Is there anyone on this site who doesn't love In Bruges?

[Johnny Canuck3]

I'm just surprised to see it held up (by Johnny) as an example of American comedy.

Because the issue was whether or not the humour in In Bruges was 'too british' for non british people, making the humour too subtle and self-referential.

I picked Blues Brothers because it's full of American cultural references etc. A movie like Ghostbusters could have been set pretty much anywhere: that's not the case with Blues Brothers, without some major rewriting.

 

[danny la rouge]

Er, no?

You're the one who didn't like The Blues Brothers, aren't you?

Well, I didn't say I didn't like it: I said I don't think it's funny, but I'm a little confused as to why you think I might not take at face value your claims to like it. I'm quite comfortable with the notion that other people will like things I don't and vice versa.

(Not that I don't like the Blues Brothers It has some terrific music. It has some terrific musical legends in it. I just don't find it amusing).

 

[danny la rouge]

I picked Blues Brothers because it's full of American cultural references etc.

Blues music.

Ghostbusters is full of American cultural references, too. Like Parcheesi. The plot could be transposed anywhere, but the script would need to be stripped of cupcakes and Oreos.

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

Blues music.

Ghostbusters is full of American cultural references, too. Like Parcheesi. The plot could be transposed anywhere, but the script would need to be stripped of cupcakes and Oreos.

It's more than just blues music. Maybe you didn't spot it.

Isn't Parcheesi from India?

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

Parcheesi is an American adaptation of the Indian Cross and Circle game Pachisi. The game is often subtitled Royal Game of India because Pachisi, created in India around 500 BC, used red, yellow, blue and green pawns as dancers on palace grounds. Parcheesi is the national game of India but has also been played throughout the world for many years. It is also very popular in places like Pakistan.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parcheesi

Just in case you were wondering...

 

[danny la rouge]

It's more than just blues music. Maybe you didn't spot it.

A baseball ground (although baseball was an English invention; it's mentioned in Jane Austin), and the KKK?

Isn't Parcheesi from India?

The family board game as known to Americans is indeed derived from an Indian game of a similar name, but it's pretty much unknown in the UK, where it is displaced by the far inferior Ludo.

 

[danny la rouge]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parcheesi

Just in case you were wondering...

I wasn't. See my previous post.

 

[ChrisFilter]

Blues Brothers is cock soup.

 

[danny la rouge]

Blues Brothers is cock soup.

Is that a good thing or a bad thing?

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

A baseball ground (although baseball was an English invention; it's mentioned in Jane Austin), and the KKK?

The family board game as known to Americans is indeed derived from an Indian game of a similar name, but it's pretty much unknown in the UK, where it is displaced by the far inferior Ludo.

It might not be known in Britain, but that doesn't change the fact that it's essentially an Indian game, adapted in the US.

 

[ChrisFilter]

Is that a good thing or a bad thing?

A bad thing. Would you want a soup of genitalia?

 

[Sadken]

Just to say I'd tried it maybe.

 

[danny la rouge]

It might not be known in Britain, but that doesn't change the fact that it's essentially an Indian game, adapted in the US.

But the point is that it is a household name in America. American families grow up playing it. It requires no explanation to Americans. Whereas in the UK it is a nonsense word.

(And, the form in which it is known in America is very much an innovation for the American market).

 

[danny la rouge]

A bad thing. Would you want a soup of genitalia?

I wouldn't want a soup of ox tails either. But some people clearly do.

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

But the point is that it is a household name in America. American families grow up playing it. It requires no explanation to Americans. Whereas in the UK it is a nonsense word..

So what? A billion Indians would get it.

 

[danny la rouge]

So what? A billion Indians would get it.

Indeed they would.

We were comparing what Americans would get with what Britons would get, though.