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Eastbound & Down - Down, But Certainly Not Out

Posted by Miss Ess, December 18, 2009 06:13pm | Post a Comment
When was the last time a show made you cry with laughter? If you're me, it'd been a while...

eastbound & down

...Till Eastbound & Down got me this week. It took me 5 episodes to get to that point, but watching all 6 episodes of this short seasoned show from HBO was quite the experience in hysterics.

I thought the whole white trash thing was over. eastbound & downThe mainstream'd caught on, we got crappy movies like Talladega Nights and then also had to deal with Jeff Foxworthy's career actually continuing...The genre, subculture, whatever you wanna call it, seemed truly played out on the media scale. So, really, when I first heard about Eastbound & Down, I thought there was no reason for what was sure to be yet another deposit into the rednecks-taking-over-the world trashbag.

BUT Kenny Powers (played by Danny McBride) and his brethren proved me wrong. This show is hilarious, mostly because of how smart and detailed it is. It clearly was written and created by people (McBride being one of them) who grew up in the South and got the hell out as soon as they could, but probably still have to go home for the holidays. These writers have an intimate knowledge of the habits of small town Southerners, and that brings much of the pleasure in watching this show.

Eastbound & Down is about an offensive, hardheaded and failed baseball pitcher who once was at the top of his sport but now has been forced to retire and move back, penniless, weastbound and downith his prized purple and leopard print jet ski in tow, to his (Rick Danko lookalike) brother's house in his Southern hometown. Having to face the people he knew before his fame and riches, his old girlfriend April chief among them, does quite a number on the former egomaniac. It's fun to watch him try to readjust to his new and former Southern small town way of life, where he is forced to take a job as a gym teacher at his old middle school. He decides the only way out is to once again get back into the major leagues, however he can. Good thing his old dealer still lives in town and can provide the 'roids!

Continue reading...

"...And the hangover goes to...!"

Posted by Job O Brother, September 28, 2009 12:59pm | Post a Comment
boobs

Hello, Earthlings! I have returned after being ill for the past week. I’m still not at 100%, but can at least sit at my computer without succumbing to vertigo and mistaking my iTunes for an episode of Battlestar Gallactica.

It’s all the fault of the 2009 Emmy Awards. Yes it is! I’ll explain…

emmy

The boyfriend and I were (again) invited to attend the HBO Emmy Award after-party. As he considered which of his designer suits to don, I sifted through the post-punk, vintage mess that is my wardrobe, desperately trying to Frankenstein something passable to wear, grateful that most people at industry parties are too self-absorbed to notice me at all.

Once we got there we took our place in line in the underground garage that served as a holding tank for men and women dressed to the nines. (Front entrance was limited to red-carpet types.) Cramped into lines of two and everyone decked-out fancy, it looked as though we were about to be slaughtered in the most glamorous concentration camp ever.

We made it in.

hbo

Now, there’s a reason why I love going to the HBO after-party. Normally, I would eschew going to industry parties in favor of getting my fingernails torn out or having bedtimes stories read to me by Carol Channing. The HBO party is an exception to this rule because it is kind of awesome.

LITTLE BRITAIN: THE MOVIE(S)

Posted by Billyjam, May 19, 2008 08:35am | Post a Comment

As reported over the weekend by Variety magazine, the two stars of hit UK television comedy Little Britain -- Matt Lucas and David Walliams -- just signed a US movie deal and hence currently have two new Little Britain films on the way, in addition to the US version of their popular British TV show which will air on HBO

Variety magazine confirmed that the witty UK duo are developing a project with US studio DreamWorks in the US. Meanwhile back in England they are working on a second film project with the British studio Working Title (Hot Fuzz, Atonement, etc.).

The US version of their television show for HBO will be a six-part series will that will air this year on the cable network. The scenario is similar to the production deal that HBO had with Sacha Baron Cohen a few years ago when they produced a US version of his then-popular UK TV show Da Ali G Show (featuring his Borat character) that was adjusted slightly with US audiences in mind.

The new US version of Little Britain, which aired on BBC America in its original form, has been described by its producers as "a sketch show set in contemporary America."  In an interview with the BBC, Walliams said that the new HBO version of the TV show will include "some existing characters and writing new material for them, as well as introducing new characters and ideas." 

Little Britain, which is available at Amoeba Music on DVD in its original UK TV format, has an interesting history. It started out its life not on TV but  as a radio program seven years ago. That led to it becoming a stage show and then the characters went mainstream with their popularity on the BBC TV series that followed. That UK show won them eight Royal Television Society awards, three Baftas and an International Emmy for their stable of funny characters, including Lou and Andy (see clip below when the pair go to the swimming pool -- a sketch that is among the show's most popular).

out today 4/22...flight of the conchords...

Posted by Brad Schelden, April 24, 2008 08:31pm | Post a Comment

I am still catching up with all the releases from the last couple of weeks, but there is really only one release to worry yourself about this week -- the full length debut from Flight of the Conchords. I know there are still some of you out there who have not yet seen the television show, but you really have no excuse. The 12 episode first season came out on DVD in November, so you have had plenty of time to watch it. Put it on your Netflix, go rent it from your favorite video store, or just go buy it. It really is that good that you might find yourself wanting to watch it over and over again. They released an EP of music from the show a couple of months ago on Sub Pop. But the full album Flight of the Conchords just came out this week.  The album is packaged beautifully. I really appreciate when bands actually spend some time figuring out how they want the LP and CD to look. The artsy cartoonish drawings are perfect for this album, and the cartoon images of Bret and Jemaine look exactly like them. When you open up the CD they actually pop up at you, sort of like a pop up book. You also get a poster folded up in the inside of the CD. It is always nice to get a sort of unexpected surprise once you open up the album. The illustrations are by Tyler Stout and the art direction is by Jeff Kleinsmith and Dusty Summers. I seriously would not normally care to find out who did the artwork but I really am in love with the look of this album.

I have come to the realization that you may not really "get" this album unless you have seen the show, but maybe I am wrong. It is possible that millions of people will pick up the album and just appreciate the songs for what they are, or just treat it like buying a comedy album without actually ever seeing the comedian perform live. I listened to their original BBC radio series yesterday. Before the show was ever filmed they did this radio show. It is still hilarious and is done like an old radio show with a narrator. Some of the same sketches were also used in the TV show that followed.  Just in case you are still confused, the show is about two musicians from New Zealand who are in a band called Flight of the Conchords. They move to New York to try to make it in the music world. Their music is sometimes a bit folky but they cover all sorts of music from electro to hip hop. They have one crazy fan who comes to all their shows, but not very many more. They have a horrible part time manager who has no idea how to manage a band. Each episode usually contains two music videos.

WHAT IF TONY SOPRANO LIVED IN DA BAY AND NOT NJ?

Posted by Billyjam, November 9, 2007 06:20am | Post a Comment

Imagine for a moment if Tony Soprano lived not in NJ but in da Bay. This is exactly what Bay Area resident, YouTube member, and local hip-hop artist EmceeT visualized before he went out and shot and edited (directed by ZTY Media) the inspired above video clip, spoofing the intro to the popular, and sadly defunct, HBO series The Sopranos. In the "Yay" version Emcee T (aka The Chinese King of the Bay)  winds his way through various parts of the Bay Area in his whip with cigar (or blunt?) in mouth, and capturing along the way shots of such familar sights as the Bay Bridge and its toll-booth, the Caldecott tunnel, that big ole bow-and-arrow sculpture & the palm trees along the Embarcadero in San Francisco, the Martinez Oil refineries, the Showgirls Strip Club, Casino San Pablo, Oakland Port, the infamous Mac Dre mural (off Harrison Street in SF), SFPD patrol cars, Lake Merritt mural, and at the end (in true Tony Soprano style), Emcee T's own house. Click here for more of Emcee T's videos, here for his MySpace, and for general info on "the real emcee" Emcee T, visit his website.

And in case you want to compare it with the original shot in New Jersey, it's below for your viewing pleasure. By the way, the song used in the Sopranos intro is by the group A3 and is titled (not too surprisingly) "Woke Up This Morning." The full version, which is available on the Sopranos soundtrack (look for it at Amoeba Music) is a really great song with a nice slow build-up and then towards the end it goes into a rap, clocking in at about five plus minutes compared to the television show intro version which is a bit under two minutes.  

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