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Sorry, but this guy’s idea of comedy classics makes me laugh
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Dear Mr. Smithee,
You should know better than to put out a list of “Comedy Classics.” Apparently, so many deserving movies, but so little column space.
Here are at least 15 more you seem to have overlooked. Don’t worry, I got your back. By the way, they aren’t in any particular order. “Planes, Trains, and Automobiles,” “Father of the Bride” (Steve Martin version), “Start the Revolution Without Me,” “Fletch,” “National Lampoon’s Vacation,” also “Christmas Vacation,” “Ghostbusters,” “Stakeout,” “O Brother, Where Art Thou?,” “Meet the Parents,” “Stir Crazy,” “Naked Gun,” “Stripes,” “Wedding Crashers,” “Napoleon Dynamite.”
Rick Barnett, Alpharetta
Dear Presumptuous,
Who died and made you Alan Smithee?
Certainly not I.
Correct me if I am wrong, which I doubt, but I do not believe that the earlier letter writer composed his missive to read “Could you please tell me which movies Rick Barnett considers comedy classics.”
Ricky, your list suggests you need to get out more. I will attest there is intense funniness in “Napoleon Dynamite” and that Randy Quaid is brilliant in the “Vacation” movies.
But “Stakeout”?
Might as well add “Turner and Hooch” to your list.
All I can say is, you might have had a point if you had chided me for not including “Office Space” or “Bringing Up Baby.” Or, especially, “The Ref.”
Alan
P.S. You get a Bates Motel towel and soap and an “Ask Alan Smithee” T-shirt.
Dear Mr. Smithee,
“Fargo” makes you laugh?
Lem Trescott, West Palm Beach, Fla.
Dear Dumbstruck,
You have no call to get snippy with me. I’m just trying to do my job here.
Apparently you have no idea what constitutes worthwhile comedy.
Yes, even extreme violence can make one laugh.
Plus, I’m a sucker for “true coat.” You’re darned tootin’.
Alan
P.S. You get a “Saw II” T-shirt and an “Ask Alan Smithee” T-shirt.
Dear Mr. Smithee,
I’ve always been a big fan of good courtroom dramas. Just a few of my favorites are “Witness for the Prosecution,” “Inherit the Wind,” “The Verdict,” “Judgment at Nuremberg,” “My Cousin Vinny” and “A Few Good Men.”
Can you add a few to this list?
Jack Newman, Boynton Beach, Fla.
Dear Your Honor,
How you link the words “drama” and “My Cousin Vinny” is a bit beyond me.
Otherwise, pal, you’ve got a respectable list.
But, of course, I would add more.
Like “To Kill a Mockingbird.” That’s a fact, Jack.
Others: “Breaker Morant,” “In the Name of the Father,” “Amistad,” “Philadelphia,” “The Caine Mutiny,” “12 Angry Men,” “Anatomy of a Murder,” “Primal Fear,” “A Cry in the Dark” and “The Accused.”
Alan
P.S. You get a “Roll Bounce” sweatband (trust me, you will look fly) and an “Ask Alan Smithee” T-shirt.
Dear Mr. Smithee,
Why do they make stupid movies like “Waiting”? I can’t believe anyone would actually go and see this movie. I know I wouldn’t. It would make me sick to my stomach and I would never eat in a restaurant again. This is the most stupid premise for a movie I have ever seen. What do you think?
Barbara Franklin, Roswell
Dear Cranky,
Trust me, the stupid people outnumber us. And they must be entertained.
It has always been so.
If it’s a restaurant movie you happen to be hungry for, I would suggest as your dinner special “Mostly Martha,” “Big Night,” “Dinner Rush” or “My Dinner with Andre.”
As far as “Waiting” being a stupid premise, I would say that stupid can turn out just fine (“Dumb and Dumber”).
“Waiting” may be silly and gross. But it knows what it is.
I’m more offended by something like “Jersey Girl” or “Elizabethtown.” Those are movies made by good, smart, well-meaning people without a stupid premise and, yet, somehow, those movies wind up being stupid. Really bad stupid. And then those movies are thrust upon you and me and everybody else with a saturated marketing campaign touting those movies as something they are not.
Alan
P.S. You get an “Elizabethtown” T-shirt and an “Ask Alan Smithee” T-shirt.
Have a question for Mr. Smithee?
E-mail him at alansmithee@ajc.com or go to accessatlanta.com and click on Movies. Please include your name, city and daytime phone number. Mr. Smithee can’t reply to every request, but inquiries chosen for publication will receive movie-related prizes.
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By Nancy Isbell
October 21, 2005 10:28 AM | Link to this
Speaking of those movies are thrust upon you and me and everybody else with a saturated marketing campaign touting those movies as something they are not. have there ever been two worse movies than “Lost in Translation” or “In the Bedroom” Those are my choices for the two all time worst movies.
By Tim
October 21, 2005 10:36 AM | Link to this
Is there no love for “True Believer” with James Woods and Robert Downey Jr.? That movie got me hooked on courtroom whodunits. I would ask about “Runaway Jury” but the book was way better than the movie!