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Everyone's a comedian

The new laugh track: Parody + repetition

By Todd Leopold
CNN

Chris Parnell and Andy Samberg in "Lazy Sunday."

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(CNN) -- A few months ago, "Saturday Night Live's" Andy Samberg and Chris Parnell created a short film, "Lazy Sunday." The contrast of two white guys talking about cupcakes, Red Vines licorice (enjoyed with a Mr. Pibb) and "The Chronicles of Narnia" -- set to a hardcore rap beat -- was clever, funny and became an instant hit.

Then came the copycats: "Lazy Muncie," two guys trying to find fun in that quiet Midwestern burg; "Lazy Monday," a West Coast version; "We Drink Tea," a British version; and "Lazy Snellville," a version set in a sleepy Atlanta suburb -- among many, many others.

In other words, they were parodies of a parody.

There's nothing wrong with parody. Done well and with originality -- as with "Lazy Sunday" -- it can be literally breathtaking, as in a lightning gasp of "Oh, how clever!" recognition.

But parodying parody is, to use an anachronistic metaphor, like making numerous carbon copies on a typewriter. The first copy, just below the original, is almost as sharp; the third or fifth copy, behind several sheets of paper, is smudged and unreadable. It's a pale imitation of the original. (For those who don't understand "carbon copy," "typewriter" or "paper," ask your parents.)

Too bad coming up with something original is so much work, which leaves us with so much unfunny comedy with so little depth. (I'd call it a "farce," except farce -- with its exaggerated character types and split-second timing -- is hard.) Originality is why Pixar films are so good -- there's genuine story, heart and inventiveness beneath the jokes, which hasn't been true of many of that studio's competitors' works.

And originality is what new technology can bring us, and already is. For all the "Lazy" ideas out there, many people are making short videos and sketches that show real bite and creativity.

Unfortunately, not much of that originality has extended to Hollywood, where -- this Friday -- the new "Scary Movie 4" opens.

Eye on Entertainment stifles a groan.

Eye-opener

It's hard to believe that there have been three "Scary Movies" already -- and all of them, despite excellent box office returns, have been bad (and gotten progressively worse).

The first one at least had the whiff of an original idea, or at least an idea that hadn't been done on the big screen in many years: take all the recent thrillers and horror flicks ("The Blair Witch Project," "The Sixth Sense," "The Matrix") and mock them all. (Never mind that "Scream" was a better version of this idea, since it was both a parody of horror flicks and a clever horror flick in its own right. Incidentally, "Scream's" original title was "Scary Movie.") "Scary Movie" was a Mad magazine parody come to life.

But after the original, the net got wider and (if possible) dumber, and we were left with "Scary Movie 2" and "3," which parodied pretty much anything they wanted to -- usually with jokes straight out of the bathroom or the (pot-) smoke-filled dorm room. (If parody is an easy form of humor, then scatological jokes are the easiest building blocks of parody.) Yuk, yuk.

The franchise has taken one strange turn. The first two films were directed by Keenan Ivory Wayans, but "Scary Movie 3" was directed by David Zucker, one of the people who reinvigorated throw-it-at-the-screen-and-see-what-sticks comedy.

With his friend Jim Abrahams and brother Jerry Zucker, David Zucker wrote and co-directed "Airplane!", the 1980 movie that managed to combine the "Airport" films with "Zero Hour," old war movies and some inspired silliness, ending up with the 10th-best comedy of the 20th century (according to the American Film Institute).

Zucker's participation in "Scary Movie" didn't do much for the quality of the franchise: on the review aggregator Rottentomatoes.com, "Scary Movie 3" earned a 39 percent favorable rating -- better than "Scary Movie 2's" 11 percent, but still in "bad" territory. It may have helped it make more money -- "Scary Movie 3" made $110 million, versus $71 million for "2." ("Scary Movie" pulled 52 percent good reviews and made $157 million.)

The jury's still out on "Scary Movie 4," but its cast includes Dr. Phil McGraw -- and if that isn't a parody of a parody, I don't know what is.

"Scary Movie 4" opens Friday.

On screen

"The Wild," with the voices of Kiefer Sutherland, Eddie Izzard, James Belushi, Janeane Garofalo and William Shatner, is about zoo animals who trek through the city when one of their own is sent away. Sounds suspiciously like "Madagascar," though I'm sure that's just coincidence. Opens Friday.

"The Notorious Bettie Page" stars Gretchen Mol as the '50s pinup star whose pictures still represent the height of that decade's soft-core kitschy porn -- though, perhaps, it's only kitschy in retrospect. Opens in limited release Friday.

On the tube

"The Bernie Mac Show" has part 2 of a two-part finale. 8 p.m. Friday, Fox.

"The Ten Commandments" is back for its umpteenth showing. Don't get in the way of Charlton Heston and his staff. 7 p.m. Saturday, ABC.

Sound waves

"Under the Covers, Vol. 1" (Shout! Factory) offers Susanna Hoffs' and Matthew Sweet's take on 15 semi-obscure songs from the '60s, with varying results. The CD comes out Tuesday.

"Union Street" (Mute U.S.), Erasure's new album, comes out Tuesday.

"A Blessing and a Curse" (New West), the latest by the Drive-by Truckers, comes out Tuesday.

A number of late '60s and early '70s Moody Blues albums, including "Days of Future Passed," "On the Threshold of a Dream" and "A Question of Balance" (all Universal), get the remastered SACD treatment Tuesday. (Too bad they couldn't get new album covers -- "Balance"

has one of the worst in rock history.) The songs could be overwrought, but the production (courtesy of Tony Clarke) was always sterling, and these albums display those sounds at their best.

Paging readers

"Blue Shoes and Happiness" (Pantheon), the latest in Alexander McCall Smith's No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, comes out Tuesday.

Video center

"Hostel," the surprise horror hit about some traveling Americans and the strange European guest house they stay at, comes out on DVD Tuesday.

"Mrs. Henderson Presents," with another fine Judi Dench performance, comes out Tuesday.

"Breakfast on Pluto" is out on video Tuesday.

"The Complete Mr. Arkadin" is an attempt to reconstruct one of Orson Welles' most mysterious films, about a wealthy man who hires an American smuggler to investigate the wealthy man's past, with sinister consequences. In typical Welles fashion, the film was taken away from him by a producer who wanted something fast, not something Wellesian. According to Clinton Heylin's "Despite the System," at least four versions of the film have existed (two titled "Confidential Report"). The DVD, showing many of "Arkadin's" variations, comes out Tuesday.

"Out of Sight" came out in 1998, when Steven Soderbergh had been largely written off as a talented, but unmarketable, director, and George Clooney was coming off "One Fine Day," "Batman & Robin" and "The Peacemaker." The film, though it wasn't a huge hit at the box office, re-established both of them in Hollywood (and cemented screenwriter Scott Frank's bona fides), and also helped establish Jennifer Lopez as an front-line actress (one could argue that "Maid in Manhattan," "Enough" and "Gigli" have un-established her). A "Collector's Edition" DVD comes out Tuesday.

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