Pride and Prejudice
I am not a big sports fan. I like baseball live, basketball and curling on TV, but that's about it. However, I do have a deep and abiding affection for sports movies.
Will Farrell's latest flick, a NASCAR themed comedy, is probably not a very accurate portrayal of the world of stock-car racing, and perhaps my ignorance of that sport aided in my enjoyment of the film. Then again, there were a lot of things about it that I didn't like, despite the fact that it had me laughing fairly consistently.
Now in general, I have nothing against blue humor - I love George Carlin, Ali G, Sarah Silverman and any number of politically incorrect comedians, but I found some of the situations in "Talledegah Nights" to be a bit... off-putting. Maybe I'm turning into an old prude, I dunno.
The homophobia in the movie is what really kills it for me. I realize they play it for laughs, but it still feels hateful. Much moreso than, say, the kiss between Ashton Kutcher and Seann William Scott in "Dude, Where's My Car." I can't really quantify what really makes it different, but the scene in "Dude" feels more like genuine humor when compared to the 'OMFG tehy r teh FAGs!' jokes in "Ricky Bobby."
I'd get mad at the sexism too, but pretty much everyone in the movie is a total asshole or a sap, so I'll give it a pass. Unlike, say, Miami Vice, wherein the sexism is not only glaringly annoying, but also manages to detract from the plot by substantially altering the character of the female lead about 3/4 of the way in.
Sexism. See, a movie like "2Fast 2Furious" doesn't bother me at all, and not just because it's total camp. It's filled to the brim with testosterone, scantily clad females and macho cliches, and yet somehow it works for me.
At the end of the day, taste is totally subjective, and I'm not about to criticize anyone for liking something I find distasteful or even offensive. But I have my standards, and non-judgmental as I try to be it can be disappointing when they aren't met.
Will Farrell's latest flick, a NASCAR themed comedy, is probably not a very accurate portrayal of the world of stock-car racing, and perhaps my ignorance of that sport aided in my enjoyment of the film. Then again, there were a lot of things about it that I didn't like, despite the fact that it had me laughing fairly consistently.
Now in general, I have nothing against blue humor - I love George Carlin, Ali G, Sarah Silverman and any number of politically incorrect comedians, but I found some of the situations in "Talledegah Nights" to be a bit... off-putting. Maybe I'm turning into an old prude, I dunno.
The homophobia in the movie is what really kills it for me. I realize they play it for laughs, but it still feels hateful. Much moreso than, say, the kiss between Ashton Kutcher and Seann William Scott in "Dude, Where's My Car." I can't really quantify what really makes it different, but the scene in "Dude" feels more like genuine humor when compared to the 'OMFG tehy r teh FAGs!' jokes in "Ricky Bobby."
I'd get mad at the sexism too, but pretty much everyone in the movie is a total asshole or a sap, so I'll give it a pass. Unlike, say, Miami Vice, wherein the sexism is not only glaringly annoying, but also manages to detract from the plot by substantially altering the character of the female lead about 3/4 of the way in.
Sexism. See, a movie like "2Fast 2Furious" doesn't bother me at all, and not just because it's total camp. It's filled to the brim with testosterone, scantily clad females and macho cliches, and yet somehow it works for me.
At the end of the day, taste is totally subjective, and I'm not about to criticize anyone for liking something I find distasteful or even offensive. But I have my standards, and non-judgmental as I try to be it can be disappointing when they aren't met.