Netflix Instant recommendations thread

[Steve of Bloomington]

I'm at 42 Up in the Up series. It veers between interesting and dull, which is frustrating. There's less of the 'don't you feel like a big failure' tone to it than there was in 35 Up (so far. It's 2+ hours long and I watch in 1/2 hour chunks). Also, a frustrating part of watching them back-to-back is seeing the same footage again and again (e.g. Tony Walker talking about the 4Fs). If it had been 7years since you watched the previous one, it would make sense. Anyhow, being roughly 42 this one is of particular interest to me.

[Kormodd]

Holy God is The Comedy horrifying. Tim Heidecker plays a rich, nihilistic hipster who spends his time playing cruel pranks on working-class people, with and without his equally awful friends. The "humor" is in the vein of Tim and Eric's usual stuff, but all of it comes off as disturbing rather than funny, as the jokes are generally at the expense of working-class people who just want to go about their day and be left alone. A very well-done critique of "trust funders" and the almost sociopathic apathy that being wealthy and aimless can bring about.

[Hugman 3.0]

A very well-done critique of "trust funders" and the almost sociopathic apathy that being wealthy and aimless can bring about.

I took something slightly more from it, based on the very final scene, which made me cry (although I have my own stuff going on these days).  Also the dude with the mustache is Jeff Jensen, partner of former Best Show collaborator Andrew Earles.  This movie actually reminded me in a weird way of a Bukowski poem, in which you are pummeled with ugliness then the last line punches you right in the gut with a hard dose of humanity.

[Bryan]

I also thought there was a bit of optimism and humanity in that final scene, but that just made the rest of the movie more depressing. I thought the film was kind of like an American Psycho for the 2010s (but less funny).

I'm surprised at how thoroughly mainstream critics hated this movie. It's unpleasant, certainly, but most critics didn't seem able to discern a separation between the movie's POV and the protagonist's POV. Could it just be that they were disoriented by the title of the movie? I do think that the title was rather self-sabotaging (though that keeps right in the spirit of the film, I guess.) It makes it near impossible to google, and misleads expectations.

Does anyone have any good theories about the title? I heard someone (maybe Julie Klausner or Marc Maron) ask Heidecker about the title, but I don't recall him offering a satisfying explanation.

[InspectorHound]

I also thought there was a bit of optimism and humanity in that final scene, but that just made the rest of the movie more depressing. I thought the film was kind of like an American Psycho for the 2010s (but less funny).

I'm surprised at how thoroughly mainstream critics hated this movie. It's unpleasant, certainly, but most critics didn't seem able to discern a separation between the movie's POV and the protagonist's POV. Could it just be that they were disoriented by the title of the movie? I do think that the title was rather self-sabotaging (though that keeps right in the spirit of the film, I guess.) It makes it near impossible to google, and misleads expectations.

Does anyone have any good theories about the title? I heard someone (maybe Julie Klausner or Marc Maron) ask Heidecker about the title, but I don't recall him offering a satisfying explanation.

The people he's parodying tend to think that everything's a comedy? Or that they're acting in the big farce that is life so who cares whether or not they watch someone have a seizure, etc.?

[Joe Rogaine]

Holy God is The Comedy horrifying. Tim Heidecker plays a rich, nihilistic hipster who spends his time playing cruel pranks on working-class people, with and without his equally awful friends. The "humor" is in the vein of Tim and Eric's usual stuff, but all of it comes off as disturbing rather than funny, as the jokes are generally at the expense of working-class people who just want to go about their day and be left alone. A very well-done critique of "trust funders" and the almost sociopathic apathy that being wealthy and aimless can bring about.

Is this on Netflix instant?


Good to hear Earles and Jenson are still doing it.

[Kormodd]

Is this on Netflix instant?

http://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/The_Comedy/70227936?trkid=2361637

[Joe Rogaine]

Is this on Netflix instant?

http://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/The_Comedy/70227936?trkid=2361637

I immediately put DVD back in the mail.



I think I spotted Richard Swift and that one guy looked like Wurster.

[Kormodd]

Shotgun Stories is good (Michael Shannon's in it; just watch it). Fat Kid Rules the World is terrible and doesn't make much sense; don't be allured by the title.

[Steve of Bloomington]

I also thought there was a bit of optimism and humanity in that final scene, but that just made the rest of the movie more depressing. I thought the film was kind of like an American Psycho for the 2010s (but less funny).

I'm surprised at how thoroughly mainstream critics hated this movie. It's unpleasant, certainly, but most critics didn't seem able to discern a separation between the movie's POV and the protagonist's POV. Could it just be that they were disoriented by the title of the movie? I do think that the title was rather self-sabotaging (though that keeps right in the spirit of the film, I guess.) It makes it near impossible to google, and misleads expectations.

Does anyone have any good theories about the title? I heard someone (maybe Julie Klausner or Marc Maron) ask Heidecker about the title, but I don't recall him offering a satisfying explanation.

Don't know if this is it, but I encountered this quote which perhaps has something to do with it:

Life is a dream for the wise, a game for the fool, a comedy for the rich, a tragedy for the poor. - Aleichem, Sholom

[Jason from Huntsville, AL]

I was happy to see that the documentary "Beauty is Embarrassing" is on Instant now. It's about Wayne White, an artist who grew up in the Sand Mountain region (near Chattanooga, not far from here) who designed the puppets for "Pee Wee's Playhouse" among other things that are probably floating around in the your subconscious. It's fun and he's definitely earned his beard.

Plus, there are some scenes shot in this book/art store in Chattanooga I browsed in once, but that's probably only a selling point for me.

[Joe Rogaine]

I was happy to see that the documentary "Beauty is Embarrassing" is on Instant now. It's about Wayne White, an artist who grew up in the Sand Mountain region (near Chattanooga, not far from here) who designed the puppets for "Pee Wee's Playhouse" among other things that are probably floating around in the your subconscious. It's fun and he's definitely earned his beard.

Plus, there are some scenes shot in this book/art store in Chattanooga I browsed in once, but that's probably only a selling point for me.

I remember watching that on PBS about a month ago.

[Andy]

Beauty is Embarrassing is great.

[~L]

1,000 Netflix titles expiring this month:
http://instantwatcher.com/titles/expiring

[Steve of Bloomington]

1,000 Netflix titles expiring this month:
http://instantwatcher.com/titles/expiring

Aw dangit, I have 784 of those in my queue.