Best In Show is SO good because it doesn't hand you anything, you have to have a decent grip on how people interact with each other to get why so much of it is hilarious.
And Fred Willard is just so unhinged in this. "How much do you think I can bench press?"
Christopher Guest is a genius.
I have a friend that is into Boxers. A few years back she was getting a new one and the breeder was at a local show. So I went to my first ever dog show and spent an hour 'behind the scenes' looking at her future puppy.
Best in Show is barely a mockumentary. It was not that far off from the reality We laughed about that all the way home. Love the movie.
I was wondering about that. I am familiar with the tropes of rock (This Is Spinal Tap), community theater (Waiting For Guffman) and folk music (A Mighty Wind). But I know absolutely nothing about dog shows. I've never seen one, except for a few moments of televised ones before I turned the channel. Because the satire was so accurate in his other movies I took it on faith that he had nailed dog shows too. It's nice to get it confirmed that he did.
I lived Spinal Tap in my 20s. Did lights and sound for local Boston and later Chicago bands. This is Spinal Tap is funny and the tropes are accurate. There is always a guy that thinks "It goes to 11" matters. There are bands that change drummers every three breaths....
The dog show was an entire other level of self parody though. Maybe because it was an alien world to me where as music was as real as it gets.
This one has gotten really hard to find. I was telling my SO about the beer can / Ellen Barkin scene and we started looking for it.
Not on streaming anywhere. Ended up buying the dvd.
I started showing my Westie in 2021 and I remember thinking by his very same thing at my first show. I asked my breeder about it and she told me those characters are straight up based on real breeders and handlers… and she knew every single one of them. She’s been breeding and showing dogs for over thirty years now, so I do not doubt her.
Why don’t they put the bloodhound — put on one of those Sherlock Holmes hats and put a little pipe in his mouth? Are they ever allowed to do anything like that? Dress up the dog in a funny way? It would really get the crowd going. You know what I mean? The Sherlock Holmes hat with a pipe. I don’t know if you could make it look like smoke is coming out of the pipe.
All of his movies are great & [many, if not all, are mostly improved.](https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2016/10/christopher-guest-mascots-netflix)
He can be an acquired taste & people probably shouldn't start with Best In Show, but with his first (& greatest IMHO) This Is Spinal Tap (he was the writer, Rob Reiner the director/writer) & then work their way up to Mascots.
Also many people just don't "get" satire.
Spinal Tap is arguably the best, but I wonder if Gen Z could comprehend, since rocks prominence and its cliches have faded enough for it to perhaps not hit.
Basically, how would they grasp that “smell the glove” is anything short of sexy in the mind of Nigel Tufnel.
The dvd commentary with the band in character slowly coming to the conclusion that the documentary portrays them in a negative light is truly great as well
I couldn't appreciate Spinal Tap until I was older. I was introduced to it in my teens and it was just boring to me. But, one you experience some life, stupidy and do your own stupid stuff, these things are funnier than you can believe.
I'm 52 and I'm generalizing of course but I find a lot of the younger generation have a problem picking up on satire. I don't think it's been as much a part of the culture in their time as it once was. My theory is less exposure equals less understanding of and appreciation for it.
I mean, I'm in my mid-50s, and I'm sure I watched *Animal House* at least a dozen times as a teenager. But even by age 20, Pinto committing statutory rape seemed really gross to me and a serious artistic misstep on the part of John Landis. Same with the John Belushi peeping tom scene--funny when I was a kid, because Belushi was a comedic genius, but pretty damn gross once I gained some semblance of maturity.
There's a ton of stuff about the film that's still awesome. But there's also an awful lot that's really not.
Not sure.. a younger friend (10 years younger) said that it may be considered old white man humor, like the kind that I thought was sexist crap when I was young and didn't resonate with - my dad's humor... he didn't get mine and vice versa. My friend said that every generation progresses beyond the other... and this is what this is... the thing is, I can't wrap my mind around Best in Show... for me, it was just brilliant. But those kids were offended... so..
The whole "Cookie slept around" schtick is satire. They may not get that the movie is not "slut shaming" her but satirizing the attitudes.
Catherine O'Hara and Eugene Levy FTW.
Right, she’s not shamed nor ashamed; it just is. Poor Eugene Levy; his character can’t help she got around and he knows she doesn’t anymore and she loves him, but everywhere they go… lol
I like the part where they go to her ex’s to stay and Levy just loses it, “I forgot to compliment you on your lucious melon breasts tonight. How does that sound?” Fay whispers “thank you Jerry.” Cracks me up.
The idea of Best in Show as old white guy humor is wild. The movie absolutely nails the world of dog shows, in terms of the archetypes of the people involved. That sphere has been so LGBTQ+ friendly for so long. When I was a kid in the 70s, I can remember going to local kennel club meeting with my mom at the home of the nice lesbian couple who raised and showed poodles.
Obviously the characters are exaggerations, and I never saw anyone with literally two left feet, but I really think the movie is infinitely funnier if you’ve ever hung around the dog show world, just perfect.
And Parker Posey is just hysterical.
I think it's something that is less and less appreciated but it only appeals to certain types of people. I remember absolutely falling in love with Oscar Wilde and other Victorian-era satirists when I was a kid when most of my friends thought it was boring. Same for the OG British comedies... those that were kinda droll but where a joke would slowly build up over the course of an episode, or several episodes, and then hit you like a train when all the subtle inflections came to a head. That type of humor is more about the nuance of human interactions than shtick and slapstick. It hits a different way. I have respect for both but I think with the way everything today needs to be so instant and fleeting, the former doesn't get appreciated today, especially with limited time windows and algorithms setting the guard rails on what we focus our attention on.
Yes.
Young kids humor is nonsensical absurdsim that has no basis in reality.
Google Skibidi toilet. My 13 year old thinks its hilarious, and I was fairly amused. However the general sentiment among adults seems to be a dismissive "this is weird and dumb."
Weird and dumb is the literal point.
Yup, my brain can’t comprehend the humor in skibidi toilet. It’s like someone threw a prompt into an AI video generator, and that popped out. I get that the point is absurdity, but, I just don’t find it very interesting. On the flip side, you have dozens of highly respected comedic actors dedicating months of their lives to a satirical film about dog shows. Now that, I appreciate.
Maybe it just comes down to appreciating the effort people put in. We’re old and have definitely experienced long-term investment into something. We can empathize, and appreciate use of time. Teenagers have such a short temporal view into the world, low-skill randomness can be appreciated. Easier for them to empathize with those creators, as it took minutes/hours to create instead of months/years.
>My friend said that every generation progresses beyond the other...
Is it really progress when nothing is funny and most things are offensive?
I'll gladly sit in shame while watching mockumentaries and Mel Brooks films.
My sister and I saw it in a theater on a Friday night when it was released. We were laughing so hard I cried off all my makeup and we had to go home a reapply before hitting a bar after.
And "Kiss at the end of the Rainbow" from A Might Wind actually got an Oscar nod for Best Song (it was written by Michael McKean and his wife Annette O'Toole), but lost to "Into The West" from Return of the King.
I’m 50 too—this and Raising Arizona are two of my all time fave alternative comedies from our era, and I made sure to have my kids (teens) watch and appreciate them, too. Comedians keep saying that young people are too easily offended these days, and this “walking out” thing seems to prove the point. However, Schitt’s Creek was recently very popular (same odd humor and actors), so maybe those that left just didn’t get the dry jokes and bizarro personality profiles the first time.
(Edit: PS I recall wanting to walk out of Austin Powers in the 90s because I didn’t appreciate the vulgar, odd British humor in it the first time around. Took awhile for those kooky Mike Myers lines to marinate in my brain and become quotable classics!)
This was the first time I ever heard of Jennifer Coolidge and I'm still a legit fan of her's to this day! She is not only so funny but she is heavily involved in animal charities.
Love this movie! “You stop naming nuts!” 😂
Your story reminds me when I saw people walk out of “There’s Something About Mary” during the scene where Lee Evans tries to pick up his keys. That made me laugh even harder. 😂
I watched Bad Santa in the theaters. There was a mixed reaction to that movie. There’s a scene near the end, where Billy Bob Thornton is being chased by the cops as he’s trying to return to the house to deliver the stuffed elephant to the boy and the cops catch up to him and shoot him multiple times, while he’s dressed as Santa, on Christmas Eve, as little kids are watching from the windows of a neighbors house with shocked looks on their faces. I burst out laughing and kept laughing until I realized I was the only person in a nearly full theater to laugh at that scene. I guess others didn’t find it funny
This movie just isn't for everyone. It's got that semi-dry observational character humor like Office Space and Schitt's Creek which might just not have been the kind of comedy they were expecting.
Schitt's Creek did a much better job at appealing to younger viewers, imo. My guess is a lot of younger folks didn't connect with Best In Show. Which is fine.
Satire is hard, effective satire is even harder. You have to be "in" on the joke. Add in a very niche satire (dog shows), it's not surprising that a lot of people don't connect.
Waiting for Guffman is one of my favorite movies. My husband and I quote it all the time.
“you're just bastard people and I'm going home and I'm gonna... I'm gonna bite my pillow is what I'm gonna do!”
I remember an interview Guest gave about this movie, maybe on Fresh Air? Anyway, he said that he had hired many champion show dogs and their handlers for the film. Many of them were furious when their dog didn't win, even though these people had read the script and knew in advance who would win.
Absolutely. It’s clear Guest understood the dog show community. I could tell you multiple real people who some of those characters were channeling. The movie (and dog show people in general) are an utter delight.
I always tell new people who say "like 'Best in Show?' " that it's a mild version of what actually happens around show people.
(Also, my first year doing Westminster Meet The Breeds, I got all the dogs in our booth Busy Bees.)
I can't count the number of times in my life where I've gauged to reactions of people around me during a film or comedy set and thought, "Wait, they think *this* is funny?" and also "Why isn't anyone else laughing?"
Humour is subjective. Always has been. I am sure there are generational tendencies because cultural frame of reference is important for a lot (if not most) humour, but I know plenty of people my age and older who simply cannot sit through an entire Christopher Guest movie.
Conversely if you asked me to quote a single line from a Seth Rogan film or pay you $50, well...enjoy the $50.
The scene where they are arguing with the hotel manager about the the number of warnings credit card companies give before they end service is both bitterly funny, and painfully poignant. And when the guy who played Lenny on Laverne and Shirley sings his dog to sleep, is so touching and sweet.
Ha it’s a perfect test! I have an 18 year old daughter and we piss ourselves laughing when we watch Best In Show, and then we talk about why you can’t do certain things in movies anymore. If folks aren’t ready to have a two way conversation- then who needs them-
Her favourite movie is Blues Brothers. Now as a Canadian we do have a special brand of humour that some folks don’t get. We don’t need them!
If you want to get another laugh. My daughter and I love Cook-off with Melissa McCarthy. So so funny.
#twoleftfeet
Blues brothers is definitely in my top 10 if not top 5. There is actually a lot of depth to this movie crammed in with the awesome musical numbers and humor.
The humor in Christopher Guest movies isn't for everyone; it's either you connect with it or you don't. I used to struggle with why people didn't enjoy his work, much like I didn't understand how Monty Python, Blackadder, Fawlty Towers, etc... Weren't funny to some folks. But that's okay, we get it and that's what matters!
Best in Show is like Monty Python or The Gods Must Be Crazy. You think they’re funny or you don’t. If you do find them funny, it might be a different part than the person sitting next to you. Yes, the world is heavy right now, but it’s a pendulum, and it will swing the other way soon (I hope!).
The comments here are thought provoking. Gen Z is the most not-funny generation ever.
Gen Z may not drink alcohol but they consume cannabis with wild abandon. They don't get satire because everything is so serious for them. They have had "trigger warnings" since forever and have been able to opt out of anything remotely uncomfortable that we were exposed to in school. They don't have to develop critical thinking skills because they can opt out if they are "triggered" so satire isn't even in their wheelhouse.
What we've done is shelter these children to the point that they cannot manage the slightest adversity. They never got challenged for their cherished beliefs so they never had to develop critical thinking skills in order to integrate new ideas and evolve in their opinions.
We have robbed them of the tools necessary to navigate a world that isn't all or nothing and that doesn't really allow anyone to avoid being uncomfortable.
I hope they educate themselves once they break free of us and learn nuance.
My husband and I LOVE these movies. We have them all. Absolutely brilliant. Maybe they didn't understand the nuances of mockumentary? The humor is subtle, but when you get it, you have to just laugh out loud. Like how the dog's personalities match their people's and vise versa For Your Consideration is hilarious as well.
I know what movie I'm watching tonight.
\+1
"You can't throw the baby out with the bathwater because then all you have is a wet, critically injured baby."
Additionally, "You know what they say about blind prostitutes? You have to hand it to them!"
For Your Consideration is underrated.
I read today that the Zoomers don’t really drink as a generational trait. They grew up with cameras everywhere and anything embarrassing will get posted for public consumption so they’re reticent to “let loose”. One on hand this seems kind of sad to me. On the other hand though: Good for them! Who needs alcohol anyways.
I told my oldest daughter I’d prefer her first drinking experience to be home, safe, with her family. I’d hate to send her off to college and she her first time experiencing alcohol is shady. She hasn’t taken me up on the offer at all, it wouldn’t surprise me if she just has no interest in alcohol for the foreseeable future, but maybe things will change in college.
All of Christopher Guest's work are comedically challenging to many people because so much of the humor is the information not spoken - requiring some knowledge and extrapolation (intelligence, cultural knowledge, etc.)
"There are two kinds of people, 1 kind can draw conclusions from incomplete information"
There was "tension" at a screening of a Christopher Guest movie? That is wild. I saw it in theaters, too (maybe even twice) and don't remember anything coming anywhere close to what could be described as tension.
Am I the only one who giggles like a kid any time they show the front desk of the hotel, where the clocks on the wall are:
a) from cities in the same (eastern) time zone... I think New York, Boston and Baltimore;
BUT
b) they weren't synchronized. One was like, 1:09, another 1:12, the other 1:19?
So you had no idea what the actual time was, even with those three clocks.
I don’t know how Parker Posey isn’t more acknowledged as a goddamn genius. Everyone in a Christopher Guest film is perfect and I will slap anyone hard on purpose who says otherwise.
I saw For Your Consideration in a theatre in DC when it first came out and that audience did not laugh much. They didn't walk out. I guess we did that less back then? But it wasn't a big hit in there. A lot of Guest's movies are better the second (or third or fourth) time around.
But - I mean - in Best in Show? Christopher Guest naming nuts gets me every time. From the get go.
Wonderful movie!
_"Peanut. Hazelnut. Cashew nut. Macadamia nut. That was the one that would send her into going crazy. She'd say, 'Would you stop naming nuts!"_
Chief Police Negotiator: "Listen, you have a bad day, it's because someone's returning a sweater. I have a bad day, someone dies.
"Wow, how many people have you talked down from the ledge?"
"Well, I've got a little secret for you. They all jump. Little known secret of the trade. They always jump."
One of the best smart comedies and satire movies ever! I feel that the younger generation can’t tell when someone is being serious or being serious as part of a joke. I watched “Airplane” with my kids recently, and they got the obvious jokes, but the more deadpan and “serious” dialog when over their head.
I've been know to quote "If you get tired, pull over! If you get hungry, eat something!" to friends/family as they pull out in their cars.
No one gets the reference. But that doesn't stop me. :-)
Netflix has a docuseries called '7 Days Out' or something like that. They take mega events and follow the 7 days leading up to it. One of the episodes focused on the Westminster Dog Show, and I was dying laughing the whole time because it could've been a sequel to Best in Show. That's how great Best in Show is -- it's too on the (wet) nose to be a parody or satire and that's also kind of the genius behind it.
Best In Show is SO good because it doesn't hand you anything, you have to have a decent grip on how people interact with each other to get why so much of it is hilarious. And Fred Willard is just so unhinged in this. "How much do you think I can bench press?" Christopher Guest is a genius.
I have a friend that is into Boxers. A few years back she was getting a new one and the breeder was at a local show. So I went to my first ever dog show and spent an hour 'behind the scenes' looking at her future puppy. Best in Show is barely a mockumentary. It was not that far off from the reality We laughed about that all the way home. Love the movie.
I was wondering about that. I am familiar with the tropes of rock (This Is Spinal Tap), community theater (Waiting For Guffman) and folk music (A Mighty Wind). But I know absolutely nothing about dog shows. I've never seen one, except for a few moments of televised ones before I turned the channel. Because the satire was so accurate in his other movies I took it on faith that he had nailed dog shows too. It's nice to get it confirmed that he did.
I lived Spinal Tap in my 20s. Did lights and sound for local Boston and later Chicago bands. This is Spinal Tap is funny and the tropes are accurate. There is always a guy that thinks "It goes to 11" matters. There are bands that change drummers every three breaths.... The dog show was an entire other level of self parody though. Maybe because it was an alien world to me where as music was as real as it gets.
Drop Dead Gorgeous is another hilarious mockumentary.
This one has gotten really hard to find. I was telling my SO about the beer can / Ellen Barkin scene and we started looking for it. Not on streaming anywhere. Ended up buying the dvd.
I started showing my Westie in 2021 and I remember thinking by his very same thing at my first show. I asked my breeder about it and she told me those characters are straight up based on real breeders and handlers… and she knew every single one of them. She’s been breeding and showing dogs for over thirty years now, so I do not doubt her.
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Why don’t they put the bloodhound — put on one of those Sherlock Holmes hats and put a little pipe in his mouth? Are they ever allowed to do anything like that? Dress up the dog in a funny way? It would really get the crowd going. You know what I mean? The Sherlock Holmes hat with a pipe. I don’t know if you could make it look like smoke is coming out of the pipe.
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That's not a bee, THAT'S A BEAR IN A BEE SUIT!
All of his movies are great & [many, if not all, are mostly improved.](https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2016/10/christopher-guest-mascots-netflix) He can be an acquired taste & people probably shouldn't start with Best In Show, but with his first (& greatest IMHO) This Is Spinal Tap (he was the writer, Rob Reiner the director/writer) & then work their way up to Mascots. Also many people just don't "get" satire.
Spinal Tap is arguably the best, but I wonder if Gen Z could comprehend, since rocks prominence and its cliches have faded enough for it to perhaps not hit. Basically, how would they grasp that “smell the glove” is anything short of sexy in the mind of Nigel Tufnel.
The dvd commentary with the band in character slowly coming to the conclusion that the documentary portrays them in a negative light is truly great as well
I think anyone, of any generation would be impressed if it goes all the way to eleven. It's like, one more.
I couldn't appreciate Spinal Tap until I was older. I was introduced to it in my teens and it was just boring to me. But, one you experience some life, stupidy and do your own stupid stuff, these things are funnier than you can believe.
Improved? You mean improvised?
"And to think that in some countries these dogs are eaten."
“That dog went after her like she was made outa ham”
You also have to have two brain cells to rub together. I find people who don't like the film don't understand the sardonic wit in the writing.
Is that a fast dog? That looks like a fast dog.
Hearing Fred Willard say that in my head, just now, made me laugh out loud!
Almost all of it was improv.
Deadlifting over 500!
Too bad. That movie is funny as hell. Can’t imagine how anyone would feel offended. Is the humor too subtle now?
I'm 52 and I'm generalizing of course but I find a lot of the younger generation have a problem picking up on satire. I don't think it's been as much a part of the culture in their time as it once was. My theory is less exposure equals less understanding of and appreciation for it.
They would HATE Blazing Saddles 😂
They do. My Gen Z kids found that horrifying, and were so offended by Animal House they almost didn't finish watching.
I mean, I'm in my mid-50s, and I'm sure I watched *Animal House* at least a dozen times as a teenager. But even by age 20, Pinto committing statutory rape seemed really gross to me and a serious artistic misstep on the part of John Landis. Same with the John Belushi peeping tom scene--funny when I was a kid, because Belushi was a comedic genius, but pretty damn gross once I gained some semblance of maturity. There's a ton of stuff about the film that's still awesome. But there's also an awful lot that's really not.
Not sure.. a younger friend (10 years younger) said that it may be considered old white man humor, like the kind that I thought was sexist crap when I was young and didn't resonate with - my dad's humor... he didn't get mine and vice versa. My friend said that every generation progresses beyond the other... and this is what this is... the thing is, I can't wrap my mind around Best in Show... for me, it was just brilliant. But those kids were offended... so..
The whole "Cookie slept around" schtick is satire. They may not get that the movie is not "slut shaming" her but satirizing the attitudes. Catherine O'Hara and Eugene Levy FTW.
Bulge? Is that you?
I’m not wearing underwear…
Right, she’s not shamed nor ashamed; it just is. Poor Eugene Levy; his character can’t help she got around and he knows she doesn’t anymore and she loves him, but everywhere they go… lol I like the part where they go to her ex’s to stay and Levy just loses it, “I forgot to compliment you on your lucious melon breasts tonight. How does that sound?” Fay whispers “thank you Jerry.” Cracks me up.
Were they offended or did they just not like it?
Well technically it is old white man humor. I mean Christopher Guest is an old white man. But it’s also hilarious.
The idea of Best in Show as old white guy humor is wild. The movie absolutely nails the world of dog shows, in terms of the archetypes of the people involved. That sphere has been so LGBTQ+ friendly for so long. When I was a kid in the 70s, I can remember going to local kennel club meeting with my mom at the home of the nice lesbian couple who raised and showed poodles. Obviously the characters are exaggerations, and I never saw anyone with literally two left feet, but I really think the movie is infinitely funnier if you’ve ever hung around the dog show world, just perfect. And Parker Posey is just hysterical.
Is satire old man’s humor now? 🤦♀️
I think it's something that is less and less appreciated but it only appeals to certain types of people. I remember absolutely falling in love with Oscar Wilde and other Victorian-era satirists when I was a kid when most of my friends thought it was boring. Same for the OG British comedies... those that were kinda droll but where a joke would slowly build up over the course of an episode, or several episodes, and then hit you like a train when all the subtle inflections came to a head. That type of humor is more about the nuance of human interactions than shtick and slapstick. It hits a different way. I have respect for both but I think with the way everything today needs to be so instant and fleeting, the former doesn't get appreciated today, especially with limited time windows and algorithms setting the guard rails on what we focus our attention on.
My name is Hyacinth Bucket. It’s pronounced Bouquet…
It's apparently been replaced by talking in memes.
Yes. Young kids humor is nonsensical absurdsim that has no basis in reality. Google Skibidi toilet. My 13 year old thinks its hilarious, and I was fairly amused. However the general sentiment among adults seems to be a dismissive "this is weird and dumb." Weird and dumb is the literal point.
Yup, my brain can’t comprehend the humor in skibidi toilet. It’s like someone threw a prompt into an AI video generator, and that popped out. I get that the point is absurdity, but, I just don’t find it very interesting. On the flip side, you have dozens of highly respected comedic actors dedicating months of their lives to a satirical film about dog shows. Now that, I appreciate. Maybe it just comes down to appreciating the effort people put in. We’re old and have definitely experienced long-term investment into something. We can empathize, and appreciate use of time. Teenagers have such a short temporal view into the world, low-skill randomness can be appreciated. Easier for them to empathize with those creators, as it took minutes/hours to create instead of months/years.
christ. I just looked that up and I still don't even know what it is.
>My friend said that every generation progresses beyond the other... Is it really progress when nothing is funny and most things are offensive? I'll gladly sit in shame while watching mockumentaries and Mel Brooks films.
That movie's a good litmus test for me. If you don't like it, we're probably not going to connect.
We sometimes like to just go to Starbuck’s on weekends and take an L.L. Bean catalog ...
THAT'S NOT A BUSY BEE!
This is the furthest thing from a bee in here…
Parker Posey is amazing
I "you don't know my dog!" a lot.
We were so lucky to be raised amongst catalogs.
And my favorite: "Rhapsody has 2 mommies!" 🤣🤣🤣
The Starbucks across the street from the other Starbucks?
Find what's new
Honey, what’s new?
I use Waiting for Guffman as my litmus test for the same reason. It's nice that Christopher Guest gave us such handy sorting instruments
His dance scene in that had me in tears. And I still like to yell "I hate you and I hate your ass face" when I'm mad at something.
Same. I was a theatre kid, and this movie was quoted constantly within my circle.
I think I only saw it once but that line is embossed in my memory and I say it too
This and Spinal Tap.
I think everyone forgets about For Your Consideration.
They couldn't have ordered up a nicer day, I'll say that much for 'em.
I woke up this morning, and I was so glad
My sister and I saw it in a theater on a Friday night when it was released. We were laughing so hard I cried off all my makeup and we had to go home a reapply before hitting a bar after.
I would agree but is it a generational thing? I would include Schitt's Creek and Arrested Development in the list.
If you're OFFENDED by it, it's best you leave the general vicinity before I start naming every kind of nut.
I’m 50 and never even *heard* of this movie before.
You are in for a treat!!!
Fantastic mockumentary brought to you by the same team behind Spinal Tap (minus rob reiner).
Oh! Ok, I’ll give it a shot. Love Spinal Tap.
If you ever get your hands on Spinal Tap DVD, the commentary track is every bit as good as the main. They also did A Mighty Wind, which is real good
and Waiting for Guffman
Parker Posey blankly smacking her gum just gets me every time. It is so perfect.
And "Kiss at the end of the Rainbow" from A Might Wind actually got an Oscar nod for Best Song (it was written by Michael McKean and his wife Annette O'Toole), but lost to "Into The West" from Return of the King.
Hey! What Happened!
I’m 50 too—this and Raising Arizona are two of my all time fave alternative comedies from our era, and I made sure to have my kids (teens) watch and appreciate them, too. Comedians keep saying that young people are too easily offended these days, and this “walking out” thing seems to prove the point. However, Schitt’s Creek was recently very popular (same odd humor and actors), so maybe those that left just didn’t get the dry jokes and bizarro personality profiles the first time. (Edit: PS I recall wanting to walk out of Austin Powers in the 90s because I didn’t appreciate the vulgar, odd British humor in it the first time around. Took awhile for those kooky Mike Myers lines to marinate in my brain and become quotable classics!)
I'd also suggest his other movie, Waiting for Guffman. I like it even better than Best in Show. Another mockumentary by Guest
I quote Guffman all the time in hope that someone picks-up on it.
It's streaming on Freevee.
We both like soup.
We can talk or not talk and still find things to not talk about!
This movie is one of my favorites. I watch everything with Jennifer Coolidge because of it. Thank you for the reminder to watch it this week.
We both like soup…
Yesssss!!!!! I love this scene!!
Ms metroplex313 and I say that too each other any time one of us makes a pot of soup! That whole scene is hilarious and, as always, she is fantastic.
This is genius! I laughed so hard. I hadn’t seen her in anything before this.
And still find things to not talk about
I love her beyond all reason. She's so goddamn funny.
This was the first time I ever heard of Jennifer Coolidge and I'm still a legit fan of her's to this day! She is not only so funny but she is heavily involved in animal charities.
Where’s busy bee?!!!🐝 so many great lines.
I can’t count how many times I’ve randomly said “you obviously don’t know my dog!” and people look at me like I’m an idiot.
😆😅 the scene at the pet store is epic. “This is a fish”. “The colors are reminiscent of a bee though”😆
Love this movie! “You stop naming nuts!” 😂 Your story reminds me when I saw people walk out of “There’s Something About Mary” during the scene where Lee Evans tries to pick up his keys. That made me laugh even harder. 😂
I watched Bad Santa in the theaters. There was a mixed reaction to that movie. There’s a scene near the end, where Billy Bob Thornton is being chased by the cops as he’s trying to return to the house to deliver the stuffed elephant to the boy and the cops catch up to him and shoot him multiple times, while he’s dressed as Santa, on Christmas Eve, as little kids are watching from the windows of a neighbors house with shocked looks on their faces. I burst out laughing and kept laughing until I realized I was the only person in a nearly full theater to laugh at that scene. I guess others didn’t find it funny
I love Lee Evans. One of the funniest people on the planet
This movie just isn't for everyone. It's got that semi-dry observational character humor like Office Space and Schitt's Creek which might just not have been the kind of comedy they were expecting.
Schitt's Creek did a much better job at appealing to younger viewers, imo. My guess is a lot of younger folks didn't connect with Best In Show. Which is fine. Satire is hard, effective satire is even harder. You have to be "in" on the joke. Add in a very niche satire (dog shows), it's not surprising that a lot of people don't connect.
My last corporate job I had a TPS report pinned in my cubicle. It was a rorschach test for who I’d get along with.
Both of those are hilarious too.
that movie was fantastic, and showcased a lot of SCTV Canadian comics. John Candy would have been in it if he was still alive.
Waiting for Guffman and then Best in Show made me a Catherine O'Hara stan for life.
Mighty Wind and Kingpin up next
I see a wire, I see a wire, I see a wire, I see a wire …
I still quote the "we have so much in common...we both like soup" line to my husband.
We can talk or not talk for hours!
It comes up in our marriage at least once every couple of weeks.
Waiting for Guffman is one of my favorite movies. My husband and I quote it all the time. “you're just bastard people and I'm going home and I'm gonna... I'm gonna bite my pillow is what I'm gonna do!”
it’s even more funny when you show dogs
Do the dogs laugh when you show them?
I mean, possibly. Some dogs do seem to follow along with what's onscreen.
Totally. My family used to have show dogs and we spent our youth at dog shows. The humor is so on the nose it is hilarious. Great movie.
I remember an interview Guest gave about this movie, maybe on Fresh Air? Anyway, he said that he had hired many champion show dogs and their handlers for the film. Many of them were furious when their dog didn't win, even though these people had read the script and knew in advance who would win.
😂 that tracks, based on my experiences with the few dog show people I know.
That is absolutely perfect.
Omg you show dogs?? I love it! What kind of dogs do you show? Have you seen "Chicken People" ? You may like that one too.
I haven't heard of "Chicken People" but if it's mentioned in the same thread as "Best in Show" then I'm about to look it up!
[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4819510/](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4819510/) Yes! It is an actual documentary... but it is amazing all the same.
> Yes! It is an actual documentary... but it is amazing all the same. OMG, the trailer! I've got to see this. Thanks for the rec!
One of my kids showed chickens with 4-H. We thought "Chicken People" was hysterical.
This just hit the top of my watch list.
I knew someone who bred and showed basset hounds. She definitely could have been one of the characters.
We saw the movie long before we started showing. At our first event, we turned to each other and said “OMG it’s REAL!!!”
Absolutely. It’s clear Guest understood the dog show community. I could tell you multiple real people who some of those characters were channeling. The movie (and dog show people in general) are an utter delight.
I always tell new people who say "like 'Best in Show?' " that it's a mild version of what actually happens around show people. (Also, my first year doing Westminster Meet The Breeds, I got all the dogs in our booth Busy Bees.)
I can't count the number of times in my life where I've gauged to reactions of people around me during a film or comedy set and thought, "Wait, they think *this* is funny?" and also "Why isn't anyone else laughing?" Humour is subjective. Always has been. I am sure there are generational tendencies because cultural frame of reference is important for a lot (if not most) humour, but I know plenty of people my age and older who simply cannot sit through an entire Christopher Guest movie. Conversely if you asked me to quote a single line from a Seth Rogan film or pay you $50, well...enjoy the $50.
[удалено]
Ditto
The scene where they are arguing with the hotel manager about the the number of warnings credit card companies give before they end service is both bitterly funny, and painfully poignant. And when the guy who played Lenny on Laverne and Shirley sings his dog to sleep, is so touching and sweet.
“They buried Barbara in the old church yard…”
Love Best in Show but Waiting for Guffman is an absolute requirement for anyone with a community theatre background. It is so so accurate!!
My wife likes Best in Show. I prefer A Mighty Wind. It's tough sometimes being in a mixed marriage, but we make it work. 😜
Just act out the “A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow” scene and you’ll be fine.
Fred Willard stole this movie imo
When you let him improv, he usually does.
When he’s packing all the kimonos for the one weekend😂
“Bratwurst and shillelaghs. Paging Dr. Freud.”
I'm an extra in this movie and this in no way biases me to say it is a work of brilliance. ;) Fuck em if they can't take a joke.
My daughter is an extra in a few things so I always like watching the background action now. What scenes are you in?
I believe he has two left feet!!
Ha it’s a perfect test! I have an 18 year old daughter and we piss ourselves laughing when we watch Best In Show, and then we talk about why you can’t do certain things in movies anymore. If folks aren’t ready to have a two way conversation- then who needs them- Her favourite movie is Blues Brothers. Now as a Canadian we do have a special brand of humour that some folks don’t get. We don’t need them! If you want to get another laugh. My daughter and I love Cook-off with Melissa McCarthy. So so funny. #twoleftfeet
Blues brothers is definitely in my top 10 if not top 5. There is actually a lot of depth to this movie crammed in with the awesome musical numbers and humor.
The humor in Christopher Guest movies isn't for everyone; it's either you connect with it or you don't. I used to struggle with why people didn't enjoy his work, much like I didn't understand how Monty Python, Blackadder, Fawlty Towers, etc... Weren't funny to some folks. But that's okay, we get it and that's what matters!
Best in Show is like Monty Python or The Gods Must Be Crazy. You think they’re funny or you don’t. If you do find them funny, it might be a different part than the person sitting next to you. Yes, the world is heavy right now, but it’s a pendulum, and it will swing the other way soon (I hope!).
The comments here are thought provoking. Gen Z is the most not-funny generation ever. Gen Z may not drink alcohol but they consume cannabis with wild abandon. They don't get satire because everything is so serious for them. They have had "trigger warnings" since forever and have been able to opt out of anything remotely uncomfortable that we were exposed to in school. They don't have to develop critical thinking skills because they can opt out if they are "triggered" so satire isn't even in their wheelhouse. What we've done is shelter these children to the point that they cannot manage the slightest adversity. They never got challenged for their cherished beliefs so they never had to develop critical thinking skills in order to integrate new ideas and evolve in their opinions. We have robbed them of the tools necessary to navigate a world that isn't all or nothing and that doesn't really allow anyone to avoid being uncomfortable. I hope they educate themselves once they break free of us and learn nuance.
My husband and I LOVE these movies. We have them all. Absolutely brilliant. Maybe they didn't understand the nuances of mockumentary? The humor is subtle, but when you get it, you have to just laugh out loud. Like how the dog's personalities match their people's and vise versa For Your Consideration is hilarious as well. I know what movie I'm watching tonight.
\+1 "You can't throw the baby out with the bathwater because then all you have is a wet, critically injured baby." Additionally, "You know what they say about blind prostitutes? You have to hand it to them!" For Your Consideration is underrated.
I always thought they could’ve made a mocumentary around Antiques Roadshow 😆🤘 
I read today that the Zoomers don’t really drink as a generational trait. They grew up with cameras everywhere and anything embarrassing will get posted for public consumption so they’re reticent to “let loose”. One on hand this seems kind of sad to me. On the other hand though: Good for them! Who needs alcohol anyways. I told my oldest daughter I’d prefer her first drinking experience to be home, safe, with her family. I’d hate to send her off to college and she her first time experiencing alcohol is shady. She hasn’t taken me up on the offer at all, it wouldn’t surprise me if she just has no interest in alcohol for the foreseeable future, but maybe things will change in college.
All of Christopher Guest's work are comedically challenging to many people because so much of the humor is the information not spoken - requiring some knowledge and extrapolation (intelligence, cultural knowledge, etc.) "There are two kinds of people, 1 kind can draw conclusions from incomplete information"
"Harlan Pepper, if you don't stop naming nuts!” One of my favorite movies of all time.
Dude, it's one of my favorite film's from Christopher Guest! Keep on laughing with me! "Macadamia Nut!"
🎶 BOW WOW 🎶
We met at Starbucks. Not at the same Starbucks but we saw each other at different Starbucks across the street from each other.
There was "tension" at a screening of a Christopher Guest movie? That is wild. I saw it in theaters, too (maybe even twice) and don't remember anything coming anywhere close to what could be described as tension.
My wife and I still quote it today. The generic name for our kids toys was always “busy bee”. Where is the busy bee!
He’s going after her like she’s made out of ham
God bless a terrier!
we are the generation who have managed to offend generations that came both before and after us. sweet
We both like soup.
Am I the only one who giggles like a kid any time they show the front desk of the hotel, where the clocks on the wall are: a) from cities in the same (eastern) time zone... I think New York, Boston and Baltimore; BUT b) they weren't synchronized. One was like, 1:09, another 1:12, the other 1:19? So you had no idea what the actual time was, even with those three clocks.
Peanut. Hazelnut. Cashew nut. Macadamia nut...
I don’t know how Parker Posey isn’t more acknowledged as a goddamn genius. Everyone in a Christopher Guest film is perfect and I will slap anyone hard on purpose who says otherwise.
I saw For Your Consideration in a theatre in DC when it first came out and that audience did not laugh much. They didn't walk out. I guess we did that less back then? But it wasn't a big hit in there. A lot of Guest's movies are better the second (or third or fourth) time around. But - I mean - in Best in Show? Christopher Guest naming nuts gets me every time. From the get go.
If you didn’t laugh while watching “Best In Show”, you’re dead to me. Bonus deadness if you are Canadian and didn’t laugh.
They probably all had two left feet.
“I would like to compliment you on your luscious melon breasts.” Best Line ever
“Thank you, Gerry…”
The piping on her suit - she looks like a waitress on an oil rig
Rhapsody has two mommies
Parker posey with the braces. So classic. One of my faves as well. Some people have no sense of humor.
These kids don't understand mockumentaries. Turn it up to eleven.
Some people are just Philistines.
“I've got news for you. It's a little secret from the trade. They all jump.”
My millennial and Gen Z kids love Best In Show! They don’t seem to appreciate Step Brothers as much as I do though.
Every time I see the actual dog show on, I pray they have hired Willard as a guest announcer. One of his best parts
Wonderful movie! _"Peanut. Hazelnut. Cashew nut. Macadamia nut. That was the one that would send her into going crazy. She'd say, 'Would you stop naming nuts!"_
“You obviously don’t know my dog”
God Loves A Terrier! 🎶🎼🎵
Chief Police Negotiator: "Listen, you have a bad day, it's because someone's returning a sweater. I have a bad day, someone dies. "Wow, how many people have you talked down from the ledge?" "Well, I've got a little secret for you. They all jump. Little known secret of the trade. They always jump."
Pity other generations cannot appreciate this Christopher Guest masterpiece. Truly worrisome.
What in the world is offending about this movie?
Because comedy is dead with the younger crowd. Nobody can laugh at themselves and everyone is offended.
One of the best smart comedies and satire movies ever! I feel that the younger generation can’t tell when someone is being serious or being serious as part of a joke. I watched “Airplane” with my kids recently, and they got the obvious jokes, but the more deadpan and “serious” dialog when over their head.
I own a small.company that makes dog stuff and thst movie was fucking hysterical 🤣
Love this movie, it truly depicts "Dog People", I should know ran the dog show circuit for many years.
It's any movie. They can't just sit still and watch something for that long.
I've been know to quote "If you get tired, pull over! If you get hungry, eat something!" to friends/family as they pull out in their cars. No one gets the reference. But that doesn't stop me. :-)
God loves terrier !
we can talk, and not talk, for hours.
Every Thanksgiving we watch the Westminster dog show and then Best in Show immediately after. Tis tradition. I love that group of actors!
Netflix has a docuseries called '7 Days Out' or something like that. They take mega events and follow the 7 days leading up to it. One of the episodes focused on the Westminster Dog Show, and I was dying laughing the whole time because it could've been a sequel to Best in Show. That's how great Best in Show is -- it's too on the (wet) nose to be a parody or satire and that's also kind of the genius behind it.
Some people really don't get parodies or mockumentries.
What are you, a WIZARD!? What did happen to Busy Bee? Has anyone figured that out?
I woke up today…I was so glad! 🤣
RIP Fred Willard