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Director of Leatherheads George Clooney serves as the angry representative for all those early pro football players, who are no doubt rolling in their graves because of how complex, rule-filled, and soft their game has become. Even if Clooney isn't intentionally making a statement, the drastic differences between today's bajillion-dollar NFL industry and the old game that was only slightly more organized than "smear the queer" are impossible to ignore.
Leatherheads
The 1920s Duluth Bulldogs are a bunch of blue-collar ragtags who play a lawless game in which scoring touchdowns is a secondary goal to bloodying your opponent into submission. They play on a dirt field with many bleachers.
empty blessers and receive a weekly subsistence check.And they love it.
After bankruptcy threatens to cut the season short, team captain Dodge (Clooney) must find a way to keep his teammates on the field and out of the mines. The answer is war hero and heartthrob Carter Rutherford (The Office's John Krasinski), a player with Namath's swagger, Brady's looks and Manning's goody-goodiness rolled up in one. But with packed houses and sponsorship up the wazoo, Carter brings the civility of the college game to the pros.
If the costumes don't throw you into the old days, the Randy Newman soundtrack will. Also evident once the theatricality (reminiscent of O Brother, Where Art Thou?) and boys-will-be-boys attitude is peeled away is roaring twenties hyper-capitalism at its ugliest. Good consciences are subdued by prospective gains left and right, and the get-rich schemes are glossed over with parted hair and pearly smiles. Despite the lighthearted tone, all this politicking made me question if, by the end, I liked any of the characters other than the innocent scapegoat Carter and the fun-loving gamer Dodge.
lan Stanford
Kenny Vs. Spenny
Remember those old cartoons with Wile E. Coyote chasing Road Runner all over the desert? And no matter how much he tried, Wile's pre always seemed to fall just outside his grass? Well, what if instead of a desert, the two waged battle in the suburbs of Toronto, and instead of outwitting him every time, Road Runner was naive and gullible, causing him to fall right into every one of Mr. Coyote's traps? If that little twist on an old favorite sounds appealing, and you have a penchant for obscene behavior and language, then Kenny Vs. Spenny might be right up your alley.
The television series follows two life-long friends and current roommates, Kenny Hotz and Spencer "Spenny" Rice, who engage in a new competition each episode, not only for bragging rights, but also for the entertainment of the viewers. The competitions range from the tame ("First to Laugh Loses") to the vulgar ("Who Can Make a Better Porno?") to the downright grueling ("Who Can Eat the Most Meat?"). They get even worse when Kenny decides to cheat,
So, what do the two rivals receive as a reward for putting themselves through these horrible acts? The winner gets to choose a form of "humiliation" to put the loser through. Previous humiliations have included one of the competitors being forced to lick the door handle of a porn shop or turn himself into a human bidet.
Kenny vs. Spenny has been airing on Canadian television since 2002 and began its run on Comedy Central last year. And while it's back for a second season, it has yet to make much of a splash in the U.S. This may be because, much like the previous summary, it's difficult to capture the essence of the show without making it look cheap and sophomoric. But, take it from someone who has seen almost the entire series, it goes well beyond that. The thing that brings this show above Jackass or Tom Green antics is the relationship between Kenny and Spenny. Spenny believes he can use his appearance on TV as an inspiration to all underdogs by abiding by the rules of each competition and playing clean. Kenny, on the other hand, is a man-child who plays pranks and cheats in almost every competition with deviously complicated schemes. The hilarity comes in when Kenny's actions press every single one of Spenny's uptight, neurootic buttons. This relationship is what keeps the show going. You tune in not only to see how far these guys will go to win, but how far (or little) Kenny will push his roomie until he explodes.
which happens at least 90 percent of the time. Much like the competitions, Kenny's cheating can range from tame, such as putting itching powder under Spenny's bare feet, to the monumentally malicious, like convincing Spenny that he's contracted AIDS.
So, I beg you, ignore the disgusting commercials and tune in for one episode to form an opinion about the show.
"Kenny vs. Spenny" airs Sundays at 10:30 p.m. on Comedy Central
Jared Duncan
18 04.10.2008 VOL.5 ISS.27
Contact the writers: stanford@ku.edu
jduncan@kainsan.com