Author: David Medsker (Page 39 of 59)

Horrible Bosses: a lesson in comedic economics

Click here to read our review of “Horrible Bosses”

The thing about people who are naturally good at making people laugh is that they often lose sight of when it’s time to drop the mic and walk away. Now take a movie like “Horrible Bosses,” which is 96 of the funniest minutes you’ll spend this year or any other. For a movie so packed with humor and wit, there is surely something just as awesome that didn’t make the cut, right?

Well, maybe. The truth is, we have yet to watch the extended version of the film (it’s eight minutes longer, and if we knew where those eight minutes were, we’d go straight to them), but if the deleted scenes in the Special Features section on the Blu-ray are any indication, the makers of “Horrible Bosses” left nothing in the bag, as it were. There are a couple of alternate openings, neither of which is as good as the one in the final film, and we get to hear the full recording of Kurt’s tryst with Nick’s boss’ wife (hint: it doesn’t take long). The only other scene worth the film it’s printed on is Colin Farrell at the supermarket, accosting the pharmacist (a snippet of which you can see in the closing credits of the movie). There are featurettes on working for horrible people and how much fun it is to play mean, but the general tone of the featurettes is pretty dry. This is a movie worth owning, no question, but don’t expect the bonus features to serve as the motivation for the purchase. They’re really just a pleasant addition.

Of course, we may change our minds on that once we’ve seen the Totally Inappropriate Edition of the movie, but we’re betting against it. ‘Unrated’ tends to mean ‘overrated’ when it comes to these things.

Friday Video – Fishbone, “Sunless Saturday”

We had so much fun rocking out to Living Colour last week that we decided to make it a two-fer. In that one special way, that is.

Fishbone were ska giants for years, but when the ’90s rolled around, the band knew that it had to adapt or die. Of course, their version of adapting is not quite to the letter of the law – we love this song, but those keyboards are a little too Styx-ish for our liking – but it gets the most important stuff down. In fact, this song is about six months ahead of Kurt Cobain’s shot heard ’round the world, bringing the rock at a time when alternative radio was still primarily dominated by British dance acts. Having Spike Lee direct the video didn’t hurt, either. We’re very curious to see the upcoming documentary “Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone,” to be sure.

Friday Video – Living Colour, “Funny Vibe”

It’s humorous now to think about what a big deal it was that four black guys from New York City decided to start a rock band. No joke, shortly after the album’s release, we played the blistering track “Desperate People” from the band’s debut Vivid for a hard-rocking coworker, and we took great pleasure in waiting until he was hooked before giving up the twist: surprise, they’re black! Then we went over to his house for a party with his hard rocking friends, and he plays them the song, gets the same reaction we got from him, and then says, “They’re niggers!” Sigh. Hey, it was 1988. With any luck, he’s received some enlightenment since then, and hopefully not at the ass end of a pistol.

It’s with regret that we admit that about half of Vivid has not aged well, but the stuff that holds up really holds up, and “Funny Vibe,” the track that opened Side II, displayed the band’s ability to bring both the noise and the funk in equal amounts better than anything else. Even better is the hilarious-but-sad video assembled for the track, where the band pokes fun at the assumptions that all blacks are good at basketball or, worse, rapist thugs looking to cut a bitch. Who would have thought, though, that the shot of the guy dressed as Flavor Flav – who appears with Public Enemy cohort Chuck D in the break – would turn into a timeless joke? Never saw that coming.

Happy Friday, everyone. Rock on. But please, don’t be a racist like our ’80s coworker. That’s just no way to live.

Friday Video – Honeymoon Suite, “Feel It Again”

In retrospect, one could make a case for the clip for Canadian quintet Honeymoon Suite’s “Feel It Again” as an example of when music videos attack. Author Greg Prato even dedicated a chapter to the subject in his oral history of MTV, and it’s must-read material, as is (cough, shameless plug, cough) our interview with Prato. At the time, though, “Feel It Again” was cutting edge filmmaking, dudes, and a nominee for three MTV Video Music Awards.

Unfortunately, it was shot at the one moment in the lives of all five members when their hair – and clothes – looked the most ridiculous. Even worse than this picture, if you can believe that.

But get past that for a second and just watch. Singer Johnny Dee’s running in place in the chorus. All right, that’s silly, but look at everything that’s going on around him. Now he has a hat. Now he’s walking a dog. And here comes lead guitarist Derry Grehan to sing that big “Feel it agaiiiiiiin!” bit in the chorus. Needless to say, there’s a lot of shit going on here, as if someone had been studying Zbigniew Rybczyński’s videos (look him up, you won’t regret it) very, very closely. That is never a bad thing, and the chorus to this song still boasts a hook the size of an anchor. Feeel it agaiiiiiin! Don’t mind if we do. And look who was rocking the skinny jeans a good two and a half decades before they became trendy?

The real reason we’re posting this is because our high school reunion is coming up, so be warned: there will be a few more flashbacks in the coming weeks. Rock on.

Friday Video – Motley Crue, “Kickstart My Heart”

While we didn’t think the ’90s sucked the way Randy “The Ram” Robinson, Mickey Rourke‘s battle-tested character in “The Wrestler,” thought they did, we have to admit taking more than a little joy laughing when Randy and his stripper love interest Cassidy extol the virtues of ’80s rock (“Like there’s something wrong with just wanting to have a good time,” indeed) while laying the blame for its death squarely at the feet of the late Kurt Cobain. And calling him a pussy for good measure.

Now, we like Nirvana, but there is more than a kernel of truth to what Randy is saying. Rock music, at least the music that cluttered the airwaves, wasn’t anywhere near as fun after grunge exploded, which has caused us to re-examine some of the bands from the ‘still allowed to enjoy yourself’ period of rock and see if our feelings have changed any about the quality of their work. The big winner, as it were: Motley Crue, and particularly “Kickstart My Heart.”

Sure, they stole the opening riff (the bit that comes after the sound of the guitar changing gears like a sports car) from Sweet and their song “Hell Raiser,” but no one outside of the UK (where “Hell Raiser” peaked at #2), knew or cared, and everything that followed that little bit of thievery was a full-blown adrenaline shot to, well, the heart, hence the title. Happy Friday, gents. Stay away from the zombie dust.

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