PS: I don’t care what anybody says, MARS ATTACKS! was a great flick.
6 thoughts on “‘It’s Not Unusual.’”
Earworm, and good screening tool to weed out Martian invaders.
Or do earworms affect Martian physiology differently?
And now I need to go watch MARS ATTACKS again…
Obligatory: This guy goes to the doctor and says, “Doc, I can’t stop singing certain songs. All morning I’ve been humming ‘The Green, Green Grass Of Home.’ Yesterday it was, ‘Delilah.’ Last week I sang ‘What’s New Pussycat?’ at least 100 times! What’s wrong with me?”
The Doctor says, “Sounds like Tom Jones Syndrome to me.”
The man says, “Never heard of that. Is it common?”
Doc says, “It’s not unusual.”
Like.
.
.
Mars Attacks had such great potential, but all the punchlines landed (at least) a half-beat late.
Sometimes there’s a thin line between “really good” and “really bad”. In some alternate universe, Mars Attacks landed on the right side of that line. But in this one, it was two hours better spent braiding your eyebrows.
Is that what it was?
.
No, I’m serious .. we agree “Mars Attacks” had incredible potential .. I’m not sure we agree on where it went wrong.
.
Using “Airplane” as a reference, “Mars Attacks” had fewer jokes per scene – (it’s really hard to get to “Airplane”‘s numbers) – which meant the jokes needed to land more .. and they just didn’t.
.
The problem wasn’t the timing, in other words, it was the writing.
.
Mew
Telegraphing the punchline is certainly bad writing, but it’s bad writing as a function of timing, so I can only partially agree.
I think most of the gags would actually work if you removed the “aren’t I so awfully clever” moments from between the setup and punchline.
.
I vaguely recall Jack Nicholson’s character being a blatant example. A LARGE HAM, great lines, delivered just after they’d have an impact.
Ibguy: groan.
Still, as earworms go, this isn’t bad. And Mars Attacks WAS funny.
Earworm, and good screening tool to weed out Martian invaders.
Or do earworms affect Martian physiology differently?
And now I need to go watch MARS ATTACKS again…
Obligatory: This guy goes to the doctor and says, “Doc, I can’t stop singing certain songs. All morning I’ve been humming ‘The Green, Green Grass Of Home.’ Yesterday it was, ‘Delilah.’ Last week I sang ‘What’s New Pussycat?’ at least 100 times! What’s wrong with me?”
The Doctor says, “Sounds like Tom Jones Syndrome to me.”
The man says, “Never heard of that. Is it common?”
Doc says, “It’s not unusual.”
Like.
.
.
Mars Attacks had such great potential, but all the punchlines landed (at least) a half-beat late.
Sometimes there’s a thin line between “really good” and “really bad”. In some alternate universe, Mars Attacks landed on the right side of that line. But in this one, it was two hours better spent braiding your eyebrows.
Is that what it was?
.
No, I’m serious .. we agree “Mars Attacks” had incredible potential .. I’m not sure we agree on where it went wrong.
.
Using “Airplane” as a reference, “Mars Attacks” had fewer jokes per scene – (it’s really hard to get to “Airplane”‘s numbers) – which meant the jokes needed to land more .. and they just didn’t.
.
The problem wasn’t the timing, in other words, it was the writing.
.
Mew
Telegraphing the punchline is certainly bad writing, but it’s bad writing as a function of timing, so I can only partially agree.
I think most of the gags would actually work if you removed the “aren’t I so awfully clever” moments from between the setup and punchline.
.
I vaguely recall Jack Nicholson’s character being a blatant example. A LARGE HAM, great lines, delivered just after they’d have an impact.
Ibguy: groan.
Still, as earworms go, this isn’t bad. And Mars Attacks WAS funny.