Before we enter into a scene, on any of the movies, the main direction from Chris is, "This isn't too far from the truth. People are really like this". The irony is that he inspired an ironic or postmodernist position in comedies today, but he couldn't be further away from irony. The other irony is that for such funny movies there's disappointment for the actors when they see the final product, since so much of everyone's performance gets cut. After the premiere of Best in Show in Toronto, the actors weren't laughing as much as calculating or comparing what was shot to what was sacrificed to move the plot. The ratio of material produced to the bit that's kept feels out of proportion. There's no clause with the Writers Guild of America for improvising being seen as writing but maybe one day there will be. As in the case on Woody Allen's films, no one gets paid anything, so you do it for the sake of the art. Chris doesn't do the awards circuits, so great performances worthy of them are left to legacy. I'm thinking of Catherine [O'Hara] in For Your Consideration, who was so funny and painful, just genius. Life imitated art for her that year because like in the film, there was talk in the biz of her receiving an Oscar nomination. He gives us our very own medals, though, made especially for the production, with the title of the movie written on a round medallion that hangs by a red, white, or blue ribbon. I have four of those medals and a few Oscars of my own. They're the souvenir-sized ones from LAX, but still, it's something.
- Parker Posey, You're on an Airplane, New York, 2018, p.255-6.
See also:Movies: Now God said to Moses I don't want no sinnin', 19 March 2014
Movies: I'm a hypocrite, but not an idiot, 4 March 2011
Movies: Oh Superman, 8 November 2010
No comments:
Post a Comment