Friday night, we watched Aporia, a movie about grief disguised as time-traveling sci-fi. I generally don’t like time-travel stuff (Doctor Who excepted), but this starred Judy Greer, yet another actor whom I’m convinced would steal me away for her filthy fantasies if our paths should ever cross, so in the interest of marital harmony, I avoid Hollywood at all costs.
Last night was some flimsy Irish movie, Writing Home, which was very unfulfilling, apart from the scenery (really, does every Irish person who moves away and reluctantly returns home come from a postcard-picture-perfect twee little village? That’s what the film industry would have us believe, no doubt!).
Main issue with the thing is that it’s meant to be some heavy drama, with estranged family, self-loathing, abandonment and all that, but there’s no depth to it. The whole movie feels like a summary of another, better movie:
“Ah right, I’ve had to come home to my little village from the bright lights of London and trade my life of endless sex, drugs, drink, and wealth for this shithole, all because my old man, whom I’m not spoken to since I left home at 18 to sell out my god-given writing talent to create crap fiction, is in a coma and dying, but it’s not all bad because as soon as I got here, I stopped being a self-centered prick and have found I love reading stories to the local kiddos…that’s it, I’m staying, as soon as I have a heart-to-heart confessional with my comatose dad, and then tell everyone at his funeral what I’ve learned in all this.”
Read that in Ardal O’Hanlon’s Father Dougal McGuire’s voice, and you’ve just seen the movie.
Tonight was an episode of Ludwig and an episode of Before.
Ludwig is very entertaining, while Before has an interesting concept, but it feels like there’s a lot of superfluous stuff to pad it out to 10 episodes. Ep1 & ep2 set it up nicely, but 3, 4, & 5 feel like everyone’s just treading water.
I turned on the TV while I was having lunch. A Jackie Chan movie called "High Noon", with Chris Rock.
I can't decide who is the worst, most inane, most stupid, most incompetent actor in the history of cinema: Chris Rock or Owen Wilson.
They showed the first series of that here on Sundance (or IFC) quite a while ago, but never seemed to get around to finding a permanent home for the second series. They showed one or two episodes, and then it just disappeared. I thought it was very funny and we loved it.
Way, way back, when we first watched Peep Show (that was our first exposure to M&W), MrsT laughed and said that my personality and David Mitchell’s in Peep Show were very similar - “You even kinda look like him.”
Mitchell has perfected that sort of exasperated, sarcastic, insecure, put-upon character, and he plays that type in Back, overwhelmed by everything around him.
This has a point, stay with me, though I’ll have to hide behind some spoilers, so click them at your own risk.
During the intervening years between Peep Show and Back, we had a lot of ups and downs (job loss, family deaths, our own serious medical issues), and during a couple of those periods, I’d said a couple of times that
”I wish I could just go to one of those places where they send people who’ve had nervous breakdowns. I’m tired of dealing with everything and exhausted making decisions.
Of course, that’s exactly what happens between series 1 & 2 with Mitchell’s character! He even makes quite an impassioned speech about it, and parts of it sounded like it had been completely lifted from what I’d said years earlier.
Even after all that time, as soon as we saw that, MrsT nodded her head, looked at me, and just uttered, “Yup…same guy…”
Now we’re watching Ludwig, which stars David Mitchell as the same type of character, and she’s already pointing out similarities - “You do that…and that…that, too.”
They showed the first series of that here on Sundance (or IFC) quite a while ago, but never seemed to get around to finding a permanent home for the second series. They showed one or two episodes, and then it just disappeared. I thought it was very funny and we loved it.
Way, way back, when we first watched Peep Show (that was our first exposure to M&W), MrsT laughed and said that my personality and David Mitchell’s in Peep Show were very similar - “You even kinda look like him.”
Mitchell has perfected that sort of exasperated, sarcastic, insecure, put-upon character, and he plays that type in Back, overwhelmed by everything around him.
This has a point, stay with me, though I’ll have to hide behind some spoilers, so click them at your own risk.
During the intervening years between Peep Show and Back, we had a lot of ups and downs (job loss, family deaths, our own serious medical issues), and during a couple of those periods, I’d said a couple of times that
”I wish I could just go to one of those places where they send people who’ve had nervous breakdowns. I’m tired of dealing with everything and exhausted making decisions.
Of course, that’s exactly what happens between series 1 & 2 with Mitchell’s character! He even makes quite an impassioned speech about it, and parts of it sounded like it had been completely lifted from what I’d said years earlier.
Even after all that time, as soon as we saw that, MrsT nodded her head, looked at me, and just uttered, “Yup…same guy…”
Now we’re watching Ludwig, which stars David Mitchell as the same type of character, and she’s already pointing out similarities - “You do that…and that…that, too.”
I love Ludwig, best jovial thing I've seen on TV in a long while.
Am thrilled they commissioned another series before the first had even finished.
My eldest son has a bit in common with with Ludwig for sure
Got one episode left of 'Back' so I have seen that great line
"I wish I could go to one of those places they send people who've had nervous breakdowns"
David Mitchel does British downcast, anxious, uptightness so, so well.
I don't think you look like him though, without wanting to chuck unnecessary flattery in your direction you are much better looking than Mr Slopeyshoulders!
Although my favourite line so far was one I didn't see coming when Charismatic Mike said about the Paris- Dakar and crass Geoff says I never understood why they wanted to end somewhere so depressing and Andrew replies
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