During it's
heyday, there was nothing on TV funnier than "In Living Color."
You had Keenan Ivory Wayans, Damon Wayans (as well as tons of other Wayans'),
Tommy Davidson, David Alan Grier, Jamie Foxx, and of course, Jim Carrey.
Hell, even the funniest man in America, Chris Rock, spent a year there!
And didja know that Jennifer Lopez was on it as one of "The Fly Girls"?
Anyone who's seen the show remembers "Men on Film," "Homie
the Clown," "Fire Marshall Bill," and tons of others. I'm
not sure what ended up happening, but for some reason, Keenan Ivory Wayans
(the show's creator) left, the show got sucky, and it got canceled.
There are a lotta Wayans'. Of the ones I know of, there's Keenan Ivory,
Damon, Marlon, Shawn, and Kim. It's amazing how much talent one family can
have. I mean, sure, there are the Baldwins and the Arquettes, but they were
all killed in "South
Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut."
Ugh. That was a lame joke. Sorry 'bout that.
"Scary
Movie" is the new movie directed by Keenan Ivory Wayans, and as expected,
a couple of his siblings are in the movie. In this case, it's Shawn and
Marlon, the stars of the movie "Don't Be a Menace to South Central While
Drinking Your Juice in the Hood," and the TV show, "The Wayans
Brothers." Anyone who knows me knows that I LOVE raunchy humor. Well,
"Scary Movie" is raunchy, alright. As a matter of fact, I'm stunned
that it got an R-rating. I heard that there were cuts that needed to be
made in order to get the R, but trust me, you'll be surprised at how much
this movie gets away with. That's not a complaint, mind you. Actually, I'm
hoping that it's a sign that the overtly conservative MPAA is finally loosening
up (yeah, right). As you may expect, the raunchier the scene is, the funnier
it is. Well, to me, anyway.
Anyone remember "I'm Gonna Git You Sucka"? A while back, that was
the first movie that Keenan Ivory Wayans wrote, directed, and starred
in. It was a spoof of the blaxploitation films of the '70s, and even though
I've never seen a blaxploitation movie, I remember sitting in the movie
theater laughing my ass off. I haven't seen it since (I'm still waiting
on the DVD, but it's gotta be a special edition... I'm spoiled like that),
but even today, I laugh thinking about certain parts in it. A few years
later, Keenan Ivory Wayans wrote, directed, and starred in a new movie,
a very different movie, called "A Low Down Dirty Shame." It was an
action/comedy. I wasn't interested, so I didn't see it. So this is his
third movie as director, and the first one he directed that he didn't
write or star in. It was actually written by a whole bunch of writers,
and here they are: Shawn Wayans & Marlon Wayans & Phil Beauman (the three
of them wrote "Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your
Juice in the Hood" together) & Buddy Johnson (his debut) and Jason Friedberg
& Aaron Seltzer (they helped write "Spy Hard").
Have you ever
wondered why it is that when the writing credits are shown, they sometimes
use an ampersand (&), and other times, they use the word "and"?
Wanna know why? No? Well too bad, 'cause I'm gonna tell you anyway. An ampersand
means that the writers wrote it together. When they use the word "and,"
that means that that the script was given to someone separately to make
changes. Get it? You've officially been schooled by Joey the Film Geek.
"Scary Movie" stars Anna Faris as "Cindy Campbell" (a
spin on Neve Campbell's "Sidney" from the "Scream" movies,
duh), and she's an actress I've never seen before. She's cute, but in a
very non-Hollywood way. The VERY sexy Shannon Elizabeth ("Nadia" in "American
Pie") plays "Buffy Gilmore," the best friend. Dave Sheridan
plays her brother "Doofy" (like "Dewey," get it?), Cheri
Oteri plays "Gale Hailstorm," Marlon Wayans plays "Randy"
and Shawn Wayans plays "Ray." Remember the buff friend of the
two head-bobbing dorks in "A
Night at the Roxbury"? His name is Lochlyn Munro, and he's in this movie,
too. Oh yeah, I almost forgot, there's also Carmen Electra. She gets down
to her underwear and dances all sexy. That's all you need to know. Anyway,
I can't really comment on the acting in this movie, it IS a spoof, and they're
all supposed to be over the top, and they are. I guess if anyone stands
out to me, it's Shannon Elizabeth.
Oh wait, before I forget, there's a GREAT scene in this movie. In my very
first commentary for this web site, I wrote about "Loud
Assholes in Movie Theaters." Well, I don't wanna give anything
away here, but let's just say that a loud asshole in this movie is taken
care of.
If you're the kind of person who writes an angry letter to the executives
at FOX because "Ally McBeal" showed another lesbian kiss, don't
see this movie. There isn't enough ink in the world. All I gotta say is,
this movie cracked me up. Some of the jokes fell flat, and it probably followed
the storyline of "Scream" TOO closely, but why nitpick? I laughed
more than I've laughed in a while. Welcome back to the spoof genre, Keenan.
It's good to have you back.