Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby

[Guest Edgy DC]

Yup. Saw it opening weekend. Ain't I a sucka?

[soupcan]

And...?

[Frayed Knot]

1) Isn't it Talledega [u:128d38yw]Nights[/u:128d38yw]?

2) I've seen/heard a few decent reviews for it - although, personally, I'm not sure that the fans in NASCAR nation own enough weapons to make me go.

[Guest Edgy DC]

I don't like to open a poll with an opinion, but I liked it better than Ms. Edgy, whose intitiative led us to the box office.

Right now, I'm sitting between Truex and Mears (maybe Clint Bowyer). I liked it -- laughed out loud and even spit up a time or two. It clearly was mostly written by Ferrell, which is good as far as the gags, if not the plot. It's packed with pop culture references, which I typically hate, as they're usually really obvious and a baldfaced attempt to kowtow to the audience and make them feel in on the joke. But when two racers are driven by their competitive juices to sprint against each other, and the scene cuts to slow motion, you hear piano and heavily echoing percussion, but ---because this is Will Ferrell --- rather than a tiresome unfunny rehash of the "Chariots of Fire Theme" you get (avert your eyes to skip the spoiler) Pat Benatar singing "We Belong." That was pretty awesome. But the plot turns were more predictable, and therefore somewhat less funny.

Nice turns by the character-actor supporting players, including Gary Cole (the actor who brought you Lumberg, almost unrecognizable as Ricky's father). There's a good outtakes reel on the closing credits. There's even a hermit's reward, but we missed it.

Will Ferrell's comedy continually undermines red-blooded American machismo and Americans thank him for it. I don't know how he plays in the red states, but the movie is number-one in the country, and it's amazing that both NASCAR drivers (Darrell Waltrip, Dale Jr.) and NASCAR sponsors appear all over this movie. And the greasy surgarry chain restaurants that serve bloating America are all there smilingly happy to appear, trading the exposure for being the butt of Ferrell's jokes, portraying them as the cuisine of ignorant trashy no-counts.

You've probably seen scenes of Ferrell saying grace. It's truly inspired, as, during the course of the prayer, Ferrell argues moronically over the nature of Jesus, encourages his kids to be bullies, turns grace into a competitive sport, thanks his sponosors by name, and expresses particular thanks for the family's access to KFC and Taco Bell and Pizza Hut --- the Kentucky Taco Hut Pepsico triumverate --- and finishes up by jumping his wife's bones at the dinner table (yes, I was watching with kids, thank you very much). I can't believe Pepsico OK'd it. I guess any exposure is good exposure, but it made me sad. I want a movie that really subverts these American trash culture monoliths, and leads them to sue the film, not pay them for the privilege.

Culturally, morally, that's the weak part of the movie. Performance-wise, the character of his French rival was really poorly drawn, using unfunny dated stereotypes and an accent that's neither here nor there. It's gutsy that they made him gay. A generation ago, it was Burt Reynolds getting his comeuppance as the macho American gas-burning auto-racer, but the gay characters remained his sidekicks, annoying and undermining his macho self, but never getting the best of him (and never being explictly gay). So, yeah, I guess it's a step forward, but a stupid unfunny step forward, which probably makes it a step backward. Andy Richter plays the guy's husband, and Richter almost has to try to be unfunny, but it just didn't work for me.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Frayed Knot wrote: 1) Isn't it Talledega Nights? 2) I've seen/heard a few decent reviews for it - although, personally, I'm not sure that the fans in NASCAR nation own enough weapons to make me go.

Thanks. Nights. Will edit. Duh, I don't know what I saw.

it definititely is less than a love letter to NASCAR.

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

Hey, wait a minute. Jimmie Johnson isn't cool.

He wins but he's b-o-r-i-n-g. He hasn't had a good accident or feud in a long while.

[Guest Edgy DC]

I knew I'd mess that up. I tried to buy wiggle room with "and then some."

[MFS62]

Edgy wrote:

thanks his sponosors by name, and expresses particular thanks for the family's access to KFC and Taco Bell and Pizza Hut --- the Kentucky Taco Hut Pepsico triumverate --- and finishes up by jumping his wife's bones at the dinner table (yes, I was watching with kids, thank you very much). I can't believe Pepsico OK'd it. I guess any exposure is good exposure, but it made me sad. I want a movie that really subverts these American trash culture monoliths, and leads them to sue the film, not pay them for the privilege.

Haven't seen the movie yet. Was it a sendup of tv ads, like in "Putney Swope"?

Later

[Guest Edgy DC]

I don't know what "Putlney Swope" is.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Wow. Of all the names listed above, I've only heard of two of them: Dale Ernhardt and Kyle Busch.

I think to appreciate a spoof of NASCAR I'd probably have to know something about NASCAR, and clearly I don't know anything about NASCAR, other than that it involves cars.

[MFS62]

Edgy DC wrote: I don't know what "Putlney Swope" is.

An off-beat review/ story summary:

Putney Swope If Putney Swope (superbly played by Arnold Johnson) had a hand in writing the Black Panther Ten Point Plan, it would include demands for equal opportunity television airtime, majority black employment on every rung of the corporate ladder, and termination of the marketing of destructive products to minority communities. Robert Downy Sr.'s 1969 fuck the system film, Putney Swope, opens like any other big city flick with a helicopter aerial shot. But this set-up is merely a cleverly disguised invitation to draw viewers into his manic version of corporate dystopia. As soon as the chopper lands atop a piece of the Manhattan skyline and its middle-aged punk-rock passenger hops out with "MENSA" stenciled to the back of his DIY sleeveless denim jacket with spray paint, you know that this film will deliver anything but what is expected. The protagonist, "Swope" as he is called throughout the film, is introduced as the disgruntled black music director of a major advertising agency. He is sitting at a conference table encircled by white execs. The Madison Avenue Agency is going through rough times, and there is a heated debate as to what changes need to be made. Swope tries to interject with words of righteousness and sincerity, but is combated with cynicism and deject. In a strange turn of events, the president of the agency shows up, dies of a heart attack, and is replaced by Swope who wins the Chairman?s seat through default vote. That is when a big load of blackie shit hits the proverbial fan. Swope fires the entire board, save for one "sick bastard", hires a motley crew of militant afro-centrist politicos, and bans cigarette, alcohol and violent toy manufacturers from the company?s roster of clients. The airing of the company's first ad under Swope's new direction lets the viewer in on Downy Sr.'s creative genius. Outside the television within the television, all the scenes are shot in stark black and white. But once the full-screen versions of ads Swope?s agency creates grace the screen, they surprisingly appear in soft-focused Technicolor. The ads are the tongue-in-cheek driving force of the film. Offensive yet humorous, they are smart enough to make any Adbuster magazine administrator come close to an anti-creativity climax. Ethereal Cereal, the first in a slew of funny five-minute spots, features a monotoned narrator informing a gentleman seated at a breakfast table of the benefits of this brand of cereal. As he eats, the camera closes in for a close-up. Then on hearing the summation of the off-screen accolades, the black gap-toothed breakfast eater exclaims, "No sheet!" The other commercials run the gamut, from Mr. Sony's Get-Out-Of Here mousetrap, to an interracial couple singing a soft duet for Face Off Pimple Cream, and match Ethereal Cereal in wit and political incorrectness. The agency is a hit. Clients that were removed from the roster beg to be replaced. The corrupt midget Head of State (played by famous small person Pepi Hermine) gets involved. And, in a scheme reminiscent of Robin Hood, Swope orders that in order to keep working with the agency, each account has to pay one million dollars in cash upfront, all the while secretly thinking of disseminating the funds to the rest of his cronies at a later date. Somewhere amidst the staccato scenes and profane deliveries, there is a message the director is cleverly conveying. It's hidden below the surface, and behind the "blackface". The hyper-exaggerated characters are making a mockery of every level of establishment. From religion?a nun tries to con Swope into adopting a yuck-mouthed youngster?to corporations?it goes without saying that corporate America and its mindless consumers are Downey Sr.s main target to minority Parties: behind closed doors the film's most vocal black militant turns out to be a ****-licking lowlife. With the pint-sized Prez leaning hard on Swope, he knows his agency is in its last throws of life. In a scene composed to resemble Fidel Castro's address to a newly liberated Cuba, Putney Swope orders his ad agents (everyone employed at Madison Avenue Agency, including janitors and bodyguards) to come up with the most outlandish ads they can think of and air them carte blanche. He then later sabotages the video shoot for the Nazi car company the President is pushing, making a host of high-powered enemies and hammering the last nail in the agency's coffin. In his final act of defiance, Swope holds a board meeting that mirrors the opening scene. To his Negro band of disciples, Putney is a Jesus figure, but on hearing his plan to diverge from militancy and cow-tow to The Man, they decide it would be better to send him to the cross. They do not want to give up the right fight, even though it means risking the loss of all the clients and the loads of money the clients are willing to spend. The meeting, of course, was a test, and Swope is pleased with the results... at least initially. He goes to the vault, grabs a few bags of money, and then orders that the rest be shared evenly. As he readies for an escape, Putney Swope is confronted by members of the board. Hotfooting over the prior topic they disappoint by showering him and his sellout ideas with praise. Speechless, Swope shakes his head and pushes his way through the thick crowd, assisted by his bodyguard. And as the money-hungry mob squabbles over the loot, it is set ablaze by a rogue kamikaze sending the film to its fiery finale. Written and directed by Robert Downy Sr., with production credits going to Herald Productions Inc., the film is a farcical exploration in big budget cinema. Yet it is revolutionary in its daring because of the time during which it was made, and the quasi pro-militant message it carries. I am certain Putney Swope would have agreed to summing up the film in his signature gravely voice like this: "If you can't join the system, then fuck the system."

For a while, it was a big cult film.
Later

[Guest Edgy DC]

Wow. Of all the names listed above, I've only heard of two of them: Dale Ernhardt and Kyle Busch. I think to appreciate a spoof of NASCAR I'd probably have to know something about NASCAR, and clearly I don't know anything about NASCAR, other than that it involves cars.

As I tried to say, the reach is much broader, going after trash culture and narrowminded American machismo. NASCAR is just the city where it's set.

I don't really know any of those drivers either. I'm a baseball fan.

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

Who's Cool in Nascar:

Jeff Gordon: Comes off incredibly bland, polished and media-savvy but actually he’s kind of an interesting fish out of water. He had a ton of success right out of the box in NASCAR, and the idea of a California kid beating up on established Southeast heroes, offering mindless platitudes to sponsors, and driving a rainbow-painted car, got him branded a faggot by much of Redneck Nation. In spite of it, he drives better and harder than they ever give him credit for and he has a nice feud going with Matt Kenseth. He’s underappreciated and overexposed at the same time. A white hat hides a black hat: He’ll wreck you for a parking space at the mall.


Tony Stewart: He’s also a good driver, also a non-Southerner, and a vigilante with anger-management issues.


Michael Waltrip: Good accent, runs marathons. Funny brother.


Mark Martin: His face is completely destroyed from breathing gas fumes: He looked like he was in his 80s in his 40s. Doesn’t suffer young fools. Quality accent.


Dale Earnhardt Sr., so cool he died at the Daytona 500, and not some wussy race at Sonoma.


Bill Elliott is slightly cool, for being uncool and not appearing to care.


Richard Petty: Cool enough to drive a baby-blue car. Tremendous mustache-and-black-hat ensemble. Won races, unlike his son Kyle, who routinely starts at the back of the field and finishes 30th or worse week after week and doesn’t even look like he’s trying.



The Busch brothers aren’t cool: They’re skinny ugly snotty pricks who grew up in Las Vegas (the Florida of the West).
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/racing/drivers/2005/images/p1_kurt_busch_getty[1].jpg

The Labontes weren’t ever cool, I don’t think. Terry won the season championship one year without ever winning a race. That’s not cool. Bobby Labonte is probably cooler than his brother, his name almost rhymes.


Jimmy Spencer is cool: A 300-pound guy who only wants to go fast but can’t. Looks like a beer distributor.


Martin Truex Jr. could be cool, I don’t know yet. He does have a cool name.

Casey Mears is like this applecheeked young kid who doesn’t even shave yet. He may or not turn out to be cool.

Ryan Newman could be cool. He's a college graduate.

Don;t know anything about David Stremme.

[Centerfield]

Wow. Of all the names listed above, I've only heard of two of them: Dale Ernhardt and Kyle Busch. I think to appreciate a spoof of NASCAR I'd probably have to know something about NASCAR, and clearly I don't know anything about NASCAR, other than that it involves cars.

That's what he said about music. Meaning if we ever had a CPF 500 Yancy would dust us all.

[Vic Sage]

i have a low threshhold for Will Farrell but i found the movie surprisingly amusing.

[Guest Edgy DC]

The story kept moving enough that there weren't too many difficult overlong spots where the camera stays with Ferrell, a mistake made too often when sketch comics transition to film.

I have little interest in the rest of Ferrell's catalog. I recognize his talents, but don't usually go for how they're applied. I however recommend Winter Passing, a non-comedy in with Ferrell in a comedic supporting role.

[Guest ScarletKnight41]

I don't generally love Ferrell, but I thought he did a nice job in Elf.

[metsmarathon]

NASCAR discussion without one reference to dick trickle? im truly disappointed in you all!

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

Um, this movie completely sucked.

I don't know what's wrong with you people.