tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24477704.post8071021544196081322..comments2023-04-27T09:05:28.658-04:00Comments on They Might Be Critics: Tropic ThunderWicked Little Crittahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01938877040028652321noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24477704.post-61741448910387634872009-02-25T10:34:00.000-05:002009-02-25T10:34:00.000-05:00I'm with YRF and CmdLuke- I LOVED the movie and Si...I'm with YRF and CmdLuke- I LOVED the movie and Simple Jack had me in tears as did most of Ben Stiller's performance.jbodsterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00972906795726014255noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24477704.post-18677264797206222752009-02-25T10:19:00.000-05:002009-02-25T10:19:00.000-05:00sorry PM, but Simple Jack had me rolling in the is...sorry PM, but Simple Jack had me rolling in the isle. especially when he had to perform it live.CmdLukehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10165612198743188499noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24477704.post-30568268880670913192009-02-24T23:46:00.000-05:002009-02-24T23:46:00.000-05:00Re "what people are calling a phenomenal acting pe...Re "what people are calling a phenomenal acting performance is merely a very good acting performance coupled with very good make-up work":<BR/>Isn't that the normal case? As in Theron's Monster, for example?<BR/>I was taken by Downey Jr's ability to switch from one character to the other so quickly. Regardless, as My Racist Friend suggests, it's also to do with what Downey Jr managed to achieve in the short period since Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. Need I mention Zodiac?Moshe Reuvenihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00282477263262239308noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24477704.post-54359684430785268982009-02-24T22:49:00.000-05:002009-02-24T22:49:00.000-05:00Piece by piece:1. I mostly agree with you, PM; I t...Piece by piece:<BR/><BR/>1. I mostly agree with you, PM; I think Stiller's movies are watchable but uninspired. The two bits you mentioned (Grossman and the gross head) were milked far too hard.<BR/><BR/>2. Simple Jack is funny--and appropriately so--because it's not making fun of retarded people, it's making fun of actors who portray retarded people to win awards.<BR/><BR/>3. I'll defend my Friedberg/Selzer (Not Another Epic Disaster Date Movie) comparison by noting that it's a comparison of kind, not of quality. I was just pointing out the reference-as-humor vehicle, though obviously Stiller and Family Guy are much more skilled drivers of the vehicle than Friedberg/Selzer.<BR/><BR/>4. And I'll break from public opinion a bit with the Downey Jr. assessment. I think what people are calling a <I>phenomenal</I> acting performance is merely a very good acting performance coupled with very good make-up work. I though he did a very nice job, but I think all this adulation might be just a smidge overblown.Dr. Wormhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15429458634269198354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24477704.post-73594648666053871832009-02-24T20:13:00.001-05:002009-02-24T20:13:00.001-05:00And yeah, Robert Downey, Jr. OWNED this summer.And yeah, Robert Downey, Jr. OWNED this summer.Mikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10159036964762417710noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24477704.post-54895656835945909712009-02-24T20:13:00.000-05:002009-02-24T20:13:00.000-05:00I thought this movie was hilarious. I think you're...I thought this movie was hilarious. I think you're being a bit harsh comparing it to all those Friedberg/Seltzer POSs. I wouldn't even deem to call them "entertainment", let alone art. Simple Jack is a work of genius, and I don't think there's anything mean about that bit at all.Mikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10159036964762417710noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24477704.post-8320497293757323582009-02-24T19:52:00.000-05:002009-02-24T19:52:00.000-05:00I agree with PM on the DJ argument: Downey Jr's pe...I agree with PM on the DJ argument: Downey Jr's performance in Tropic Thunder was outstanding (so much so it deserves this otherwise pointless comment).Moshe Reuvenihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00282477263262239308noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24477704.post-22704284454941251082009-02-24T11:03:00.000-05:002009-02-24T11:03:00.000-05:00once again, Ben Stiller proves that he's just not ...once again, Ben Stiller proves that he's just not my kind of comedian. he's just a little too obvious, too ham-fisted, too childish to elicit more than a chuckle-turned-to-groan from me. he has some very funny moments in <I>Tropic Thunder</I>, but i just thought he had too many jokes that he milked way too much. for example, the gag where Les Grossman turns on the stereo to a gangsta rap jam and does some trademark white boy dancing. it was funny once, it was tiresome twice, and it was violence-inducing three times, and it would have been better if those three instances had not been within 4 minutes of each other. the gag with the land mine and the disembodied head was another instance where the joke ran about 600 miles when it needed to go only about 40 feet. it makes me wonder if Stiller only had a certain number of jokes, and was frantically trying to make them fill 2 hours. then there was the "Simple Jack" thing, which had me going, "well, this is kinda funny, but i feel like a horrible person for thinking so." while Stiller has a flair for making comedy out of unfortunate things, but it doesn't always work, and often has the opposite effect. you're sometimes left saying, "wait a sec, that wasn't funny! so why am i laughing?"<BR/><BR/>also, i'm surprised, DW, that you didn't even <I>mention</I> Robert Downey Jr. brilliantly comedic performance. he was the one part of this film which hit the nail right on the head. Downey, in an instance of beautiful self-parody, was completely sold out to his role, in the same way that Lazarus was sold out to his. it was exactly the kind of thing that Oscar nominations (but not Oscar wins) are truly made of.Neal Paradisehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18396375323544578903noreply@blogger.com