baldwin’s
best bets (What we’re buzzing about this week)
BY DEBBIE BALDWIN
SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL ST. LOUIS Shakespeare Glen in Forest Park; sfstl.com - One of the country’s premiere Shakespeare events continues through June 17 - This season features highly acclaimed productions of Henry IV and Henry V, performed repertoire-style - New this season: advanced seating opportunities for every show and communal dining on select dates
ART & AIR Webster University campus in Webster Groves; wcaf.org - More than 100 participating artists from the U.S. and Canada - The fine arts fair also features live concert performances, winetasting and food vendors - June 6 to 8
ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK Season Two on Netflix; netflix.com - The new season of the Netflix original drama premieres June 6 - The acclaimed series is about life in a woman’s prison - Warning: strong language and content
THE LUMINARY 2701 Cherokee St. in South City; luminaryarts.com - Arts production and presentation forum - Jesse Hlebo’s Punitive Numbers and Jenny Holtzer’s Money Creates Taste exhibitions are currently open
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MAY 30, 2014 {LadueNews.com}
What’s So Funny?
S
O LAST WEEK, Rolling Stone MAGAzine came out with its readers’ poll, listing the 25 funniest films of all time. It’s an easy out for the magazine: When outraged fans post about missing movies or complaints about certain ones on the list, the editors can simply fall back on the ‘readers’ poll’ excuse. No going out on a limb there. Films 11 to 25 are: 11) The Jerk 12) The Big Lebowski 13) There’s Something About Mary 14) Borat 15) A Fish Called Wanda 16) The 40-Year-Old Virgin 17) Step Brothers 18) Anchorman 19) Office Space 20) Planes, Trains & Automobiles 21) Raising Arizona 22) Dr. Strangelove 23) The Blues Brothers 24) Tommy Boy 25) Superbad I don’t want to dwell too much on the back 3/5 of the list. Frankly you could argue/discuss/debate the movies that belong there until you’re blue in the face. Overall, it’s not a bad selection; although to utter Superbad in the same breath as The Blues Brothers is a venal cinematic sin. Other than that, I don’t have a huge problem with the list. Films 1 to 10: 1) Blazing Saddles 2) Airplane! 3) Monty Python and the Holy Grail 4) Animal House 5) Young Frankenstein 6) Caddyshack 7) This is Spinal Tap 8) Life of Brian 9) Dumb and Dumber 10) The Naked Gun
Debbie Baldwin
TANGENTIAL THINKER
Couple of things: Two Monty Python films? Seriously? I can forgive two Mel Brooks movies, I might have even added High Anxiety and History of the World Part I to the list, but one Python film is plenty. Airplane was a groundbreaking film and pushed the comedy envelope—hard. It’s a movie that could never be made today, so it deserves a place on the list; maybe not second place, but still. As far as Dumb and Dumber goes, well, when you consider the movies that didn’t make the cut, as well as the movies behind it, to put it in the top 10 is a joke—and not in a good way. Here are 10 they left off: Stripes Foul Play The Royal Tenenbaums Swingers The Pink Panther Strikes Again Best in Show Fletch Wedding Crashers Trading Places Tropic Thunder If the dates of these films tell you anything, it’s that there hasn’t been a really, really funny movie out there in a while. So, if you’re looking for a good laugh, it looks like a rental night. Whether or not these are the 25 funniest films of all time, they are—without a doubt—funny, and they are all worth a look.