Tip jar

If you like CaB and wish to support it, you can use PayPal or KoFi. Thank you, and I hope you continue to enjoy the site - Neil.

Buy Me a Coffee at ko-fi.com

Support CaB

Welcome to Cook'd and Bomb'd. Please login or sign up.

March 28, 2024, 08:08:50 PM

Login with username, password and session length

People who don't understand Drop Dead Fred

Started by Twed, July 08, 2019, 05:16:16 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

Twed

Quote from: Ballad of Ballard Berkley on July 26, 2019, 03:29:48 AM

Glover was attempting to emulate Kaufman - and where better to do that than on the David Letterman show? - but almost kicking our man in the head was a, hoho, step too far.
Or not quite far enough.

There are hours and hours of Letterman at his chaos-embracing best on YouTube.

Quote from: Ballad of Ballard Berkley on July 26, 2019, 03:29:48 AMI mean, he gets the joke here, he's revelling in it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6p0sr2BejUk&t=26s
I'm not sold TBH. What else would he do? It's not like he added to the situation, just a basic reaction.

Anyway, not the Letterman thread.

Ballad of Ballard Berkley

Not a Letterman thread, no. I will say, though, that him having Kaufman on his show numerous times is proof that he was a fan.

a duncandisorderly

Quote from: MuteBanana on July 26, 2019, 12:26:41 AM
Rik Mayall proved in this film that he was the actor to lead a Doctor Who renewal. The role he was born to play and nobody thought of it.

absolutely agree, & with phoebe cates as his companion, please.

Jake Thingray

Mayall was at his height when "the show" was out of favour, though.

Sebastian Cobb



This might be the highest critics/audience score ratio I've seen.

sevendaughters

revived this old thread to say I rewatched DDF and now think it is brilliant even though there are some flaws and light inconsistencies. clearly a work about a woman having a full-blown traumatic psychotic episode and all the better for its ambiguity and lack of overstatement. lots of visual clues to weirdness with older people dressed too young or dressed as someone else, the darkness of Mickey's kid being traumatised too, Lizzie's dad being British now so obviously reflected in Fred, the fascination with poo and dirt a delibrate phobic provocation to the castrating mother, the deflated Eraserheadish beef wellington a strange ode to a sham relationship. when you pick apart everything Fred does, however scatalogical or sexual, and apply it to Lizzie, you get a really fucked up film - strange sexual thoughts of the mother, murderous desires, public attacks - but deliberately so, imho.

maybe I have over-egged this because I like Rik Mayall (as I said on previous page) but I like the whole package really. It's very American to be into psychology and self-help as a culture but to hate any real forms of analysis of trauma at its most schizoid.


lipsink

That Letterman Mayall interview seems staged. On these shows they always plan what they're going to talk about before and they probably thought Letterman getting annoyed and awkward would be good television but it seemed to backfire a little as the audience didn't take to Mayall's humour (cos they're fucking idiots).

colacentral

I think that's probably about right. Letterman's persona is already cantankerous and he leans into that when he feels he has to save a segment, I think making him appear cuntier than he really is (though he is still a bit of a cunt and very arrogant, particularly around that time). He seems pissed off 90% of the time that he had Pee-Wee Herman on, but in reality he was a big fan.

Blue Jam

Thanks guys. Thanks to this thread I just watched this for the first time (on Netflix) and loved it. I have genuinely been left shaking my head at how reviewers could possibly have missed what Fred himself represented.

Armed Traffic Warden

I'd just like to add and correct a previous assertion. This film didn't kill Rik's Hollywood career; the critics stupidity did as proven by that Tomato figures. Rik's performance is terrific and carries the film. DDF itself is the definition of a film working on two levels and two audiences. It seems the critics missed that. *

  I'll just add that I'm not a fan of the performance of the 'nice' boyfriendwannabe. Oddly, I wonder if someone like Rik playing that part might have worked. You need charm to pull off being a prick in public. Cates character has MH problems, why are YOU chucking food at innocent people knobhead? Never sat right with me.

* I think it's a film that's a couple of mis-casts and writing/directing choices away from being genuinely excellent.

Glebe

Quote from: Blue Jam on July 14, 2022, 09:25:25 PMThanks guys. Thanks to this thread I just watched this for the first time (on Netflix) and loved it. I have genuinely been left shaking my head at how reviewers could possibly have missed what Fred himself represented.

If it's on Netflix I might give it a watch!

Stonefish

I watched it many times as a child and fully understood it on every level. I promised myself I'd never watch it as an adult.

touchingcloth

I've just watched this for the first time. We're getting rid of our DVDs and downloading the films we want to keep, and my partner wanted to keep this one cos it's one of the ones she and her siblings used to watch a lot as wains.

Absolute dogshit. I was thinking it felt like they were trying to recreate Beetlejuice with Jim Carrey, and then realised they couldn't afford Tim or Jim. According to wiki the director/Fred gigs were actually offered to Burton and Robin Williams, who might have been able to squeeze some magic out of the poor script.

Speaking of Carrey, it felt a bit like something like Liar Liar where one of its failings is it being hugely ambiguous who the intended audience is. It seems like it's aimed at kids, but also has some quite overtly sexual scenes.

The direction and editing were the biggest failings - Rik's performance was solid, it just fell flat in the context of the surrounding film, and it's a shame someone skilled wasn't on hand to help make him pop.

I think this is the first film I've seen Phoebe Cates in, and I've just realised she's not a porn actor. I think my misconception stems from Fenix TC's masturbatory song Phoebe Cates being released very close to Bloodhound Gang's masturbatory The Ballad of Chasey Lain.

touchingcloth

Oh, and the googly-eyes upskirt scene? Fuck me.

Armed Traffic Warden

Quote from: touchingcloth on July 23, 2022, 02:17:51 PMFuck me.

When, where and for how long?


And can I spend the duration imagining what Drop Dead Fred must have seen up her skirt?

Mister Six

Quote from: touchingcloth on July 22, 2022, 10:17:07 PMI think this is the first film I've seen Phoebe Cates in

Hold on, you've never seen the Gremlins films?

touchingcloth

Quote from: Armed Traffic Warden on July 23, 2022, 08:45:19 PMWhen, where and for how long?


And can I spend the duration imagining what Drop Dead Fred must have seen up her skirt?

Scene towards the second half of the film where they go to a cocktail party, Fred crawls on his back towards a woman wearing a dress and ends up face up between her ankles, and then CGI eyeballs pop out of his skull and steam out of his ears. I'm pretty sure an "awoooooogaaaa" sound effect plays.

touchingcloth

Quote from: Mister Six on July 23, 2022, 09:12:00 PMHold on, you've never seen the Gremlins films?

Not in their entirety, if at all. I'm a small bit too young for them.

JaDanketies

Rik Mayall is not internationally famous and this seems to be what he's most known for.

I watched it as an adult a few years ago with some Germans and it still holds up, it's charming, it's nice to be with Rik Mayall for so long, the storyline holds up, it's fun for the whole family.

We're blessed on these shores really, like getting to watch Rik Mayall and Mr Bean working together in Blackadder. Mayall felt like a very severe celebrity loss and still does tbh

Armed Traffic Warden

Quote from: touchingcloth on July 23, 2022, 10:04:57 PMScene towards the second half of the film where they go to a cocktail party, Fred crawls on his back towards a woman wearing a dress and ends up face up between her ankles, and then CGI eyeballs pop out of his skull and steam out of his ears. I'm pretty sure an "awoooooogaaaa" sound effect plays.

You've dodged my advances amicably, this time. There will be future attempts.


*Doffs cap, turns and walks away swirling umbrella in one hand*

touchingcloth


Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth

Quote from: touchingcloth on July 23, 2022, 10:06:23 PMNot in their entirety, if at all. I'm a small bit too young for them.
Are you saying they're before your time?

Mister Six

Quote from: touchingcloth on July 23, 2022, 10:06:23 PMNot in their entirety, if at all. I'm a small bit too young for them.

Get on it, mate. Bloody hell. You're missing out big time. Especially the second one.

touchingcloth

Quote from: Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth on July 23, 2022, 10:50:58 PMAre you saying they're before your time?

No. I don't want to humblebrag, but I've seen films at least five years old than Gremlins.

It just happens to be a film that has never been promoted to me before. Not one of those ones that school or university friends had copies of that they were insisting I watch.