Issue 52:
Don't Bother Me, I'm Thinking
By
Amdnarg Toh
So what happens when you combine an “ogre who looks like a librarian” with a scruffy, skater wannabe and a clueless ginger haired part time pseudo manager? The fourth best folk pop duo in New Zealand of course silly! My introduction to Brett McKenzie and Jemaine Clement, also known as Flight of the Conchords, was through a guy at work, who insisted that it was probably the funniest show on TV, and that he had just bought the season one DVD compilation. But alas, since I didn’t have HBO, I wouldn’t to partake… So I filed it away as one of those shows to check out when I’m traveling….
A few weeks later, my PHD (Pretentious Hipster Douchebag) buddy at work had a clip of some song playing on his computer and was almost literally falling out of his chair, so of course I had to check it out. He was playing a clip from Business Time, which I must agree was totally hilarious. Fast forward a week and I’m at PHD guy’s house playing poker. He hands me the DVD and says “If you thought that clip was funny, you’ve got to watch this”. I took it home the next day, cracked it open to see what comedic nuggets it might hold, and found myself four hours later still entranced by the sheer genius of these guys… I actually watched the entire season in just two sittings - the spousal unit spending just enough time in the room to say “Are you STILL watching that stupid show???”. Needles to say, a couple of months later when I found out that the guys had released a CD of the songs from the show, I was determined to get it. And I’ve got three words to describe my response - LUH HUV IT!!!
The only problem is that the whole CD is very contextualized. If you haven’t seen the show, many of the songs don’t make much sense. You have to immerse yourself in the whole experience before the more subtle points of some of the lyrics come together, and often, the visual comedy in the TV episodes provides some necessary sensory input to the interpretive process for most of these tracks. (Isn’t that what videos are supposed to do anyway?) However - this CD isn’t just a soundtrack of some esoteric show with a huge cult following… Ok - maybe it is…
Of course, I’m a sucker for parody - a vice which started in junior high with me tuning my boom box to the faraway FM station on Saturday nights when the Dr. Demento show aired.
But these guys take the parody to a new level - by participating as the object of their own self-parody - the way these guys “deadpan” their whole performance, on screen, and off, leave you wondering whether or not they actually take themselves seriously.
My recommended favorite tracks -
Foux de Fafa
Hiphopopotamus vs. Rhymenocerous
And… Leggy Blonde brings a tear to my eye every time ;D
Not all of the songs in the series are on this CD, so if you’re a die hard fan, and your favorite isn’t included, you’ll have to stick with the grainy , low-fidelity tracks floating around out there on the internet, as extracted from the DVD… But for the songs that are included, we can enjoy FoC nirvana as we listen to The Most Beautiful Girl(In the Room) to escape the cubical world as we cruise down the two lane towards home - that is, if home is a sonic “Alice in Wonderland”…
Issue 52:
Sydney Brown's Sixty Seconds
By
Sydney Brown
I didn’t really have a theme in mind this go-around, though I have a few in mind for future reviews, but then I realized my last three films do in fact have a theme: message movies that have not aged well. Here we go.
Margot at the Wedding (2007) Nicole Kidman, Jennifer Jason Leigh **1/2
Kidman is Margot, a blunt and unkind woman who visits her sister (Leigh) for her wedding. Rather uncomfortable film with unlikeable characters yet sharp dialogue, so you don’t like what they’re saying but appreciate how they are saying it. Jack Black, despite being in way too many movies lately is the highlight as the wimpy husband-to-be (with a must-see HORRIBLE crying performance.) Directed by Noah Baumbach, this pales in comparison to his other two films (Kicking & Screaming, The Squid & the Whale.)
The Darjeeling Limited (2007) Adrien Brody, Owen Wilson **
Three estranged brothers reunite on a trip to India to visit their mother in the latest Wes Anderson film, and the first that I have begun to grow weary of Anderson. Having been a fan of his previous films, this one feels like all quirky one-dimensional characters and no substance. I cared little about any of the three leads, who they were, where they were going. It’s just a series of weird things happening just to be weird (buying poisonous snakes, walking around with unmatched shoes, having sex with a hot stranger because you wrote the script.) Great soundtrack as always, but in the end, I just didn’t care.
Bamboozled (2000) Damon Wayans, Savion Glover **
Wayans plays a TV creative who creates a racially insensitive program after being considered “too white” then is shocked when the offensive show becomes a smash hit. Spike Lee joint filmed on miniDV which takes a little getting used to, though not as much as the racist blackface imagery that surrounds the film. Intriguing premise that takes the easy way out especially with an ending that seems to come out of the very kind of program Lee is blasting. Thought-provoking and challenging, it’s a film that stays with you, but film perhaps pulls its punches and takes the easy shock approach rather than going for the throat. Damon Wayans has quite possibly the most annoyingly fake accent in a major motion picture.
Reality Bites (1994) Winona Ryder, Ethan Hawke **1/2
One of my all-time favorite movies as a teenager has not aged well at all. Ryder is a college graduate-turned-documentarian torn between a MTV-ish hotshot and an unemployed, brilliant-yet- asshole musician in a reminder of days when being a sarcastic pop-culture machine wasn’t being done by EVERYBODY. The attempts to be cool is what keeps the film from seeming fresh, as is the complete lack of chemistry between Hawke and Ryder, (probably due to the fact that they are the most brilliant idiots in a movie.) As a youngster, I thought the film was awesome but dragged at the end. Now in my older days, I see the last half hour is actually the most honest part of the film. Still a decent picture in the nostalgic sense.
Grand Canyon (1991) Kevin Kline, Danny Glover **1/2
Remember the early ’90’s when the US was a battleground of violence and hatred and it seemed the end was near? Return to the days when Boyz N the Hood was treated as a documentary as six friends’ lives intertwine in LA. Kline is the liberal nice white guy, Glover the hard-working kind hearted black guy, and Steve Martin plays the only semi-three-dimensional character: the rich asshole whose morals come and go depending on his mood. The film has a good message, but has become a very cookie cutter version of the soul-cleansing “we’re all brothers” that Crash would do so much better in 2005.
Issue 52:
Escaping Life
By
Rascal Stallion
The Happening
Another M. Night
Movie makes us wonder if
He just stole Sixth Sense
The Incredible Hulk
Fooled once, shame on me
Fooled twice, shame on, uh, fool me
Won’t get fooled again
The Love Guru
Myers talks funny
His character is wacky
Seen it all before
Get Smart
Remaking old shows
Rarely good idea. Bet they
Missed it by that much
Wanted
Lots of bullets fly
Ridiculous action scenes
Hope its dark as comic
Wall-E
Can robot find love
In this great big universe?
Hope he’s got some lube.
Hancock
Will Smith hero flick
Can’t do this all on his own
He’s no Superman
Hellboy II: The Golden Army
Was the first Hellboy
Good enough to warrant a
Second installment?
Journey to the Center of the Earth
3-D makes films fun
Every film should be 3-D
Except Crying Game
Meet Dave
Has it really been
20 years since Eddie made
A funny movie?
The Dark Knight
Return to Gotham
Joker ain’t the only fool
To make this awesome
Mamma Mia!
Girl with slutty mom
Doesn’t know who daddy is
This just in: Who cares?
Step Brothers
Lets hope Ferrell tried
A little harder this time
Than in Semi-Pro
The X-Files: I Want to Believe
Wait just a second
Is there anyone out there
That still cares about this?
American Teen
This looks pretty good
But who wants to relive the
The awkward teen years
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
Another mummy?
Rachel Weisz wisely jumped ship
We should do the same
The Rocker
This looks funny but
Can Rainn carry a movie?
My guess is he can.
Swing Vote
Are we to believe
Diebold would let this guy choose
Who gets elected?
The Midnight Meat Train
This wins for the worst
titled film until Bangcock
Dangerous comes out
Pineapple Express
Stoner movies aren’t
Usually good seen straight but
This could be funny
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
There’s no way these girls
Can still fit after gaining
The freshman fifteen
Tropic Thunder
Downey Jr. rules
But can he stay afloat with
Stiller and Jack Black
Star Wars; The Clone Wars
Lucas craps out more
Star Wars and I have no choice
but to go see it
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