A good laugh prolongs life

Comedies are being produced all the time, but only a few of them are good. Comedy, as a genre, is a difficult one to approach. How do you make sure you produce a comedy that's sure to please the big crowds? As with everything else in life, people have different taste and it's a hard task, if not an impossible one, to please everyone. Instead of trying to satisfy everyone, the people behind a comedy, especially the writers, aim at pleasing the biggest amount of people possible. Utilitarianism.

I love a good comedy, but it's really hard to find good ones. I often check the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) to see what the general consensus about certain movies is, but even IMDB can't be trusted all the time. I watch lots of movies, but few movies can create such a happy atmosphere as a solid comedy, especially if you watch it with friends or family. Sadly I've had to endure many a crappy comedy in my search for the good ones. Some of the movies that come out of Hollywood bring a new meaning to the word "shit". A few weeks ago me and my friend were looking for a comedy just to kill some time, well, his suggestion was a movie by the name "Let's go to Prison". Now I had my doubts, but not even in my wildest fantasy could I have imagined that the movie would be as horrific as it was. It was pure torture to watch it, and I almost fell asleep. The dialogue was bad, there was nothing funny about it and the people in the movie should be kicked in the nuts for even choosing to star in it. I've seen many bad comedies, but this one was really, really bad. Trust me, folks. It gets a 1/10 rating from me.

So what makes a good comedy? Wits and good, funny and clever dialogue, that should be the core of a good comedy. You need actors that can pull it off too, but if you have all that, you should already be well on your way to making people laugh out loud. Comedies also benefit from having a plot, but it doesn't need to be Oscar material here. I just consider the plot a nice bonus. Seriously though, think about - Ace Ventura : Pet Detective, one of the most popular comedies of all time, yet the plot isn't the most exciting, now is it? No. Dialogue, funny faces and great actors come together to create a comedy diamond.

Enough ranting now though. I thought I'd just like to share my thoughts about this with you, as well as give you my personal "Top 5 comedies of all time" list. Without further ado:

Top 5 Laughs

1. Dumb and dumber, the story of two good, but very stupid, friends that embark on a journey across the States to return a suitcase full of cash back to its owner. This movie is great in every aspect. The dialogue is memorable as are the characters, played by comedy genius Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels. This is without a doubt my favorite comedy of all time. I try to watch it once a year. It's pure gold. If you haven't seen this, you owe it to yourself to do so. You'll laugh so hard your bladder will burst.




2. Ace Ventura - Pet Detective, Jim Carrey shines in this movie as a very eccentric and weird pet detective. He's good-hearted, but people often misunderstand him or freak out because of his special way of, well, being. The movie really starts when Ace is hired to track down a sports team's mascot - a famous dolphin. As with dumb and dumber the dialogue is good, but this movie is funny in itself if just because of Jim Carrey's famous rubber face.


3. The 40 Year Old Virgin, the title really is self-explanatory here. The movie centers around a 40 year old guy (Steve Carrell) who works in an electronics store. One day he's invited to play poker with his work colleagues and the truth comes out - Andy (Steve Carrell) is a virgin. His co-workers are shocked and they continue to give him advice on how to finally score and get down with a girl. The movie is hilarious and deals with some taboos, but it never becomes dull or too raunchy. It also has a sweet ending and great music to boot.





4. Superbad, this movie mainly centers around two friends in their last year of high school before heading off to college. They are set on losing their virginity before leaving for college, and they get extra hopeful when they are invited to one last party at the end of the school year. This movie might not be for everyone, but I love it, even though I gotta level with you - the dialogue shocked me at first. It's a bit too rude for some people, but if you can handle some explicit language - you should love this movie.


5. Knocked up, this movie was very well received and not without a reason. The movie follows Alice (Katherine Heigl), a succesful TV-journalist, and unemployed Ben Stone (Seth Rogen), who uses most of his time to get high with his friends. How do these very different persons then meet? Well, Alice gets drunk one night on town and ends up having sex with Ben, who is exstacic about the whole thing and finds it hard to believe his own luck. Unfortunately Ben didn't bother using any protection when sleeping with Alice, which eventually leads to Alice getting pregnant! How does this work out? Can there be a happy ending? Watch it for yourself and see. It should be noted that this movie also contains some rough language, still not reaching the same level as Superbad, but anyway. Producer Judd Apatow is behind this movie, as well as the 40 Year Old Virgin and Superbad. You can sense his presence in all three movies.

If you can recommend any decent comedies to me, please leave a comment. You can also leave a comment without doing so, if you want to.

Rory and Lorelai

I can thank Rory and Lorelai for giving me entertainment when I need it. Those names may be totally new to you, unless you are a Gilmore Girls fan. Lately I've been watching shitloads of Gilmore Girls. It's a great way to kill time. Most guys don't seem to understand that a guy can like such a serie, but that's their loss. There's plenty of love, drama and intrigues in little Stars Hollow, which is the little town in which most of the action take place. I have grown quite fond of the charming, little town in Connecticut and its inhabitants. I wish it existed in real life. I'd be eating at Luke's and attending Taylor's humourus town meetings. It looks so cosy and peaceful. There are seven seasons of Gilmore Girls, I've watched three of them, but I'm well on my way through season four.

Not much else going on. Summer should be right around the corner, although I was shocked to witness a little snowstorm here a couple of days ago! It's still quite cold outside though, but at least the sun is gracing us with its presence every now and then.

Things are going well at the gym. Soon I've been going to the gym for half a year - who would have thought that? My weight has even increased and I like to think that's because I'm getting some muscles. Last week I even got a new program, so now I have two different programs to do at the gym. Pretty cool.

Winter as it should be

So I'm in the countryside and I've been here for over a week now. I love it. No big city stress here. Just me, my woman and our four-legged friends (with the occassional guest visits). Yes, I'm talking about dogs, not mutated human-beings. I've been craving for snow and minus degrees since October, and now it turns out winter has been hiding here, in the middle of nowhere. Well, I found Mister Winter and he's everything I've come to expect of him. Cold, charming and white. Being here reminds me of my earlier years in Norway. There was never a lack of snow there. I used to be out playing in the snow for hours with my toys. Yeah, I admit, I don't do that anymore, but it's still lovely to be out in the woods with the dogs while the snow keeps falling down upon us. It's winter magic and I love every second of it.

Now my fiancee's parents house is huge, in fact it used to be a school sometime during the 13th (?) Century. This big house needs to be kept warm as well, especially during the winter. This is where the boring part of winter comes into play. During the day, wood has to be put into the oven in the basement every 1.5 hour or so. This is often a tedious task, but one that has to be done. I have taken it upon myself to do this task to the best of my abilities and with great success! It's still boring though. And no, thankfully this method of keeping the house warm isn't used during the night. During the night and the wee hours of the morning the house is kept warm by an oil burner. If that is the right term. I'm sure you understand anyway. Thank you, oil burner. Without you life here in the countryside would be hard.

Let's talk about school or how it's no longer in my life. Yeah, that's right. Me and nursing ain't happening. I've actually had my doubts since the summer, but I thought I'd give it a shot anyway, since I'd already gotten into school and all. Well, turns out it's not for me. The consequense of this? Wel, I quit and try to study something else this coming autumn. No biggie. This, however, means I'm moving from Helsinki in April. Well, at least my stuff is moving. I'll be visiting friends there now and then. The apartment is just way too expensive to keep without any student allowance. I've applied for some summer jobs, so we'll see what happens. I'm going to Norway this summer with or without a summer job. I miss me family.

"but there's no sense crying over every mistake
you just keep on trying until you run out of cake"

Seacrest out.

I'll see you in another life, brother!

It's finally back. The wait is over. The daddy is back. Now I can enjoy the pure genious that is "Lost". Yeah, you heard me. It's true. "Lost" is back and I watched the first episode of season four last night. It was pure gold. For me, season one and two were great, season three got me doubting, but thankfully it got better toward the end. Season four starts where season three left of, that's basically it. The island is still a mystery, the characters are still interesting - each one with their distinct personality and background. I friggin' love "Lost". I'm eagerly awaiting the next episode. If you haven't gotten lost yet, do it!

This winter has been crap. Is global warming to blame for the lack of snow? I don't like this at all. Instead of living in a winter wonderland with beautiful, crystal-clear snow on the ground and snowmen in the backyards, what do I see? I see rain. And lots of it. Rain is cool in it's own way, but not for winter. Geez. It feels like all the angels are taking a piss at us at the same time. If this is how the future winters are gonna be - I don't know. I might fleed the country and go somewhere where I can throw friggin' snowballs and ride on polar bears. Oh God, how I miss Norway...

Public transport freaks me out a bit. So many different people use it every day - you are bound to end up next to some weirdo at some point. It's written in the stars. It's gonna happen. I swear to God. I have a problem with it, okay? How do you DEAL with these freaks of nature? A few weeks ago I ended up next to some freak that had to sing. He sat opposite of me. Jesus Christ...gimme an 'effin break here. At least he didn't try to talk to me, thank God. I don't know if there's anything worse than ending up next to some urinestained, shit-smelling, drunk friggin' bum that absolutely insists to talk about how great things were before, or how much today's Finland and its politicians suck. If I was brave enough and if it wouldn't cause too much of a stir - I'd piss on that person. Instead I pretend to be nice - I nod and give them the occassional "yes yes" and "mhm". Sometimes I walk away though. That might be the easiest choice. If they by any chance follow you - tough luck. After a breakfast consisting of three liters of vodka, their skills to keep their balance must be doubted. Oh yeah, another thing still - nothing to do with bums, but where are you supposed to look when you have people sitting opposite of you in, say, the tram? It's annoying when people stare at you. So it's either looking out the side window, on your shoes or to the roof. Sometimes these things annoy me...I wish there was a more "comfortable" way of travelling. End of rant.

Lidl. I see these kids going to Lidl (the cheap-ass German store chain) buying friggin' Freeway coke. How can they drink that? It's like drinking sewage water. Go for quality, kids - buy the real deal.

Have YOU seen "25th hour" with Edward Norton? If not, see it ASAP. It's a movie from 2002. I just watched it a few days ago and it blew my mind. How could I have missed this great movie? I had to show it to my friends too - it was pretty well received amongst them too. The other day I actually had to get it on DVD (I found it in the bargain bin). See it!

Dude.