Waist Deep
I'm wondering what the tolerance levels are for that cell-phone-dropped-in-the-gross-toilet scene in Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist. I realize this may be a cultural failing on my part, but I have a real problem with body-waste humor -- in movies, in real life, anywhere. Did I just write that? The grossification of movie comedy continues on a downswirl. It used to be that seltzer bottles and custard cream pies were laugh props; today, the brown torpedo.
What would the ghosts of Irving Thalberg, Preston Sturges, Ernst Lubitsch or Billy Wilder say about the ongoing fecal-matter syndrome in contempo films about twentysomething characters? Which began with those two scenes in Danny Boyle's Trainspotting...right?
To quote from Pete Hammond's Backstage review: "Norah's friend Caroline, played to the hilt with grating drunken abandon by Ari Graynor, gets separated from the pack and winds up passed out in a public bathroom, where she later tries to retrieve her cell phone and chewing gum, which have fallen into a toilet that looks like it has never been flushed. This attempt at gross-out comedy is where I checked out."
Posted by Jeffrey Wells on October 4, 2008 at 11:36 AM
comment #1
Daviddb
says ...
The audience I saw it with yelled at the screen each time louder as she dipped her hand in the toilet; from then on as the gum was passed around, more groans...
Of course, in "Trainspotting", the whole point was that he was a desperate junkie...and there was no point to N & N except to disgust people. And yet, it still got a lot of very positive reviews...
Posted by Daviddb
at October 4, 2008 12:09 PM
comment #2
William Goss
says ...
I liked this movie quite a bit, but that one scene stuck out to me as particularly gratuitous in the otherwise adorable scheme of things.
Posted by William Goss
at October 4, 2008 12:15 PM
comment #3
Chase Kahn
says ...
Wow, I didn't know this movie had anything like that in it. Seemed harmless from trailers and reviews, but that kind of crap is for COLLEGE and AMERICAN PIE straight-to-DVD movies.
Posted by Chase Kahn
at October 4, 2008 12:26 PM
comment #4
p.Vice
says ...
It was obviously written in to boost "commercial appeal".
Posted by p.Vice
at October 4, 2008 12:42 PM
comment #5
Josh Massey
says ...
Does Jeff Daniels on that toilet in Dumb & Dumber qualify? Hell, what about the candy bar in Caddyshack?
Posted by Josh Massey
at October 4, 2008 1:10 PM
comment #6
Luke Y. Thompson
says ...
I have a problem with the sheer amount of movies that have vomit scenes in them nowadays. I don't see the appeal.
Posted by Luke Y. Thompson
at October 4, 2008 1:23 PM
comment #7
MilkMan
says ...
It's not you, Jeff. It's the movie. This movie is the cultural failing.
Posted by MilkMan
at October 4, 2008 1:27 PM
comment #8
bmcintire
says ...
That scene is its own marketing tool. The word of mouth on the toilet gag will be incredibly strong with Jeff's favorite demographic: the "Oh. My. God." types.
Face it, if the MPAA would allow it, we'd be seeing things along the lines of 2Girls1Cup in the next Farrely Brothers/Apatow Factory offering.
Posted by bmcintire
at October 4, 2008 1:34 PM
comment #9
lipranzer
says ...
You know, as tasteless as the gag was (for one thing, I will never be tempted to chew gum again), I actually laughed while ewwwing, and I don't normally have little tolerance for gross-out humor. Part of what made it funny was Graynor. And I enjoyed the movie overall.
Posted by lipranzer
at October 4, 2008 2:31 PM
comment #10
arturobandini2
says ...
Scat in the movies dates back to at least SALO, if not PINK FLAMINGOS. Or what about that (real) loaf Rudiger Vogler pinched in Wim Winders' KINGS OF THE ROAD? I remember expecting them to cut out of that shot -- backlit by a beautiful sunset, if memory serves -- and then being so shocked when a turd the size of a kielbasa came shooting out.
Oddly, that didn't gross me out as much as fake movie turds. I saw SALO on the big screen and came close to barfing, but apparently it was just chocolate mousse. Carice van Houten said the "vat of shit" in BLACK BOOK was actually peanut butter in nylons. She said it smelled so bad, she would've preferred being doused with the real thing.
Posted by arturobandini2
at October 4, 2008 2:54 PM
comment #11
Gordie Lachance
says ...
Wilder, Lubitsch and Sturges would have LOVED shit jokes if they could have gotten them by the Production Code Office.
Fart and shit jokes have been a part of comedy theater since 400 B.C. for christ sakes, so you grannies just get over yourselves.
If those guys were still alive, they'd be much more dismayed by the fact that no one (except maybe the Coens) can write a decent plot anymore.
Posted by Gordie Lachance
at October 4, 2008 2:59 PM
comment #12
erniesouchak
says ...
Be warned, Wells: there's a scene in "Slumdog Millionaire" that will kill you.
Posted by erniesouchak
at October 4, 2008 3:03 PM
comment #13
dinther
says ...
this is the continuation of a sad trend in movies over the last 20 years. Rather than tell stories organically, with scenes that build upon one another, films are increasingly written like porn, with central "sex" scenes (the explosions scene, gross-out scene, or amazing-special-effects-scene) surrounded by thow-away scenes whose only purpose is to get you to the next sex scene.
Perhaps this is due to the growing penchant for bite-sized entertainment, as reflected in I-tunes rather than full albums, you tube attention spans, and complaints about movies that last longer than 90 minutes.
Posted by dinther
at October 4, 2008 3:41 PM
comment #14
K. Bowen
says ...
Here's what I had to say about it.
"Yes, Nick and Nora Charles counted their drinks by the flask. But it’s hard to imagine Myrna Loy drunkenly sticking her hand into a vomit-filled subway station toilet to fish out a cell phone. Much less doing so as an act of “comedy.” "
I nearly walked out right then. That this film has a ripe tomato at RT while something like The New World has a splat is an absolute travesty.
Posted by K. Bowen
at October 4, 2008 5:53 PM
comment #15
Gordie Lachance
says ...
You will not find a toilet in any Thin Man movie, or most any movie made between 1930 and 1960.
You guys are mistaking censorship for culture.
Posted by Gordie Lachance
at October 4, 2008 6:44 PM
comment #16
Gordie Lachance
says ...
btw, I have not seen N&NIP, and have no plans to. It was pretty obviously made for the 12-16 year old crowd, so why not just let them enjoy it?
Posted by Gordie Lachance
at October 4, 2008 6:47 PM
comment #17
MilkMan
says ...
go see arthur russell: wild combination instead of this bullshit
peter sollett is just another tourist in for a quick bite at joselito's
go back to englewood, peter
and if you're not from there you should be
and quit fucking the bimbo who wrote the script
she's not worth it
Posted by MilkMan
at October 5, 2008 1:59 AM
comment #18
Craig Kennedy
says ...
Every time you quote Pete Hammond, it's like you're sticking your hand in a barfy, shitty toilet.
Posted by Craig Kennedy
at October 5, 2008 8:23 AM
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