The recent history of movie comedies is a set of fairly tried and true formulas: parents attempt to stop their kids from growing up; adolescents try to survive school and its social strata; upstart young people duel their out-of-touch superiors to rise professionally. These are tales as old as time — or at least the 1980s. But when standard premises aren’t drawing at the box office, where is your average low or mid-budget comedy suppose to go? And what’s the future?
On this episode of Be Reel, Chance Solem-Pfeifer and Noah Ballard look at major studios, small indies, and streaming services to figure out just what audiences responded to (and didn’t) from comedies in 2018 and what filmmakers did to stand out in a genre plagued by cliches. (Spoiler: it’s not by making “I Feel Pretty,” which Noah reviews for extra credit.) By focusing on Universal’s ensemble comedy “Blockers,” YouTube-star-turned-filmmaker Bo Burnham’s highly acclaimed “Eighth Grade” and Netflix’s take on Nora Ephron, “Set It Up,” the guys size up the state of comedy filmmaking. Has spectacle become more important than star power? Is streamability more important than relatability? Is it high time for the precise screenwriting to replace Apatow-esque bagginess?
In addition to their central trio, Chance and Noah take a look at other comedies released this year and ask the tough questions: How do studios repeat the success of “Crazy Rich Asians“? Does “The Spy Who Dumped Me” prove Saturday Night Live has run out of cross-over movie stars? Are Tiffany Haddish and Melissa McCarthy starved for real starring roles? Are romantic comedies like “Set It Up” specifically targeting New Yorkers? Is “Game Night” actually the best movie of the year?
Finally, just past the hour-mark, the guys rattle off their five favorite comedy performances of 2018, with a unanimous No. 1! Listen below.
