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Dummy - Anna Kendrick's talking sex doll sort of Dan Harmon biopic tv series

Started by Small Man Big Horse, April 20, 2020, 02:53:21 PM

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Small Man Big Horse

So this begins on Quibi today, I'd seen a trailer for it at the end of last week - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1O7bBWYco8&feature=emb_logo - and it had caught my attention as an aspiring writer's boyfriend has a sex doll, and she starts to imagine it talking to her. But what I didn't know is that it's by Cody Heller and it's partially based on her real life relationship with Dan Harmon, so now I really want to see it, it hasn't leaked yet but hopefully will do at some point today as the whole thing seems batshit mental but also pretty amusing.



Small Man Big Horse

Quote from: up_the_hampipe on April 20, 2020, 04:23:36 PM
Quibi is the E4 to Netflix's HBO.

Maybe, and a lot of their programming doesn't look that exciting, but they're bringing back Reno 911 so I can't dismiss them completely.

Small Man Big Horse

This turned up on the pirate bay a while back and I've finally got around to watching it, I'm only two episodes in but am finding it really fascinating so far. The first episode is largely "What if a sex doll could talk?" but still very funny, with the sex doll engaging in some really sexually explicit dialogue which made me laugh a fair bit, but the second expands the concept as it explores #MeToo and also Harmon's career / own apology when it came to crossing romantic boundaries in the workplace. Anna Kendrick's really strong in the lead role, Search Party's Meredity Hagner voices the sex doll in an amusingly biting way, Joel McHale's perfectly cast as Kendrick's douchebag agent, and Donal Logue's really great as Harmon too, and I'm definitely looking forward to seeing where it goes next, and I'd love to know what Harmon himself has made of it all as well.

Famous Mortimer

Don't get too attached to it, because Quibi is going down the toilet.

Small Man Big Horse

Quote from: Famous Mortimer on July 27, 2020, 09:48:18 PM
Don't get too attached to it, because Quibi is going down the toilet.

Yeah, I've been following it's decline on Variety and the AV Club and it really does seem to be doing hilariously badly. The whole season of Dummy's already been released though, and may well be a "One and Done" effort like a fair few of their series are.

Mister Six

Not watched any Quibi stuff but I'm guessing it will have been made with an eye to compiling episodes into larger chunks for syndication and that when it inevitably bombs, they'll sell off the shows to Netflix, which can drop them into its endless oceans of "content".

Small Man Big Horse

Quote from: Mister Six on July 27, 2020, 10:59:14 PM
Not watched any Quibi stuff but I'm guessing it will have been made with an eye to compiling episodes into larger chunks for syndication and that when it inevitably bombs, they'll sell off the shows to Netflix, which can drop them into its endless oceans of "content".

Some of it's like that (Reno 911, for instance) but some of it seems to be one film cut in to bite size chunks, and some of the editing is real poor at the end of episodes on occasion.

Brundle-Fly

If you took away the funky soundtrack and replaced it with a gloomy synth wash/ breathy vocalised version of Pictures Of Lily, that could easily be a trailer for a new Black Mirror episode.

olliebean

Was going to give this a go, but the version I downloaded turned out to be dubbed into Russian, and I don't know whether I have the will to download it again.

Twonty Gostelow

Quote from: olliebean on July 28, 2020, 07:07:06 PM
Was going to give this a go, but the version I downloaded turned out to be dubbed into Russian, and I don't know whether I have the will to download it again.

Paulie Walnuts writes: The Muslims have already won.

olliebean

Downloaded it again, because what the hell else have I got to do? and first impressions, my god that's some industrial strength uncanny valley shit going on there.

Mister Six


olliebean

Quote from: Small Man Big Horse on July 28, 2020, 10:17:21 AM
Some of it's like that (Reno 911, for instance) but some of it seems to be one film cut in to bite size chunks, and some of the editing is real poor at the end of episodes on occasion.

According to Wiki, "The series was originally developed as a television pilot, but the script was rewritten as a film and then split into less than 10-minute episodes to fit into the concept of Quibi."

Mister Six

So it'll be compiled into one thing and on Netflix in 2 years then.

Fuck me, Quibi was a terrible idea. That's what happens when you mistake being rich and well-connected for being smart.

kidsick5000

Quote from: Mister Six on July 28, 2020, 09:59:29 PM
Fuck me, Quibi was a terrible idea. That's what happens when you mistake being rich and well-connected for being smart.

The marketing for Quibi was a mess. The concept, I don't know. So many apps seem 50/50 to me – could soar, could crash – with no logic behind why

sirhenry

Just watched the trailer and now I'm confused. They keep focusing on the sex doll's face with 'that look'. So is this actually How To Build a Sex Doll, the sequel where Caitlin Moran becomes everyone's favourite sex fantasy?[nb]I need more than just disinfectant after typing that[/nb]

olliebean

I think what I find most troubling is that the mouth is just an empty black void. Don't RealDolls have tongues? I would have assumed they do, for the price.

Retinend

Watched episode 1 already - it's very funny and Kendrick does a lot of great work acting straight to the camera. It's a little gross (and "crusty"), but that's what makes it fresh, so to speak.

episode two: these two have some chemistry! I like their back and forth. I also notice this Dan Harmon character just doesn't give a shit and has this neurotic need to tell his partner this secret, right at the outset of their relationship, that is playing a lot of mind games on her. Why doesn't he just pull his act together? Weird that I must also be talking about Dan Harmon at the same time.

episode three: this is a really taboo-breaking show in all kinds of ways! ...oh and it turns out that the "chemistry" was just a trick. The payoff to the gag about being a "custom model" had me roaring

episode four: ok now they're friends again - classic feelgood storytelling ... I found this Harmon character very sinister until he put the doll in the bin - but what happens now?

episode five: this Rob Corddry character is pure trump - very well portrayed / I loved it when he says "I'm no pervert!" and she tries to regain the moral highground immediately - this show has a funny satirical edge

episode six: this relationship between them is very volatile - it's funny ...and what a cliffhanger!

episode seven: funny commentary on the "bechdel test"!

brat-sampson

I do appreciate that this acts as essentially a Harmontown spin-off. I miss that show. This is also very good.

Small Man Big Horse

I've finished this now and enjoyed it huge amount, though I couldn't help but feel it would have worked better as a movie and I probably would have enjoyed it even more if I'd just sat down and watched it as one. Still, hopefully when Quibi fails it will be re-edited and sold as one and otherwise I've no complaints, it's tight, sharp and has a lot to say about feminism and Hollywood while always being very, very funny too.

Moribunderast

Thought this was very pleasant (and quite funny) but was definitely hurt by having to be structured/edited for Quibi. I think if it were a film I would be recommending it to lots of friends but in it's current form it feels a little insubstantial, like an odd curiosity. It's better than that, though, so hopefully a re-edited "complete" version ends up on a more successful streaming service.

Gotta say between watching s3 of Search Party recently and now this, I'm becoming a big fan of Meredith Hagner. Her comic timing and delivery is very good.