Post by ronnierocketago on Jun 28, 2009 6:29:25 GMT
STAY TUNED (1992) - *1/2
In my NARROW MARGIN review, I tried to make a case for how if director/writer/producer/cinematographer Peter Hyams wasn't always dependable, he has delivered some solid entertainment like OUTLAND and THE RELIC. Well on the flipside of that coin, he's also made some shit. The poor man's Joel Schumacher, which is a depressing idea if you ask me. I reviewed his violently meh THE MUSKETEER and the very bland Jean Claude Van Damme actioneer SUDDEN DEATH. Not bothered to type up my reviews for THE STAR CHAMBER, A SOUND OF THUNDER, THE PRESIDIO, and END OF DAYS but following this paragraph's logic train, you should figure out what I thought of them.
STAY TUNED was another Hyams doozy, his parody genre entry. You know, that whole genre practically invented by the one and only AIRPLANE! from the ZAZ boys and Mel Brooks' classics BLAZING SADDLES and YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN. All them are classics because of how brilliantly they nailed the respective genres they were gunning for. And they're hilarious. All the other "parody" comedies...not so much. Though TOP SECRET! and SPACEBALLS were pretty good...oh wait, they were made by the same filmmakers I mentioned above. My point stands.
I don't want to lecture, but a good guess as to why the rest of that genre can go fuck off a cliff is simple. Just mentioning a TV show or movie in itself isn't funny. That's probably one of post-modern cinema's greatest flaws, and it annoys the shit out of me. You can't just change a word or two in a pop culture title and expect everyone to laugh. For one it's incredibly lazy, and second most astute viewers can call them out before they're even delivered. STAY TUNED is audaciously guilty of this offense in several instances, but for instance take their DRIVING MISS DAISY parody. Now it's DRIVING OVER MISS DAISY. How clever. Yeah, about as funny as a Jimmy Fallon monologue.
Hell believe it or not, even "Weird Al" Yankovic knows better than to do that. Take his UHF with that "Conan the Librarian" sketch. OK a Schwarzenegger-body double in a library with an axe. Goofy, but heh. Punishing a dude for being overdue with his book by cutting him down the middle. Ha! Or even his recent new single, "Craigslist," which obviously is about that website, but done in the musical style of The Doors...such goofy charm.
Plus there is the inevitable danger that over time, new people just won't get the references anymore. All these sort of flicks suffer from this ailment, but STAY TUNED goes the way of the Dodo. Sure I the old guy gets the gags at GOLDEN GIRLS and WAYNE'S WORLD and THREE MEN AND A BABY and shit even the Salt~N~Pepa cameo, but the new kids? Oh hell no.
Look, I'm a critic, and not a good one at that. I usually review actioneers with Dolph Lundgren. But it seems that the basic formula to make a good "parody" comedy is taking genre conventions and cliches that the audiences is accustomed too, and then twist sideways. Thus the element of surprise and in theory...produce a laugh. It's alot more complicated to pull off successfully of course than I just explained, for remember that asshole movie critic Chris Gore? He used to even have his own program on FX. Yeah he tried to produce and script his own parody of "indie cinema" in MY BIG FAT INDEPENDENT MOVIE, one of the worst pictures of 2005.
Now to be fair, STAY TUNED actually isn't as bad as recent examples like oh I don't know, MEET THE SPARTANS, THE COMEBACKS, DATE MOVIE, EPIC MOVIE, DISASTER MOVIE, SUPERHERO MOVIE. I can't wait for COMEDY MOVIE. The problem...well it's actually many, but STAY TUNED's biggest is that it's isn't necessarily as terrible as it's just fucking lame. Think PLUTO NASH lame, where every possible gimmick-based gag is thrown against the wall to see which sticks...and the wall is empty. I cite once again Mike T. Nelson's always-poignant no duh bit of wisdom: "[/i]There is nothing worse than an unfunny comedy.[/i]"
That said, Hyams did have a somewhat decent idea in the casting. For the married couple trapped in this evil faux-television landscape of mockery, he casted former sitcom stars the late John Ritter (THREE'S COMPANY) and Pam Dawber (MORK & MINDY) That's kinda clever. I won't bore you all with the plot details, but somehow Dawber is bitching at Ritter for sitting on his ass all day watching television and he gets this new satellite dish, which they get sucked into. Of course they inevitably reconcile, but I wonder if afterwards he thumbs her about that complaint, considering his extensive and rather useless movie/TV knowledge is what saves them quite a few times. Alright I would, but that's only because I'm an asshole.
I never understood what exactly was the deal with villain Jeffrey Jones. Something about his new TV being a military experiment and that it's an extension of hell...I don't know, I don't give a shit. Just know he wants that couple dead. Jones was always a good actor, apt at both comedy and drama, good guy and bad guy, though too bad his career got nuked after he was busted for child pornography and had to registered as a sex offender. Quite honestly, I thought WHO'S MY CADDY? was a more painful and appropriate punishment. Anyway, as the baddie in STAY TUNED, you're allowed to hate him. Though it's not like you need any help.
Others have noted this, but I've got to agree with them now. Ritter was a talented comic personality. What's a true sign of this? Despite all the (frequent) bad comedy he's given to work with in STAY TUNED, and I'm pretty sure he knew this was a stinker*, he was all willing to be in spirit for this sort of project. He's watchable no matter what, much like his fellow TUNED funnyman Eugene Levy. So yeah, hated that he died without getting much chances to show off his range to everyone, but hey he was in BAD SANTA. Ritter's moment in the film noir section was cute, and he was even willing to poke fun at his own typecasted career by the THREE'S COMPANY sketch.
I'm aware that quite a few folks are actually fond of STAY TUNED. I don't know why, maybe it's just nostalgia or it's humorous to them. I won't judge them, since I'm the same RRA who loved STONE COLD, so I don't have much of a leg to stand on. But I'm certain they'll respond with postings or PMs telling me how wrong and too harsh I was. Go ahead, I can take it. I survived REPOSSESSED.
Just consider this. Animator Chuck Jones Chuck Jones came out of retirement for TUNED to direct that cartoon homage to TOM & JERRY (which Jones produced several episodes decades back) Nothing to criticize there particularly, but....this movie? Such a waste. Also, if you must desire a Peter Hyams comedy, go rent a good one in RUNNING SCARED with Billy Crystal and Gregory Hines, who acted in Hyams' terrific AMAZING STORIES episode. But turn STAY TUNED off, please.
*=A good rule of thumb: A film not pre-screened for critics, is a bad sign. Though there is the occassional exemption, like the great fun Steven Seagal vehicle UNDER SIEGE. And the critics liked that one. How odd.