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fearlesstempAm sneezy! On the day before Thanksgiving! I do not approve!
So today I was sitting at my desk at work, trying to get crap done, when all of a sudden this huge booming VOICE came out of nowhere. I almost fell off my chair, thinking it was the Great Almighty making contact with me or something, when the huge booming VOICE started talking about a high-profile contract the company had been negotiating. Turns out the CEO just wanted to let all of us know that they had reached a happy agreement! Watch me not care at all, and be bitter about the fact that I was (a) scared to death, and (b) not given the rest of the day off, which I figure is the least a CEO can do when giving a company-wide public announcement at 3PM on the day before a national holiday.
Really!
In other news: Tonight Planes, Trains, and Automobiles was on, one of the few holiday movies that I can think of off the top of my head that deals with Thanksgiving instead of Christmas. Also? One of my favorite movies ever. One of the funniest movies ever in my book.
Every time I watch this movie, I love John Candy a little bit more. I think Steve Martin's great, but something about John Candy in this -- once you've seen the movie once and know how it ends, every moment of his in the movie prior to that has an extra weight. I love that this is a very funny movie that isn't afraid to have some sadness in it, and also that it allows the characters to be ridiculous and insensitive and callous and foolish without ever rendering them annoying or unlikable. The revelation that Del's wife is long dead -- oh, I don't know how many times I've seen this movie, but every damn time that moment at the end between Del and Neal ("Why aren't you home?" "I don't have a home.") just kills me, even though I know it's kind of corny. It's saved by the actors, really, who are also most of the reason the movie's so funny -- so much of the humor is reactionary or physical and relies heavily on the actors (even the ones who only appear for a minute or two, like the creepy guy who drives them to the train station). I guess this is probably true of comedies in general, because even if they're highly-verbal comedies that rely mostly on jokes from a script, so much of the film's success still depends on timing.
Steve Martin is great in this, but to me, this is really John Candy's movie. There's such a warmth to Del, an unpretentious openness, that even as he commits horrible act after horrible act, you don't want Neal to cast him aside completely, and understand why he is never fully able to. At the same time, John Candy plays the desperation just heavily enough for us to understand why Neal would want to get away from him in the first place. By the end it's clear why -- he's so very, very lonely -- but I like how the movie doesn't make that completely obvious the whole time. He seems like such a good guy, so friendly, so goofy, that you don't really think of him needing anything other than a few minutes of your time and a few dollars for some shower curtain rings.
And that moment in the hotel room. "Love isn't a big enough word." Ah! Kills me.
But seriously? Even if the rest of the movie sucked, it would all be worth it for those five minutes in the car, for the ten seconds when the car is trapped between the two eighteen wheelers, and the shot changes from Del and Neil to individual skeletons of each of them, and also to a shot of Del in a devil's costume (an image that still makes me laugh as I type this). "You're going the wrong way!!!"
I had other stuff to say but can't remember it now. So forgetful! Suppose I should just go sleep.
If I don't get to post tomorrow, a Happy Thanksgiving to all who celebrate!
So today I was sitting at my desk at work, trying to get crap done, when all of a sudden this huge booming VOICE came out of nowhere. I almost fell off my chair, thinking it was the Great Almighty making contact with me or something, when the huge booming VOICE started talking about a high-profile contract the company had been negotiating. Turns out the CEO just wanted to let all of us know that they had reached a happy agreement! Watch me not care at all, and be bitter about the fact that I was (a) scared to death, and (b) not given the rest of the day off, which I figure is the least a CEO can do when giving a company-wide public announcement at 3PM on the day before a national holiday.
Really!
In other news: Tonight Planes, Trains, and Automobiles was on, one of the few holiday movies that I can think of off the top of my head that deals with Thanksgiving instead of Christmas. Also? One of my favorite movies ever. One of the funniest movies ever in my book.
Every time I watch this movie, I love John Candy a little bit more. I think Steve Martin's great, but something about John Candy in this -- once you've seen the movie once and know how it ends, every moment of his in the movie prior to that has an extra weight. I love that this is a very funny movie that isn't afraid to have some sadness in it, and also that it allows the characters to be ridiculous and insensitive and callous and foolish without ever rendering them annoying or unlikable. The revelation that Del's wife is long dead -- oh, I don't know how many times I've seen this movie, but every damn time that moment at the end between Del and Neal ("Why aren't you home?" "I don't have a home.") just kills me, even though I know it's kind of corny. It's saved by the actors, really, who are also most of the reason the movie's so funny -- so much of the humor is reactionary or physical and relies heavily on the actors (even the ones who only appear for a minute or two, like the creepy guy who drives them to the train station). I guess this is probably true of comedies in general, because even if they're highly-verbal comedies that rely mostly on jokes from a script, so much of the film's success still depends on timing.
Steve Martin is great in this, but to me, this is really John Candy's movie. There's such a warmth to Del, an unpretentious openness, that even as he commits horrible act after horrible act, you don't want Neal to cast him aside completely, and understand why he is never fully able to. At the same time, John Candy plays the desperation just heavily enough for us to understand why Neal would want to get away from him in the first place. By the end it's clear why -- he's so very, very lonely -- but I like how the movie doesn't make that completely obvious the whole time. He seems like such a good guy, so friendly, so goofy, that you don't really think of him needing anything other than a few minutes of your time and a few dollars for some shower curtain rings.
And that moment in the hotel room. "Love isn't a big enough word." Ah! Kills me.
But seriously? Even if the rest of the movie sucked, it would all be worth it for those five minutes in the car, for the ten seconds when the car is trapped between the two eighteen wheelers, and the shot changes from Del and Neil to individual skeletons of each of them, and also to a shot of Del in a devil's costume (an image that still makes me laugh as I type this). "You're going the wrong way!!!"
I had other stuff to say but can't remember it now. So forgetful! Suppose I should just go sleep.
If I don't get to post tomorrow, a Happy Thanksgiving to all who celebrate!
