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Underground > Film, TV & Theatre >

I heart Huckabees

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19:06 / 09.09.04

So... I'm excited for this. Lily Tomlin and Dustin Hoffman transcending time and space. Sounds killer.

Thoughts?

Yotsuba & Benjamin!

19:27 / 09.09.04

Jon Brion's rocking the score. That's all I need to know.

20:24 / 04.10.04

Anyone seen this? I hear mostly good things about it.

00:34 / 05.10.04

I saw a preview for it when I went to see A Dirty Shame and it looks great.

01:44 / 05.10.04

it's incredible. bizarro funny moments. charmingly addressing aspects of guilty young american culture. obssesions about the environment and september 11th overlaid on petty self-agrandizement. fun experimental techniques attacking the hell of the suburbs. its a bit like Bunuel doing a hollywood romantic comedy.

made me realize there's a ton of great talent working in mainstream american film right doing a similar kind of thing: charming comedic soul searching experimental radical romance?

04:18 / 08.10.04

Oh my friggin gawd was this movie hiLARious.

Nonstop gibberish from nearly every character. Excellently played by everyone. Mark Wahlberg was especially good. In fact, I'd recommend the movie for his performance ALONE.

Lily Tomlin's "lead" was probably the biggest most absurd moment.

I want to say that if you distilled the passion and rationale of "The Invisibles" into a two hour flick, this is the product. Hoffman and Tomlin are Invisible College, and The French Milf is Outer Church. And it's so simple, I think my mom could get it. See it. See it. See it.

11:40 / 08.10.04

Where did you see this? Is it out yet?

12:17 / 08.10.04

trailer...

here

it premieres in the uk on the 4th November during the London Film Festival...

13:05 / 08.10.04

Imp, it's been out in the U.S. for about 2 weeks - playing pretty much only at theatres that show artsy indie films.

Yotsuba & Benjamin!

14:21 / 08.10.04

David O Russel (with a jump from PT) is Walhberg's friggin salvation. He was fantastic in 3K and if the trailer's any indication, he looks to shine here again. "I'm sorry but he most certainly does (not?)."

Anyway. I'm looking forward to it.

04:06 / 09.10.04

i think its currently playing on only 6 screens throughout the us. but since its been doing very very well on those screens, it will hopefully come soon to, how you say, a theater near you.

15:24 / 12.10.04

I just saw the trailer and I must say that Jason Schwartzman has grown into a world-class hottie...can't wait 'till it comes to my town.

Matthew Fluxington

13:25 / 16.10.04

I saw this the other day. I liked it more than I had expected - the reviews were mixed, so I went in with some skepticism. It was pretty clever and amusing all the way through, and the general feeling of it was "I Can't Believe It's Not Charlie Kaufman." It was a good satire, and there were some great jokes. Naomi Watts in particular had some really funny lines.

14:11 / 16.10.04

Saw it the other day. It's okay, Marky Mark is great, Jude Law's accent is a little waivy, but he was good fun in it. There are one or two try hard moments that aren't neccessary (Jason and the MILF in the woods as an example) but was fun enough. The dialgoue is fun as well with lots of little asides.

15:56 / 17.10.04

The Milf getting bent over in the woods is EXACTLY what makes the movie so ripe for cinema class semiotic analysis. It's like The Filth. Russell takes these characters out of their cycle of absurd introspection and drops them right into raw perversion and strangeness. The scene is so out of place ...it's supposed to punch you in the gut. The Milf manufactured the situation explicity to separate the "Others" brothers. The sex gives our boy Schwartzmann a backbone and catapults Wahlberg into his own direction. She squeezes the juice out.

Arrgh. Is anyone else getting angry at the relentlessly bad reviews this movie is getting? I know they're understandable, but why are the reviewers so lazy?

And the score f'n rocks, Birdie. It's like a beautiful ribbon that packages the film.

13:06 / 18.10.04

Saw it this weekend and liked it a great deal. Jude Law still a bit too pretty for me to take seriously but everyone else rocked.

David O. Russel apparently based the existential detectives in the film on Robert Thurman, who is acclaimed for being both Uma's father and the first American to become a Buddhist monk. I'm curious to read one of his books now to see how closely the philosophies in the movie follow his thinking.

Yotsuba & Benjamin!

13:25 / 18.10.04

Yeah, I picked it up this weekend, Chad. "Knock Yourself Out" is on permanent loop. Unfortunately I'll probably have to wait until it goes wide this weekend to see it. But see it I shall.

19:27 / 28.11.04

For UK board members, I've just watched this, and in spite of the slating it's had in the Observer-Independent over the weekend, I think it's still worth a look. I don't suppose the intention's exactly to change anyone's life, but great performances generally, and anyone who's fan of say Harold and Maude, or in a funny way Fight Club, may well enjoy. Or at least I did anyway - I didn't look at my watch once, and actually found myself laughing a couple of times, which hardly ever happens during comedies at the cinema, so four stars, I dare say, and I'd give it a go...

01:40 / 16.12.04

I hated it. I was embarrassed for the actors, it was a complete shambles, like watching random excerpts of philosophy being thrown at the camera rather than making a movie. A couple of fun ideas and techniques, the rest was garbage of the very highest order. Avoid like the Hollywood remake of The Avengers.

10:46 / 16.12.04

I thought it was okay. The biggest problem is that it is a very lightweight throwaway (and quite funny) film that is likely to be picked over for years to come because of its supposed insights, and it will suffer for that. I think the acting was pretty good, and I loved all the piss-taking, particularly the way everybody gets "revelations" which are blindingly obvious - being hit in the face stops you thinking for a moment, but you can't do it all the time? Never!
Yeah, I like, and I can't wait to have fun at the expense of people who took it seriously.

Regrettable Juvenilia

01:18 / 19.12.04

The way Jude Law crumples when Wahlberg puts his hand against the side of his face and pushes him over = a masterpiece of collaborative physical comedy that more or less justifies the entire film.

I don't think there's any smugness to be gained from realising that the film is fluffy and funny and fun. That doesn't mean there are no insights to be gained therein: indeed, the film benefits hugely from having smarter, sharper insights than a lot of other films that portentously play up their supposed philosophical insights. Certainly I was amused by how the film nailed in one short, mucky fuck-scene what a certain revered comics writer took 13 issues of meandering Filth to (sort of) explore.

Yotsuba & Benjamin!

02:31 / 19.12.04

The way Jude Law crumples when Wahlberg puts his hand against the side of his face and pushes him over = a masterpiece of collaborative physical comedy that more or less justifies the entire film.

Yeah, those two definitely showed up to play. It's odd seeing Law float through the other, what, twelve movies he's in this season, when he displayed such an impressive array of comic skills.

unheimlich manoeuvre

15:00 / 19.12.04

irreverent comedy masterpiece. i laughed so hard, i nearly pissed myself. my friends hated it.

20:34 / 19.12.04

Certainly I was amused by how the film nailed in one short, mucky fuck-scene what a certain revered comics writer took 13 issues of meandering Filth to (sort of) explore.

Boy, 'boy you really don't like George do ya? That mucky-fuck hinted at what George was (may have been)on about, but in now way could it be said to 'nail' it. Huppert did her usual Hartley distant-euro-woman schtick and fucked on a log as a symbol for bog-standard existentialism. That scene did nothing but reinforce the general "dogmatic philosophies are to be laughed at but there's something in them we can use" that pervaded the whole film. Sure, it was funny and better in many ways than almost every other film I've seen this year, but even Jude's much-vaunted vomit scene was pretty bland.

I think that smugness IS an appropriate reaction. It's a very smug film. "Look at the crappy poet trying to save the environment one rock at a time!" "Laugh at the firefighter who copes with 9/11 by banning oil from his home!" "See how shrinks are frauds because we can equate them with a bunch of dysfunctional philosophers who fuck up everyone's lives"
There is so much that is begging you to engage with the film from a "knowing" perpective to even get the gags that, I think, it slips over the edge from light comedy to smug-com.
Nyeah. Ask me again in a week or two and I'll probably think it's the greatest film ever made.

Sean the frumious Bandersnatch

23:30 / 19.12.04

If nothing else, this movie served as a good vehicle for concepts that most people wouldn't bother to understand otherwise. Thanks to this film, a friend of mine no longer thinks that existentialism is for supervillians.

Yes, I found it very similar to a Morrison story (the Filth, maybe the Satanstorm arc in the Invisibles). What's wrong with that? God forbid movier should have intellect or a worthwhile message. So what if it's nothing we didn't already know...more people should be aware of this crap, yes?

Disco is My Class War

14:37 / 20.12.04

A movie critic here (in Australia) said something perceptive: that Huckabees would get trashed by the mainstream for being too highbrow, and trashed by the intelligentsia for being too lowbrow. I kind of liked that it found a place in the middle. Except that Isabelle Huppert is a nihilist, not a deconstructionist. And I was slightly disappointed that the philosophy didn't get more complex than the classic nihilist/existentialist problematic.

But it was FUN and it made me LAUGH. Especially Lily Tomlin diving into the car. And Naomi, who got some killer lines and delivers them so well. I like seeing films where the actors look like they're having fun, and in this they all did -- except for Mark Wahlberg, who was just on a whole 'nother planet altogether. A very earnest to the point of violence planet.

16:10 / 20.12.04

Possibly I was affected by the fact I'd been looking forward to it quite a lot, but I thought it was proper rubbish, and actually quite annoying. There was very, very little of interest for me to get my teeth into; I thought it failed on virtually every level, whether intellectual, dramatic, emotional, whatever; all the stylistic touches just grated on me sooo much and there were just vast bits that were just slapdash and ill-digested. The whole thing struck me as the biggest budget student film I've ever seen.

I think why I got so violently annoyed is that it was such a waste of a good cast. Which I hate as a trite film critic cliche, but c'mon, Naomi Watts is like unto a goddess and she's just totally wasted here. It's got such a good cast list, with the exception of Jason Schwartzman who's pants and plucks his eyebrows, that I thought it was a bit of a crime to make such a poor film.

But then other people seem to like it a lot so maybe I was in a mood.

(And, seriously, like, don't think I laughed once, and I was the only one in the cinema last week laughing at Napoleon Dynamite)

16:35 / 20.12.04

Still don't think much of it except when Jude is talking about his fat brother and the frog things, and he is stretching one while pouting. I liked that.

Tryphena Absent

10:39 / 21.12.04

That scene did nothing but reinforce the general "dogmatic philosophies are to be laughed at but there's something in them we can use" that pervaded the whole film

I think you're taking the whole thing far too seriously. And didn't you appreciate all the little in-jokes- Wahlberg's hair? 'But she never leaves Paris'? The body bag. The film seemed to be about the movement rather than the ins and outs of the theory.

Except that Isabelle Huppert is a nihilist, not a deconstructionist.

That scene where Hoffman yells that she's a nihilist makes me want to go and see the film over again. I just thought that was beautifully done.

I loved this movie.

Regrettable Juvenilia

17:41 / 21.12.04

Boy, 'boy you really don't like George do ya?

I don't hate Grant Morrison. I am a big fan of his good comics. I am a less big fan of his less good comics. You are confused.

"Look at the crappy poet trying to save the environment one rock at a time!" "Laugh at the firefighter who copes with 9/11 by banning oil from his home!" "See how shrinks are frauds because we can equate them with a bunch of dysfunctional philosophers who fuck up everyone's lives"

You are confused. You didn't understand this movie at all. You have drawn exactly the opposite conclusions from it to the conclusions you should have drawn. You probably need to see it again.

The whole point of the film is that the dysfunctional philosophers in fact help people find what might at least be called coping strategies, and at most might be called new ways of understanding life. The whole point of the character of Tommy is that while he is often amusingly dogmatic, at heart his struggle is a noble one. The whole point of the end of the film is that even if life is meaningless, struggles such as Swartzmann's effort to save the environment are in fact valid.

This is a deeply compassionate film; failure to grasp that is a damning inditement of any given viewer.

19:25 / 21.12.04

You are confused.

Your tone is patronising and belittling. I've seen you do it elsewhere and did not like it then, either.

The whole point of the film is that the dysfunctional philosophers in fact help people find what might at least be called coping strategies, and at most might be called new ways of understanding life.

No, the point of the film is that these people manage to develop coping strategies in spite of the chaos the philosophers cause. The pure theory espoused by the philosphers does nothing to help anyone. Their investigations and advice which are little more than common sense in big friendly letters - but are supposedly motivated by this theory - helps everyone. Hence the assertion that "dogmatic philosophies are to be laughed at but there's something in them we can use".

As I said, I did like the film. I am glad it raises questions and I suspect that in a week or so I will be defending it vehemently. I don't see why that means I have to see it again. My recall is quite good.

I did love the odd bit of it, and understand where you are coming from in saying you loved it. But sneering tones from people whose opinions I have begun to discount (for their ability to be consistently offhand with so may people) do not help.

19:55 / 21.12.04

I'm jumping in!

No, the point of the film is that these people manage to develop coping strategies in spite of the chaos the philosophers cause. The pure theory espoused by the philosphers does nothing to help anyone. Their investigations and advice which are little more than common sense in big friendly letters - but are supposedly motivated by this theory - helps everyone. Hence the assertion that "dogmatic philosophies are to be laughed at but there's something in them we can use".

I won't be mean about it, but I think you may actually be confused. It's a chatoic movie/It's a chaotic life. You can't blame chaos on, or assert its origin to the philosophers! The role they play is merely to call attention to parts of the chaos that our protagonists choose to forget or refuse to deal with. And of course it's little more than common sense. The big truths are always ridiculously simple.

And what a lot of dogmatic philosophioes lack is a sense of humor about itself. Add a good deal of humor, and even fundamentalists become bearable.

As I said, I did like the film. I am glad it raises questions and I suspect that in a week or so I will be defending it vehemently. I don't see why that means I have to see it again. My recall is quite good.

Cool. You know, you're only getting what you're giving. If you want to treated fairly, perhaps you should treat the subject fairly in your assessment. You say you love it, then ridicule it, without adding the substance of your affection or praise. My recall of what you said is fuzzy. I'll go back and read it again, but if I'm right, and you only gave a harsh polemic opinion, why react so vehemently to the opposing polemic viewpoint?

Blah. I feel it was an excellent film. I love it and I can't wait to see it again

Bring on some commentary!

21:15 / 21.12.04

Thank you. I think that's a fair assessment, especially the bit about chaos working in opposition to rigid structure. The reason I think I'm going to like it more later is that I came out with the expectation (from all the reviews I had read) that it was going to blow me away and make me laugh like a drain. I got neither. I came away disappointed but optimistic, and thanks to some of the more considered rplies on this thread, I think I may have been too harsh.
It's a lot more subtle than the "it means this" and "it 'nails' that" that are getting thrown around (mea culpa, but I'm not alone), but I think it's time to let it stew in my brain for a while and read and hear some more opinions (from people I still respect, you're on the list) on it.

Tryphena Absent

11:40 / 22.12.04

Actually you're all confused- the point of the film is that these people manage to develop coping strategies in spite of the chaos the philosophers cause, The whole point of the film is that the dysfunctional philosophers in fact help people find what might at least be called coping strategies, You can't blame chaos on, or assert its origin to the philosophers!

All of these interpretations are absolutely correct. You've forgotten the blanket. The blanket explains the entire film, that's the beauty of the thing, it's completely internal. The point of the existential detectives is that they cause the chaos, reveal the chaos that is already there and help people find coping strategies to deal with chaos. But to claim that any of those points is the point of the film would be to ignore everything else about it. This is clearly a film about choosing.

Brigade du jour

12:40 / 08.01.05

I really rather kind of pretty much loved this movie. I want to wrap myself up in its blanket and have a nice quiet little psychotic episode.

And yeah, Marky Mark can act. Blimey, that's a shock!

Admittedly, it was deliberately quirky in such a way that it almost brings you out in a rash of self-reflexivity, but it remained as funny at the end as it had been at the start. I felt a couple of times like it was threatening to go for some tearful, manhugging resolution towards the end, but it still managed to surprise me. I may have to get myself a space hopper purely for face-hitting purposes.

Yes, I took all the pseudo-psychology seriously. For a while, anyway.

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