#julius kelp

[classickatze]

[theblueskyphoenix]

Some sketches I did based around the new musical version of The Nutty Professor I got to see about 2 months ago now. Such a fun time. I can not wait to get my hands on the soundtrack for it when it drops.

[fredandginger64]

Jerry Lewis in The Big Mouth, 1967

Watched this for the first time and was delighted that Professor Kelp showed up!

[technicolor-times]

What’ll it be hmm?

Buddy love

[ionlymadethissoicouldleaveanask]

I heard somewhere that there was a day to post Artemis Fowl memes. I’m sure I missed it, but I’m dumping my collection of memes here anyway

[irunaki]

my desigs for these funny people

(vaynaya is prob wrote wrong but we ignore)

[dykemcqueen]

everyone's favorite clowns

[spiritandthephantoms]

Foaly, at Julius' grave: Our friends are doing pretty well for themselves. Holly is one of the most infamous LEP commanders in Haven history.

Trouble: And I'm pretty sure Artemis is running a cult.

[ionlymadethissoicouldleaveanask]

The fact that Julius and Cudgeon were friends for more than half a millennia really hit home on this most recent readthrough I've been doing with Wife. It's easy to remember Cudgeon as the bumbling bafoon of the Fowl Manor Siege and the cartoonish villain of the B'wa Kell Revolution, but for him to have a repertoire with Root to the point that they do implies that they really were, once, friends.

Honestly, It leads me to another thought.

I'm pretty vocal about how much I love the fact that Trouble Kelp is just JuliusRoot2.0. That trope of the golden boy mentee actually turning into a carbon copy of the gruffy and grumpy mentor is a favorite of mine everywhere it shows up (principally in NCIS... send me an ask or a PM if you want my thoughts on how the LEP squad compares to the NCIS squad). Anyhow.

Trouble is fiercely protective of his brother Grub. Grub who has no right being on Recon, but is somehow a member of Retrievel 1. Grub who keeps getting promotions even though that makes no sense. Grub who would probably do most anything it took to get a niiiiice cushy desk job and never have to worry about guarding or capturing or shooting at anyone ever again.

What if Trouble and Grub are just the newest generation of Julius and Briar?

Thinking about this post and

"Old friend" (we were friends once.) "Old friend" (is that love doesnt really die)

"Old friend" (but it does rot)

[cosmic60s]

Some thoughts about The Nutty Professor (1963)

I recently wrote a film journal for a class that focuses on the auteur theory. The assignment is basically a less formal space to discuss a film/director - so of course I chose The Nutty Professor. The maximum word count was 1000 and I managed to stay right above that. I've been thinking about posting this but hesitated to do so, because I'm not too confident in my writing abilities, but I finally got some solid feedback from my professor today so I decided to go for it! Thanks for reading <3

It has been a long-running notion that the French love Jerry Lewis. Although, as Lewis would point out in interviews, France actually ranked eighth in all of Europe in terms of box office success and general support. In any case, it is clear that the French embraced Jerry Lewis and Jerry Lewis embraced the French. During a career lull in the 1970s exacerbated by personal struggles, Lewis visited France often, giving extensive interviews and personal appearances. While many have speculated why France became so widely associated with fondness for Lewis, it would be impossible to pin down a specific answer. Their adoration could certainly be attributed to a wide variety of factors such as the genius of his physical comedy or the commentary on American life which can often be found in his films. However, I believe the truth lies largely within Lewis’ particular style of filmmaking. As a precise, often obsessive perfectionist, his approach to directing falls in line with the Auteur Theory.

In course materials and discussions, the Auteur Theory has been described as positing the director of a film as its principal creator. Lewis’ approach to filmmaking often meant that he was directing, writing, and starring, all at once. While it is not necessary for a director to wear all of these hats to be considered an auteur, I believe it certainly strengthens the idea that the director is largely responsible for a film’s style and overall content. Given that the Auteur Theory originated with the French, it makes sense why they flocked to see Lewis’ films and treated him as a serious filmmaker (not in the sense that all his films were considered serious, but that they respected him as an artist and viewed his films in totality). Particularly in the 1970s, comparisons can be drawn between the ways in which the American and French media treated Lewis as a public figure. American interviewers preferred poking at his personal life and image, often antagonizing him by calling him an egomaniac or patronizing him by asking for funny faces. Meanwhile, French interviewers were much more interested in exploring his humor and style of filmmaking. While many factors are at play, I would suggest that this approach largely differs due to varying attitudes regarding filmmaking and the obligations of filmmakers. Where American critics accused Lewis of trying to ‘do it all,’ French critics applauded his audaciousness and lauded him as the total filmmaker.

One aspect that certainly strengthens Lewis’ directorial efforts is the way in which he understood filmmaking both as a business and as an art form. He knew what it took to make a film commercially successful (thus appeasing the studio) but also how to be meticulous about the technical and creative facets. With that in mind, it is clear to understand why The Nutty Professor is one of his most successful and enduring films. The story is a relatively simple Jekyll and Hyde plot in which awkward chemistry professor Julius F. Kelp creates a concoction that transforms him into the suave yet discourteous Buddy Love, in order to romance beautiful Stella Purdy. The film features stunning technicolor work, absurd visual and auditory gags, and wonderful costume design by Edith Head. In many ways, it serves as one of the most pertinent examples of how a director’s very intentional vision can result in a unique and inimitable picture.

One of the things that fascinates me the most about The Nutty Professor is the dichotomy of Professor Kelp versus Buddy Love, a lot of which has to do with Jerry Lewis himself. Throughout his earliest nightclub performances with Dean Martin, their numerous appearances on The Colgate Comedy Hour, and the sixteen films they made together, Lewis had particular ways of subverting gender conformity. Often, the purpose of his hyperactive and sometimes feminine persona was to reinforce Dean Martin’s masculinity. Of course, in many sketches Jerry is explicitly playing the role of a woman, but more generally his persona was unpredictable and uninhibited. For example, when Martin and Lewis appeared on a telethon in June of 1952, Jerry entered the stage by running and jumping into the arms of Bob Hope and ‘kissing’ all over his face. By comparison, Dean had a far more relaxed entrance, demonstrating him as the ‘normal’ half of the duo. Not only that, but by default he is being positioned as the relaxed, masculine ideal. Jerry’s onstage characters commonly lack restraint and seem to have no pretenses regarding how a man is ‘supposed’ to act.

This sets the foundation to examine the ways in which Lewis’ characters perform masculinity in the absence of Dean Martin. As his career evolved, so too did the complexity of the personalities Jerry portrayed on screen. Professor Kelp is timid, shy, and prone to causing explosions in his classroom. Buddy Love is rude with an overwhelming ego, but still irresistible to the men and women around him. While many have speculated that Buddy Love is an amalgamation of the Rat Pack or specifically an imitation of Dean Martin, I would suggest that Kelp and Love are different facets of Jerry Lewis. He hinted as much in 1971 when he wrote of the character, “…I was playing a dirty, lousy bastard…How do I know so well how to be a heel? Was I leaning to a side of me that really existed? Certainly I was. There was truth in him. It was also in me” (page 62). On that note, I believe this helps illustrate why it was important to Lewis to have control over his pictures—he had very specific ideas as a director and felt that he was the only person who could bring his vision to fruition (in the case of The Nutty Professor, he was the writer, director, and star).

[make-a-little-mischief]

A Celebration of THE NUTTY PROFESSOR in 4K

Part 2

[checkoutmybookshelf]

You Tag Me Before I Tag You, and You're In. No Questions Asked.

Before we get into Artemis Fowl: The Atlantis Complex, we need to take a small detour into one of the few Fowl Short stories. Before we continue to Artemis's saga, we need to spend a little time with the Root brothers. The Artemis Fowl Files is technically two short stories and a bunch of miscellaneous worldbuilding and activites--it's a kids book, you guys--but we're going to just focus on one of the stories. Let's talk "LEPrecon."

As always, SPOILERS ABOUND below the break, so if you're not caught up on the whole Artemis Fowl series and the short stories, catch up first, then read this.

Content Warning: Arachnaphobes might want to skip this post and this book, because there are scary AF spiders, and I will be talking about them.

We're all very familiar with--and love despite his grumplestiltskin nature and low-key sexism--LEP Commander Julius Root. We're also very familiar with Captain Holly Short, first female elf to make the Reconaissance Squad, or LEPrecon. What we are less familiar with are a) How Holly got herself on recon, and b) Commander Root's dickhead older brother. This short work gives us the story of Holly's recon initiation and introduces us to criminal mastermind wanna-be Captain Turnball Root.

Y'all know that I love Opal Koboi. Well, Turnball makes me sad. Not because he's not a good villain--he is--but because his entire cat-and-mouse game with Julius is sad and it gives Julius the big sad. The TLDR on Turnball is that he was using his position as an LEP Captain to run a smuggling ring and Julius caught him with his finger on the button of a massive explosion that would have wiped out half of Haven. Julius couldn't shoot his own brother, so Turnball escaped and the two have been cat-and-mousing for 500 years.

So when Turnball shows up on the Tern Islands to fuck up Holly's initiation and strip Julius of his magic--and thereby his life, because the LEP does not employ magic-less fairies--the heartbreaking thing is not so much Turnball himself as Turnball's effect of Julius. Julius goes from the most possibly exhausted "not this shit again" to "god I wish I could just hug it out with my brother and make everything ok" to "you threatened my officers, look in my eyes and tell me I won't pull this trigger." And yet, none of that prevents Julius from instantly going for the coffee grounds when his big brother swallows a tunnel blue spider.

SIDEBAR: Holy shit Colfer, did you HAVE to stick a carnivorous spider with claws sharp enough to cut air that is small enough to TIP DOWN SOMEONE'S THROAT in the path of an utter psychopath like Turnball goddamn Root??? I was not ike...thrilled with spiders before I read this short story, and the fact that tunnel blue spiders are Turnball's favorite way of torturing and murdering other elves was NOT COMFORTING.

So yeah, Julius didn't hesitate to use the coffee grounds to stop the tunnel blue spider's heart and save his brother's life. This relationship is hard for both brothers, and the tragic thing is that not only do they both know its hard but they also can't seem to break the pattern.

Now, what does this have to do with Holly? Well, it's her initiation into recon that Turnball completely fucks up to get to Julius. The rules for the initiation are that the rookie and a senior officer (Holly and Julius, respectively, in this case) go hunting for each other. The rookie has zero resources and the senior officer has a full arsenal. Typically, these initiations are recorded and reviewed, and candidates may or may not be promoted to recon based on the review. There is, however, a loophole: If the rookie tags (with a paintball gun) the senior officer before getting tagged themself, then they skip the review process and are in, no questions asked.

Despite fully managing to pull both Julius Root's and Trouble Kelp's bacon out of the fire and successfully facilitating the arrest of Turnball and his two accomplices, Holly is basically told that she isn't trustworthy enough to be in recon. She did have to disobey a set of direct orders and demonlish a human house to rescue her people, but JULIUS, COME ON. And yet, we know that Holly is a member of recon. So what gives?

In the ballsy-est move I think I have ever seen, when she is asked if there is anything she can do to prove that she's trustworthy, she shoots Julius in the chest with her painball gun three times.

*stands up. Applauds.*

Hell yes, Holly.

So overall, I'm not generally a big short story girl; I tend to prefer longofrm storytelling, or at least a novella. That said, I thoroughly did love this short story. I thought it was a nice addition to Holly and Root's relationship, and I think it does a wonderful job of setting up Turnball for his role in The Atlantis Complex.

[technicolor-times]

Professor Julius F Kelp

The nutty professor (1963)

[ionlymadethissoicouldleaveanask]

The Mudman Masterpost

I actually found something halfway pinworthy for this silly adventure. Anyhow. Below are the links to the various stories I have for my Artemis Fowl/The Mummy AU which I have titled The Mudman (a very silly endeavor developed after a conversation with @weeinterpreter and subsequently enabled by a whole bunch of you lovely people who indulge in my ridiculousness, particularly @makowrites and @thefinaljediknight).

I'll try to update the list as I write and keep the snippets in (roughly) chronological order, but I really can't make any promises because my brain is like a bag of cats.

Anyway. Here goes.

Sand

Invitation

Port

River

Hunger

And also this art from @valhelos that you really need to see because it's gorgeous.

[irunaki]

lol