So I found and watched this movie a long time ago (Wow, 8 years?) and I loved it. It spoke to my inner 13 year old and the absurd potty humor this movie promotes. Being a big fan of hilarious overdubbing in films, who wouldn’t like a spoofed 70’s Kung Fu film about something absurd like battling a bad guy in league with aliens? It’s the perfect twist to an already absurd movie. Steve Oedekerk brings another funny movie to light that didn’t get the recognition it deserved. Time to give it a little now.
So the Chosen One (Steve Oedekerk) was attacked as a 3-D animated child and barely survived by rolling down a hill. His
I need gopher-chucks!
nemesis Master Pain (Leo Lee/Fei Lung) killed his family with his claws of doom and intended to kill him, but the Chosen One escaped with his skills of peeing in other people’s faces. Growing up on the ways of Kung Fu, the Chosen One grows to punch people into oblivion and use gopher-chucks. With these skills in hand, the Chosen One happens upon Master Tang (Hui Lou Chen) and begins his path in destroying Betty, his newly named nemesis and all those who fight for his cause of evil.
Steve Oedekerk brings a new kind of film (okay, 9 years old) to the mix of what is/was a growing industry of spoof movies. This unknown archived film, Tiger and Crane Fist (aka Savage Killers), was completely dubbed, to a hilarious degree. Placing himself in the film, Oedekerk interacts with the characters of the past and creates hilarious situations out of nothing. Not an easy feat, every scene has some hilarious little twist. I mean, come on, Ling (Ling-ling Hsieh) with the Wee-Ooo Wee-Ooo noise? Miss Piggy is always funny. And Wimp Lo (Chia Yung Liu) with his squeaky clown shoes and lack of fighting skill? Perfect.
Ahh the cow battle. Absurdity at its finest.
With the combo of other fighting spoof scenes (Matrix cow fight) and characters with only one chesticle, there’s nothing wrong with this movie. With only a few long drawn out jokes, this movie performs on the level of an American version of Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Not saying they completely equate, but they have the same feel. The lip dubbing is hilarious (not a lip-flap match) but funny nonetheless. With the guys training like pros in the yard, their fighting chants ring out with the sounds of genius. It’s a great little movie for those who are younger with elements for those who are older. Steve Oedekerk has done good things in the past (including the Thumb Wars series and various other spoof films) including a bunch of writing for decently funny cartoons like Jimmy Neutron and Back at the Barnyard, this is a good example of something that was entirely Oedekerk’s project. The only thing that rivals this would be all the work that Oedekerk did on Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls. Now that’s gold. So I would give this movie a dec rating. 6.7 out of 10.
Let me first start off by saying that this show isn’t for everyone. If you don’t find dark, off the wall, probably funny if you were high or on large doses of acid, absurd humor funny without the addition of narcotics, this show is probably not for you. After I had spent time ritually watching Tom Goes to the Mayor (This is a blueprint stop motion animated short show in which Tom/Tim Heidecker goes to the Mayor/Eric Wareheim.) I found out about this show. I had only seen one segment prior, and my friends at school would laugh about the new episodes every Friday in school. But yes, my first and only image of Tim and Eric Awesome Show Great Job! was Chippy, the baby with a mustache that screams when spotted. I knew I had to check out this entire show.
And so I did. 5 nights, 5 seasons. Series 1 through Cinco. There was many a time I was frightened, and many a time I pooped my pants in laughter. My roommate Ian and I (he’s my movie/T.V. show buddy, we watch everything together) spent a week straight laughing for the hour and 40 minutes that was Tim and Eric. Frankly, this show has great actors, great characters, and great, absurd humor. I greatly applaud Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim for their work.
Great Job!, Tim and Eric
Every season consists of 10 episodes that are 10 minutes each. Eric and Tim play themselves, they play stock characters, they bust out the outrageous character or two. There’s really not anything to ruin as far as spoilers go in this show. Nobody dies (or stays dead for long) not really any continuous plot from episode to episode. It’s all about the absurdity and low quality/college campus acting and effects.
Best stock characters. Yes. We have James Quall, the horrific, dull, doll-like impressionist who loves Cosby and spaghetti and meatballs. David Leibe Hart, the man picked right off the streets for his work with ventriloquism assisted by the most frightening dummies known to man. Richard Dunn, the cantankerous old man who is always on the verge of kicking the bucket. Pierre (Ron Austar), the dad obsessed funk dancer who loves meat, but not
There's my Chippy
when it’s spoiled. And of course Chippy, the hirsute baby with the greatest scream on the face of the planet.
And it’s not just these drifters off the street that make up the show. We also have character/T.V. show/movie actors and other celebrities that make special appearances based on the episode. Of course there’s Dr. Steve Brule (John C. Reilly) with
For Your Health!
Brule’s rules and the varying segment where he drinks some wine or makes a panini. Tairy Greene (Zach Galifianakis. I feel like this is what made him popular.) the actor/director who shouts at children and dances as he flies through the air. Will Grello (Will Forte), the man who is haunted by his childhood and occasionally lets us into his brain to view his nightmares. Also of notable interest, David Cross who shows up as a pizza boy in a porno, a celeb exec, and a crazed old man who attaches paintbrushes to cats. There’s Josh Groban, singing the best of Casey Tatum and his brother, Marilyn Manson without makeup as the dark man, Rainn Wilson, always as some creepy character, and Paul Rudd, dancing it out on his computer to himself. There’s also a little scene you may discover interesting when Tim and Eric battle in tennis and they have stunt doubles. Check it out for yourself.
And if that doesn’t catch your interest with that laundry list of great actors and celebrities, there are the stock characters that Tim and Eric perform. There’s Jan and Wayne Skylar, Channel 5’s best married news team, although they don’t show up as much as I’d like them to. (Tim Heidecker always plays really good soccer mom looking women and such.)
Ah Spagett!!!
Spagett, one of the greatest characters that Tim portrays, a balding, pony-tailed man who jumps out and spooks people with a “Spagett!” The Beaver Boys who can’t resist a good shrimp and white wine. Casey Tatum and his brother, always performing on Uncle Muscles’s (Weird Al Yankovic) Hour. This is consistently my favorite sketch and it’s great when they literally have Josh Groban on to do his own renditions of Casey’s songs. And I could go on. Every sketch is great along with every episode. The only part I would recommend skipping is the Women’s Afternoon Review.” Those sections disturb me, and I don’t mind 99% of the things I see on T.V. and movies.
What more is there to say about Tim and Eric. They take things far beyond any other show I’ve ever witnessed. (Man milk, puberty, eating their own boogers, etc…) They practice their scenes, I’m sure, to such a great degree that every action and gesture is done is such a way that it’s absurd, awkward, too long, and yet hilarious nonetheless. Their humor destroys. The have good guest stars. The premises of their episodes make no sense. And I would consider this among the top 10 funniest shows that have ever been on television. 9.7 out of 10. Check it out. Great Job!
Ice floe, nowhere to go! Ice floe nowhere to go! I don’t think I stopped saying this for a week straight after the first time I watched the Tundra episode of The Mighty Boosh. This show is ridiculous… ly awesome. Every episode redefines humor and every plot outdoes itself in comparison to the last. If I had to choose my favorite British television show, of those I’ve seen, my favorite would still be The Might Boosh hands down. I do love Little Britain, The I.T. Crowd, and of course Monty Python’s Flying Circus. But these all pale in comparison to the genius that is Boosh.
Each season takes place in three very distinctly different locations that use those locations to the fullest. The first season starts off as Noel Fielding and Julian Barratt’s original creations, Vince Noir and Howard Moon, two zookeepers of the Zooniverse. It was with the success of this season that the other two came into being. The second series takes place in Naboo (Michael Fielding) the Enigma’s flat, and the third series not far from there in Naboo’s boutique, eloquently named Nabootique. Using the Zooniverse as a location, a lot of the episodes focus mainly on the use of animals and adventures that are so outlandish, I laughed heartily to every one.
Howard, Vince, Bollo, Naboo, and Fossil
As far as the first season goes, Howard has to rain the pain down on a kangaroo like a monsoon. This series blows up to hilarious proportions even from just the very first episode. My personal favorite episode form the first series is the Bollo episode in which Howard is taken to monkey hell instead of Bollo by accident. In this episode, Julian plays one of two hilarious characters that he plays, the first being the mirror world protector complete with mirror balls, and Sandstorm, the sexually frustrated man of sandpaper. It’s not to say I’m giving anything away by revealing characters, each episode in itself seems to have nothing to do with any of the others.
The Jungle episode of the first season introduces one of Rich Fulcher’s (Bob Fossil, later Lester Corncrake) best characters, Tommy Nookah, the man made of cheese. Suffice it so say that although Rich Fulcher is the American man in an all British show, he has some of the most outrageous lines and characters. My roommate loves the hilarious jazz man Lester Corncrake, the most absurdly ridiculous comment on a Southern, American, old, blind, black man. It’s great. Rich’s most notable character, Bob Fossil, runs the Zooniverse underneath one of the funniest comedic British actors to ever grace the T.V., Matt Berry, A.K.A. Dixon Bainbridge. Originally meant to be played by Richard Ayoade, Richard is not left out and comes back in seasons 2 and 3 as a ridiculously awesome shaman, Saboo.
The second season kicks in with the guys, Howard, Vince, Naboo, and Bollo, all crashing at Naboo’s flat in Dalston. We have the Nanageddon episode, hilarious with a great song towards the end, great lines from Howard too. The Fountain of Youth episode reintroduces the cockney character of Noel, the most hilarious and outlandish character of the entire show, my personal favorite. But what the shows most famous for and what became a Youtube phenom was the Old Gregg character played by Noel in the second season. If you’re really interested in the show and want to see some of it, definitely check this Youtube clip out.
The third series, although apparently toned down, is no less amazing. We get a lot of the Board of Shamans along with a new batch of ridiculous characters that find their way to the Nabootique. (Along with Lester Corncrake.) There’s a great tribute to a movie I can’t recall, but it has to do something with shrinking down a human in a sub and injecting them into somebody else to cure them from some sort of disease. The great part about this is the ridiculous twist they put on it and how Noel plays all parts of himself. The show ends on a quite uneventful note with the stage performances of Howard and Vince, both respectively as a lead singer for a new mod band and for a avant garde director. I would’ve rather had the show end with the crimping episode, one of my favorite features of the show, but I guess they still had more ideas coming.
At this point, I feel as I’ve I’m rambling, talking up a show that most people will mistake as the rambling of idiots. But there’s more to the show of that. I feel like yes, it may have the distinct kind of humor most people will shake/scratch their heads at. It isn’t conventional. It’s absolutely absurd. And there’s a growing population of people out there who love it. I’d have to say that most people should give this show a chance. At least one episode. It’s well worth it. Definitely a 10 out of 10.
Here’s that scene from the Old Gregg episode I was talking about. Enjoy. Just like Bailey’s from a shoe. Creamy beige.
So I found and watched this movie a long time ago (Wow, 8 years?) and I loved it. It spoke to my inner 13 year old and the absurd potty humor this movie promotes. Being a big fan of hilarious overdubbing in films, who wouldn’t like a spoofed 70’s Kung Fu film about something absurd like battling a bad guy in league with aliens? It’s the perfect twist to an already absurd movie. Steve Oedekerk brings another funny movie to light that didn’t get the recognition it deserved. Time to give it a little now.
reviewsfromtheabyss 