"My advice to you is to start drinking heavily."
"Better listen to him, Flounder, he's in pre-med."
Apparently I forgot to post about the American Graffiti/Animal House double feature last Thursday.
Animal House (1978) is very funny, but pretty ridiculous. There was very little attempt to model cause and effect and likely outcomes, especially in the final prank. That was one of the most jarring things to a modern viewer, so commonplace has much of the rest of the material become through the gross-out genre that Animal House spawned. Now, while that was jarring, it wasn't a bad point. In fact, it was quite refreshing to see lip service to realism sacrificed in the service of humour.
American Graffiti (1973) had it's funny moments, but is at its core a thoughtful, nostalgic and touching coming of age drama focused on one high school leaver's doubts and eventual decision on whether to go to college or not. The characters and their interwoven stories were all interesting. Perhaps George Lucas should have re-watched this before he made The Phantom Menace...
A few things the two movies had in common: I hadn't seen either; both were set in 1962; they're well worth watching today.
John Landis (director of Animal House) was in attendance, and as Edgar Wright had a simultaneous engagement he ran the show for the first movie, American Graffiti. He's a hilarious guy. His delivery of an email Wright had sent him to read by way of introduction to the evening was an object lesson in comic timing and good-natured mockery. If you ever get a chance to hear him speak, I highly recommend it. Despite Landis' joking that he wouldn't, Wright did arrive in time to introduce Animal House and asked interesting questions about the production and the actors. There were a couple of other guests too: Landis' editor George Folsey Jr. and someone else who I don't remember.
The last installment is tomorrow night: Thunderbolt and Lightfoot and Miami Blues
362
Apparently I forgot to post about the American Graffiti/Animal House double feature last Thursday.
Animal House (1978) is very funny, but pretty ridiculous. There was very little attempt to model cause and effect and likely outcomes, especially in the final prank. That was one of the most jarring things to a modern viewer, so commonplace has much of the rest of the material become through the gross-out genre that Animal House spawned. Now, while that was jarring, it wasn't a bad point. In fact, it was quite refreshing to see lip service to realism sacrificed in the service of humour.
American Graffiti (1973) had it's funny moments, but is at its core a thoughtful, nostalgic and touching coming of age drama focused on one high school leaver's doubts and eventual decision on whether to go to college or not. The characters and their interwoven stories were all interesting. Perhaps George Lucas should have re-watched this before he made The Phantom Menace...
A few things the two movies had in common: I hadn't seen either; both were set in 1962; they're well worth watching today.
John Landis (director of Animal House) was in attendance, and as Edgar Wright had a simultaneous engagement he ran the show for the first movie, American Graffiti. He's a hilarious guy. His delivery of an email Wright had sent him to read by way of introduction to the evening was an object lesson in comic timing and good-natured mockery. If you ever get a chance to hear him speak, I highly recommend it. Despite Landis' joking that he wouldn't, Wright did arrive in time to introduce Animal House and asked interesting questions about the production and the actors. There were a couple of other guests too: Landis' editor George Folsey Jr. and someone else who I don't remember.
The last installment is tomorrow night: Thunderbolt and Lightfoot and Miami Blues
362