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OGB Film Club, take 2! - George Washington

As I wrote, I'm going with JD on max.

If someone does not have access to max they have an option to watch something short and free.
 
I just finished Johnny Dangerously. What did I think? Stay tuned to this thread to find out!
 
I watched Johnny Dangerously once... once.

Actually, I must've watched it several times back circa 1984 when it was on HBO. Funny flick. Curious as to how it holds up, but I seem to recall watching it about 10-15 years ago and it was still pretty funny.
 
Probably the most recent oblique reference to Connie Mack in a movie. I guess the equivalent today would be a Tommy Lasorda reference? Could happen, though people don't look back on old baseball people the way they used to.

Anyway, I enjoyed this, and think it mostly still works. Don't really have any deeper thoughts than that.
 
Yep. I think it holds up well. Some of the jokes went absolutely over my head when I saw it as a kid (The mom saying, "I go both ways," being one example). Funny how they'd say "farging" to avoid an R rating, and a pretty smart move too. Plenty of sex jokes aside from that to make it a very borderline PG13-- all the jokes about getting laid, big balls, etc... This is right at the beginning of the PG13 rating, and it was mostly at that time concerned with violence (the heart ripping scene from Temple of Doom) and not so much sex jokes unless it involved simulated sex/nudity. If this were a Mel Brooks film, it would be considered more of a classic than it is. I still think it's pretty great.

Maureen Stapleton played the mom and I just watched Airport in the last couple of months where she kind of steals the show in a semi-comedic role. It's kind of cool to see somebody at her age still killing it in bit roles at a time when most women would've been considered washed up.
 
My first question was “how have I not seen this?” I pondered and settled on that 80sDeacHead just didn’t like Michael Keaton during a certain period and Johnny Dangerously came out during that time. I did a full 180 on him after Beetlejuice and Clean and Sober but before then, he was no draw. Joe Piscopo being the 2nd name on the marquee really cemented that this was not a movie for me. I have done a 0 degree shift on Piscopo over the years. He was awful then, he got awfuller (I saw a standup special where the last 1/3 was him awaiting the results of a steroid test) and became fully irrelevant. Googling what he’s been up to lately tells me he’s a conservative radio talk show host and color me unsurprised. Young folks, I want you to know that Piscopo was SNL’s #2 for several seasons. The show is around today because of Eddie Murphy making it watchable during this period.

Anyway, on to the movie. Going in, I know nothing about it except it’s a comedy. A Weird Al song over opening credits and seeing Amy Heckerling as director gave me an initial sense of optimism. Heckerling has far from a 1.000 batting average but she’s made some movies I really like (Fast Times, Clueless) and some that I don’t (various Look Who’s Talkings, Night at the Roxbury) but I’ll give her the benefit of the doubt to start.

Right away when the movie started with a car running over a name in the opening credits I knew what we were in for - a wacky 80s romp. Now we’re in the realm of high upside, low floor movies. This happened to be the peak for Zucker/Abrams/Zucker who made amazing parodies (together and individually) but when this genre doesn’t hit, it really doesn’t hit. Recent examples would be something like “Meet the Spartans”, just terrible.

As the movie proceeds, it strikes me to be like a live action Tom & Jerry. You know, hitting over the head as comedy. I never cared for Tom & Jerry. I begin to not care for Johnny Dangerously as it floods the viewer with LCD humor.

And that’s how the movie continued to trend. It didn’t work for me. This is my first outright, no mulling it over required, “boo” for OGBFC.

Random thoughts - what accent was Moroni trying to do? It wasn’t anything close to Italian. In fact the only actor I’m going to give props to is Maureen Stapleton, who at least seemed to know her character was Irish. She was the highlight for me in general. The couple of chuckles I had were due to her.

Marilu Henner - smokeshow.

Another note for younguns - when Danny DeVito ordered a malt liquor and a bull crashed through the window, that was a parody of on an ad that ran during the 70s/80s.

On the plus side I did learn the origin of the “My X did Y once… once” catch phrase. I could not have placed it before.
 
Just saw Johnny Dangerously. Movie is in the same vein as other absurdist comedies that came out around the same time like Top Secret, Airplane. Naked Gun etc. I liked Johnny Dangerously but not as much as the other comedies I just mentioned. Felt like the other ones had better bits. I did like how the actors played their characters straight for the most part instead of over the top. The set design was surprisingly intricate for a screwball comedy. Especially the street scenes.

That's all I got. Pretty straight forward movie.
 
Biff Ochocinco Tannen said:
I really liked it. Sort of comical in a couple of parts. Funniest unintentional part was the big Greek, or whatever, guy who started the fight. Dude was super hairy with the tear-away shirt and the choreography was super campy. Would have been better if they just let him beat the shit out of those guys. Also he had two cauliflower ears swollen up.

Apparently Rodney Dangerfield was in this movie as an “Onlooker.”
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we've sputtered here a bit as our fearless leader now has a job that requires dry cleaning, but I am interested in watching the movie George Washington and invite others to do so if you wanna chat about it

don't know much about it other than it's set in rural NC and it is supposed to be sad
 
JuiceCrewAllStar said:
we've sputtered here a bit as our fearless leader now has a job that requires dry cleaning, but I am interested in watching the movie George Washington and invite others to do so if you wanna chat about it

don't know much about it other than it's set in rural NC and it is supposed to be sad
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It’s top-3 all time for me.

Set in Winston-Salem, directed by David Gordon Green, kind of Days of Heaven crossed with Stand by Me.

This was a pretty big deal for NCSA, too, as it kicked off the DGG/Danny McBride/Jody Hill era of media domination.

I bet folks on here know a lot of the cast and crew.

I’m in.
 
IDK if y'all are familiar with Armond White, but he dropped his trolly shtick briefly for a great Criterion essay on the flick. I'd save it for afterwards, but if you're on the fence, then you might want to check it out.

www.criterion.com

George Washington: These American Lives

Presenting five poor, black and white North Carolina preteens as they awaken to love and death, George Washington (2000) tells a common adolescent story, yet the film is distinguished by the poetic, ruminative style of its twenty-five-year-old director, David Gordon Green. Unusually for a...
www.criterion.com www.criterion.com
 
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