Fans of The Office will, at one point in their lives, have had a debate with another fan about which version of the show is better, the original UK production starring it’s creator, Ricky Gervais, or it’s American off-spring starring the rubber-faced and very talented Steve Carell.  The correct answer is of course the UK one, though having admitted that one can then comfortably admit to finding the US version also good.  Gervais’ David Brent was a sharper critique of the boss everyone knows who thinks he knows everything.  Carell’s performance of Michael Scott is much more comical and warm, a jester instead of a jerk.  To like the US version of The Office is to seem shallow, as though avoiding the confronting nature of the UK version’s dark comedy.

I completely disagree.  Why?  Because Ricky Gervais is a very ordinary actor who has all the subtlety of a brick.

One day, historians will unearth records from the 21st century and stumble across a bunch of DVDs starring people like Ricky Gervais and Seth Rogen and be genuinely perplexed at how these two could be in so many movies.  How did so much time elapse before humanity was able to collectively pull itself out of it’s slumber and get them off camera?

It’s not that Gervais is not brilliant in his own way.  He has a knack for finding something funny and exploiting it.  Just ask Karl Pilkington.  But this skill in coming across funny ideas or things has unfortunately led to him acting those out for us, when someone else would do a far better job.  Ricky Gervais is David Brent.  He’s the boss who doesn’t know when to back off.  Sure, his comic sense is far better.  But for all intents and purposes he is the arrogant, self-important jerk who always insists that he is more brilliant than anyone else in the room.  He seems to have half of Hollywood convinced, as they show up in cameo after cameo, from Edward Norton to Phillip Seymour Hoffman.  They are the shining jewels of interest in this movie, actors whose job it is to act.  The tragedy is that they surround a not very likable writer/director whose own ego won’t let anyone else be the star.

The idea of this movie, if it isn’t already blindingly obvious, is that the movie takes place in a world where people cannot lie.  Not cannot as in forbidden, but cannot as in inconceivable.  Even though this concept is not difficult to grasp and is already spelled out in the title, it is further explained in a tedious opening narration, full of ad-lib about waiting for the credits to finish, then a thorough drilling of what the movie was about and what the viewer should “look out for”.  Not only is it a painfully tedious and lazy way to introduce a movie, but it’s also arrogant and smug at the same time.   It was the kind of thing that belonged on the DVD extras for the intellectually impaired, not as actual introduction to a movie.  ”But wait!” someone cries.  ”Don’t you see?”  He’s doing that to show us what a life without lies would be like.  He’s being clever.  Yes, and if your IQ is less than 90 I’m sure it was very useful.

Aside from his general unsuitability for leading man, the problem with Gervais’ everyman is that he’s just not very likable.  In Lying, he plays Mark, a tubby writer who lives a relatively shitty life, gets no respect and is informed of these truths constantly, ad nauseam throughout the entire movie.  If Ricky Gervais relishes in flaunting conventions, then perhaps he has been successful.  The usual plot of a romantic comedy is to portray a lovable loser who finally finds courage in order to get the girl.  In this movie, the loser is not lovable.  He’s just a loser.  He loses, we shrug.  He wins, we shrug.  There is a certain fascinating in watching a fly try to exit an open door.  It’s a similar feeling watching a lying, miserable, fat sack of shit try to bag a beautiful girl, yet by the end of the movie you are almost gunning for Rob Lowe because damn he’s just so good looking!

I may be wrong about Ricky Gervais.  There may be a whole other way of seeing this movie.  There is, for example, the genuine comedy of the concept of a world in which people just say what’s on their minds.  From the waiter who tries to hit on the date, to the frank discussions of the chances of getting to home base.  There’s also the satirical take on religion, though again the trademark Gervais brick of subtlety spoils a lot of the satire it sets up.  But maybe this is more than a simple romantic comedy.  Maybe this is an autobiography.

Gervais, a pudgy, uninteresting little man has found a way to make us pay attention to him.  It’s all based on a lie and this movie is his confession.  Perhaps his brilliance is in convincing Hollywood’s A-list to join in his charade, which helps to convince everyone else that he really does deserve to be there in the spotlight.  But without the success of Steve Carell in the US office, without the huge names that appeared every week in Extras, without Steve Merchant’s sharp wit or Karl Pilkington’s ravings, there wouldn’t be much reason to watch Ricky Gervais.

But that’s all beside the point.  He has recruited a plethora of famous and funny people who, with their very presence lend Gervais a kind of charm.  It may not last for very much longer, but it worked for this movie, if only just.

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To this date, Keith and I have put out two full episodes of International and a further two mini-episodes called Polling Data and Ebay.  Here they are, in the full glory of their chronological order.

The Unshow International 1

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The Unshow International 2

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The Unshow: Polling Data

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The Unshow: Ebay

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Note the guy on the right, who can’t even bear to think about what is happening, let alone make sure his buddy is ok.  Unfortunately, despite the terrible ordeal the man in blue is going through, it must be infinitely worse for the elephant.

Click here to view the embedded video.

I was also in Australia for a month, which would more accurately explain where my winter tan came from.  The sunlight there really recharged my batteries, not to mention all the food, exercise and family love.  The trouble with going home is leaving again, the dissatisfaction I feel when I return to Korea.  I used to travel to go somewhere new, so returning to a second home has none of the thrill that real home has and all of the drawbacks.  They say home is where the heart is, which is why, with my family, my friend and my love all under one roof, it was almost impossible to get on the plane to come back.

But I did come back, and the weather is only getting warmer and warmer here.  It’s going to be great to sweat it out again through a Korean summer.  Then, if I’m lucky head back to Australia and start Spring all over again.

This is essentially a modern updating of the 1951 version. Instead of the aliens worrying about human nuclear power running amok, the aliens are concerned for the safety of the planet and deem it necessary to exterminate humanity. Cue irrational humans doing their best to catch, torture and experiment on the alien. Watch alien sigh at their futile attempts to shoot, bomb, drill into them at every possible chance. The silver lining of this otherwise average movie is the five minute interlude between the alien and John Cleese, where the characters speak intelligently and thoughtfully. Pay attention though, for just as it gets going it stops again and we go back to insolence, stubbornness and complete and outright irrationality.

And now that we come to it, that makes it three science fiction movies that a Smith has spoiled with annoying characters. Will Smith in I, Robot took the great thing about Asimov’s robot stories and threw it in the garbage pile in favor of the same crappy robots-taking-over-the-world story. This was on top of his involvement in the overwhelmingly lame Independence Day. Now, he has spawned a son who had altogether too much screen time in this movie than his character would have normally received had he not been Will Smith’s son. Watching the kid repeatedly sigh and make a sad face while talking about his dead father is at the top of my list of things I never hope to watch again. Right up there with Kathy Bates. Sorry, but I’m never going to get over that hot tub scene in About Schmidt.

Videos made courtesy of xtranormal.com

Viva la Vida

Following their previous album X&Ycomes Coldplay’s latest and greatest album Viva La Vida, or Death and All His Friends. I am so taken with this and their recent EP release of extra songs Prospekt’s March, more so than any of their past albums. There is so much great music on these two releases that I had to make a combined CD with a mix that does justice to the whole set.

In fact, my mix is so good that I wonder why Coldplay didn’t release it this way in the first place, on one album. Thematically they work very well together, with the exception of one song, which doesn’t belong anywhere near a Coldplay album. But we’ll get to that song later.

In making their 4th album, Coldplay traveled to South America, seeking to be influenced by different musical tones along the way. And while there is a little flamenco hand-clapping, there is something else about Coldplay this time around. Viva la Vida has a richness of sound and a grandness to it that was missing from previous albums. Where in the past their music could come across as a little contrived, there is a sincerity there now, an emotional core which is so much more powerful to listen to. I literally can’t stop listening to it from start to finish and I neverusually listen to albums that way.

Let’s get to my list:

'Viva la Prospekt'(text)

There is a theme running through the album which I believe begins with The Escapist, a soft opener which builds the first musical theme of the album. In the brief lyrics, Chris seems to muse over death. Such pondering also seems to offer an explanation as to why we might be saying Viva la Vida, or Long live life! Which is why the song Viva la Vida follows, documenting the last days of a king about to be overthrown by revolutionaries and considering his impending demise. In addition, it’s also the most popular song of the album and I don’t see why we should have to wait too long to hear it.

I felt like Death And All His Friendsshould naturally follow, as this is directly from the title. But not only that, it really answers the question for the album. Life or Death? By the end of the song, it’s clear which side this album chooses. And while it returns again and again to the idea of death, it is filled with the love of life and love itself which permeates the album. It’s an incredibly uplifting message with an energy that is then contrasted by the acoustic version of Lost, called Lost?. There are three versions,Lost!, Lost? and Lost+. This acoustic version is the best, with Chris’ bittersweet lyrics tearing away at your heart over a soft piano acompaniment. It’s one of my favorite tracks from the album, although it technically didn’t make it to the album, only to the Lost!EP anda few special releases. The version that did make it to the album, Lost!seems to be a collaboration between Coldplay and Timbaland. It’s on my album at number 15 because it works in a different way to the acoustic version. That leaves one version left, Lost+featuring Jay-Z. You will notice it is missing from my album. If I wasn’t the kind to keep full albums for the sake of it, it would be missing from my computer and iPod as well. I say this as a fan of Jay-Z, but there should never be any Jay-Z on any Coldplay album. More than that, no rapping. I know that Jay probably wanted to prove that he can rap off anything and mark it on the wall as another thing that he’s been in, but it’s just wrong, wrong, wrong. Yeah, Jay-Z you can tryto rap off anything, but in doing so you spoil an awesome song with your god-awful tone. I mean, really? In a song by Coldplay you have to bring up Biggie, Pac and niggaz suing you? Really? As a rap, the idea of success coming back to bite could be poignant in that context. But in this song Jay, your ugly words suck. Hard.

Phew! I had been holding that in for quite some time. Let’s move on.

Prospekts March

An important theme that I had going through the album was what I think is the trilogy: The Escapist and Life in Technicolor I & II. It’s actually like two pieces of music in three songs. LIT Iis the bridge from one to the other. As a result, I’ve spaced them at the start, middle and end of the album as the themes flow from one to the next. LIT IIfinishes the album with an uplifting reprise to the theme at the end of LIT I,this time with lyrics. I couldn’t have the album end any other way.

One other thing I did was to split up Lovers In Japanand Reign of Love, which were originally put together as one track on the album (for what reason I have no idea). I find it incredibly annoying to have to fast-forward to find a song I like and don’t see any benefit to joining titularly when they aren’t joined musically or chronically. Also on the album was another song after Yes. I wasn’t keen on this, so it got dropped. No apologies.

As for the rest of the album, you can discover it for yourself and figure out my motives behind their ordering. One final thing that I will say though is that the piece of piano at the end of Violet Hillis perhaps the most beautiful thing that Chris Martin has ever written. I have listened to that piece of music over and over and over and over. I have blogged about it before. Chris, if you ever read this, whatever inspired you to write that, just let it out and make a whole album of it.

For the rest of you, enjoy hours of audio ecxtasy!