19 March 2014

Now God said to Noah "I don't want no sinnin'"

Having been to the movies a few times in recent weeks, I've been exposed several times to the trailer for a film I'm unlikely to see - the short for Darren Aronofsky's new Russell Crowe-featuring biblical epic, Noah. Perhaps it'll do really well, who knows. But whenever I see the trailer, featuring plenty of scenery chewing and CGI hokum, I can't help but picture it as one of the legendarily bad Hollywood 'event' films parodied as films-within-films in titles like State And Main ('Hey, did you see the grosses for Gandhi 2?') and the admittedly limp Simon Pegg vehicle How To Lose Friends and Alienate People. In the latter film from 2008, Megan Fox plays a budding starlet with a knack for deft self-promotion who is seen in full wimple in an award-grasping trailer for the fictitious Teresa: The Making of a Saint. Yes, Megan Fox as Mother Teresa - now you've seen everything. But is it more far-fetched than Hermione from the Harry Potter films turning up as Noah's ark-worthy daughter-in-law?

Thinking of Noah's biblical tale also puts me in mind of the shiny-toothed offerings of the New Main Street Singers from Christopher Guest's fond folk mockumentary, A Mighty Wind. Here they are summarising the tale of the Ark in a few pithy verses for your edification, in The Good Book Song, with Terry Bohner (John Michael Higgins) on ever-so-wholesome lead vocals:



In the film Terry explains his journey into folk by pointing out that 'there had been abuse in my family, but it was mostly musical in nature'; while his wife Laurie (Jane Lynch) sets out her character's stall with her brilliant comic prowess ('And I learned to play the ukulele in one of my last films, Not So Tiny Tim'). Her timing is - as ever - impeccable.

See also:
Movies: Jane Lynch & John Michael Higgins, A Mighty Wind (2003)
Music: The Folksmen - Start Me Up (live on Conan O'Brien)
Music: Mitch & Mickey - A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow (live, 76th Academy Awards)

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