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What are you watching? Readers recommend 'Parks and Recreation,' 'The Princess Bride'

Monitor TV and movie fans share what they've been watching lately.

  • By Monitor readers

I recently binged the NBC comedy Parks and Recreation, which stars Amy Poehler, again on Netflix. It’s a good comedy, and Ron Swanson (Nick Offerman) is my spirit animal. – Garrett Holcombe, Canton, Ga.

My favorite comedy film is Young Frankenstein, starring Gene Wilder. My sister and I had a VHS tape of the movie in high school, and we watched it repeatedly. We would use all of the classic lines as our secret code, which would set off laughter while our parents were completely clueless. A favorite was “Actually, it’s I-gor.”

– Alison Hawley Johnston, Menlo Park, Calif.

My favorite comedy movies are The Blues Brothers, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and Blazing Saddles. All three of those movies have a strong absurdist quality yet at the same time rely on stories we already are familiar with. “The Blues Brothers” does this not with a familiar story but with familiar music, since it features performances from artists including Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, and James Brown.

– Shawn Farmer, St. Louis

I think The Princess Bride is an example of a great adaptation for a film. The movie adaptation of “The Princess Bride” is very true to the book by William Goldman. Most of the dialogue is right out of the book, with no putting other people’s words in the characters’ mouths, and the look of the characters is very close to the descriptions in the book. They did not try to tell the subtle, internal, thought-based plotlines, just the surface story, which is an excellent adventure fairy tale and stands alone. And on top of that, they made a really good movie – a piece of entertainment that does not take itself too seriously, with a cast of actors (including Cary Elwes, Robin Wright, and Mandy Patinkin) who created believable characters, and direction and editing so good as to be unnoticeable. That’s why I can still go back and read the book without having discordant visions from the movie clomp through my brain like an ROUS (rodent of unusual size, of course).

– Sue Kolbe Ingerman Wallace, Vancouver, Wash.

For a favorite comedy film, there are a few classics, but Airplane is still the best. 

– Jeff Richter, Detroit

What are you watching? Write and tell us at whatareyouwatching@csmonitor.com.

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