The Lady Vanishes:

1930s Alfred Hitchcock. Difficult to understand all of the old-timey accents at first. Unsure who the protagonist is until 45 minutes in. Unsure if it was a comedy. Some boring parts (probably just a generational thing). The movie got enjoyable once the lady FINALLY vanished (too far into the movie). The last shot of the movie is a hilarious one.

-Vicki

Happy Thanksgiving everybody!

Last night when we were bloated, sleepy and regretting paying for 3 months of a gym membership I’ve used twice (maybe that was just me) we snuggled up and watched The Trip.

If you’re COOL (aka dorky lamebrain) you know that this movie is a truncated version of a six episode series that was on BBC. Both are directed by Michael Winterbottom and stars Rob Brydon and one of the top 4 celebrities I’d sleep with*, Steve Coogan. You may remember this dream team from Tristram Shandy. Haven’t seen it? Well, if you’re into post-modern comedic adaptations of restoration era novels and/or Coogan holding and singing to a baby, that is the movie for you.

Anyhoo - The Trip. They edited the series down to about 2 hours. The premise is that Steve is writing an article about restaurants in the north of England and since his way younger girlfriend left him for a career in the US he has to settle for the company of Rob Brydon. They drive around the gorgeous countryside where there is much talk of the Bronte sisters, Coleridge and Kate Bush and eat amazing looking meals at a diverse group of restaurants. Don’t get it twisted, these dudes aren’t pals. Well - they sort of are but in that condescending, jealous, competitive way in which extraordinary people sometimes deal with each other.

It’s enjoyable and funny - good holiday weekend viewing.

*Michael Fassbender, Eric Bana, Michelle Rodriguez

I never planned to get into this, but Jersey Shore season 2, which is set in Miami is on Netflix instant watch. I mean. Come on, I don’t have to say it right? Its gross! I know it’s gross I watched the entire thing in one day. Has there been an article written about these people yet? I’m talking about a scientific article in a psychology publication about their bizarre sexual behavior. For all of Joey D and Mike the Situation’s talk about loving women, these two guys have fetishized sexual politics to the point that I’m not convinced they need women or even physical contact- I think they just need to hang out and plan their sexual conquests together and occasionally watch each other perform sexual acts. It’s by far the kinkiest relationship I have ever seen portrayed on television. I don’t think it would fly in any context other than reality tv. 

Also- I’m not a person who believes that reality tv documents things that actually happen. But I also believe that the people on Jersey Shore are as bizarre and fucked up as they appear- while simultaneously being less charming and interesting. Somehow their boring, scary and erratic personalities are disassembled and then reconstructed into a Frankenstein of a weak but present narrative arc. To me, this is actually kind of genius. 

Basically, this is fun to watch when you are kind of sick and or hungover on a weekend day and may or may not be worth having an opinion about. Especially since everyone else saw this and got over it like two years ago.

Saxondale
Seasons 1 and 2

This series by Steve Coogan is about an ex-roadie who now runs a successful pest removal business and is required to attend an anger management class that takes place in the children’s section of a book store. Every episode starts there. He’s got a girlfriend he adores and who adores him back and unlike Alan Partridge he isn’t desperately clawing his way back on ‘top’. Saxondale is just trying to maintain. Maintain his cool, his business, his relationship, his comfortable middle class life.

He’s a Coogan creation so he’s an asshole and lacking in self awareness but he’s a man with such strong (complicated) principals that he is earnest and sweet and endlessly endearing. Also hilarious. When he isn’t being a fool Saxondale is a pretty smart witty dude.

It’s amazing to me that this has the potential of being a shitty Ullman-esque goofball sketch* where the joke is on him and the audience laughs at his expense. Instead he is taken seriously and performed with such nuance and commitment that he is a fully realized character with a rich internal life.

The other characters in the series are equally good. His harpy secretary is so well written and performed it’s worth watching just for their interactions. Season 2 becomes very sitcom-y in that the routine of Saxondale’s life is familiar and expected.

I was so happy that Coogie ditched the wig or the flat iron and let his curly luscious locks go free.

I wish there were more than 12 episodes in this series!

*don’t get me wrong, I spent many many hours watching and loving her show

It’s Christmas! Time to take a short break from the cynical comedy and horrifying documentaries to watch sweet things. Like this classic where Randy Quaid empties the shitter in the storm drain and an old lady’s pet is turned into a charred cat mark.

Happy Holidays!

PS: I think Julia Louis-Dreyfus is the real Benjamin Button.

Watch this.

Bad ass, absurd satire by Robert Downey Sr. It’s crazy to think this was made in 1969. Putney Swope is the only black executive (in charge of music) at a Madison Avenue ad firm who is accidentally put in power after the head of the company drops dead at a board meeting. Robert Downy Sr. dubbed his voice in for the character of Putney making him both comedic and commanding. Supposedly he did this because the actor had trouble memorizing his lines but considering how critical the movie is of race relations, advertising, Hollywood and power I can’t help thinking that it’s another intended layer of irony. At least I hope so.

Bonus: I don’t think I’ve ever heard the word ‘beaver’ so much.

Is anyone else excited and energized by the comedy shows on TV right now? Jesus Christ. Everything else may be in a shambles but the USA(USA!USA!) is dominating in comedy. Even better, this stuff is accessible to anyone. 

Louis CK is a dark sad funny man who is honest with himself and his audience in a way that Curb or Seinfeld (the two most obvious models for this show) can never be. Some of the content about relationships, death and aging is brutal but I am loling often.

I was sold at the opening credits. It’s him walking up out of a subway, eating a slice of greasy pizza in a doorway before going back underground to a comedy club. It’s nighttime and Louie is playing loud (Louie, Louie, Louie, Louieeeee, you’re gonna die”. This kind of opening sequence is my jock jamz. I am so pumped up I want to fight or lay on the couch laughing for 20 minutes.

Need more proof this is a labor of love? He’s written, directed and edited this show himself. Reggie Watts is on music. Watch this shit.

Lately I’ve been really into watching some of my childhood’s greatest hits. (Is this a sign of depression?) This is one of them. Gilda in those overalls singing “Let’s Talk Dirty to the Animals” is like smelling my grandmother’s mac and cheese.

My adult analysis? Damn. She was really good. It’s a thing that’s so obvious it’s easy to forget sometimes.

Mike Nichols directed this concert film and from the lovely set that is a stage within a stage to the moments he captures, whether it’s her changing between sets or a close up of her feet banging on the door, this special is truly … special. (Sorry.)

It made me appreciate the enduring influence of Gilda Radner on the Chicago improv/sketch community. It’s staggering and we’re better for it. She’s charming, sweet, adorable, dark and versatile. She’s a woman with a point of view and a funny way of expressing it without ever announcing her womanhood to the world or defending her ability to be funny. Also, she had an incredible amount of control over her body.

She sings an awful lot and promising sketches come to a halt with her belting out a lame song, Mick Jagger and Goodbye Sacchrine in particular, but her physicality in both make them mesmerizing. A lot of her SNL characters show up.

Also featured are Paul Schaffer and Father Guido Sarducci, known to young people as that weird priest at the Rally to Restore Sanity.

Watching this again as an adult I realized that Just One of the Guys to me what Teen Wolf is to most other people my age. I know every beat of this movie. It is hard wired into my subconscious and my reaction was as visceral as smelling that glue you used in kindergarten.

It made me remember that from a shockingly young age I was an avid viewer of USA Up All Night. I would wait until my parents went to sleep and then sneak in the living room on Friday and Saturday nights to catch both the Rhonda Shear and Gilbert Gottfried hosted evenings. I love a “Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night 2” as much as the next gal but I definitely preferred the tacky sex romps to the tacky ‘horror’ flicks. Jim Hanks in Beauford’s Beach Bunnies anyone?

I am terrified to think of how much JOOTG contributed to my development as both a feminist and a sexual person.

Midway through I thought ‘considering the subject matter, this has an awfully male voice’. wikiwikiwiki. Sure enough it was written by two gentleman and directed by a woman named Lisa Gottlieb whose previous film experience was as a casting assistant and who went on to direct an episode of Boy Meets World. I would LOVE to see a documentary about this movie.

All I knew of Zardoz was the image of Sean Connery in his red diaper standing on the beach limply holding a pistol. This is the kind of movie netflix instant watch was made for.

It opens with this man’s head and his magic marker beard reciting what I think was a poem that asks the question “Maybe God is in showbiz?” - I’m not sure if “Zardoz” ever satisfactorily answers that query but now you’ve got a good idea of what you’re in for and that’s all that matters. 

Then, the floating head called Zardoz (which we later learn was inspired by Magritte’s Castle in the Pyrnees thanks to a well placed poster) comes in and tells all the men in red diapers that the ‘gun is good, the penis is bad’ before puking up a bunch of rifles. What happens for the next hour and a half I couldn’t tell you. A lot of crazy shit happens. Something about the future and mortality and class stratification and hippies and everyone wearing crocheted shirts.

I know what you’re thinking. Why would Sean Connery make such a humiliating movie? My guess is because Charlotte Rampling signed up to run around topless the whole time. She is … wow.

It reminds me of a mix of The Wicker Man, Godspell and a Margaret Atwood book.

- Irene

Because of my interest in both this movie and Food Boy, Netflix has given me a new row of suggestions, called “goofy comedies.” I like that these two films are in the same category. I also think that Christopher Guest may have directed Food Boy. 

-Aggie

I’m not going to lie. There were a few jokes in this movie that I laughed at. When I wasn’t laughing I was imagining who would be cast in this movie if it was made now. Sandra Bullock? Jennifer Aniston? Insert name of bankable male comedic actor who could reasonably pass for an architect. Maybe Paul Rudd?

Steve Martin and Goldie Hawn’s characters are deeply middle aged and their desperation is palpable in a way that would not fly in 2010. To give an idea of how on the edge this movie is, Peter MacNichol plays Steve Martin’s pervy friend who will not shut up about him getting laid. Weirdest of all, there is real chemistry between Steve and Goldie. - Irene

Way better and more consistently funny than Season 1. I’m enjoying it so much that I only watch one 20 minute episode a day. THAT IS NOT EASY FOR ME.

- Irene