Ben Stiller

ROFL!! I have Ben Stiller fever after watching Zoolander which a lot of people might say was horrible but I liked it... the humor worked for me. Time to rent all the Ben Stiller movies and maybe I'll have a better criticque of him.

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There was humor in Zoolander? I must not have been watching closely enough.

i'm not jumping in to talk about stiller (i like him), but i have a similarly confounded by Julia Roberts immense popularity. she's THE top female money maker in movie land, isn't she? i don't race to her movies, but those i happen to see are okay, she's okay, but just okay. i imagine she's very genuine and kind in real life, but i don't understand her huge appeal.

It's those huge lips of hers. I liked her more when she first started becoming a big star. After her first few "big" flicks, she just started to get that "i'm rich, and popular, adore me" type thing going on, and didn't really care for her after that. She does do good in the movies she's in, but that's as far as it goes.

Ben(who this topic is about), I feel could do better, if he shys away from the slapstick comedy he feels he has to dish out. I like him in the comedies like "Mary", and "Meet the Parents". "Mystery Men", was ok, but not great. It's all about finding your comfort zone in movies. If doing movies that are stupid funny makes him think he still needs to win the crowd over then let him think that. I'm a fan, but he needs to tone it down.

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I confess, I thought "Mystery Men" was completely hilarious, and to this day don't see what the big problem with it is. That's one DVD I'm definitely gonna own at some point...

It was ok, I'm not saying it was great, but I liked it.

I gotta say I really dislike Julia Roberts. Ever since the Oscar speech, I'm telling you. "Put down the stick baton guy" or whatever she said. You're at the Academy Awards, yes you're rich and famous, yes you won, where do you get off?

Ben Stiller I find to like in almost anything he does. I thought "Meet the Parents" was definatly his high point. Of course, living in Australia, Zoolander hasn't opened. I though "Something About Mary" was a good film and the comments that "he wasn't funny in that" are a bit off target because despite the few key comedy sequences that he was a part of, his character wasn't really there for laughs. He's doing good for himself, and now I'm very much looking forward to "Meet the Fockers".

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Please...don't get me started.The posters here are probably sick to death of my ranting and raving of Julia Stinkin' Roberts...

C'mon, it was a joke...a goof. I don't think she was trying to take over the show just to get some power high...I think she just wanted to be funny, and take a little time because, as I think she said, "I may never be here again." Oh, BTW: welcome to MovieForums.

I didn't realize that there were people out there who don't find Ben Stiller funny. Maybe it's because I enjoyed his parents' humor before him, but once he hit the mainstream (There's Something About Mary), I just knew I'd find him funny in almost anything.

I loved him in Mystery Men. In fact, I thought the whole movie was so well cast that it worked, despite its obvious jokes. It was SO tongue-in-cheek and played on comic books come-to-life so much that it worked. Besides, I also adore William H. Macy and thought he was perfectly deadpan as The Shoveler. ("We've got a blind date with destiny, and it looks like she's ordered the lobster." Gotta love that line.)

Stiller in Mystery Men was precisely funny because his power did absolutely no good to anyone. That was brought out well when he got so mad he jumped on the hood of a car and writhed around a lot in his fury, but did absolutely no damage to the car (while the Shoveler was pounding the daylights out of the car doors). I was in tears with laughter.

And Meet the Parents works because of its great casting too. Danner was sweet without being ditzy or syrupy. DeNiro was perfect in his part and every single line was delivered flawlessly. He was perfect against Stiller -- who wouldn't be flustered and intimidated by the prospect of DeNiro being your father-in-law? And in the scenes that were more slapstick, they didn't OVERplay them. The scenes weren't drawn out and lengthy. For instance, the yard burned down quickly, and we moved on to the next scene.

Oh, add to the list of confusion as to how Stiller got famous the fact that he's bow-legged, like his father.

Linda

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What!? TWT....that speech of her's was so sappy,so grossly kiss-a** that I couldn't watch...actually,I didn't want to watch,but I did,through my fingers.It was like a car wreck;couldn't look away...it was sick...I wanted to vomit.SHE is the joke.What a phoney.

I agree.
Very fake, very unwatchable from my stand point. She knows she has Hollywood eating out her hand, maybe that's it??

Thanks for the welcome.
Glad to be here. I'm actually an Indie filmmaker myself, so you might find my views on the more mainstream culture a little askew ALL of the time.

right on...and might I add,I love your user name...very cool.I love Indies...a breath of freshness,*breathes deep* phew,I still smell Julia...someone change the subject...*cough*

I hate how Julia Roberts came on TV to talk about giving money to the WTC funds. It seemed obvious to me that she was quick going on TV to remind the world that she existed because for a quick moment people cared more about REAL issues than her.

you were supposed to CHANGE the subject Sultan...but now that you mention it,that just confirms my suspicions of her phoney-butt behavior.She's got everyone snowed,America's Sweetheart my a**.

I disagree. Obviously you can't possibly know this...and I don't think it's likely. I haven't seen her act in a media whorish way for the most part, so I dunno what you guys are basing all of this on. I certainly don't thikn her showing up on that special was rude...I mean, if she HADN'T accepted the invitation, you'd surely be talking smack about her for that.

You're right...I'd talk smack about her all day if I could...she's a spot on the industry and I think it's healthy for a movie-buff to have a few actors they can't stand...it hepls develop a critic's eye for shoddy work.I can't stand having conversations with people who just love everything...or can't tell you why they dislike a movie or a performance.

How is it that a thread about Ben Stiller turns into a discussion about Julia Roberts!?!?!?

Because they are secretly the same person. Think about it. Have you ever seen them together?

LOL...that was rich ryan...bravo!