Movie Monday: Airplane!

At Laughasaurus, we strive to not only bring the laughs to you, but to bring both different kinds of laughs and the pioneers of those laughs.

"Airplane!" of 1980, starring Robert Hays, Julie Hagerty and Leslie Nielsen, directed by Jim Abrahams, David Zucker and Jerry Zucker, was, upon its release, a pioneer of a new kind of laugh.

Probably the goofiest of the movies selected for Movie Monday so far, Airplane! earns its wings (ha...ha) through quick and short jokes, one after another.

The movie is chiefly a parody film, and though it was definitely not the first (preceded by Mel Brooks' parodies such as "Young Frankenstein" and "Blazing Saddles," among others), picking on "Zero Hour!" from 1957 and "Airport 1975" from 1974.

And although the plot of "Airplane!" is not really all that important--since the jokes sustain themselves independently from the plot--I will give a brief synopsis.

The story follows Ted Striker (Robert Hays), a former pilot now afraid to fly. He follows his former lover Elaine (Julie Hagerty), a stewardess, onto a plane. But when most of the passengers and crew fall ill due to food poisoning, Striker must face his fears and pilot the plane to safety.

Despite the unease that accompanies plane crash-type movies, "Airplane!" is so goofy and ridiculous that you forget the association.

Here's a clip from early on (hint: their names are Roger, Victor and Capt. Oveur)



"Airplane!" is filled with this type of joke, including its most famous line, which made the American Film Institutes top 100 movie quotes of all time at #79.

Striker: Surely, you can't be serious.
Dr. Rumack: I am serious...and don't call me "Shirley."


Laughasaurus worthiness:

What makes "Airplane!" worthy of both your time and mine is the range of type of jokes and humor that it throws at you, consistently in its 87 minutes.

There are pun jokes, like the one in the clip above, dirty jokes, racial jokes (mostly in good taste), parody jokes and jokes like this one, that have no real definable genre, but make you laugh regardless.



Some of the jokes are so stupid, yet so aware of being so stupid, that you can't help but laugh at their stupidity...and the genius behind it.

Weekly Poll Winner: 30 Rock

The results are in and you have selected 30 Rock as your favorite comedy-driven TV show. I can't say I'm not a little surprised, being that the choices were last year's Emmy nominees and 30 Rock won the award.


30 Rock has, in just it's first three seasons, won nine Emmys, including in two consecutive years for Outstanding Comedy series. They have also taken home five Golden Globe awards, including Best Television Series this year.


Produced by the legendary Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels and Tina Fey (among others), 30 Rock follows Liz Lemon (Fey), her boss Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin) and the crazy actor Tracy Jordan (Tracy Morgan) and their adventures at NBC studios at 30 Rockefeller Plaza


Liz Lemon is the head writer of an SNL-like sketch comedy program called TGS with Tracy Jordan (formerly known as The Girlie Show, until Jordan joins the cast in the first episode).


Tina Fey does a stand-up job making fun of herself on the show, always pulling out the stops and ready to have a joke made at her expense. But still, Liz Lemon is comparatively normal to the other characters.


30 Rock is one of several successful shows that revolve around one main character who happens to be surrounded by other characters who are different variations of crazy. (Arrested Development, The Office and Seinfeld are other examples.)


Unlike its NBC Thursday night counterpart The Office, however, 30 Rock maintains almost always a light-hearted atmosphere throughout, never creating real drama or making you feel sad or upset about how the episode ended.


One of the great aspects of the show is the relationship between Liz Lemon and Jack Donaghy, her self-absorbed executive boss. He often seems to be a bit irritated by the way she behaves (since the two are so different), but you can tell he thinks she's fantastic. Maybe they'll get together by accident on the show someday. Maybe not? (Leave a comment if you want to discuss this topic--I'm interested to see what people think.)


Here's a clip:






The relationship between Lemon and Donaghy is future classic, but another hilariously-written character is that of Tracy Jordan, who plays the lead actor on TGS with Tracy Jordan (obviously), and is just about the last person on a live show cast you would want to have around. He is completely insane, and almost any interaction involving Jordan on the show brings howls of laughter.

In this clip, Kenneth the Page has a date with a blind girl, but is too nervous to talk himself, so he enlists Tracy to be his Cyrano (Also, the "waiter" is named Dot Com). The second half shows Donaghy in confession:

Movie Monday: Annie Hall

One of the great, groundbreaking comedies of all time, Woody Allen's "Annie Hall" was the masterpiece of his own brand of comedy.

Written, directed and starring Allen in 1977, "Annie Hall" took home Oscars in almost all the top categories--Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress in a Leading Role and Best Screenplay (written for the screen). Allen was nominated for Best Actor but was beat out by Richard Dreyfuss.

"Annie Hall" is really the quintessential Woody Allen film, marked by his mumbling, awkward and neurotic comedic style and teleplay that often escapes the narrative and attempts to form a relationship with the viewer.

Just as Chaplin did decades before, Allen wrote for and directed himself in his most successful films, knowing full well that nobody could play the stuttering, intellectual yet uncomfortable Jew as well as he can.

"Annie Hall" follows the life of Alvy Singer (Allen), his failed relationship with Annie Hall (Diane Keaton) and the influences of his life that lead to that failure, which are strangely believable.

As the movie opens, Alvy gives a short monologue to the audience saying that his problem with women is defined by an old Groucho Marx quote. The way Alvy says it: "I would never want to belong to a club that would have someone like me as a member. That's the key joke of my adult life, in terms of my relationships with women."

The ability to artfully leave the story and communicate with the audience is not easy to master or perfect. It's difficult enough to make a large group of people laugh at the situation in the movie, but removing yourself to now get a laugh from direct conversation with the audience is a seldom accomplished feat.

Here's a scene from early on in the film, showing almost immediately his irritating personality and neurotic behavior:




Laughasaurus worthiness:

As you may now have noticed, I have begun the first few weeks of Laughasaurus' Movie Mondays by discussing comedies from different decades in progression. First the '30s with "Duck Soup", the '50s with "The Seven Year Itch" and this week, the '70s. My purpose in doing this was to show you the development of the art of comedy in film over the course of the century.

What makes Annie Hall worthy of a post is not only its writing but the way Woody Allen brings out that writing in his neurotic acting. There aren't really any other "funny" characters in the movie; aside from Alvy Singer they're all pretty normal.

The neurotic aspects of Singer's character are the most apparent in him and effectively drive the narrative. Even from a young age, the character of Alvy Singer is neurotic and fatalistic beyond the measure of most adults:



This clip shows Alvy Singer's other major flaw: denial. He almost refuses to accept that anything bad that happens in his life is his fault, and, instead of trying to fix himself, he tries to fix others.

This characteristic is funny in that it creates comedic situations, but it eventually leads to his ending up alone, as he is so resistant to change.

But, as with most movies, the ending result is not as important as the journey. I hope you enjoy Annie Hall.

New Yorker Cartoon - Support Group

Cartoons in The New Yorker magazine have become a staple in it, since the magazine was started in the 1920s.

Their cartoons are almost always shorter stories, told in one frame, and often have just one quote from one person in the cartoon which describes the entire action.

This cartoon by New Yorker cartoonist David Sipress strikes a nerve, I believe, with many of the millions of people who work in front of a computer screen for some or most of their day.

Email has become relied upon so heavily by so many officer workers--like the ones depicted here--that it seems almost like an addiction...hence the "Alcoholics Anonymous" setting for the cartoon.

And the time between email checks is getting shorter and shorter in the past few years with smart phones and 3G networks that basically keep you connected wherever you go, short of the center of the Earth.

What's worse is that every couple of years a new internet social networking tool is developed, which gives you just one more thing to compulsively check throughout the day. Now, one could spend a good 15-20 minutes between email, Facebook, Twitter, etc...just checking up, not only on themselves, but their friends too. Multiply that by a realistic five, 10 or maybe 20 times per day, and you're talking hours.

The more in touch with are with each other, the more we are addicted to the technology that keeps us in touch.




Laughasaurus worthiness:

The kicker: this cartoon was published in The New Yorker on May 28, 2001.

I know, right?

The Onion: Shirtless Biden Washes Trans Am In White House Driveway

May 5, 2009 | Issue 45•19

WASHINGTON—Taking advantage of the warm spring weather Monday, Vice President Joe Biden parked his 1981 Trans Am in the White House driveway, removed his undershirt, and spent a leisurely afternoon washing the muscle car and drinking beer.

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Vice President Biden ditched a day of presiding over the Senate to "give the twin cannons some sun."

"This baby just needs a little scrub down," said Biden, addressing a tour group as he tucked the sweat-covered top into the belt loop of his cutoff jean shorts. "Gotta get her looking good so I can impress the chicks when I'm cruising down Pennsylvania [Avenue]."

White House aides said that Biden pulled into the driveway shortly before noon, the chorus of Night Ranger's "(You Can Still) Rock In America" blaring from his car's stereo. According to witnesses, Biden spent several minutes maneuvering the Trans Am into the perfect spot, and was observed drumming his fingers on the steering wheel until the song came to a close.

The shirtless 66-year-old then entered the executive residence and greeted employees with a round of high fives and a variety of nicknames.

"Hey, hot stuff, looking good," Biden told a passing aide. "Would you know where I could get a little bucket and sponge action? My mean machine needs to be cleaned."

After acquiring the necessary washing materials, the bare-chested second-in-command returned to the driveway, where he spent several moments staring in apparent awe at the firebird decal on the hood of his car.

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Biden wipes down the interior, and picks up any loose change, cigarette butts, and discarded condom wrappers.

Biden, who purchased the white Pontiac in 1983, has made an annual tradition of taking time off each spring to wash and tune-up his vehicle. In 2008 alone, the veteran politician reportedly missed two dozen Senate sessions in order to spend some quality time "taking care of [his] baby."

"He does this every year and it really seems to rejuvenate him," Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-CT) said. "Back in 2001, the car was up on blocks in the National Mall, and he was so busy rotating those tires that he bailed on the confirmation hearings for secretary of state."

"What're you gonna do, though?" Dodd added. "That car rocks."

As Biden gently applied a sponge to the hood and moved it in small circular motions across the car's contours, a number of White House interns walked by and caught the vice president's attention.

"She's a real beaut, ain't she?" said Biden, popping open a wide-mouth can of Coors Light and tilting back his head to take a long drink. "Back when Smokey And The Bandit came out, everyone wanted the black paint job, but looking back now, I'm thankful the dealership didn't have it in stock."

"Oops, looks like I got a little brewha in the flavor-saver," added Biden, referring to his wispy, four-day-old mustache. "Any of you girls care to join me for another tallboy?"

Biden then spent the next 15 minutes boasting about the features on his Trans Am.

"They don't make kick-ass T-tops like this anymore, sweetheart," said Biden, shaking his head in exaggerated disappointment. "And check out these gold snowflake rims. They're a real bitch to clean, but they're totally worth it."

"Back in the day we used to call 'em panty-melters," Biden continued. "One babe caught a glimpse of those rims after a Cinderella concert in '86 and she couldn't get into that backseat fast enough. If any of you girls wanna take a ride, just let ol' Joe know."

For the remainder of the day, Biden occupied himself with hosing off his car, giving the side doors an extra coat of wax, and throwing out a variety of items from beneath its front seats, including crumpled-up fast food wrappers, a number of soft packs of Doral kings, an issue of Cheri magazine from 1991, and Senate bill S. 486.

According to White House officials, Biden was still hanging out in the driveway long after dusk, revving the engine at passersby and explaining the intricacies of a turbocharged V-8 motor to anyone within earshot.

As of press time, Biden had convinced Jennifer Britmore, a 41-year-old mother of four visiting from Indiana, to let him show her around D.C.

Laughasaurus worthiness:

This article just seems to strike a chord. Every part of it seems to place you right in front of this actually going on, and watching the new vice president behaving like an obnoxious old man having a mid-life crises a few years too late.

The quotes are characteristic of what some old dude washing his car in his driveway might actually say, but are then placed between the quote hooks of Joe Biden. He usually appears as a friendly and slightly quirky kind of guy, and this article highlights those attributes and enhances them to an extreme.

The Onion has always been great at creating a reasonably normal situation in one of their articles and making it funny by assigning it to a most unlikely figure. The picture alone, of Biden's beer-gutted and tattooed top half, trying to "give the two cannons some sun," is enough to make you chuckle, but as they keep throwing those ridiculous quotes from him, it continues to make you laugh.

Every action--the high fives, the song, staring at the decal, hitting on the girls, referring to beer as "brewha"--feels like it's the most outrageous thing the vice president could be doing (and also makes you wonder why you hardly see Biden in the news, and if he is, in fact, acting like a 66-year-old has-been).

Adding in a quote from Senator Dodd was a nice touch, because you could just as easily see him placed in this article as the main character.