A few more consumptions
I missed a few things in my “Notable 2009 consumptions, so far” post, and have one update, so here they are:
The International
I saw this only a few weeks ago and I’ve already forgotten most of the plot points, but this movie was worth it solely for the gun shootout sequence near the end (for which director Tom Tykwer built somewhere in Germany a full scale replica of New York’s Guggenheim Museum) – one of the best scenes of its kind I’ve seen since perhaps Heat. I felt bad for screenwriter Eric Singer, though, who said in this podcast interview that he hoped the film didn’t come off as a feature-length set up for that one scene – to me it sort of did. Along with Children of Men, Clive Owen is now the master of well-shot action scenes.
Important Things with Demetri Martin
I haven’t enjoyed a sketch comedy show this much since Mr. Show. You can view clips on the Comedy Central website.
**The Hazards of Love (The Decemberists) (update) **
Last night, The Decemberists played this entire album live and in full at SXSW, and NPR has the whole thing up on their site. It’s not quite as tight as the album (not surprisingly for its live debut), but the energy is there. One odd thing is that the stream has pre- and post-show commentary by NPR hosts, although it was interesting to hear that the crowd didn’t get fully into the performance until Shara Worden came on stage.
Comments (14)
Wow, I have to disagree with you about Demetri Martin. I had rather high hopes for the show, as I like his bits on the daily show, but I do not like this show much. The sketches in particular I don't find very funny, the theme feels forced, and I just lose interest half way through. What parts have you particularly enjoyed?
I have hated Demetri Martin for years. He never made me laugh once, not once, during his Daily Show crap. Thus I avoided his show. Now, I trust you mr. crazymonk. So I will view a sketch or two. Just point me in the right direction.
Let the defense of Demetri Martin begin!
First off, before I get to the show, I found this week long diary he wrote for Slate pretty good, which he wrote in 2004 while he was working for Conan as a writer and doing stand-up around NYC. Highlights were the poems "All of the Words on a Bottle of Rolling Rock Beer in a Different Order" and the palindromic "Dammit I'm Mad.
Which gets to one of the reasons I like him -- word play is a significant part of his comedic arsenal.
Now as for the show, I don't actually think it's better than Mr. Show -- it's not. But in the decade since Mr. Show aired, what's been even close? In any case, I'll put a few clips here, although some of my favorites aren't online.
I'm actually having trouble finding online clips of sketches I like. One I really liked, Who Puts Gum Under a Chair?, is not available and was taken down from YouTube by Viacom. Boo. Here's one with David Cross that's only so-so:
It's true, though. I generally like the short clips on the show over the long-form clips.
On an unrelated note, what's with Knowing? It has a terrible rating on rotten tomatoes, but Ebert's pretty much calling it the next Dark City.
Having to struggle that hard to find good clips is not a good sign. Whereas with 30 Rock, for example, I find something wonderful in nearly every episode, and most scenes make me laugh in some way (last night it was liz acting like jack, then stopping when she realized she was doing Batman).
30 Rock isn't sketch comedy.
Also, wouldn't you be annoyed if that scene wasn't online but weaker parts of the show were?
What I'm trying to say is: there are quite a few funnier shows than ITwDM on TV from the past 10 years, but none that are sketch comedy or short-form comedy that I can think of.
I wasn't trying to say it was. I was just pointing out that it's easy for me to defend.
I also find Martin's wordplay funny. He's at his best doing stand up, I think. Even the illustrated versions of his standup aren't as good as the pure material itself.
As for recent short-form, what about robot chicken? I think it has its moments.
I like Dimitri Martin--- his album "These Are Jokes" is great. That said, I do find him kind of lacking on tv, as most of the Daily Show correspondents are... only the rare talent is consistently good.
I haven't seen any episodes of Robot Chicken. Perhaps I should.
Robot Chicken kind of reminds me of this stop motion film I once saw.
Meanwhile, tell me you watch 30 Rock. It is hilarious. Tracy Morgan, while terrible on SNL (as evidenced by his hosting last week) is really funny. But more importantly the writing is great. Really obscure jokes mixed with really funny characters. Kind of like Arrested Development, but a little wackier (and hence not as good).
I do like 30 Rock, although I haven't been rigorous in my watching. It's exactly that wackiness that doesn't make me watch regularly, but I usually enjoy when I do.
Not sure I agree about Tracy Morgan though -- he seems to be the weak link.