Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with a single review for ya'. I spent most of the day interviewing the cast and director of HOOLIGANS (it turned out to be a really fun interview and yes, I did get some pretty filthy jokes). Stay tuned for that one sometime in the upcoming week.
I made the 9pm screening of THE COMEDIANS OF COMEDY at the Alamo Drafthouse downtown, which of course meant I had to be in the badge line an hour early to make it in. This year's been crazy in terms of getting into screenings. Even badges, which are the first let in, are getting turned away, filling the theaters quickly. It's gotten to the point where people with film passes (second to be let in after the badges) don't even bother showing up for the smaller venues.
Anyway, tonight I saw two movies, but I'll only talk about THE COMEDIANS OF COMEDY as the midnight movie was a well shot horror film with a few smart moments, but ultimately the bad guy was ridiculous looking, the "twist" obvious and the scares cheap.
So we'll talk about THE COMEDIANS OF COMEDY, which is a documentary that features comedians Patton Oswalt, Brian Posehn, Zach Galifianakis and Maria Bamford.
Patton Oswalt is the patron saint of movie geeks in the world of comedy. I'd say he has some of the best timing of any current comedian when it comes to stand-up work (Eddie Izzard may give him a run for his money, though). His special that aired recently had me in stitches primarily because he's such a drooling movie geek that he'd bring up the most damn obscure references. I love his stuff, but then I'm a liberal film geek, so I guess I'm not too far out of his targeted audience.
Brian Posehn... If Patton Oswalt is the patron saint of movie geeks, then Brian Posehn is vice president... um... saint... of movie geekdom. See, comedy is much harder than it looks! What I just typed sucked! Anyway, Brian Posehn is known as "That crazy guy from Mr. Show." He's the big balding dude... Look at his face right here at his website! You'll recognize him, I guarantee it. He's also a huge geek. We get to see his house at the beginning of the doco and his room is littered with Simpsons toys, comic books and even classic stand-up arcade games.
Zach Galifianakas is more of a strange bird. He's the bearded dude that was on Tru Calling and has a very different style of comedy from Patton and Brian. His stuff is more weird, more random and more angry, but always funny.
Maria Bamford is a blonde woman with a squeaky voice that is much cleaner than the boys and her stuff is more based on character voices and the like.
The documentary, directed by Michael Blieden (star of Bob Odenkirk's MELVIN GOES TO DINNER), was filmed with these four looney people going on a four stop tour called THE COMEDIANS OF COMEDY, obviously. The comedians have cameras on them all the time.
I liked the doc a whole lot, but it's not perfect. I think the actual stand-up material is bend over holding your stomach funny, especially the stuff from Oswalt and Posehn (who has the most perfect allegory for the STAR WARS prequels ever), but some of the on the road stuff falls a little flat. Not all of it, not even the majority of it, mind you, but the stand-up work is consistently funny.
It is really cool to watch the evolution of their jokes, though. See them come up with a little something and try it out onstage. I found that stuff fascinating. It's also really cool watching the boys geek their shit out, doing stuff I'd be doing if it were me in their shoes. I know when I go to a new city, I tend to crack open the yellow pages and look up collectibles or movie posters or comic book stores. Here we see the group raiding comic book stores and being total geeks, showing off their finds later on. Brian also finds this badass arcade (I think this one was still in Seattle, but I could be wrong) that was filled with nothing but '80s classic stand-up machines.
The documentary was funded by Netflix and I think they picked the right group to focus on. I hope this documentary starts going around because it really is an interesting and hilarious look into the minds of some of the best burgeoning comedians right now.
Anyway, I better get some rest. It's damn near 5am and I have more goodies awaiting me in the upcoming day. I'll be back soon. 'Til then, this is Quint bidding you all a fond farewell and adieu!
-Quint
