Ruth Buzzi Puns

You know, Hal Needham! Started out as a stuntman, doubled for Burt Reynolds a few times, then directed him in Smokey and the Bandit, and also a bunch of other functionally identical movies? Hear me out.

Here's his list, ten movies:

Smokey and the Bandit
Hooper
The Villain
Smokey and the Bandit II
The Cannonball Run
Megaforce
Stroker Ace
Cannonball Run II
Rad
Body Slam

That is an excellent mix of good movies (Smokey, Smokey II, Hooper, and I would argue Cannonball Run are all solid) and batshit insane experiences. Megaforce is the most toyetic movie I've ever seen, since the costumes and production design were by Mattel. It didn't get a lot of actual toys, but the actors have all the emotional range of action figures.

Have you ever seen The Villain? Have you ever heard of it? Above the title: Kirk Douglas, Arnold Schwarzenegger (three years before The Terminator, not trusted with any dialogue, playing a character named "Handsome Stranger"), Foster Brooks, Ann-Margret, Ruth Buzzi, Mel Tillis, and Paul Lynde. It’s half a Western and half Wile E. Coyote. It’s on YouTube, so you know it’s good. (It is not good)

And then Rad? "The story of one young man, Cru Jones, who has the intensity and desire to win a BMX race called Helltrack." Body Slam? Are you wondering if a movie with that title has maybe a pro wrestler or two in it? Well, of course it does: Roddy Piper, The Tonga Kid, and Lou Albano. But also Billy Barty, Charles Nelson Reilly, and John Astin.

The discussions of "where these actors were at this point in their careers" alone would be fascinating, especially for the Cannonballs Run.

And here's my final pitch: the longest one of these is 1 hour 48 minutes (Cannonball Run II) and everything else is 1 hour 40 or shorter.

I told her, "No, I've dressed like this for quite a while."

So I really should have waited until today to do my predictions. A Few notes going in:

One, I get it, King Richard is a big contender. If anything, NPR, and to a lesser extent the Satalite awards have shown me just how much Industry Support there is for it, and to a lesser extent Dune and Macbeth

Two, I'm using NPR as a means to gauge industry support but it's not the end all be all for nominations. There will be some significant differences between my predictions and NPR. The reviews for West Side Story and Nightmare Alley did have an impact, however.

With that said, let's get started

 

Best Picture

• 1: Licorice Pizza - PTA has the overdue narrative, it features old Hollywood, it's a lighthearted and accessible film, and United Artists is Doing a Solid Job of campaigning it.

• 2: West Side Story - Spielberg is at the helm of a (so far) universally praised musical with potential nominations and even wins in Director, Adapted Screenplay, Actress, both Supporting Categories, and several technicals. Could be his second BP winner

• 3: King Richard - Tons of industry support, with a locked Actor nomination and a possible Supporting Actress and Original Screenplay nominations.

• 4: Belfast - It's got a TIFF win, 3 likely Supporting Acting nominations, likely Directing and screenplay nods, it's gonna be nominated. The only issue is that Focus did a terrible job releasing the film.

• 5: Don't Look Up - The Academy loves Adam McKay, loves Leo, and it covers a big issue many in the Academy are passionate about. Plus, early screenings are raving about it. The only problem is that comedies typically don't do well in terms of wins, but Don't Look Up should still be nominated

• 6: Being the Ricardos - Another film about old Hollywood, with locked nominations in Original Screenplay and Actress, and several Techs headed its way, even if it doesn't seem to have the same industry support as the above films aside from Sorkin in Screenplay.

• 7: Power of the Dog - It'll get nominations, and a lot of them to boot. Picture, Director, Screenplay, Actor, both Supporting, and several techs. That being said, I don't think it's gonna win that much. Either Director or Screenplay, but not both. You've heard the whole "it's not academy friendly" schtick before, but I think it's likely true, plus getting subbed from NBR's top 10 list bodes ill for this film's chances at winning. It's the first film on this list I can say I struggle t

Some of you may be familiar with Wendi Byrd's work - she ran a blog over at the old FraughtWithPeril site where she posted her thoughts. Along with being a witty and insightful armchair journalist, she was a devout SGI-USA member, and was treated appallingly by the SGI-USA leadership because she posted her honest thoughts instead of submitting every post for their approval (and changes, no doubt) before posting it. She passed away in 2009 or 2010, I believe - she had a heart condition.

Well, I ran across this little gem - I think you'll enjoy it:

A Byrd's Eye View

December 08, 2007

On Ignoring Debts of Gratitude

I was at my monthly SGI-USA world peace prayer meeting this past Friday night. This is the time each month when (at least in my chapter in Burbank, California) we all get together to chant and watch a videotaped speech of our organization's international leader in Japan, Daisaku Ikeda. You also get to see your friends, give a donation if you like, and applaud for anyone joining the SGI and receiving a mandala Gohonzon.

At last month's meeting, a senior leader and a very nice lady - someone I like and respect - got up and made a few announcements. One of them had to do with the creation of a "new group" - for those of you unfamiliar with the SGI, we are a Japanese cultural colony in many ways. Everything is done in groups. And typically, Daisaku Ikeda gives these groups names, like:

• The Sophia Group These are members of the women's division - another group - who get together to study SGI publications, particularly Ikeda's autobiography;
• The Boys and Girls Group (the name speaks for itself);
• The Lotus Group for recovering addicts;
• The Soka Group members of the young men's division - another group - who help out at activities;
• The Courageous Hearts Group which is made up of people who have friends in our rival sect / parent sect Nichiren Shoshu;
• The Fierce Pride Group for gays, lesbian, bisexual and transgender members and their friends and familes; and of course...
• The Glorious Colonoscopy Group (named by me in honor of a friend of mine who is undergoing the procedure next week). This group has not yet been officially recognized by the SGI-USA, and I don' t know if it ever will be. It may turn into one of those internet phenomena your leaders have warned you about.

So, last month, this nice lady stoo

I don't want to step on anybody's toes here, but the amount of non-dad jokes here in this subreddit really annoys me. First of all, dad jokes CAN be NSFW, it clearly says so in the sub rules. Secondly, it doesn't automatically make it a dad joke if it's from a conversation between you and your child. Most importantly, the jokes that your CHILDREN tell YOU are not dad jokes. The point of a dad joke is that it's so cheesy only a dad who's trying to be funny would make such a joke. That's it. They are stupid plays on words, lame puns and so on. There has to be a clever pun or wordplay for it to be considered a dad joke.

Again, to all the fellow dads, I apologise if I'm sounding too harsh. But I just needed to get it off my chest.

#Boys

• Carl “Chevie”
• Carroll “Buster”
• Charles “Patty”
• Clarence “Olive-Oyl”
• Clemm “Wilda”
• Daniel “Bud”
• Dee “Stormy Weather”
• Deyerle “Ben”
• Donald “Donnie”
• Dwayne “Dobbie”
• Edward “Satan”
• Edwin “Eddie”
• Ernest “Judge”
• Garland “Booty”
• George “Murphy”
• Forrest
• Frank “Alphonso”
• Harry
• Herbert “Red”
• Homer “Runt”
• Howard “Seignor”
• James “Jim”
• James “Jimmie”
• James “Jimmie”
• Jimmie “Jim”
• John
• Junior “Junnie”
• Kenneth “Lefty”
• Kern “Crum Usless” (sic)
• Larry “Goo Goo”
• Larry “Pezzy”
• Leslie
• Leslie “Grandpa”
• Neal “Truck”
• Paris “Smitty”
• Paul “Buzzie”
• Paul “Mun”
• Richard “Dick”
• Richard “Dick”
• Richard “Teddy”
• Robert “Bob”
• Robert “Bob”
• Robert “Winsor”
• Thurman “Two-Gun”
• Walter “Walt”
• Wayne “Issy”
• Willard “Bidd”

#Girls

• Alice “Blondie”
• Anna “Ann”
• Christine “Phil”
• Constance “Connie”
• Dorothy
• Dorothy “Chattie”
• Dorothy “Deanie”
• Faye “Stick”
• Freda Lee “Sis”
• Georgia Rae “Cookie”
• Gyla “Toots”
• Hazel “Winnie”
• Helen
• Helen “Hal”
• Helen “Winnie”
• Henrietta “Legs”
• Jane “Janey”
• Jane Ann “Janie”
• Josephine
• Lydia Mae “Tootie” “Hank”
• Madeline “Maddy”
• Madeline “Neiny”
• Margaret “Libby”
• Marie “Hi”
• Mary “Burnsie”
• Mary Louise “Boddy”
• Maxine “Stooge”
• Mildred “Millie”
• Nellie “Nell”
• Okareda “Okie”
• Pauline “Pert”
• Phyllis
• Rejohnia “Jonnie”
• Revanell “Bennie”
• Roberta “Tommie”
• Rosalee “Rosie”
• Ruth “Doc”
• Sarah Jane “Ashby”
• Teresa “Fazzy”
• Vauda Mae “Jack”
• Virginia “Gin”
• Virginia “Ginnie”
• Virginia “Tubby”
• Virginia Lee “Ginnielee”
• Wilda “Monty”

Do your worst!

I'm surprised it hasn't decade.

For context I'm a Refuse Driver (Garbage man) & today I was on food waste. After I'd tipped I was checking the wagon for any defects when I spotted a lone pea balanced on the lifts.

I said "hey look, an escaPEA"

No one near me but it didn't half make me laugh for a good hour or so!

Edit: I can't believe how much this has blown up. Thank you everyone I've had a blast reading through the replies 😂

It really does, I swear!

Because she wanted to see the task manager.

Heard they've been doing some shady business.

BamBOO!