Showing posts with label Dumb and Dumber. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dumb and Dumber. Show all posts

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Leading Role: Jim Carrey

Although a few of his more serious roles (The Truman Show (1998) and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)) have received much more critical acclaim, Jim Carrey is best known as a comedic actor, so we'll stick to that genre. Carrey first came onto the scene in the early 90's as the token white guy on the hit show In Living Color. His innate comedic talent soon landed him on the big screen where he became arguably the funniest man in show business for about a 5 year stretch (1994-99). Now on to the nominees, but remember if Carrey faded off into the limelight with Jenny McCarthy and was never heard from again, which of the following roles would you consider to be his best ever?

1.)Ace Ventura in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994)




In this film Carrey plays a zany animal detective hired to find the Miami Dolphins' mascot Snowflake before the Superbowl.

Most Memorable lines:

Ace Ventura: If I'm not back in five minutes....just wait longer.

Ace Ventura: All righty then.

Ace Ventura: I saw the guy's room. Cozy, if you're Hannibal Lector.

Melissa: Ace, where are you?
Ace Ventura: I'm in Psychoville and Finkel's the mayor!

Ace Ventura: Do NOT go in there. Phew!

Ace Ventura: Loo-hoo-zuh-her





Synopsis: This was really his breakthrough role and certainly one of those movies that you can watch time and time again and continue to find more lines that make you laugh. I wouldn't say it's my favorite Jim Carrey role because the humor is a little offbeat, especially if you consider the sequel Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls (1995).


2.) Lloyd Christmas in Dumb and Dumber (1994)




Carrey plays a limo driver who notices a client making a "suitcase drop" in the airport and drives across the country with his roommate to give it back to her.

Most Memorable Lines:

Lloyd: The first time I set eyes on Mary Swanson, I just got that old fashioned romantic feeling where I'd do anything to bone her.
Harry: That's a special feeling, Lloyd.

Harry: I expected the Rocky Mountains to be a little rockier than this.
Lloyd: I was thinking the same thing. That John Denver's full of shit, man.

Harry: I can't believe we drove around all day, and there's not a single job in this town. There is nothing, nada, zip!
Lloyd: Yeah! Unless you wanna work forty hours a week.

Lloyd: Mary... I desperately wanna make love to a school boy.

Lloyd: Excuse me, Flo?
Lloyd: Uh, what is the Soup Du Jour?
Waitress: It's the Soup of the Day.
Lloyd: Mmmm. That sounds good. I'll have that.

Lloyd: We got no food, no jobs... our PET'S HEADS ARE FALLING OFF!

Lloyd: What the hell are we doing here, Harry? We gotta get out of this town!
Harry: Oh yeah, and go where? Where are we gonna go?
Lloyd: I'll tell you where. Someplace warm. A place where the beer flows like wine. Where beautiful women instinctively flock like the salmon of Capistrano. I'm talking about a little place called Aspen.
Harry: Oh, I don't know, Lloyd. The French are assholes.

Lloyd: Why you going to the airport? Flying somewhere?
Mary: How'd you guess?
Lloyd: I saw your luggage. Then when I noticed the airline ticket, I put 2 and 2 together.
Lloyd: So where are you headin'?
Mary: Aspen.
Lloyd: Hmmm, California! Beautiful!

Harry: Why would she have you meet her in a bar at ten in the morning?
Lloyd: I just figured she was a raging alcoholic.

Lloyd: You said it, pal. Maybe we're not as good of friends as we thought. I mean, if one beautiful girl can rip us apart, then maybe our friendship isn't worth a damn. Maybe we should call it quits right now.
Harry: You just tell me where to sign, bud.
Lloyd: Right on my ass after you kiss it!

Lloyd: I said, "Do you love me?" and she said, "No, but that's a really nice ski mask."





Synopsis: Outside of The Sandlot (1993), I've seen this movie more times than any other. I'm talking upwards of 15 times in its entirety. When I was in 8th grade I could recite just about every line. It's clearly one of my favorite movies ever, but with that said, is Lloyd Christmas Jim Carrey's best role? I would probably lean towards yes, but I think it could be argued that Jeff Daniels had just as many, if not more, funny lines than did Carrey.


3.) Fletcher Reede in Liar, Liar (1997)




In this film Carrey plays a divorced lawyer who, although he promised to be there, fails to show up to his son's birthday party. His son then wishes that his dad will be unable to tell a lie for an entire day...and it comes true.

Most Memorable lines:

Fletcher: I'm kicking my ass! Do you mind?

Cop: You know why I pulled you over?
Fletcher: Depends on how long you were following me!
Cop: Why don't we just take it from the top?
Fletcher: Here goes: I sped. I followed too closely. I ran a stop sign. I almost hit a Chevy. I sped some more. I failed to yield at a crosswalk. I changed lanes at the intersection. I changed lanes without signaling while running a red light and SPEEDING!

Pete: What's Up, Fletcher?
Fletcher: Your cholesterol, Fatty! Dead man walkin'!

Fletcher: Thank you. Now let's see... weight 105? Yeah, in your bra.

Fletcher: Jordan fades back, swoosh, and THAT'S THE GAME! Nothing further, your honor!

Miranda: Well, what do you think of him?
Fletcher: He's a pedantic, pontificating, pretentious bastard, a belligerent old fart, a worthless steaming pile of cow dung, figuratively speaking.
Mr. Allen: That's the funniest damn thing I've ever heard. You're a real card, Reede. I love a good roast! Do Simmons!
Fletcher: Simmons is old! He should've been out of the game years ago but he can't stay home because he hates his wife! You've met her at the Christmas parties. She's the one that gets plastered and calls him a retard! And you, Tom, you're the biggest brownnose I've ever seen! You've got your head so far up Mr. Allen's ass, I can't tell where you end and he begins!

Max: My teacher tells me real beauty's on the insider
Fletcher: That's just something ugly people say.

Woman on Elevator: Everybody's been real nice.
Fletcher: Well, that's because you've got big jugs. I mean your boobs are huge. I mean, I wanna squeeze 'em. Mama!

Synopsis: A bit of a cheesy plot, but a perfect role for Carrey. The supporting cast is weak, but it's still a funny movie because of Carrey. Probably not his best role of all time, but certainly a dark horse contender. I mean, who can forget about The Claw?


4.)Charlie/Hank in Me, Myself, and Irene (2000)




In this movie Carrey plays an overly nice cop that suffers from advanced delusionary schizophrenia with involuntary narcissistic rage.

Most Memorable lines:

Hank Evans: Vagiclean," huh? What's the matter, honey? Little extra cheese on the taco?
Mrs. Bittman: Excuse me?
Hank Evans: No, excuse me. There's no tag on this.
[grabs microphone]
Hank Evans: Price check on Vagiclean, aisle five. I repeat: price check on Vagiclean, aisle five. That's Vagiclean. We've got a customer down here with a full-on fallopian fungus. She's baking a loaf of bread and I think it's sourdough.

Hank Evans: Holy Jesus in heaven! it's a giant Q-tip.
Irene P. Waters: Hank!
Hank Evans: What? I'm jokin' with the guy. Bringin' a little sunshine into his life. Careful, you'll peel.

Hank Evans (to a kid): What are you staring at, fucker? You want to start me up? Just open the choke and pull the cord, pal. I'm due for a seismic event, and you're dancing on the fault line.
Kid's Father: Hey, what is your problem, pal ?
Hank Evans: I got no beef with you. This is between me and the kid.





Synopsis- A very underrated movie. You laugh a couple times the first time you see it, but you don't rave about. After you see it a few more times and with the right people you begin to realize how hysterical it is. Hank might be one of the funniest characters of the past decade. I doubt anyone immediately thinks of this movie when they think of Jim Carrey, but it certainly adds to his entire body of work.


5.) Bruce Nolan in Bruce Almighty (2003)



In this film Carrey plays a new anchor desperate for a promotion who feels like he never catches any breaks. God intervenes and grants him his powers to basically teach him the lesson Peter Parker's Uncle taught- with great power comes great responsibility.

Most Memorable lines:

Bruce: B-E-A-utiful

Bruce: Bruce Nolan here, aboard the Maid of the Mist in fabulous Niagara Falls, New York. First off, let me just add another congratulations to Evan Backstabber - pardon me, Bastard. Baxter, rather. It is good to see what someone with real talent can do when great opportunities are given to them instead of me. Anyway, I'm here with Katherine Hepburn's mom. Tell me, why did you toss the "blue heart of the ocean" jewel over the railing of Titanic? Did you feel bad at all letting Leo DiCaprio drown, while you were safe floating on the big door? Could you have taken turns, or were you just too afraid to freeze your big fat ass off?
Bruce: Hmm. I guess that's how life is, isn't it? Some people are drenched, freezing to death, on a stupid boat, with a stupid hat, while others are in a comfy news studio, suckin' up all the glory. Oh, well. No big deal.
Bruce: Oh, look! It's the owner of the Maid of the Mist. Let's have a talk with him, shall we? Come on in here, Bill...
Bill, Ferry Owner: That's all right.
Bruce: No, no, no, no. No, no. Come on, let's have a talk. Bill, you've been running the Maid of the Mist for 23 years now. Tell me, why do you think I didn't get the anchor job?
Bill, Ferry Owner: Hey, man, I don't want any problems...
Bruce: [messes his hair] Is it my hair, Bill? Are my teeth not white enough? Or, like the great falls, is the bedrock of my life, eroding beneath me?
Bruce: Eroding, eeeeroding, eeeeerodding.
Jack: Cut the feed. Cut to black.
Control Booth Operator: I'm on it.
Bruce: I'm Bruce Nolan for Eyewitness News. Back to you, fuckers!

Bruce: And that's the way the cookie crumbles.





Synopsis: Dare I say this was Jim Carrey's last great comedy? Now I haven't seen Yes Man (2008), but since this film came out he's been in Eternal Sunshine, which is a phenomenal movie just not at all funny, Fun With Dick and Jane (2005) which was a major let down, and The Number 23 (2007) which I've heard was serious, unrealistic, and just flat out bad. Either way, Bruce Nolan is a good character, but not quite as good as Carrey's characters of the past. Bruce, in a way, is like Ken Griffey Jr's 2005 season with the Cincinnati Reds. He hit 35 HR's and drove in 92 runs. A great season, but not nearly as great as his '96-'99 numbers during which he averaged 52 HR's and 140 RBI's.

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Great Feats in (Hockey?) Broadcasting

There's no denying that hockey is irrelevant. For example, I'd be hard pressed to find five people that knew that today was the NHL's trade deadline. Granted, I also might be hard pressed to find five people that read this blog on a consistent basis. As far from the public's consciousness as hockey is, one man is doing his best to bring it back. Randy Moller, the radio play-by-play voice of the Florida Panthers has infused his goal calls with pop culture lines in an attempt to broaden his audience. While I applaud his efforts, I also realize that trying to get people in the state of Florida to care about hockey is next to impossible. I'm convinced that 60% of the Tampa Bay/St. Petersburg population is oblivious to the fact that the Lightning won Lord Stanley's Cup in 2004. My job requires me to listen to a host of play-by-play announcers every night and I can assure you that no one, outside of Gus Johnson, come close to being as eccentric or real world savvy as Moller.



While the video does a good job of indicating his references. Let's go a little bit more in depth.

Call #1 "LA face with an Oakland booty."- From Sir-Mix-a-Lot's (1993) Grammy winning hit "Baby Got Back"


(From the 1:23 to 1:38 mark)

Call #2 "Ma, the meatloaf!"- from Wedding Crashers (2005)



Call #3 "Make me a bicycle clown!"- also from Wedding Crashers (2005)



Call #4 "You did the motorboat, didn't you?"- Moller completes the Wedding Crashers (2005) trifecta with this one.



Call #5 "Oh, good for you"- from American Psycho (2000).

Blank

Call #6 "Pay that man his money"-said by John Malkovich in his greatest role ever, as Teddy KGB in Rounders (1998).



Call #7 "Pour Some Sugar on Me"- The British rock band Def Leppard's signature song, off of their 1987 album Hysteria. It is still one of the top bar songs in America today. Also, true of false, I bought Def Leppard's greatest hits album a few weeks ago?



Call #8 "There's a new sheriff in town and his name is Reggie Hammond"- from the movie 48 Hrs. (1982), featuring Nick Nolte and Eddie Murphy, as Reggie Hammond.

Blank

Call #9 "Run Forest, Run"- from the Academy Award winning film Forrest Gump (1994).

Call #10 "She Blinded Me with Science"- the title of British singer Thomas Dolby's 1982 song.



Call #11 "Wocka Wocka"- it's the catch phrase of the muppet Fozzie Bear



Call #12 "We've landed on the moon!"- said by Jim Carey's character Lloyd Christmas in Dumb and Dumber (1994)



Call #13 "What's in the box?"- from the movie Se7en (1995) featuring Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman, and Kevin Spacey.



Call #14 "Who's your daddy and what does he do?"- from Kindergarten Cop (1990), starring the current Governor of California. This video has some a bunch of vintage Schwarzenegger lines. This particular line occurs from the 3:06 to 3:09 mark.



Call #15 "You're my boy blue"- This line was famously uttered by Will Ferrel's character Frank Ricard in Old School (2003). This video was surprisingly hard to find. My apologies for the poor quality.


1:05 to 1:06 mark

Call #16 "Skyrockets in flight. Afternoon delight"- made famous in Anchorman (2004).




Call #17 "We're gonna need a bigger boat"- from Steven Spielberg's classic thriller Jaws (1975)



Call #18 "I'm never gonna dance again"- is a song by George Michael.




Call #19 "Come with me if you wan't to live" (0:20 to 0:23 second mark)- another famous Schwarzenegger line. This one is from Terminator 2 (1991).

Call #20 "Get off my lawn"- from the Clint Eastwood film Gran Torino (2008).


(1:14 to 1:18 mark)


Call #21 "And I draw ding dongs on people"- I wouldn't classify this one as coming from the world of pop culture. This is just something that Moller heard a local comedian say on the radio while impersonating Tracy Morgan.

Call #22 "I go to work like a doctor"- is a rap song from 1989 by the artist Kool Moe Dee



And finally

Call #23 "I'm a lead farmer"- was said by Robert Downey Jr.'s character Kirk Lazarus in Tropic Thunder (2008), a role that he earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Performance by an actor in a supporting role.













Thanks to Justin in Levittown, NY for the link.