C. G. McGinn


Ramblings about Books and Writing

You can't fight in here, this is the War Room!

While cleaning the house for my son's First Birthday, I watched two comedies--A Mighty Wind and Dr. Strangelove. Two very different comedies.

The early Mock-umentaries by Christopher Guest are brilliant. For Your Consideration was too dark for me, though I completely understood why it was this way and the message Guest was trying to get across. But Waiting for Guffman, A Mighty Wind, and Best in Show are all amazing films--A Mighty Wind being my personal favorite. I'm one of those fans of folk music who knows nothing about folk songs or folk singers for that matter. However I do enjoy Matt Berry, both his folk music and his comedies.

Dr. Strangelove is dark. It's also very funny. The humor is subtle and I appreciate it more now as an adult, than when I first watched the film--on VHS, as a teenager. It's hard to find comedy that is subtle in the minefield of today's raunchy cinema experience. My fear is that this is a sub-genre lost to antiquity.

Like reading The Looming Tower reminded me of where I was on September 11, 2001, watching Strangelove gave me pause. The threat of nuclear war never really went away, did it?