I talk a lot about VOLUNTEERS (just this week). I actually saw it again recently for the first time in probably ten years. I was prepared to hit "stop" at any time but surprisingly I liked it more than I did when it first came out. For the most part it seems to hold up. It's no LOVE GURU but it does have its moments.
Here's the trailer. I know what you're thinking -- not enough pratfalls.
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I've always maintained it's wildly underrated. There were a couple of things that bothered me -- Tom Hanks' near-pathological inability to grab and hold an accent and the "subtitle scene" which came in out of nowhere and pulled the audience away from the narrative -- but overall I greatly enjoyed it.
"So this is Hell..."
PS My WVW is biquantr which is the village on the other side of the bridge.
Well, it's been probably more than 20 years since I've seen it, and I remember it a lot funnier than that trailer showed (perhaps my memory is not as sharp as it used to be- I can't recall). It amazing how much better trailers are now than they were. Of course lots more money is put into them, so that probably helps. Nowadays, trailers are like really short films. It's definitely an art.
So, whatever happened to that Tom Hanks fella anyway?
So what's time again? LOL
So, are you partly responsible for Tom and Rita getting together?
Bom ba ba bom ba bom ba bom bom ba ba bom ba ba bom ba ba dang a dang dang boy do I also miss Pan Am. And I thought this was an exceptionally well cut trailer.
We interrupt this comment for a message from our Dreamworks oculist, TJ Eckleburg. Not that anyone asked for a retraction, but I'm being told in my earpiece that, Google to the contrary, I may have spread some erroneous information yesterday with regard to the availability of Super Bowl "Monsters vs. Aliens" 3D glasses at Target. At least here this a.m., our Target didn't know glasses from SoBe Lizards. However, Dollar General had them free up the wazzoo. I snagged about 15 sheets of 4 for our entire annual vegan big screen get together. But it looked like they only had about a half-million left -- Dollar General apparently not being one of your high traffic shopping destinations.
But at least now we know where they're getting the packs of 20 on eBay that are going for $12 when you include the S&H. Now if we can only figure out why the disclaimer says they're only available through Feb. 28.
Question for Friday for Mr. Levine: My wife recently(as in ten minutes ago) watched the final episode of Cheers for the first time in her life, and was quite upset (spoiler alert) that Sam and Diane didn't end up together in the last episode. Why was the creative decision made for them not to live with each other happily ever after like many fans would have expected?
This movie needs more pratfalls like it needs more cowbell!
Stacey
Since VOLUNTEERS has Chinese communists, and MASH occasionally had Chinese communists, did you ever have the urge to do a MASH episode where one of the characters was brainwashed like John Candy?
I know we're talking too ver-r-ry different comedies here, but it would have been hilarious watching Frank Burns or Charles Winchester quoting from the little red book.
I always thought VOLUNTEERS was very funny - even the subtitles scene. My only problem with it was that John Candy disappears for like half the movie, then makes a sudden reappearance at the end. And Ted Thompson was HI-LARIOUS! Where did you find the fertility god doll?
Did I say Ted Thompson? Of course I meant Tim Thomerson
Only one gripe: whose idea was it to show the bridge being blowed up? Trailers that give away endings or key plot points should be banned.
But the movie is well worth a look. The "time is money" sequence is inspired.
WV: weachide. The pelt of a weac.
I seem to recall that when that movie came out, there were on-set reports that some of the shooting footage was unusable because the camera operators were laughing so hard at John Candy's brainwashed scenes. I can see why. He's brilliant in that movie.
Wow... I've thought about that movie more than a few times over the past decade or so, but I haven't seen it for so long. Looks like it is time for me to take another look.
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