tlo1221 Reviews

Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie (2012)

BIG Tim and Eric Fan. Movie? Not so much

[4/10 · 7 February 2012]

I want to start by saying I am a die hard T-n-E fan. I love Awesome Show, Tom Goes To The Mayor was damn good, I love most of their short films, and I am a huge fan of Eric's music videos. Needless to say I was looking forward to this movie for quite some time.

Now I sit here preaching to other fans who think the exact same thing. As I'm sure most fans already have seen the movie, I will gear this towards everyone. I don't know whether it was the massive hype that built me up too much, or the style of humor has been exhausted through my countless hours of watching and rewatching all that is Tim and Eric. Maybe it is the fact that a crossing of the fine line between my love for Tim and Eric and my hatred for Will Ferrell movies was inevitable. I hope its none of the above, but I know it is all of the above.

My biggest quarrel with this movie (and I know some might persecute me for this view) is the dirty humor. The brilliance of Tim and Eric lies in the not-subliminal-whatsoever absurdness that the style brings. Awesome show was just that. It was shock humor not based on the vulgarity but on the sheer surprise that a mind could conceive of the silliness. This is not new, just new in the way Tim and Eric have mastered the art. But now we bring vulgarity into it. In past shorts they have done, the vulgarity doesn't blend with the creativity well. As a matter of fact, it sort of takes it over. Shock value is great when it is done in a new, fresh, cerebral way. This movie pushed creativity to the side and rooted the shock humor in vulgar ways that just are too easy to do. To me, the movie was one big cheap laugh after the next. This stuff could be funny, even to me, but I expect that from a Will Ferrel movie or an American Pie 36: The Giant Maneating Boob, or something juvenile. The point is that Tim and Eric, who gained my trust as artists worthy of high appraisal, didn't "sell out" (I hate that term) but they damn sure got close. Towards the end of the movie, all I wanted was to watch their "Ooh Mama" sketch to feel some sort of creativity.

The next issue I had was the sheer arrogance of these guys. Look, I get it. They are famous and get lots of money to do what they do. As I see or listen to the guys outside of the entertainment, I can't help but feel like these guys are really full of themselves. The gimmicks leading up to the movie, the interviews where they act like they are above their fans. It doesn't have much to do with the movie, but it totally makes me not as psyched when I loose the feeling of "I can see myself partying with these guys".

The third issue I have is that when they had an opportunity to say something in the movie (that is, take the movie plot past the silliness and say something such as the ridiculousness of the cinema industry in Hollywood etc) they would always flirt with the idea and then never seal the deal. I often found myself hoping they would do something more to really make a bold and hilarious statement. Often, all lampooning or anything that could be applied to lives outside the movie fell flat. The plot didn't maintain the chiseled roundness I had hoped for in a feature movie. South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut (as well as Team America: World Police for that matter) is the textbook definition of making a statement and hammering it in to make the plot have value. This one did not... not even close.

Overall, I had a few laughs but not enough. I was not impressed with the carelessness of the writing and direction that past Tim and Eric projects had. As stated before, I wish they had done something more and something that is at least creative as the Tim and Eric I fell in love with. I hope this isn't me falling out of love with them.

Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! (2007–2017)

Don't Understand It? I Completely Sympathize With You

[14 November 2011]

Look, I completely sympathize with people who don't understand why this show is getting a 10/10 rating. I, along with most people, had to be ushered into this form of art. It is a form of art that most people aren't accustomed to. I want to try and make sure you, the reader, see that it is actually a very sophisticated form of art. I want others to like it because I feel understanding all forms of comedy are important and crucial to understanding what makes comedy what it is.

One thing I always tell someone who is unresponsive to T&E is to look at other forms of art that reflect similar goals. To look at Picasso and say it is not a good form of art, or look at the classical pianist Boulez and say he isn't making music is the same as saying T&E is not good comedy. There are many sophisticated, higher forms of art that have a point, but to the untrained eye, look completely bogus and not properly managed.

T&E tends to go one of two ways. One way is to make the watcher feel extremely uncomfortable. This is similar to approaches that amazing shows such as The Office, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and Louie take. These shows tend to create awkwardness by using society and it's lack of clarity in order to create a situation we cringe at the thought of being in. T&E do this, but achieve it in a very unique way. They can create awkwardness through disturbing contradictions. This can be seen in sketches such as the obviously-on-steroids bodybuilder talking about becoming a mother, or a very pregnant woman singing an attitude driven song (bub-bubs bounce if anyone is familiar). There are more, but these two skits show what awkward humor T&E are getting at. I cringe at socially awkward situations performed well in other shows, but I actually had to try a few times before making it through some of T&E's awkwardness. They do it best... in the most disturbing way possible.

The other part of their humor (and the two directions they go in are always overlapped), is based off of low budget absurdity that can be found on any small town public access shows. Public access is legally established by the government to give more expressive rights to people. T&E point out that not all the time is this as great of an idea as it sounds. Most of the time it is taken up by weird people such as Casey and his brother or Richard Dunn with any of the talk shows they have given him. Some of them are showing how absurd similar real life experiences are (see the Paynus Brothers sketch and then watch Entertainment Tonight talking with someone like the Jonas Brothers... They are saying something, not just saying "PENIS" and hoping someone laughs). The absurdities are definitely unique, and if they weren't, Nick Swardson's pretend time or all the dozens of other shows that try to approach absurd humor, would be loved by everyone. Those shows lack what T&E established: creativity. Whether you enjoy it or not, most people would agree it is something that they didn't see coming. That, to me, is the definition of creativity. A Absurd humor is difficult to become accustomed to, and much harder to create. Criticizing T&E is just like looking at a piece of artwork by many great artists and saying "It looks like they just threw paint on a canvas and called it art. I can do that!". That's fine, I did that too. It's somewhat of an acquired taste and the rest is just understanding what is good and what is not good on an almost instinctual basis. The only way to specifically demonstrate that is by analyzing it on a frame by frame basis. If any show makes me think something new, does something I don't think I could have done without a lot of hard work, and there is the ability to analyze on a frame by frame basis, I consider it a well made piece of art. T&E does just that. Like I said, I sympathize completely, but I really need to assure you that it does hold value and only on a subjective viewpoint can you learn to love it. No one I know that likes T&E "got it" from the start. If you don't get it, you can with some patience and hard thinking.