I have been in dire need of a dose of silliness.I'm sitting at Bob's this afternoon with Lee (typing like Beethoven, left), and Ami has put "The Princess Bride" (1987) on the large-screen TV. The sound is low but I am facing the screen and can read the subtitles.
I wasn't impressed when I saw it years ago, but Lee loves it and is quoting along with it, even though his back is to the TV and he hasn't seen the movie in ten years.
This is making me think the movie is very funny indeed.
So along comes the scene (an unlooked for Movie Moment) when Wally Shawn (the bad guy,Vizzini, right) gambles his life on a cup of poison wine, and he cheats. Thinking he has fooled the Dread Pirate Roberts, he declaims:"You fool! You fell victim to one of the classic blunders!
The most famous is never get involved in a land war in Asia;
but only slightly less well-known is this: never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line!
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha..."
[Vizzini stops suddenly, and falls dead to the right]
[this quote and practically half the screenplay here.]
Which gets me wondering why some things are funny. One thing is displacement, like mentioning the land war in Asia in a fairy tale.
Also ridiculous names, like the R.O.U.S. = "Rodents of Unusual Size."
And I further note when friends laugh at something, it can make you lighten up too.
