Adult Swim
- lacritfan
- Life is one big kevyip
- Joined: Wed Dec 05, 2007 6:39 pm
- Location: Los Angeles
Re: Adult Swim
Mike Tyson Mysteries is my favorite new show. Take Scooby-Doo's animation style (and Mystery Machine) and replace the gang with Tyson's fictional adopted daughter Yung Hee, the ghost of the Marquess of Queensberry (voiced by an accent-free Jim Rash), Norm Macdonald basically playing himself (but as a pigeon named Pigeon) and of course Iron Mike as himself in all his childlike naivety/stupidity and you have fifteen minutes chock full of surreal, deadpan WTF. Mike knocks out Garry Kasparov, Robert Redford and Elon Musk. The gang try to help Cormac McCarthy finish his novel. Mike calls his car insurance to tell them he's killed another astronaut (Richard Branson) in a fender bender on the moon with the abandoned moon car. And every episode ends with the real life Mike doing a soundbite.
- Cold Bishop
- Joined: Tue May 30, 2006 9:45 pm
- Location: Portland, OR
Re: Adult Swim
I didn't even know this existed. Any other new shows? (I keep hearing about Mr. Pickles also.)
- sir_luke
- Joined: Sun Nov 03, 2013 9:55 pm
Re: Adult Swim
After all the talk about Too Many Cooks (which I thought was funny, but not as effectively unsettling as some made it out to be), I was surprised to see that no one had remarked on the follow-up infomercial Unedited Footage of a Bear, which is more of a "funny concept" than "funny short," but it becomes genuinely creepy by the end. It's even more bizarre if you elect to click on the pop-up (but I recommend you do this after you watch the full video once). Most of you have probably already seen this... I saw it once and didn't think much of it, but my friend and I did some exploring tonight and found quite a bit to marvel at. Have fun!
- Mr Sausage
- Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 9:02 pm
- Location: Canada
Re: Adult Swim
Far from funny, I found it one of the most terrifying evocations of mental illness and its effects on others I've ever seen.
- sir_luke
- Joined: Sun Nov 03, 2013 9:55 pm
Re: Adult Swim
Of course, I absolutely agree. I wasn't very eloquent at 2:00am, but I meant to say that while the concept of digging below the surface of the idyllic appearance of medication commercials is "funny" the execution here is anything but. It's horrifying and heartbreaking in equal measure and one of the most masterfully made short film I've seen in a long time.Mr Sausage wrote:Far from funny, I found it one of the most terrifying evocations of mental illness and its effects on others I've ever seen.
- Murdoch
- Joined: Sun Apr 20, 2008 11:59 pm
- Location: Upstate NY
Re: Adult Swim
I watched it with some friends and we all moved a little bit back from the TV when the woman is attacked. Whoever shot that scene really knew how to unsettle the viewer as much as possible. The way the deranged character just launched herself at the woman shook me to the core. It is definitely the most disturbing film I've seen in quite some time. And I agree, Sausage, regarding the mental illness aspect, especially the erratic behavior. I never thought it'd happen but AS has made a film that will likely remain on my top ten for 2015. What a devastating ten minutes that was.
- colinr0380
- Joined: Mon Nov 08, 2004 4:30 pm
- Location: Chapel-en-le-Frith, Derbyshire, UK
Re: Adult Swim
No Werner Herzog narration over the bear = no sale
Actually I did watch it, and I particularly liked the little pop up ads throughout, particularly "see our advert in Tables and Chairs magazine"! And I liked the implicit criticism of the piece that the 'happy you' is a creation of a combination of advertising spiel and the short term effects of the drug, both completely unrealistic in raising expectations and designed to make you keep consuming rather than solve your problems.
They drain the colour from everything else and make the mood swings even more severe. I think perhaps the most devastating section isn't the later parts of the video when everything gets extreme but simply when the commerical narration drops out and the lady is just left driving the car. Suddenly the direction is gone, the purpose to being there has disappeared and she is just left doing mundane daily tasks. Although it appears that she forgot her kids back at the park!
I'm not great at keeping up with these shorts, so I'm glad that you mentioned it sir_luke! This, perhaps more than Too Many Cooks, feels as if it is taking a cue from that darkly comic and disturbing Chris Morris Jam series, maybe mixed in with the Julianne Moore scenes from The Hours!
Actually I did watch it, and I particularly liked the little pop up ads throughout, particularly "see our advert in Tables and Chairs magazine"! And I liked the implicit criticism of the piece that the 'happy you' is a creation of a combination of advertising spiel and the short term effects of the drug, both completely unrealistic in raising expectations and designed to make you keep consuming rather than solve your problems.
They drain the colour from everything else and make the mood swings even more severe. I think perhaps the most devastating section isn't the later parts of the video when everything gets extreme but simply when the commerical narration drops out and the lady is just left driving the car. Suddenly the direction is gone, the purpose to being there has disappeared and she is just left doing mundane daily tasks. Although it appears that she forgot her kids back at the park!
I'm not great at keeping up with these shorts, so I'm glad that you mentioned it sir_luke! This, perhaps more than Too Many Cooks, feels as if it is taking a cue from that darkly comic and disturbing Chris Morris Jam series, maybe mixed in with the Julianne Moore scenes from The Hours!
Last edited by colinr0380 on Sun Feb 15, 2015 9:54 am, edited 2 times in total.
- tenia
- Ask Me About My Bassoon
- Joined: Wed Apr 29, 2009 11:13 am
Re: Adult Swim
There's something absolutely heart-breaking in the crescendo of those small characters details. It starts quite light, but the further it goes, the more disturbing they get. Halfway through, you get a line for a free trial, but also quite "perverse" wording such as "Claridryl is meant to help relieve the frequency and severity of symptoms caused by the intake of Claridryl" and "the risks of Claridryl should be weighed against the benefit of its use".colinr0380 wrote:I particularly liked the little pop up aps throughout
That's quite a direct charge against this type of pharmaceuticals and the people who prescribes them. It's not the benefit which has to be weighed against the risks but the opposite. It's full of very serious counter-indications but hey, click it to try it for free.
The pop up ad on You Tube is as disturbing as the short itself, which its page getting blurry, shaky or the text about the negative effects suddenly reversing so you can't read it anymore.
My favourite small-characters line though remains "call your doctor immediately if you have someone's face all over you, as this could become permanent".
Too Many Cooks was completely bonkers in an hysterical way. This is totally different but still incredibly effective. I only knew Adult Swim as a regular TV channel, but now realise that not only they air Robot Chicken, but they also do these marvelous shorts, and also very good smartphone games (fully free and with a good replay value, such as Super Monsters Ate My Condo).
- sir_luke
- Joined: Sun Nov 03, 2013 9:55 pm
Adult Swim
There are plenty of "Easter eggs" on the site, and they all increase the sense of dread and provide you with more questions (try clicking on the house in the background a few times). I recommend leaving the site up for a while and observing the gradual changes. Patience is key, because it takes a long time, but it's absolutely worth exploring.tenia wrote:The pop up ad on You Tube is as disturbing as the short itself, which its page getting blurry, shaky or the text about the negative effects suddenly reversing so you can't read it anymore.
I also like "Claridryl opens doors and is not responsible donna for what lies inside."tenia wrote:My favourite small-characters line though remains "call your doctor immediately if you have someone's face all over you, as this could become permanent."
There is a lot to discover on the site, but rather than being a cheap gimmick or joke, it seems to me that it enhances the experience and makes the events even more significant because you're placed in the middle of it all, and can interact with it (to a surprising extent) from the perspective of Donna herself. Really fascinating and sobering.
- colinr0380
- Joined: Mon Nov 08, 2004 4:30 pm
- Location: Chapel-en-le-Frith, Derbyshire, UK
Re: Adult Swim
I'm currently trapped in that house at the moment. I like that the only way to get to the swing set in the back yard is to go 'through' the mirror in the parent's bedroom.
- kidc85
- Joined: Tue Jul 15, 2008 1:15 pm
Re: Adult Swim
I liked it, very well put together and that there's a space where filmmakers seem to be being given carte blanche to do anything as long as it's surprising is inspiring, but it's still nowhere near as terrifying as watching an actual American pharmaceutical advert. In the UK the only medicine adverts I've seen are for relatively mild, OTC stuff like cold/flu meds or that silly Head On placebo. The first time I saw the whole "Ask your doctor for [mental health-related drug]" schtick was horrifying.
- swo17
- Bloodthirsty Butcher
- Joined: Tue Apr 15, 2008 10:25 am
- Location: SLC, UT
- lacritfan
- Life is one big kevyip
- Joined: Wed Dec 05, 2007 6:39 pm
- Location: Los Angeles
Re: Adult Swim
Was a little disappointed in the first The Jack and Triumph Show. Jack McBrayer is basically Kenneth of 30 Rock all over again except this time he is a former child actor à la the little boy from Lassie. June Squibb was funny but also repeating herself from Nebraska as the foul-mouthed actress who played Jack's mother on the show. Only high point was to see Robert Smigel/Triumph's insults.
Show redeemed itself in the second episode making fun of hipsters ("you Mumford sonofabitch") and civet coffee. If more guests like Paul Rudd show up to graciously be humiliated by Triumph I'll be all in ("I never thought I would see you here. I never thought I would see you again now that Chris Pratt exists").
Show redeemed itself in the second episode making fun of hipsters ("you Mumford sonofabitch") and civet coffee. If more guests like Paul Rudd show up to graciously be humiliated by Triumph I'll be all in ("I never thought I would see you here. I never thought I would see you again now that Chris Pratt exists").
- Drucker
- Your Future our Drucker
- Joined: Wed May 18, 2011 9:37 am
Re: Adult Swim
Does Jack McBrayer have any other character? He's basically that character in Forgetting Sarah Marshall to a degree, as well.
- colinr0380
- Joined: Mon Nov 08, 2004 4:30 pm
- Location: Chapel-en-le-Frith, Derbyshire, UK
Re: Adult Swim
I'm a bit late in noting this as it has been up since March but I've only just run across the latest Alan Resnick piece after Unedited Footage of a Bear: This House Has People In It. Similarly to the previous piece there are additional features beyond the video itself in the form of an associated website and a further video of the show that was playing on the TV, but at least according to some videos exploring the piece there are apparently lots more videos hidden away on the fake website itself. Its all a bit mind boggling!
- Gregory
- Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 4:07 pm
Re: Adult Swim
The fifth and final season of Samurai Jack is going to be darker and more violent than the show's earlier run, but asterisk-style dog buttholes are verboten.Adult Swim wrote:No dog anuses on Adult Swim
- colinr0380
- Joined: Mon Nov 08, 2004 4:30 pm
- Location: Chapel-en-le-Frith, Derbyshire, UK
Re: Adult Swim
I'm cross posting it with the video game thread but at this year's E3 conference Devolver Digital (who handle a lot of Adult Swim's video game content) had a "big fancy press conference" (NSFW) that satirised all of the other E3 style press conferences surrounding it! Microtransactions and ill-timed crowd whoops getting brutally put down, the incredibly over intense host (who I like to imagine is channelling Jessica Chastain's performance in Miss Sloane), early access and new methods of interactivity, very little is left standing at the end of the show. When Suda51 is the voice of reason, things have gone too far!
- dwk
- Joined: Sat Jun 12, 2010 6:10 pm
Re: Adult Swim
Funny, they had no problem with Samurai Jack having this alienGregory wrote:The fifth and final season of Samurai Jack is going to be darker and more violent than the show's earlier run, but asterisk-style dog buttholes are verboten.Adult Swim wrote:No dog anuses on Adult Swim
- colinr0380
- Joined: Mon Nov 08, 2004 4:30 pm
- Location: Chapel-en-le-Frith, Derbyshire, UK
Re: Adult Swim
It came out last November but I have just noticed the latest piece by Alan Resnick (Unedited Footage of a Bear, This House Has People In It) continuing the Lynchian nightmare themes of wonky families in suburban homes: May I Please Enter?
- colinr0380
- Joined: Mon Nov 08, 2004 4:30 pm
- Location: Chapel-en-le-Frith, Derbyshire, UK
Re: Adult Swim
I'm in danger of turning this into the Alan Resnick thread rather than the general Adult Swim one, but Live Forever As You Are Now, from 2013, is a great cracked mixture of infomercial and Steve Jobs that I could see playing to a lonely housewife in a Darren Aronofsky film.