Now that's Comedy

Mr. Plinkett Hates the New Star Trek

2010-09-01T19:14:00.005-04:00

Hate might be a strong word. Even stronger considering I haven't watched the review yet. But, in efforts to be topical, I just wanted to give you the heads up about the new reviews.

RedLetterMedia has already done a review of Star Trek, but I imagine this one is a little more thorough, you know, the hour plus long thorough that we've grown accustomed to with his reviews.

Jump for the videos.

Part 2!

Here's hoping there's less rape. Feels weird to type that. That's typically my normal attitude.

Hey, did I ever tell you about the Baby's Day Out review? Yeah, I didn't remember it was a movie either.

Scott Pilgrim: Good, also: Not Sexist

2010-08-31T18:55:00.023-04:00

I'm late, because of the new job, but still!, I got something to get off my chest. I'm not angry, just not so sure what all the fuss is about with Scott Pilgrim.

I saw the movie a week or two ago, at a non-franchise theatre because it was no longer playing in any major theatre in my city for whatever reason. I went in with some serious trepidation. SP had been getting some mediocre reviews, and many critics had taken issue with the whole women as objects to be won thing. First the vote, then they want to be treated like people in cinema. Which actually strikes me as funny because this issue doesn't come up when almost every other film centers on a male character fighting for a woman whom improves his life/solves all his personal issues. But whatever.

I watched the lil' fucker though and I came out damn impressed. My favourite movie of the year impressed. I saw multiple articles on the possible reasons for its failure, and I can see the whole, a movie for hipsters thing issue. The movie is for people that are nostalgic for 8-bit, and who are also twenty something. I'm sorry, but that is not a real demographic outside of nerds and hipsters.

I saw some people posting on boards that the movie isn't about hipsters because it makes fun of hipsters. You know what is the favourite past times of hipsters? Making fun of other hipsters. ESPECIALLY scene kids. This movie is for and about hipsters.

Okay, so I get that this is a small audience, and so this probably didn't help the movie's numbers at all. I mean, when I was watching the trailers for this movie, it looked like it was going to be fantastic and I couldn't imagine anyone not wanting to see this film. I guess that's because it was made for me. Too bad I don't have more friends. Who cares though, this movie will get lots of love on DVD and its not like Edgar Wright is going to stop making movies.

Another issue is the backlash against Cera. I can't speak to this issue because I'm an ardent defender of the boy and I only wish he was in better films. Yes, he often plays similar characters, as does Bill Murray, George Clooney, and for heaven's sake Robert Fucking DeNiro. But I digress. I think he plays a different character in SP. A teenager who is over-confident, weak, and a bit of a prick, instead of just the nervous, shy, and all around nice boy around the corner who has a crush on his cousin, maybe. But that doesn't matter, ppls is haters. But check out Youth in Revolt if you want to see some funny non-Michael-Cera-ish Michael Cera.

But, onto the women thing. Some critics took issue with how the film sets up Scott Pilgrim as the boy that finds a girl that fixes his world and that he has to fight to obtain. From the appearance of the film, that would seem to be the structure of the plot, and indeed a fear that I went to the theatre with, but one however that is severely complicated by the actual film. Both Romana and Knives are strong female characters, with Romana in particular with a complicated past that makes her getting together with Pilgrim more complex than a forever-after (in the rom-com sense) ending. They have complicated pasts and those interfere with the relationship.

Indeed, the film is, in some sense, in some slight spoilery sense, a movie about the problems of past relationships on new ones, and the troubles of becoming a person outside of those, in this case, past mistakes, and really about entering into relationships that are automatically complicated by the unavoidable baggage that everyone comes burdened with. SP just handles these complex issues in terms of videogame fight sequences. Metaphors people! Metaphors.

Screw it all though. SP is a movie made for me, and I enjoyed the shit out of it. I think if you like Wright's previous films, or if you have a fond spot in your heart for classic games but you still consider yourself a younger member of your society, you'll probably like this movie as well. And if you don't, then this movie wasn't for you.

I'm trying to actually place the reference for that reference. This movie wasn't for you. I think someone said something douchey like that once to excuse his or her shitty artistry. Hmm.

Truck, truck, truck!

Fiddy Twitter, Voiced

2010-08-28T14:40:00.004-04:00

Well obviously someone made a movie of Fiddy's twitter posts. I'm sure there's a reason this video was made, and I'm sure there's a reason why it's a fake conversation between Fiddy and Rain Wilson, but I don't care. What I do care about is laughter. Your laughter.

You're welcome. Also, thank you Boing Boing. You bring me so many random joys.

I'm with Team Evil

2010-08-27T01:15:00.002-04:00

I haven't posted anything about Daily Show in a bit. I've shown restraint? Also possible I haven't felt pressed by those shining moments.

Well, Monday's segment gets filed under those spectacular moments.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

The Parent Company Trap

www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show Full Episodes

Political Humor

Tea Party

Canadian link.

Mind blowing stuff. TDS succinctly sums it up though, either unfathomably stupid or inhumanly evil.

Potatoes with mouths.

More Rap Twitter Comedy

2010-08-27T01:05:00.005-04:00

Are all super star rappers' Twitter accounts this entertaining? I mean, Kanye is funny, but then I read some Fiddy excerpts on Boing Boing.

Realistically, I bet I'm safe.

TT: Danny Glover is Ahab for Dragons

2010-08-24T13:42:00.004-04:00

If you watch the below trailer you will see a few strange things. Danny Glover as a crazy old man obsessed with killing a dragon, that this movie is based on Moby Dick, and that this sort of combination requires both hard rock and Vinnie Jones.

There are various things that puzzle me about this movie.

First, does it take place in the future? If so, is it vying for the greatly sought after title of best futuristic dragon movie, previously held by Reign of Fire.
Secondly, does this movie take place in some alternate universe where the Tenenbaum family gets eaten by a white dragon, and Henry Sherman must avenge their murderer/consumer? If so, why is Pagoda not helping?
Most obviously, Moby Dick with dragons? Moby Dick by Herman Melville? How, in God's good greatness, did this get made? Unless it was all Danny Glover's idea, this all seems like one of those joke movies you see in other movies, like Snake on a Plane.
What's with dragons and hard rock? Just off the top of my head:
1. Reign of Fire/Mad at Gravity
2. Dragon Age Trailer, and let's not talk about the advertising/credits song
3. Trogdor

Is this Dragonforce's fault?

THATCHED ROOF COTTAGES!

Christian Onions

2010-08-19T13:22:00.005-04:00

Been busy this week after starting the new "job", and with the strange hours I've been a negligent blogpanion. Apologies my blogpartners.

Anywhoo...!, Meg showed me this article that she found on some dude's facebook: "Is My Husband GAY?" ChristWire lists several good signs to spot a homohubby

4) Overly fastidious about his appearance and the home
Natural men have a certain amount of grit about them. They sweat and they smell. Homosexuals often abhor this sort of thing and will also be incredibly particular about the cleanliness of the home. Does your man tweeze his eyebrows, trim his pubic hairs or use face moisturizers? Is he picky about brand name shampoos? Does he spend more time getting ready for a night out than you do?
...
13) Extroverted about his bare chest in public
Does he go shirtless in the back yard or at picnics when other men are around? Does he wear a speedo at the beach? Does it seem like he’s purposely standing right in the middle of a crowd to show off his chest and arm muscles, peppering people with questions about how strong he looks? He may be craving physical affirmation from other men and desperately looking for hints of shared desires in those around him.

You can read the rest here, and I highly recommend you do so, it is highly enjoyable.

What the issue was however, is that after reading the article, it seemed too ridiculous to be straight (har har). I read it at first thinking it was serious, but the bordering on satirical tone made me wonder if this was a joke. Then I read the writer's profile: "Stephenson Billings is an Investigative Journalist, Motivational Children's Party Entertainer and Antique Soda Bottle Collector all in one special, blessed package!"

Hmm. And so yeah, heading to the main site I saw this image capture

Yeah, joke site.

It's unfortunate that the site isn't serious, I mean it loses some of the superiority humour element, but whatever, as a christian Onion, I think it will amuse me greatly.

I haven't read much so maybe it's not so hilarious but I'm going to be hopeful dammit!

"Excuse me, are you the Judean People's Front?"
"Fuck off! We're the People's Front of Judea!"

Darjeeling Limited Finally gets a Decent DVD Release

2010-08-11T22:18:00.006-04:00

I have to say, I love The Darjeeling Limited. I don't understand why it gets so much hate. I know people started to slag Wes Anderson off about the time he came out with this movie. All the critics wrote it off because it was just another Wes Anderson movie for people that like Wes Anderson movies. Well, I do and so I don't see anything wrong with it.

That said, I found something very wrong with its DVD release. It contained nothing of interest--especially a commentary track. Anderson commentary tracks are always informative and entertaining and when I found out Darjeeling on DVD wasn't going to have one (or anything of real substance I decided not to buy because I knew eventually they'd put out a better edition. Fast forward to now, and they're FINALLY releasing a Criterion Collection edition of the movie.

Above is the lovely cover art which seems to want to make up for the minimalist cover design for the Criterion Collection edition of Life Aquatic. Anderson movies are full of details, so I have nothing against a detail laden cover, especially when it features Adrian Brody, whose performance really steals the movie (skip to 5:00).

And yeah, the commentary has Anderson and co-writers Jason Schwartzman and Roman Coppola. For the rest of the features hit up The Rushmore Academy.

Did you just fuck that Indian girl? Sweet Lime.

Cera and Schwartzman Confuse Atlanta

2010-08-11T11:37:00.007-04:00

For some reason, Cera and Schwartzman ended up on Atlanta Fox News doing the weather. Schwartzman tries to actually read the stuff behind him while Cera just looks like he's on an local news fueled acid trip. Oh, at some point I think somebody off screen says something about Scott Pilgrim.

Considering the other interview I saw with the two where Zach Galifianakis just walks in, I imagine the marketing department for Scott Pilgrim is reconsidering the focus of the pair's promotional outings. Either that or they told them to just go out and fuck around.

Lesbians?

Tarantino Doesn't Work at Disney for a Reason

2010-08-09T11:19:00.006-04:00

Well it looks like one of those days, an aggregate sort of day.

I saw this clip on /Film and quite enjoyed it. Ironically enough, Meg is presently playing Kingdom Hearts, so this doesn't even seem at all random at the moment. NSFW btw.

I never really cared for Mickey anyways, and we all know that you don't try to fuck Marsellus Wallace like a bitch.

That first moment when Samuel L. Jackson speaks as Donald Duck might be the funniest thing I'll see all week. Here's to looking down.

This is a tasty burger.

The More You Know: Graboid Edition

2010-08-09T10:56:00.003-04:00

Wow, I never thought I'd get to use the Tremor tag again but here we are. The below video is an educational wildlife video on the graboid species. It contains information that, sadly having seen much of what counts for Graboid cannon, was ignorant of, meaning I wasn't paying close enough attention to some of those terrible movies/episodes, or they're just making shit up.

Which I'm completely cool with. The more I know about graboids, the safer I am when venturing into the harsh cruel outside world.

Enjoy:

Monstrous Wildlife from Frank Robnik on Vimeo.

telegram...

The Switch, Funniest Rape-Com of the Year

2010-08-09T01:21:00.002-04:00

At least I suspect it is, I haven't done much research into the area *pulls collar away from neck and makes comedy noise*, but let's go ahead and say it's a valid claim.

So, Meg and I were waiting for a movie with a friend, bitching about whatever us MA lit-students bitch about (Mexicans), casually glancing at the multitude of TVs scattered throughout the lobby playing the same cycle of seven trailers interspersed with Skittles commercials ("blue is back!"), when our friend asks Meg, "do you think this is rape?" gesturing at the screen. We watched:

Did you catch the rape? Neither did I at first, but Meg thinks about it for a second and says "yes.". The issue is essentially: Anniston plans to get pregnant and Bateman spills the sample from the man she had actually selected and then, just as a quick and easy solution because what's it really matter, fills the thinger with his own *ahem* sample. He essentially inseminates her without her knowledge/consent."

At first I didn't buy it. Rape is violent and physical. The dude may be a dumb douche for doing what he does, but that doesn't mean he rapes her... does it? This is just some neo-feminist poppycock construing this bad thing as the extreme worst as a necessity of its politics-ideology... right?

But it is rape. He impregnates her without consent. While it may not be the violent form of rape we all know and abhor, it certainly falls under the same category. And what's strange, is that this movie uses this sort of thing casually, as a madcap rom-com premise. It's like if the setup was Bateman killing Aniston's mother, and through the investigation their initial antagonistic relationship blossoms into Hollywood love. I just don't get it.

I haven't seen the movie, and I probably won't, so maybe I'm wrong and the film deals with the severity of the issue, but from the trailer it looks like a typical rom-com. My projected plot is the initial "switch", then flash forward to when the kid's older and Bateman meets the kid and feels like he wants to be a part of his life. Then, when the Anniston finally finds out, she's pissed but eventually gets over it because she loves her son so much and wouldn't want him to be any different. This would and be how she falls in love with Bateman, she would recognize the qualities she sees in her son in Bateman (like the apparent ability to think quick on his feet).

I seriously don't know why either Bateman or Goldbloom are in this stupid movie. I do expect better of both of them. I mean there are paydays and then there are bad movie concepts, and this is the exemplar of the latter.

I just hope my titular prediction is correct and that I'm not forced to swallow my words when Sam Worthington and Katherine Heigl star in Once Upon a Time in a Dark Alley.

Co-starring Zach Galifianakis and Queen Latifah.

Yogi Bear is Probably not a Pedophile

2010-08-06T11:58:00.005-04:00

Just a guess.

Alright, /Film is having a little fun with the new Yogi Bear poster. Take a look:

You can click to make it larger... if you want...

But yeah, I don't see the pedophile thing. Granted, the poster is CREEPY AS FUCK, but I don't immediately get the sense that Yogi Bear is having sex with his lil buddy. /Film points to the positioning, the expressions, and the tagline "Great things come in bears", as proof of the entendreness. I guess I can see it if I'm trying, like squinting at one of those bullshit 3D images, but I think all we got here is terrible poster design, with closeups of already terrible character designs and a really stupid pun.

Seriously, how far do you have to stretch to get "great things" = Yogi's penis, "come" = ejaculate, and "in bears" = Boo Boo? Strangely enough, the article says nothing of the "coming soon" thing, which I personally think is funnier than the tagline when read in the dirty sense.

Fuck, who cares about Yogi Bear enough to post about it twice. Christ almighty.

Those eyes are going to haunt me.

All the Pilgrim Promotional Material You'll Need to See

2010-08-05T18:34:00.005-04:00

Update: So that cool trailer is also pretty frickin annoying just sitting on the page playing its little title screen music. It's now after a jump.

Some weird and new fangled sort of trailer came out for the forthcoming Scott Pilgrim vs The World. It certainly is an interesting new take on trailers and seems to fit in well with the flavour of the movie, but kwiest is the beep noise that sounds every time you activate a feature annoying as hell. I think it's almost worth turning off the sound entirely so you can't hear it. I didn't though, because I wanted to hear the soothing cadences of Cera's voice as he says "Lesbians?".

I'm feeling a little weird about this movie. I love Edgar Wright and his first two movies, but every movie I've seen this year has been a disappointment. I mean, Inception was pretty good, but it could have been better/made more logical sense internally, Clash of the Titans was painful, Iron Man 2 was poo poodiocre, and Toy Story 3 was Toy Story 2 redux. I actually didn't mind Predators, but that was because I went in with fairly low expectations.

Anyways!, the point: I'm worried this movie, too, is going to disappoint me. I've been anticipating it for a while, but I feel like it has been over saturated (even though I've avoided watching a lot of the content out there, I feel like I've seen too much). The flick has no where to go but down in terms of expectations.

Cool trailer thinger though, eh?

Lesbians?

A Beautiful Springtime Sentiment

2010-08-04T22:00:00.006-04:00

I know, it seems like all I do nowadays is post things that I read on other sites. And what would it be to you anyways. Huh? Jerk.

Belligerence aside, here's some funny:

Do a roundhouse!

My Favourite Thing I've Read Today

2010-08-04T14:44:00.003-04:00

From an io9 roundup of this week's comics.

In this issue, the British mycological Supergod Morrigan Lugus (who has the fungal power to make people spontaneously masturbate, not making this up) squares off against India's bio-computer Krishna.

Enough said. The full context doesn't really help but it's here if you want it.

Kanye + Twitter(New Yorker Humour) = Actual Humour

2010-08-03T20:13:00.006-04:00

Apparently Kanye just got on twitter. A) Who gives two fucks, but B) someone took some of his tweets and made them captions for New Yorker comics.

Link to the collection.

via Boing Boing.

The New Yorker is stealing my ideas.

TT: Yogi Bear and the Worst Idea of the Last Decade

2010-08-03T15:35:00.003-04:00

Okay, they're making a Yogi Bear movie. Why you ask? Well, it's beyond both me and common sense (I asked her). To make matters worse it also is going to be one of those mixed live-action CGI deals, so it's going to look like ass in terms of both visuals and art direction.

The director has second unit directed a bunch of movies I hate, done special effects for a list of movies I didn't care to read, and has most notably directed on his own an unknown amount of Xena: The Warrior Princess episodes.

There are a bunch of odd things about the movie though that could go either way, but that I'd put a great deal of money on going the wrong (worst) way.

First, Dan Akroyd is doing the voice for Yogi Bear. Part of me wonders if they hired him solely because he looks like Yogi himself. This is of course a mistake when all he's lending the film is his voice. Also, Justin Timberlake is Boo Boo, which is really really weird but not necessarily damning. Then rounding out the cast is Tom Cavanagh as the ranger and Anna Faris as what I assume is the token female love interest Yogi will embarrass Cavanagh in front of.

While I don't mind Cavanagh, I'm not sure I know anyone else that feels the same--every one seems to hate the guy. And while Faris isn't my favourite actresses, I've really only seen her in Scary Movie so... that was a while ago admittedly.

Oh, also in the cast are Nathan Corddry and Andrew Daly, a pair of potentially funny nobodies that could steal the show, or just be terrible set dressing for Dan Akroyd's set chewing.

Trailer, if you dare:

So, we're all agreed this looks terrible right? Can they just stop making it now? What bugs me is how Akroyd essentially sounds like he's doing a terrible Rodney Dangerfield impression (no respect even in death, yeesh), which isn't really what Yogi Bear sounds like.

Seriously, just scrap what you already have and start in with both Yogi and Boo Boo as Akroyd and Timberlake themselves. I'm not even sure if they need costumes. You can use the same script and footage you've already shot with the rest of the cast, plus be able to save on all that expensive CGI. I'd see this movie with just the two of those dudes running around the forest doing the hardest to ACT those characters. It'd be nice and surreal, also the only reason anyone would see this movie.

FYI: Homosexual Savagery

2010-07-29T22:42:00.004-04:00

Jason Jones did a great segment on a don't ask don't tell purporter. Though the topic is fairly obvious at this point. Obviously homosexuals should be able to fight in the military, thinking otherwise has zero reasons other than biggotry (yes, it is), but the guy in the interview has some really ridiculous claims about history and so the segment ends up fairly entertaining. Jones also does a good job of hitting the guy with some fairly obvious and damning questions-counterpoints.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

Gay Reichs

www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show Full Episodes

Political Humor

Tea Party

Canadian link.

You know what, I've heard gay people refer to themselves as savage before, but I think they meant it, well, in a gayer way. (Hey, David)

More savage than natural men.

Signs of Life

2010-07-28T23:11:00.005-04:00

Wow, it's been a while. School is wrapping up quickly, with lots and lots of work to do, and I'm on the hunt for a job (if you know anyone looking for a wise-ass blogger send me an email), so I've been shitty with the blog.
I've collected a few things over the last bit that I thought I could post about but never got around to it. So how about I do just a quick rundown.

The Bechdel Test - I didn't need a test to tell me that Hollywood is male centric, but this test is a fairly damning and practical way to think about women in movies.
That South Park death threaten-er got arrested for being stupid in front of an FBI agent apparently. I hope some people greet him kindly when he gets to prison.
Um:Quick, someone get him some honey before he joins the new Avengers movie (perhaps a Mary Sue for Whedon ...)
Moreover:Darth Vader in a Wes Anderson flick.
And finally, though not directly related to humour, Glenn Beck hate is as good as chuckles around here so... go fuck yourself Beck.

Also, apparently Jon Stewart has a beard. Rub it in Stewart. Rub it in.

props Boing Boing for many of these list items.

Futurama on the Radio

2010-07-17T00:25:00.003-04:00

Or well just Billy West, who is half of Futurama on his own really.

West appeared on Fresh Air this week and talked a little about how he created many of his Futurama voices. It's interesting to hear him talk about how he creates his voices, and how he thinks about voice acting. His explanations for Zoidburg and Zap are pretty funny, and I'm pretty impressed to learn that he does all the voices live when they record, so really sometimes he just sits with a mic in front of him and talk with himself.

Here's the link to stream or download.

Simpson Infographic

2010-07-13T15:23:00.002-04:00

Seems like these infographics are all the rage nowadays. Here's one for the Simpsons. My take away: voice actors are pimps, especially Azaria, Shearer, and Castellaneta, and that Lisa isn't pulling her weight.

I'd love to see a Futurama one, but then it would only be Billy West.

via /Film

TT: Schmucks and Guns

2010-07-13T14:30:00.004-04:00

So Steve Carell and Paul Rudd have teamed up for another comedy, this time Carell playing the supporting role. I don't know if this represents their respective careers, Rudd on the way up after a couple of well received flicks, and Carell on his way down after a series of poorly received films, but it looks like it puts both actors in back in their comfort zones. Rudd gets to play the nice and wise ass straight man and Carell gets to the be the clueless/harmless weirdo.

Dinner for Schmucks is apparently a remake of some Swedish film, which is based of some play. I know some of that information is wrong (particularly the Swedish part) but I can't find the correct information in the 3 minutes I was willing to look for it. The trailer makes the film look pretty funny if not emotionally/narratively predictable. Really though, Carell and Rudd are enough for me to buy in.

The second trailer does not inspire as much confidence in me as the first. It's for the generic sounding Operation: Endgame which stars a bunch of people, most notably Rob Corddry, Jeffrey Tambor, and Zach Galifianakis. It's also straight to DVD, which is usually a bad sign.

/Film talks about the possible reasons why, from mediocre movie to movie company politics. Whyever, it looks like something I'll try but won't be disappointed if it blows. I've embedded the red band trailer so it's NSFW, but here's the link to the green band trailer.

Corddry seems like the standout performance in this. To me, he's always had a mean streak in his comedy and so this sort of role, where he needs to actually seem dangerous, might be just the right opportunity for his particular brand of charisma.

On a final side note, did you notice Galifianakis is in both trailers, indeed is in 60% of comedy trailers nowadays. I think Galifianakis is a funny guy, but I think he's running the risk of over-exposing himself. Notice how people react to Michael Cera or Seth Rogen nowadays? We'll see.

My Elevator

2010-07-12T18:55:00.005-04:00

Hey. I had to write a"scenerio" last week for one of my classes. Essentially the assignment was meant to help us explore imaginary users for devices we plan to re-engineer in terms of sound interaction. I wrote my "scenerio" with a certain lack of seriousness because a) I'm a bit (?) of a wanker and b) because I may be incapable of taking anything seriously.

Anyways, I think you might find at least one of my jokes funny if you actually enjoy reading my blog.

After the jump.

Mark checks his mail. Pizza flyer. He never gets flyers from the place where he actually orders his pizza. Probably because they aren’t an international pizza conglomerate, like mom used to run.

He presses the flyer through the trash lid and glimpses dozens more inside.

At the elevators, he presses the up button. He looks at the floor indicator above each elevator and sees the left displays a “1” and the right a “7”. Moving in front of the left elevator, expecting it to open in reaction to his button press, he looks the fool. The left elevator doors remains closed as the number above the right floor indicator begins to decrease.

It does that sometimes.

The right floor indicator reaches “1” and the door opens. The left door never even pretends to open. Which is rude.

Mark enters the right elevator. Of the pair, it has the second set of doors that open to the loading/sticky garbage area. Sometime people throw out couches in this area, which is rude. This elevator, unlike the left, also beeps.

The doors close after Mark presses the button marked “11”. The elevator hums as it begins its ascent. Not to use sound clichés (are all onomatopoeia clichés?), but that’s what the elevator does; it hums as it moves.

But the humming is nothing. Mark accepts the humming. Indeed to not expect humming might be a little presumptuous. Anyways, as the elevator reaches the second floor the speaker beeps. And not a subtle beep, or a pleasant beep, the little speaker produces a harsh and sharp beep, just to let you know, you know, that you’ve passed the second floor. And the elevator offers this notification every floor.

I don’t know why the elevator thinks Mark, or anyone else for that matter, needs to know that s/he has passed the second floor, or each floor. Really, anyone only needs to know when they’ve reached their particular floor. Beeping every floor is like a tour guide that only honks the horn as s/he drives passed every site of importance.

The irritating quality of this ticker is only one of the myriad beautiful sounds this elevator can provide. Also for your listening pleasure:

A rapid (approx once every 2/3 of a second) beepdicator to inform you that the elevator door cannot close. This usually occurs because you are holding the door back to prevent it from crushing a newborn child, or because you are holding the “open door” button while you wait for your significant other to grab her zune in the apartment and god forbid she go anywhere without the ability to listen to the new Drake album.
A (again) harsh ringing tone that sounds when you hit the help button. Which you do, often, because it’s located right above the “close door” button, and is actually where the “close door” button is located in the other elevator.

As mark rides the noise machine up through the series of floors, he listens as the elevator gleefully sounds its beep at each floor. Again, Mark concentrates on the rhythm, struggling to determine whether the rhythm is indeed arhythmical as he believes. It could simply be the maddening force of the oppressive beeps that has distorted his sense of reality/sense of rhythm so that he merely perceives the series of beeps as irregular, but he swears (pinky) that the beeps are not perfectly rhythmic. He’s certain something’s off. Well, at least certain that the beep on floor seven is a micromoment shorter than the rest.

The elevator reaches the eleventh floor, the top floor of the building, the floor which maximizes both the time Mark needs to spend in an elevator to reach his apartment, and, crucially, the number of (possibly) arhythmical beeps he must suffer.

He exits the elevator and hopes to get lefty next time.

Now that's Comedy makes a Porno(?)

2010-07-10T11:38:00.005-04:00

Alright, so I guess a notch down the narcissistic ladder from googling oneself would be typing in your name.com. Well because I'm not a narcissist (hahahaha) instead I typed in www.nowthatscomedy.com into my address bar.

And there's fairly logical reasons to do so. Really, registering websites isn't too expensive and I could force myself to take this seriously if I had to plop down $17 to "purchase" the real domain to my blog title.

But someone already owns www.nowthatscomedy.com. Go ahead, you can try it if you want. It's not nsfw, but it comes awfully close. Indeed, www.nowthatscomedy.com redirects, promptly, to www.hotmoviechicks.com. Which is rude.

There are a few strange things about this:

Why does hotmoviechicks.com need to own the domain nowthatscomedy.com? Are there a lot of people trying to get to hotmoviechicks.com and making a few typos? Like hotmale.com? Are they trying to provide a service to their users? Or! are they trying to capture poor url adventurers with a wide net of multiple urls that all direct to their XXX service?
The website defies expectations a little in that there are no poorly photoshopped-topless Jessica Alba assaults you upon immediate load. Nor is there any nudity really. However, what is on display seems a thin pretense of non-porn, but seems to indicate, purposefully, that here be porn. It's sort of like some of the advertising on torrent sites. The not-necessarily-porn banners that everyone knows, if they aren't fooling themselves, are porn adverts.

The real problem with this new site is not that loyal followers of this blog (heh heh) will accidentally stumble upon titillating images of hollywood's moneyshots, but that it now pops up every time I begin to type in hotmail.com. It makes me feel/look the skeeve. And I don't appreciate that porno site. Not one bit.

See me later ;)

P.S. Both nowthatscomedy.ca and [...].org seem to be safe. For now.

P.P.S. I looked up cameronwalker.com because of what I wrote earlier. I was protected by my computer from an unsafe website. Either my computer is being overzealous in its attempts to protect me, or that cameronwalker.com, like its namesake, is one bad muthafucka.

The Force is Strong in these Directions

2010-07-09T09:07:00.003-04:00

I'm a sucker for these stupid Star Wars GPS commercials. I laughed embarrassingly long at the first Darth Vader video (roundabound!) and this morning I saw a new Yoda video. I convinced myself before watching it that the first video was just a fluke and that I'd roll my eyes at this new video's lame pandering and become irritated as these videos continued to hit the YouTubes.

But I didn't. I laughed heartily at the pandering. Whatever, I can laugh if I want to.

A) He says roundabound!
B) I always loved the Yoda's first appearance in Empire, when he was a crazy hermit, and so this little video warmed the cockles of my laugh heart.

Dagobah!

The Bicycle Thief: William Shatner

2010-07-07T19:17:00.004-04:00

I give a lot of love (love is the same as hate right?) to Star Wars here at Now that's Comedy, but Star Trek can be just as funny. I mean, had I been blogging at the time, I would have loved to post about Patrick Stewart's appearance on Extras, and William Shatner is always a source of amusement (how can you hate a man that embraces his own self as a self parody?).

But I digress, the point is this funny video with Nimoy and Shatner at some (possibly) 70's con wherein Nimoy attempts to prove, through anecdotal evidence, that Shatner is not a nice man.

I like when Shatner tries to bite Nimoy's ear. Or kiss it. Whatever he was planning on doing, I'm sure it was better for us all that he stopped.

Bam, first Star Trek tag.

Hot Tub Time Machine v. Casual Sexism

2010-07-07T14:12:00.002-04:00

So, Hot Tub Time Machine. I first heard about this movie on /Film, when all that was knew about the film was the name of the film (and subsequently a little about what the film was about) and who was in it. The title alone had my interest, the shear absurdity of the main conceit tickled me, and the pedigree in terms of casting helped a lot. High Fidelity is a favourite for me, so I knew John Cusack could do comedy, Rob Corddry was always decent, if not charismatic, on the Daily Show, Craig Robinson gets some of the best jokes in The Daily Show, and Clarke Duke was great in the relatively unknown (web?) series Clark and Michael. Long sentence though it may be, I was pretty stoked for the movie.

Is stoked, a word, out of vogue? Is it just a stoner thing now? Sometimes I worry my vocabulary is full on lexical hipster-anachronisms. Full review/rant after the jump.

And I liked the trailer a lot. Well, sort of. I mean, it wasn't hysterical, but there was certainly some quality jokes, and the whole hot tub time machine gimmick looked to be just as ridiculous as the name would suggest. The eighties thing too seemed like a fun way to mine some comedy. I especially liked the red band trailer, like when Robinson declares that it must "be some kinda ... hot tub time machine! *musical cue*", and that he's not crying, it's "just water splashin his face from all the fuckin."

When the movie hit theatres I never really got around to see it because a) I just never got around to it, b) I was reluctant to spend the cash on it, especially since c) it didn't do very well with critics. I basically chalked it up to something to see on DVD.

Then I saw it on DVD. My verdict is that it's a serviceable comedy that flirts with mediocrity. There are funny moments (like the aforementioned bath-sex scene, the way the protagonists discover they are indeed in the '80s, the discussion of time paradoxes, and the one armed man shtick), enjoyable moments (Robinson's musical performance), and some decent comedic performances from the actors (Robinson and Duke particularly shine in contrast to the inoffensive Cusack and Corddry). I was also amused how if you take away the Hot Tub Time Travelin', Cusack's bit in the movie is essentially an obligatory Cusack role (see Serendipity, I guess). What did piss me off about Hot Tub, was the unnecessary and ignorant sexism that exists in the film.

I'm not even talking about the almost eventual sexism that occurs in most comedies that star a bunch of men, or even a bromance. I've come to accept this issue in some sense as a result of many male comedy writer's inability to write real female characters, or the tendency for these films to cater to their audience's (other males) or even their character's gaze on the female as a sexual object. By accept, in no way do I condone. It's shitty, but it's sadly the usual.

Yeah, so near the beginning of Hot Tub, where our troop first arrives at their weekend resort, Robinson asks the manager about reservations and tries to hide that he has a shared last name with his wife, in that he is Nick Webber-Agnew. Corddry upon hearing his shared name mocks him, and continues to do so throughout the film since hyphenizing his name has emasculated XX. This alone is fairly insulting, since although it is the most obnoxious character is that voices this mockery, Robinson himself never owns the hyphenization, indeed seems to admit that it wasn't his choice, or wouldn't have done so given the opportunity (i.e. balls), to take her name into his.

For more on this I'm going into spoiler territory. Here after, there be monsters.

So, later in the film we realize that Robinson's wife has actually cheated on him and that he knows she has but she doesn't know he knows (it's okay if you need to read that a few times, I'm not the most clear writer at times). And this tears him up inside, because he loves her and doesn't want to leave her but she's emasculated him. No wait! she's cuckolded him. Heh, don't get to use that word too often.

Further, thematically the whole movie basically provides the three adult characters (XX wasn't alive in the 80's) an opportunity to fix the mistakes they made this particular weekend in the '80's that apparently sent all their lives into the shittier (although it seems like their lives went into the shitter because they were essentially shitheads or losers, not because they all made some simple blunder this particular weekend, but whatever) and so Robinson gets an opportunity to kick off, rather than end, his musical career during his performance that weekend. Then, when we see him return to the present day, or rather the fixed present, i.e. the better life, he has a record label as a successful producer, a record label that proudly displays his surname, and only his surname. And when he speaks to his wife, who no longer has cheated on him, we discover that he has not hyphenized his name. He is just Nick Webber, a real man. In this ideal world, Robinson hasn't had none of that pussy taking your wife's surname faggotry.

Seriously? So, Robinson's character arc shows him regaining his masculinity from his wife, as symbolized in the hyphenization of his last name. Our lesson apparently: taking your wife's name is to be a cuckold. Awesome.

I'm sorry, but it's actually fairly forward-thinking to take part of your partner's name into yours. I mean, I think we've gotten passed the point where marriage means a woman belongs to a man, the whole legalized prostitution thing. Fuck, some people even make new names together, like they are two equal parts to a marriage. Call them crazy, I know.

SPOILERS END!!!

While, I don't think the writers (or I wouldn't accuse them of such just out of giving the benefit of the doubt) meant to admonish the hypenizing of a males name, the way they have used it as a symbol of Robinson's emasculation is touch of bigotry I don't think serves the flick well.

In Summation: Hot Tub Time Machine is decent enough. It is like The Hangover in that it is underwhelming despite some good comedic performances, and scrapes by in the three out of five gulf of a little better than bad. However, it is pretty damn sexist. But a lot of its audience won't really see it as such, which really irks me. People will laugh at the jokes and buy the hyphenizing as a symbol of emasculation, without recognizing how insulting this is to women, to equality. So in this way, Hot Tub propagates a backwards idea of gender politics, which isn't cool, and makes it far worse than a 3/5 really, since in the act of reviewing I shouldn't have to set aside issues of sexism to assign an objective grade.

Bah.

I've written Stargate Fan Fiction.

Woman Sues Common Sense

2010-05-31T12:07:00.004-04:00

From a Toronto Star article:

A Utah woman is suing the search engine Google, claiming its maps function gave her walking directions that led her onto a major highway, where she was struck by a car.

So she got to the highway and then decided to walk along it, despite a) the fact the highway lacked either a sidewalk or a shoulder, and b) IT BEING A FREAKIN' HIGHWAY WITH CARS DRIVING AT 120 km/h!

She also got the walking directions off her Blackberry, meaning when she found that she was to walk on a dangerous highway, she could have looked up an alternative set of directions.

Even the Star gives its two sense, even if it is in that shitty "unbiased" way:

Others have pointed out that Rosenberg might have been best served by her own eyes after she reached a T-junction and found herself confronted with a patently unsafe walk.

I kept the link because, to make their two sense, the Star had to pull from some random news website.

Anyways, the point is: fuck you lady.

Han-larious

2010-05-22T22:48:00.004-04:00

Heh heh heh.Both Harrison Ford and Billy Dee Williams went to the premier of Empire Strikes Back a 30th Anniversary release. But apparently AP news isn't a big fan of the flick. Either that or, like Colbert, they don't see colour. Or coolness apparently.

P.S. Williams is the cool one in this pair. Obviously.

Dream Fulfillment

2010-05-21T02:45:00.000-04:00

I've done some techwriting in my past, and so I know the pain of using Adobe products. I'm not going to go on about how crappy their products are, because I don't really know what I'm talking about. I'm not an expert in software design so maybe their shit is actually good. I do know, however, that I myself experienced a great deal of frustration using their various products. Some of the most oblique work I've ever done is with Adobe Framemaker. That's saying a lot; I'm an academic.

Anyways, I found this blog, Maniacal Rage, that has a bunch of funny CS4 crash report descriptions. A sample:

Cathartic.

New David Cross

2010-05-19T11:45:00.009-04:00

I'm not always the best person for keeping up with when comedy albums come out. In fact, I'm terrible.

For instance, I just discovered that that David Cross has an album (Bigger and Blacker) coming out May 25th. Pitchfork has a track up for a listen. They'll also have an interview with him later, which I'll also likely post something about. Maybe.

The track isn't downright hilarious, but who cares; I have a great fondness for Cross' stand-up and it's been since 2004 that I got a new official release (It's not Funny). My first year in university... Hmm, getting older.

Smack that... Um?

2010-05-18T11:45:00.008-04:00

So I sit down to read Kenneth Burke's Counter-Statement and after TWO prefaces I decide I need to do something else. To the blogotorium!

Anyways, so I was visiting friends this weekend and there was one thing that consumed a great deal of our doings. While indeed we did spend a great number of hours playing a Call of Cthululhuluhhhully (sp?) board game (omg so nerdy), I think this video may have been the focal point of the entire weekend.

Watched it? Good. So I watched this off Boing Boing and as the video played I was trying to deduce what made him the worst DJ ever. Oh is it the drunk slurring about the conga? Oh, the music changed off the kookaronga (sp?) to Phil Collins and he doesn't do anything. But then all became clear... horribly clear.

This video fills me with questions.

Does he shout "You wanna do it. Have a slice of wine!"? "Spice of lime"?
Why does she just stand there? There is just zero reaction. Is this something that happens regularly? Has her soul just given up? Is she just so drunk that this seems normal?
Does he know this woman at all? Maybe that's his significant other but I like to think that she's just a woman at the party who wants to request a song.
The DJ just turns away from the woman with complete nonchalance, like he didn't just sexually assault a woman. Does he think he's in fact the GREATEST DJ EVER for his rockin boobongo solo? Like he has to play it cool?
DID HE FINISH WITH A BACKHAND!?

Just crazy. Though this is not the first time Phil Collins has surprised me.

P.S. As a side note, because of the controversy surrounding the pronunciation of Cththhululhhu (sp?), our friends now refer to the great old one as Kraft Dinner. I hope this will clear the issue up for all.

TT: The Trotsky

2010-05-12T02:33:00.003-04:00

Hey, it's going to say I posted on Wednesday, but that's a damned lie! This is still Tuesday. I won't conform to your conception of time, Blogger!

And with that revolutionary spirit in mind, how about a trailer for The Trotsky.

Jay Baruchel is hit or miss with me, but I was really impressed with his voice work in How to Train your Dragon, and this film actually looks pretty fun. Now, it is a Canadian film, but the trailer makes me optimistic despite. I do think Baruchel can carry a film, he's got a funny way about him certainly, so I think I'll try to see this film when it rolls around. I'm not sure if I'm going to have to find it in an independent theatre or not, though I bet it will get circulation in some of those big 12 theatre places if only for the reason that Avatar's out on DVD nowadays and they have to find something to play.

Baruchel also stars in Disney's upcoming The Magician's Apprentice, which is apparently connected to Fantasia in the most illogical way imaginable. Nic Cage has nothing to do with that classic, but suddenly he's bopping about in a trench coat and ridiculous hat shooting plasma bolts at people. I believe he actually even calls them plasma bolts. It looks surprisingly not terrible, but I'm sure Cage will bring his typical brand of irritation that may keep me away. AND his hair! ugh. I won't likely be seeing it in theatre but maybe I'll rent it to see how Baruchel does in the role.

Anyways, sorry for the slow goings on around here. I'm busy with school starting up and I've just launched another blog. I Can Beat This is my attempt at game criticism, starting with the game I'm almost least likely to really enjoy, but that's sort of the point. It may keep things a little slower here but I'm sure you'll manage.

Fuck you Wednesday, it's still Tuesday in my heart.

Trailer Tuesdays: Rubber and The Other Guys

2010-05-04T10:25:00.004-04:00

I really dig movie trailers. Trailers are actually quite often better than the full movie. As brevity is the soul of wit, a two minute trailer sure asks you to condense your film into wit. There are better trailers and worse trailers, but there's a real art to making them. Given my love then, I think I'm going to start posting movie trailers for things that seem at least tangentially related to humour. This week we have a buddy-cop-comedy with Will Ferrell and Mark Whalberg, and a psychotic and telepathic spare tire. Yep, spare tire. Explanation and trailers after the jump.

The Other Guys:

Now I'm hit or miss with Will Ferrell movies, and The Other Guys' director also directed Talladega Nighta, so I'm a tad trepidatious about this movie. But the trailer does look pretty funny. Sam Jackson and The Rock look pretty damn funny as the typical buddy-cops, and Ferrell seems to be channeling his character from Stranger Than Fiction a little. I can see some cracks in the trailer that could mean some pretty stilted and obvious humour, but overall this trailer has made me want to see the film. The good-cop-bad-cop schtick and the wood-gun-smack are pretty damn funny.

Rubber:

So this is horror flick (with heavy leanings to B-horror flick I can only imagine) seems to be about a tire that kills people with its mind. Or, well, it kills people with psychokinesis... or is it telekinesis... listen, it kills shit with magic. You saw the trailer, the bird just explodes after the tire (is its name Rubber?) jiggles a bit. Honestly, I'm not sure how serious this film is, but I would certainly get a kick out of it. Imagine shots of terrified teens running through the flaming debris of a building, with quick cuts of a rolling tire pursuing them.

Really, I'm just glad its not a horror film about a telekinetic condom on a killing spree. Yee-ikes.

Someone call nine one hhhhooooly-shit!

P.S. Slagathor also showed me this ethically dubious, but certainly hilarious top twenty parenting fails.

Batman 3 Casting Rumors

2010-04-29T13:34:00.013-04:00

Christopher Nolan looks to be taking Batman 3 in a, well, slightly different direction.

So this video really isn't all that funny. The concept itself is pretty funny. Batman is a dick and horndogs his way into Robin's date with some lady (actually Callie Thorne from Rescue Me), the lady calls Batman and Robin out for beating up women and fat dudes in tuxedos before her real boyfriend shows up to emasculate the dynamic duo. What's more of note here is that Batman and Robin are played by Sam Rockwell and Justin Long, respectively.

The video is a short film by James Duffy from 2007. Who knows why this is popping up now, but who cares. What IS exciting about this whole thing is that there is going to be another short called Robin's Speed Date, where Rockwell and Long will reprise their roles, and, wait for it, John Hodgman will be playing the Penguin.

You'll know Hodgman as PC from the "Hi, I'm a Mac" campaign that also starred Justin Long, but for me, I'll know Hodgman because I dream about him before I go to bed every night. I've never been one for role models or hero worship, but if I had the resources to fashion a marble bust of him for my living room, I would make three. So, this is possibly the best news I've ever had in my life. He'll be hilarious even if the short film blows, which it won't because Hodgman as the Penguin will bring about utopia.

Also, props to Justin Long for exposing his bare white legs in that uber-retro Robin costume. The reveal of his legs and the bottom half of that costume when he greets his ladyfriend for the first time is probably the best joke in the clip.

via /Film

Fashion and Common Sense Vs. Superheroes

2010-04-28T11:05:00.005-04:00

I know these videos can be seen about anywhere on the internet but I like them too! so I'm posting them.

I love how Tim Gunn takes this completely seriously and never seems to be patronizing Alan Kistler. He seems like a genuinely nice and funny guy. I DON'T CARE IF HE WAS ON PROJECT RUNWAY!

The first one is here.

via Topless Robot.

Spooooon!

WIGATI: Eastbound and Down

2010-04-28T01:16:00.009-04:00

This week on When I Get Around To It, Danny McBride's Eastbound and Down. Excited? I bet not.
So I was going to write about how, despite this show's hype, I've found Eastbound rather underwhelming. You see, I read an article on /Film about how the second season was moving to Mexico. The article talks very positively about the show, and as I scrolled down the comments, many people spoke of the show as if it were the second coming of whatever Christ's equivalent on HBO would be. Then, hitting up IMDB to see all-who's-in I see a nine star rating. Mental process: I love edgy HBO comedies; hey, its only sex episodes, just like a BBC show; I love edgy short run BBC shows (they get in and get out like any good ~~man~~ comedy); oh, just watch it you coward. But tonight as I check out the Meta-Critic score for the show, I see it's got a 62%. So my voice, really, is unnecessary. That review, after the jump.

First off, the protagonist, Kenny Powers, is a huge prick. I never see anything remotely redeemable about this guy, and while I cringe (cringe humour) at the things that he gets himself into, never do I feel bad for him. Now, I don't need a protagonist to relate to a show, comedy is allowed to be difficult sometimes. Think Curb Your Enthusiasm. Larry David is not a likable character, yet I really enjoy the show. I think the success there is that while you dislike Larry, you can relate to him. He is often the person we'd like to be ourselves, the man that stands up to ridiculous social etiquette or their breaches (depends on what side he finds himself on really). But Kenny Powers is just hopelessly self-involved and never on the right side of anything.

I bet I could get passed the reprehensible protagonist if the show was funnier, though. I'm not a big believer in the complete subjectivity of funny, so I will say, yes, I may not find this show funny where someone else might, but, really, I think Eastbound and Down is a very lazy funny. The majority of the humour in the show comes from Kenny's actions. And like I've said, he's awful, so most of the humour is derived from watching a douche do douchey things. Subjectivity: some people might find this funny, I think its lazy comedy writing. Here as a writer, jokes come from setting your character up in a situation where he can be a prick, and then having your character act a prick. This lacks the more involved comedic structure of set-up and exploit. You don't need a clever trick for a punchline, just a character to curse and hurt people's feelings.

The show isn't hopelessly funny. There are usually a couple of moments an episode that are pretty funny and the show is well written in terms of dialogue and its not sitcom-y in terms of narrative. But I could see the last episode's plot, and how it plays out, coming from the second (maybe the first) episode. It goes exactly where comedies like this do. Being edgy isn't just about fucks and tits (or racism and dicks), its about pushing the norm. Yes, you have a non-typical set of characters, no you have the paint-by-numbers narrative arc.

NOW, I really want to address Katy Mixon's character, April Buchanon. But I'm going to get SPOILERy to do so. So WARNING: HERE THERE BE SPOILERS. When we first meet April, she has a life in which Kenny has absolutely zero presence in and it's been so for a very long time now. And she hates him. He disgusts her. Really, she could not be less happy to see him now. He obviously treated her like crap at some point in their past and she is bitter about how things ended. Given Kenny's behaviour, its safe to assume he's mostly to blame for the relationship problems (if there were any, and he didn't just dump her when he got bigs or when he wanted to have sex with someone else). BUT, as the series goes on she falls in love with Kenny. Why this happens is not really apparent. He still acts like a douche around her, isn't respectful of her at all, and really seems to be mainly interested in her tits. There are moments where he shows something good around her, but it's usually in connection to the fact that he wants to be with her. You don't score points with a woman that hated you a week ago just because you exhibit signs of wanting to be with her.

MORE SPOILERS!! So the real reason that she falls in love with him is because the narrative arc says so. She's the leading lady so she necessarily falls in love with the leading man, despite everything about her character saying she would NOT. So what her husband is a wanker; so what she might have some pent up sexual desire for whatever dirtiness that she could get with Kenny; she still would not "fall in love" and decide to leace her life behind to follow him back to stardom-ville (the stardom-ville which manufactured his extreme sports level of douche to begin with). You know what April would do? She'd fuck him on the DL and feel slightly guilty about it. That's it. She'd exorcise her sexual demons, and move on. The character she is, would not love the character he is--nope, not unless the script says she would. So fuck that, give her character a little more dignity.

SPOILERS OVER!! The show is gearing up for another season down in Mexico, and maybe it will be better with more interesting characters, but I'm not optimistic. The writers don't seem to be able to create humorous and believable characters, or even unbelievable but funny characters, so making all of these new characters Mexican, probably won't help anything.

Watch it if you have nothing else on your plate.

Are you my caucasian?

South Park Creators, not the Assholes in this Story

2010-04-23T14:42:00.004-04:00

I keep trying to come up with something insightful to say about the whole South Park versus RevolutionMuslim.com thing, but I'm really left with the impressions that I think everyone has.

It sucks that Comedy Central censored the show the way they did, but I don't necessarily blame them for wanting to avoid the potential problems that would arise by depicting the prophet Mohammed. They want to protect their company and their employees from potential violence. I certainly understand that.

And whomever runs this site and were behind the posted threat, and don't for a fucking minute pretend like it was anything but a death threat, these people are monsters, awful people that don't deserve even the slight amount of civility that they are being shown throughout this whole ordeal. I'm glad your site got hacked. Seriously.

Also, I have trouble coming up with anything to say because, again!, The Daily Show has done such a sincere and moving job of addressing the issue, that my voice seems like just a pointless echo.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

South Park Death Threats

www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show Full Episodes

Political Humor

Tea Party

Canadian link.

How To Train Your Audience

2010-04-23T04:35:00.012-04:00

This movie, kicked Kick Ass's ass this week. I don't know if Kick Ass is any good, nor do I care. I'll see it, be disappointed or not, and then move on with my life--because that's the sort of movie it seems like. But How To Train Your Dragon, three weeks in, matched Kick Ass at the theatre.

I saw it a week ago, matinee, with only hobos like me on a Wednesday afternoon. It's a great movie, deserving of the love its getting. No, seriously, this movie has... fuck... heart.

The movie stars Jay Baruchel, of Undeclared fame, but also Craig Ferguson, Jonah Hill, and Christopher Mintz-Plasse. In terms of comedy, fairly solid cast. Baruchel, sort of untested in big films, does a voice, not that extreme, but not his own, and after the first 5 minutes you'll forget the voice-acting completely. Voice cast, excellent job here.

The real problem with the film is the script. It's not bad, its just good by numbers. It's a story about realizing difference, and the community (as focalised through the father) coming to respect what "the other" has to offer. The family dynamics here are played, done and done, and the emotional arc of the film has a clear trajectory from the start. But it's a kid film, and the last 10 minutes surprised me enough in terms of message that it warmed a place in my heart that normally stays cold. In the end, the film is radical and emotional enough that I give it more credit than it may be worth. Messages worth sending, really worth sending for kids, get a free pass for me.

But the most important part of this movie is the dragon. No it's the 3D!

Wait, I can't have in-fighting in one review. Let's set this out. The 3D is fantastic. Makes the flight more sensational than any flight I've seen in film. These scenes are emotionally evocative due in part (great part) because of the 3D's power. The flight scenes in the film are always very emotional moments. They have their metaphorical purpose, but the visuals add a vitality to them that I think really adds to their impact. These flight scenes are emotionally charged, and the 3D, as it adds to the experience, adds to the emotional involvement.

But, the DRAGON! Yes, the dragon is a cat. And that's enough for a lot of people. Slagathor, and people around me continually mentioned throughout the film, Oh, he's soooo cute!. And he is. Toothless is adorable, because he's a big kitty. His bum moves like a cat, he plays like a cat, and he's distrustful of humans like a cat. It helps that I just had a cat die that really was the feline epitome of this sort of representation. Its sort of heartbreaking to see a filmic/draconic version of his cuteness, but that's neither here nor there. This dragon is cute, and that's one of the huge selling points of the flick. THE DRAGON IS FUCKING ADORABLE! Simple as that.

So if you want your CGI cartoon to be a success, put in a cuddle character. It's why Monsters Inc. was one of my favourite Pixar flicks for so long.

Boo!

The Gospel According to Stewart

2010-04-21T13:13:00.009-04:00

Now, I don't want to give the impression that I would give Jon Stewart a blow job in a dark alley if I could pay him to be there, but christ do I love the Daily Show. Remember when I thought they'd go to war against Glenn Beck? Well, not having cable does leave me out of the loop in terms of how Fox News covers Stewart's attacks. Really, I only get to see their retorts on The Daily Show itself. Does that skew my perspective? Sure. But I've seen enough of both Fox News programming and The Daily Show to know whom I'm going to put more stock in.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

Bernie Goldberg Fires Back

www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show Full Episodes

Political Humor

Tea Party

Canadian link here. Have I mentioned before how much I hate region blocking? But anyways.

My favourite part of that clip is when Bernie Goldberg calls TDS's audience unsophisticated and Bill O'Reilly laughs. Of course you know, O'Reilly has done research and knows that TDS's audience is predominantly stoned slackers so he's right right to laugh at us, we don't know our heads from our rumpholes. Thus, it's easy for Goldberg, O'Reilly, and anyone on Fox News to right off Stewart's derision. Really, his words don't escape the pot clouds of dorm rooms or mom and dad's basement that they enter anyhow.

But then why do so many Fox commentators feel such a need to strike back at Stewart when he pulls off his stunts? I know he makes salacious and sensational slams against them, but if his voice matters so little, why do you feel the need to volley back? Is it because he hurts your feelings? Is this a matter of pride? Or, maybe, you just need to fill some time on your forever long shows? Beck can only cry for so long before an audience will think they're watching a soap.

I think the real issue here is that Fox News uses Stewart's attacks as just another example of the, GASP!, liberal enemy/media. A huge reason for Fox's success is its ability to simplify every social or political issue in America down to simple black and white. Things are either American wholesomeness, or they are unamerican blank-ism. And Stewart can easily be constructed as the buffoonish liberal media element. Even more so because he's so wonderfully terrible at reporting the news. Indeed, he is neither fair nor balanced. This may be of course due to the fact that TDS is a comedy program that has an obvious political and social agenda. But fuck, that sort of complexity doesn't play on Fox. On Fox, everything is either Black, or American.

So maybe Stewart only plays into their hands when he does this sort of thing, provide Fox commentators easy material with which to juvenilize the liberal media. It is easy to undercut Stewart's argumental ethos when you show outrageous clips of him doing comedic stunts. This guy doesn't know shit, he's a jester. But by the midpoint of the above clip, Stewart shifts into a southern preach, and a full blown call and response by the end, culminating with him and choir singing "go fuck yourself." Now Fox could try to use this clip to show TDS's complete disregard for anything holy, of its out and out buffoonishness, but maybe that's the point. Can Fox News self-righteously show the clip of Stewart dancing in front of a choir singing "go fuck yourself" and have its audience still see him as a threat? He's obviously just being a ham.

If as a stoned slacker I can see this, surely Fox will respect its sophisticated audience enough to know they will too.

The Critic (Lovitz, you've let yourself go)

2010-04-13T19:31:00.008-04:00

Seriously this shit is fucked up.

Hope you didn't plan to sleep tonight. Or ever.

Well, it's been a week of writing "academic things" and now it comes time to write about things that are important. Like Mr Plinkett.

I watched the AotC review. I had to watch the first part the day after I watched the rest because apparently some people at the cartoon network are ironically hypocritical. The review is pretty funny, and has a good number of smart things to say about AotC. Again, though, the scary violence against women, not so much the funny. That's it in summation. If you want a long version, jump.

So the new Mr. Plinkett review essentially succeeds at its goal. It delivers a fairly intelligent analysis of Attack of the Clones, and does so with humour. Unfortunately I think the review suffers slightly from the previous review. Not that that review was so perfect this couldn't live up or anything, but more because Mr. Plinkett has already explained why these new Star Wars movies lack the heart of the originals. So in this new version he has to come up with a bunch more reasons to explore why no one but kids really like these flicks.

The points he raises in the review are sound: the romance is presented rather than developed or even shown, lightsabers do not a real jedi make, and the plot doesn't make a lick of sense. This review lacks a moment like the one in first though, where he jumps between lightsaber scenes from Phantom Menace and the original trilogy, and addresses how the original trilogy used lightsaber battles as physical manifestations of the inner conflict that existed in primary characters and how the new one's are just big action set pieces. Yes I realize this is too nerdy to handle, and I know those first scenes were also actual set pieces, but Mr Plinkett is right, those scenes in the first trilogy are emotionally charged, but in Phantom Meance, the lightsaber dual is a highly choreographed dance number. And this difference is the in-a-nutshell problem between the new and old movies. Hollow action scenes disconnected from any sort of emotional connection to the characters.

Mr. Plinkett has already addressed this and so it's hard to go back over without being repetitive, and there isn't an equivalent revelation in this review, which sort of makes it suffer. There's the bit about Yoda and his lightsaber, which I totally agree with, but its sort of a cannon/spirit of the world sort of criticism not a problem with the film on its own.

It's also not as funny. It's not unfunny, just not as funny. I'm not going to describe any examples or anything because it's not that big of a deal: it's just not as funny.

Review of the review done. NOW!, let's talk about the shit with the prostitute. Knock this creepy women violence crap the fuck off! It is not funny, and it is disturbing. The pseudo-firsthand depiction of the torture and murder of women is unsettling, and it makes me want to turn the review off. Now, I didn't say shit about the use of women stereotypes when you talked about what women look for in men because it's a comedic trope, but the shots of you abusing women are painfully unfunny. And I'll explain why they aren't funny, because I need to position myself as someone who finds many terrible terrible things funny. These scenes are not funny because they are graphic and because they seem like you are trying to hard to be edgy. It all just comes off as a little sadistic and sick. There. I'm done with that topic.

Who am I addressing in that paragraph? Anyways, the review's good, but suffers from the critical thoroughness of the original.

Oh, and the whole time I watched it I couldn't stop thinking about one of my favourite things in the world.

Full of green penis... wait, that's terrible.

RedLetterMedia Reviews AotC

2010-04-06T17:24:00.004-04:00

I told you it was Star Wars day.

So one of my most favourite of things is the RedLetterMedia reviews on Star Wars and Star Trek movies. The Star Trek reviews are really funny, and quite intelligent regarding the difference between the TNG movies and the series. Did I mention they are funny? They might not be as amusing to non-Trekkies, but this is the internet, are there even non-Trekkies on here?

In regards to the Star Wars, up until now the dude has only reviewed The Phantom Menace. This series was a) epic (70min) b) hilarious (what's wrong with your face!?), and c) really critically insightful. I don't mean to disparage the guy, but who knew this sort of review could exist on the internet, and on YouTube no less. The review is a prime example of how comedy can be used as a rhetorical device to drive points home. His ideas regarding the lack of a protagonist and suggestion to create one in Obi Wan (as opposed to multiple non-protagonists) would have genuinely made the film more concise and interesting to watch.

As it is, RedLetterMedia has released his review of Attack of the Clones, and its 90 frickin-minutes!. I'm looking forward to watching it and I may post a review if I feel up to it. Critique a critique!? Never you say, but we're revolutionaries here at NtC. I promise you.

Caveat time: the video's are done with a persona, which at one time is hilarious and a fault. The persona has developed over the course of the videos and has become increasingly distracting. Most of the time he is funny, but other times the aspects of him murdering prostitutes and his wife interrupt the quality review for some obvious and painfully unfunny interludes. I hope that these asides are less frequent in the new review, rather than more as the trend has been thus far.

UPDATE: It looks like Part 1 has been taken down because of some copyright problems with cartoon network. Really Cartoon Network? The channel that uses old cartoons to make stoner comedies? Remember that thing I just said about finding levity in Star Wars George?

Star Wars S(h)itcom

2010-04-06T14:08:00.008-04:00

Seriously!?

Apparently they're making a Star Wars sitcom. From the Variety article:

Daytime Emmy and Gemini Award-winner Jennifer Hill ("The Backyardians") will produce with Todd Grimes ("Back at the Barnyard") directing. Brendan Hay ("The Daily Show") will be among the writers and Seth Green and Matthew Senreich, creators and executive producers of "Robot Chicken," will have "creative involvement.

Man, this is such a dumb idea, I don't care who's involved. I read a bunch of the comments after the article on /Film (where I initially learned about this development) and not enough people are waving their hands wildly in the air and screaming for this to not happen. Let's examine why this is a bad idea shall we?

Robot Chicken's Star Wars parodies are funny. The Family Guy parodies are also funny (though I begrudgingly admit it). Spaceballs is also funny. Alright, lots and lots of Star Wars parodies are funny. AND!, Star Wars itself is funny. But a dedicated Star Wars sitcom, will not be funny:

Parodies are parodies. All of the Star Wars parodies mock Star Wars. Yes, they embrace the source material, usually with love (especially in the case of the Robot Chicken dudes) but they are still irreverent. These parodies extend characters and ideas from the show into absurd places, that cannot be cannon.
This is a sitcom. Sitcoms are not sketches like Robot Chicken has excelled at in terms of their Star Wars humour. Family Guy and Spaceballs tell a story, but they tell the same fucking story as Star Wars. Are we suddenly going to break off and have Han and Leia living on Coruscant, with Chewie dropping by as the obligatory, racist depiction of a minority neighbour? How is this going to be structured? I can't express how little I think of the idea of a situational comedy starring Star Wars characters, or in the Star Wars universe. Anytime I think of something amusing, it's because of irreverence, and it would not be congenial humour, the sort of humour sitcoms are based on.
Isolated instances. All the Star Wars comedies I can think of do their funny and then end. They're all specials, not long running shows. This is important for two reasons. A) the humour doesn't outstay its welcome. Parody is something that is difficult to sustain. Many would say Colbert has done it (I don't watch it myself because I've grown a little tired of the parody), but I think as a general rule, parody itself does not lend itself to longevity. The novelty of the superiority humour dwindles, and you're left with the same joke: isn't x silly? B) You're going to run out of jokes. Wait, you can't really run out of jokes, because they are like invention (inventio!), but the writers for this show are going to find difficulty mining for humour after a while. How many jokes can you do about the Millennium Falcon failing? And with Star Wars, let me tell you, the writers are going to need to be uber careful not to get too obscure because as a Star Wars comedy, they are already flirting with a small viewership.
Finally, is this for adult or kids. Star Wars has become progressively more and more childish. The original material was entertaining for all ages but as the movies went they skewed towards juvenile audiences. This is no more clear than in consideration of the humour. If you've watched the movies, you know it to be true. So, if the humour is for kids, I really don't want to watch a dumb, racist, and homophobic Star Wars saturday-morning-cartoon. I doubt its going to be adult-centric, since how do you suddenly tell the majority of your audience (ie kids) that this Star Wars isn't for you. So I imagine it would be in the middle, like a sitcom, and I seriously doubt that Star Wars can walk the line between adult and childish humour, all the while refraining from irreverency.

I think my problem(s) come down to this: a Star Wars comedy will necessarily be irreverent, and irreverent isn't funny when it's done by the people that own the source material. That statement may not be true in general, but I'm damn sure it's true of George Lucas. I don't want to watch George Lucas make fun of his own material. He has taken his shit seriously for so fucking long that for him to suddenly find some levity in his creation would be down right insulting. Where was levity when you refused to release the original cuts on DVD because they weren't your vision. Where was levity when you sued all the people you sued for stupid shit and/or stopped them from releasing their own stupid version of a Star Wars thing? I mean, you can't just one day stop taking yourself and your Star Wars seriously because it'll make you a couple of buck and not expect to look like a douche.

This show will suck because either it will be a bland generic sitcom with Star Wars template overtop masking the bland genericness, or it will be irreverant, possibly good for a bit, and a perfect example as to why I libel George Lucas.

Douche!

Aggregation Trepidation

2010-04-05T21:57:00.003-04:00

So I've only been, sort of, aggregating recently. Well, that's because it's April and I have school to do and all that stuff. As it is I'm still trying to post something every day or so, but that doesn't always mean the most original of content. Also, I've been seeing lots of things that are worth posting. Hopefully as the month progresses I'll have an opportunity to write some reviews and not just link you to things you could find on your own.

That said, here's a funny story about a dude who fought the law, and won. Even if it was the parking enforcement part of the law.

Also, tomorrow's Star Wars day. That's not necessarily a bad thing.

Bacon vs. Worms(z)

2010-04-05T10:07:00.004-04:00

Okay, so remember Tremors? Starring Kevin Bacon? And Fred Ward? Reba McEntire? Hmm... Oh! the movie was about them trying to not get eaten by a handful of ugly subterranean worm dinosaurs.
Yeah that's the one. As a child I watched this movie more times than I can count, including the sequel. But then they kept making movies (one with things called ass-blasters... seriously ass-blasters?) and a TV show and so the franchise became, well, fucking ridiculous.

But anyways, the original is still lots of fun and now you can play its protagonist, Mr. Bacon, and save the town from the evil (and fast as sin) graboids in the new flash game Tremerz.

I managed pretty well on my first attempt. I saved everyone but Reba McEntire (no big loss) and the girl on the pogo. Strangely only men made it out of the tremerz attack alive. I SWEAR THIS WAS A COINCIDENCE! Strangely Rhonda isn't in this, which I assume is due to the fact she does not have a picture on her IMDB actor profile.

Anyways, enjoy.

via Kotaku.

Can you fly mothafucka!?

Follow Up Crisis: Weird Al Knows his Grammar

2010-04-03T13:08:00.004-04:00

What the fuck Weird Al!?

I can't just keep posting things about you and the muppets, you know!

Jesus.

Muppet Revelations

2010-04-02T15:40:00.005-04:00

Alright so I blogged about the muppets yesterday and then bam! /Film reports on a whole set of new muppets stuff (well not super new, but new enough that it's news to me).

In their article I learned about the following three projects:

1) Stuffed and Unstrung - A live, adult only, comedy show with Henson puppets (they don't use the word muppet for image/ownership reasons I believe)
2) Muppet Man - A fictionalized biopic on Jim Henson
3) Happy Time Murders - a crime thriller-comedy with puppet americans, so like Roger Rabbit but with puppets I'm guess (though Puppets Who Kill and Greg the Bunny may have beat them to the punch on puppets in the real world comedies)

Wow. It's pretty exciting too to see the Henson Company working on more adult oriented projects. Really, that's a large part of their fan base now that we all grew up.

I've got a promo video for Stuffed and Unstrung after the jump.

Must... find... Canadian... date...

I am not a shrimp, I am a KING PRAWN!

The Easter Bunny Sings "Stand By Me"

2010-04-02T00:16:00.007-04:00

Christ I love the muppets.

I hope he eats Wil Wheaton next...

This is actually one of my least favourite of the recent viral muppet YouTubes, but that's not saying a lot. If you haven't been seeing them, check their YouTube channel. Make sure you watch Bohemian Rhapsody and Habanera.

via /Film

P.S. Did you know Jason Segel (Freaks and Geeks and some other more popular movies and shows) is writing and starring in the next Muppet movie? I just hope he keeps his pants on.

Golden Compass Author tells Sensitive Man to not be so Damn Sensitive

2010-03-30T09:45:00.007-04:00

I like when authors stand their ground about controversy in a respectful yet ardently fuck-you way.

I never got through the Golden Compass (or Northern Lights anywhere outside of North America) but I was a kid when I read them and more quick to bore. I also never knew there was that much controversy about them or that Philip Pullman is considered an atheistic writer. It's really here nor there for this blog but, personally, I'm surprised because I never caught that tone from the movie trailers. But, really, I was too busy wondering why the polar bears were wearing armour anyways. But hey, Christians get Narnia movies, seems only fair people against organized religion get His Dark Materials movies. Wow, does that title sound evil... I'm not sure how either is doing at the box office, so its possible no one is gettin' nothin'.

Maybe people are just too sensitive.

via Boing Boing

Sweet Zombie Jesus!

April Whos

2010-03-29T11:56:00.004-04:00

So April means a lot of school work. It also means season 5 of Doctor Who starts. Must... reconcile... conflicted... feelings...

Ahh. That's the stuff. I know there's a lot of fear out there about Matt Smith, but he seems funny and charming in the clips I've seen. They aren't messing with the mold at all but who cares. Get it? WHO cares!?

I disgust myself.

via io9, where they have a bunch more clips as well.

Am I... Ginger?

Scott Pilgrim vs. Expectations

2010-03-29T10:05:00.012-04:00

So, whoa.

I mean the trailer is pretty good. I've been excited about this movie for a while. But the internet does seem to be losing its shit over this like minute and a half of trailer. Let's think about this movie for a second.

Alright, Edgar Wright. Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. Also Spaced. When I heard he was directing I knew that this was likely going to be a pretty good adaptation. Those are some of the most intelligent comedies made in recent bits. So, really I'm excited for his next movie no matter what.

Oh, and then add Michael Cera. My love for him has not abated despite Year One. I do sorta get the hate that has sprung up for him. Yes, he often plays the same character. Well, sort of. I mean, he has a certain sense of delivery (which I love) that can make him seem more like the same then he would otherwise, follow? The characters he plays seem more similar than they would normally because of his delivery. I'm not saying they're that much different, but I am saying that many many many other actors have made careers of playing slight variations of themselves and are still generally considered good actors (cough cough george clooney). I think Cera has a great ear for comedy and balls to people who are tired of his schtick.

Now Scott Pilgrim, on paper... You know, I don't love these books. Disclaimer: I've read the first two of the Pilgrim series, and it is possible that they get better. Point: I dig the fight my exes bit (especially as a final act reveal in the first book) but otherwise I find the series unremarkable. I don't hate it, but it's not mind-blowing. Yes, it oozes style that often makes you dig the genre-bending/awareness, but the dialogue and characters are a tad underdeveloped.

Also, the books aren't all about videogames(!), but that's all the trailer seems to be about. Lots of comic/videogamey violence. Maybe that's how they're trying to sell the movie, but in the books there's a lot more that goes on. There is a lot of talking, a lot of music stuff (especially as it relates to indie rock in Toronto), and most importantly there's Pilgrim being a dumb dumb. While the fight scenes do look pretty bad-ass (is Cera seriously fighting Jason Schwartzman with a flaming katana!?) I think the movie will miss an opportunity if it doesn't also feature prominently the music and self loathing of the books.

This movie has a lot to live up to, I mean even beyond me. There are a lot of people really excited about this movie, and we've seen what expectations will do for a film. I just sorta want to cover my head and duck... like, after I watch the trailer again.

AVP?

2010-03-24T22:37:00.001-04:00

I'm pretty excited by the new Predators movie being produced by Robert Rodriguez. But this new story-board for the next Alien movie has blown my mind. The filmmakers are really taking the Alien franchise in a fascinating new direction. There may be haters, but I predict in years to come this will be considered the definitive Alien flick. Screw Ridley Scott.

Just a sample:

This movie is gonna kick-asssss!

Alien Vs Pooh (via Warren Ellis)

If anyone wants to be eaten I'll be waiting in here.

Walk Weird

2010-03-24T13:09:00.001-04:00

Hey, there's a trailer out for the fake biopic on Weird Al Yankovic. I know the majority of the world has gone sour on Weird Al but I have fond memories of his music from kidhood. I didn't listen to much pop music when I was younger, I was more into the DC Talk, but I actually ended up stealing a tape from my cousin. How I justified that with the DC Talk I'm at a loss to explain. But anyways, I came into contact with a lot of popular music first through Mr. Weird Al. I mean, I heard "Smells like Nirvana" long before I ever heard "Smells like Teen Spirit." Indeed whenever I hear Nirvana's version in, you know, big boy world I'm always confused as to the absense of mooing.

Anyways, if you won't watch this for me, or for Weird Al, do it for Patton.

via /Film

Stewart vs. Beck O-TEN

2010-03-23T12:31:00.000-04:00

So The Daily Show is on break this week, but I'm always a little behind because I watch it online. Stewart dedicated the first half of the show to a Glen Beck impression. It's an impressive and scathing 15min. I've embedded the majority below. Canadian link.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

Conservative Libertarian

www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show
Full Episodes

Political Humor

Health Care Reform

Stewart astutely takes Beck's logic to its illogical extent on the issue of the degredation of political and ethical principles. If health care swings us to Russia, then Jesus swings us to Iran. Indeed, there are many examples of nations which have theocratic governments, and Beck never misses an opportunity to tell us how we need to bomb them with gusto.

Now, this isn't the first time Stewart has done his Beckpression. Stewart has done this once before (Can link), and indeed it was funnier then, but it didn't take up the bulk of the show. I wonder if dedicating half their last show before the break is meant to stir up a shit storm. It's not like Fox and/or TDS don't like a good fight. I mean, both revel in this sort of mudslinging. Beck can delegitimize Stewart as the jester mouthpiece for the liberal agenda, and Daily Show can shore up a reel of moronic and morally detestable Beck sound clips for Fox hating guffaws. Viewers will eat it up. I know I did when TDS took on Jim Cramer.

But then again, maybe Beck will just take it all in good fun...

Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!

It's so ingenious it almost doesn't make any sense what so ever.

Obligitory Futurama Post

2010-03-22T14:32:00.004-04:00

Yes, I know that Comedy Central released a teaser trailer for season six of Futurama. Since I've already mostly seen it, it's not that big of a deal. Also, it's only 30 seconds long and not terribly funny. It's so uneventful I'm not even going to embed it.

This I will though:

There's also a part two.

Fine video, but there's a missed opportunity at the end. As he lay dying, Cain should have said Giant Bender's dying words: "I came here with a simple dream. A dream of killing all humans. And this is how it must end? Who's the real 7 billion ton robot monster here? Not I, not I.."

It's called: "What the Shit is Going on Here"

2010-03-19T00:30:00.009-04:00

Enough said.

Roger Ebert on Glenn Beck

2010-03-18T09:59:00.009-04:00

Now, picking on Glenn Beck is like shooting fish strapped to your gun barrel, but Beck has started railing on Christians now, which struck me as odd. Is he trying to peel away every last demographic that doesn't think he's insane. Basically he said, if your church preaches social justice, you're in a Nazi church. Of course you are...

Roger Ebert has an amusing article about Beck's comments. At one point after Beck tells Ebert to call his church to make sure it's not into the whole Social Justice thing, Ebert writes:

I was on the brink of picking up the phone and asking Francis Cardinal George if he was down on this whole social justice thing, but then I recalled that I no longer use the telephone. Do you suppose the cardinal texts?

Heh.

Beck is a terrible force in politics and news media, but the most giving man in humour today. Seriously, he embodies ham. With like a honey-crazy glaze.

NSFS: Not Safe for Souls

2010-03-17T12:11:00.005-04:00

Last night we watched Silence of the Lambs. We got to the part with the, erm, NSFW tuck-back dance. Strangely enough I've seen creepier videos that use Q Lazzarus' Goodbye Horses.

Eagle vs. Shark vs. Dynamite

2010-03-17T11:04:00.006-04:00

Alright so I know this movie is super old, but I watched it a few weeks ago with Slagathor and, and well this movie deserves some credit.

I mean, I sorta wanted to see it when I saw the posters for it way back in the day, but it never really became a big deal and so as with many other movies it falls back into the the recess of the mind until you see at your local independent movie rental store. Oh so since now that we love FotC, and we have to pick something or else we'll have to talk all evening, it's rental time.

Background information: I was super pumped for Napoleon Dynamite before it came out--I was on the bandwagon before there was any wagon at all nevermind a bandwagon. And I saw it when it came out on video, and it was pretty damn funny. Then a year later there were tools running amock with Vote Pedro shirts. I think about then I soured a little on the film. I mean, I'll probly watch it again, and I'll like it, but it's not funny anymore when bros like it. That's why I don't listen to Modest Mouse anymore. I know its elitist blah blah blah, but what fun is liking something weird if everyone likes it. Popular isn't weird.

Check out the reviews for the EvS. Yes, it is sorta like Napoleon Dynamite. Dead-pan oddness with lots of 8-year-old nerdisms. But unlike Napoleon, this movie actually does something.

And I mean it. Napoleon Dynamite was solely about its own oddity. All of the movie's humour is predicated upon the surrealness of the characters, and the arc of the movie (okay the semblence of an arc) is a bare thread of some sort of developing maturity (and I think this is lopping on a good dose of credit). EvS has characters that are real, with problems that are real, both which manage to even be relatable at times. Both the characters and the movie have arcs that make sense, and are heartwarming. Character move from socially incapable and emotionally stunted to characters that are adorably more socially capable and a little more mature.

It's also pretty damn funny. There are many lol moments as well as, for Slagathor and I, a few rofl moments. The end is also climactic where ND was a fizzle on a horse. Further, throughout the movie there are a handful of strange animated parts. They're a little fucked up, and the complete randomness of their inclusion makes me love the movie just a little more. (I even contemplated not mentioning them so that if you see the movie you can also have a wtf moment as well)

I know I've been vague in my review, but that's because its funnier not to know much about the movie beforehand. Also I'm lazy.

In conclusion: Fuck the lazy Napoleon Dynamite and see a movie that actually uses the deadpan oddity to a point. You know, what makes good movies.

I'm so complex.

Progress

2008-06-24T22:01:00.003-04:00

Yes those are crocs.
That is all.

Slurm Soon to be Real Beverage

2008-03-05T12:52:00.006-05:00

Wait, what!?

Fox sure is one strange company. First they cancel Futurama, then after years of fan pressure revive it, and finally, with whatever insane boardroom reasoning, decide to begin producing a beverage from the show. Trademork reports Fox has applied for a trademark for the name Slurm in all beverage forms. I don't see Coffee Slurm in the near future, but really neither did I see, um, Slurm. Maybe they're just paranoid and have no plans for actual production. That's reasonable, but remember this is Fox.

Now I'm sure Slurm is going to be hella tasty (I'm more sure it'll taste awful, but I'll drink it loyally nonetheless) but I am wondering if it'll actually be harvested from of a giant and arguably evil worm. Will this fact be disclosed to the world, or might it just become an urban legend amongst soda drinkers? Possible slogan for the intial debut: "Not worm shit."

Really though, I'm willing to put up with the occasional world domination attempt by the Slurm Queen if I get the chance to hang out with Slurms McKenzy, the original party worm. Whimmy wam wam wozzle! Let's party!

via bbgadgets.

Tell them I hate them!

When Irony Attacks

2008-03-04T14:21:00.011-05:00

Now traditionally this blog doesn't really act as a consumer guide in any other way than pointing out what television shows you should probably avoid in prime-time, but when I read this story I felt that I had to get the message out--to warn you, my readers.

Apparently while designers were testing out a new gizmo designed to repel sharks with ever-so-cool electromagnetic fields, the "shark shield" was, well, attacked by a great white shark. Luckily, no one was hurt during the incident save the unfortunate buoy strapped to the device. I'm hoping someone left the thing on the wrong setting or something. Maybe accidentally reversed the polarity when they nuked their breakfast burrito.

The designers claim the device works as long as it remains motionless. You mean like while attached to a buoy?

In brief: don't ~~watch~~ buy.

Thanks Uberreview.

I punched a whale. Right in the face. Down he went, like Liston.

Politicaly Incorrect with... wait what's this show called now?

2008-02-28T23:52:00.008-05:00

Well it's Thursday night and I'm thinking about Saturday. Saturday will mean I'm back in Windsor and my roommate and I (Powder Blue Stanza) will finally be able to rock the "Endless Setlist." It will also mean that I can start in with my Saturday stories. Now I won't bore you with all my thoughts on the latest surprise ending on Stargate Atlantis, but I will bore you with my supreme adoration of Real Time.

Real Time with Bill Maher is an hour long political comedy and debate show that airs Friday nights on HBO. Now perhaps you remember that Bill Maher once had a half-hour show called Politically Incorrect on Comedy Central first, then later on ABC, whom cancelled the show in 2002. Real Time has a similar format--a monologue followed by a panel who debates current political events. Maher's monologue is nothing to write home about, he's much more interesting (and funny) when simply conversing with an interviewee or with his panel. His panel discussion takes up a great chunk of the show, and usually part way through introduces another "Real Time Correspondent" into the fray. (In this way I discovered Matt Tabbi, an excellent writer for Rolling Stone.)

These debates are really what I love about the show. The panel is normally comprised of a wide array of political leanings, allowing for actual discussion and not just conservative/liberal bashing. While the debates can sometimes get out of hand and from time to time a panel member deserves to be stabbed a little, as a rule the debates are interesting to watch, and the panel members intelligent. I'm a lazy guy and watching well informed folks argue about political matters can function as a short-hand for actually doing research. I certainly wouldn't be prepared to write a paper afterwards, but it is certainly and entertaining way to become better informed myself. And if you subscribe, like I do, to the idea that debate leads to greater understanding, then Real Time is at least good for something more than laughs and arguments.

Now, yes, the Real Time is hosted by Bill Maher, and I know a lot of people have reservations about him. And I can understand this. Bill Maher is kind of a dick. So if you hate Bill Maher then you likely won't be able to stand this show. Bill Maher is his regular opinionated and overbearing self. He makes sure his (often abrasive) voice is heard. I don't know if I can justify his behaviour, but maybe a debate show like this needs a strong persona like his to keep it focused--perhaps a consistent political frame of reference grounds the show somehow. I like Maher for the most part so this isn't a problem for me, suckas.

For us that don't have HBO (like anyone in Canada) Real Time is easy to find each new episode on YouTube the next day via TULLYCASTS's channel. You don't even have to download this one.

Now, this year will also see the release of Bill Maher's documentary Religulous that is going to be hella controversial. I mean the shit is going to fly when this comes out. Watch the link and prepare to cringe.

Mumbo perhaps. Jumbo perhaps not!

Tentative Optimism

2008-02-10T11:35:00.000-05:00

There is an agreement. Let's hope it sticks.
Link.

Maybe the writers will be back?

2008-02-09T12:21:00.001-05:00

I read that there is some hope in this hell of a writers strike. Optimistic estimates say they could be going back to work as early as Monday. Yay yes? But even if they do go back to work Monday (and I wouldn't place money on this) our regular scheduled programs aren't going to be popping up on TV for a while. TV takes time to make (duh) and so we all might be forced to continue to survive on American Gladiators (the funniest show on TV at the moment) for another month.

I mean I'm enjoying A Daily Show--in fact, the show's quality sans writers proves that while unassuming, Jon Stewart is likely more charismatic than even Colbert--but I'd really like to see Scrubs and even Chuck back on the air. This is Scrubs' last season and it would be unfortunate to have it spoiled by rushing to wrap things up in a reduced episode order. And Chuck, while still pretty transparent, is doing enough right to make me want to see the next episode. And, really, if I'm ever going to watch Colbert Report again, he needs to get his writers back. That O'Brien thing was pretty good and all but three guests a night really doesn't leave room for a lot of jokes.

I guess I'll hope for the best--Wiarton Willie did predict an early spring. Maybe he also predicted an early end to the strike?

I'm Back

2008-02-01T00:29:00.000-05:00

Or I will when I have something to write about. January was a busy month, so apologies.

To tide you over untill I have something to say enjoy this insane article.

They're (He's) Back

2008-01-11T14:55:00.001-05:00

So A Daily Show and The Colbert Report are now airing again. Sans writers apparently, but I don't really know how they can put on a show without some form of writing. They can't be adlibing everything, someone has to write the words on those news graphics like "space reserved for clever pun." I'm not sure how they are making this show and not crossing the picket line.

I'm not keeping abreast (hehe) of all the transpiring of the strike but if the issues or behaviours of parties involved have not changed then I'm still siding with the writers and thus hate to see a show--especially two as important and The Daily Show and The Colbert Report--abandon their writers. But! there may be more going on here than I know (I hope), as I wouldn't put it past Viacom owned Comedy Central to encourage the shows' return. I imagine both shows are pretty important for the network and having them gone for several months doesn't help ratings at all.

But in the end should I worry about the moral implications of all this? I do have two of my favourite regular shows back. Seems like I'm looking the gift horse right in the kisser.

**BONUS DOUBLE POST**

Funny guy Aaron F., has got a video on the YouTube off The Offline. Enjoy.

These are the rules: if I know you personally and you put funny stuff on YouTube, I link it. However, Aaron, you could do the rest of us funny people a favour by not being so damn funny all the time. Throwing it out there.

Like Little School Girls

2008-01-06T01:34:00.001-05:00

What the hell is wrong with these two guys?

I think it's sorta lame to put yourself in what I think all parties involved knew was going to be a pretty lousy movie and then get upset when someone calls you on it. I was actually disappointed in both David Cross and Jason Lee for taking part in Alvin and the Chipmunks. I sorta understand that sometimes you gotta get paid again, but you need to consider whether a new cottage is really worth jeopardizing the integrity you build the rest of your career on. Cross' comedy is so often about the garbage that is accepted as entertainment/news/politics nowadays and so venomous rants about Scott Stapp lose a little of their bite. That said, Creed always did suck and Cross has occasionally sought a few bucks while trying to mostly do his own not-suck thing.

And I think Oswalt understands the compromise you sometimes make when you need to make some cash and remind the powers that be you can indeed bring in the box-office dollars (I believe those 'munks are currently #2 in theatres?). Thus Oswalt's comment was more likely made in camaraderie than in contention. Really though, how did he not think there might be some confused animosity generated from reference to a (sarcastic yet amicable) joke made in conversation more than a year ago?

Whatever. Both these guys are smart and both of these guys are funny and so it seems they were able to hug-it-out-bitch. What's more amusing to me, however, is how defensive Cross comes across. I think someone is feeling a little ashamed about his decision and might be doth-protesting too much.

Happy new year comedy-cats.

Christmas Funnies

2007-12-30T01:03:00.000-05:00

So before I start actually posting again about, you know the things I post about, I thought I'd share a little holiday story about my grandmother. You see my grandmother is one of the sweetest and earnest ladies I know and every Christmas she gives me the most wonderful gift of all: the gift of puzzlement. She's downright unpredictable. I mean we aren't talking like a sweater no 22 (wow) year old would wear, we're talking about a gift with no precedent in law, in history, or in conceivability.

A necessary preliminary though: when my family was opening up presents Christmas morning there were five tubes all exactly the same under the tree--one for each member of the family. My parents already knew what was inside and once my sister and I picked up the tubes we knew immediately as well. My Dad had won a 5 pack of Pringles and instead of just putting them in the cupboard we each got one wrapped. I was amused because the dog had gotten one.

Later my grandmother came over for dinner, bringing with her the presents I had been anticipating for a few weeks. You see last year, my grandmother had, among several other very nice things, wrapped and gifted me a twelve pack of puddings. The sheer randomness of this gift (especially do to my large disinterest in pudding as a whole) had filled me with joy. That same year she had also purchased my cousin an inflatable camouflaged seat cushion. I was/still am sick with envy.

I tore into the this years presents and discovered a 5 pack of Pringles, providing me in total with more than a year's supply of Pringles. But this was only an appetizer. Next she handed me a grocery bag. She apologized: "I forgot your birthday until this morning, so this is just some stuff from around the house." Now I was stoked. The first of two small packages was a deck of Uno cards. "Have you ever played that before?" I had. In fact one of the most prevalent memories I have of my grandmother are afternoons full of raisins, Racko, and Uno. Often vicious versions of all three. All this of course is nothing compared to the final package: a homemade cardboard box containing all the small change she had around the house. "There's some shiny ones in there."

I love my grandmother and don't think for a minute she's simple--she's the opposite. She's cunning. At her age I can only hope to be half as wily. No longer able to skateboard, skydive, DDR, or compete in the UFC, I too will amuse myself with the bewilderment of others. Perhaps dress up as a sea captain, spend my day at the local Walmart incorrectly using nautical terms, and eventually get forcibly removed by security, giving me the rest of the evening to sew the next day's carrot costume. For instance.

But that's the future. Right now I need to go eat some Pringles and roll some coins.

Now Santa Clause 3: What a Holiday Classic

2007-12-24T11:35:00.000-05:00

Surprisingly, there has not been a whole slew of Christmas postings on my part despite both the abundance of time I have on my hands and the ammount of Christmas cheer I'm pounding back every night.

Apologies but I really have nothing biting or insightful to say regarding Christmas laughs. Unlike Halloween, which is not known for yucks, Christmas is a time of year when people do want to be all jolly like, so there are dozens upon dozens of painfully obvious quality comedies. I feel a little lame because I don't have any sort of obscure or indie comedy to suggest, but I thought I'd list the things I like to watch just because my Halloween entry was ever-the-so-popular.

Futurama Xmas Story and A Tale of Two Santas. Xmas Story is one of the finest Futurama episodes available, and because of my reluctance to watch it at any other time than Xmas, all the jokes stay unwarn. Seriously there is a good joke every 4 seconds. Then A Tale of Two Santas, well, has this:I'm also quite a fan of Merry Christmas Mr. Bean. The toy manger and band conducting scenes are pretty chuckle worthy whether you loathe or love the guy. There's also the Muppet Christmas Carol which is funny enough and makes my heart grow a little with nostalgia. And The Venture Bro's Christmas special is both brief and funny, so if you have ten minutes you should check it out.

Then obviously if you still haven't listened to me, maybe you should watch the Extra's Christmas special and while your at it the British Office's Christmas special aswell.

Regarding the classics, my favourites have always been The Grinch and Peanuts. The Grinch is funny enough, has some classicly amusing Doc Suess lines, and that wicked Grinch theme song. Peaunts isn't all that funny but makes up for it by being the fucking peanuts special. And who doesn't like that little dude on the piano hating on Lucy? Also the music is absolutely killer--every year before Christmas break we'd watch this in music class. My teacher loved him some Vince Guaraldi.

So those are my recommendations for your Christmas viewings. I hope you have something to watch with a little more comedy obscurity cred. Perhaps Father Ted or Blackadder? I really wish I had a punchline here.

Whatever. Merry Crimmas!

MIT... a guy...

2007-12-21T13:47:00.000-05:00

I found this interesting little video on ill doctrine (a pretty sweet hip hop vlog) where Jay Smooth talks about the ethics of satire.

http://www.podtech.net/home/4512/amy-winehouse-and-the-ethics-of-clowning-people

He's right about it being very easy to just make fun of someone for a laugh. We've all been there (humour me please) where we've said something sorta mean about some random person to get a laugh and then the person turns out to be like no armed or something. But that's really a different issue than mocking celebrities who do make their lives very much part of their ad campaigns (check out the Extras Christmas Special). So it becomes a little trickier, like he says, to know if the respective star has forfeited their right to not be comedically objectified by, you know, saying things like this.

If you got time also check out the ill doctrine video on CNN and WWE.

Walk Hard looks like Shit

2007-12-19T23:56:00.000-05:00

Sorry, it does.

When I saw Darjeeling Limited (along with the monkey) they had a few other previews: Juno, which I want to see; Margot at the Wedding, which I probably will see; The Savages, which I really want to see; and Walk Hard, which looks like shit.

Sorry, it does.

And that represents the duality of comedies in my mind. The indie comedrama which offer genuine characters with real moments and then Talladega Nights. I guess Walk Hard has a bunch of people I like from Apatow films and Jack White as Elvis which is pretty cool but a world of muh. I don't plan to see it but this little viral marketing video is actually funny.

This, like everything I usually post, is nsfw.

"Last time I saw Judd run that fast somebody dropped a quarter."

If you haven't already seen the failed casting vids for Knocked Up: Cera and Franco. Also if you're familiar with Undeclared he's used that Mortal Kombat joke before (though it's still a goodin).

ty Stereogum.

Christmas Extras

2007-12-19T00:46:00.000-05:00

"Well I was pissed because you called me in early--I was watching a movie."
"Get over it."
"What movie?"
"Oh um, do you know the show Extras? Its Christmas special."
"Ha! You watch celebrity gossip?"
"No no its a British comedy by the guys that did the original British Office. No? Well. The american Office is a remake of a British show created by Stephen Merchant and Ricky Gervais. It only ran for two six episode seasons but they concluded it with a Christmas special and, uh, you're just walking away from me in mid-sentence."
"I'm still listening to you Cam."
"Thank you Jay."
"If only out of politeness."

Extras was a fantastic show, just like its predecessor The Office. If you haven't watched Extras, I don't know why you're wasting your time with my blog, you have more important things to do. Both shows are top-notch comedies not only because they're hilarious but because they use that hilarity to build towards an honest-to-god touching emotional climaxes.

And, just like original Office, Extras was concluded with a feature length Christmas special (just this Sunday) and I was again surprised at how I actually felt those weird human "feelings" as it concluded. The beginning of the special was a little frustrating as it turned Millman into more of a jerk than usual--revealing a pretty petty core personality--and I was afraid the eventual epiphany regarding the error of his ways would just be trite, but I was pleasantly surprised. The necessary "oh I'm a prick" occurred in a non-cliched manner and in a way that's fairly biting of celebrity culture.

I'm continually impressed by how Merchant (who's absolutely brilliant) and Gervais create hilarious TV programs filled with relatively realistic characters and are able to turn all the humour in on itself to be more dramatic than Law & Order tries to be every week.

All in all I'm quite pleased with how this special concluded the series. I actually hope these guys put out something lackluster just so I can have some sort of perspective. I feel weird saying only good things about them.

Also, the show used Sufjan Christmas music. Instant bonus points.

Just a Note on Blog Wars

2007-12-11T13:39:00.000-05:00

After his nasty post I thought perhaps I should retaliate in kind, with words ~~drudged~~ dredged up from the most acerbic and condescending part of myself, but then I realized, heh, no one has actually read it but me, why confuse my readers?

~~*snap*~~ *less of a snap*

Learn to Speak Turkish in Seconds Flat

2007-12-06T00:55:00.000-05:00

I saw this over at The Sneeze. It wasn't a post or anything, just an ad on his site.

This makes no sense to me. In what world is this service needed?

Quick! I need to learn Turkish ASAP or else the Earth will be destroyed. If only I could learn like a spy.

Maybe if this was selling Russian or Chinese? I don't mean to be racist but Turkish isn't normally associated in my mind with international espionage. Also I'm left considering the demographic for such an ad. Are blog readers more inclined to purchase speed language learning services?

Why?

You've made a Cuckold out of me

2007-12-05T23:20:00.000-05:00

So Dan beat me to the punch on an I Am America (And So Can You!) book review. This could be due to the fact I still haven't read it all yet. I can blame my slow consumption on school work and my secret vampire slaying life, but it's really more of not being overly impressed by it. I agree with most of what Dan says in his review. A lot of what makes Colbert funny is his presentation and reading him just isn't the same. I had the same issue when I read Lewis Black's Nothing's Sacred. You really need to listen to these guys to enjoy their material, reading leaves out a crucial element of their comedy styles.

Another issue I have with the book (and with Colbert actually) is the constant use of satire. Satire is tricky--if you go too far you can come off as pedantic or just eye-roll worthy. I like Colbert, I just prefer the way Stewart lampoons politics and media without overt parody. Both Colbert and Stewart are funny, but Stewart would actually be someone you'd want to have over for dinner. And Colbert's book likely suffered because I enjoyed America the Book so much. Because of its congeniality and varied comedic tone, America the Book is both consistently hilarious and very effective as a piece of political writing .

All that said the book is funny enough. If you like Colbert you'll probably want to read it just out of interest and if you're like me you'll want to own the first edition hard-copy to get that sweet sweet ribbon bookmark.

An Arguement Against Causality

2007-12-01T14:21:00.000-05:00

There's nothing I can say to make this right.

What was Alf thinking?

Thanks Shortpacked.

Cuff the Clark and ... George Michael

2007-11-29T17:27:00.000-05:00

I was apparently totally screwing around at the beginning of this television season. I'll blame this miss-portunity to Clark and Michael not actually being on TV. The show is hosted online by CBS and stars Michael Cera (Arrested Development, Superbad) and Clark Duke (friend of Cera). Defining the show is a little tricky as it seems to be a documentary crew (hired by Cera and Duke) following the two as they make and attempt to sell the show they are currently filming. Obviously a mocumentary though still a snake eating its own tail. There are ten approx. ten minute episodes that comprise the entire season.

The show centers around Cera and Duke, so their interaction is critical to the success of the show. Both play oddball characters that react unpredictably and without any ounce of social awareness. There is plenty of the awkward humour Cera is so adept at playing (honestly I think he plays awkward better than any actor I've ever seen) and a copious amount of funny guest stars like David Cross, Tony Hale, and Andy Richtor. Also it's cool to see Sam Weir has grown up into quite the young man. Finally it has the best title sequence of any show I've ever seen.

The show isn't the bees-knees of comedy though, it falters more often than it succeeds in the beginning, but as the show progresses it certainly becomes quite enjoyable. My favourite is the penultimate episode and it's certainly worth a gander if you don't feel like watching the show from the start. Check it out.

Thursday Bonus Content (TBC): I had an argument with my cousin regarding Superbad a while ago. My cousin thinks Jonah Hill is going to be the next big comedy star and I unfortunately agree. Hill is capable of funny but so often resorts to bombastic cursing for his laughs, which will likely serve him quite well in his future. However, in that movie and all his other roles, Cera is able to act with such subtlety that his comedy comes not just from his lines but from his idiosyncratic mannerism. This makes his acting and comedy quite engaging for me, unlike the humorous yet relatively unchallenging fuck-yeller Hill who will no doubt be appearing in theatres near you soon enough. That being said, Juno comes out this December if I'm not mistaken.

The Bible is Full of some Badass Mofos

2007-11-28T14:56:00.000-05:00

I was trying not to just post links to things that are funny but, hey, the semester is almost over, this is funny, and I've got other things to do than blog at length about the Top 9 Badass Bible Versus. But a quick sample regarding Moses' Egyptian incident in Exodus 2:

"Moses, seen here, is about to murder the hell out of an unsuspecting Egyptian."

"Moses later defeated the Egyptian Pharaoh, who, if we remember correctly, had been using Hebrew slaves to construct a 40-foot-high armored battle suit capable of launching nuclear missiles to anywhere in the world."

Found via Boing Boing. And obvious thanks to *sigh* Cracked.com.

Amiss to Push some Daisies

2007-11-27T10:21:00.000-05:00

As I approached my 10am class this morning cancelled notices coalesced in my sleep-blurred vision. My body hit the wall in a last ditch effort to keep from collapsing. I used my head to force myself off the cold brick wall and roll back to a stand. A classmate swore and asked if anyone wanted to go for a beer. Alas society's laws against such a thing.

So I find myself in the student centre, listening to Dub Side of the Moon, and without the book I so crucially need to be reading at the moment. Might as well get off another entry though, the only other thing I could do is school work.

When I was home last so long ago (sorry mom) my mother showed me a television show called Pushing Daisies. I wasn't a big fan, perhaps because my mother was so adamant that I would love it (sorry mom). Even so, the quirkiness lingered in my subconscious. I'm not too sure what triggered the renewed interest but it may have had something to do with having nothing else to watch due to this damned writers strike. I ended up downloading the entire season thus far. My mother turned out to be on to something after all, though I still hate every brand of CSI under The Who (again, sorry).

These are the facts: Ned (the pie maker) has the unique ability to bring dead people back to life. However if he touches them again they re-die, and more severe, if he doesn't re-die them in a minute someone else will die to take their dead-place. Logically he ends up partnering with a PI and waking up murder victims to find out who killed them to collect rewards. When he finds his childhood crush (Chuck) dead and brings her back to life to ask after her murderer, he can't bring himself to kiss and thus kill her. It's very romantic, except they can't ever touch or cause Chuck to let loose her mortal coil, again. Elaborate at first, yes, but essentially it feels like a cross between Desperate Housewives and Dead like Me.

As you can guess the show is pretty damn quirky. It exists in a world not real, but perhaps a world so influenced by mystery novels and unapologeticly sappy romances that things like love at first glance and murder by scratch-n-sniff are perfectly common place. I say this but the wonderful thing about Pushing Daisies is it's ability to acknowledge itself. The PI, Emmerson, is usually there to make a sarcastic comment about how odd the murder is, or how lame Ned and Chuck's conversation is (indeed hanging the lantern I'll admit). Besides the quirky world, the dialogue is some of the most clever on TV. I wouldn't toss this around lightly, and later I'll put my comments in perspective, but the stuff they say on this show is often so clever I get mad that the Office is what it is currently.

In the end I'm surprised. There were all these comedies I was looking forward to this season and have been relatively disappointed by all of them (fyi BNL now provides the theme for the lame duck Big Bang!) and along comes this show I paid no heed to at first and yet proves to be the best new comedy of the season, perhaps even the best show on TV period. Chuck is mediocre, Office faltering, and SVU, well, child abuse and rape can only be funny for so long.

So if you haven't already, watch some Pushing Daisies. It'll make you believe in love again, or at least necrophilia.

Bored Girls and Comedy (Hott!)

2007-11-26T01:32:00.000-05:00

Thought I should put up a link to this. I'll keep my opinions on Dane Cook to myself but definitely encourage anyone to check out their local stand-up scene.

Bender Bending Rodríguez's Back, Baby

2007-11-25T23:48:00.000-05:00

Shut up friends!, I was cruising around IGN's TV reviews a few days ago. Boy, do they have my ass kicked in review quantity. Though seeing the giant scores they're giving some pretty mediocre Office episodes, I feel somewhat appeased that I'm a fair bit more elitist. *notch*

Anyways I stumbled upon a review of the new Futurama movie, Bender's Big Move. "Shit, they were making those weren't they!" I'd forgotten but started my download almost immediately.

I was hesitant. I loved and do still love Futurama, but that ex-girlfriend who was torn away by moronic TV execs is never the same when she walks back into your life. I mean the beret was cool in high school but when you're pushing 22 it looks a little silly. Also, Family Guy sure has sucked since it came back on the air. Each episode is like a bunch of chimps trying to approximate what Family Guy used to be. Maybe orangutans.

So I watched it. And it was sorta disappointing. I mean it wasn't terrible but it wasn't awesome either. Bender was the source of most of the laughs, which is abnormal as I tend to like the Professor, Zap, or Zoidberg more. Zap was pretty funny but was on screen for about 3 minutes. Some of the oddity has been lost which was always my (everyone's) favourite.

I was also worried that the "movie" would play like four episodes of Futurama pasted together. *cough cough Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story cough.* And surprisingly the plot held up pretty well. I don't want to give too much away but there's time travel. I love multi-layered time travel narratives, especially ones involving time-cops. The story was actually engaging and even had some moderate surprises. I've read some complaints about the Leela-Fry dynamic as tired but frankly has there ever been a television show without the will-they-or-won't-they get-together couple? And if that's been the driving force of the show why wouldn't it be the driving force of the movie? Yes, it's in there and it's sorta lame, but this means to me that the next three Futurama movies will likely be light on the issue. Get it over with first I guess? Whatever. I'm pumped Futurama's back.

In brief: if you like Futurama you were going to watch this anyways, if you don't, then this wont change your (obviously malfunctioning) mind.

But let's face it, comedy's a dead artform. Now tragedy, that's funny!

Comedy for People into Sonic Youth

2007-11-23T01:08:00.000-05:00

I found this article via Stereogum. If you like David Cross, Demetri Martin, and indie rock then you'll probably love this article.

That may be untrue. I love those three things and was totally underwhelmed funny wise. I was tickled but I didn't laugh. I was more surprised to find out Keanu Reeves was in a band. I remember hearing about that but the deliciousness must have alluded me at the time because I forgot. I think I need to download a few albums, Willie Shatner is getting a little dusty. (I lie. I still love that WOW pimpin' fool.)

The prospect of getting these two comedians together to listen to music, then provide this sparse two page "interview" certainly seems like a missed opportunity to me. Why not ask Cross why he still thinks The Strokes are cool or Martin about when his new Grapes album is being released? Or at least get them to star in like a Grizzly Bear video? They're the critical darlings of the moment aren't they?

Whatever. Thought you might be interested.

John Hodgman on Boing Boing TV

2007-11-21T01:01:00.000-05:00

Honestly what are the odds you read my blog and not Boing Boing? I however am not going to miss an opportunity to pimp John Hodgman.

From the moment I saw Hodgman (or Hodgie as I like to embroider onto pillowcases) in his first Daily Show interview, I've been enamoured. I was pumped to see him even get a much deserved re-occurring role as a their resident expert (here doing a bang-up job explaining net neutrality). Joy springs eternal when his beautiful punim appears on my TV screen. Blah blah blah mac commercials.

The original appearance was actually to promote his book The Area's of my Expertise. It's one of my favourite books, and one of the very few I find LOL-funny. This almanac of complete knowledge is essentially one giant fabrication. Off-hand my favourite parts may be the lobsters (not to be confused with "lobsters") section, the hobo signs section, and typical cyborg mischief. Read this book if you haven't. It's out in paperback now with an expansion of the original 700 hobo-names (which if you want you can listen to Hodgie reciting them all).

Anyways, Boing Boing TV has posted a pseudo-interview with Hodgman in his hotel room. He talks about his new book. Enjoy.

"It did not lead people to worry that I was insane."

He's on strike right now. Bollucks.

Writer's Strike and my Lack of Solidarity

2007-11-17T02:06:00.000-05:00

I've been forced to keep writing despite the WGA strike because a) I'm Canadian, b) I'm not a member of the WGA, and c) I don't expect any of my professors to take "I'm on strike" to be a valid reason for an essay not being handed in on time.

Anyways here's a relatively unfunny video from a Daily Show writer about the strike if you haven't seen it yet. (I'm so late to join the party because the internet and I are seeing other people at the moment.) Thus far I'm on the side of the writers. More reading may change my mind but currently it seems like giant corporations could survive reimbursing their writers for what goes online.

They make a good point. However, I find it odd that a lot of the writers are still blogging, especially since the hooplah (how do I know how to spell that?) is actually about online content. I guess they're only striking against writing that makes other people money.

Goodnight, and good luck.

The Darjeeling Limited: If I mispronounce it once more I may be racist

2007-11-11T00:38:00.000-05:00

When did Phil Collins become cool? Sorry, lingering confusion.

So this Tuesday I went to see The Darjeeling Limited, because I'm a big fan of Wes Anderson, but not a big enough fan to spend more than $4.25 on a theatre ticket. What do you want?

Anyways, I thought I was going to be pretty disappointed with this movie. My initial reaction to Life Aquatic was disappointment despite my now current and overwhelming tendency to gush about it. Then there was also the relatively mediocre reviews. Critics are pompous and I thought they'd be right behind this film, if they weren't it might actually blow. Apparently I got critics confused with hippsters. Bill Murray isn't really in this one either. I like Bill Murray. Finally, it just seemed like time for him to release a stinker.

But yeah, it was pretty enjoyable. I could chalk it up to low expectations but why ruin a good thing? This makes my heart... feel?

The stand-out feature of all Anderson flicks is that odd aesthetic of his. His movies seem to exist in parallel universes, not like cowboy universes, but universes with strange dialogue and odd ways of speaking. If you've seen one of his movies you'll know what I'm talking about. And that aesthetic is certainly present in this film.

Most of the actors do an admirable job in the film. Owen Wilson is always great in his Anderson roles and he's great in this one too. He's unpredictable and hilarious. Jason Schwartzman's dry acting is normally perfect for Anderson's film, and in Darjeeling he often seems at home, but sometimes he sticks out a little. However, I often need to see an Anderson film a few times to really get into it and so I imagine my complaints with Schwartzman might fade away in after another viewing. Anjelica Huston's performance, however, left a lot to be desired. Her role is pretty important (I won't spoil it) and her rather bland performance hurts the emotional climax of the film. Adrian Brody, though, that dude really surprised me. I've never really cared much for him, as I shy away from big budget academy award seeking movies about Nazis but Brody was absolutely fantastic in this film. He was by far my favourite character and doesn't seem out of place among the Anderson veterans. I hope to see him in further projects.

Ultimately I guess I should discuss whether this film is actually funny or not. It is. Often I was the only person in the theatre laughing (or at least my roommate and I) and so perhaps my sense of humour is part derangement but like all of his films (again) there is some awesome dialogue. I love the way people speak in Anderson films: blunt, concise, and drier than a Zellers clubhouse sandwich. Darjeeling is no different. And humour is used nicely as a contrast to the more somber nature of the character's problems. You feel worse for them because you just laughed at them.

I think the obvious conclusion for this review is that if you like Anderson films then you'll probably like this movie. There isn't anything strikingly new here but I'm not sure if that was what I wanted. Maybe some people are finding his aesthetic tired, but I think this is an issue of how overt it is and thus such an easy criticism. Is evolution about changing your style or is it in improving it? I'm happy with the current state. Ask me in another six films.

P.S. They play the short film made as a pre-cursor to Darjeeling Limited before the movie. This little film includes a very racy seen with one Natalie Portman. So if that's your thing, it's a giant screen man.

I'm not concerned about the monkey, it's the Phil Collins.

2007-11-07T02:25:00.001-05:00

So I went to see Wes Anderson's new flick, The Darjeeling Limited. Never mind about that though, I'll blog about it in a few days. First, here's a preliminary:

We were a little late, my roommate and I. As we approached the door we heard Phil Collins' "In the Air Tonight" and on the screen I may have seen a gorilla. My roommate made a grunt of hesitation; so, as we walked into the theatre I commented, "The gorilla is a little much."
"It's not the gorilla but the Phil Collins."
"That's what was off putting for me at first too, but then I saw the man in the gorilla suit."
"To each his own."

Well, we picked a seat and watched the rest of the ad.

Apparently this came out in August, so apologies if this is old news for you. I just saw this tonight and it's seriously "the crazy." That said, it may be one of my favourite commercials of-all-time despite the fact it advertises not for drums, Phil Collins, or rhythmically inclined grey back gorillas, but chocolate bars?

Beckett would have been confused.

For those who wanted to own this as I did, I've got a high quality download right here. Enjoy.

The Bloggies

2007-11-05T17:01:00.000-05:00

Blog + Dundies (The Office S02E01)

I figured everyone was wondering which blog I was voting for in the funniest blog category for the 2007 weblog awards. Don't worry, daddy's here.

I'm voting for The Sneeze. Check out his post on Dominoes Pizza. Quite amusing.

For best comic strip I actually voted for Penny Arcade. An obvious choice, I know, but they are continually funny in both post and comic. Currently the leader is xkcd, which is I used to really dig but hasn't made me really laugh in a while. So I voted with consistency.

Do your cyber-civic duty and go vote. Or don't.

Crisis of Faith (that sounds so emo)

2007-11-04T23:35:00.001-05:00

So I had a conversation with a gentleman on Friday in which my authority as a comedy critic was contested. The argument boiled down to whether I, as someone who has not watched Cheers or The Honeymooners extensively, had the right to be a critic regarding sitcoms. Obviously I argued that I did, but I may have also lost the argument.

My friend, who I'll call Tim, argued that since I was not well versed in the history of the sitcom, or at least the successes and thus formative influences, I would not be fully aware of what new sitcoms were doing inside the sitcom genre. This was likened to literature. Could a writer respectively analyse a work of literature without studying the works which were of direct influence, or even further could a writer respectively analyse a work without reading the major works in literature? Those studying literature are specifically taught surveys of canon so that they can (at least to some degree) better analyse/understand/contextualize any piece of literature. Tim did not deny me the right to have and support an opinion, but merely that I do not necessarily have the authority to offer an educated critique of sitcoms. This is a very strong point.

I, however, would still like to argue my case. This is of course unfair to Tim as he will not be able to offer a response or even clarify my potentially unintentional strawman-ed rendition of his argument. But I will anyways.

The problem with his argument to me is the requirement of a historical background of a genre to evaluate new instances of it. I don't disagree that a knowledge of the past can greatly help your analytical abilities, but I don't think this is absolutely imperative. I think you can construct an analyses divorced of a great deal of context (of course not all context, as would humour even work in a vacuum?). That said, Tim is very right in the quality variances in evaluations with and without context. In academic articles it is very important to discuss the context of one's arguments (why they're such a chore to read). The context provides authority. The author has read and engaged the historical and critical backing of the issue s/he is now writing about, thus his/her argument is proven to be (hopefully) well informed. There is no reason this concept shouldn't be applied to comedy.

But the issue comes down to this for me. I don't find Cheers all that funny. Neither do I find The Honeymooners too enjoyable. And I've seen enough episodes to make these judgement calls. More so, I am not writing my critiques in vacuums. I haven't ignored these foundational shows. And the pluralization is the key. This isn't a few writings, movies, or albums, this is multiple seasons of a television show. Cheers had almost 250 episodes. That's a lot of hours to spend watching a show I don't like so I can know a little more about the sitcom genre. And here's the thing--I don't think it'd matter. I've watched many other sitcoms, ones that weren't on when I was 7, that were heavily influenced by Cheers. And that goes even more so for The Honeymooners. Yes, Seinfeld is greatly influenced by The Honeymooners, but what aspect of the show have I not picked up on from other shows (in content and form) and from watching the freakin Flintstones?

Ultimately though, I think we need to consider critiques and analyses in terms of a conversation. When I engage a sitcom, a comedian, or a movie I offer my analysis, which is by no means definitive. And I would not expect any worthwhile critic to say otherwise. When we write about any topic we are engaging in a conversation (one that perhaps takes place over some length of time). When someone writes a book on Milton, s/he engages in a conversation about Milton. Other writers will then engage those ideas. This may not happen as much in comedy analysis, merely because there is yet to be vast academic work in the area, but this does not mean that the project is not the same. So Tim with his greater knowledge of Cheers could offer an argument about The Big Bang, and reveal elements of the show I, with my "ignorance" of Cheers, would miss. This would not at all be unlike the conversation that occurs about Milton. (Okay it's way different, but not in terms of project.) Anyone can be a critic here, it's merely how good of a critic. Tim might be a better critic about comedy, but he doesn't maintain a blog on the topic. I wish he would, then we could blargue until our fingers were raw. And the comedy community would be the better for it. If even slightly.

I don't intend this post to be about me winning an argument, it is supposed to be about me trying to figure out how I (or anyone) can discuss comedy on a critical level. Do the same issues of literature or music apply to comedy? This is a difficult question, even more so with this broad definition of comedy. Perhaps you can construct necessary canon pieces with comedy films, but in television, with shows involving more than an hour total watch-time, can you still construct that same idea about canon? And then certainly with the cultural pervasiveness of some of the television comedies you have to consider how viewers acquire a comedy education. Everyone, whether a comedy scholar or not, gets a great deal of I Love Lucy references. Further, so much of how sitcoms are made is built upon previous success--so by watching Home Improvement, I've watched Family Ties. And all this hasn't even begun to address how these issues relate to stand-up.

I don't necessarily have any concrete answers to the issues I've raised despite the lengths I've gone to above. Unfortunately these issues seem to be argued about at 1am in apartment buildings rather than in any written text, denying me that conversation I believe leads to better answers than the above. Bummer.

Here's a link to something actually funny.

Spinal Tap meets Gen Y

2007-11-02T13:02:00.000-04:00

Or is it Z at this point? My youth pastor was unclear.

Now I've never been a big fan of musical comedy. I mean Barenaked Ladies were cool for a bit (yes they were!) because their humour was silly and their music folky, but now they're some rock-pop band that sing about absurd chimpanzees. And then song parodies. Ugh. Worse is a comedian with a guitar and comedy songs! When I see a comedian grab a guitar I immediately have my finger over whatever button will silence his/her tired bit. There are of course exceptions to every rule. Demetri Martin uses a guitar in his act and is consistently hilarious, but he's really punctuating jokes with the guitar rather than composing funny songs.

But My Chemical Romance, they shatter all my preconceptions.

MCR (yes I'm hip) is musical comedy at its best. Instead of trying to make jokes in song, their entire body of work and personas are the joke. Irony is the strangest thing, you can take garbage and bring it up to a level of appreciable quality by simply placing your tongue firmly in cheek. MCR does this to a tee.

I was confused at first with MCR. I'll embarrassingly admit I didn't get it. I just thought they were lousy. But when their sophomore album, The Black Parade, came out I finally "got it." Their video for the title track is what swung me. Watch it not as a pretentious emo video but as a group of self-aware guys making a pretentious emo video. Then you have a comedy masterpiece. The song brilliantly starts off with soft/sad piano music, then after the mention of a "marching band" a snare march beat is added. This all occurs underneath Gerard Way singing about pseudo-christ imagery. Then there's an obvious Queen-stealing ramp-up with Way singing his heart out and finally, at like a minute and a half, we get the fast emo-punk business. And that's just the song. The video has black and white cinematogrophy, circle wipes, futuristic macabre imagery, dramatic slow-motion band performance, and my favourite--hand reaches to the sky.

Of course for this sort of thing to work the acting has to be impeccable. And it is. Not once do I see the ounce of self-awareness that would ruin the entire joke--the only thing you see in Way's eyes are a dude desperately trying to project overwrought emotion. Check out the video for Famous Last Words. This video really features Way's ability. He spends the entire video an inch away from the screen screaming his heart out ("I am not afraid to keep on living / I am not afraid to walk this world alone"), tearing at his face, and smashing his mic stand to the sand. The rest of the band does a great job too, being way too into the music, swinging their guitars around or flipping their hair dramatically as they hit the crash. Also!, there is fire everywhere. It's a metaphor for the fire raging inside their heart sleeves.

Despite what the critics said, MCR really evolved on their second album. They grabbed a hold of their silliness and took it to a new level of pretencion--the concept album. You can't get more pretentious than concept albums. (Okay you can, if you're already a prog-metal band. I'm looking at you Dream Theatre!) And further, it's a concept album about death. You might judge them for being obvious with their choices. Yes it's easy to do a sophomore concept album about death as a ironic emo band, but since when would an emo band not be obvious? These guys have to keep up with actual emo bands, like The Used, that are taking this shit to unprecedented levels of pretentiousness.

Pick up/download their albums and hit up all their videos on youtube. They're full of laughs by some of the smartest comedy musicians of our generation. I'm interested to see where these guys go when this whole emo fad sputters out. I'm hoping for overproduced mega-indie-bands. These guys need to be taken down a few notches.

Scary Movie wasn't Funny.

2007-10-31T01:42:00.000-04:00

I dislike horror movies. In fact I don't like terror in any form. Probably just a disposition developed from having my family killed by a mask wearing serial killer in front of my very eyes when I was six... I miss you mommy.

Still, I do love the Halloween. I love to dress up and act a little silly. Given my love/hate relationship with the holiday I thought I’d list some not so obvious things you could watch this Halloween to keep you in the spirit but don't render you incapable of taking out the garbage at 3 in the morning. I hate the fucking Ring.

But yeah. After you’re done with Shaun of the Dead, Evil Dead II, Young Frankenstein, and the Simpsons Halloween Specials, maybe you might consider something off this list:

Monster Squad – I loved this movie when I was a kid. A bunch of kids take on all the classic movie monsters. I haven’t seen it in years as I lost my of TV recorded VHS copy, so I’m not sure it’s actually good or not. However I do remember this line which is enough for this movie to make it onto the list: “Wolfman’s got nards!”

Big Trouble Little China – Kurt Russell as a self-aggrandizing anti-hero who finds himself mixed up with magic, monsters, kung-fu, and Victor Wong. You might guess this one’s cheesy.

Bubba Ho-Tep – Okay: Bruce Campbell, as an old man convinced he’s Elvis Presley, teams up with an elderly (and black) JFK to save their retirement home from an ancient mummy who sucks souls out of residents’ rearholes. … Yeah.

Little Shop of Horrors – Rick Moranis stars in a musical comedy featuring a giant man eating plant. There are also hilarious appearances by Steve Martin as a masochist dentist and Bill Murray as the sadist that can’t get enough dental work. Did I mention Rick Morranis sings?

Not a movie but the episode called “A New Man” is a pretty great episode of Buffy that is often overlooked. Some of the comedic timing in this show is genius. It was neither written nor directed by Joss Whedon so there’s little lecturing.

And finally you gotta check out the first movie I had to be taken out of crying. (For your information the second was Jurassic Park because, well, there was a giant man eating dinosaur running around eating Jeff Goldblum. The third was Holy Man which had a cringe inducing Eddie Murphy running around eating at Jeff Goldblum's career.) But yes, the first movie I had to be taken out of was, honest to god, Ernest Scared Stupid. I remember (i.e. construct) the look of utter befuddlement on my cousin’s face. “Wait he’s scared of Ernest? We’re leaving? You have to be joking.” My cousin and I don’t speak anymore.

But seriously that movie freaked me out and I still find it a little chilling. Goblins are scary okay. I learned to love the movie later, likely having nothing to do with proving that I was becoming “a man.” Again I haven’t seen this one in years but I’m sure there’s some decent simple slapstick and good natured life lessons in here that we can all enjoy. Or you could just laugh at how much of a sissy I was to be taken out of the theatre crying at an Ernest movie.

If there’s anything I missed why don’t you post a comment? We could be like buddies.

Comedy Network Low-Jacked Comedy Central.

2007-10-23T19:55:00.000-04:00

So I read on Stereogum that The Daily Show has posted a new website disconnected from Comedy Central. Alright let's blog about that. First maybe I should check out the site though. Oh no we won't. Things are involved.

Seriously try out this link to www.thedailyshow.com. Note the address that appears in your bottom status bar. Now click on it. Well it seems like you've been re-directed to a site you had no intentions on visiting. Strange.

Hmm. Let's try www.comedycentral.com. Hey look that's re-directed too.

Just a quick explanation: The Comedy Network is a Canadian cable television channel that plays various funny (and often unfunny) shows. Comedy Central is an American cable television channel that does the same. The Comedy Network syndicates a lot of shows off Comedy Central (like The Daily Show). Up until recently one was able to access either network's websites to watch streamed content. No longer. Here's a CTV news story about the issue (be aware that CTV owns The Comedy Network).

So what's going on here? This has happened to me before when trying to gain access to a certain site hosting bittorrent files. The site blocked my access because of the different laws in Canada in regard to copyrights. I wasn't really aware sites were able to block sites based on country of origin. And now this is what The Comedy Network is doing. They are re-directing Canadian traffic to their own site--essentially blocking Canadian access to Comedy Central on the net.

So what's the deal with this? I don't want to rant but where does The Comedy Network get off blocking perfectly reasonable access to Comedy Central? Blah blah blah Google and China, but like Comedy Central is an American channel that can only be accessed through illegal methods in Canada. Their website, however, was a way to watch Comedy Central content not available on The Comedy Network and further had a greater selection of streamable content.

According to the deal The Comedy Network will have access to all of Comedy Central content but will they be hosting that all on their site? For instance can I stream content from a show The Comedy Network doesn't air but is still aired on Comedy Central? And am I going to have access to the archives that The Daily Show's new site hosts? This was an awesome feature that I don't see on The Comedy Network. Also I'm not really able to stream any of the content because it requires a plug-in that won't install correctly onto my computer (that one's probably on me though).

But beyond these issues of comparable content access, I think this whole tactic is a rather cheap way to promote that their "website doesn't suck anymore." I don't really care that it doesn't suck. I may not use it regardless because, yeah, I too am that petty. So, please don't block my access to websites whether you claim to offer the same content or not. This is America dammit and I should be able to go wherever I want on the internet. Be that porn, porn, or porn.

Segues and Louis C.K.

2007-10-20T11:17:00.000-04:00

Oh yeah remember your blog? Shit.

The plan was a segue. Lucky Louie to Louis C.K. but then I sorta got distracted and 12 days later yay new post. But apologies.

So, Louis C.K..

My first Louis C.K. experience was the sudden discovery of what I'll look like when I'm middle-aged. Once I got past his dashing good looks I realized that C.K. was also a pretty funny comedian. What makes C.K. at first so appealing (i.e. hilarious) is his natural presentation. If, for example, you found yourself at shrimp-fest with Louis his routine might seem like a pleasant (i.e. hilarious) conversation. In fact, only after becoming more familiar with his routines did I realize a lot of the funny things he said during interviews were just jokes he uses on stage.

This natural delivery not only keeps C.K.'s comedy from seeming contrived but also compliments nicely the matter he discusses. C.K. talks frankly (seriously frankly) about his marriage and his family. He says things about his daughters that I've never heard from a father before, but things which immediately seemed like that which a parent thinks but never says. "My daughter is an asshole." Anyone that's ever spent time with a child knows that this is too often true, but who has ever heard someone on TV say it? I cringe to use the cliché that it's funny because it's true but, seriously, kids are assholes. I was.

I heard or read an interview with C.K. in which he said his earlier comedy was clever but that it didn't really matter at all. And he's not being cocky, his jokes are moving past the tired comedy clichés about the family into a discussion about family (that at least to me) seems pretty honest. I laugh because C.K.'s jokes are new and shocking, but further I think about the topics a little differently after. I grow!?

Aaron posted a link in a comment to my last post that's a great sample of C.K.'s comedy (as usual: beware of content). Also he has a new HBO special you could probably acquire through bittorrent.

Lucky You

2007-10-08T12:29:00.000-04:00

Another sitcom? I'm hoping you are not yet completely exhausted by my current TV comedy fixation because I've got one more sitcom to talk about (promise.). My motives today however are not to review a new sitcom though, it's to finalize (ha!) my discussion on sitcoms in some way. So why don't we start talking about Lucky Louie?

Lucky Louie isn't a new show this season, in fact the show's actually been cancelled for a while now, but I want to mention it as a contrast to all the sitcoms strewn across your television channels. Lucky Louie actually aired on HBO, making it the first sitcom to be produced by the channel, and upon watching any episode of the show you'll understand why its HBO and not CBS, Eric. In brief: Louie and wife deal with the problems of their marriage and 4yr old daughter. Sounds like a generic sitcom but... well watch this clip. This little scene sums up the show for me. It starts out deceptively like any sitcom with the set and pan in, then even sort of a familiar joke, but then as the conversation continues we start to go further than a regular sitcom would normally go. His daughter's incessant questions almost lead to a monologue of self contemplation for Louie. This is the very first scene of the pilot, brilliantly introducing the show.

The show gets a lot filthier as well. Lucky Louie takes on issues that sitcoms skirt around because they aren't wide viewership friendly and discuss them blatantly with copious amounts of cussing. I can remember conversations about Louie's eating problems, masturbation, and a lengthy scene between the couple regarding anal sex (seriously beware of content). A large driving force for the show is the problems with Louie and Kim's marriage and provides moments of honest realism and yet still moments of great comedy.

I discussed the racy nature of the show but I think I need to stress this point further. This show is absolutely filthy. If things aren't getting dirty at home, the moment his friend Rich walks on screen you're guaranteed to hear some things that will make you uncomfortable to be watching it with your mom. (Seriously this is how I started watching the show, with my mom. My mom and dad actually became fans of the show--an unexpected outcome and one that has required near limitless numbers of mental blockings.) Sometimes this perversity is a strong point for the show. In an argument about having another child Louie explains "my dick is too aware that your pussy is a chamber of financial ruin." This line was the reason I started watching the show: honest, crude, and funny. However!, sometimes the perversity just goes on without a point. Just a long conversation about masturbating with his friend which isn't particularly funny and, what?, shows us that men talk about masturbating? I saw that on The Drew Carey Show.

The show is very interesting in how it takes the sitcom genre and exploits it to be sometimes movingly honest, yet still manages to be consistently funny. The writing however really kills Lucky Louie. The writers (mainly Louis C.K.) didn't know the strong points of the show and so for every scene of hilarious reality inside the most unrealistic television show form, we had long uncomfortably dirty and unfunny scenes. HBO didn't renew the show and it's a shame because a second season can often drastically improve a show (remember the first season of Seinfeld?). I would have been interested in seeing the show Lucky Louie could have been. But alas.

Check it out if you aren't too bashful and if your mom's out of room.

Return of The Office

2007-10-02T15:12:00.000-04:00

I wanted this to be a positive post. For earnest I swear. However, I got home today planning on writing today's blog and found not the new Iron and Wine CD I ordered in the mail-box BUT my roommate's damn Scary Go Round book. Also!, I wasn't overly impressed by The Office last Thursday.

I watched The Office's (hour long!) premier after the (hour long!!) premier of My Name is Earl. And this was actually the problem for me. MNiE is trying something new this season that actually has me looking forward to the next episode. They've thrown Earl in jail and thus the show's formula has been tossed about too. I hand it to the show, they've shown a fresh willingness to renew their format. This might be something The Office could learn from?

Now I'm not ignorant. The Office has had some shake-ups, like relocating Jim in the start of season 3. This was a good move, one I thought they could have milked a little longer. I enjoyed the alt. branch a lot and the scene that occurred between Jim and Pam over the phone was quite touching. But the two offices merged and Jim came back with Karen which was essentially a reversal of our old love triangle. This isn't really the dynamic that troubles me though. Pam and Jim have always been The Office's strong suit and more and more the rest of the cast is becoming increasingly fleshed out and hilarious. Just take a look at Creed and Darryl. Oddly the problem I'm having with The Office is its root: Michael Scott.

Indeed. Michael's antics started to wear on me a little last season, his character seeming to become sort of a caricature of itself, and this season's opener didn't show any signs of relieving the problem. I know it may be an odd move to cite the main character and premise of the show as its main problem but that's what I'm finding consistently makes me reserve all out praise for the show. For instance: this new episode's nude scene. Honestly, this joke was lame. Pam walks in on Michael changing after he told her to come in. I didn't even smirk at this joke. Blurred out man parts aren't really funny on their own, especially not in a show that is pretty good about avoiding tired humour.

After all this though, the episode was pretty decent. There were plenty of good (humorous and sweet) moments between Jim and Pam, and the rest of the cast had some pretty good moments too (taking off for a beer during the run), but Michael was unforgivably annoying. Yes, he drove the story forward, but he used to do that while still making me laugh. Michael used to be a doofus that was trying hard to be cool but now he's this zany clown that the writers seem to be trying to have out-do himself each episode. I think they should take a hint from MNiE's writers (did I just write that!?) and try to mix things up a little more by focusing on other secondary characters or by having Michael be the straight man for once.

Remember though: this was just the first episode of season 4; there is still so much to like about The Office; I didn't get my CD.

Not with a Bang but with a Whimper

2007-09-27T15:16:00.000-04:00

The next sitcom I downloaded was The Big Bang Theory on CBS. This show is created by the dude behind Two and a Half Men as well as Dharma and Greg. I was surprised to find the pilot was directed by the same cat who directed the pilot for Back to You, making for a heavy James Burrows slant to Now that's Comedy. In brief: TBBT throws two nerdy geniuses into social interaction with (you guessed it!) a generic hotty from across the hall. I went into this show with low expectations as I saw it metacritiqued in the yellow. And after watching the pilot I do agree with this consensus but I will admit, however, that this show has a lot going for it (even if only potentially).

First off, this show needs to ditch it's laugh track or risk having me watch the show closed-captioned. It was honestly distracting/annoying/grating/sob-inducing. As a society I think we've moved beyond the need for laugh tracks but, as this is a sitcom, I guess it's to be expected? If we can't rid ourselves of these antiquated techniques then for god's sake at least use a live studio audience. This provides some semblance of proportioned laughs forced upon a viewer. Moving on!

The majority of jokes in TBBT are pretty obvious and really only function on a familiar level. Oh yes nerds like Star Wars, hi-larious. At one point our duo are debating interaction with the new move-in. Leonard comments on their closed circle of friends. Sheldon defends himself by saying he has 318 friends on myspace and Leonard "quips" that he does but has never met a single one. These lines led my roommate (ignorant of the show's origins) to ask "who are these guys the Dharma and Greg of nerds?" Too many jokes simply play off nerd cliches and the attempts at physics references usually come off as obvious or wikipedia-ed.

That all being said however! the dialogue in the script is actually quite well written. The manner in which Sheldon and Leonard talk is engaging and makes me wish for funnier jokes. Secondly, the acting is pretty superb. Sheldon in particular nails his wordy lines and adds plenty of sarcastic disdain sending my heart all a flutter. The characters probably flirt with familiarity but I think the acting brings them past that mostly. It's the acting that really saves this show, elevating mediocre jokes into laugh-earners!

So, I'm conflicted. Too many lame easy jokes to call TBBT good but such deftly acted and engaging characters to write off immediately. What's a boy to do? I wish perhaps they could hand the show over to some people that are willing to move beyond humour mined from library joke books, but I've learned wishing does nothing in regards to the fate of comedy shows. I really want this show to get better. I'll tune-in likely to only find heartbreak.

Ditch the damned laugh track though, yeesh.

The Show's called Chuck

2007-09-26T01:50:00.000-04:00

I was really looking forward to this new show Chuck. In brief: charismatic and comical nerd gets involved with secret agent nonsense and some generic smoking hotty. I missed it on Monday night the same way I missed Heroes. What the hell was I thinking? Oh yes, I was hoping to see Emily Haines dance. I (again) was disappointed.

And! the trailer was quite promising: ninja jokes, computer jokes, Batman jokes, videogame jokes, CHiPs jokes... But I just finished my downloaded pilot and honestly, what the hell NBC?

I'm not going to say there weren't any good jokes, in fact those jokes listed above were all pretty respectable, but most were in the trailer. (When did TV shows start having trailers btw?) If you watched the trailer there's a moment where Chuck is beat-boxing "Vicky Vale!" but looks up to see the "smoking hotty" and so stops the beat-boxing and drops the phone all so suddenly--a well acted and timed physical comedy beat. The full length show also has a pretty funny follow up joke that's not included in the trailer. So there are for sure some quality moments in the show but this quality isn't all that consistent. For instance, the whole buddy aspect, which is a main element of the show, fails pretty much outright.

The buddy system is just as important in comedy as it is in... bench pressing I guess? But I mean it's a pretty standard mechanism, two characters playing off each other to generate the laughs. This particular instance has a wise cracking lead and the more-of-a-loser-than-the-lead foil. But this foil, named Morgan, is more of a loser than the lead, but he's never really funny. The jokes involving him fall flat 95% of the time. Not since Kanye and Myers have we had such dead weight in a team (Myers here being the dead weight of course).

My therapist(s) say that I need to work on being more optimistic though, so I am willing to come back to this show a few more times in hopes things will tighten up. It won't be hard for Chuck to set itself apart from the new comedies this season so I may find myself downloading it consistently out of plain boredom. Also there could be more ninja jokes. I love ninja jokes.

I don't have a clever sign off line, dammit.

Back to Sitcoms

2007-09-22T22:10:00.000-04:00

Perhaps I should start off by saying that I never really enjoyed either Everybody Loves Raymond or Frasier. Perhaps I should start off by saying that I never really enjoyed sitcoms. Perhaps I should start off by saying that when I read about the new show Back to You I rolled my eyes. I think that covers my ass adequately.

Well I write a blog on comedy and Back to You is one of the most anticipated comedies hitting this new season, maybe I'd be amiss if I didn't blog about it at least once. So I made myself catch the tail end of the premier. I wasn't all that impressed. But you know to be fair perhaps I should watch the entire show before I pan it outright yeah? So I found myself a download.

When I checked out the credits I was sort of excited to see Christopher Lloyd was a co-creator. Doc Brown knows a thing or two about funny. Unfortunately there are multiple Christopher Lloyds in this universe and this is the bloke behind Frasier and Wings. Alas.

So onto the show! The pilot actually starts with a youtube clip of Grammer's character blooping on live TV. I think a few other comedies (and reality) have hit this joke first, but keep trying guys. The show centers around the production of the daily news and the team of characters doesn't really provide the audience with anything they haven't seen before. In fact the characters are strangely reminiscent of folks from Bruce Almighty and The Anchorman. The one character that wasn't immediately recognizable was the news director but that's quickly rectified with a brief monologue. He's an internet geek promoted to TV news director and is 26. Him and the sports announcer provide the closest approximation to humour (ie I laughed at each of them once).

But the real point, I guess, of the show is the chemistry between our two leads, however, the scenes featuring Grammer and Heaton were some of the most awkwardly acted scenes I've seen on television recently. I don't know if it's a lack of chemistry or just poor acting, but their scenes come off like some low quality local theatre. Both of these cats are sitcom stars, what's the deal? Mysteriously, the show also attempts to pull on the old heart strings with the revelation of Grammer as the father to Heaton's 10 year old daughter. The last scene is Grammer sipping some sort of bourbon or whiskey and calling Heaton to tell her the child is magnificent. This was the third time I laughed at the show.

Back to You isn't original in any regard. Unfortunately it isn't really funny in any regard either. The young geeky news manager and sports dude don't provide consistent laughs and the actual main characters/main thrust of the show are actually painful to watch. Hell though, I bet this show will be a hit and I'll have another reason to loathe Fox.

The Office returns this week.

So I started reading my monday morning webcomics....

2007-09-17T11:54:00.000-04:00

Who the hell is Ryan Estrada?