Fall of the Conchords

The first season of Flight of the Conchords became an instant cult classic. A show about a New Zealand duo trying to make it in New York that's intermittently filled with wacky comedy songs. I enjoyed it a lot and spent most of first-year with raps like "Rhymenocerous VS Hiphopapotamus" stuck in my head. The same thing happened to everyone else on campus and suddenly people were screaming down the hallway "ITSA BUSSSINESSS TIMEEEE!" It didn't take long before I could no longer stand the songs and show altogether.

It took almost a year and a half after the first finale for Bret and Jemaine to write up another batch of songs for the new season (which they admitted was very difficult) and the quality showed. I just finished season two and the show has just fallen out of tune. The songs feel a lot more wedged-in than ever, having little to do with the plot of the episode. This is probably a bad example but



It felt like half the season took place in the New Zealand Consulate's office as well, relying waaaay too much on Murray's dialogue to carry the show. In the second finale, show ends with a pretty amusing shepherding bit followed by an announcement that the series was over.

I Think You Blew Him

This week on Curb we analyze some thoughtful themes:

• vehicular fellatio
• vacuum packaging
• second-hand semen
• "I have cancer"
  

"Why can't you drive?"
"Because I have cancer."

"I'm going to dinner tonight...wanna go?"
"Any black people there?"
"No."
"Why would I want to go?"
"Might be someone with cancer...."

Larry: "Why do they call it a job? Is it so hard? A lot of work?"
Jeff: "Well there's the tugging, the sucking, it's a lot of work. I wouldn't want to do it."
Larry: "It is a job. No wonder why they don't like it."

Leon: "You are combined in this shit with me now. We are lego. We're a fucking lego set right now. We are fucking interlocked together. We fucked her."

Loretta: "You got me twisted LD. Give your ass a little taste of chocolate and next thing you know you're cheatin' on me? ...You cheatin' no good bald headed mother fucker! I'm out!"
Auntie Rae: "Fuck you Larry David, that's some bullshit!"

After they leave...
Larry: "They're gone.... So I guess that means you'll be..."
Leon: "Going upstairs eating this fucking Chinese food in my fucking room."

YES! LARRY AND LEON IN THE SAME ROOF. This is going to be epic.

Such a Low Percentage Fruit

Curb had some of the best fruit-related one liners last night:

"Can I tell you something about apricots? You know, one in thirty is a good one. It's such a low percentage fruit."

"You know what? Don't condescend me with your tiny pear."

Leon on room temperature:
"You're my motherfuckin man Larry, but 72°? Sheet. Might as well sleep outside. I'm an 82 man myself. ...You said 68°? Get the fuck out of here. It's all cold and shit. You gotta heat that shit up."

And Funkhouser's crazy sister played by Catherine O'Hara at the dinner party:
"You're serving nothing but lies here! I'm not hungry!"

Finally, Larry's collapse upon hearing Loretta's diagnosis. How awesomely overdramatic was that? It's good to finally have 30 minutes of Larry back.

FUCK YOU LARRY!

Oh man I'm getting excited for the new season of Curb. I just watched the preview episode "It's Not A Reunion Show But It's As Close As You're Gonna Get"that essentially showed the cast coming back and discussing the new season.

Looks like the overall story arc is going to be producing a reunion episode of Seinfeld! I can't wait.

Stay Frosty...

Generation Kill was pretty good. While not quite having the same production values of Band of Brothers, the show holds its own in terms of showing off hardware, cinematography, and casting.

Throughout the series, we continuously see questionable decisions made by commanders that are forced down to the troops. The difficulty came from fighting an enemy that was almost indistinguishable from the civilians.

Following the experience of a reporter (who wrote the original Generation Kill), we get some pretty amazing dialogue:

Sergeant Brad 'Iceman' Colbert: Once more into the great good night. Cry 'havoc,' and let slip the dogs of war.
Corporal Josh Ray Person: Man, when I get home I am gonna eat the fuck out of my girlfriend's pussy.
Evan Wright (Reporter): Is that Shakespeare?
Lance Corporal Harold James Trombley: Shakespeare wrote that? [Wright nods] About his girlfriend's pussy?

I don't really want to analyze this show deeply because that's for an Arts major. In general, you can expect to see some pretty epic firefights, a lot of humvee convoys, sand, and hilarious banter; all wrapped with a tinge of sadness to the entire Operation Iraqi Freedom.

8.0/10

"Beloved Cunt"

Holy shit! New Curb Your Enthusiasm! September 2009! Pretty, pretty, pretty good! Aside from a the plot, basically all the dialogue is improvised.

Empire of the Rising Sun

Speaking of epic HBO mini-series', HBO released the trailer for The Pacific last month.



Like Band of Brothers, the 10-part mini-series is produced by Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, and Gary Goetzman. Instead of the US Army in Europe, we'll see the actions of the Marine Corp in the Pacific Theater.

Get Some!

Anyone who's seen an HBO mini-series will know how good they can be. The latest details a marine battalion in the Iraq War early in 2003. While not quite on the same epic scale of Band of Brothers, this show definitely has a more of a down-to-earth feel to it. In short, you're watching a group of soldiers trying to make their way through the war with a poorly coordinated upper command.

More to come