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Harry @ CINEVEGAS - I am totally IN THE LOOP!!!
Hey folks, Harry here... up on the 52nd Floor in a super suite at the PALMS casino. I'm here in Las Vegas to not gamble, not pay for fornication, but to attend CINEVEGAS. Some of you readers may remember a few years back when I was a juror at this festival, a series of reports on a number of outstanding films, my personal favorite being SEXO Y LUCIA. Well, I'm back this year and leapt out of a crazy huge bed with an enormous picture window of the entire strip at the foot of the bed. It's weird that the shower has an enormous window - full length looking out at Vegas and the mountains... but even though this "suite" is larger than my actual house - the thing that has me most excited at the moment is the film I just saw...
IN THE LOOP.
The film played at Sundance earlier this year and will be having a LIMITED release in late July from IFC films.
If this film opens anywhere near you... and if you love brilliant BBC Witty Comedy, this is right up your alley. With a cast of folks like Tom Hollander, Peter Capaldi, Gina McKee, James Gandolfini, Chris Addison, Anna Chlumsky and other wonderful character actors - this film is very much a story that you could imagine becoming a fantastic series on the BBC. It is essentially structured like an international politically charged version of THE OFFICE.
The dialogue is lightning quick. In fact, if I were the folks at HBO - I'd leap after this team immediately to reconceive this as an ongoing series. I would literally tune in every fucking week, because at least in this FEATURE version... it is magic.
I say HBO, because the language is amongst the most skillful and creative use of vulgarity that I've seen in a sustained storyline that also managed to be SMART whilst being crude. I want to see it a few times just so I can ABSORB some of these phrases. In particular, Peter Capaldi's character is masterful at dressing down everyone. It's absolutely stunning, hilarious and shocking how funny he is.
The basic story is about how a British Minister gets drawn into a larger scenario of a build up for war that comes from his mouth's fascinating ability to create catch phrases that seem to support to idea that we are helpless in the face of War, which none of us can anticipate or forsee. And still later he's quoted as "climbing the mountain of conflict" - which becomes a "bumper sticker" for the Hawks on Capital Hill.
The film takes place in London, Washington DC and New York - as the "War" moves from rumor to meetings to committees to the UN.
Chris Addison is brought in to help his clueless Minister to navigate the future situation, but he seems to kind of fly by the seat of his pants.
This film moves at a lightning pace and is the smartest comedy that I've yet seen in 2009.
That's the first film I've caught here, but like I said - look for the film as it gets a limited release in the US beginning in late July. You British readers have already seen the release in April of this year. Look for it, it isn't to be missed!
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trailer was pretty decent considering the lack of bad language
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Marcus Nispel to direct Conan
Read it here,then read it later when AICN can be arsed to do a proper story! -
of the BBC series "The Thick of it"
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There's a SERIES?!?!?!? Is it on DVD?
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Not sure about the US though.
Also, the man behind it, Armando Iannucci, says there will be a new series, though who will feature in the cast is open to question.
Also, if you can get hold of The Armando Iannucci Shows, you just have to see them, tis a forgotten gem that's absolutely superb stuff. -
asked Del Toro if Andy Serkis is back, which prompted Guillermo to confirm a nice little trio of casting locks:
"Yes [and] Ian McKellen is back, [and] Hugo Weaving in the roles they originated in the trilogy."
Beyond The Hobbit, Guillermo discussed the possibility of him directing a fourth Blade film - no, because Wesley Snipes and New Line are no longer “on legal speaking terms”; of a third Hellboy, which sadly seems unlikely as Ron Perlman has said he no longer wants to wear the prosthetics, so Guillermo “guesses” it will never happen; and of a feature film of The Strain, which won’t happen as he believes it would require six feature films, so he instead suggests a comic book or TV series, which would have Ron Perlman as the rat catcher Vasily Fet. -
for "The Thick Of It", which has more info on the series, plus a possible US remake too.
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The Thick Of It has a dvd of the whole series and another dvd of the much funnier specials:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_w_h_?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=the+thick+of+it&x=7&y=14 -
It got rave reviews over here when it first came out but I never watched it, now it'll be forever tarnished because one of the stars Chris Langham was charged with downloading kiddie porn, funnily enough I never watched it because he was in it, I just didn't find him funny at the time.
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Kinda like motherfuckin' COUNT DUCKULA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Jun 11, 2009 7:45:05 PM CDT
might have to pick up that series before the spinoff comes out
by turd furgeson
thanks for the heads up all. nice review harry...
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Within three posts you have two people posting news AICN isn't bothering to cover and Harrry being shown to be totally clueless about some fuck-knows-what movie he was creaming over. Nice. Good to know you sold your soul and drive to run a decent site for s suite at the palms. I assumed you did it for a hershey bar.
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FYI.
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Go see a Chris Angel and Carrottop aka the "double douchebag" show at the Luxor. Get drunk at Hooters and Excalibur. Pick up some Midwestern slatterns.
Yup good times. -
God, I hate myself. Goodnight.
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We want to see what YOU see on a daily basis Knowles!
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Yeah, right.
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I feel bad for the poor soul who accidentally takes a glimpse up into that shower window.
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Everyone here thinks they're the second coming of Don Rickles.
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Thanks for making your way back and showing some love to Cinevegas! Saw you tonight at the "The Square" screening. Review on the way?
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does contain some of the best shouty swearing ever committed to TV.
Other: I'm sorry, could you stop swearing, please?
Malcolm Tucker: I'm really sorry, you won't hear any more swearing from us, YOU MASSIVE GAY SHITE! Fuck off!
"That is not fucking funny, you retard!"
"Come the fuck in or fuck the fuck off"
"How much fucking shit is there on the menu and what fucking flavor is it?"
"it's everywhere, spreading faster than a rent-boy's cheeks"
"You, Julius Nicholson, being of a sound mind, with a body that looks like a giant sex toy, did knowingly do us up the shithole by passing confidential information to the enemy! And I am gonna have your guts as a skipping rope, then rip yor lungs out, sun-dry them and wear them as a waist-coat" -
Enjoy. Just search "The Thick Of It"...
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The thick of it is great but not as much swearing (and if you seen the film you will know that there is an art to good swearing)
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sorry just had to
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You take the piss out of Al Jolson again and I will remove your iPod from its tiny nano-sheath and push it up your cock. Then I'll put some speakers up your arse and put it on to shuffle with my fucking fist. Then, every time I hear something that I don't like - which will be every time that something comes on - I will skip to the next track by crushing your balls.
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or fuck the fuck off!
I love the glass windows, the one stop bollock shop where you can watch bollockvision, and Julius's helicopter thinking. What a fucking brilliant show, and losing Langham didn't hurt the show one bit. -
Thanks Harry for bringing this to peoples attention - the film is great; the series is better, although outside the UK it'd probably sink faster than an 80s ferry... Armando Ianucci is in talks with HBO to produce a US version following an apparently dreadful stab at it by Christopher Guest... "About as funny as a blind toddler in a minefield"... new series starts on the BBC later this year, too...
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As per the norm Harry, your indulging in giving us endless exposition about the size of your suite, etc and telling us about stuff that no one gives a shit about, as evidenced by the 20 or so posts on this thread. Come back down to earth now Harry............
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rightly put it. Harry isn't leaping out of anything. Rolled out of bed. Slid out of bed. Oozed out of bed, maybe. But leapt out of bed...no way. Not even if it was on fire. As for the review, it makes me want to check the movie out. And thanks for the info about the series, fellow talkbackers. Very helpful as always. Well, maybe not always, but certainly in this case.
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basically told him to fuck off. As awesome as he is, I couldn't see Guest making a good go of this. I'd love to see his pilot, though.
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"strained to roll over and out of the bed." Or maybe just simply "struggled out of the bed."
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Is much funnier than the movie. The greatest British (and I say this as a Brit) comedy since Peep Show
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... was fucking awesome. Played the second best character (after Malcom Tucker, obviously). It's just a shame he turned out to be a peadophile. He's officially my favorite peadophile in the world.
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Jun 12, 2009 10:58:46 PM CDT
Thanks Harry! Been wanting coverage of this on AICN...TTOI is po
by the wrong guy
Lord knows it deserves it.
Also, The Thick of It is possibly my favourite British sitcom ever.
It takes an episode or two to get into the swing of things though. The second halves of every episode are always much funnier than the first...which is as it should be, really, but it's so, so good. Trust me.
No one on here is remotely coming close to conveying the utter genius of the show.
If you're not cacking yourself by the end of the first episode...(especially after heaving praise on ITL)than something's gone awry.
Armando Iannucci is a comedy legend of far, far, far more versatility, talent and integrity than that one-trick-pony Ricky Gervais. -
With this big baldy head you are really spoiling us...
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..is and was rooted in his own experienced of being abused as a child and was limited to loooking at images from the internet, one of which, he swore under oath, was himself. It's horrific and he has spoken about it at length and is in therapy for unresolved issues. It would be terribly sad for someone who has been one of Britain's greatest and most undervalued comic writers to be completely destroyed by this.
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I don't really know much about the case so I won't comment - I was being a bit flippant before. But I do know that the tabloid press and the "Great British Public" are extremly quick to judge where anything to do with peadophillia is concerned. As for Langham's career, I think the taint of anything to do with peadophillia is too strong to brush off - most of the public don't really care about the details of cases like this: details are boring and don't make headlines.
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I don't know how long you continue to read these things after after you've posted them, but if you can see this, you need to promote this film!
Not only because it's gonna be great (I already know that, as a fan of Armando Ianucci), or that it's gonna have a limited release, BUT because a lot of the guys on this TB are fans. The rest are saying stuff like you're wasting your time on films like this instead of focusing on important movies.
They don't know what they're missing out on! Can you stick a trailer or something on here? Anything! Just something to get it out there & show people what it is. Maybe then they might get it. -
This TB is far too small for a film that's probably a lot better than a lot of films with massive talkbacks. They need a trailer or something.
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look http://tinyurl.com/kktw3a
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look http://tinyurl.com/kktw3a
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look http://tinyurl.com/kktw3a
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..and I find you GUILTY of the FOUL CRIME of PAEDOPHILIA, by the power vested in ME by some bloke in the pub wot knew it for certain, by hysterical tabloid newspapers and maudlin breakdowns on daytime television chatshows, I CONDEMN YOU TO DEATH!!!
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Ladies and Gents to listen to the best podcast around download Jobless Film Reviews from the site below:
http://tinyurl.com/l44edq
Listen to a British guy and a Candian, (without jobs) discuss all things filmic..
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...I can't believe that you haven't heard of The Thick of It. Easily the best british comedy programme in the last 5 years (and the specials are even better). Good news is there's another series on the way this year.
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"kiss my sweaty balls you fat fuck."
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Monkey Dust!!! Talk about an under-seen, underrated classic."By the power vested in me by mawkish ITV documentaries presented by Martin Bashir, I now pronounce you...... a paedophile."NSFW
http://tinyurl.com/nmx6h6 -
..is a fucking disgrace. The US knocks out Simpsons, South Park, Family Guy, Futurama, Christ knows how many more - and the UK has "Monkey Dust". The very fucking name reeks of Nathan Barley esque fuckheads who giggle like little girls at the mention of a "paedo", and inexplicably think all words connected to monkeys or apes are somehow “cool”. The program itself was one of the most inept, humourless half hours ever to disgrace British TV. It's the product of witless TV execs not realising that even though it's animated, it STILL NEEDS TO BE FUNNY. A cartoon character swearing isn't in itself funny. This is a shit program made for and by infantile media handjobs - if it were a live action sketch show, it’d be the worst one ever made. This fucking program put a bullet in the UK animation industry, which seems to be content now with just creating crappy flash banner ads for websites, depressingly shit station IDs for digital channels, or fucking computer games. There’s no reason why Britain couldn’t produce a decent animated comedy, other than the majority of good animators can’t get jobs in animation, instead losing their place to some 22 year old haircut who can’t animate for shit, but who walks round with his arse hanging out of his jeans and got the job because their uncle pulled some strings. That and the fact that an animated comedy series is probably seen as too much work, and “comedy writers” in the UK seem content to churn out sub-witless sitcom dreck like “Two Pints Of Lager”. The people that commission things in the UK are fucking idiots. There hasn’t been a decent British cartoon on TV since Dangermouse.
Sorry to Gotilk, nothing personal, but I FUCKING HATE THAT PROGRAM
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But please, don't hold back. ;)
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Harry Thompson. Earlier in his career Thompson produced the radio comedy programmes The News Quiz and The Mary Whitehouse Experience. Following his success in the TV format he went on to produce Newman and Baddiel in Pieces, Harry Enfield and Chums and Monkey Dust, and co-produce Never Mind The Buzzcocks. In 1998 he was part of BBC Radio 4's 5-part political satire programme Cartoons, Lampoons, and Buffoons.[1]
He was best known for producing the BBC panel shows Have I Got News For You and They Think It's All Over, producing the latter for the first eight years of its run.
He was instrumental in the creation of the comic character Ali G for The 11 O'Clock Show, and as a comedy writer his credits included Da Ali G Show.
During these productions he was able to gain exposure for a very large proportion of those who went on to become prominent figures in contemporary British comedy, including: Sacha Baron Cohen, Angus Deayton, Harry Enfield, Ricky Gervais, Nick Hancock, Ian Hislop, Mark Lamarr, Paul Merton and Paul Whitehouse.
In 2003, The Observer listed him as one of the 50 funniest or most influential people in British comedy. In December 2005 he was to have received the Jury's Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Comedy at the British Comedy Awards.
His last broadcast work was the Channel 5 sitcom Respectable, set in a suburban brothel. -
That's why Monkey Dust vanished.
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Jul 08, 2009 2:12:29 PM CDT
Have you LOOKED at the animation quality of Dangermouse lately?
by sepulchrave
It's SHITE. Animation costs a FORTUNE. The only reason that the US turns out so much qulity TV animation is that it's all made by massive studios like FOC and farmed out in Korea.
Personally, I thought a lot of Monkey Dust was hot and miss, but then, blasphemy, a lot of most comedy is terrible. Whole episodes of Monty Python were dreadful. MD was at least an attempteed subversion of a Raymond Brigg's vision of the UK, disgigured bt celebrity culture, urban decay, family breakdown, pedo-paranoia and media spin. It deserved better than to be called witless.
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