<< 1 >>
Rating: 
Summary: The usual gang of idiots at "MAD" skating on thin ice again
Review: To the list of eternal quandaries--Democrats or Republicans, boxers or briefs, over or under--we can add the question: are the best "MAD" Magazine parodies of movies that are hits or movies that are flops? A prime example of each is provided in "MAD Capades," a 1992 collection of some of the best satire, parody, and juvenile humor produced by the usual gang of idiots. This volume begins with "Stuporman ZZZ," an attempt to milk humor out of the bomb that was "Superman III," and ends with an send up of "The Right Stuff," now re-titled "The Right Stiff." The common denominator in the two pieces is Mort Drucker, the only real challenger to Jack Davis as the best caricaturist in the whole wide world. Stan Hart does the writing on the first piece while Dick De Bartolo gets the honors in the grand finale. My preference is for the latter of the two, which really covers a lot of the same ground as the original in appropriately twisted fashion, but I do not pretend for a moment that this will settle the great debate. Dave Berg provides a potpourri of over a dozen things on which he provides a glimpse of the lighter side. I am not sure if everyone will appreciate the subtle satire of Paul Peter Porges' "MAD's Multiple Choice TV Scene Test," but if you are a true television junkie you will find it on point. The same goes for "Famous Quotations...and How the People Back then Reacted to Them," from Harry North and Frank Jacobs. Paul Coker and Jacobs' look at "Talking Cars of the Future" also has its moments, but doing a take off of Robin Williams (now "Rubin Willyums") in "C*R*E*E*P of the Year" is always going to suffer in comparison to the original. Much better is "The MAD Guide to Sure-Fire Ad Lib LInes" from Coker and John Ficarra and a solid takeoff on the television show "Beers" (come on, you can guess what show they are doing an number on in that one). However, the new and improved lyrics do not really match up with the show's theme song, which is a disappointment, because I am always looking for new song parodies to sing and annoy friends and family. Still, three solid movie and television parodies collected between the covers of one paperback is the best you can hope for, which makes "MAD Capades" one of the better of these reprint collections.
Rating:
Summary: The usual gang of idiots at "MAD" skating on thin ice again
Review: To the list of eternal quandaries--Democrats or Republicans, boxers or briefs, over or under--we can add the question: are the best "MAD" Magazine parodies of movies that are hits or movies that are flops? A prime example of each is provided in "MAD Capades," a 1992 collection of some of the best satire, parody, and juvenile humor produced by the usual gang of idiots. This volume begins with "Stuporman ZZZ," an attempt to milk humor out of the bomb that was "Superman III," and ends with an send up of "The Right Stuff," now re-titled "The Right Stiff." The common denominator in the two pieces is Mort Drucker, the only real challenger to Jack Davis as the best caricaturist in the whole wide world. Stan Hart does the writing on the first piece while Dick De Bartolo gets the honors in the grand finale. My preference is for the latter of the two, which really covers a lot of the same ground as the original in appropriately twisted fashion, but I do not pretend for a moment that this will settle the great debate. Dave Berg provides a potpourri of over a dozen things on which he provides a glimpse of the lighter side. I am not sure if everyone will appreciate the subtle satire of Paul Peter Porges' "MAD's Multiple Choice TV Scene Test," but if you are a true television junkie you will find it on point. The same goes for "Famous Quotations...and How the People Back then Reacted to Them," from Harry North and Frank Jacobs. Paul Coker and Jacobs' look at "Talking Cars of the Future" also has its moments, but doing a take off of Robin Williams (now "Rubin Willyums") in "C*R*E*E*P of the Year" is always going to suffer in comparison to the original. Much better is "The MAD Guide to Sure-Fire Ad Lib LInes" from Coker and John Ficarra and a solid takeoff on the television show "Beers" (come on, you can guess what show they are doing an number on in that one). However, the new and improved lyrics do not really match up with the show's theme song, which is a disappointment, because I am always looking for new song parodies to sing and annoy friends and family. Still, three solid movie and television parodies collected between the covers of one paperback is the best you can hope for, which makes "MAD Capades" one of the better of these reprint collections.
<< 1 >>
| 
