what i'm watching: christopher guest

We watched "For Your Consideration" the other night, the latest Christopher Guest spoof. If you like his movies, this is a good one. Other than a clunky ending, it's very funny.

The prescence of Ricky Gervais was an unwelcome surprise for me. I loathe that character he does, and as far as I know, it's all he does. But I'm sure for many people his appearance is a bonus. Some of the jokes in this movie will be much funnier if you're Jewish, so you'll want to convert before viewing.

My favourite of Guest's spoofs and mockumentaries was "A Mighty Wind", a send-up of folk music culture. For me that was both the funniest and the most dead-on since "Spinal Tap". I know most people loved "Best In Show," but that was my least favourite, although it had its moments.

As in most of the Christoper Guest spoofs, "For Your Consideration" affords many opportunities for us to turn to each other and say, "Canadian" (Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara). It's a little slice of the everyone-is-Canadian culture.

Which reminds me, did anyone watch The Colbert Report last night? What did he call Canadians...? "Not bad for a bunch of bilingual..." Bilingual what? This is what happens when you watch TV when you're half asleep. I heard it, and loved it, and promptly forgot it.

Well, only two more movie nights left before the season changes. Which means, it's almost Opening Day!! I can't wait.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

sharia

This morning I see that Dalton McGuinty, Premier of Ontario, is banning the Muslim religious court known as sharia . This ends months of debate about whether sharia would be legal and binding in Ontario. I'm quoting at length from the story in today's Toronto Star because many US readers are likely not up on this. In a surprise announcement that caught both supporters and opponents of sharia law off guard, Premier Dalton McGuinty says he will move quickly to ban all religious arbitration in the province. McGuinty made the announcement in a telephone interview with The Canadian Press yesterday after months of debate and controversy surrounding use of Islamic sharia law in family arbitration. "I've come to the conclusion that the debate has gone on long enough," the premier told the news agency. "There will be no sharia law in Ontario. There will be no religious arbitration in Ontario. There will be one law for all Ontarians." The announcement prompted t...
Read more

can of worms

I'm opening a sticky subject here, my need to understand causing me to throw caution to the wind. It's about Alberta. Alberta vs. the rest of the Canada. The Globe And Mail runs something about Alberta's gripes every day, and I try to follow along. If it weren't for wmtc's resident Albertan , and the ensuing arguments in comments, I would've had no warning. It's not something Americans know about. As is, observing for more than a year, I have only the smallest of clues. Here's what I know. Please pardon my ignorance and oversimplification, but I have to start somewhere. The province of Alberta is rich, because it has oil. The province of Alberta is conservative, relative to the rest of Canada. Hmm. Funny how those two go together. Because of its great oil wealth, Alberta revenue helps fund services in the rest of Canada. (These are transfer payments?) Apparently many Albertans resent this. They want to keep Alberta's money in Alberta. They don't...
Read more

low confidence

I'm excited about today's no-confidence vote . Only three months after moving here, we'll get to see a government fall, a campaign, and an election, in a system very different from what we're accustomed to. Even the expression "the government will fall" strikes us as oddly dramatic and revolutionary. My sense of current Canadian politics, for what it's worth, tells me that very little will change from the upcoming election. I'd be surprised if the Liberals didn't win. So it's kind of cool to see this happening without a lot at stake. On a semi-tangential note, have I mentioned I'm completely down with "Corner Gas"? Excellent show; I love the deadpan humour. (Great website, too; check it out .) So was that really Finance Minister Ralph Goodale ragging on Brent Butt's camera last Saturday night?
Read more