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What We Do In The Shadows (Taika Waititi/Jemaine Clement film)

Started by Bored of Canada, September 21, 2014, 01:49:30 PM

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I've been looking forward to this for a long while, after hearing whispers about this for the last couple years.

Taika's Eagle Vs Shark took a bit to shake off the Napoleon Dynamite shadow but by the end, it definitely felt like it's own quite tragic and bleak but still sort of heartwarming and funny thing.

And then Boy was just beautiful. Really funny, really endearing, strong emotional core. It was just a lovely film.


But this film was disappointing, really. It's not bad. It's just so slight. It is a film of mild and polite amusement. A knowing smile and expected grin here and there.

It's 86 minutes and still feels a bit long. All the cast are good. And Taika, Jemaine and also Rhys Darby are all really skilled at imbuing depth underneath laughs with their characters. Making them feel human,  but they just don't have much to work with.

It feels like a short film. It would kill at a festival like Tropfest or something where you can just have a single idea and just run with it and keep the audience laughing, but this was just too slight.

There's some cool stunt stuff though, especially as it's working on what would be a fairly limited budget and doesn't feel like it needs anymore because they use it all well.

The one interesting thing I liked was the character of the Familiar, but everything was just so under explored and aimless that it didn't really matter. But still, I felt the thematic premise with her character was interesting and she played a great straight man and still got a few good lines in there herself within that slight character.

It's a nice film. Just not a remarkable or memorable film in any way. It seems like the end result of a lot of fun riffing and there's not a bad or cynical bone in it's body, which I respect.

It's kinda lightly amusing but the good will towards the cast and the setting will push you through. It's more consistently amusing than Spinal Tap, which feels like it's closest comparison, but doesn't have anything to say or any point like that one did.

backdrifter

I personally loved it. Photo/painting collage sequences were the highlight for me.

Also liked Clement's talk about torture.

Moribunderast

I might check this out in the coming weeks, despite the lacklustre reviews I've seen. Gotta say thanks, BoC, for mentioning BOY. I'd been meaning to watch that for ages and kept forgetting about it. Just watched it and it really is bloody great. Contageously sweet and warm and surprisingly affecting when it takes darker turns. The kids were all excellent and Taika was great, also. Really nothing not to like about it. I howled at the great gag
Spoiler alert
while searching for the money: "I know I put it a number of steps from the post. I just can't remember the number of steps. Or the post.
[close]

For some reason I'd always thought Eagle vs. Shark was an ABC comedy series that I'd missed. Will have to check that one out, also.

samadriel

You'd be thinking of Eagle and Evans, Mori.  Most certainly check out Eagle vs Shark, it's maybe a little twee, but still quite funny.

Not exactly related but Rhys Darby's got his own series now, which just came out I think.
Small Poppies. Gave the first episode a quick glance on Netflix yesterday and wasn't grabbing me whatsoever. I didn't give it a fair shake, true. I'll try and watch an entire episode before I pass judgement though.

Scarily similar to We Can Be Heroes in every element. You could literally switch Darby with Lilley and it'd feel like the exact same thing.
Darby's very much like Chris Lilley if you squint your ears. It's like the Not-Evil version of our accent. 

DocDaneeka

Saw this the other day and I really liked it. The set up of fantastical creatures doing mundane things may not be that original but it's done very well and packed full of jokes.

Getting lots of good reviews in the UK, don't know why Bored Of Canada doesn't like it, probably some anti New Zealand sentiment.

I love New Zealand. The spirit of shared joy of running headfirst out of the trenches into Turkish machinegun fire in order to make human sandbags to push forward the line unites us. Also the great biscuits.

Small Man Big Horse

Quote from: DocDaneeka on November 26, 2014, 02:27:54 PM
Saw this the other day and I really liked it. The set up of fantastical creatures doing mundane things may not be that original but it's done very well and packed full of jokes.

I pretty much agree with you there, it didn't by any means blow me away and I don't have the urge to shake people and force them to watch it, but I found it to be a really likeable film with a lot of great jokes. It's got an infectious sense of innocent fun at times, and I was happy with the ending in general, and I've no real complaints at all. Major Spoiler:
Spoiler alert
Though I'd have had no problem with Stu staying dead in the end, but the way it worked out was still fun anyhow.
[close]

I liked the weird horribleness of some aspects as well,
Spoiler alert
like the familiar's horrific existence, and poor old Peter's fate.
[close]
Just added a nice level of depth to proceedings.

Mobius

i didn't realise that rory kinnear is roy kinnear's son. i just watched that Southcliffe the other week. Fucking harrowing, really stayed with me.

edit that was meant for thread http://www.cookdandbombd.co.uk/forums/index.php/topic,40091.810.html apologies. on the subject of the film in question i live 'down under' and have not heard a single person mention it in real life although it got a good review on our version of films with Jonathon Ross. apparently Rhys Darby's new show is rubbish however.

BritishHobo

Finally got the chance to see this tonight, thanks to my town's lovely local arts group. I really just have to echo the thoughts in this thread - it was sweet, and pleasant, and often very funny, but ultimately felt a bit light and insubstantial.

I was most surprised to find in the end credits that that's what Taika Waititi looks like. I've been a huge fan of his for a long time - as BoC says, Boy was a beautiful little film, and I really enjoyed his work on the US Inbetweeners. But for some reason in my mind, I was picturing somebody a lot older and, somewhat more nonsensically, enormous.

McFlymo

You guys are all nuts, this was one of the best things I've seen in years.

The stylish sets and costumes. The 3 lead vampires were played beautifully, the guys had some complex stuff to do with those characters: Being slightly camp and goofy, but being believable as elderly creatures out of touch with reality and playing up the "Spinal Tap" awkwardness.
The fact the film didn't resist being gory and pretty grizzly in places.
The music was ace too. The geeky werewolves!

Spoiler alert
Agreed: I wouldn't have minded no Stu at the end, his return as a werewolf didn't really have time to go anywhere, but that's about the only fault I could find with it.
[close]
I don't know, maybe I was in a weird place the other night when I watched it, but it restored my faith in film again. (I'm so fucking done with explodey action comic shite... And fuck Star Wars too!) I can't think of anything else I saw in 2015 (even though this was from 2014) that felt so well written, executed and genuinely hilarious.

Beagle 2

I turned this off after about half an hour, there were some nice ideas but it just wasn't making me laugh and I realised I was actually pretty bored. Sounds like I probably wasn't missing much.


doppelkorn

I saw this on a plane last year. I almost turned it off during the opening credits when I heard Jemaine Clement's "I vont to sack your blaaaaad" voice, but once I persisted past that it was an enjoyable film. Having said that, I can't remember much about it, and reading the comments above has reminded me more of the film's minor flaws rather than its strengths.

I particularly find tiring that whole trope where a grandiose figure breaks character for a second to handle some mundane matter, something this does a lot.

E.g.:

"I am the high lord of the night! I have awoken from my 600-year slumber this night to feast on the flesh of the living, and - excuse me Robert, do you mind turning your iPod down while I'm doing this?"

It's a bit Family Guy.

7/10

neveragain

Absolutely loved this, having seen nothing of these guys' previous work (except for a few Flight of the Conchords which I thought were quite good but didn't grab me), and would gladly recommend it. Perfect mix of the gothic and the comic, with genuine pathos.

Leave me to my dark bidding..
What are you bidding on?
A table.

Delightful.

Oops! Wrong Planet

That was my favourite line as well, along with the first werewolves face-off.  Didn't like the two over-the-top gory scenes, I'm a blood wimp, but it was pretty funny throughout and will deserve to pick up more of a following as time goes on.

I thought it was excellent. I particularly liked Taika Waititi's fussy houseproud vampire.

phantom_power

Quote from: Oops! Wrong Planet on June 19, 2016, 04:25:19 PM
That was my favourite line as well, along with the first werewolves face-off.  Didn't like the two over-the-top gory scenes, I'm a blood wimp, but it was pretty funny throughout and will deserve to pick up more of a following as time goes on.

My favourite line was the explanation of why they prefer to eat virgins

Crabwalk

Love this film. Funniest mockumentary since Best in Show?

Ron Superior

Trailer for Takia's next film is up:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_fGurAKnavo

Looks good. I couldn't stand Eagle vs Shark, way too much of a forced whimsical Napoleon Dynamite wannabe film, but his film Boy was absolutely wonderful. This looks like it's along those lines.

steveh

Getting a werewolf sequel:

QuoteWe're Wolves will concern a power battle between lycanthropes played by What We Do in the Shadows stars Rhys Darby and Stuart Rutherford. "The same werewolf actors would come back," said Waititi. "It would basically be Rhys and Stu vying for position as the alpha male in the werewolf gang."

http://www.ew.com/article/2016/06/21/what-we-do-shadows-sequel-werewolves

Noodle Lizard

Dunno what's wrong with you cunts, I thought it was excellent despite not really liking any of that lot and being bitter at them for stealing an idea I had ages ago.

DukeDeMondo

Yeah I watched this again last week, and it is still very, very good. I agree with some of the complaints above, but the good bits more than make up for the bits that are a bit less good, I reckon.

It is not funnier than Spinal Tap, though. That's just a load of silly daft. There's nothing as good as "too much, too much fucking perspective now" for example. But it is pretty wonderful, altogether. I'm looking forward to the second one.

Serge

Quote from: Ron Superior on June 21, 2016, 08:06:01 PM
Trailer for Takia's next film is up:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_fGurAKnavo

Looks good. I couldn't stand Eagle vs Shark, way too much of a forced whimsical Napoleon Dynamite wannabe film, but his film Boy was absolutely wonderful. This looks like it's along those lines.

Rhys Darby's
Spoiler alert
"No! What?"
[close]
in that trailer made me laugh far more than those two words ever should.

Good news about 'We're Wolves' - I could see those characters being good for another movie.

steveh

Also getting a spin-off TV series:

QuoteParanormal Event Response Unit - conceived by Flight of the Conchords star Jemaine Clement and director Taika Waititi, is a six-episode spin-off from the highly acclaimed feature film, What We Do In The Shadows, which the pair wrote, directed and starred in. The movie featured a sly look at a flat full of vampires in modern-day Wellington.

The show will screen on TVNZ 2 and feature police officers Karen and Mike, who "keep us safe from supernatural phenomena in their own police reality series", NZOA said.

http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/314558/what-we-do-in-the-shadows-tv-spin-off-on-the-way

Virgo76

It's good. Very easy to get carried away overrating this sort of thing though.

BritishHobo

Heh. I think a lot of people assumed the show was going to be about the vampires and werewolves themselves.

Still excited though. Just saw Wilderpeople last week, fantastic stuff.


Icehaven

I really enjoyed this, not sure how it took me this long to even hear it existed though. Ridiculously I only watched it because I kept seeing that Virgin gaming advert with the modern day vampire and it was driving me mad trying to remember what else I'd seen the actor in, and among the Youtube comments where I was finally put out of my misery (it's a Weetabix ad) were several mentions of this film, so I thought I'd give it a whirl. It's a lot better than the Virgin ad. Yes it's not exactly deep and meaningful but it's not supposed to be, it's a spoof documentary about Vampires. Agree with what someone said above too about how they've really made the best of what was probably a limited budget, it looked brilliant. (And I know this is just lazy but whenever they said 'Wellington' in vampire accents it made me smile, hahaha silly foreign place names that mean something else.)