Jason Schwartzman | pinartarhan.com

Bored to Death starring Ted Danson, Jason Schwartzman and Zach Galifianakis — Bored to Death starring Jason Schwartzman, Ted Danson and Zach Galifianakis. 2009. Created by Jonathan Ames. Image via daemonstv.com

Jonathan Ames (Jason Schwartzman) is a writer who keeps talking about writing his second novel but he has not quite gotten around to it. He also occasionally writes for a magazine where he is good friends with his boss, George Christopher (Ted Danson). They hang out and even smoke pot together. And it is because Jonathan loves smoking pot and drinking white wine a little too much that his girlfriend Suzanne (Olivia Thirlby) moves out…

Jonathan’s best friend is Ray (Zach Galifianakis), a not-so-employed comic book creator. Ray has a girlfriend, Leah (Heather Burns), who has two kids of her own and his biggest problem is that they haven’t had sex for a couple of weeks. And even though Ray is probably not the most rational person around, he does find Jonathan’s new “job” insane.

Trying to cope with Suzanne leaving, Jonathan posts on Craiglist, saying that he is not a licensed, yet affordable and capable private detective. And he soon finds his first client…

This is a comedy series from HBO and even though it is not as daring as Sex and The City or True Blood, it is quite an entertaining show. I didn’t use to like Jason Schwartzman as he had made a habit of playing annoying parts; but here he is perfect as Jonathan and with all his flaws, Jonathan is a likeable character. Ray is more amusing than hilarious but it works. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that Ray is played by Zach Galifianakis ,who you do remember from The Hangover where he plays Alan, the weirdest of the bunch. I just want to laugh as soon as I see his face.

Ted Danson is a charming actor who fits both comedy and drama equally well and his George is an original, interesting and often entertaining character.

This is not a sitcom and not exactly a laugh-out-loud comedy but each episode gets more entertaining and fun to watch. Episode 2 is definitely funnier than episode 1 and having seen 3 episodes so far, 3 is my favorite.

The show is created by Jonathan Ames who has named the leading character after himself. So I am guessing there is some relation to his real life. The first season only has 8 episodes but the show will be back for season 2. Bored to Death is a really refreshing and sweet show for both men and women.

Fun note: In episode 2, the client that hires Jonathan is played by Saturday Night Live’s Kristen Wiig and in episode 3, the movie Broken Flowers’s writer/director Jim Jarmusch makes a guest appearance as himself.

Give this refreshing show a shot. Rated at 8.3 on IMDB.

Real Jonathan Ames and Jason Jason Schwartzman.

Funny People with Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen, Leslie Mann and Eric Bana

I was really looking forward to this movie. I had seen the trailer and I thought : “Cool! We are going to watch a half-funny, half- dramatic film!” Well the movie was a little dramatic and a little funny but that’s all. And that can’t really get you through 153 minutes (146, if it is not unrated). I am not saying it was all bad, but there were so many unnecessary scenes and so many useless lines- it just doesn’t work.

So George Simmons (Adam Sandler) is a successful, highly popular and very rich comedic actor. He has come a long way from stand-up comics. He doesn’t have a problem picking women and all looks fine for him-until he goes to the doctor’s and finds out he is terminally ill. He examines his life. He realizes he has screwed up when he ruined things with the love of his life, Laura (Leslie Mann). Laura left George when he cheated on her and went on to marry an Australian called Clarke (Eric Bana) who apparently cheats on her too. But she has two kids with him…

George doesn’t have any real friends either. When he goes back to the stage for live comedy (probably for nostalgic reasons), he meets a clumsy,not-so-funny Ira and for some reason decides to have him work for him. Ira is ecstatic- he is writing jokes and assisting his favorite funny man.

Ira has two close friends: Leo (Jonah Hill) a comic a little funnier (supposedly) than him and Mark (Jason Schwartzman) who plays in a sitcom that Ira can’t really stand to watch.

So the movie concentrates on relationships and trusts the dialogs: Between George and Ira, Ira and his buddies, Ira and Laura and later on my favorite : when Clarke comes from a business trip to find George and Ira at home with his wife and kids.

There are things I like about the movie, I can’t say I despised it. Let me write down the likes first:

Likes:

+ Eric Bana: Don’t tell me it is because he looks good because he doesn’t , not here. But he is a good actor and his role & over-the-top Australian accent is funny. He is a real Aussie but that’s not how he actually speaks…And there were some good jokes that came from Ira about why they shouldn’t mess with him.

+ Seth Rogen: I normally don’t like him. I despised his character in Knocked-Up, he just wasn’t funny. But in this movie, he is the only character that is well…humane and at least slightly likable. With all his failures and good intentions, he was fun to watch. He has also some funny takes on who makes it successful in life. And Ira’s stand-up scenes at least one or two funny moments.

Dislikes:

– Leslie Mann’s Laura: She was fine and likable at first but later she just got…OK, so she can forgive a cheater ex (Adam Sandler) because he is dying. Fair enough. But then he gets better and she suddenly acts like he is the one that got away and her husband is an asshole..and..yeah the problem is Clarke isn’t actually that big an asshole, he is certainly not worse than George. So you sympathize with…no one, really! Ira is OK but then he really acts like a crybaby most of the time and you just want him to tell George to stick it.

-The Brat Pack: I don’t have anything against Brat Packs or crude comedy- as long as the combination works. I like the group of Will Ferrell, Vince Vaughn and Luke Wilson and well, I adore Old School. But if you are going to throw in lots of swearing and abrasive language, please make sure it is funny!

-The stand-up acts: The movie involves so many scenes with them. It just slows the movie down. Really slows it down, because they are just not funny 99% of the time.

– Duration : You really shouldn’t have a story pretending to be profound for 153 minutes, when you could have a much more effective and much funnier story told in 90 minutes! I thought it was ironic. In one scene Laura tells George to cut the swearing and he jokes that then he wouldn’t have a third act. I wish Leslie Mann had told the same thing to real life husband Judd Apatow. Yes, brat pack and family members….Ouch!

In wish I had known the movie was Judd Apatow’s and his brat pack’s.His movie making is just my style. I can’t say I didn’t enjoy 40-year-old virgin, the movie had a lot of funny moments. But I was really bored during Knocked Up. It wasn’t funny, I didn’t like any of the characters and if a comedy doesn’t make you laugh, you feel bad. I have nothing against Sandler- I actually really like some of his movies, like The Wedding Singer, Big Daddy, The Longest Yard and Anger Management. But the elements in the movies just don’t work. Indiviudally, Bana,Sandler and Rogen are good. The idea of the story is fine. Cameos are fun. But..that’s pretty much it. And it certainly didn’t help that I watched this movie on the same day I watched Hangover. The Hangover is my next post- it is directed by the Old School director Todd Philips. And it is a perfect example of how you can be crass and funny without being boring and irrelevant.

Other Movies feat. Jonah Hill

The Invention of Lying

Forgetting Sarah Marshall