A couple of issues ago, Acid
Logic Editor Wil Forbis wrote an article
about the negative critical reception to the wonderful motion picture
version of "Charlie's Angels", particularly the effeminate snit ol'
Roger Ebert threw over it. (Rog doesn't seem to think tits and ass sexploitation
films are a legitimate art form and called Charlie's Angels a "jiggle
show.") Wil! Have you been watching PBS again? (Editor's reply:
"I sure have, John. They had a great special on the lives of ants!")
Who cares about the critics? Writing movie reviews - What a dipshit
way to make a buck. Now, writing humor bits for web zines - That is
the manly way to make a . . . Wait a minute! I have yet to make a buck
writing humor bits for these cockamamie web zines! Hhhmmm, lemmee give
that film critickin' a shot -
"Charlie's Angels"
It was good. Go see it.
That was how we all used
to talk about movies back in the old days before Siskel And Ebert became
Big TV Stars. "Hey, I saw 'Planet Of The Apes'." "Yeah? Was it good?"
"Oh, yeah. Go see it." "Yeah?" End of discussion. But nowadays? My goodness!
"Hey, I saw 'Castaway'." "Yeah? Was it good?" "Well . . . 'Castaway'
is the latest collaboration between Academy Award winning Actor Tom
Hanks and Bob Zemekis who won The Oscar himself for directing Hanks
in 'Forrest Gump' and has…"
This is not the America I knew as a boy! But then, I grew up in New
Orleans so maybe I missed out on something. Like this thing about it
being wrong to dig tits and ass, is that a New England thing? How did
such a tight assed place ever produce Aerosmith?
Why are we supposed to feel
bad about looking at beautiful, sexy, young women? Don't we feel bad
enough about hardly ever getting to sleep with em? Why would any guy
stand in line to pay eight bucks to see a movie full of actresses who
look just like the broads he was just standing in line with?
To Hell with Roger Ebert,
says I! He's such a snatchface he uses Summer's Eve as mouthwash. I
bet he doesn't even like Black Sabbath. What does he know about girls?
He only likes dippy looking chicks like Winona Rhyder and Penelope Cruz.
"All The Pretty Horses"? Compared to Penelope I bet the horses look
totally hot! Pack her up and send her back to Barcelona! Leave some
room in the crate for Antonio Banderas.
Now, getting back to "Charlie's
Angels" - It was good. Go see it. What? You want more? But I said it
twice! Aaaahhh, don't tell me this country don't need a Culture War!
Okay . . . Okay . . .
"Charlie's Angels" is a prime
example of The Saleeby Formula For Satisfying Entertainment - Cute Girls
And Funny Guys (And don't give me that "Whatchoo mean, 'Cute Girls And
Funny Guys? What about Funny Girls!? Whatchoo, sexist?" number. Cute
Girls ARE funny. Funny Girls are loud, plain, and coming soon to a Funny
Bone near you.) That's all you need to put on a good show - Don't worry
about a plot, music, scenery, all that Irving Thalberg nonsense - Just
get some Cute Girls And Funny Guys and it'll be great. My belief in
this theory is so deep it actually inspired the only poem I have ever
written in my life. It's called "Why I Watch 'Ally McBeal'" and it goes
like this -
The girls are cute
And the guys are funny
It's on TV
So it don't cost money.
"Charlie's Angels", of course,
is a motion picture so it does cost money, but it's money well spent
cause the Girls are Really Cute and the Guys are Really Funny (I don't
watch 'Ally McBeal' anymore cause in the Cute Girls Dept. they were
dumb enough to let Courtney Thorne Smith go and in the Funny Guys Dept.
they gave that scumbag Robert Downey Jr. a seventy five thousand dollar
an episode job and it got poor Calista Flockhart so stressed out she
wound up in the hospital. Goddammit! Am I the only man in America who
knows what that poor woman needs?).
First, The Cute Girls:
Drew Barrymore - I Love Her.
There! I said it! Bold And Unashamed! I hope you are all as grateful
as I am to be alive during The Age Of Drew. What will you say in the
future when your grandchildren come to you and ask "Grandpa? What was
it like when 'Charlie's Angels' came out and you went to the theater
to see Drew?" How will you be able to look them in the eye and tell
them "I'm sorry, Grandchildren, but Roger Ebert said 'Charlie's Angels'
was not a good movie and I went to see 'Wonder Boys' instead. Come back,
Grandchildren! Come back!" Alone You Shall Live And Alone You Shall
Die.
As producer of "Charlie's
Angels" Drew is a givin' kinda chick and she had the genorosity to offer
America's most promising actress the ultimate showcase in which to shine.
But Traylor Howard was too busy playing The Girl on "Two Guys And A
Girl" and Drew had to go with Cameron Diaz instead. (That started out
as a joke but now I'm not so sure). The thing about Cameron Diaz that
I came away from this movie with is that she has a pretty back. No,
I don't mean her butt, which is a very good butt by any standard, I
mean her back. I like women's backs. Am I creeping anyone out with this?
Is there a name for this particular fetish? Any web sites I should know
about? I'm sorry.
Lucy Liu is the Third Angel
but - I'm sorry, Lucy - to me she'll always be The Chinese Girl On "Ally
McBeal". And that's a great thing to be! (So is The Sexy Blonde Receptionist
On "Ally McBeal", The Beautiful Blonde Lawyer Whose Husband Was Ally's
Old Boyfriend On "Ally McBeal", and The Pretty, Funny, Skinny Girl on
"Ally McBeal". Oh, I'm sorry, The Pretty, Funny, Skinny Girl IS Ally
McBeal!) But Three's A Crowd and Lucy is definately the Chico, the Larry
Fine, the Alex Lifeson of this particular trio. Although if we've gotta
have a third wheel it might as well be one so hot and funny she somehow
turns a line as neutral as "Who else has an idea like this man's Coke
machine?" into the funniest joke in the movie. Pure Comic Alchemy! She
could probably get laughs with the jokes from my
old
stand up act.
AND KELLY LYNCH IS IN THIS
MOVIE!!! Hot damn! Kelly Lynch walked into "Charlie's Angels" and I
jumped up and yelled "Wait a minute! I knew Drew Barrynore was in this
movie, I knew Cameron Diaz was in this movie, and I knew The Chinese
Girl From "Ally McBeal" was in this movie, but nobody told me Kelly
Lynch was in this movie!! Drag me outta the theatuh an' down to de graveyard
cuz I done died an' gone to Hebben!!" Just in case I am being to subtle
about this - I like Kelly Lynch. She's no spring chicken but neither
am I, she can chill out in the henhouse while I'm up crowin' at the
sky. Hey, that's another poem! See how serious I am about this Cute
Girls And Funny Guys stuff?
Now, The Funny Guys . . .
eh, who gives a shit? They already got to hang out with these babes
all day for a few weeks, what else do they want? Bill Murray, America's
greatest comedian since John Belushi died and Steve Martin turned out
to be even more of a pussy than Woody Allen, is in "Charlie's Angels"
and if that don't take care of The Funny Guy Dept. right there they've
got Tom Green and Matt LeBlanc to answer the phones and run out for
sandwiches. Green and LeBlanc are both great, but when I heard that
Bill Murray was in this movie I knew I'd go see it even if Rosie O'Donnell,
Whoopie Goldberg, and that horrible woman who plays Dharma on "Dharma
And Greg" were playing The Angels.
So, that's "Charlie's Angels"
,everybody, and if you haven't seen it by now you are a square and everybody
is making jokes about you behind your back. Unless you are a woman,
then John Saleeby is staring at your back thinking weird "Back Freak"
thoughts. I hear they're working on a sequel and we all know what that
means. "What? What does it mean?" the guys who paid to see "Lethal Weapon
2" say. "Huh? What did he say? He used too many big words!" The guys
who paid to see "Lethal Weapon 3" say "Me hungry! Want eat ashtray!
Ouch!" the guys who paid to see "Lethal Weapon 4" say…
John Saleeby wrote
for The National Lampoon while he was in high school, was a stand up
comic in New York, and has contributed to the net humor zines Schmuck.com,
Campaign Central, and the legendary American Jerk. He's on medication
now so he's probably a little nicer now than he was when you met him
earlier.
Email - johnsaleeby@yahoo.com
