FOT Forum
The Best Show on WFMU => Dear Tom => Topic started by: Tim K in DC on December 07, 2006, 11:09:24 PM
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Dear Tom,
I humbly nominate Christopher Guest as a prime candidate for Factory Wrapped Douchebag based on this interview (which is awesome in spite of the material Guest gave him) in the latest issue of Paste. http://www.pastemagazine.com/action/article?article_id=3602 (http://www.pastemagazine.com/action/article?article_id=3602)
Sample quote -- and this is one of the long ones:
"CG: I couldn’t really say what people’s perception is of me. I don’t really do a lot of interviews and I’m not out there to do that. But most people I know who do this work are not people who put on funny hats at a party or do broad things. They’re quite serious people. When they do their work, they can do it in a broad way. You know, it’s dangerous talking about comedy; it gets to be very tedious and presumptuous. Well, I hope you have something to work with. Bye now."
Factory. Wrapped. Douche.
Thanks,
Tim
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I third the nomination. There was a joint interview I read about a year ago with Ricky Gervais & Chris Guest where Guest's disdain for Ricky's gregarious, giddy antics was palpable. Hate waves were just rolling off the page.
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I don't know, could Jason Killingsworth possibly be any more bitter about Christopher Guest shrugging him off? The interview didn't seem THAT bad. Shake it off, son! After a while I just stopped reading the between-interview comments. I think Killingsworth is a FWD!
*one thing I would add, though, is that for someone making a movie about the machinations of the entertainment industry, you'd think Guest might want to, you know, participate and keep up-to-date with the machinations of the entertainment industry.
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I should also mention that I like many (if not all) of Guest's films. It was the interview that inspired me to nominate him. You'd think the guy would suck it up and play ball, considering the coverage Paste gave For Your Considration. It's not only the cover story, it's a double cover. The photos are top notch, and there is solid sidebar material (sub-interviews with Harry Shearer and Michael McKean that turn out to be more substantive than the main story). If it was such a waste of time for Guest, he should have deferred to all the other actors who showed up for the shoot (and seemed to treat the writer and photographer graciously).
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Ya know... Harry Shearer's "Ask for it by name" comment was pretty damn funny*.
I just might check out his LE SHOW podcast after all!
*it was in the paste article
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Speaking of Gervais, did anyone witness his sitdown with Garry Shandling (http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=gervais+%2Bshandling&search=Search)? Wow. I'd be interested to know what Tom thinks of those two. I thought about calling the Best Show and asking him, but I would have nervously fucked up the call, I'm sure.
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Speaking of Gervais, did anyone witness his sitdown with Garry Shandling (http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=gervais+%2Bshandling&search=Search)? Wow. I'd be interested to know what Tom thinks of those two. I thought about calling the Best Show and asking him, but I would have nervously fucked up the call, I'm sure.
Wow is right. But I suspect the awkwardness was calculated.
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The only thing obnoxious about the interview was the interviewer. The questions were boring, and the article was incredibly childish and sarcastic, and poorly written in general. I'm not a huge Christopher Guest fan or anything, but the guy's allowed to not like doing interviews and getting his picture taken. If the interviewer knew that that's what Guest's reputation was, why act surprised? Jason Whateverhisfaceis is my FWD nomination. Talentless hack.
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I saw Waiting for Guffman this weekend. A few laughs. I liked the My Dinner with Andre action figures.
I think for most people the first Guest movie they see is the one they like best (for me it was Best in Show). I thought A Mighty Wind was OK. I didn't see For Your Consideration because I was starting to get tired of the bit.
But a guy who keeps Fred Willard and Eugune Levy in at least the peripheral vision of the public can't be all bad.
I do find that he is a tad contemptuous of his subjects. Is there anyone who meets with his august approval?
Hey, he alone among us knows if the rumors about Jamie Lee Curtis are true.
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I heard a radio interview with Guest in which he angrily rejected the host's suggestion that he made "mockumentaries" on the grounds that he doesn't mock his characters.
First of all, that's not what "mockumentary" means--it's "mock" as in "mock turtle soup." "Pseudo-documentary" would be a synonym.
And second of all, aren't his movies all about mocking their characters?
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No, No, No, I don't mock my characters. My characters are mockeries of actual people. Get it straight. I love my characters. I hate people. Like you. Jerk. (writes note to self to create character he loves that is a mockery of guy interviewing him)
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I was more pissed with Paste for running it as a feature article when they had nothing. Really lame. Hope everybody's having a great night!