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I've been finding the show equal parts hysterically funny and quietly horrifying so far, it's been ticking the same boxes as Twin Peaks The Return in some ways.
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Jan 10, 2024 02:14
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i mean i definitely think it's a psychological horror show, but this guy has been hilarious  those pots are pricey, huh
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Jan 10, 2024 02:40
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gurragadon posted:I really like the show but I don't really think it is a comedy at all. Nathan Fielder is a comedian but this show is a drama. The cringe is drama and not funny like in Nathan For You. I guess you could call it a "back comedy" but I think thats stretching that term pretty far. wizardofloneliness posted:Well, there’s one phrase no one ever says to me, is that a banana in your pocket, because even if I could stretch my banana no one would think I was happy.
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Jan 10, 2024 03:23
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deep dish peat moss posted:I don't know about that - Good Time is a very similar style of humor and is the Safdies minus Fielder and it landed as a comedy. They both land in the same Comedy of Errors category imo I had never seen this movie before, but it was pretty good. It was super tense though and kind of raw with the violence. I didn't really find it landing as a comedy even though a few funny misfortunes did cause the plot to move forward. They kind of felt like very brief reprieves. It was too violent, and the main character was too unlikable who did to many bad things. I kind of feel the same way about the curse and why it doesn't land as a comedy minus the violence but more tense.
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Jan 10, 2024 03:53
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The Dave posted:I think the truth of it is a lot of people would have pulled out earlier if it wasn’t Fielder. The show is slow and doesn’t necessarily have big payoffs, but everyone is hanging on the idea that once the finale episode drops it will be quite the experience when looked at in whole. I was thinking last week how I would feel about this show if I had no idea who Safdie or Fielder were and had zero preconceptions and honestly I have no clue lol.
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Jan 10, 2024 04:03
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I think the most outright funny/light part of the show is the side characters and their little quirks. I don’t know how someone could watch last weeks episode with Brett and say the show isn’t funny. But really it’s like, nearly all of them. The “home buyer” couple and the awkward way they act on camera, the rich white kids stealing jeans, even little things like the gym coach eating Cherries and having a disgusting bag full of cherry pit sludge made me laugh. I don’t even know where to begin because there’s so many characters and little moments that made me laugh. And that’s not even taking ashur and Whitney into account. Or the editing and cinematography that offer their own little gags. Stuff like the penis conversations, Whitney’s awkward rear end basketball game, love in the first degree…all loving hilarious and there’s too many examples to count. Anyone that doesn’t see the humor in the show much just have a really different sense of humor than I do, because I think it’s pretty relentlessly funny. Maybe not in the same gut busting way that Nathan for You is, but I constantly just find myself thinking “oof” and giggling at it.
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Jan 10, 2024 04:05
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Not finding The Curse funny probably means you aren't required to interact much with lovely rich white liberals in your day-to-day, making it A Blessing.
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Jan 10, 2024 04:33
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goferchan posted:I was thinking last week how I would feel about this show if I had no idea who Safdie or Fielder were and had zero preconceptions and honestly I have no clue lol. That’s me. I had no idea who Safdie was and had heard of Fielder but never watched him. This show was sold to me as a supernatural show about an HGTV style couple who tries to flip a cursed house. What was delivered to me is this indescribable trainwreck that I can’t stop watching.
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Jan 10, 2024 05:01
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veni veni veni posted:I think the most outright funny/light part of the show is the side characters and their little quirks. I don’t know how someone could watch last weeks episode with Brett and say the show isn’t funny. But really it’s like, nearly all of them. The “home buyer” couple and the awkward way they act on camera, the rich white kids stealing jeans, even little things like the gym coach eating Cherries and having a disgusting bag full of cherry pit sludge made me laugh. I don’t even know where to begin because there’s so many characters and little moments that made me laugh. Yeah, it's interesting that we both like the show but see it really differently. The Brett stuff and love in the first degree were funny, but the rest of that wasn't to me. I didn't think most of it was trying to come off as funny either. The gym coach just felt more voyeuristic with the lingering shot on him. Most of the penis stuff hasn't really been funny, the first conversation was still uncomfortable for Asher and when he tries to make it funny, he is unfairly blamed for the teachers' bad jokes and insistence on talking about it. Rich kids stealing jeans just seems like a setup for the Fernando scene and was overall bland. Most of the stuff comes off as them trying to be serious and there are a few jokes because Nathan Fielder, and I think Benny Safdie after watching Good Time, uses comedy well to break some tension.
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Jan 10, 2024 05:29
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There have definitely been some moments in this show that are a little boring and self indulgent, but honestly its all come together for a final episode that I'm anticipating like crazy. All of the pieces have fallen into place to really just show an insanely dysfunctional relationship with two complicated people. I definitely think it gets better as it goes once you really start seeing how deeply flawed the two protagonists are and how much fun Dougie is to watch. I really want to see how this is going to play out because it really does seem so perfectly put together.
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Jan 10, 2024 10:36
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I think I struggled to work out the rhythms of this thing. There are some subplots that absolutely crawl, notably the entire chiropractor saga, and there are other subplots that I didn't realise were episodic and not serialised, e.g. the drama over the stove. I imagine it'll feel better on rewatch when I'm more familiar with what it's doing and where it's going. These last few episodes have been very good, though.
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Jan 10, 2024 11:22
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Yeah the chiropractic thing fizzled out after that brutal scene. It felt like he'd suffer an injury Whitney would need to confront.
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Jan 10, 2024 12:21
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veni veni veni posted:Barely a minute passes in this show without some sort of comedy gag. If you can't see humor in the absurdity of the mundane, maybe it'll be lost on you, but Fielder's sense of humor is all over practically every scene. Yeah the cynical jokes are honestly what keeps me going. I would've tapped out a while ago if not for gags like filming a fake multiracial couple watching paint dry. The show is just dripping with hatred towards a hyper specific flavor of dissembly. It's intoxicating if you're fed up with Corporate Memphis as a system of ethics.
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Jan 10, 2024 16:14
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Marx Headroom posted:I would've tapped out a while ago if not for gags like filming a fake multiracial couple watching paint dry. I've seen them described as this a couple of times, but aren't they a real couple? The situation they are in is manufactured, but he refused to go through it without his real girlfriend.
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Jan 10, 2024 16:22
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KPC_Mammon posted:I've seen them described as this a couple of times, but aren't they a real couple? The situation they are in is manufactured, but he refused to go through it without his real girlfriend. Yes, Whitney tried to pair him with the woman with the baby and he wouldn't go along with it. They are pretending his girlfriend is pregnant instead, if I remember correctly.
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Jan 10, 2024 16:49
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gurragadon posted:Yeah, it's interesting that we both like the show but see it really differently. The Brett stuff and love in the first degree were funny, but the rest of that wasn't to me. I didn't think most of it was trying to come off as funny either. Very little of the humor follows a standard set up and punchline format, is written to be quippy, or is clear parody like the "Love to the Third Degree" show. A lot of it has to do with social interaction, expectations, timing, and other stuff. If two people in unison (for whatever reason?) reading the longest land acknowledgment of all time, as part of their greenwashing show, doesn't register as a clear joke, then we just see things differently.
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Jan 10, 2024 17:51
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I mean the movie "Happiness" is considered a comedy, but I'd say that is even more off putting and non comedy than this is.
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Jan 10, 2024 18:11
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Harminoff posted:I mean the movie "Happiness" is considered a comedy, but I'd say that is even more off putting and non comedy than this is. Oh man comparing this to Happiness is a pretty perfect comparison. Just uncomfortable as hell to watch but you love it.
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Jan 10, 2024 18:31
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Breadallelogram posted:Yes, Whitney tried to pair him with the woman with the baby and he wouldn't go along with it. They are pretending his girlfriend is pregnant instead, if I remember correctly. Yeah, I was misremembering. It blurred in my head with Whitney saying something like "I wish you were actually buying our homes" A lot of things blur together for me. It's hard to tell what's real in this show sometimes.
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Jan 10, 2024 18:40
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Much like happiness, this will only end in cum.
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Jan 10, 2024 18:42
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beepo posted:Very little of the humor follows a standard set up and punchline format, is written to be quippy, or is clear parody like the "Love to the Third Degree" show. A lot of it has to do with social interaction, expectations, timing, and other stuff. If two people in unison (for whatever reason?) reading the longest land acknowledgment of all time, as part of their greenwashing show, doesn't register as a clear joke, then we just see things differently. I don't think most of that stuff is really intended to come across as funny and the few jokes that are obvious are to lighten tension, like the love in the first degree or the land acknowledgment. Just because some things are funny doesn't make it a comedy to me. Alot (most?) serious things have some comedy in it. The focus of the show isn't to be humorous and calling it a comedy is pretty misleading IMO. Personally, I'm not watching this show for humor at all, but to see how this relationship and story pans out. It's edited in a way with ominous sound to make it seem even less funny to me. Harminoff posted:I mean the movie "Happiness" is considered a comedy, but I'd say that is even more off putting and non comedy than this is. Never seen this but I'll try to check it out tonight to see how I think it compares, been some really good recs from this thread. gurragadon fucked around with this message at 19:33 on Jan 10, 2024 |
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Jan 10, 2024 19:30
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gurragadon posted:Just because some things are funny doesn't make it a comedy to me. Ehh, other people have a different view on what is a comedy. It may just be that the style doesn't work for you. If I didn't like RomComs and tried to argue that it is actually misleading to call it comedy, it might not go over well, even if I genuinely didn't find them funny. I'd say it's likely that Fielder, Safdie, and the crew laughed a lot while writing and shooting the series. Not to pry too much, but what is your read on, say, the land acknowledgment speech? What do you think their intention was for it, if not partially comedy? Why have it go so long, why have them awkwardly talk over each over, before getting the most tepid nod of approval from their symbolic friend?
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Jan 10, 2024 19:51
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The random cuts to the construction workers during the land acknowledgement loving sent me and I can't explain why
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Jan 10, 2024 20:00
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also the generic Native American pan flute that happens right on cue is just perfect.
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Jan 10, 2024 20:36
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gurragadon posted:
Oh boy, report back once you do! We are talking about the Todd Solondz movie. Crazy thing about that movie too is how the trailer portrays it to be something completely different.
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Jan 10, 2024 20:46
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beepo posted:Ehh, other people have a different view on what is a comedy. It may just be that the style doesn't work for you. If I didn't like RomComs and tried to argue that it is actually misleading to call it comedy, it might not go over well, even if I genuinely didn't find them funny. Like I said some parts are funny to break tension. The overall thrust of the show isn't comedy to me it's serious. I understand the type of comedy but if it wasn't a comedian in one of the main roles, I don't think it would be emphasized as much in conversation about the show. If I recommended this show it would be as a psychological thriller, not as a comedy. I don't think people are wrong for finding parts of the show funny or anything, comedy is subjective. I also don't think the show is worse because I don't find those small moments that some of you find humor in funny. I like the show.
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Jan 10, 2024 20:47
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Whit in episode 8 giving a "that's beautiful" every time one of the Natives said anything at all was hysterical
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Jan 10, 2024 21:10
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I take both this show and Good Time as a type of comedy that's not necessarily intended to be laughed at. In both cases it's amusing just how much the protagonists are failing at things and hoisting themselves by their own petards and digging themselves into ever-deeper holes. It's amusing in the same sense that schadenfreude is amusing, you're seeing lovely people get their comeuppance for being in over their heads and earnestly trying to do something that they're not at all emotionally or intellectually equipped to do. It's comedy in the same sense as typing "lol" at a post that amused you, as opposed to literally laughing out loud. It's kind of similar to Patriot though that leaned slightly further into literal funny-comedy - things get progressively worse and more tense for the protagonist in a comedically-escalating way despite never or rarely having "jokes", it's 'funny' in the sense that it keeps one-upping itself in just how atrocious it gets. Just when you think things can't possibly get any worse, they do, usually in an unexpected way.
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Jan 10, 2024 21:25
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the show deftly utilizes – weaponizes, even – the reputations of its creative team. a viewer familiar with the oeuvres of fielder, stone, and safdie (moreso his rep as a director, other than this show I’ve only seen him act in good time and oppenheimer and all three are very different roles), or even the type of media a24 tends to distribute, brings predispositions to the show, which are both encouraged (contrast whitney and asher’s characterizations in episode 1 vs. where we are now) and violently subverted, like with whitney’s reaction to asher standing up to fernando and asher’s love nuke at the end of the most recently aired episode. I don’t think its fair to say that without nathan’s casting this show wouldn’t be considered a comedy at all; it’s hard to imagine this show existing without nathan as one of the leads
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Jan 10, 2024 21:36
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panko posted:I don’t think its fair to say that without nathan’s casting this show wouldn’t be considered a comedy at all; it’s hard to imagine this show existing without nathan as one of the leads If Nathan was just an actor, and not involved otherwise in the show, I wouldn't be shocked if some executive would have pushed for someone more handsome or outwardly charismatic for the role (even if that misses the point). Another person could technically pull it off, but it would probably need a lot of specific direction to really nail it.
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Jan 10, 2024 21:50
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hughesta posted:Whit in episode 8 giving a "that's beautiful" every time one of the Natives said anything at all was hysterical having Dougie deploy it at the end of e9 was perfect too
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Jan 10, 2024 21:54
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“Would people still think it’s funny if Nathan wasn’t involved?” is kind of a weird hypothetical considering the show was also co-created, written, and directed by Nathan. I guess it wouldn’t be considered a comedy because it wouldn’t exist in the first place, but I’m not really sure what that proves about it.
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Jan 10, 2024 22:06
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gurragadon posted:Personally, I'm not watching this show for humor at all, but to see how this relationship and story pans out. It's edited in a way with ominous sound to make it seem even less funny to me. I don't personally find it very funny either, it is awkward dark humor with a heavy focus on the awkward and dark. I'm interested in seeing where it goes but it feels like I'm watching through my hands a lot at this point. Hey here's a question. Episode 8 (I think) opens with Dougie telling Whitney that they can't get divorced and keep the show, and she is pissed to learn this. Were we supposed to know that they were on the verge of divorce? I didn't think their relationship was particularly good before that but that just seemed out of left field.
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Jan 10, 2024 22:08
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graventy posted:Hey here's a question. Episode 8 (I think) opens with Dougie telling Whitney that they can't get divorced and keep the show, and she is pissed to learn this. Were we supposed to know that they were on the verge of divorce? I didn't think their relationship was particularly good before that but that just seemed out of left field. that's at the start of ep9, once Dougie's been visited by the HGTV producer. i think Whitney has always been skirting around the topic of divorce and whether they'll stay together; she refused to rule it out in the talking head interviews, when Dougie asked her directly. ("next question").
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Jan 10, 2024 22:51
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The question of "would you think it's funny without Nathan Fielder?" doesn't make sense to me because as much as I've enjoyed his previous work, this show is far and away the funniest thing I've ever seen him do. I also don't think I could physically handle watching it without the constant comedic beats.
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Jan 11, 2024 00:56
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Sio posted:The question of "would you think it's funny without Nathan Fielder?" doesn't make sense to me because as much as I've enjoyed his previous work, this show is far and away the funniest thing I've ever seen him do. I also don't think I could physically handle watching it without the constant comedic beats. I guess we have very different brains because to me Nathan For You is probably the funniest show ever created and The Curse is mainly a suspense drama with touches of dark humor.
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Jan 11, 2024 03:00
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fawning deference posted:I guess we have very different brains because to me Nathan For You is probably the funniest show ever created and The Curse is mainly a suspense drama with touches of dark humor. Yeah, I wouldn't consider this show a comedy despite it being quite funny. The jokes have are often quite dark, but when I think about what I'm anticipating from the finale it's the dramatic tension and not comedic tension that I'm looking forward to.
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Jan 11, 2024 03:08
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Harminoff posted:Oh boy, report back once you do! We are talking about the Todd Solondz movie. Went into that one blind and I had never heard of the director before. Quite the subject matter. The trailer is excellent too, makes the thing look like a romantic comedy or buddy film. They do sneak in some pretty messed up lines though. Happiness makes me think more comedy than The Curse because there editing to make it funny with the camera and music which is super upbeat, whereas The Curse does the opposite. Twigand Berries posted:Much like happiness, this will only end in cum. The final shot was good but didn't quite live up to the continuous shot at the end of Pink Flamingo's. graventy posted:I don't personally find it very funny either, it is awkward dark humor with a heavy focus on the awkward and dark. I'm interested in seeing where it goes but it feels like I'm watching through my hands a lot at this point. I think Whitney had convinced herself over the filming and watching the edited shows that she wanted a divorce. The potter cut was pretty rough on Asher. I think it also hurt her ego some because she can't just be the Green Queen without her Jester, she needs "someone" there, but she's stuck with Asher who she has grown to dislike.
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Jan 11, 2024 04:13
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I think I have very broad definition of things I'd consider a comedy. At some point if it gets absurd enough it just transforms into one. For example in my book both "You" and "Reacher" are comedy shows.
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Jan 11, 2024 12:07
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Alan Ritchson is definitely a fantastic comedic actor, dude is hilarious
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Jan 11, 2024 13:04
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