  

It's okay to hint at something gross happening, just don't show genitalia and nudity as a part of the punchline.  This is very closely related to blood and gore--only now the inflamatory device is errotica.  I am so sick of modern fillmakers attempting to fuse full disclosing nudity with humor.  It just doesn't work.  The thing is you can hint at nudity and stuff, you just can't visually show it, it ruins the comedy of the moment.  

If you have HALF A BRAIN you can EASILY device ways of NOT SHOWING genitalia, doing the same thing in the scene, and be far funnier.  It requires a differnent mindset than was on display in "A Million Ways to Die in the West" and many others of Hollywood's raunchy comedies.  It saddens me that the filmmakers can't see this at the conceptual level.  Showing dicks and vaginas and all that doesn't make you a pioneering filmmaker.  Like seeing that kind of stuff--go to porn where it belongs!  

The scnene with Albert getting peed on by one of his sheep, could have been saved--and even funny, with a slightly different shot call-out.  Like.... Show Albert on his hands and knees.  Next shot Albert makes eye contact with one of his sheep.  That sheep give's Albert a crude foreboding look, which could be done with a model.  Next shot shows Albert scurrying away from that sheep, causing a ruse.  Next shot shows Clench looking over at the excited sheep.  Next shot down with Albert amongst the sheep sss-hing them trying to get them to calm down.  Next shot has Clench continuing to look at the sheep herd, but then with them calming down turns his attention elsewhere.  Next shot we're back with Albert, as he sighs with relief, but then looks out at the sheep and over at the one who gave him the evil eye.  Next shot is the reaction of the sheep, who nods his head yes, and smiles' devilishly.  Next shot shows Albert's face: he's confused, but in the background we see a sheep's leg cock up like a dog getting ready to pee on a fire hydrant.  Next shot is a close=up of Albert's face: eye's widen, mouth doughnuts; o shit!  Next shot is of a lime green squirt gun being pulled by a sheep's hoof.  Punchline shot is of Albert getting sprayed in face.  Shakes his head, now as he wipes the water off his face, then says something like, "Touche, I'll bet you guys have been wanting to do that to me for some time now."  Last shot is wide on Albert and the sheep around him, who are all nodding their heads, yes.

See, you can even show someone getting peed in the face and make it palatable, and even humorous with the proper sensitivities implored.

I was also revolted out the comedy when Sarah Silverman's character turns her face to reveal an ooze of cum splattered on her check.  This WAS.  NOT.  FUNNY.  And in very poor taste.  I can't believe this made it on the final cut of the film.

Comedy improvement idea #4: Use a succession of shots to set up a punchline shot, and don't be afraid to use music to accent the comedic joke's punchline.  We've all seen stand-up comedians do their routines.  Typically jokes are set-up, then a reversal or humorous farce comes in at the end which delivers the laughs.  In film set-up is done with various shot call-outs.  Something then happens in these shot call-outs, then you cut to the next filmed images.  If you call your shots out right you can set up jokes, then the final cut is where the punchline/humorous end is delivered.  Now in stand-up a lot of times when the comedian delivers a the punchline a drum or some other comedic sound triggers the end and cues the audience the intent was a laugh at this point.  Why this isn't implored more in comedy feature film I don't understand.  I guess it's because some filmmakers fear this breaks the illusion of the film.  But what they don't get is that comedy is all about delivering the laughs and giving the audience a good time--it's not supposed to be a direct reflection of life.  And guess what other genres use background music affectively that actually enhances the emotion of the moment.  John Carpenters' "Halloween" (1978) comes to mind, the music in that movie sets you on the edge of your seat.  And what about the music that accompany's "Planet of the Apes" (1968)?  That music helps get the audience in the mood and in the texture of the movie.  Point: background music is an accent, why can't more comedies use music effectively to highlight the cinematic jokes they set up?

Comedy improvement idea #5: Make the sheep accent funnier.  This is really specific JUST to this story as opposed to some of my other comments which can and should be thought in a broader sense.  But I was really miffed by how Seth and the braintrust that made this movie fumbled the ball in failing to accent the Albert's way of living: raising sheep.  This was barely scratched.  Is the outstanding joke that some perverts actually think a sheep's womanhood is a viable replacement for an actual woman?  Why didn't Seth exploit that more, and use a comedic angle to poke fun at that stereotype?  What I'm getting at is a missed opportuniity to inject more comedy into this story.  

I had the idea of having pervert frequent Seth's farm, where he attempt as a well intentioned suitor to serenade the love of his life, which one of Seth's sheep.  Can you imagine some man in a suit come a knocking on your door with express interest of asking the hand/hoof of one of the sheep of your flock?  Anywho, I imaged some well intentioning, but warped man singing a rendition of Whitney Houston's "Saving All My Love For You" to one of the sheep in Alberts fold, the Albert suffers the indignity of trying to help/get rid of this weird pervert.  See any comedic possibilities there?  And realize this is JUST first draft, off the top of my head stuff, it's not even fully developed.  

As for shot call-outs and comedy?  Well-p, I think Hollywood is WAY, WAY to dependent on static comedy, and doesn't put near enough attention into the way shots can build up and be stacked on each other, and used for a comedic affect.  I think Hollywood relies to heavily or one-shot drama, where its all on the actors in the scene to deliver the laughs.  I think Hollywood is filled with plenty of great comedy actors who can, and do, pull this off, but I also fell that most of Hollywood's comedy movies DON'T use scene stack-ups as effectively as they should.   This is where a good script comes in hand.  This is where a cinematic director comes in hand.  A script where a screenwriter is allowed to call out shots which build toward a comedic climax.  Stories need to be funny at the script level, where with the proper imagination in the reader it can logically be deduced how each film sequence could be shot, and stacked one after another to build a comedic climax.

Now, in fairness to Seth McFarlane, and the filmmakers of "A Million Ways to Die in the West" I did like seeing helicopter shots of the landscape of the old west, much like I enjoyed the Coen Brothers BRILLIANT decision to include those breathtaking shots of the Texas desert when Llewlyn Moss is hunting deer just before he runs into the post-shootout remains of the Mexican drug deal gone wrong in "No Country for Old Men".

Comedy improvement idea #6: Loss of egos, consider everyone a viable source for comedic improvement.  Got a stud like Seth McFarlane, or Judd Apatow on board?  Great!  But no matter who is at the helm, you need to be open to advice from other people.  Why?  Well, sometimes what works and the funniest thing, doesn't come from those in charge.  Who made Meg Ryan's orgasm in the deli funny in "When Harry Met Sally"?  It wasn't the principal actors Meg Ryan, or Billy Crystal, rather it was the female bystander in the deli who said the topper line, "I'll have what she's having."  

In comedy I think it's best if those in charge are open to the ideas of others.  Being open minded can lead to better discoveries, and better end product.   

Okay I've said enough.  May not have sited a million ways to improve the film, but I did site a few.  But in all honest , but I honesty I think "A Million Ways to Die in the West" should have been waaay better artistically then is evident in its final product. 

Jimmy Fallon: The Life of Late Night TV

Jimmy Fallon is doing a GREAT job hosting "The Tonight Show" on late night TV on NBC.  I've seen Jimmy Fallon before, on "Saturday Night Live" and my opinion of him the then was a casual shrug off, who cares he's just not as funny as the other actors on the show.  But now...  

Trust me on this, if you haven't been watching NBC's "The Tonight Show" lately you owe it to yourself to do so.  Nearly every time I tune in I'm blown away by how good Jimmy Fallon is, he's like an all-star, comedy point guard--to use an basketball play analogy.  What I'm getting at is Jimmy Fallon is very good at talking with his guests and setting up the laughs.  

AND he's bringing back some "Saturday Night Live" style skits in which he and his guests perform--and there good!  And I mean real good, worth-the-price-of-admission right there good!

Loved the game of charade Jimmy had with Charlize Theron lately, that was entertaining.  Loved the game of truth or lie Jimmy played with Jennifer Lawrence.  The "EW" girl's gab spoof with Seth Rogen, Zac Effron, and Jimmy Kimmel was funny.  And having Kevin Bacon reprise his "Footloose" (1984) dancing as his introduction worked.

Getting the guests to do more than just be sit down answers of questions, and get up and doing something a little different.  IS.  GENIUS!!!  Having guests come in, wave to the audience, then sit down and answer questions and promote something is rather static and boring.  And from a guest's perspective, getting up, being active, and entertaining is a GREAT OPPORTUNITY for their own career expansion.  It's an opportunity to show they can be funny.  It's an opportunity to show by doing a greater range of their performing talent.  Show a different side of themselves for America and the world to see.  Show they can laugh at themselves.  It opens doors, and can get people to look at you in whole new way. I'm now STARTING to look at Zac Efron as a comedic talent--and now just some naturally good looking eye candy for the ladies.   Or like Drake did when he hosted "Saturday Night Live".

I have a HUGE bias against rap music.  Basically I think it panders to stupid people, and is a low form of music in general.  Can't say it's the worst because I absolutely loathe grunge music, and their is a form of heavy metal music out there where the lead singer just screams into the microphone amidst the wail of an electric guitar and driving drum beat.  Yeah, that's worse than rap, but rap's definitely on the wrong side of the ledger when it comes to good music, slash, bad music.  

Now Drake is a rap performer--as I understand it.  Going into his hosting of a Saturday Night Live show I didn't think think much of Drake.  Drake?  Shrug, who cares?  Isn't that the guy who does the Sprite commercial where he's in a rap recording studio and they his body splits apart when he drinks the Sprite soft drink?  Yeah, isn't he on the pre-movie slate when I go the Regal Multiplex in Bonney Lake, and wait for the pre-movie trailers to start?  Anyway, before he hosted "Saturday Night Live" I had a I had a bias against Drake, not for being black, but for being an urban rapper, who was music for a demographic that I'm clearly not in.  

But watching Drake become several different characters, and using his opening monologue to inform idiots like me who knew NOTHING about Drake the fact the he has a co-African American and Jewish mother and father upbringing, and doing it in a clever skit that tries to get us to laugh, started the process of getting this set-in-his-ways dude to start re-evaluating Drake and looking at him with fresh perspective; there's more to Drake than just being an urban rapper...   

I loved how Drake played several different characters, all with different worldviews, and held his own.  And the coolest thing of it all was Drake didn't just play rapper characters as spoofs, he played varied characters:a type of Fred Slanders from the "Simpsons", a Disney ride facilitator, Alex Rodriguez.  Point: Drake did himself a great service taking on the challenge of hosting "Saturday Night Live".  I may not know a single Drake song, but I know have a respect for the man: he gets comedy and can hold his own with other seasoned veterans.  

Comedy: a 21st century way of breaking down the walls and stereotypes that exist in people's minds

See why I brought up the Drake example?  Drake took his opportunity to host "Saturday Night Live" and hit a homerun with it.  I know see Drake as a highly talented entertainer, and not just an urban wrapper.  Because Drake to a risk, and did well, he totally changed my previously, highly biased perspective of who he is; I'll never see him the same again.  

The only real part of "The Tonight Show" that doesn't work is bands they feature at the end of their show.   Haven't heard one band yet that I liked, or could say was even moderately good.  They should loose that. 

But overall, I just love what Jimmy Fallon has brought to "The Tonight Show".  Yeah, he's not the funniest cat in the world, but I do laugh at his jokes, and his shtick does work with me for the most part.  And the guy just gets celebrities.  He makes conversation with them so easily and well.  And, yes, that's skill!  I could NEVER do what Jimmy Fallon, Ellen DeGenenes, Jimmy Kimell, or David Letterman do.  Conversation does not come easy for me, but I do have a great respect for people with that facilitating gift of gab.  And right now, for my $$ nobody is doing it as well as Jimmy Fallon.  And Jimmy Fallon is quite adept at changing it up too, like when he reigned it back when one of his guests, Arnold Swartzenegger, started talking about cigars.  Or the time when a pet specialist brought in a baby black bear and lizard.  Jimmy Fallon, uncomfortable, yet still rolling with it and trying to get the humor of the moment out.  Good stuff, of a guy who can think quick on his feet.  

Jimmy Fallon is a very likable person.  If you haven't tuned in and checked him out, you owe it to yourself to do so.  I'm lucky in that I work a 2nd shift job, that if I only work a straight eight I can JUST get home in time to catch Fallon which he's doing his opening monologue.  Usually it the gag after the opening monologue and the first guest which are the highlight of the show--at least stay for that.  The end band is, like I said before, almost always totally forgettable.  And one other negative thing I would have to say about the current format of "The Tonight Show" is that it's 2nd half is usually quite weak, it's like they put all good stuff up front, then coast to the finish line.  I'd like to see them put more effort into the back-end of the show, ditching the music act at the end seams like the most obvious move to me.

But I'll be tuning in as much as I can, as I have a man crush on Jimmy Fallon.  As Jimmy Fallon IS the life of late night TV, and what turns out to be a GREAT hire as a successor to Jay Leno.

- E.C. Henry from Bonney Lake, WA

P.S. Later this week I'll try to do a post reviewing two movies I've seen recently, "X Men: Days of Future Past" and Seth McFarlane's "A Million Ways to Die in the West".  Till then stay well.

P.S.S. I also like Seth Myers' late show too.  I think he's doing a great job there too.  Carson Daily... well that show SUCKS!