Happy Birthday, Carrie!
Today is Carrie Fisher’s 52nd birthday.
Fifty-two years ago, Carrie Frances Fisher was born to Mary Frances Reynolds and Edwin Jack Fisher.
But, almost everyone who knows of Carrie Fisher knows that. It’s readily available on IMDB.com.
I could go on and on about Carrie, her books, her films (Star Wars and non-Star Wars). I could retell the moment when, just last year, I finally met Carrie at the Star Wars Celebration, commemorating the 30th Anniversary of the release of Star Wars.
I could… but I’m not going to. Today, I am going to talk about Carrie Fisher the comedienne. Okay, now we all know that Carrie is not a stand-up comic. Yet, just do a quick You Tube search on Carrie and what will appear are clips not only of her speech from the AFI George Lucas show but also of her speech about Meryl Streep (also an AFI event).
The woman is hilarious.
Check out her performance in the straight-to-DVD flick “Romancing the Bride.” The film isn’t great, at all, but there’s Carrie, as the titular bride’s over-bearing mother, ad-libbing like crazy and making a so-so romantic comedy all the more fun to watch.
That’s what Carrie does. She makes films better just by being in them. Don’t believe me?
Exhibit A: “Scream 3.” The first “Scream” was brilliant. The second was okay. The third was as about as enjoyable as a trip to the dentist office. Carrie is the nitrous oxide of that film. She shows up, quite unexpectedly, bashes herself and makes a boring film tolerable for the brief minutes she is on screen.
Of course, I could be biased. I admit that.
Exhibit B: The aforementioned “Romancing the Bride.” I first heard about this film doing a You Tube search on Carrie because I learned that her AFI speeches were up there. Also available is Carrie’s first scene in this film where she downs a couple of Ambien, sprays hairspray into the eyes of her new son-in-law, admits to her daughters that she “got loaded and laid” the day before her own wedding, and ogles same son-in-law’s, shall we say, “lean to the left?”
Sidebar: After the BBC’s “Absolutely Fabulous” hit U.S. airwaves, Roseanne Barr immediately bought the rights to develop an American version. While I had serious reservations (mainly because the show on its own translates well enough) about an American version, I thrilled when I heard that Roseanne had given the role of Edina to Carrie. The show never made it to fruition (Barr, Fisher, et al clashed with censors about what they could and could not do and Carrie just said, “forget it.”). “Romancing the Bride” offers a glimpse of what Carrie’s Edina would have been like. For that reason alone… yeah, I will sit through it.
Exhibit C: “Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle.” The first “Charlie’s Angels” was a hoot. Campy, never taking itself quite so seriously. The second was more of an essay on Drew Barrymore’s self-esteem. Work out issues on your own time, sweetie. Granted, Demi Moore looked good. But good looks do not a good film make (as Keira Knightley found out with her “Domino” flick). So, you’re watching “Full Throttle” and wondering where is the same spark from the first one and all of a sudden, there she is! Carrie plays the “Mother Superior” at the orphanage where “Creepy Thin Man” grew up. (Carrie likes playing nuns. She’s played three: Agnes of God in the play by the same name on Broadway. She also played a nun in Kevin Smith’s “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.” And this one. Go figure!) She’s funny, giving the detectives vital information while yielding a yardstick as fiercely as Darth Maul wields his lightsaber. And the flashback scene where the Creepy Thin Man rips out a lock of her hair is also a hoot.
Exhibit D: “Sweet Revenge.” This was a TNT film from way back when. Carrie plays a lawyer (with a practice in Paris, France—too cool!) who is forced to pay alimony to her ex-husband, until he remarries. She hires an actress to help her see that her ex does remarry and hilarity ensues. Again, not the greatest film but it is made enjoyable because Carrie is there. Who cares about the ex? We want to see if Carrie will end up with Francois, her ex’s hunky best friend!
I could go on. Carrie doesn’t have a massive body of work but in the last couple of decades, she has confined herself mostly to cameos, showing up in a variety of films from Mike Myers’ first Austin Powers film to that film with Val Kilmer about John Holmes, “Wonderland.” But, I think I've proved my point.
So, on this day, I say let us pay homage to Carrie Fisher, the comedienne. And remember that first zinger she landed so long ago: “Would somebody get this big walking carpet out of my way?”
Hippo Birdies, Two Ewes!
Oh, and a "more serious" side to Carrie... from Leave Yesterday Behind!
Fifty-two years ago, Carrie Frances Fisher was born to Mary Frances Reynolds and Edwin Jack Fisher.
But, almost everyone who knows of Carrie Fisher knows that. It’s readily available on IMDB.com.
I could go on and on about Carrie, her books, her films (Star Wars and non-Star Wars). I could retell the moment when, just last year, I finally met Carrie at the Star Wars Celebration, commemorating the 30th Anniversary of the release of Star Wars.
I could… but I’m not going to. Today, I am going to talk about Carrie Fisher the comedienne. Okay, now we all know that Carrie is not a stand-up comic. Yet, just do a quick You Tube search on Carrie and what will appear are clips not only of her speech from the AFI George Lucas show but also of her speech about Meryl Streep (also an AFI event).
The woman is hilarious.
Check out her performance in the straight-to-DVD flick “Romancing the Bride.” The film isn’t great, at all, but there’s Carrie, as the titular bride’s over-bearing mother, ad-libbing like crazy and making a so-so romantic comedy all the more fun to watch.
That’s what Carrie does. She makes films better just by being in them. Don’t believe me?
Exhibit A: “Scream 3.” The first “Scream” was brilliant. The second was okay. The third was as about as enjoyable as a trip to the dentist office. Carrie is the nitrous oxide of that film. She shows up, quite unexpectedly, bashes herself and makes a boring film tolerable for the brief minutes she is on screen.
Of course, I could be biased. I admit that.
Exhibit B: The aforementioned “Romancing the Bride.” I first heard about this film doing a You Tube search on Carrie because I learned that her AFI speeches were up there. Also available is Carrie’s first scene in this film where she downs a couple of Ambien, sprays hairspray into the eyes of her new son-in-law, admits to her daughters that she “got loaded and laid” the day before her own wedding, and ogles same son-in-law’s, shall we say, “lean to the left?”
Sidebar: After the BBC’s “Absolutely Fabulous” hit U.S. airwaves, Roseanne Barr immediately bought the rights to develop an American version. While I had serious reservations (mainly because the show on its own translates well enough) about an American version, I thrilled when I heard that Roseanne had given the role of Edina to Carrie. The show never made it to fruition (Barr, Fisher, et al clashed with censors about what they could and could not do and Carrie just said, “forget it.”). “Romancing the Bride” offers a glimpse of what Carrie’s Edina would have been like. For that reason alone… yeah, I will sit through it.
Exhibit C: “Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle.” The first “Charlie’s Angels” was a hoot. Campy, never taking itself quite so seriously. The second was more of an essay on Drew Barrymore’s self-esteem. Work out issues on your own time, sweetie. Granted, Demi Moore looked good. But good looks do not a good film make (as Keira Knightley found out with her “Domino” flick). So, you’re watching “Full Throttle” and wondering where is the same spark from the first one and all of a sudden, there she is! Carrie plays the “Mother Superior” at the orphanage where “Creepy Thin Man” grew up. (Carrie likes playing nuns. She’s played three: Agnes of God in the play by the same name on Broadway. She also played a nun in Kevin Smith’s “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.” And this one. Go figure!) She’s funny, giving the detectives vital information while yielding a yardstick as fiercely as Darth Maul wields his lightsaber. And the flashback scene where the Creepy Thin Man rips out a lock of her hair is also a hoot.
Exhibit D: “Sweet Revenge.” This was a TNT film from way back when. Carrie plays a lawyer (with a practice in Paris, France—too cool!) who is forced to pay alimony to her ex-husband, until he remarries. She hires an actress to help her see that her ex does remarry and hilarity ensues. Again, not the greatest film but it is made enjoyable because Carrie is there. Who cares about the ex? We want to see if Carrie will end up with Francois, her ex’s hunky best friend!
I could go on. Carrie doesn’t have a massive body of work but in the last couple of decades, she has confined herself mostly to cameos, showing up in a variety of films from Mike Myers’ first Austin Powers film to that film with Val Kilmer about John Holmes, “Wonderland.” But, I think I've proved my point.
So, on this day, I say let us pay homage to Carrie Fisher, the comedienne. And remember that first zinger she landed so long ago: “Would somebody get this big walking carpet out of my way?”
Hippo Birdies, Two Ewes!
Oh, and a "more serious" side to Carrie... from Leave Yesterday Behind!
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