There’s a review up of the new Michel Gondry movie on Ain’t It Cool News. I’m pretty curious to see what Gondry does without a Kaufman script, and from the review it sounds like this film is going to be more along the lines of his music video work.

Here’s a clip from the film:

Here are the rest of the “Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace” episodes: 3, 4, 5, and 6.

I also found this great music video from the last episode. Again, do yourself a favor and check this show out.

And here are the first two episodes on Google Video if you want to just view it through that:

Yesterday Jordan showed me something that completely blew my mind. It was a TV show called “Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace.” I watched 5 episodes and it’s now one of my favorites. I haven’t laughed that much since “Arrested Development.”

So here’s the premise of the show from Wikipedia:

“Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace is a cult comedy series made for Channel 4. Created by Matthew Holness and Richard Ayoade, it is a parody of the horror genre and revolves around the character of Garth Marenghi himself, a writer of pulp fiction played by Matthew Holness.

The series’ premise is that in the mid-1980s, Garth Marenghi and his publisher Dean Learner made their own TV series on a shoestring budget. Set in Darkplace Hospital in Romford, Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace tells of the adventures of Dr. Rick Dagless, MD, as he fights the forces of darkness while simultaneously coping with the pressures of running a modern hospital. In spite of the programme’s obvious flaws — wooden acting, cringeworthy scripts and amazingly poor special effects, to name but three — both Marenghi and Learner still regard the series as a masterpiece. But nobody else does, which is why it’s taken nearly 20 years to reach the screen.”

I found two good clips of it on youtube. Here are the opening credits:

and here’s a great “bike chase”

I uploaded the first two episodes, and will be putting up the rest on here as well. Episode 1 and Episode 2.

Borat teaser trailer now out.

I can’t wait for this.

Wow. Ann has been going around criticizing widows of 911 victims in an attempt to promote her new book. How do you defend that position? By being abso-fucking-lutely insane.

That’s Demetri Martin. He’s “The Daily Show’s” trendspotter, an amazing comedian, and also someone I interviewed.

Here’s a segment of his from “The Daily Show.”

Dude’s also a budding filmmaker. He wrote and starred in a little watched short film called “12:21″ (the guy’s into palindromes) that aired on the BBC awhile back. The film also stars Fred Armisen of SNL, Leo Allen, Eugene Mirman, and a ton of other New York comedians. Through some back channel internet sources I got ahold of it. And I uploaded it for you good readers. Download it here. Enjoy.

And because no one asked for it, here’s a live MP3 I recorded of Demetri being interrupted by Doug Benson. And here’s Doug’s set.

I found two of my favorite Sealab 2021 episodes on youtube. The first one is “Murphy Murph and The Feng Shui Bunch,” and the second is “Red Dawn.” Both are great.

The season finale of “Wonder Showzen” was last week. On that episode there was a “special report” by Clarence the puppet about the state of TV. The entire episode is Clarence asking people what’s wrong with television and then telling them to make some compelling TV. Dramatic music underscores the fact that the people really have nothing to say. Then, in an odd twist, someone starts harassing Clarence. This clip encapsulates the whole episode.

I appreciate that Wonder Showzen is trying to push boundaries and mess with viewers’ expectations, but I really didn’t find this episode funny. I can see the merit in the idea of the episode, but the execution of it was just not that entertaining. It reminded me a lot of something an artist would do. Like putting a toilet in an art gallery to make people re-evaluate what art is. I mean, I like the idea of a toilet sitting in an art gallery, but let’s face it, toilets are fucking boring.

I was trying to think back of an example of a show where you realized, “Oh, they’re really going to do this for the whole episode,” but then you end up really enjoying it. I thought of an episode of Sea Lab 2021 where the entire 12 minute episode was a single shot of the Sea Lab headquarters and the lights were out. A bunch of the characters are trying to figure out what’s going on, why they’re trapped in the clost and the insanity and hilarity of Captain Hazel “Hank” Murphy carries the episode. That worked. I’m not so sure this Wonder Showzen episode worked, but regardless it made me think, and I belive that’s ultimately the goal the of show’s creators.

Download the episode here.

I can’t say I’m a big Robin Williams fan, but I do enjoy laughing at him, not with him. A distinction I feel must be made. Check out this video from the showbiz show highlighting the genius of RV (my new nickname for him).

I particularly enjoy when he starts using his black voice, which he dubs “white chocolate,” and asks a palpably amused Katie Couric, “What up with that, girl?”

The Onion broke it down years earlier with an article titled Robin Williams Leaves Entertainment Reporter In Stitches.

Here’s my favorite part of the article:
Williams went on the unexpected, wholly improvised comic tear when Menounos asked him about his outfit, a tuxedo accentuated by a pair of flashy, neon-purple cowboy boots. The query prompted Williams to launch into impersonations of a jive-talking black man and John Wayne before segueing into references to Joan Rivers, the reality-TV program Survivor, and the popular wrinkle remover Botox, leaving Menounos in what witnesses described as “hysterics.”

“Yo, what is up, homeslice? Dis sucka be lookin’ baaad tonight!” said Williams, showing off his outfit to Menounos. “Now listen, pilgrim, Monty Clift is down in Red River still lookin’ for his boots. He’s a little light in those loafers he’s been wearin’ lately, catch my drift? It’s like Survivor: San Francisco… ‘The tribe has spoken, and you look faaabulous!’ Is Joan [Rivers] here tonight? Don’t let her see me—her facelift stitches might pop out from the shock! Nurse, one million CCs of Botox, stat! No, we don’t have time for the needle! Just back the truck up, fasten the hose, and pump it right into her skull! Boooop! Boooop! Boooop!”

The teaser trailer for “Fast Food Nation” just went up today.

This is based on the non-fiction book that takes a very serious look at McDonald’s and the rest of the fast food industry and how they’re fucking up our society. The book should be required reading in schools and is one of the most eye-opening, infuriating things I’ve ever read. I highly recommend it. Hopefully the movie will be able to live up to the book’s legacy.