Jul. 28th, 2003

mmcirvin: (Default)
Kibo showed me the fine Scorcese flick The King of Comedy last night. I can see why this is Conan O'Brien's favorite movie.

But it gave me nightmares. Or not exactly nightmares, but worse: those obsessive half-awake thoughts that won't let you get entirely to sleep and won't shut up unless you become completely awake. Something in my head was telling me I was like unto Rupert Pupkin. Rupert Pupkin. Rupert Pupkin. The last movie that did this to me was Fight Club. I think it's pretty much a sign that the movie is good, in a particular dark way.

Rupert Pupkin is Robert De Niro's character in the movie, one of those obsessive losers he often plays, in a typically brilliant performance. Pupkin lives in his mom's basement and spends his days talking to cardboard cut-outs of Jerry Lewis and Liza Minnelli. He imagines that he is the greatest stand-up comic in the world. Eventually, with the help of a standard-issue crazy stalker played by Sandra Bernhard, he kidnaps Jerry Lewis's character, who is this Johnny Carson-like figure, so he can get on the show. Tony Randall ensues. Jerry Lewis, believe it or not, gives a fine dramatic performance as the guy who would really like to get rid of the annoyance of Rupert Pupkin. Sandra Bernhard is just Sandra Bernhard.

One of the things I liked most about the movie is that when we finally hear Pupkin's routine, it's pretty bad, but it's realistically bad: not completely over-the-top bad, but the kind of bad you'd hear from an actual really lame stand-up comic. Jokes about how crummy Passaic, New Jersey is. And he actually gets a few chuckles from dimwits in the audience.

I AM NOT RUPERT PUPKIN, DO YOU HEAR ME???

Lindsey

Jul. 28th, 2003 10:08 pm
mmcirvin: (Default)
My esteemed sister-in-law [livejournal.com profile] darkphonics who lives among many four-legged beasts has not written much in her journal in quite some time, which makes me wonder whether she has gotten any other unsolicited gifts of hairstyle accessories.

She says her hair sucks, but she has at least ten times as much as I do and so should consider herself fortunate.

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