Napoleon Rises Again

[Polk-Ey]

I have just come from one of the most enjoyable movie experiences I can remember. Just last night my brother threw on a movie called Napoleon Dynamite(maybe you've heard of it??) I can remember the trailers for this movie and figured it it looked different kinda like a Slums of beverly Hills type movie, and it was in a way..but this movie was FUNNY! The shit this guy deals wioth throughout the movie is exactly some of the things people in my highschool went through..even made me feel bad for doing some of it. But if you want a funny but very and I stress VERY sterile comedy, pick this one up and give it a shot..If you hate it..I give you guys full permission to bash my feelings on here since some of you may have been that poor soul in high school.

[George Bellefontaine]

Thanks, I'll keep an eye open for it.

[Chris D]

Well, I for one really did NOT like this movie. Everybody has their own tastes, and I'd really like to hear what the movie's fans like, so I can figure out what I'm missing here! It had it's cute parts, and interesting aspects. But I found the whole movie slow and boring, with scenes that made abolutely no sense and had no point.

I kept watching it, though, trying to find aspects of the movie to keep myself engaged and take a liking to. Sure, there's parts that I can identify with, being picked on in school, or being an outsider, or not fitting in, or whatever. There's some love story to identify with. And hey, if nothing else, the soundtrack was EXCELLENT, being all 80's music. The 80's rocked!

But all in all, I really can't see what people are liking in this movie, and can't recommend it to anyone. Not even worth it to rent for me, personally. Sorry!

[Nick M]

Rented it.

This movie had some great characters in it. Reminded me a little of The Royal Tenenbaums, but not on the same level of art or intellect.

It was still very funny, and I intend to buy it.

:3: out of :5:

"Tots! Idiots! Gawwwwwwd!" :lol:

[Alloroc]

I watched this movie last night and I really enjoyed it. I have always been fond of decent slacker/geek movies and this one was a very good effort. Sort of John Hughes crossed with Jim Jarmusch. Teen angst, awkwardness and irritability against a backdrop of the bleakness of real world American rural life. In other words, it's not slick 'Smallville' rural, with lots of hunky guys and hot girls, in fact the hottest girl in the school for example works as a checkout girl at the local thrift supermarket and not portrayed as a pampered little princess as is the norm in teen movies. She does date a jock bully tho'!

Apparently it was all filmed on location at the Director's home town in Idaho.
Each scene is slow but naturally paced and the movie seems to end too soon. The movie is devoid of the usual Hollywood slickness one comes to expect from a teen movie.

Our protagonist is anti-hero, lacking all social grace and skill and could be considered pathetic. With that said, I found myself rooting for him, as he struggles along with his Uncle, his truly pathetic brother Kip(a brilliant character), the various bullies and buttheads in school and the various members of the opposite sex that cross his path. The plot is not the source of humour in this movie - it's the vivid awkwardness and humiliation that make this movie so likeable and uncomfortably funny. Unless you ran with the cool crowd in school, of course. :W

The music was cool and as mentioned has an 80's flavour. However, it's obviously set later 00's or the late nineties at least - computers, on-line dating, the Jamiroquai track and so on. :T

Two thumbs up from me, Fonzie style.

[Nick M]

I ended up picking this up at Walmart with one of the gift cards someone gave me for christmas. It was definetly fun for me. I loved, "Do the chickens have talons?"... HA! :lol:

[dyazdani]

I bought the DVD the day it came out.

I also have a talking Napolean statue in my office (yes, at work) and a talking Napolean pen. The statue say 18 things, the pen says 7. :T

Needless to say, I loved the movie...

[David Meek]

Maybe it's a generational-thing? I'm 100% in agreement with Chris on this one - I just don't get it. Yes, there were moments but overall it just didn't work for me. My daughter and her friends LOVE it and watched the DVD several times while they were up here on vacation.

[Shane Martin]

Personally I laughed my a$$ off alot during this film. I love quirky comedies though.

The SE is due out in May. Therefore no reason for me to buy the current edition.

[Alloroc]

Maybe it's a generational-thing?

Thing is tho', we were all teenagers struggling to find our place in the world.

We all pretty much went throught the same thing. Well, maybe not the same thing Napoleon did in his wierd universe, but you get my point. On a side note, Napoleon used dungeons and dragons fantasy fighting skills to measure where he migh slot in with the rest of humanity. That made me laugh uncomfortably ops:

I'm 35 btw... a "young fogey" in many ways but there's a 12 year old alive and well right inside. Perhaps that why I get a film like that!

[P-Dub]

Hmm, I'll have to lookup this movie and see for myself. I have seen many references to Napoleon Dynamite on other boards so it will be interesting to see.

[wkhanna]

I knew it was a bit of 'cult' film for kids recently, but never considered renting it. One night my daughter pulled out her disc and she, my wife and I watched it out of lack for any other entertainment.

I was pleasantly surprised. I almost fell on the floor from laughing so hard when the farmers shot the cow as the kids went by in school bus.

Considering its independent (read very frugal) production, and believable social interactions of adolescents, I thought it was just a wonderful movie

[Shane Martin]

Wk,
That part made me bust a gut.

[Nick M]

Did you all watch the wedding at the end of the film? My sister told me to wait until all the credits went through, which I didn't do until a month ago. There is a 5min clip that is gut-busting. :roflmao:

[audioqueso]

Did you all watch the wedding at the end of the film? My sister told me to wait until all the credits went through, which I didn't do until a month ago. There is a 5min clip that is gut-busting. :roflmao:

That was the best part! All of my friends told me to watch the movie, and when I did, I told them that I loved that part, and no one had watched that special clip. "Always and forever!" lol

[audioqueso]

Well, I for one really did NOT like this movie. Everybody has their own tastes, and I'd really like to hear what the movie's fans like, so I can figure out what I'm missing here!

It's one of those movies that the more you watch, the more you laugh.

[wkhanna]

Originally Posted by Chris D
Well, I for one really did NOT like this movie. Everybody has their own tastes, and I'd really like to hear what the movie's fans like, so I can figure out what I'm missing here!

Well Chris,

Maybe it’s like Sinfield was to me. Many people thought it was the funniest thing ever put on TV. I personally never got it. Everybody said ‘it’s about nothing, that’s what makes it so funny’.

Well, Napoleon is about ‘nothing’, but unlike Sinfield, in a believable and realistic way to me, and that is what I appreciated about it. I found it easy to identify with many of the circumstances these kids dealt with. Movies like this remind me not to take life so seriously all the time.

Shane, it's good to know I'm not only one here with a warped sense of humor.

Nicholas, if my daughter hadn't been there to tell us, we would have missed it too!

[Shane Martin]

Wk,
Oddly I also felt Seinfield did nothing for me.

Our sense of humor is very much alike...so far.

[David Meek]

Ditto on Seinfeld for me. I tried and tried, but just couldn't make the connection.

[Burke Strickland]

The TV show "Seinfeld" was about self-absorbed people doing stupid things. It was annoying, not funny.

Burke

[ahcryky]

What's with all the Seinfeld bashing........ this is supposed to be a thread about Napolean isn't it? Everyone has a different sense of humor, but come on......... you're talking about a t.v. show that was nominated and won tons of awards. Not to mention one of the highest rated syndicated shows of all time. Napolean is a funny movie, I own it, but I'm not going to try to compare it to Seinfeld.

-jim

[Burke Strickland]

you're talking about a t.v. show that was nominated and won tons of awards. Not to mention one of the highest rated syndicated shows of all time.

And McDonalds has sold more hamburgers than anyone else in the world. Being really popular doesn't necessarily mean being really good. That's "what's with all the Seinfeld bashing".

Pardon me while I digress for another moment, but the widespread praise for Seinfeld reminds me of the following joke:
A lion and lioness were splashing around in a bathtub and the lioness said: "Please pass the soap". The lion responded: "No soap; radio".
The "hip insider" response -- knee slapping laughter while wondering "what's the point of that?".

We agree that different people have different tastes/senses of humor.

Napolean is a funny movie,...but I'm not going to try to compare it to Seinfeld.

Just as well, because although the two ("Napolean Dynamite" and "Seinfeld") have been described in very similar terms, some people who did not find "Seinfeld" funny are rolling on the floor with "Napolean", or vice versa, while others didn't like either one. So comparing them might help describe how they play out (although they are set in far different places), but it won't help predict how people respond to either one.

So, leaving "Seinfeld" out of it, what did you like about "Napolean"?

Burke

[aud19]

I happened to quite enjoy Seinfeld You just had to laugh at the rediculousness of it all! I haven't seen Napolean yet, but it looks right up my alley :T

[Nick M]

I don't watch much TV, but I have seen some Seinfeld episodes and I found it to be a decent show.

[Burke Strickland]

For what it's worth, "Rotten Tomatoes" shows a "Fresh" rating for "Napolean Dynamite" at 71% (103 "fresh" / favorable reviews vs. 43 "rotten" / not-so-favorable reviews).

Burke

[ahcryky]

For what it's worth, "Rotten Tomatoes" shows a "Fresh" rating for "Napolean Dynamite" at 71% (103 "fresh" / favorable reviews vs. 43 "rotten" / not-so-favorable reviews).

Burke

but popularity doesn't count right?.........

[Chris D]

Well, I think the Rotten Tomatoes site does a good job of summarizing the multitude of reviews out there, and when you get such a mass consensus, the rating does seem to have merit. Overall, I agree with the Rotten Tomatoes ratings, whether a movie is good or bad, although I may have personally rated a "80%" movie as an A-, or a "70%" movie as a D.

[wkhanna]

you're talking about a t.v. show that was nominated and won tons of awards. Not to mention one of the highest rated syndicated shows of all time.
-jim

One of the reasons I visit and on occasion attempt to make worthy contributions to this forum is the fact that most of its active member’s opinions are of out of the 'main stream'. Tastes here tend to be a bit more sophisticated and thoughtful. Hence, what many times is determined by mass media and marketing polls to be 'good' is not necessarily a shared opinion by some of us here. I prefer to avoid the 'lemming factor', just cuz 'they' say it's good doesn’t mean I have to like it.

My intent was not to 'bash' anything or anyone. I was simply using Seinfeld as an example of how peoples taste in comedy can vary.

Time to go now…..I have to take my parrot back to the pet store were I bought it yesterday. Bloody thing’s died.

[Chris D]

Sorry to hear about the parrot, whkanna! I'm sorry to say, that reminds me of the Monty Python sketch with the deceased parrot.

[wkhanna]

Well, the guy at the pet store has assured me it is just sleeping.

Yes Chris, you got my poor attempt at a joke. I promise to leave humor to the professionals from now on!

[Chris D]

Did you check? No, he's not dead. He's resting.

Resting?

He's pining for the fields!

PINING FOR THE FIELDS? Look, mate, I took the liberty of inspecting the parrot when I got home, and discovered the only reasons he's sitting on the bars is that he's been nailed there.

Well of course he's been nailed there. If I hadn't done that, he would have muscled open those bars with his beak, and VOOM!

VOOM? Mate, this parrot wouldn't VOOM if you put 4 million volts through him!

[Alloroc]

Did you check? No, he's not dead. He's resting.

Resting?

He's pining for the fields!

PINING FOR THE FIELDS? Look, mate, I took the liberty of inspecting the parrot when I got home, and discovered the only reasons he's sitting on the bars is that he's been nailed there.

Well of course he's been nailed there. If I hadn't done that, he would have muscled open those bars with his beak, and VOOM!

VOOM? Mate, this parrot wouldn't VOOM if you put 4 million volts through him!

This is a late par... no sorry... late post.....

http://parrot.ytmnd.com/

(let the page load fully!)

[wkhanna]

Tastes here tend to be a bit more sophisticated and thoughtful.

OK.....I guess it is only right and proper that I retract this statement now!!!! LMAO

[Chris D]

OK.....I guess it is only right and proper that I retract this statement now!!!! LMAO

:rofl: Uh, oh... we've revealed our true nerdy side!

[David Meek]

sophisticated and thoughtful....

Uh huh. :fart2:

[Alloroc]

I know we're way off topic now, but since comedy and humour is at the core of this thread I've somethig else to share....

YTMND is a really funny place to waste some time.

This YTMND has to be the funniest, dumbest thing I've seen in ages......

http://ualuealuealeuale.ytmnd.com/

tip : play it loud!

[Burke Strickland]

I'll agree with the "dumb" characterization. However, I've seen a couple of ads recently that make me think the agencies believe their customers are the "dumbest", and I don't think Batman is part of their target demographic. :>) Now if YTMND just had someone who thinks they are Napolean trying to sing along -- that would be Dynamite! :>)

Burke

[Chris D]

Funny.

[FlashJim]

"Your mother goes to college!"

[Saggas]

my 2c worth.
didn't find it funny, couldn't even finish it.