Socrates said, "The unexamined life is not worth living". He also had a supporting role in 'Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure'. If he had a blog it would feature enlightening philosophy, dynamic social commentary, and nuanced political discourse. I doubt it'd have entertainment reviews, sports analysis, rants on modern existence, or cheesey YouTube videos. But then, I'm no Socrates. To be fair, you're not that special either -- despite what your mom says.
In case you missed this post, and came here looking for my weekly NFL picks, please head on over to NinersNation.com, where you can check out the first edition of my weekly Friday column, "ANY GIVEN FRIDAY" here. I've beefed up the game previews a bit, and tried to add a few more laughs, but it's still a work-in-progress, so any constructive criticism is more than welcome.
The big college game this weekend is clearly #2 Texas Tech at #5 Oklahoma. Tech is trying to complete their Cinderella-like regular season run and make it to the Big 12 Championship Game with shot at the National Title. Oklahoma, meanwhile, will be trying to upset their championship dreams, returning the favor for last year, when the Red Raiders did the same thing to them. For more on this epic tilt, check out Pat Forde's column on ESPN.com. My pick: Oklahoma 70, Texas Tech 69 -- the Sooners win when Tech scores to apparently send the game to OT, only Mike Leach elects to go for two instead, and the try fails (I'm only half-kidding).
A few more links to get you through the weekend:
--A new HBO biopic on legendary comic Sam Kinison is in production, and there a great story on it over at FilmDrunk.com which not only gives a rundown on the project, and a good-sized early clip, but also some excellent commentary on why the hell the producers would choose the sickly-sweet Tom Shadyac to direct a project that should anything but.
--Another link by way of Film Drunk, takes us to HolyTaco.com, where they have an amusing graphic article titled "If TV Shows Had Truthful Titles".
--I've seen a lot of crazy names in my life, but I don't know that I've ever seen one quite as crazy as this.
This is the part where I act like an authority on entertainment, and criticize the work of professionals who are, without exception, more successful than I in the industry in which we both work. Some people would say this is proof I have "balls", or "chutzpah" in Jewspeak. Others would say it's proof I'm a "douchebag". To catch up on any old reviews, you can find the link on the right hand side of the page, or just click here.
The previews I saw of HBO’s new sit-com, ’Summer Heights High’ didn’t interest me much. The gag of one actor playing multiple characters became exhausted sometime around the second “Nutty Professor” movie. But Chris Lilley, an award-winning writer/actor/comedian from Australia is more Peter Sellers than recent-era Eddie Murphy. That is to say, the laughs come more from the people's internal flaws than from their external ones. He has an amazing gift for characterization, the small habits and details -- dress, body english, expressions, vocabulary -- which make people feel real. This realness then becomes a wellspring from which the comedy can flow freely.
We laugh because the character quirks are at once ridicluous and familiar. We’ve all known the self-righteous know-it-all who feels the need to leave helpful, instructive notes around the breakroom, or the kid with no attention span or discline whatsoever, or the plastic, self-involved bitch. Lilley brings those three people to life in this mockumentary about a public high school in Australia and exposes all their flaws -- as well as the acidic atmosphere at many public schools -- for maximum comedic effect.
The fact that you can buy the 33-year-old Lilley as a teenage girl tells you how far he gets into character. That character is Ja’mie King, a holdover from Lilley’s previous show in America, ’The Nominees’, which aired on IFC and was based on his award-winning show in Australia, 'We Can Be Heroes: Finding Australian of the Year'. Ja’mie is a bitchy and spoiled exchange student from a private school who insults everyone at the public school she meets whether she means it or not, and doesn’t hesitate to tell her new friends she pities them for their meager surroundings:
She’s just one of the three characters Lilley inhabits -- another is “Mr. G”, a cutting and egomaniacal drama teacher at the school:
The last is Jonah Takalua, a Pacific Islander who probably resembles the most immature, disruptive kid you knew in high school -- as entertaining as they are annoying:
Each of the characters are so well-portrayed, you're disappointed when the POV switches away from, only to be excited to see what the next one is up to. They're like car accidents you simply can't look away from, and the interaction between them and their peers is so awkward you almost can't stand it. In that way, it reminds one of 'The Office', or that other HBO sit-com with the lead you love to hate, 'Curb Your Enthusiasm'.
Following the lead of those shows is a good place to start, but it's not enough. You still need to bring your unique flavor to the genre to make it work, and Lilley clearly has plenty of that to spare. I have a feeling we're only just beginning to get a taste.
Using the age-old Hollywood scale of judgment -- HIGHLY RECOMMEND/RECOMMEND/CONSIDER/PASS (circle one) -- I rate 'Summer Heights High':
This is the part where I act like an authority on entertainment, and criticize the work of professionals who are, without exception, more successful than I in the industry in which we both work. Some people would say this is proof I have "balls", or "chutzpah" in Jewspeak. Others would say it's proof I'm a "douchebag". To catch up on any old reviews, you can find the link on the right hand side of the page, or click here.
One of the more pleasant surprises of the fall TV schedule is HBO’s new animated comedy, ‘The Life & Times of Tim’. It’s been sometime since either HBO has introduced a good half-hour comedy (some would say since ‘Entourage’ premiered in 2004, others would say the streak goes all the way back to the debut of ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ in 2000), or anyone has presented a quality animated show for adults (the last one, FOX’s ‘Family Guy’ first premiered in 1999), but both streaks appear to be over.
HBO has tried several half-hour sitcoms for adults in recent years -– ‘The Mind of the Married Man’ and ‘Lucky Louie’ immediately come to mind. While I’m fan of both of the creators of those shows -– Mike Binder and Louie C.K., respectively -– they ultimately failed for the same reason: It’s hard to root for paunchy middle-aged married men who just want to get laid. Sure, we can identify with them (at least, I know I can), but it’s a little depressing. The comedy falls a bit flat, not because it’s doesn’t seem real, but because it does seem real. “Real” works great when it’s ‘Seinfeld’ and you’re discussing harmless social quirks between friends, co-workers, and romantic interests. But “real” is decidedly less fun when the happiness of the protagonist’s wives and children are at stake, and he doesn't seem to care.
That’s right where animation comes in. Nobody cares when ‘Family Guy’s’ Peter Griffin or ‘The Simpsons’’ Homer Simpson does something horribly hurtful to their family because they’re not just cartoonish, they're cartoons. Tim is too, and while the similarities don’t end there -– Tim also shows bad judgment and a penchant for embarrassing those close to him -– Tim is closer to ‘Curb’s' misanthropic Larry David than he is to his animated ancestors. Like David, the humor surrounding him usually comes more from awkward, uncomfortable social moments than it does from broad physical comedy.
This formula is introduced in the first segment of the series pilot (each half-hour show is divided into two 10 minute-ish plots), “Angry Unpaid Hooker”*, when Tim’s girlfriend, Amy (voiced by MJ Otto), arrives home with her parents to find Tim with, well...
Tim’s calm refusal to admit he’s done anything wrong, and the logic he uses to try to explain away a situation which defies any kind of explaining away, is a staple of 'Tim'. This, we quickly learn, is not a show going for just the easy laugh –- like ‘Curb’, ‘The Larry Sanders Show’ and ‘The Office’, they want us to suffer with Tim for every agonizing (and humorous) moment possible.
The best examples come when Tim is asked by his un-named Boss (voiced by Peter Giles, the best supporting character introduced thus far) for typically bizarre favors, as he does in the following two clips:
Tim reacts to these ridiculous plans with the same kind of shock and disbelief that we might, yet still agrees to them, and we kind of understand it. In his world, in seems to work somehow. Rather than frustrated by his idiocy, we're happy to cringe as Tim and his boss try to carry off this horribly flawed plan. Sometimes, it's his own fault, but often, it isn’t even Tim who shows the worst judgment. It’s those around him -- like, say, the priest friend who buys beer for kids and has sex with hookers -- and Tim’s just hanging on for the ride.
It’s this kind of diversity of humor which appears to give ‘The Life & Times of Tim’ more legs than the typical bull-in-a-china-shop-type shows like, say, CBS’s new sitcom, ‘Worst Week’, which I find enjoyable, but clearly has a one-note tone, which could easily grow old quickly. Staying power is not something one might expect from a show which got its genesis from an animated short, but Dildarian’s voice (his writing “voice”, not the actual voice he uses to give Tim his stuttering, neuroses-laden, Gary Shandling-esque persona) seems to lend itself to the new trend of “uncomfortable comedy” that's made stars out of Steve Carrell, Ricky Gervais, and to some extent, Michael Cera.
Using the age-old Hollywood scale of judgment –- HIGHLY RECOMMEND/RECOMMEND/CONSIDER/PASS (circle one) -– I rate ’The Life & Times of Tim’:
HIGHLY RECOMMEND
*This segment was originally an animated short by Dildarian, which was bought by HBO, and now serves as the show's introduction.
Josh is a sports nut, a TV and movie junkie, and a selfish lover. A thin-skinned, neurotic, underachiever and noted misanthrope, he suffers from chronic boredom and clinical laziness. He must be more bored than lazy because he's writing this blog -- when he's not selling oranges by the side of the freeway on-ramp, or drinking cheap wine and watching amputee porn. Josh fancies himself a raconteur and thinks his stories and opinions are worthwhile -- try and humor him if it's not too much trouble.
