Posts by Danielle
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DXM is the drug of choice in the US southern hip-hop scene.
Tussin'!
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Or constantly angry? :)
Oh Sacha, we already know that's a given. :)
Sincerely,
Shrewy McGee -
Are you implying that I'm constantly drunk, Craig? :)
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Well, Freaks and Geeks was also Paul Feig's baby. Sam's character was semi-autobiographical, I think: Feig even had a 'Parisian Night Suit' like Sam. Oh, and he eventually became a disco dancer like Nick, as I recall.
Maybe I just give the Apatow crew too much of a pass because I really love dorky foul-mouthed stoners, but I find it a little hard to rustle up feminist indignation about those films. I really liked Catherine Keener's character in The 40 Year Old Virgin - the fact that she was trying to mature Steve Carell beyond that teen-boy-stasis meant that she sort of *had* to be 'mommy-enabling' in some ways. But she had a real life and a quirky job and kids - she wasn't just a cardboard cutout. And the 'objects of affection' in Superbad weren't just ornamental either, which for a teen comedy is fairly unusual.
I suppose Knocked Up is the 'problem film' in this regard. I might have to watch it again, but I felt like the 'castrating bitch' thing in Leslie Mann's case was a fairly clear offshoot of Paul Rudd's character refusing to accept where he was - refusing to mature, if you like. Her shrillness didn't exist in a vacuum the way it does in many other mainstream films. Plus they sort of 'had to' have a problematic marriage, plotwise, so Rogen and Heigl could realise what they *didn't* want to happen to them.
Also: yeah, the guys lack maturity. But that's Apatow's 'thing' - I mean, if you read any interviews with him about his personal life, it's fairly clear that 'becoming an adult with a wife and kids' was one of the most freaky things he'd ever experienced. He doesn't seem to have got over it yet!
(Also, I just saw Pineapple Express: James Franco may be The Best Stoner Character in a Film Ever. He and Spicoli could have a stoner-off, maybe.)
Nick's cringeworthy performances of Lady L
Oh man. I am *so* going to watch the whole series again this summer. :)
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the whole thing seems to illustrate some kind of inverse proportion between the quality/intellectuality of a show and the number of seasons it lasts
Freaks and Geeks Freaks and Geeks Freaks and Geeks. 18 glorious episodes, cancelled unceremoniously after one season. I couldn't have loved that show any more if you'd wrapped it in bacon and served it with a side of strawberry daiquiris.
(I am still crushed that I will never see Haverchuck become a jock, or Lindsay as a proper Deadhead, or any of the gang become all New Wave. CRUSHED.)
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Must find Robot Monster!
While you're looking for it, have a search for The Creeping Terror, which is equally delightful. A giant piece of carpet wiggles slowly and completely unmenacingly towards its hapless victims, who basically have to leap into it of their own free will in order to fulfill the 'terror' part of the plot.
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The pod people aren't a clearly visible "other" at all
Oh, but that's all part of the same anxiety Craig! You won't even *know* the commie agents until they take you over and brainwash you! But of course the film also plays into that grey flannel suit anxiety too - you're all the same, you're part of a machine, you're not an individual any more... which is also a fear of collectivism, in a way. It all comes back to the dirty, dirty commies. :)
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I recently watched The Incredible Shrinking Man from 1957.
During my long-abandoned US PhD study, I did a class called 'Nuclear Film'. It was amazing how many of those scifi classics reflected apocalyptic Cold War anxieties. If it wasn't 'OMG Teh Commies Will Brainwash You' (__Invasion of the Body Snatchers__), it was 'OMG Teh Radiation Will Mutate Things and We Will All Die' (__Them!__). Sometimes a combination of the two.
(It's really weird to have femme fatale stuff likened to nuclear bombs, too. The bikini is a totally crazy name for a bathing suit, when you think about it.)
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Send him my way. I can endlessly talk American sports.
What with the American sports and the Rock Band thing, I think you guys could have a delightful bromance...
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'E Ipo'
It also has a spoken word interlude, which I believe qualifies it for 'O for Awesome' status. (In our household, songs are considered to be officially awesome if they have spoken word interludes, handclaps, or the lyrics mention days of the week.)
What happens if you're a fan of both baseball and cricket? Do you carry a white flannel... catcher's mitt or something?