TED Post-release

I'm beginning to think Seth McFarlane only really had about three to four seasons of great comedy in him. He's been riffing on himself for a very long time now.

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Originally Posted by The Rain Dog 

I'm beginning to think Seth McFarlane only really had about three to four seasons of great comedy in him.

You're being generous, RD.

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Originally Posted by Episode29 
  

 

My audience was surprisingly muted throughout. Kind of a surprise there.                                                                                                                                                                                    

A muted audience at a free screening is NOT a good sign.  Those joints are always rocking because people are pumped to see free shit.

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Originally Posted by Bailey 

 

You're being generous, RD.

I'll still maintain that had Family Guy ended with its first cancellation by Fox, it'd be seen as a comedic gem and cult classic. American Dads good for at least a season as well.

The audience at my screening was howling.  They ate that shit up.  For TED, I mean.

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarleyQuinn22 

A muted audience at a free screening is NOT a good sign.  Those joints are always rocking because people are pumped to see free shit.

Bingo.

My partner saw Wrath of the Titans a few weeks before release. Audience loved the shit outta it. Because it was free. Notice how "great" it did stateside.

Im amazed the main character isnt an overweight idiot with a hot wife and a talking baby...i mean, at least McFarlane trimmed down his Anti-Comedy Equation for his first film.

This was... ok.

Seth MacFarlane clearly isn't a filmmaker. Despite the considerable length, this is barely a movie. The first half feels like scenes juggled out of order, ending on bizarre non-sequiter punchlines. And the racism was really fucking ugly. I was willing to ignore all the jokes about Mexicans, Muslims, etc. in this movie almost entirely populated by white people (and Norah Jones (!)(swoon)) but then there was the scene with the spastic pidgin-speaking Asian dude trying to cook a duck. Come on, dude.

Audience was indeed pretty muted, because the laughs are inconsistent. There's one absolutely bizarre Family Guy-type cutaway that doesn't work at ALL. But in live action, the actors really downplay all the strange pop culture allusions and jokes. Most of the laughs are chuckle-worthy, there's really nothing LOL-level. But it's a good 60-40 split, and guys like Patrick Warburton really hit it out of the park with some one-liners. Also Joel McHale pointing to a painting, "This is art... get it?"

I liked how they didn't make Mila Kunis an uber-bitch in response to Ted's antics, but that robs the film of any real tension, so a large portion of this is just pretty boring. Ted's kind of a fun character, though, but the trailer did showcase most of the best stuff in this movie. Giovanni Ribisi plays a sleazeball afterthought of a villain, and it's kinda weird, but I wish they went weirder with it.

But...

that cameo.

There are two cameos in this. One is a big star that most people will think is kinda cool. But the other is maybe THE GREATEST THING EVER, and there's a subset of fans that will LOSE THEIR SHIT. Well worth the price of admission.

And was that PETER O'TOOLE narrating? How did that happen?

Plus, real shitty, mean Brandon Routh joke. Cold shit, dude.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gabe T 

But...

 

that cameo.

 

There are two cameos in this. One is a big star that most people will think is kinda cool. But the other is maybe THE GREATEST THING EVER, and there's a subset of fans that will LOSE THEIR SHIT. Well worth the price of admission.

 

 

And was that PETER O'TOOLE narrating? How did that happen?

Would love to know what these cameos are but will probably wait for DVD to watch this.

And if it's the same narrator as in the trailer then I think it's actually Patrick Stewart. 

Ah, IMDb says Stewart. Oops. I really thought it was O'Toole's lovely voice extolling the virtues of the equality of a little boy's wishes and helicopter fire.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gabe T 

This was... ok.

 

Seth MacFarlane clearly isn't a filmmaker. Despite the considerable length, this is barely a movie. The first half feels like scenes juggled out of order, ending on bizarre non-sequiter punchlines. And the racism was really fucking ugly. I was willing to ignore all the jokes about Mexicans, Muslims, etc. in this movie almost entirely populated by white people (and Norah Jones (!)(swoon)) but then there was the scene with the spastic pidgin-speaking Asian dude trying to cook a duck. Come on, dude.

 

Audience was indeed pretty muted, because the laughs are inconsistent. There's one absolutely bizarre Family Guy-type cutaway that doesn't work at ALL. But in live action, the actors really downplay all the strange pop culture allusions and jokes. Most of the laughs are chuckle-worthy, there's really nothing LOL-level. But it's a good 60-40 split, and guys like Patrick Warburton really hit it out of the park with some one-liners. Also Joel McHale pointing to a painting, "This is art... get it?"

 

I liked how they didn't make Mila Kunis an uber-bitch in response to Ted's antics, but that robs the film of any real tension, so a large portion of this is just pretty boring. Ted's kind of a fun character, though, but the trailer did showcase most of the best stuff in this movie. Giovanni Ribisi plays a sleazeball afterthought of a villain, and it's kinda weird, but I wish they went weirder with it.

 

But...

 

that cameo.

 

There are two cameos in this. One is a big star that most people will think is kinda cool. But the other is maybe THE GREATEST THING EVER, and there's a subset of fans that will LOSE THEIR SHIT. Well worth the price of admission.

 

 

And was that PETER O'TOOLE narrating? How did that happen?

 

Plus, real shitty, mean Brandon Routh joke. Cold shit, dude.

I feel like much of MacFarlane's humor has a mean edge, but comes from a very condescending place, which makes it especially irritating.

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Originally Posted by MrBananaGrabber 

I feel like much of MacFarlane's humor has a mean edge, but comes from a very condescending place, which makes it especially irritating.

Well, in the early days of Family Guy his humor used to lean towards the "make fun of everyone equally including ourselves" thing that The Simpsons did so well in their prime. But you're right, now it's "make fun of everyone I don't agree with". 

Cameos...

first, the boring one...

The other more extended and AWESOME cameo is

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gabe T 
but then there was the scene with the spastic pidgin-speaking Asian dude trying to cook a duck. Come on, dude.

 

Considering how that cameo plays into the awesome cameo, you'd think the Asian dude could've had a theatrical English accent or something.  I mean, what the hell...?

Is the awesome cameo a BOOMING ONE? because damn if it is!

I am appalled that this is at 71% on RT. Not that RT really means anything. But I still find it appalling. I imagine (hope) that will change when more reviews roll in because fuck this movie.

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Originally Posted by Gabe T 

The other more extended and AWESOME cameo is

 

 

Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

Let's just say Mark Wahlberg and Ted's favorite movie is FLASH GORDON.

Wait, what the fuck?  Who is it???

If it isn't

http://www.flickr.com/photos/id-iom/3316373498/

I will be disappoint.

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Originally Posted by Ambler 
Wait, what the fuck?  Who is it???

I believe it's actually...

Which makes sense as I do recall reading somewhere that this person was going to appear in a movie coming out this summer but I then promptly forgot about it. I came across a review which spoiled it; OF COURSE it was Rex Reed and OF COURSE he enjoyed it.

I am not a Family Guy fan and from the advertising, I am NOT interested in it so this will likely be the last time I comment about it in this thread.

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Originally Posted by MrBananaGrabber 

If it isn't

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/id-iom/3316373498/

 

I will be disappoint.

It isn't. Sorry to get your hopes up.

See: perfect weapon's spoiler tag.

Much dead air at my screening. I think there'll be an age issue with several of the pop-culture references-- the POV is very specifically "child of the '80s". At one point they actually do a riff on Airplane!-- the pop-culture comedy supreme-- and it just feels wrong.

Kudos to the technical achievement: Ted himself is very convincingly realized, and Wahlberg and Kunis totally commit to interacting with him.

And if even one kid seeks out Flash Gordon after seeing this, well, job well done.

Hard to top this comment though:

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Originally Posted by Episode29 

 

it's really fucking hard to root for a hero who can't decide between Mila Kunis and a stuffed bear voiced by Seth MacFarlane.

I think my problem with this film-- which summarizes my dislike toward most of his work as a writer and showrunner-- is that MacFarlane has no idea how to work a joke into a scene. In fact, I very much get the idea that he starts with the joke first and then figures everything else out second. So you have characters just brute forcing all kinds of "shock" humor nuggets into every scenario possible, to a deflating and reductive effect. Most of the real offensive stuff here isn't actually all that offensive; partly this is because of execution, but partly it's just because he's retelling the same fucking jokes he uses on Family Guy and American Dad endlessly. 

But with more scope. He gets to really say what he wants here (moreso than on TV anyhow), and so all of the opprobrious comedy on display here just feels, well, limp. We get it. Men hugging each other are gay. Emotions are gay. You can't tell the difference between Indians and Muslims. Black people. Etc, etc, etc. After a while he's not really saying anything at all, no matter how hard he tries (and he does try very hard).

The good news is that the Sam J. Jones cameo (fuck spoilers, it's post release day in the post release thread) is fucking incredible, and some things-- like the thunder buddies song-- just work. Plus, Wahlberg and Kunis are fun, and Ted himself is really well animated. But MacFarlane just can't make me laugh all that easily. To that end, take my opinion on the movie well-salted, because nothing he does anymore (just about; there are exceptions) connects with me.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hammerhead 

Much dead air at my screening. I think there'll be an age issue with several of the pop-culture references-- the POV is very specifically "child of the '80s". At one point they actually do a riff on Airplane!-- the pop-culture comedy supreme-- and it just feels wrong.

 

I literally got angry during this scene. This is why McFarlene isn't funny. He thinks just doing a funny scene from one of the funnest movies of all time is funny. It's not. It just makes you look like the desperate hack that you are. 

Unlike you, though, the entire audience I saw it with erupted with laughter in this scene, even though I got the feeling they didn't know what it was from (lots of people looking at each other with WTF faces and shrugs in the middle of it). That, naturally, made me angrier...not that they haven't seen it, but that McFarlene is just passing off a funny bit in his unfunny movie and some people will give him credit for it. Ugh. 

I'm embarrassed to have seen this. I'm embarrassed it was shot in Boston. It's just an embarrassment. Any movie that's not Flash Gordon that depends on Sam Jones to deliver the good is pretty fucking sad. 

Also, what's with the antiquated racist jokes? I'm not saying race can't be funny or satirized at all, but like this? Chinese neighbors but at least they don't have a gong? The guy has a duck? Lame ass Muslim 9/11 jokes...for a half Indian woman? Jokes about barring Mexican and Jews from restaurants? Someone explain to me why any of this is supposed to be funny, or why anyone finds it funny. McFarlane trash talks Jack & Jill, but the racist jokes in that are on par with what he's doing, so who the fuck does he think he is? 

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Originally Posted by Parker 

I literally got angry during this scene. This is why McFarlene isn't funny. He thinks just doing a funny scene from one of the funnest movies of all time is funny. It's not. It just makes you look like the desperate hack that you are. 

Thought the same thing when that moment happened. "SO...we're doing a shot for shot replica of a parody that was parodying a huge movie for its time?"

Also fitting the cruelest joke (i.e. the Brandon Routh bitch-slap) bombed with my audience.

Like I said, MacFarlane has no ability or talent for finessing his shock jokes into his stories-- they just happen, and it's clear that they do because he just desperately wants to use them. They're also just...well, not that shocking anymore. They're trite. They're recycled. He's told cleaner variants of them on TV, or they've been told in other, better films. Throwing out random stereotypes and 9/11 jokes might work on someone who has never listened to shock humor in their life, but that's about it.

Re: the Boston thing. In a way it's a great Boston film (it showcases the city well), but I was more embarrassed to see my screening (chock full o' Bostonians!) laughing their asses off. Especially at the opening joke about Boston kids beating up Jews on Christmas, which is stupid for a number of reasons.

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Originally Posted by agracru 

 

Re: the Boston thing. In a way it's a great Boston film (it showcases the city well), but I was more embarrassed to see my screening (chock full o' Bostonians!) laughing their asses off. Especially at the opening joke about Boston kids beating up Jews on Christmas, which is stupid for a number of reasons.

One of the reasons I agreed to see it is that they shot all around the neighborhood that the college I teach at is in. The car place is actually an abandoned 7/11 that closed a year and a half ago, and it's essentially right across the street from my college and I pass it walking to the T all the time. The catering company used our auditorium for meals for the cast. Patrick Warburton walked right by me one day at work on the way to lunch, which was cool. Chandler Street is a block away, and I walked by them shooting the exterior of Mila Kunis' apartment for a couple days, there. 

Some of my students watched filming one day, and Whalberg came out to shake their hands. They told him they were in college and he said "that's great. Stay in school. Don't be like me." And they were like, "You mean rich an famous and stuff?" And he was like, "well, there's that. But I was a high school drop out that went to jail, so I got pretty lucky." It was cool that he was very down to earth and honest with them. 

Movie still sucks, though.

It's post-release and I won't be seeing Ted in the theaters (and don't care if I'm spoiled for comedies any way) so... what bit did they steal from Airplane?

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Originally Posted by MikeI 

It's post-release and I won't be seeing Ted in the theaters (and don't care if I'm spoiled for comedies any way) so... what bit did they steal from Airplane?

The Saturday Night Fever parody. Right down to the wardrobe. It stopped when Kunis was about to swing Wahlberg around on his legs.

Yep, Family Guy with curses. A 105 minute episode of Family Guy with curses.

There are a handful of funny parts (Ted's scenes with the manager of the grocery store, "You have a kid? Is it alive?", and....the scene where Kunis picks up the poop? I guess?). But the bulk of comedy is just lazy, pop-culture riddled  junk. LOL he said the word "Jew". LOLOLO he said "Taylor Lautner"!! *picture of Taylor Lautner* The nerdy cameo is funny at first, but it just keeps going and ends with that embarrassing ME ANGRY ASIAN MAN WITH DUCK! ME MAD!!! gag.

So yeah, it's not very good.

Oh and what a waste of Patrick Warburton. So he plays a guy who texted another guy to beat him up and can't remember anything. Wahlberg asks him if he's "part of some gay fight club". Later, Warburton appears at Ted's party with Ryan Reynolds (lol "Ryan Reynolds"). They're holding hands and Warburton says something like "turns out I am gay".

THAT'S THE JOKE.

lol "gay"

Comedy can be top-down or bottom-up.

Top down is pissing on the little guy, the laughter of the mob.

The other kind is special because comedy can be the tool for the powerless, the way to reveal the hypocricy of the powerful, etc.

Guys like McFarlane and many, many other much more popular comedians can bash women, gays, and non-whites and hide behind the tag of being 'edgy' but it hardly seems edgey when it re-ineforces oppression.

This has  lot to do with what people think is funny.

In short, people are dumb and they have bad taste, especially when it comes to comedy. 

People are dumb and have bad taste because they are bullies. Unless you are a bully, then people are pretentious bleeding hearts.

So, as a qualifier: Seth McFarlane CAN be funny as hell. He just often settles for far less.

But the Cliffs notes version of my thoughts is: That really ASTONISHINGLY ugly Asian stereotype scene, and the third act kidnapping aside, i actually liked it.  Live action holding McFarlane's leash, taking away some of the freedoms he abuses on Family Guy helps. The film does have a beating heart to it, and handles all the characters admirably, though, again, the kidnapping robs the film of what could've been a better, deeper allegory about manchildren.

The only other Family Guy comparison I could make is that the film has the same ratio of hit to miss on jokes that a better episode of the show does. If that ratio was always zero, don't bother with the film.

Did anyone like Ribisi in this?  I thought he was pretty hilarious.

Very hit and miss.  Several big laughs . . . and a whole lot of whiffs.  Macfarlane sure can run a joke into the ground like no one else in show business.  The whole Flash Gordon thing is cute at first, but after the umpteenth reference, I was just like, "I'd rather be watching Flash Gordon now."   And I actually felt bad for Sam Jones.  That seemed kind of ....sad after awhile.  

Wahlberg and Kunis are great, and Ted is actually a fun character, but it's the biggest "HAVE FUN WITH THIS ON CABLE NEXT YEAR" out right now.  

Oh, and I did like the Tom Skerritt runner.  THAT'S how you do an obscure pop culture gag.  

I thought this was a Family Guy movie through and through.  It's essentially Peter and Brian: The Early Years.  It's funnier than Family Guy has been in ten years, but it's got the show very much in its DNA.

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Originally Posted by mcnooj82 

Did anyone like Ribisi in this?  I thought he was pretty hilarious.

He always plays a terrific creep. But his character might as well have been named Plotty McThirdact.

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Originally Posted by mcnooj82 

Did anyone like Ribisi in this?  I thought he was pretty hilarious.

He availed himself well enough, I think. But as Hammerhead points out, he's really just there as a plot point for the third act. That doesn't make him less funny when he's swiveling his hips like a maniac, but it does kind of reduce the character's importance in the overall scheme of things. 

I did find it interesting that the screening I went to today was probably the most number of young boys in an R-rated movie that I've ever seen.  Kind of indicative of the target audience for this.  

Just got back from the late show. FWIW the theatre was packed and the audience ate it up.

Preface this by saying that I like Family Guy and hate American Dad and Cleveland Show. Although I do think FG would work so much better as a 15 minute show on Adult Swim.

I thought it was funny as hell. I'll agree with Dickson that it was a Family Guy movie through and through (we now know what a live action Peter vs Giant Chicken fight would look like). Won't defend the over the top ethnic and jew bashing ( I didn't really see the Warburton stuff as gay bashing)...because there is no defense for it. But everything else was solidly funny. Skerritt, Sam Jones, Ribisi and even Ted Danson were great in the cameos. McHale was the perfect douch and Kunis was great as well. Best running gag for me was the store manager always promoting Ted.

Now I'll go be the pariah I guess I deserve to be for liking both an Adam Sandler and Seth McFarlane movie in the same summer.

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Originally Posted by Ratty 

 

Oh, and I did like the Tom Skerritt runner.  THAT'S how you do an obscure pop culture gag.  

Yeah, that one was perfect. I'm also a fan of the Norah Jones cameo. "I have *got* to fuck her again."

By the way, anecdotal evidence it may be, but for the people worried about it: my audience caught that the Airplane! reference WAS Airplane!. Warmed the heart.

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Originally Posted by mcnooj82 

Did anyone like Ribisi in this?  I thought he was pretty hilarious.

Creepy as shit. Which, had the story included him more from the start, could've worked. That dance in the living room to I Think We're Alone Now is great, though.

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Originally Posted by Paul755 
we now know what a live action Peter vs Giant Chicken fight would look like

Again, reality keeping McFarlane on a chain helped. That fight works because he's stuck working with a hotel room and nothing else. It comes off less like a platform for action movie references, more like its own, self-contained, Haywire fight.

Also, not like it's the most ground breaking thing in the world, but I do have to give the film some props for Ted as sheer special effect. From minute one where he comes to life, that bear is seamlessly real.

Anyone see the piece of marketing showing off how Ted was a mo-capped performance by MacFarlane?  HAHAHAHAHA, what a load of utter horseshit.  If I had any respect for MacFarlane, I'd almost consider the thing a joke about the way mo-capped performances are pushed on audiences who don't know any better.  And the fact that it's a video hosted on Funny Or Die doesn't convince me that it is.  It plays like straight up studio marketing.

http://www.slashfilm.com/votd-seth-mcfarlanes-motion-capture-performance-ted/

The guy is wearing the barest of mo-cap gear.  I suppose Ted is some revolution in performance capture.  No dots!  No facial camera rig!  The guy's off on his own doing his scenes separate from his live-action costars.  I mean, why do they even bother with this?

PERFORMANCE CAPTURE IS THE GREATEST SHAM PERPETRATED ON MANKIIIIIIIIIIIIND!!!!!!

Oh yea.  I loved the Tom Skerrit gags in the movie.  Forgot about those due to the glory of Sam Jones.  Funny too, as I had JUST been talking about Tom Skerrit with my friend before the screening.  I have magical cameo powers.

Skerrit is everywhere if you keep your eyes open. I was watching the new Criterion of Harold & Maude last night, and? Skerrit.

But Nooj, what's the point of ranting about (a PR characterization of) the FX process when the execution was superb?

So I've been thinking about what, if anything, the movie is trying to say. I recommend the New Yorker profile on McFarlane from a couple weeks back: it suggests that in many ways his story is Ted: He got his wish very early in life and has been tied to it ever since, as much as he may or may not desire to grow out of it. In theory, Ted is about becoming a man and putting away childish things. But in the end, it cops out: our hero can't live without his bear, and McFarlane goes so far as to have the girlfriend give in and support the arrangement in perpetuity, literally giving up her own dream. And why shouldn't McFarlane see things that way? He's a poster child for successful arrested development.