The non-comic book post I dared to title "PIRATING MOVIES." (No, not that kind of pirating.)
One of the gifts I received for Christmas was the Mel Brooks Boxed Collection DVD set, given to me by my mother, which reminds me that I probably never shared with you, the semi–loyal and occasionally–sober Progressive Ruin readers, one of my favorite movie-going experiences:
Now, Mel Brooks’ Robin Hood: Men in Tights will probably never be referred to as one of Brooks’ major achievements, but it was a relatively amusing spoof of Kevin Costner’s Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (which itself wasn’t terrible, but certainly not a patch on Errol Flynn’s version).
However, that same weekend my girlfriend and I went to see Robin Hood: Men in Tights, there was a festival at our local marina, and as part of that festival there was an ersatz pirate ship, manned by dozens of folks in piratey costumes, doing piratey things. And, after the festival closed up shop for the night, those pirate folks went looking for some fine evening entertainment…and they all wound up at the very same showing of Robin Hood: Men in Tights that we attended. Me and my girlfriend, surrounded by dozens of rowdy folks in pirate costumes.
My initial response was “well, better go get a refund on the tickets, because there’s no way we’re going to be able to watch the movie with this noisy crowd,” but for whatever reason we decided to stay and see if things quieted down.
Well, as it turned out, it didn’t quiet down, but that ended up being okay, as our pirate pals were really into the movie. They cheered at all the right spots, they groaned at the awful puns, and just plain enjoyed the film. (One particular example I remember was when Robin Hood (Cary Elwes) says to the camera “Unlike some other Robin Hoods, I can speak with an English accent,” the entire audience let out a loud “ooooooOOOOOOOOooooooh!”) It was darned infectious, this joy was, and and it basically took what would have been an average film-going experience and turned it into a real blast.
Believe me, it was vastly preferable to the vast sea of cell phone lights that seem to pollute any movie-going experience I have nowadays. Even now I think to myself, at pretty much any movie I go to, “how much more would I enjoy this film if there were a crowd of pirates here with me?”
In fact, if you plan on attending any movies, do your best to share a theatre with a bunch of folks dressed as pirates. I highly recommend it.
By the way, in that Wikipedia entry about the Brooks film, they mention that they change the “English accent” line for some other countries. The German joke is pretty good (“Because I, unlike some other Robin Hoods, do not cost the producers 5 million”), but man, the French and the Italians get shafted with their versions of the gag, referring to Costner’s earlier hit (“Because unlike other Robin Hoods, I do not dance with the wolves”). Unless there’s some cultural thing, or word play in those languages, that this ugly American is not aware of that makes it funny…that joke’s pretty lame.
Okay, here’s a little bit of comic book news:
“‘Civil War’ best comic book series of the year”
“1. Civil War (Marvel Comics): The best comics always hold a mirror to society. In this stark and tightly written miniseries, superheroes had to determine among themselves why they do what they do. […] Civil War is a thought-provoking nail-biter.”
Aaaaaaaand…DISCUSS.
