cult film freak: steve coogan

Showing posts with label steve coogan. Show all posts

Written by James M. Tate / 6/14/2015 / No comments / 2015 , cable , kathryn hahn , steve coogan

BREAKING ICE WITH HAPPYISH EPISODE 8

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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLusdVMvoOVJV23H3Dq3Yv5iZA7jM2gZsYoRIrtet-MdRw-FHEpkNVm8rL7ZunNoFJgMxcgt8m6uEZ7I9NGv8EPDP0-OyWAR-JQXQjNZA0tJFLsKwkVx_yjaFHY604M9LijOlYdIKTANM/s1600/0.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLusdVMvoOVJV23H3Dq3Yv5iZA7jM2gZsYoRIrtet-MdRw-FHEpkNVm8rL7ZunNoFJgMxcgt8m6uEZ7I9NGv8EPDP0-OyWAR-JQXQjNZA0tJFLsKwkVx_yjaFHY604M9LijOlYdIKTANM/s1600/0.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">E8 Grade: C-</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">When a show’s been on for a little while, the conversation/dialogue seems more like eavesdropping than a stage play catered to win over the audience… In other words, you're more listening than being spoken to...</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja-XpnLme0dWrVNvXHPEqKSPFf_FRVlv-hvSPccsJSJ2GuING8JvWaAJ15NpqsStfk9cj0nXQ8IPCUIKyG4mYT5VK2xKmbOKuEfPN3XAY7H1lqIH6WskuCP1e6_5bqgdAuWfH-MCzjCA4/s1600/1.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja-XpnLme0dWrVNvXHPEqKSPFf_FRVlv-hvSPccsJSJ2GuING8JvWaAJ15NpqsStfk9cj0nXQ8IPCUIKyG4mYT5VK2xKmbOKuEfPN3XAY7H1lqIH6WskuCP1e6_5bqgdAuWfH-MCzjCA4/s1600/1.png" /></span></a><span style="font-size: large;">So whether or not HAPPYISH, starring Steve Coogan as Thom Payne and his equally-frustrated wife Kathryn Hahn as Lee, is comfortable enough in its own shoes to keep a steady pace without overselling loads of snarky pessimism... well so far, after eight episodes, still isn’t clear… It’s like eavesdropping on someone else’s favorite play, and this week deals with Lee abhorring the popular Disney musical, FROZEN, shedding light on how parents have to weather this misleadingly optimistic parade that only honest adults can rain on: by either complaining in another room, or smoking loads of pot outside… Which Lee does, both, and that’s pretty much that other than Thom at the ad agency disliking some kind of kitschy think tank room… And what better to counterbalance wife’s Disney hatred than a porn star providing a forth-wall-breaking narration at husband's work, which hardly relates to anything relevant or entertaining: Thus Episode 8, titled “Starring Rene Descartes, Adweek and HRH the Princess of Arendelle" sort of remains in neutral with one foot orbiting the brakes, and yet, there's a feeling both characters want to be, at this point, on a steady cruise control... but it just ain't happenin', yet.  </span>

2015, cable, kathryn hahn, steve coogan

BREAKING ICE WITH HAPPYISH EPISODE 8

E8 Grade: C- When a show’s been on for a little while, the conversation/dialogue seems more like eavesdropping than a stage play catered...

Written by James M. Tate / 6/08/2015 / No comments / cable , kathryn hahn , steve coogan

STROLLING WITH EPISODE SEVEN OF HAPPYISH

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">E7 Grade: C+</td></tr>
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“Starring Daniel Ogilvy, Anton Chekov and Gluten Enteropathy” is an eclectic title that hardly means a thing, beginning with the subject of what every episode should be named after; and after yet another shot at the reliable Jesus Scapegoat, we venture into one of the more Outside the Box episodes of an overly claustrophobic study of a neurotic New York couple who have problems with just about every concept. It’s to the point where main character Thom Payne, played by Steve Coogan, is so sarcastic it’s difficult to tell if and when (and why on Earth) he’s genuinely perturbed.  <br />
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Technically, there are several things for his character, an Ad Man in the modern era, to complain about – but as the old saying goes, “We should only have your problems.” Many out there wouldn’t be repulsed while working with director Rob Reiner, even if his commercial idea sucks worse than NORTH. So trying to sympathize with Thom is like imagining the bedroom Jacuzzi not completely warm when you get home from an afternoon stroll. Meanwhile, Thom’s wife Lee is once again trying to keep their son content at school, and, realizing he’s smarter than a whip, she cracks more smiles than we’ve seen thus far… Giving Episode 7 a brighter outlook than usual, and the characters seem like they’re actually going somewhere... or that they really want to.

cable, kathryn hahn, steve coogan

STROLLING WITH EPISODE SEVEN OF HAPPYISH

E7 Grade: C+ “Starring Daniel Ogilvy, Anton Chekov and Gluten Enteropathy” is an eclectic title that hardly means a thing, beginning wit...

Written by James M. Tate / 5/31/2015 / No comments / 2015 , cable , kathryn hahn , steve coogan

REVIEW OF THE SIXTH EPISODE OF HAPPYISH

2015, cable, kathryn hahn, steve coogan

REVIEW OF THE SIXTH EPISODE OF HAPPYISH

E6 Grade: D Like the Prince of Egypt crossing the long hot desert, the sixth episode of Showtime's HAPPYISH titled "Moses, Hele...

Written by James M. Tate / 5/17/2015 / No comments / 2015 , cable , steve coogan

HAPPYISH EPISODE 4 SHARES A COKE WITH MAD MEN

2015, cable, steve coogan

HAPPYISH EPISODE 4 SHARES A COKE WITH MAD MEN

E4 Grade: D The corny yet catchy commercial jingle that some of us grew up on, "I'd like to buy the world a Coke," where a...

Written by James M. Tate / 5/10/2015 / No comments / 2015 , cable , steve coogan

GLIMPSE INTO THE THIRD EPISODE OF HAPPYISH

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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpiJ7UFgis0HuHw8BqJAhba8YqoQkD_KVVt4zMmdwSV5aY7mOsKLCtvT1ajy7bO5ZFxKUjyYpS8CocMChwn8bg_O91nzHaqoJ79B4KgwrmLVKdqtOk6AjmAJJvCysxlTFc1QFh49Otvr0/s1600/image_background_129.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpiJ7UFgis0HuHw8BqJAhba8YqoQkD_KVVt4zMmdwSV5aY7mOsKLCtvT1ajy7bO5ZFxKUjyYpS8CocMChwn8bg_O91nzHaqoJ79B4KgwrmLVKdqtOk6AjmAJJvCysxlTFc1QFh49Otvr0/s320/image_background_129.jpg" width="135" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">E3 Grade: C</td></tr>
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Not long ago, a short little movie on You Tube got a lot of religious people miffed, and a few important Americans had to apologize – profusely!<br />
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Well thank goodness, no apologies are needed in <i>this</i> country: as the pop culture loathed Christian God and Jesus get pummeled literally to death in this week’s HAPPYISH starring Steve Coogan as an ad man who, with a very sick son and a curse of being perpetually Catholic, gives the Big G the middle finger and can’t stop… protesting way too much…<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgofsz83ohgrP0d06oJl9O-yD-OKiS55pkYAKkOJdte1k0i964zwnBXhoWmvYzrNtM0P-PTfUcgkh6Y5BP34ojhACpKPAUYgvksZZ0vuqq3MoEKDNcaCPEWGyf6bCK8VbwKdXYoH9P8FN0/s1600/Picture+1.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgofsz83ohgrP0d06oJl9O-yD-OKiS55pkYAKkOJdte1k0i964zwnBXhoWmvYzrNtM0P-PTfUcgkh6Y5BP34ojhACpKPAUYgvksZZ0vuqq3MoEKDNcaCPEWGyf6bCK8VbwKdXYoH9P8FN0/s320/Picture+1.png" width="147" /></a>Though most of the third episode, titled "Starring Vladimir Nabokov, Hippocrates and God" remains in the ad office where the group's about to lose a big client… An insurance company wanting to be more like Geico and the other funny commercials. At one point, as the cute Geico Gecko is stalking the brooding, miserable Coogan, the little green guy says, "It's only tragedy if you don't see the comedy.” Which can sum up this particular episode, and the entire HAPPYISH series thus far: It's not funny, on purpose, which seems intentional... or something.  <br />
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What’s really needed are a few characters not so similar to the main man, sounding as if Woody Allen were channeling through MAD MEN Don Draper, in a vacuum. Without some kind of counterbalance, he's way too lazy and comfortable in his own shared... MISERY. Speaking of... Special guest star Rob Reiner, pretentiously rehearse-directing a bad commercial, looks surprisingly fit. Yet even his nostalgic energy can't bring the level higher than lethargically mediocre, at best.

2015, cable, steve coogan