Christopher Guest

Started by chainsmoking insomniac, July 09, 2003, 09:12:27 AM

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chainsmoking insomniac

Picking up the torch that someone else lit in "Now Showing", this is the official Christopher Guest (Best in Show and now A Mighty Wind) thread.  Feel free to say anything you wish about this great writer/director..... :-D
"Ernest Hemingway once wrote: 'The world's a fine place, and worth fighting for.'  I agree with the second part."
    --Morgan Freeman, Se7en

"Have you ever fucking seen that...? Ever seen a mistake in nature?  Have you ever seen an animal make a mistake?"
 --Paul Schneider, All the Real Girls

Ravi

He's awesome.  Best in Show rocks!  I showed it to some friends who hadn't seen it and they loved it.  I shit you not.

chainsmoking insomniac

I believe you.  He's turned out to be one of the most creative writer/directors in at least ten years.  I haven't seen a Mighty Wind yet, but I have seen Best In Show and This Is Spinal Tap.  

Would anyone like to say what their favorite of the trio is, and why?  Let's get this shit rolling!
"Ernest Hemingway once wrote: 'The world's a fine place, and worth fighting for.'  I agree with the second part."
    --Morgan Freeman, Se7en

"Have you ever fucking seen that...? Ever seen a mistake in nature?  Have you ever seen an animal make a mistake?"
 --Paul Schneider, All the Real Girls

ono

A Mighty Wind is my favorite, though I haven't seen Best In Show or This Is Spinal Tap.  Waiting for Guffman was good, but kind of dragged at the end.  I kinda dozed off for a bit there.

RegularKarate

Mighty Wind was pretty piss poor compared to the rest.

I figure you just can't always be spot on when you're mainly improvising.  They just didn't have the magic.

Guffman and Best In Show are about the Same level and I held them higher than Spinal Tap, but when you add the Spinal Tap commentary, ST wins out.

Ravi

My fave is Best in Show because it is so spot on in its humor.  Like the Parker Posey/Michael Hitchcock couple.  They're Starbucks-drinking-catalog-shopping weirdos who are way too into their dog.  The dog is obviously keeping them together.  And of course the gay couple.  The non-McKean one (I don't know his name) is so stereotypically homosexual and done in a way that it doesn't seem like a cheap shot, probably because of Michael McKean's reactions to him.  Fred Willard is terrific as the announcer.  Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara are also excellent.  I love the phony party scene before they depart for the dog show.  Every single thing about it is hilarious.

Haven't seen The Big Picture yet.

Keener

I'm a huge Guest fan. Spinal Tap is my favorite with Best in Show being a really close second.

Plus, I love Parker Posey.

Haven't seen A Mighty Wind yet. Stupid Alabama.
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bonanzataz

my favorite is waiting for guffman. i liked best in show, but didn't think it was as good as guffman. parker posey makes everything appealing, though.
The corpses all hang headless and limp bodies with no surprises and the blood drains down like devil's rain we'll bathe tonight I want your skulls I need your skulls I want your skulls I need your skulls Demon I am and face I peel to see your skin turned inside out, 'cause gotta have you on my wall gotta have you on my wall, 'cause I want your skulls I need your skulls I want your skulls I need your skulls collect the heads of little girls and put 'em on my wall hack the heads off little girls and put 'em on my wall I want your skulls I need your skulls I want your skulls I need your skulls

chainsmoking insomniac

I feel idiotic.  I started a thread about Chris Guest and I haven't seen Waiting for Guffman.  That's next on the To Rent list.
"Ernest Hemingway once wrote: 'The world's a fine place, and worth fighting for.'  I agree with the second part."
    --Morgan Freeman, Se7en

"Have you ever fucking seen that...? Ever seen a mistake in nature?  Have you ever seen an animal make a mistake?"
 --Paul Schneider, All the Real Girls

modage

yeah. i thought mighty wind was disappointing.  funny, but not as good as the other two, which arent HALF as good as SPINAL TAP!  (shouldnt they be moving in the other direction?)  but, i think that too many of the actors improvising were really trying to go TOO FAR out there and everybody sort of 'steal the show' by being the wackiest, rather than sitting back and letting other people be funny or seeing what happens.  and with that subject it REALLY COULDVE BEEN FUNNY?!  oh well, maybe they need to beg rob reiner back to the helm.  i think i like SPINAL TAP, SHOW, GUFFMAN, WIND (in that order).
Christopher Nolan's directive was clear to everyone in the cast and crew: Use CGI only as a last resort.

EL__SCORCHO

I used to watch the first film he directed, "The Big Picture" with Kevin Bacon, all the time. It was pretty funny when I was 10. I think I still like it cuz it brings back old memories.

TheVoiceOfNick

I love Best In Show... and for reasons that aren't too cinematic... it's all about the amimals!


Nick

SoNowThen

I worked in the hotel where Best In Show was shot.
Yay.
Those who say that the totalitarian state of the Soviet Union was not "real" Marxism also cannot admit that one simple feature of Marxism makes totalitarianism necessary:  the rejection of civil society. Since civil society is the sphere of private activity, its abolition and replacement by political society means that nothing private remains. That is already the essence of totalitarianism; and the moralistic practice of the trendy Left, which regards everything as political and sometimes reveals its hostility to free speech, does nothing to contradict this implication.

When those who hated capital and consumption (and Jews) in the 20th century murdered some hundred million people, and the poster children for the struggle against international capitalism and America are now fanatical Islamic terrorists, this puts recent enthusiasts in an awkward position. Most of them are too dense and shameless to appreciate it, and far too many are taken in by the moralistic and paternalistic rhetoric of the Left.

Ravi

Quote from: SoNowThenI worked in the hotel where Best In Show was shot.
Yay.

Are you familiar with the various cleaning products?

SoNowThen

Hehe. Actually that scene wasn't shot at the hotel (I'm pretty sure). Our storage rooms never looked that good/clean.

But the Parker Posey stuff in the room was at the hotel. Actually, if I'm not mistaken, I think the party (when everyone first arrives) was too. And of course the lobby stuff.
Those who say that the totalitarian state of the Soviet Union was not "real" Marxism also cannot admit that one simple feature of Marxism makes totalitarianism necessary:  the rejection of civil society. Since civil society is the sphere of private activity, its abolition and replacement by political society means that nothing private remains. That is already the essence of totalitarianism; and the moralistic practice of the trendy Left, which regards everything as political and sometimes reveals its hostility to free speech, does nothing to contradict this implication.

When those who hated capital and consumption (and Jews) in the 20th century murdered some hundred million people, and the poster children for the struggle against international capitalism and America are now fanatical Islamic terrorists, this puts recent enthusiasts in an awkward position. Most of them are too dense and shameless to appreciate it, and far too many are taken in by the moralistic and paternalistic rhetoric of the Left.