Saw two movies that came out on Blu-Ray & DVD this week each from comedy filmmakers I enjoy.
Jeff Who Lives At Home - The Duplass brothers have been at the forefront of the "Mumblecore" movement. Central to that is typically a dialogue-heavy dry comedy with elements of drama where people talk like real people (not like Juno), and usually involves lots of improvisation. I saw the Duplass's "The Puffy Chair" when I saw it under "New Releases" on Netflix years ago and really enjoyed it. It starred Mark Duplass (one of the directors) & Katie Aselton, both now stars of the TV Show The League. They followed that up with Baghead, which was maybe a small step backward. Then they took the "Hollywood" leap with Cyrus, which I loved.
Their newest film, Jeff Who Lives at Home, I think is their best. By far. Brace yourself, Wes, but one element that I couldn't help but enjoy was that it was filmed in New Orleans, and much of the settings were easily recognizable. The scene where he's riding the bus at the beginning shows Veteran's, which is the New Orleans equivalent to 280, which I work right off of, and live pretty close to. Kind of weird seeing those scenes in a movie (to a lesser degree, this is also true for 21 Jump Street - Another hilarious movie you should check out). In spite of it clearly being filmed in New Orleans, and the real New Orleans restaurant Cochon is central to the plot, it supposedly takes place in Baton Rouge.
All that being said, that only plays a small part in what I liked about it this movie. It's all about coincidences and "everything happens for a reason". I'd elaborate more, but I don't want to risk spoiling the plot. If you're into these not-exactly-broad comedies, I highly recommend this one.
Wanderlust - I was always a big fan of The State back when MTV was relevant. Loved Viva Variety, Reno 911!, Stella, Childrens Hospital, Wet Hot American Summer, The Ten, and pretty much anything these guys collaborate on. If you haven't heard of or seen Ken Marino's new web-series spoofing "The Bachelor" type shows,
check out Burning Love. David Wain directs, who is behind the camera as is usually the case for these post-The State projects. I feel like he's the most irreverently silly of the group, in a good way, and his unique sense of humor spills over heavily into this. At some times it's almost anti-humor, but somehow they're the funniest moments. Awkward pauses, unnecessary redundancy, and dryly "pointing out the obvious". If you're familiar with his work, you know the types of jokes I'm talking about.
And if you like seeing hippies being satirically made fun of for virtually 90 minutes, this is your movie Example: "This is my husband. He's an African American. And we're just as much in love as if we were the same color."
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