Saved By Comedy ... Once Again

Papa Clisby is visiting me this week and so I am doing all things DAD. This means going to buffets, drinking whiskey mixed with strange things and watching funny movies. This is highly preferable to watching Wall Street go down in flames while a hockey mom distracts the country with her perky up-do. Ugh. Comedy - take me away!

Among the many father-daughter bonding rituals we have, Number One might just be the repeated viewing of "Galaxy Quest" - an affectionate spoof on the Star Trek phenomenon and one of the most lovable movies of all time. (THANKS Dean & David!)

I showed it to Pops many years back (came out in December of 1999) and - joy of joys - he flipped for it as much as I did. We quote it to one another all year long and basically, never cease loving this silly little film. (My favorite line is Alan Rickman's, "It's always about you, isn't it?!?!")

I'm not sure what I love most about this movie - Sigourney Weaver as a blonde bimbo .. Tim Allen doing his version of William Shatner ... Alan Rickman's bitter Spock character or Sam Rockwell's over-the-top portrayal as the only real fan among the team of actors who have no affection for the show that still pays their bills.

But it's the Thermians (the aliens) that really make your heart glow. Led by the versatile brilliance of Enrico Colantoni (Mathesar), you have never met a more humane bunch of non-humans. Mathesar makes me cry over and over again as his innocent brain tries to grasp the idea of lies and deception.

ANYWAY, we watched it again last night and it flushed the corporate-mania residue right outta my tired brain. Also, I couldn't help but note that GQ had almost the exact same premise as another new favorite movie, "Tropic Thunder" - which is, bumbling actors being forced to play their characters in the real world - or in the GQ example, space. I had taken Dad to see it (for me, the second time) last weekend, hoping he would love it as much as I. He did! Half-way through he said, "This is the craziest movie I've ever seen," and a day later, "I want to see it again!"

I've already posted a review but I keep wondering if there isn't a way I can send Ben Stiller a thank-you card of some kind. After absorbing headlines all day long and dealing with adult dramas, I needed me some silliness and Stiller delivered on a movie that was not easy to make. Maybe he likes chocolate? Flowers are too weird ... hmmm. Dunno. Maybe I'll just go see it a third time and let the money speak for itself.

Thankfully, I'll be playing with my Rodent crew tonight onstage and once again, I will feel like a new woman. No matter how many times I want to jump off that building, comedy is the sensitive cop that talks me off the ledge every damn time.

Meanwhile, methinks the Obama campaign can take some advice from Commander Peter Quincy Taggart:

"NEVER give up, NEVER surrender!"