Chelsea Peretti: One of the Greats

Written by: Chelsea Peretti

I was actually hoping to watch a movie or something, mostly because I'm doing my philosophy project on movies. However I ended up watching stand up comedy, even if I've always claimed I hate stand up. Oops.

I mostly got interested because I watch Brooklyn 99, and Peretti is amazing there, one of the best things about the show. Anyway, yes, I'm going to review stand up even if I'm a film blog.

The beginning of the whole thing was amazing. It was absurd, which is what made me believe that yes, this is truly going to be good. Another fun and weird little detail was these short edits where there was a clown or something as weird as that. It gave something that kind of broke your train of thought, when your focusing on the comedy and laughing or smiling or whatever you do when you're watching this, it's just kind of "wait a minute" -moment. It was good, it made this stand out from the regular stand up I've been watching*. It was almost artistic. Very good.

And Peretti's humour is good. Of course I don't laugh at everything, but mostly I enjoyed it. It's ironic, relatable, it's everything I could've asked for. And Peretti seems so natural on the stage, I envy that. 

So in short, this was a wild and a fun ride. I do recommend watching this, you won't regret it at all. (Though if you do don't blame me, I take no responsibility.)

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

8 / 10

*What have I been watching? What kind of stand up am I used to? Well, I've seen something from Sami Hedberg. I don't like him, though. He's funny but nah. And of course I've seen few clips from Ismo Leikola. He is truly good, and didn't he won some kind of international stand up competition? Like he's the world's funniest man right now. I like him but I don't know if I could sit through entire show, you know. I could do that for Peretti though. 

"When Logan said 'jump', did you actually say 'how high' or was there just an understanding that you would achieve max verticality?"

Year: 2014

Director: Rob Thomas

Writers: Rob Thomas & Diane Ruggiero

Veronica Mars gets pulled back to her hometown to help an old friend being accused of murder and just in time for high school reunion.

First of all, I haven't watched Veronica Mars TV show - ever. That's why it might have been a mistake to watch a movie, right? I didn't know any of the characters, I didn't what had happened before and all that... So why watch the movie? I don't know, the Internet was working, and I felt lie watching something else than all those stupid comedy movies I've been watching from Netflix. I just saw Veronica Mars and I went with it.

Luckily for me, there was this quick sum up in the beginning - what was the TV show about, the basics. That seems very helpful for people who haven't seen the show and for those who have maybe watched the whole series once and might have forgotten something. So thank you for that.

I'll shortly comment on the techniques: cinematography was decent, but not excellent. I like the idea of seeing text messages on the screen instead of those awkward close ups to the phones. Putting the text on the screen is easier for the viewer. You see the text, and the reaction, and it takes less time than zooming in and out. The music was alright. The original score must've been really insignificant, because I can barely remember anything from it. The chosen songs were alright.

The murder seemed interesting, but not really a movie material. In movies it's better to have more complicated murders and crimes, mostly because they require more time. Hannibal is one exception of a TV show with really weird murders that still work well for TV. Anyway, the crime in this movie felt too simple and almost normal. It felt like it could've been just an episode of the show, which is understandable. I'd guess it's hard to make a movie adaptation out of a TV show, and give it cinematic elements that are always missing from almost any show - it would feel wrong to the fans. It's easy to stuck with what you know, in this case, making things for TV. At points I was actually waiting for a commercial break.

The story and the murder got more interesting than what I expected from the start. Still, I felt like something was missing. Everything felt so simple, I almost hoped for something much darker, almost scarier. But that may not be what Veronica Mars is all about. 

In short, decent flick with interesting details. Those details however weren't enough to make this movie really stand out. It was mild and bland. I guess you need to be a fan to appreciate this movie.

☆☆☆☆☆

5 / 10

3 TV shows you should watch

Some of these are "old" in a way they are well known, so I'm not throwing any indie to your face, but I need to mention three TV shows I've been hooked on during this summer. 

Arrested Development

"Now the story of a wealthy family who lost everything, and the one son who had no choice but to keep them all together."

Seasons watched: 4/?

I found Arrested Development once we got Netflix. It was probably the first TV show I started to watch from Netflix, and I love it. The humour is absurd, and you can't tell the jokes of the show to your friends, because then you would have to give a backstory to certain characters and explain the entire story arch for it to make sense.  I've enjoyed every minute of this TV show, even if the start of season 4 seemed a little weird after the three first ones. 

Arrested Development is funny, absurd and original, and it has amazingly funny and weird characters. 

That 70's Show

Seasons watched: 5 / 8

I started watching That 70's Show when my summer vacation started, and I loved it almost immediately. This show is very well made, because sometimes I almost forget it takes place in the 70's. It feels slightly ageless, even if sometimes I wish I knew more about the 70's pop culture, it would be easier to follow the show and understand the stuff. I love the characters, they feel like some distant family already. I don't agree with everything they do, but I still care about the characters. And to be honest, this is the first time in my adult life when I really cared about fictional characters.

That 70's show is funny, and somehow makes me feel warm and cozy at times. The show's like a nice warm cup of cocoa.

Brooklyn 99

Seasons watched: 2/?

The third show I started watching, when Netflix almost threw it in my face. I didn't expect to like it as much as I do. Brooklyn 99 comfirmed that I love sitcoms that aren't shot basically from one angle and have a live audience that laughs at everything. Brooklyn 99 has elements of crime genre, but it takes a different angle to the crimes: the main character may at times be an asshole, but he truly loves his job as a cop, and I would love to see more characters be so enthusiastic about their jobs, it's amazing. The characters are amazing, and the diversity is wonderful. One of the very few show were I like all characters almost unconditionally. I feel like I could be every one of those.

Brooklyn 99 is crime and comedy, and it combines both genres wonderfully. Amazing show, and I just finished all that has been made by now and I desperately need more, now, please.

"I didn't come here to tell you that I can't live without you. I can live without you. I just don't want to."

Year: 2005

Director: Rob Reiner 

Writer: T. M. Griffin

"Sarah Huttinger is a woman who learns that her family was the inspiration for the book and film "The Graduate" -- and that she just might be the offspring of the well-documented event."

- Summary written by Anonymous

Netflix recommended this movie to me, because I had seen Extract. The summary made me think it could be something like Arrested Development, so I decided to watch it.

The beginning of the movie was perfect. It explained simply important background, and kind of gave you certain expectations of the movie. When the actual movie started, you started putting the pieces together, figuring out what would most likely happen. Also the ending makes you think that you know exactly what will happen, but the movie will surprise you. However, the surprise comes quite early, so you don't spend the entire movie. The beginning might have been the strongest point of the movie - not that the movie otherwise was weak.

One of the most interesting characters was Sarah's grandmother. She was somehow different from typical grandmothers, but isn't that typical on its own? Even if she's interesting, I'm glad the movie didn't focus on her too much. But mostly the characters seemed boring, apart from Beau Burroughs and the main character Sarah. Sarah is relatable, she feels slightly lost, still looking for herself. That, however, is used very often. It doesn't get too old, though. Sarah made me think of Megan in Laggies.

In the end, the movie was very nice. It was funny, it was an excellent drama, and the romance part wasn't as typical as I feared it would be. This movie was both typical and unexpected. This movie was fresh and very nice. It's everything you'd expect from a good drama. It wasn't anything close to what I was expecting, if I truly was expecting something close to Arrested Development, but I don't think I really imagined to see anything like that.

Rumor has it... Is a nice movie, fresh and an excellent drama. If you are a friend of drama, you want to watch this one.

☆☆☆☆☆☆

6 / 10