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The Slate review of Meet the Spartans made me nostalgic for the spoof/parody films of years past. Young Frankenstein. Airplane. Top Secret. The Princess Bride. Galaxy Quest.
What are your favorites?
(Not that I think all recent spoofs are bad. Enchanted and Kung Fu Hustle come to mind. But man, are they few and far between.)
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I'd throw in recent spoofs: Shaun of the Dead & Hot Fuzz definitely. Also, I'm note really sure if the Evil Dead/Army of Darkness series entirely counts but I'll throw it in for consideration.
Also, I'm curious why you classify Princess Bride as a parody (I wouldn't have chosen that descriptor).
Back to the old-school: most anything by Mel Brooks, certainly Blazing Saddles amongst them. Also, Pink Panther.
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All for the Winner From Beijing with Love Forbidden City Cop God of Cookery King of Comedy
Galaxy Quest Army of Darkness (if you consider that a parody/spoof) Drunken Master II (if you consider that a parody of Once Upon a Time in China)
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quote:Originally posted by TheGrimace: Also, I'm curious why you classify Princess Bride as a parody (I wouldn't have chosen that descriptor).
Because William Goldman wrote it as a parody of fairy tale adventure stories?
Um, he might have written the screenplay, but the book was only his abridgement of the masterful work written by Simon Morgenstern. Credit where credit is due.
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quote:Originally posted by Puffy Treat: The Slate review of Meet the Spartans made me nostalgic for the spoof/parody films of years past. Young Frankenstein. Airplane. Top Secret. The Princess Bride. Galaxy Quest.
I'm not sure how you can mention Airplane without also mentioning Kentucky Fried Movie. The original; accept no imitations.
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quote:Originally posted by Puffy Treat: The Slate review of Meet the Spartans made me nostalgic for the spoof/parody films of years past. Young Frankenstein. Airplane. Top Secret. The Princess Bride. Galaxy Quest.
I'm not sure how you can mention Airplane without also mentioning Kentucky Fried Movie. The original; accept no imitations.
You beat me to it.
Also, for that matter, we need more Mel Brooks, like Blazing Saddles and even High Anxiety.
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quote:Originally posted by Lisa: I'm not sure how you can mention Airplane without also mentioning Kentucky Fried Movie. The original; accept no imitations.
The Zucker brothers created Airplane as a mere imitation of their earlier film? I'll have to disagree. I genuinely think it's a funnier film.
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Both of you realize I began the thread asking for other favorites, right? At no point did I say "These are the only possible good ones!"
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I'm pretty sure they're both parodies, but I'm not quite sure what of.
Bon Cop, Bad Cop and Men With Brooms. The first is a parody of police dramas, I suppose, and the second is a parody of sporting movies. Plus a whole country. Seems Canada can't make a successful film unless it involves mocking ourselves.
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Most of my favorites have already been mentioned, but there is one recent parody movie that was much better than the crop of "[Adjective] Movie" movies, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story. It's a parody of biopics like Ray and Walk the Line, and it's very good.
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Puffy Treat, I love Galaxy Quest. It also has Tony Shaloub before he made it great as "Monk," and it has Alan Rickman, before he owned the role of Professor Snape in the "Harry Potter" movies.
I keep thinking that the recent movie, Stardust should be counted as a parody. In some respects it is serious fantasy. But that scene where Robert DeNiro dons a tutu and dances to "Can-Can" has to be a brazen parody of something.
I just remembered--Terry Brooks had sailing ships that fly in his "High Druid" series. Some of them were pirates. Maybe that is what Stardust is parodying. I wonder if Neil Gaiman ever read Terry Brooks.
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quote:Originally posted by Puffy Treat: Lisa, you're kidding.
You know Morgenstern was Goldman's creation, right?
Right.
That is a vicious rumor spread by the Morgenstern Defamation League. I have seen a first edition copy in the basement of one of Oxford's libraries, protected by bullet-proof glass.
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While Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein are classics, Brooks more recent fair has gone down hill. Spaceballs and Men In Tights were limited in their humor while his last one, a take on Dracula, was pretty lousy.
The first "Police Squad" was pretty good. OJ as a good guy cop is even more of a parody than it was intended to be.
Since then, anything with Neilson in it is direct to video yawn.
How about the mockumentaries. Spinal Tap is a classic. I can't think of the other two names. One was about folk singers and the other was about the dog show culture.
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Young Frankenstein Shaolin Soccer Airplane! Top Secret! The Brady Bunch Movie Shaun of the Dead UHF The President's Analyst Best in Show Galaxy Quest
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quote:Originally posted by Dan_raven: The first "Police Squad" was pretty good. OJ as a good guy cop is even more of a parody than it was intended to be.
Since then, anything with Neilson in it is direct to video yawn.
Really? I remember liking the third one a lot, although it's been a while since I saw it. I don't really remember the second all that much, though.
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quote:Originally posted by steven: "Strictly Ballroom" was a parody? What of?
Two formulas, really. The Sports Movie: Winning it big after a crushing defeat against great odds and greater prejudice. The Romantic-Comedy: The unlikely couple, one or more of which has Been Lied To, discover eachother's True Worth just in time for a dramatic reunion in a public setting.
And, if I remember correctly, the first ten minutes were a mockumentary.
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I'm glad to see all the love for Galaxy Quest. Such an underrated gem. And what an awesome cast!
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Another good one I don't think has been mentioned is I'm Gonna Get you Sucka. It's even a Wayans movie that doesn't suck, because it's more Keenen and Damon than Shawn and Marlon.
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UHF and Princess Bride, while having parodies of elements of their genres, I don't think are actually parodies in and of themselves. The main plots in both are rather earnest in their portrayal.
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Also not exactly a parody, but having many parody elements, and being so great that it MUST be mentioned: the Buffy musical.
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