quark42 Reviews

Mr. Show with Bob and David: Like Chickens... Delicious Chickens (1998) Season 4, Episode 8

Y'all got fake poo?

[16 April 2006]

Another triumph from Mr. Show with Bob and David. This episode features some of the best of the series' parodies.

Political ads are nasty and somewhat amusing. Any sketch show could make a funny scene of two candidates at one another's throats. Mr. Show takes it a step further -- they're not actually running for office.

The well-bugged drug deal is disliked by its writers and stars, but I thought it was great in all its silliness. I even liked Bob as the "plane crash survivor," in a sketch which divides the cast over what level of silliness should not be crossed.

This episode stands out as another highlight of a stellar season.

Mr. Show with Bob and David: Who Let You In? (1995) Season 1, Episode 4

Put your poo box away

[16 April 2006]

This is the episode that introduced me to Mr. Show, and it is one of the greatest.

In this show you get all the python-style sketch linking, satire to the Nth degree, and the innocence of a low-budget comedy series scraping by.

Jack Black is an "expert witness" desperate for a job. Tom Kenny is Abraham Lincoln with a New York accent. David is "classic" as a terminally ill kid who becomes the "greatest" guitar player ever. Bob is the Pope -- if the ring don't fit...

The yardstick of sketch shows is if you can watch them again and again, and still find something funny about them. This is one of those shows.

Mr. Show with Bob and David: Heaven's Chimney (1997) Season 3, Episode 1

Teera da loo!

[16 April 2006]

A fine start to a fine season. Bob shows up as a recently upgraded video image spirit with his loyal follower, TV's "David." What follows are send-ups of religion, sex, thrill rides, instructional videos, and the Trinity Broadcasting Network.

Who is really there to meet us on the Other Side? Would you watch your friends have sex on behalf of their fertility? Why do people ride a roller coaster that means certain death? Is sharing bad news with the driver of a car such a good idea? What is the size limit on TV preacher hair?

These questions will probably be unanswered by the time the episode is over, but you should be both offended and amused by then. Teera da loo, indeed.

Constantine (2005)

Ultramodern yet stylish

[9/10 · 11 July 2005]

Constantine is the greatest dark thriller to be released in the last two or three years. This movie had all the action and intrigue as your average carbon-copy CG-intensive production, but its cinematography and pacing gave it the overall feel of a Wachowski, John Woo, Ridley Scott, or even David Fincher film.

Movies based on comic books have a wide range of potential. The still-life panel dialogs can either lend themselves to two-dimensionality or conceptual brilliance, depending how they are directed. Constantine is at the high-concept end of the spectrum, with well-conceived, well-composed, and well-edited scenes that ultimately make no judgment about the true nature of the afterlife.

Despite the Keanu stigma, which has been essentially obsolete since Point Break, every actor in this film delivered a first-class performance. The writing didn't come from Shakespeare, but neither did the script from Star Wars. The actors obviously believed in what they were delivering, which encourages the audiences to do the same. The casting could not have been better, down to the selections of "Gabriel" and "Satan." Everyone and everything contributed to the dark and foreign atmosphere that this picture delivered.

There are two camps of people who have seen Constantine -- those who loved it, and those who hated it. This fact alone should be justification for checking it out. Those interested in cinematography will get an eyeful.

The Guilt (1996– )

Off the cuff and off the air.

[27 November 2003]

I noticed nobody'd reviewed this show, so this is about the best summary I can come up with:

This show ran from 1996 into some time in 1997 as I recall. George Hamilton (or maybe it was a reasonable facsimilie) was the boss of some corporation. The usual plotting, scheming, and whining that accompany soap operas went on in abundance.

One thing differentiated this show from everything else on TV: either the whole show was done improvisationally, or NONE of the actors ever studied their scripts. This led to rambling, stumbling, even swearing -- the kind not normally allowed on network TV.

This show did for soap operas what the Blair Witch Project did for the price of tea in China. It sucked, but at least nobody noticed.