This week, we’re joined by Josh’s mom, Roxi, and we celebrate Josh’s life and read some of your e-mails and play a voicemail.

 

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Episode 8 : This was probably my favorite episode so far. It basically concerns Larroquette in love. And how the girl he likes doesn’t like him back and it evolves into a big complication involving Harry, Bull and concert tickets. Basically, this episode delivered on the Larroquette front. And that is what I watch this show for.

I’m guessing at one point during the series’ 9-Season run that Harry will hook up with that girl on the show who’s name I’m forgetting. I’m sure that if this is true and you’re a fan of the show, you’re rolling your eyes or something. It would be like staring to watch Seinfeld from the beginning and saying that you’d predict there would be an episode about jerking off.

Episode 9 : This episode was Lana acting crazy after taking some medication to treat her sickness. I now remember her name because it was said a million times during this episode. Funny thing about that is during the cold opening it’s constantly mentioned how awful and sick she looks. She doesn’t really look that bad. She just looks pissed off. And how I said that her and Harry would hook up in the write-up for the last episode? WOAH IT KINDA SORTA HAPPENED IN THIS ONE.

There’s a subplot in this episode concerning the latest prosecuted guy being a man dressed as a clown. This made me only think more of an alternate version of Tim Burton’s Batman where Larroquette played Harvey Dent. But did Jack Nicholson and Billy Dee Williams have any scenes together? Well in this alternate version, it would be the entire movie.

Episode 10 : This episode felt a little different. It had a slightly different opening credits sequences, slightly different haircuts for some characters and Bull wearing a differnet uniform. Crazy! And I read that this was Lana’s last episode. This makes me wonder if this was the beginning of the Network retooling the show a bit to make it more popular. What also makes me think this is because the episode features super special guest star Yakov Smirnoff as you guessed it…a wacky Russian. It makes me wonder if the network wanted a zany big-name guest star for the first episode of the “retooled” Night Court. They figured that the zany guest stars what drew people into the show in the first place. That of course is wrong. It was always Larroquette. But I’m interested to see where it goes from here.

Episode 5 : This episode was centered around the village idiot (aka the “Screech”) of the series, Bull. It was serviceable. But the subplot involving porn was what brought most of the laughs. Larroquette spends a good portion of the episode just watching a porn tape. And what do you know? It’s easily the funniest thing of the entire episode. And I figure porn being used in the plot must’ve been pretty taboo in 1984? Am I right?

That brings me to another thing. There’s a The Elephant Man reference when Bull says “I am not an animal, I am a human being!”. Now, it’s kind of cute. Seeing as how that movie is 30 years old somehwhat forgotten by the mainstream. But back then, it would basically be like using “I wish I knew how to quit you” from Brokeback Mountain now.

Episode 6 : This was kind of a meh episode. It concerned Harry getting a death threat…yadda yadda yadda. Basically I kind of zoned out a bit. This came after a part where a bomb difusal guy came in to take care of a threat. It made me create a backstory in my head where he was basically Jeremy Renner’s character from the best picture of the year (tied with Inglourious Basterds) The Hurt Locker. But instead of Iraq he did all that stuff in World War II. Of course I would zone back in whenever Larroquette was on screen. So yeah, that says all you need to know.

Episode 7 : This had a Larroquette-centric subplot where it’s election night for the position of district attorney. This got me thinking about an alternate universe where Larroquette played Harvey Dent in Tim Burton’s Batman instead of Billy Dee Williams. Nicholson would’ve tried to steal the show, but Larroquette would’ve had it locked up in a vault.

For a few episodes it seemed like the show was going in a zanier direction. But this harkened back a bit with the main story being about a prostitute who’s in love with Harry. It also brings back the joke of Bull using big words to make up for his lack of education. This seemed to be a joke set up in the pilot episode that they never really continued on. But here they did it!

Episode 2 : The sign that this episode was going to work for me was when in the first image of the episode, a man dressed as Santa Claus in court, did not garner any laugh track reaction. In fact the overall episode lacked the laugh track overkill. I really appreciate that in this day and age of iCarly. Okay yes, I have overheard episodes that my little sisters have watched. I don’t actually seek them out on my own, that’s more of a Barry thing to do.

But anyway, this episode is surprisingly dramatic. It concerns a man who may or may not be Santa Claus and a troubled teen played by super special guest star Marty McFly. Whom you may remember from Casualties of War. The plot is kind of silly and cliched in a lot of ways. But I really appreciated it for trying to be a little dramatic. I guess you could say the same thing about that episode of Saved by The Bell where Jesse becomes addicted to diet pills. But we all know that episode is a classic anyway.

Episode 3 : The image of John Larroquette smoking a pipe is one that makes me want to do two things. One of those being taking up smoking pipes, other being dressing up as John Larroquette for Halloween. I had already promised a friend that I would be sporting a Short Round costume, but the call of the Larroquette is too small.

Anyway, this episode was about some of the mystery surrounding Judge Harry Stone. In a rather dramatic moment (Why so serious Night Court?), he reveals the one crime he committed. I said before that lead actor Harry Anderson bore a strong resemblance to a Dana Carvey/Ted Danson hybrid-being. But I realized that he also looks like Nick Nolte at angels. We just need a mugshot to know how true that really is.

Episode 4 : Maybe it was just my ADD kicking in, but this episode felt a little slow-paced at times. It features Judge Harry Stone dealing with his mom and stuff. I like both the character and the actor. But I watch this show for Larroquette. And I do appreciate the show’s attempts at drama. But that is becoming such a cliche for me to say that I think I will stop.

During the episode I thought of a haiku about Larroquette that I could compose. But I decided to save that for later. Probably when I get to the end of the first season. Ya dig?

We’re back!  Barry and Dave are joined by Chris Stipp from Quick Stop Entertainment to talk about the movies from the Summer of ‘09.  Also make sure to catch Chris on Monday night as he guests on the /Filmcast!

Discussion of the Disney/Marvel purchase by Steve from Collider and Peter from /Film.

 

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Score : 8/10

Often the traditional romance is one that relies on a backdrop of epic scale to entertain viewers. Or one that at least depends on pratfalls, wise-cracking best friends and contrived circumstances. And even if you can get past those, are they really about more than lust? Often it seems like romance is just built upon the sex appeal of the stars. We’re forced to believe that these people are really enamored with each other. But Bright Star, the newest film from Jane Campion concerns entirely the idea of longing. And this is where its power comes from. There is not a single sex scenes. Barely even any of the two leads kissing.

But what is done in this film is that we have atmospheric and visual storytelling. I’m a huge fan of this kind of filmmaking. This movie in fact reminds me a lot of Wong Kar Wai’s masterful In The Mood For Love. In that film we had the backdrop of 60’s Hong Kong and an apartment building. In this we have 1800’s England. The story concerns poet John Keats and his love affair with the rather ordinary Fanny Brawne. At first you’d wonder why they’d be attracted to each other. But they have more in common then you would think. They both have passion for the creation of art. On one hand for John it’s poetry. On the other hand for Fanny it’s fashion. But their love is always tested. In that John’s financial situation often leaves him having to go away with his friend Brown to earn money. Usually something like this is a pretty typical romantic plot mechanic to create tension. But in here it’s different. The idea of longing is splendidly realized through beautiful images set to Keats’ poetry. And when John and Fanny are together, it’s not over-the-top love. It’s two young people realizing who they are and being unsure. The performances by Ben Whishaw and Abby Cornish are wonderful in that they feel completely real. Often period pieces have a reputation for being having stuffy characters and performances to reflect the time period. But Campion makes these characters completely relatable.

I will say that Bright Star is a definite slow burn. Even though it seems like I’m jizzing all over it, my patience was a little tested at times. But I appreciate films that take their time to build an atmosphere. I may have wanted things to pick up the pace a few times, but I loved letting the beautiful images and poetry wash over me.

Now the other film…I’ll save that for next week’s podcast.

Score : 5/10

Alejandro Amenbar’s newest film is ridiculously ambitious. It wants to be a beautiful, splendid epic about the effects of fundamentalism. Before the movie started he even said that the film in particular wasn’t against Christianity, it was against violence. And I admire that he tried to do this. All “epic” films should be admired for their scope. But unfortunately, this film falls shorts. When trying to tackle both the ideas of fundamentalist hysteria and “HOLY CRAP THAT’S IT EPIC” I kind of got a feeling. That feeling being that I had seen this all before.

Agora is by no means bad. It’s just that when you see overhead shots of CGI armies storming through an ancient city you think…I’ve seen this before. When you hear this accompanied by the usual James Horner/Hans Zimmer-esque chorus score featuring a woman going “HAYAYEEEHAAHAAHAHAAAAAAAAAHYEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAHYEEEEE” you think…I’ve seen this before. When you see the characters ruminate on religion you think…I’ve seen this before. Agora tries hard but it just doesn’t try hard enough to be different. It expresses its themes in such a heavy-handed way that lacks any real nuance. As a non-believer I’m all for a film that expresses a secular point of view. And maybe that’s the problem. The director maybe should’ve worried less about trying to go the safe, boring route of “violence is bad”. Maybe he should’ve just made a flat-out “religion is evil” film.

Normally I would try to write more but this movie just doesn’t inspire much.

Score : 9/10

When I think of the Coen brothers, I think of people that are smarter than me. That have a deep understanding of the world and how it functions. That may make the occasional mysterious and hard to decipher decisions with their films. And their newest, A Serious Man continues that tradition. But oddly enough, something I had always thought of the Coens brothers as was…secular. But this film is clearly a one where God exists. And he doesn’t mind making the lives of his believers hell just to prove a point. In ways this is almost a Jewish retelling of the story of Job but set in mid-1960’s Minnesota.

In ways this is also a companion piece to No Country For Old Men. It depicts a time of change where more-conservative values folks who are getting old cannot keep up. But instead of drug deals, murder and wacky haircuts, it’s kids who swear, steal and don’t respect their elders. Wives who don’t respect traditional family values. College students who don’t work hard and resort to crime. And in the film’s biggest motif, the radical music of Jefferson Airplane (DON’T YOU NEED SOMEBUDDY TAH LUUUUUUUUHVE). At the center of this is Lawrence Gopnik. A college physics professor who you assume before the horrific events of the movie had a decent family life. But throughout the film he keeps getting shit on. So much that it becomes kind of hard to watch. But he keeps his faith as he searches for answers. But is God picking on him? Or is he just over-analyzing everything that’s going with him? Why is this all happening at the same time? Why can’t his pretty-much retarded brother be happy too? Why can’t his son respect him? Why does he eventually have to take care of everything (including paying for the funeral of…well. I don’t want to spoil it).

His brother may struggle in the foreground, but his son in the film provides a lot of the drama. We see even as how he represents the new generation that torments Larry, he faces his own similar problems. How they parallel each other provides most of the dramatic struggle of the film. We come to learn that everybody is having their faith tested. And some may be puzzled by an opening story that on the surface level seems to have nothing to do with the movie. It concerns Russian Jews in the 19th century. But soon in the film Larry says when talking about his physics lectures that he uses fables to help you understand what’s going on. And that’s what the Coen brothers are doing here. They are telling a story that may be hard to deciper, but it all has deep meaning. A lot of it is wrapped up in zany Jewish-caricatures and surreally hilarious dream sequences. Here they are just also helping you understand what Larry is really going through. How every day is a struggle for him. How he needs to be a serious man but he keeps being undermined.

One last thing I want to address is the ending. Just above I was comparing this to No Country For Old Men. And the ending of this is very similar in that it will turn off a lot of the Joe Popcorn-types. They’ll audibly go “that’s it?”. But the ending is perfect. He represents how we never truly have our faith rewarded. That we’re always challenged. The way that A Serious Man unfolds before your eyes is a thing of beauty. Even though at times you’ll want to cover them from being horrified and embarrassed for Larry. But just like him, you’ll be left interpreting everything that’s been surrounding you and what it means.

Score : 7/10

Two 90’s indie wunderkids Steven Soderbergh and Quentin Tarantino putting out movies so close to each other in the same year got me thinking. Why isn’t Soderbergh regarded in the same way as Tarantino? I mean, they’re both obviously well-regarded. But why does nobody see that Soderbergh is obviously just as much of a cinephile? With every movie he clearly wears his influences on his sleeve. Many of his arthouse experimental films and even mainstream Hollywood films are clearly influenced by French New Wave cinema. And Soderbergh’s newest is one that also harkens back. But instead this is a direct homage to 60’s and 70’s espionage films. And hell, even somewhat of a love letter to John Grisham novels that you read in the airport.

Matt Damon is The Informant! The Informant being Mark Whitarce. A biochemical engineer/executive turned corporate whistleblower. The whistleblower part being very clear seeing as how I was given a free whistle after the movie with Damon’s face on it. Anyway, Whitarce spends a lot of the movie narrating. Much of this having to due with corn, an area of expertise for him. But there are also ruminations on paranoia, the truth, good guys/bad guys and other deep things. But also put through the filter of his bipolar mind. Soderbergh uses the retro spy music and font to highlight Whitarce’s state of mind as he travels around the world, wearing a wire and getting the “bad guys”. Whitarce even refers to himself as “0014″, since he’s “twice as smart as 007″. But this all comes to bite him in the behind.

The Informant! then shifts into a cycle of Whitarce admitting that he lied and his FBI agent handlers looking horrified. This makes up about a good 15-20 minutes of the movie. By the third act it completely turns into Whitarce trying to cover his behind and telling only more lies. Eventually millions of dollars are at stake. But he keeps on digging himself deeper into a hole. Even when you think a deal has been broken and everything is going to be all right…it only gets worse. This is compelling, but as I alluded to before, the movie seems to be hitting the same beats over and over again. But on the other hand I appreciated how it almost made everything more and more deliciously convoluted. This represents the frustration that everyone has dealing with Whitarce.

Now onto the cast, Damon hits all the right notes. I’m sure most people who know nothing about acting will just think his role was just eating a lot of pizza and acting goofy. But this is an incredibly challenging role. Yes, you have to be goofy. But yet at the same time you have to be based in a hard reality. You can never go into caricature. You have to sell that narration. And he does it. And most of the supporting cast consists of comedians such as Joel McHale, Tony Hale, Scott Adsit, Patton Oswalt and Paul F. Tompkins. It’s hard to think that this isn’t on purpose. While this is a comedy based in reality, the funny people mostly playing it straight only highlights the satire of the situation and the main character.

Overall, The Informant! doesn’t hit any particular highs. But it’s completely worth seeing for Damon’s performance and Soderbergh’s interesting stylistic choices.

The second film I saw tonight was a small little film called Passenger Side. It concerns two brothers spending the day riding around Los Angeles. The movie is completely decent. It’s well-written with sharp dialogue, good performances and a surprisingly powerful ending that touched me a lot. There are a lot of shticky things along the way that detract from the overall film, but it didn’t ruin it for me. I’d write more, but to be hoenst, I’m reallllllllly tired.

There’s a pretty common feeling I get whenever reading or hearing from TV on DVD addicts about the shows they watch. It’s often blah blah blah The Wire. Or Nip/Tuck this, Supernatural that. But I felt the need to go back a little. To remember that while we may be in a “golden age” of television, there was TV before 2003. So what show do I pick to represent this quest into slightly-older TV shows? Night Court of course!

Now I guess you’re feeling the need to know what has made me interested in Night Court in particular. “Why that show?” is what you ask. “Why not go back and watch…The Wonder Years or something? I feel that Night Court has made its legacy clear in a lot of modern shows I watch. I remember during the particular South Park episode “Roger Ebert Should Lay Off The Fatty Foods” that Cartman referenced Night Court in his Cheesy Poofs theme song. I believe the exact lyric was “I’m talking Night Court in its fifth season laaaaaaaaaaaaaame!!!!”. And the last season of 30 Rock featured an episode that was a Night Court reunion. Obviously there was the inherently funny gimmick of having a cast reunion of that show. The joke is in the complete randomness. But still, I assumed that Night Court had a major influence on 30 Rock. And to me that’s a pretty awesome thing. 30 Rock is one of the few shows that consistently makes me laugh out loud multiple times with every episode. And there is another reason, one that made me the most interested…

(more…)

Okay, I’m going to be honest before I post this. I have never seen a single Harmony Korine movie. But you know what? From what I’ve seen of him, he seems like a cool guy. His newest film Trash Humpers premieres at TIFF this weekend and NO, I will not be seeing it. I don’t want my mother (who is responsible for getting the tickets) to think that I’m a wacko. Oh wait, too late…But anyway, enjoy the trailer below of what looks like Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job : The Movie.

As an additional treat I decided to embed both of Korine’s appearances on Letterman. This is what made me like the guy.