So I saw The Hangover this weekend and, in short, it’s really really funny. I laughed many many times. However, the funniest part of the movie was the 65 year-old woman who was sitting in front of my brother and me and fell asleep and started snoring and got slapped awake by her friend.
The Lankster believes The Hangover might be the funniest film of all time. I don’t agree, but it definitely has as many laughs per minute as any movie in the last couple years. And there were a lot of lines I missed because everyone was laughing so loud, so it could be even funnier than I am currently aware of.
The thing that keeps it down a notch in my book is that the script seems like a couple of dudes had a concept, and then just got drunk and sat around coming up with a bunch of random shit that could happen to the characters. Fair enough, because, as I mentioned above, it made me laugh quite a bit. And I’m still quoting it, yada yada yada. But the story doesn’t really work toward anything worth taking away from it. There isn’t a cohesive whole. That doesn’t keep it from being funny; it just keeps it from ranking up there with films like Superbad or The 40 Year-Old Virgin, to name a couple recent Apatow-Universe instant classics.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying a comedy needs to have a moral to the story, or people have to make big changes in their life, etc. For me, it just elevates the funny moments and makes the film more memorable if I feel there’s something whole there, and not just a collection of funny moments. Even when those moments come in great quantity, such as in The Hangover.
One thing this movie does have going for it that most others don’t is Zach Galifianakis. He was about 94.3% of the reason I was excited to see the movie and hopefully now he’ll become a household name. Or, at least, a more common dorm room name. Though, I’m not sure he would really want the celebrity. Point is, he’s one of the funniest and most interesting entertainers around today and it would be a shame for you not to be well-acquainted with his stuff.
SO…here is an absolute barrage of ZG material for your face. Needless to say, this stuff is not appropriate for children or most places of work. Or a dog kennel.
Here’s a segment from his Live at the Purple Onion DVD, which, by the way, is totally worth your 60 minutes and $15….
Zach doing some characters, from the same DVD…
From the Comedians of Comedy documentary, one of my favorite Zach moments. Seriously, watch this whole thing…
Berating an audience member at the good ole’ Cat’s Cradle in Carrboro…
For some reason, Absolut Vodka thought it would be a good idea to hire Zach to do an ad campaign. He agreed, but only if they gave him money up front and then let him do whatever the hell he wanted with it. Here’s part one of the resulting three-part series of “ads”…
Zach on The Michael Showalter Showalter. Showalter is another person whose comedy you should be terribly interested in…
Zach interviewing Michael Cera on his show, Between Two Ferns. Which takes place between two ferns…
Here’s his twin brother Seth on Kimmel…
And, finally, awesomely, Zach and Will “Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy” Oldham’s video for Kanye West’s “Can’t Tell Me Nothin'”…
Your welcome.
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