{"id":2837,"date":"2015-04-27T17:05:42","date_gmt":"2015-04-27T22:05:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/~reviewing\/?page_id=2837"},"modified":"2015-04-27T17:05:42","modified_gmt":"2015-04-27T22:05:42","slug":"latest-three-comedies-keep-us-laughing","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/reviewing\/?page_id=2837","title":{"rendered":"Latest three comedies keep us laughing"},"content":{"rendered":"

Posted April 27, 2015<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

By SIYUAN TONG<\/p>\n

Comedy, as a genre of film that emphasizes humor, has always been popular and lasting. People always need something funny to help them relax, especially in the midst of life\u2019s hardness.<\/p>\n

During the darkest periods like the Great Depression, films, especially comedy films by actors like Charlie Chaplin, still gained great success \u2014 people spending money on them even during the time of little or no income. Comedy is simply something necessary. No matter life is good or bad. After all, who will mind some more laughter?<\/p>\n

Originated during the era of silent films around 1895, it is one of the oldest genres in film. Some of the very first silent movies were comedies, such as \u201cWatering the Gardener\u201d by Lumi\u00e8re brothers \u2014 the first filmmakers in history \u2014 in 1895. Though the film only runs for a minute, \u201cWatering the Gardener\u201d opened an entirely new world.<\/p>\n

Comedy, as some may think, is about humor, but it is not only about humor. There is more behind this word. Maybe it was only focused on humor at the very beginning, but as the genre grows into maturity, comedy becomes telling something profound in an amusing way.<\/p>\n

\u201cModern Time,\u201d directed by Charlie Chaplin in 1936, vividly portrayed a factory worker\u2019s life during the Depression. There might be exaggerations, but it did show people\u2019s lives during the Depression. It was considered as \u201cculturally significant\u201d by the Library of Congress and selected as preservation in the U.S. National Film Registry.<\/p>\n

Throughout the history, comedy has never lost its importance. Instead, it is continually developed and becomes everlasting classic. From the earliest slapstick, a type of comedy predominantly relies on visual depictions without sound, to today\u2019s multiple hybrid genres of comedy, comedy\u2019s contents and forms have become much richer and more diverse.<\/p>\n

\u201cHome,\u201d \u201cGet Hard\u201d and \u201cThe Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel\u201d are three comedies currently showing in theaters this spring. Compared to the earliest slapstick, today\u2019s comedies apparent have a mix of styles. Animation comedy, action comedy and drama comedy, it is obvious that producers are trying their best to make something new out of the familiar genre to provide audience with a fresh taste. Different from typical jokes, these three current movies show their directors\u2019 own perspective of being funny and entertaining for an audience.<\/p>\n

\u201cHome\u201d by Tim Johnson as an animation comedy has a simpler storyline. An alien Oh runs from his own people because of a mistake. During his time of running away, Oh forms a valuable friendship with a human girl Tip and learns to be considerate to others. It is not a film only for kids, but it does have a more relaxing content compared to the other two films.<\/p>\n

The funniest parts of the film are mostly Oh\u2019s behaviors due to his lack of human common knowledge. No matter it is Oh keeps calling Tip\u2019s mom \u201cmymom\u201d after hearing Tip saying that or it is his confusing comment \u201cnow he is vibrating\u201d when Tip\u2019s cat purring on his head. All these makes the audience burst into laughter.<\/p>\n

Johnson as an experienced animation film director who directed \u201cAntz,\u201d \u201cCiberworld\u201d and \u201cSinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas,\u201d does a pretty solid job in making \u201cHome\u201d funny and uplifting at the same time. You can see the natural interaction between Oh and Tip in the film and all Oh\u2019s awkward mistakes are into something funny. DreamWorks\u2019 production of the film is sophisticated and smooth as usual, which makes \u201cHome\u201d such a nice movie to watch.<\/p>\n

Etan Cohen shows another understanding of comedy with \u201cGet Hard\u201d and has a completely different approach towards what is amusing and what isn\u2019t. When a millionaire James King is accused of fraud, he turns to Darnell Lewis to prep him for the life in jail. The whole film is filled with ridiculous vulgarity and erotic jokes mixed with some absurd scenarios. No wonder it is an R-rated film. It is not worth watching at all. Other than becoming coarser, you gain nothing from the film.<\/p>\n

Probably because Cohen is more of a film writer than a director\u2014he has no experience of directing other than a 10-minutes short film in 2007, the whole film is full of pervasive crude, sexual content and dirty language aimed at teen movie-goers. I\u2019m not sure if it is what he intended it to be or it is due to his lack of directing experience, but the film conveys nothing but vulgarity. Cohen is probably a good writer. He wrote popular films such as \u201cMan in Black 3,\u201d \u201cTropic Thunder\u201d and \u201cMadagascar: Escape 2 Africa.\u201d But it does not seem Cohen has the same talent in directing as he does in screenwriting.<\/p>\n

In \u201cThe Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel,\u201d John Madden introduces still another form of what is funny. Sonny Kapoor, a hotel owner in India, fights for his dream of expansion after his first hotel gets closer to its capacity. At the same time, his wedding day is approaching. With his guests\u2019 stories weaved in, a drama of several love stories combined with dreams, friendships is presented.<\/p>\n

Continuing the stories of seven British retirees in its first movie of the series \u201cThe Best Exotic Marigold Hotel,\u201d \u201cThe Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel\u201d focuses more on their experiences of love and Sonny\u2019s struggle of expansion.<\/p>\n

Probably because the guests of the hotel are getting more familiar with India, and there are not that many jokes to be made on foreigners getting used to another country, it is not as funny as the first movie. The laughing points are hidden in those subtle moments due to each character\u2019s special personality like the first movie does, such like Sonny calling each guest\u2019s name aloud in the morning to \u201cmake sure nobody passed away during the night.\u201d However, compared to the first movie, it is more of a drama than a comedy, though it does includes some amusing content.<\/p>\n

Directed three actors in Oscar-nominated performances, Madden managed pretty well in organizing the film as a whole. Though the stories of characters are mixed together, it does not feel chaotic. With his sufficient experience in directing, Madden bestows a film with funny warm stories.<\/p>\n

The variety of comedies gives today\u2019s spoiled audience plenty of choices to satisfy their needs and tastes. Producers are all attempting to make their films distinctive to attract audience.<\/p>\n

\u201cGet Hard\u201d and \u201dThe Second Best Exotic Hotel\u201d are distinctive enough compared to traditional comedy, but they not seem succeed in being funny by being different. \u201cHome,\u201d as an animation comedy, though not that special, it is probably more successful since its humor is easier to get and the content is safer to watch. Being an old-form comedy does not mean it is outdated, though sometimes people do expect to be surprised.<\/p>\n

It is worth appreciating and understandable that producers are making an effort to add more diversity to gain more audience attention. However, you have to wonder if trying all those weird methods is truly necessary or actually redundant. Maybe sometimes it is best to keep the humor simple and, for this, traditional is not a bad choice. Traditional sometimes means classic after all.<\/p>\n