Episode 202: Serious Comedians: Patton Oswalt, Richard Pryor, and Mary Tyler Moore

## Show Notes

We discuss comedians who took on purely dramatic roles: Patton Oswalt in Big Fan, Richard Pryor in Blue Collar, and Mary Tyler Moore in Ordinary People.
## Films Discussed

* *The Dick Van Dyke Show* (1961–1966) - TV series
* *The Nutty Professor* (1963) Dir. Jerry Lewis
* *The Mary Tyler Moore Show* (1970–1977) - TV Series
* *Lady Sings the Blues* (1972) Dir. Sidney J. Furie
* *Taxi Driver* (1976) Dir. Martin Scorsese
* *Silver Streak* (1976) Dir. Arthur Hiller
* *Kramer vs. Kramer* (1979) Dir. Robert Benton
* *Blue Collar* (1978) Dir. Paul Schrader
* *Taxi* (1978-1983) - TV series
* *Ordinary People* (1980) Dir. Robert Redford
* *Raging Bull* (1980) Dir. Martin Scorsese
* *The King of Comedy* (1983) Dir. Martin Scorsese
* *Quiz Show* (1984) Dir. Robert Redford
* *Good Morning Vietnam* (1987) Dir. Barry Levinson
* *Moving* (1988) Dir. Alan Metter
* *See No Evil, Hear No Evil* (1989) Dir. Arthur Hiller
* *Awakenings* (1990) Dir. Penny Marshall
* *The Fisher King* (1991) Dir. Terry Gilliam
* *The Cable Guy* (1996) Dir. Ben Stiller
* *Happy Gilmore* (1996) Dir. Dennis Dugan
* *Good Will Hunting* (1997) Dir. Gus Van Sant
* *The Truman Show* (1998) Dir. Peter Weir
* *Chairman of the Board* (1998) Dir. Alex Zamm
* *American Beauty* (1999) Dir. Sam Mendes
* *Man on the Moon* (1999) Dir. Miloš Forman
* *The Majestic* (2001) Dir. Frank Darabont
* *Punch Drunk Love* (2002) Dir. Paul Thomas Anderson
* *One-Hour Photo* (2002) Dir. Mark Romanek
* *Insomnia* (2002) Dir. Christopher Nolan
* *Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind* (2004) Dir. Michael Gondry
* *The Number 23* (2007) Dir. Joel Schumacher
* *Lions for Lambs* (2007) Dir. Robert Redford
* *You Don't Mess with the Zohan* (2008) Dir. Dennis Dugan
* *Big Fan* (2009) Dir. Robert D. Siegel
* *Spotlight* (2015) Dir. Tom McCarthy
* *Sandy Wexler* (2017) Dir. Steven Brill
* *Green Book* (2018) Dir. Peter Farrelly
* *Uncut Gems* (2019) Dir. Josh & Benny Safdie
* *The Joker* (2019) Dir. Todd Phillips
* *Richard Jewell* (2019) Dir. Clint Eastwood

## Discussion Notes

* Our hosts define the 'Sandler' discourse - talented guy who has squandered his talents
	+ Similar argument can be made with Michael Bay
* The canon of comedians turned serious
	+ Robin Williams, Jim Carey, Christopher Guest, Jerry Lewis...Carrot Top?
		- The desperation to escape lowest common denominator entertainment
		- How far are they actually moving from their comedic work?
		- Robin Williams declared king of the comedic-to-dramatic turn
* *Big Fan*
	+ Patton Oswalt's big dramatic turn
	+ His performance works because the role is a similar extension of his comedy persona (with footbal instead of geekdom)
		- His interests represents his whole world, and he is happy for it
		- Empathetic and frustrated - you care for him despite not agreeing with his decisions
* *Blue Collar*
	+ One of Richard Pryor's dramatic turns
	+ Initial scenes gives you the impression that you'll get a regular comedy role
		- His classic explosive energy is stamped down, his character is broken
			* Always a sadness lurking just under the surface
* *Ordinary People*
	+ Mary Tyler Moore's Oscar-winning turn from TV
		- Film-bro take - it stole Best Picture from Raging Bull!
		- Turns out, our hosts really like it
	+ Balances a performance of being cold with turning into a villain
	+ "Bergman-esque" - a complicated film without any easy answers

## Listener Letters

* Carlos
	+ Will our hosts revisit Pauline Kael?
		- Nope!
		- Will acknowledges that she was a "brilliant crafts-person and original thinker"
	+ Do you think the internet has had a negative impact on film criticism?
		- Better than the newspaper-only days - now there's more variety and nothing has to be 'law'
			* Still lots of bad stuff though!

## Post-Outro Discussion

* Our hosts reflect on the life of Kirk Douglas
	+ He broke the blacklist!
	+ Highlighted films
		- *Ace in the Hole* (1951) Dir. Billy Wilder
		- *The Bad and the Beautiful* (1952) Dir. Vincente Minnelli
		- *Paths of Glory* (1957) Dir. Stanley Kubrick
		- *Diamonds* (1999) Dir. John Mallory Asher
	+ An incredible chin that made it to 103!
		- Allegedly a real bad guy off-screen
	+ The Douglas family team-up film - *It Runs in the Family* (1994) Dir. Fred Schepisi
		- A family reunion not seen since the Sheens in *Wall Street* (1987) Dir. Oliver Stone
			* Or in *Hot Shots Part Deux* (1993) Dir. Jim Abrahams