DVDs & Films Forum - The Three Stooges (remake) - Page 1

Ditto. I struggle with the Marx Brothers too. Maybe this appeals more to the US?

As a kid I found their humour daft but laughed along with the other kids at kiddie club. I also found the Marx Brothers not very funny, sometimes amusing & good catch phrases but that's it. For some reason as I got older I left them & a few others behind, but always found Laurel & Hardy funny. I don't know why as it's a similar type of humour. Maybe it's because The Three Stooges relied too much on slapstick?

We should analyse this, because I totally agree with you, Paul. I have always loved Laurel and Hardy. Somehow the chemistry between those two men totally worked for me, and I'd be twiddling an imaginary tie or ruffling my hair and fake-crying along with the pair of them (still do!)

I didn't even like Charlie Chaplin! Am I allowed to say that??? Never did anything for me. I've watched loads of old black and white and silent comedy, and really, Laurel and Hardy are the only actors I can watch time and time again, knowing they are guaranteed to make me laugh.

Quote:
smurfette says...
I didn't even like Charlie Chaplin! Am I allowed to say that???Only if I'm allowed to say I never liked Laurel and Hardy!

I think the only one I did like as a kid (and still do) is Harold Lloyd.


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I am ashamed to admit I laughed heartily at the giant bell hitting the person's head.

It looks... stupid, but that's kind the point, I guess. They seem to have gotten the act down to a tee, though.

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Call me weird (you know you will), but I love the Stooges, the Boys (Laurel and Hardy), the Marx Brothers et al.

Everybody seems to look down their noses these days at Slapstick, but I think it's a woefully underappreciated form of comedy. The Stooges were masters of the art. They had perfect timing, and the new picture looks like it does them justice.

J Mark Oates
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That's my story and like my underwear I'm sticking to it.
sprockethole.myreviewer.com

I don't understand the comparisons between the Marx Brothers and The Three Stooges. Is it jus because they're 'funny' and 'old'?

Though Harpo resorted to slapstick, Groucho and Chico were pure verbal humour.
The Three Stooges (and there have been many permutations of them over the years) is a totally different kettle of bananas - pure slapstick.

I love the Marx Brothers and don't mind the Three Stooges in small doses. Curiously, no one mentions Abbot and Costello who were really popular at the same time as the Stooges in their heyday and who bridged the gap between the stooges and the Marx Brothers, leaning toward slapstick but doing the verbal gags too. Oh - and at the risk of being seen as a simpleton, I love Abbot & Costello.

As there have been a long line of Stooges, this latest incarnation will probably delight awhole new generation of kids.

I agree. Apart from the fact there's three of them, there's very little comparison between the Stooges and the Marx Brothers. In any case there were frequently four Marx Brothers as they usually supplied a desperately unfunny sibling (Zeppo) as the romantic lead in their early pictures. The Stooges were live-action cartoon characters - Looney Tunes/ Tom and Jerry styley. Groucho was the epitome of quick wit - "Well, that covers a lot of ground. Say, you cover a lot of ground yourself. You better beat it - I hear they're going to tear you down and put up an office building where you're standing. You can leave in a taxi. If you can't get a taxi, you can leave in a huff. If that's too soon, you can leave in a minute and a huff. You know, you haven't stopped talking since I came here? You must have been vaccinated with a phonograph needle." - I couldn't imagine Moe delivering a line like that.

Abbott and Costello - now there's another immortal film team. Morecambe and Wise are said to have modelled themselves on Bud & Lou, but I think they're closer to Stan and Ollie in their relationship. Stan and Ollie were always obviously best mates and would attack anybody who attacked them (usually Jimmy Finlayson). Abbott and Costello on the other hand had a more sort-of parasitic relationship with Bud always ready to drop Lou in it, and even readier to benefit from Lou's good fortune. It was always that Bud-being-a-bit-of-a-bastard business that used to put me off their movies. I'm reappraising them now, and I've got all the Universal Monster comedies they did. I'd like to collect the rest of their stuff - specifically their "Who's On First?" routine which should be required viewing for comedy acts.

I don't understand anybody who has the "it's sh*t because it's black and white" attitude. But then I've heard some people won't watch any movie that's more than ten years old. If they apply that same criteria to music, books and the like, I hate to think what kind of blinkered cultural outlook they have.

J Mark Oates
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That's my story and like my underwear I'm sticking to it.
sprockethole.myreviewer.com

And Abbot and Costello beget Martin and Lewis...

I'm not too keen on the idea of resurrecting classic comedy, and I must admit that the idea of the Stooges in 21st Century colour (probably 3D at that) sends chills down my spine.

I'd much rather they create something new that pays homage to the old, the way that Atkinson created Mr Bean. But then I look at modern US comedy, most of it gross-out slacker stuff, and think if they can make ninety minutes of slapstick without any fart or crap gags, then more power to them.

Incidentally, my parents, who introduced me to Laurel and Hardy in the first place, now love the colourised versions on the DVD collection and watch them exclusively. I just don't understand the older generation!

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