M's Musings on SO I MARRIED AN AXE MURDERER

So I Married an Axe Murderer.  Dir.  Thomas Schlamme.  Screenplay by Robbie Fox.  Ft.  Mike Myers, Nancy Travis and Anthony LaPaglia.  Sony Pictures, 1993.

Well, no actually, you didn't.  While the idea of her being an axe murderer was an excellent one, what is the point if it is actually her crazy ass sister?  So there was some kind of weird sexual tension between the two of them that was never resolved...  Between who, you say?  Well, between all of them, in a weirdo sort of way.  Pick your two.


My favourite part of the movie was the decision to make the love interest a butcher.  The jokes throughout those sections made my day.  I liked the tension and hilarity it added to this idea of her being a murderer.  Somehow, the film never stopped being lighthearted, even in its most serious moments.  Instead of almost dying... Mike Myers gets kicked in the balls.  So, he kicks back.  Huh.


I am not much of a laugh out loud kind of girl, nor am I super into romantic comedies.  I liked that this particular comedy played down the romance in favour of the crazy.  I was not surprised to learn that Mike Myers is the same kind of comic in every film he played.  I guess I was expecting something a little different.  I see exactly how he "evolves" as an actor throughout the last couple of decades.  In most ways, he really doesn't.  Its just the same jokes for a new, slightly more youthful audience.


Okay, so I hated the scene where he first goes to her apartment.  She didn't turn on the light until they were in the middle of the hugest room I have ever seen.  Can you imagine following someone you just met more than 20 feet into a dark house before turning on the light?   I realize this is petty and pathetic, but that is the one thing that really caught me up.


The Scottish parent storyline made me happy.  As did the World News.  My grandmother also reads tabloid magazines, though unfortunately she does not read them in earnest (to the best of my knowledge).  This just made me wish that she did.  I hope that she does, and that she secretly looks for photos of our family and friends... just hoping to solve a crime or be horrified at the depraved way in which we lead our lives.


Do redheads go grey in that particular fashion?  I hope that I don't.  I kind of hoped that I would never go grey, except in the most uniform of ways.


Final thought:  I enjoyed this movie, but it didn't overwhelm me.  I didn't laugh out loud one time.  But, I am still glad I saw it.

T's Take on WAYNE'S WORLD

Party on, M.

I quote Wayne's World much more than I realized before re-watching this movie. Mike Myers can't help but be hilarious in his winsome, goofball way. The funniest bits weren't the rediculous catch phrases or the storyline aspects - most of those were weak and forced. It was the parts when Wayne was allowed to get carried away with silliness. The Milwaukee bits, the obtuse product placement, basically every time he reacted to something, distracting his girlfriend while she's on the phone with mummy-humping and crossdressing...

That's the Wayne Campbell I wanted to hang out with. I realize he was doing the rocker thing over-the-top on purpose, but Wayne's World is a necessarily gimmicky movie that plays on a lot of low-hanging fruit. Most of that fruit, of course, is considerably more commonly overdone and much less hilarious now, but I felt like a giggling little kid again for about a half hour of its combined one-hundred and seventy-four. The first half isn't very... Erm... Compelling(?) and in the beginning I often wonder why I ever liked this movie, but by the end I'm always won over.

One of the reasons I like Wayne's World is that most of its jokes are immediately appologized for afterward. Mike Myers did not want anyone mad at him, clearly. Like when the boys are hassling a cop, but it quicky turns into chummy guy-time... The spoofy montage about how boring Milwaukee is with a follow-up sarcastic jab to Alice Cooper, quickly followed by a short diatribe about how the town really is more than meets the eye:

Wayne: So, do you come to Milwaukee often? (facetious grin)
Alice Cooper: Well, I'm a regular visitor here, but Milwaukee has certainly had its share of visitors. The French missionaries and explorers began visiting here in the late 16th century.
Pete: Hey, isn't "Milwaukee" an Indian name?
Alice: Yes, Pete, it is. In fact , it's pronounced "mill-e-wah-que" which is Algonquin for "the good land."
Wayne: I was not aware of that.

PS: you can't appear informed, politically correct and enlightened if you're casually referring to First Nation peoples as "Indian".

The funniest thing about Wayne's World is that a lot of metal enthusiasts I've known referred to the movie as being Excellent, loving it to pieces and quoting it often, having no idea that the entire MTV character concept was a complete mockery of the kind of douchebaggery that surrounds the rock scene. When asked to stretch his three minute bit on how useless and empty-headed hardcore rockers tend to be, I think the end result came out as a little more loveable and straightforward than what was originally intended.

Still, the movie is fun and I have fun when I watch it. There's a very Bill and Ted too-stupid-to-hate goodness here that leaves you with the notion that some people are still decent and occasionally the good guys win. It's easy, it's a fun ride, and it brings back memories.

"... Entertaining, whimsical yet relevant, with an underlying revisionist conceit that belied its emotional attachments to the subject matter." - Wayne Campbell

M's Musings on WAYNE'S WORLD

Wayne's World.  Dir. Penelope Spheeris.  Screenplay by Bonnie & Terry Turner and Mike Myers.  Based on characters by Mike Myers.  Ft.  Mike Myers and Dana Carvey.  Paramount, 1992.

Party on, T.

I have always wished that I watch SNL.  But I really never have.  Between that and a childhood void of movies that were rated higher than PG, it is no surprise that this was my first encounter with the WOW (by which I mean World of Wayne... duh!) was this afternoon.

While I wasn't rolling in the aisles at every funny moment, I have to admit, I really enjoyed it.  It was constantly appealing to different kinds of humour.  In particular, I liked how there was a constant interaction with the camera in a mockumentary that predates The Office or Trailer Park Boys but is concurrent with the rise of the reality tv show (a la The Real World).  Wayne & Garth made asides to the audience, and constantly broke the wall that separated the world of the film with the world of the viewer.

When Wayne argues against corporate sell-outs with the extreme product placement (reminded me of 30 Rock), again, the film was being self referential in a way that was clever AND hilarious.  The contrivance of the conflict in the movie was stupid.  Would two bozos be willing to talk about arcade games in order to continue their show and quit their dead end jobs?  Of course.  But that really isn't worth watching.  Instead, the boys are willing to have corporate sponsors for their FILM, but their characters in the SHOW wouldn't sell out in that way.  We were willing to include product placement in our film... but in a film where dudes don't want to sell out...  it either needs to be really emphasized or guiltily hidden away.  Since it seems far fetched that the two bozos with mullets could convince the world to buy anything... you only have one option.  (Side note... the $$$  people made on this film is impressive...  its longevity is also impressive what with all the merch, catch phrases, and general stamina this movie has had over the years).

The various times the movie stops and starts again at the end was perfect.  How do you keep the film from becoming so cliche that it loses some humour?  Layer on some cliches, and offer a choose-your-own-adventure format.

I feel like this movie would be funny if you were feeling like an intellectual snob, or if you just wanted to hear Wayne order the cream of "sum yung guy" and make penis jokes.