Jeff, Who Lives at Home

Posted on March 18, 2012 by ilmozart

Jeff and Pat. Brothers looking for a purpose.

At some point in our lives we all wonder why we’re here, what’s our purpose, do we even have a destiny?  In many ways this is the question at the crux of Jeff, Who Lives at Home the new movie written and directed by the Duplass brothers, Jay and Mark.  Mark might be familiar to some of you out there as Pete from FX’s The League.

The movie starts off simply with a quote about looking for signs from the universe to help you find your way. This quote is then attributed to Jeff (Jason Segal), a 30 year-old manchild who lives in his mother’s basement while, you guessed it, waiting for a sign from the universe.  The first time we see Jeff he’s waxing poetic about Signs, the M. Night Shayamalan starring Mel Gibson.  After seeing the movie multiple times, Jeff has seen the beauty and the message of the film and applies that sort of philosophy to the way he lives his life.

This speech occurs while he’s on the toilet.

Over the course of one day, Jeff, his brother Pat (Ed Helms), Pat’s wife Linda (Judy Greer), and the boys’ mother Sharon (Susan Sarandon) all come up against those same cosmic issues in some form.

The day starts with Jeff answering the phone.  Someone has the wrong number and keeps insisting they need to speak to “Kevin”.  This one call informs the rest of Jeff’s day.  After being chastised by his mother to go out and get wood glue, Jeff follows wherever “Kevin” will take him.

It takes him off the bus and into a pickup basketball game, it takes him into a back alley where he gets beaten up, and most importantly it takes him on a collision course with his brother Pat. Pat is having problems of his own; he has been taking his wife for granted and has turned a blind eye to the very real issues in his marriage. Case in point – his wife wants them to save for the house he promised…Pat bought himself a Porche.  As the day continues on, Jeff and Pat team up to follow Linda.

As Jeff and Pat are following their own path, their mother Sharon is receiving messages from a secret admirer at work.  Having lost her husband 17 years earlier and having the spent the majority of her life taking care of her children, Sharon too wonders about the purpose of her life which she thought would be spent working the Peace Corps and kissing under waterfalls.

All the different storylines come together at the end in one moment when it seems the universe does have a plan after all. It is both extremely reassuring and somewhat frightening for the rest of us.  What happens if we don’t see the Kevins in our own lives?  Will we follow the signs or wave them away like so many flights of fancy?

Jason Segal and Ed Helms look absolutely nothing alike, but you feel the years of resentment and history between them.  Segal has made a career out of characters like Jeff, gentle stoners who eventually figure it out; Jeff has a sweetness and innocence about him that makes him stand out in that list. Helms, who is currently trying to figure out how to fill  Steve Carrell’s shoes on The Office, has a tougher character to play in Pat.  Pat is, without mincing words, a jerk.  He is so caught up in his own insecurity and posturing that he can’t see himself as the world does.  But Helms is deft enough that you don’t hate him and just want to shake him up rather than shake him down. Both Helms and Segals earn their resolutions and revelations, as small and as temporary as they might be.

Susan Sarandon has a much quieter role in Sharon, but captures that time when a woman has to look back and wonder if it was all worth it.  Her storyline with the secret admirer takes a bit of a different turn, but Sarandon plays it out so that it’s plausible instead of silly.

Jeff, Who Lives at Home is worth seeing and worth chewing over in your mind afterwards. Even if Signs wasn’t.

http://youtu.be/34kCWAsddtA

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On Tonight – Frozen Planet

Posted on March 18, 2012 by ilmozart

http://youtu.be/1Fshnu_SwAg

This trailer for Frozen Planet features the voice of the BBC’s nature programs, David Attenborough.  However, starting tonight on the Discovery channel, we in the US will be treated to Alec Baldwin’s dulcet tones.  I think this replacement will work better than Sigourney Weaver did for the Planet Earth series.

If Frozen Planet is half as remarkable as Planet Earth, we are in for some amazing TV viewing.  It is so easy to forget how utterly beautiful our planet it, how intricately all the various groups of flora and fauna function together.  It is also so easy to forget how seemingly cruel nature can be, though calling it cruel is ascribing our own moral system on a part of the world where morality doesn’t really exist; every death is a meal for another animal, and every near miss is another animal going without.  These sorts of programs serve as powerful reminders of it all.

Maybe the Discovery channel will devote itself more the to science and nature programs and a bit less to the searching for gold, guns, and booze sorts of programming.

This is the famous video of the brinicle, freezing everything it touches on the ocean floor:
http://youtu.be/r4cX2EPt2zE

I’ve seen a lot of footage of orcas working together for a meal and especially enjoy the way they create the curtain of bubbles when hunting. This is shows the ‘wave wash’, a different method of going after a tasty seal:
http://youtu.be/hPge_0lea3o

All in all very excited for this.

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21 Jump Street – You have the right to remain an attorney

Posted on March 18, 2012 by ilmozart

Finding a good comedy is as rare and as special as finding a good drama.

I remember seeing Bridesmaids and just laughing my ass off. It was just so funny. Funny but with something else underneath, dare I say a heart?  The scene between Melissa McCarthy and Kristen Wiig wasn’t played for laughs as much as it was played for honesty.  And it didn’t detract from the rest of the movie, just gave it depth.

Fast forward to when I heard that they were making a movie out of the show 21 Jump Street. I was a bit bored and a bit confused and a bit annoyed.  It was a great show, for its time, but did we really need a movie based on it?
http://youtu.be/iw2m8tZxEiQ
And a movie with Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum?  Sure Jonah Hill is funny and Channing Tatum looks nice, but they are no Peter DeLuise or Johnny Depp.

Turns out, they are and we did.  And it even had a little depth and heart.

A few things to know about 21 Jump Street, the movie:

1. It’s not the show. The show had a serious side to it. It dealt with “real issues affecting teens” like abuse and AIDS.  The movie goes the other way. Yes, it revolves around drugs and drug dealing, but it comes at it from a comedic perspective.

2. It’s incredibly self aware.  Ice Cube’s Cpt Dickson relishes his “angry black captain” stereotype and even goes so far as to tell his recruits to “embrace your stereotype” in his, ahem, motivational speech.  People are constantly telling Jenko that he looks too old to be in high school – a nod to how utterly ridiculous it was in the show.  The movie even finds a way to intelligently bring back some of the cast from the show.

3. It’s really really funny and not just because of Jonah Hill. Sure Hill’s Schmidt utilizes the best of his sarcasm and carefully honed awkwardness, but it’s really Channing Tatum’s Jenko (an homage to a character from the show) who really brings the funny.  He plays the combination of sweet and dumb better than I’ve seen in a long time.  His “Molecule Monday” recitation was a delight.

4. Chris Parnell has become one of my favorite supporting comedic actors.  Between his role as Dr. Spaceman on 30 Rock, Cyril Figgis on Archer, and now his drama teacher in 21 Jump Street, Parnell has gone above and beyond anything he did on SNL.

The movie rushes through the initial introduction to the characters when they’re high school – we don’t need 20 minutes to understand that Hill’s character was the sad nerd and Tatum was the dumb jock.  We are also rushed through their meet-cute at Police Academy and their eventual partnership through basic training.  The movie brings us quickly to where we need to be — their assignment to Jump Street.

The address of 21 Jump Street happens to be not only the undercover headquarters but also a former Korean Church.  This is important in that it inspires one of the best prayers I’ve seen on screen – Hill praying to Korean Jesus. A Korean Jesus on the cross. As funny as the concept sounds, it must be seen to be fully appreciated.

Where the movie really breaks through is when Schmidt and Jenko switch undercover identities…due to Jenko being unable to remember who he’s supposed to be. Like I said, Tatum plays great dumb.  So Schmidt/Hill is put in with the cool kids and jocks and Jenko/Tatum is put in with the nerds. Schmidt uses this to play out the high school experience he never had and Jenko has to learn to navigate a world where it’s not cool to be a bully who doesn’t try at anything and doesn’t care about anything. Even Dave Franco’s  drug dealer is an anti-bullying environmentalist who works on the yearbook.

And in the midst of the non-stop dick jokes and verbal gymnastics, there is space for a real friendship to develop and Hill and Tatum sell it.  The marketing campaign showing the two of them paling around comes from the chemistry they had on screen.  From their first botched arrest filled with lewd thrusting movements to their first real arrest filled with a stretch limo chase and explosions, they make a great partnership.

If opening weekend does well, there’s talk of a sequel.  I don’t think I’ll greet that news with the same trepidation I had before.

http://youtu.be/ISJR4rVO0TQ

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SNL Classics: Irish Drinking Songs

Posted on March 17, 2012 by ilmozart

In honor of St. Patty’s day, a classic SNL sketch.

They don’t really seem to do these song collections anymore, which is a shame.

Not sure which is my favorite; it’s a tie between “Drunken Irish Jew” and “The Incoherent Song”.  Either way, I’ll rewatch drinking a green beer and eating a shamrock.

Vodpod videos no longer available.

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Silent House: A huh? Followed by a meh.

Posted on March 17, 2012 by ilmozart

It’s been almost a day since I saw Silent House and I’m still not sure what to think.

I didn’t particularly like it, that’s for sure.  But I didn’t hate it either.  And I have been thinking about it since it ended, so that has to say something.

The plot is razor thin – a girl, her father, and her uncle are at an old family house, fixing it up for future sale. The house has fallen into disrepair; the windows were all broken by vandals so they’re boarded up, there’s no electricity so everyone needs to use lanterns and flashlights, and a leak from the roof has caused mold to grow deep in the walls of the house.

Everything starts out fairly prosaic, with a hint of something lurking in the shadows just waiting to explode out.  The girl, Sarah,  played by Elizabeth Olsen is hanging out on the porch and meets up with this other girl, Sophia, who seems to remember her from their childhood. Sarah and Sophia played dress-up together, even though Sarah doesn’t really remember it too well.  They make plans to hang out later and Sarah goes back inside.

The uncle heads out to buy supplies, leaving Sarah and her father alone in the house.  She thinks she hears something upstairs, but when she makes her father investigate, there’s nothing and he chastises her for not packing up her stuff.  As she sifts through her childhood belongings, she hears another loud noise and a thump, and it all begins.

What follows goes on for too long. It has moments of tension, mostly due to Elizabeth Olsen’s intense performance.  Her silent screams are done exceedingly well.  But those moments are in between drawn out runs around the house in the dark and it can become tedious.  Which is too bad because the directors also produced Open Water which kept up the tension throughout the film without resorting to any tricks.

Even when Sarah manages to escape the house at one point, the plot maneuvers her back in…I suppose because otherwise there would have been no movie.

There is a bit of a twist ending, which isn’t a huge twist if you’ve been paying attention throughout the film.  It’s heavy on symbolism – the locked house, the shuttered windows and doors, the locks that won’t open, the mold…once everything is revealed you feel like you’ve been hit over the head.   Even the movie’s title is a nod to the ending. I won’t even get started with the Polaroid shots.

Everything unravels as its revealed and you feel cheated.  One of my biggest issues with Silent House is that it’s two totally different movies smashed together but not as successfully as the directors must have felt.  We are all used to films that have twists and unseen plot turns, but the movie has to earn them and we as the audience have to feel both surprised and gratified by the surprises.  The characters have to be rooted somewhere real and the overall plot has to follow its own logic.  Failing on both accounts to varying degrees, Silent House just doesn’t earn its own ending.

I guess I do know what to think — not much.

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Community Returns Well – Six Seasons and a Movie

Posted on March 16, 2012 by ilmozart

After too many months away, Community returned to our TV’s last night.  And surprise surprise…the ratings weren’t awful.  In fact, it was the number 1 show for men 18-34 for the evening! Where were the women…?

According to The Wrap:

“Community” had a good return to NBC: The show, pulled from the midseason schedule amid low ratings, delivered NBC’s highest non-sports ratings in its timeslot in 14 months Thursday and was up 38 percent over the show’s average for original episodes this season. “American Idol” predictably won the night, as ABC’s “Missing” had a so-so premiere, according to preliminary numbers.

Airing at 8 p.m., “Community” had a 2.2/7 rating in the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographic. The Joel McHale-led ensemble comedy averaged a 1.6 rating earlier this season. NBC decided to bring the show back despite that low average, but has not committed to ordering a fourth season. Weighing in the show’s favor is its devoted core fan base and huge presence online.

This is good news fellow Greendale Human Beings!  Could it be that Community might actually NOT be canceled this year?  I can only hope and pray to Michael Jackson’s ghost as Tracy Jordan would recommend.

The episode itself was pretty good, not Critical Film Studies/My Dinner with Abed good, but good and I am excited for the rest of the season.

Below was my favorite exchange of the evening. Absolutely.

He's like an aging Patrick Bateman.

See? Right on the nose with that one Troy.

(gifs courtesy of http://kabletown.tumblr.com/)

 

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Everything I Know in Life I Learned From Friends

Posted on March 16, 2012 by ilmozart

This is via Filthy Pout.

My favorites are:
#4 – Quitting the gym is just as hard as quitting the bank
http://youtu.be/C_ESeEZD_OY

#6 – Yemen is a good place to escape unwanted girlfriends

#9 – Powder and lotion will not help remove hot and sticky leather trousers (It’s formed a paste!)

#15 – Only in prison do they ‘cup’ whilest measuring for pants

#21 – Meat is not an ingredient in trifle

#26- Everyone has an identical hand twin

And especially #31 – When moving a couch upstairs, PIVOT!

It's funny because it's true

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Dark Shadows Trailer – Vampire Johnny Depp Goes Disco

Posted on March 15, 2012 by ilmozart

I’m at a bit of a loss where this trailer is concerned.

When the revival of Dark Shadows came out in 1991, I devoured it. It was over the top and delightful. Ben Cross as Barnabas Collins was the perfect blend of creepy and sexy and Joanna Going was gorgeous playing the dual role of Victoria Winters and Josette Du Pres Collins.  I loved this show.

So when Tim Burton announced that he was going to do another remake starring Johnny Depp, I admit I was excited. Even though the Burton/Depp partnership has been cranking out some diminishing returns, I have faith.  Then the odd photos of Johnny Depp as Barnabas came out – the Kabuki makeup made me take pause.

So weird. So so weird.

But, I still had faith.

However, today I saw this. And I don’t know what to make of it. Who is everyone? Where are the characters we loved in 1966 and then again in 1991?  Why are Michelle Pfieffer AND Helena Bonham Carter in this?  What is with the disco music?  What is with that sex scene?  Is the movie being done as camp? Is it  comedy? Had Tim Burton ever seen the original — or the revival? I just don’t know. I’ll still see it of course, c’mon it’s Tim Burton and Johnny Depp. Just not so sure I’ll like it.

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America’s Next Top Model: Enough, Tyra. Enough.

Posted on March 15, 2012 by ilmozart

Tyra, I think it’s time we had a talk.

Since 2003, we’ve stuck with you.  You had a great idea, to see if you could search high and low throughout America for the next supermodel.  You made them live in model apartments…initially.  You made them learn valuable modeling skills…initially.  And you set out to create an entertaining show, which for the most part, you’ve managed for the most part.

But at some point, the show became about you. The model apartment turned from cramped rooms filled with bunk-beds to a sprawling mansion filled with a mini-runway, hot tub or pool, brightly decorated bedrooms…and many many many pictures of you.

Tyra, you're very very pretty. But it's not about you.

Every time you visit the house, the model wannabes act as though Jesus himself has come to visit.  Usually it’s just for you to act like a low rent version of Oprah.  At least Jesus brought some fish and wine with him.

This is combined with the intensely condescending tone you take with each contestant as they are told to pack their bags and go home.  If they had some tears that episode, you act as though you were their shrink and brought them to an earth-shattering breakthrough.  If they were dealing with some problem that they had been facing all season, you pat them on the head and pretend that your beneficence will make that problem go away.  Each elimination it is as if your mere presence will make up for everything.

And then the language mutilation started.

YOU were the one who decided that “smiling with your eyes” was a thing that everyone should know. OK. Made sense. That turned into “smizing”, which is the same thing, just shorter.

And after we finally get used to that atrocity, you start with Super Smize, your supermodel superhero who likes to talk in a terrible French accent and is all about, well, smizing.  Sure. Fine. Whatever.

But then the All-Star season happened and your “book” Modelland was turned into some preposterous trailer with blood oranges, creepy baby-dolls, metallic headgear, Reddi Whip, and a host of other incongruent items.  And Tyrese.  And you, because you just had to be in it didn’t you? Also, Tyra – Tookie De La Creme? Intoxibellas? Really?
(see 1:20 in the video below for the most uncomfortable Top Model moment ever)

I had hoped we’d seen the last of that confused and disturbing lexicon, but no such luck.

Which brings me to last night’s episode of ANTM: British Invasion.  You come in all Super Smize and give the girls their own Modelland names based on what you think their strengths are. Names like “Excite-To-Buy”, “30 Never”, and “Next Doorsia”. Awful. Just awful.  That was somewhat negated by the challenge with these new monikers – the model wannabes had to create a photo shoot for Very.com a British style site for the young and impressionable.  Brits went 60’s mod, the Americans went punk rock-ish.  It seemed they had to use their heads a bit and not just smize vacantly at the camera.  They even had to chose their own best photos for the week’s panel.

Panel this week incuded guest judge Cat Deely, the delightful host of So You Think You Can Dance. She was most underused on Top Model.

Cat, we love you. Seriously.

AzMarie led her team to victory while Annaliese seemed to be a bit of a mess.  AzMarie won, and rightly so. She’s pretty, ahem, fierce.

You work that androgyny angle. You work it good.

But the real story of the episode was Louise. Remember her? She’s the one who threw a total hissy fit because she got her hair professionally cut and colored. Those bastards.  Turns out Louise has quite a bit of an issue with authority.  Kelly Cutrone, who I am loving more with each episode, gave her a bit of a reality check during the photo shoot, which Louise took as “rudeness”. And when Nigel said she looked mean in her photo, that was the last straw.  Louise gave all the judges some serious lip, sucked on her finger and shook her head at the judges as if she was a child.  Needless to say, she decided to go home.

Louise’s self excommunication gave the rest of the girls a reprieve and no one else was sent home, even though Louise’s photo was better than those of the four other girls.  They were able to take their critiques and that put them in the positive for this week.

Louise, we hardly knew ye.

So we ended another week.  I think back to some of the other model wannabes who have stormed off the show. Usually Tyra gets pissy because they were questioning her authority – merely because it was her authority.  This time, I agreed with her. Louise just wasn’t cut out for modeling or the inevitable criticism, constructive or otherwise.

I do like Top Model for what it is but I’m officially putting Tyra on notice on behalf of the English language.  No more smizing. No more silly names.  No more.  You have been warned.

Posted in Rant, TV | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Game of Thrones: Now with Sean Bean

Posted on March 14, 2012 by ilmozart

18 days to go….

Did you think that just because Ned is gone that HBO wasn’t going to find a way to keep him on the posters?  Think again.

The North might remember, but clearly King Joffrey will run rampant. Heads on spikes for all!

And the King likes heads on spears

After seeing that, I need a little of this:

There. That’s better.

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