ND is deliberately amateurish and entirely dependent on quirk. Sometimes the film goes to the trouble of setting up a joke and then abandons that direction without even delivering the punchline. I liked the movie, but I can see how someone else wouldn't.

However, I can't see how anybody would like Anchorman. To me it was a mess. It seemed like they started with a 30 page script and improv'd the rest of it, then assembled their fave improv parts regardless of how they fit (or didn't fit) into the larger framework. I like Will Ferrell, but Anchorman made Night At The Roxbury seem like high art.

my biggest question from ND is what is up with the latent homosexuality in the characters of Kip and the grandmother???

The irony is that Kip was the biggest pimp in the entire movie.

On a simlar note, we watched the Bourne Supremacy this weekend, which led me to ponder this question: "What is the more excrutiating slice of hell, Matt Damon in a spy movie, or Tom Cruise in a spy movie?"

Yeah, Bourne Supremacy was the least thrilling thriller I've seen.

A: Vin Diesel in a spy movie.

"Yes, front desk? Yes, I'm trying to locate the Director of the CIA, is she staying at your hotel? She is? Wonderful! Could you connect me to her room please."

The thing about Anchorman was that they never tried to play it straight. That's why Old School was so funny..it had straight men. Anchorman was everyone hamming and doing stupid, unrealistic shit. There is a tone you need to strike in comedies to hit that next level. Think about it Vacation is great because it lets the comedy of the situation lead to to the laughs..same with Fletch, and a million others.

I disagree. Fletch works because of the writing, compounded by Chevy's delivery. It's based on a book, not a five minute SNL skit, which means a helluva lot more thought went into it.

A more apt comparison would be to Top Secret or Airplane. These two are golden. They're nothing more than sight gags and one-liners. The difference is, THEY WERE FUNNY. SNL is rarely funny, and hasn't been truly consistently FUNNY in over 15 years. Now they're making movies out of their unfunny sketches.

Anchorman isn't based on an SNL sketch is it?

Obviuosly writing and delivery help...just like they did for Ferrell in Old School. What I meant was is that Fletch got the tone right. He's not playing to the camera, he's playing the scenes, and is fucking genius. John Cocktosten? Harry Truman? Gordon Liddy? just the fake names he puts out are enough to make me double over in laughter.

"What kind of name is Poon anyway?"

"Commanche Indian."

No, but it's in the same vein. You can bet it would be, if they didn't already have an established news bit every week.

it's not that i couldn't see the humor in napoleon, it just wasn't funny, and i expected it to be. maybe i'll give it another shot, but my wife would probably rather eat her own refridgerated vomit. (that's just a guess.)

anchorman i didn't expect to be funny and my expectations were "rewarded", save a couple chuckles. (i enjoyed the dog talking the bear down from attack and the multi-channel gang fight tim robbins & other cameos.)

Don't forget the Don Corleone/mattress police scene. Yeah, It's really hard to nail down why Fletch is so funny; lines, delivery all play in it. Chevy was really damn funny in the 80s, Caddyshack, Vacation. He's really brilliant in all of them.

I've heard the criticism of Anchorman that it wasn't really a movie, just an extended sketch/character exercise. While I see where they're coming from and appreciate why some would dislike that, I think comparing it to A Night at the Roxbury is just reactionary.

She refridgerates her vomit?

no, but that'd be a new definition of "recycling"

Bill Simmons wrote (and i agree) that ND is funny/good to reference but not to actually sit through. I didn't enjoy ND that much watching it but referencing the few funny parts makes it seem like a better movie than it was.

i liked both anchorman and napoleon dynamite. 2 of the deleted scenes in ND were hysterical.

you people are too harsh. i watched paparazzi this weekend and can't believe i didn't turn it off.

The kickball one was awesome.

I think the best part of that was the cry the guy let out after ND smacked him.

I like paladisiac was bored silly by ND. Ok, well no, there about maybe two moments in the film that elicited a minor laugh out of me. It's a movie I definitely will never see again.

Shiv, what the hell is papparazzi about? I keep seeing it on the PPV channels. Not that after your obvious enjoyment of the film will I try to watch it, but I was just curious.

Josh and I watched IheartHuckabees over the weekend and while I didn't leave the room while it was on(which I do when I don't like something) it was definitely a head scratcher. I liked some of the performances in it, well, performing whatever they were supposed to be performing. And the idea was good. But it left me going "huh?" But then again I will see most anything with Jason Schwartzman in it.

Yea that was even better than when he slapped Kip in the real movie. Also, the illegal ninja moves from the government line was good.

It's some dude who becomes a major action film star (think like Van Damme or Seagal during the 80's) and a bunch of photographers start hounding him everywhere he goes and stories start getting made up about him in the tabloids so he takes his revenge on the 4 guys who keep harassing him. It's got a few cameos in it. Mel Gibson, Chris Rock, Matthew McConaughey & Vince Vaughn who seems to be doing the sleazy Swingers schtick and had a decently funny part. It's not the worst movie I've ever seen.

Your mom wasted $8

Also, it would have been better if you got wasted on $8 that night.