i hate christopher guest

anybody see his HBO thing Family Tree?

I was expecting it to be a B and it was B-. I don't know why this needs to be a mockumentary tbh. This show could've worked as a droll, "regular" sitcom without the "Watchout for that boom mic!" clunkiness that's the genre's staple; that and the tiresome improv energy that happens in some scenes. I'm tired of the false "That was inappropriate!" moments in comedies because a) they rarely happen in real life like they do in improv-based comedies b) when they do happen people don't react like improv actors trying to keep a scene going. If someone mentions masturbation at a dinner table full of strangers it's going to be awkward in a way that isn't "HEY-OH -- c'mon, c'mon keep the scene alive, keep it alive" improv. The hallmark of mockumentary improv acting that drives me nuts is you'll have one person acting bizarre, in a way that would get them ostracized IRL right away, but because this is improv everyone plays along, trying to *listen* and "say yes to their offer!" and all the cliches in improv that don't get extended to real life.

Guest is better than all of the people that ripped him off but there's still a bunch of devices and conventions that are exhausted. Victim of his own influence. Bring back "Cheers"

The conventions of mockumentaries ensure that the pacing of the jokes is fairly slow. The humor usually requires that the characters be quirky and dense beyond all reason, but somehow seem real and recognizable. This puts a premium on a highly nuanced line delivery. Guest is ok at this, but he can't seem to get it to really take off and fly. Fred Willard and Caherine O'Hara, as noted in a post above, are true masters at it.

I've just noticed that Christopher Guest plays the young policeman who finds Charles Bronson after he's been shot in the leg in Central Park and is told to forget he ever saw anything it by Vincent Gardenia.

http://markmaynard.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/guestdeathwish.jpg

...in Death Wish, that is.

in response, Guest's policeman yelled "I hate you, and I hate your ASS FACE!"

He played a cop in The Hot Rock as well.

Didn't realize for the longest time that he was the 'strange and interesting plant' dude in Little Shop of Horrors.

he is the best person ever for that