The Final Fronteir
Or.. Herbert Goes To The Movies.
Alone.
So a few years ago when Herbert was young and more didactic, it was stated that never, EVER, under pain of anything, would Herbert suffer what was perceived as the final, ultimate indignity of being a singular personnage - going to the movies ALONE.
As with all grand statements, time will make a fool of us all and so it was that on a rainy, cold, Monday afternoon after spurning the temporary warmth and hipness of st jeromes, I found myself buying a ticket for one to Tristram Shandy at the nova.
The day before I'd had to sit through an afternoon of my friends swapping their funniest moments from the film (it was a chestnut, boys, not a walnut) and their favourite quotes so what is one to do but get on the quote-quoteing-bandwagon and slap down some cash? One does want to be able to communicate with ones' peers afterall, no? Besides, I'd rather enjoyed 24 Hour Party People and although I'd long suspected that Steve Coogan might be a cunt I'd always assumed he'd at least be a funny one.
But no.
Not even a knowing, postmodern, direct to camera, winking-like-you're-epiletic-knowingness could completely sell this film to me. Steve Coogan is a cunt. And his cuntishness is the same as the small minded, bizarre, showbiz-specific cuntishness that has been highlighted and mocked since Billy Wilder/Robert Altman/any novelist writing about hollywood today. Just cos he has a wicked accent and a hot scottish "girlfriend" (kelly macdonald - you were so hot in Trainspotting , call me!) doesn't mean his behaviour as this Steve Coogan-Tristram-Shandy is any more interesting or endearing than anything shown on Curb Your Enthusiam or Arrested Development .
The ending, with its strange openness - as if the audience is at the bar with all the actors and actresses - is less-good than the best part of the film - the bickering between Coogan and Brydon over the end credits. This was one of the few points where I laughed out loud.
And how about seeing a film all by yourself, Herbert?
Well the fact that I'm happy to refer to myself in the third person somehow sez it all, doesn't it?
posted by Kate @ 9:05 PM
5 comments
5 Comments:
Child, you better NOT be putting down Arrested Development.
Meanwhile, it's not often you get to be with a blog from the start. Nice work Herbert.
Have you met Salad Fingers?
Salad Fingers just made me clammy in the brow; I would not like to watch it in the dark, or in an abandoned castle in the dark heart of the former Soviet Empire.
Also, good blog, Herbert.
xox nora
herbert, i came to visit after reading fits's review. that said, here we go...
i thoroughly agree with your remarks about tristram shandy. with the possible exception of your strident criticism of coogan himself [who i'm rather fond of, hence my disappointment], i feel this was a one-joke movie. one joke that wasn't even terribly funny. brydon was the saving grace. i've been irked by the slavish praise that's been heaped on it, so i'm feeling solidarity with a fellow cynic.
jolly* nice blog too, mskp.
*incongruous british reference
I'm with you, mskp. I'm a bit in love with Steve Coogan as Partridge, but I came out of Tristram Shandy feeling slightly soiled.
Hold me. And wash me (pref. g rated).
Hang on, I'm confused: are you you actually dissing Curb Your Enthusiasm and Arrested Development? Surely not?
I enjoyed Tristram Shandy and am currently enjoying watching Coogan's latest series, Saxondale.
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