Keepin' it real
August 18, 2015 11:50 AM Subscribe
SNL veterans Seth Meyers, Fred Armisen and Bill Hader have teamed up for "Documentary Now!," a new IFC parody show premiering this Thursday with a send up of "Grey Gardens." IFC says: "Paying homage to everyone from the Maysles to Errol Morris, topics range from guerilla-style filmmakers who vastly underestimate the danger in exposing a drug cartel to a soft rock doc about a Chicago band's rise to fame with their hit album 'Catalina Breeze.'" Episode 2, a Vice parody, is free to watch online now.
Did anyone else feel that? I sense that Parody just died.
posted by blue t-shirt at 12:04 PM on August 18, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by blue t-shirt at 12:04 PM on August 18, 2015 [1 favorite]
...filmmakers who vastly underestimate the danger in exposing a drug cartel to a soft rock doc about a Chicago band's rise to fame...
I'm not sure how anyone could accurately estimate that danger.
posted by Floydd at 12:04 PM on August 18, 2015 [6 favorites]
I'm not sure how anyone could accurately estimate that danger.
posted by Floydd at 12:04 PM on August 18, 2015 [6 favorites]
Yes, I'm picturing the Little River Band awkwardly playing a show in a Mexican warehouse with giant stacks of cash and barrels of acid for corpse disposal. "Everybody put your...hands..together..."
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 12:08 PM on August 18, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 12:08 PM on August 18, 2015 [3 favorites]
"I'm sorry to do this to you, Little River Band, but yacht rock is the only thing that can soothe El Chapo's murderous rage."
posted by jonp72 at 12:18 PM on August 18, 2015 [5 favorites]
posted by jonp72 at 12:18 PM on August 18, 2015 [5 favorites]
"Ever wonder why nobody's heard from Seals OR Crofts recently? Only El Chapo holds the answer."
posted by jonp72 at 12:20 PM on August 18, 2015
posted by jonp72 at 12:20 PM on August 18, 2015
Ah man, I miss the old days when it was Kim Jong Il who kidnapped his pop culture heroes so he could have them all to himself.
posted by Naberius at 12:22 PM on August 18, 2015
posted by Naberius at 12:22 PM on August 18, 2015
Documentary film itself seems to have veered toward self-parody in the last decade, if only due to there being so goddamn many of them that they're becoming progressively more derivative, self-referential, and grasping for subject matter. This seems like the next logical step.
posted by ryanshepard at 12:26 PM on August 18, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by ryanshepard at 12:26 PM on August 18, 2015 [1 favorite]
I saw a preview for this yesterday as a trailer at the local art-house cinema. I thought Bill Hader walking through the streets flat-out asking people if they've seen El Chingon was kind of perfect, but also summed up "The Hunt for El Chingon" so completely that I didn't need to watch any more.
This, by the way, is exactly the same way I felt when seeing the trailer for Dude, Where's My Car? and bits like
posted by cardioid at 12:28 PM on August 18, 2015
This, by the way, is exactly the same way I felt when seeing the trailer for Dude, Where's My Car? and bits like
Jesse: Hey, have you seen my car?
Christie Boner: Well I saw it last night... I saw the backseat.
Jesse: No, I'm talking about the whole thing.
posted by cardioid at 12:28 PM on August 18, 2015
It's hard for me to believe they could keep this going. An occasional one-off parody (e.g. "This is Spinal Tap") can work really well, but doing it as a continuing series? They're bound to get into a rut.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 12:35 PM on August 18, 2015
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 12:35 PM on August 18, 2015
ocumentary film itself seems to have veered toward self-parody in the last decade, if only due to there being so goddamn many of them....
A couple years ago it seemed on Netflix a bunch of people decided that their friends on the local roller derby team were a quirky lot totally worth documenting, completely unaware a couple dozen other aspiring filmmakers all had the same idea at the same time.
posted by sourwookie at 1:01 PM on August 18, 2015
A couple years ago it seemed on Netflix a bunch of people decided that their friends on the local roller derby team were a quirky lot totally worth documenting, completely unaware a couple dozen other aspiring filmmakers all had the same idea at the same time.
posted by sourwookie at 1:01 PM on August 18, 2015
A couple years ago it seemed on Netflix a bunch of people decided that their friends on the local roller derby team were a quirky lot totally worth documenting, completely unaware a couple dozen other aspiring filmmakers all had the same idea at the same time.
There's a documentary I'd like to see - One bold filmmaker chronicling the attempts of three filmmakers, each trying to make a documentary about the same roller derby team.
TM
posted by Joey Michaels at 1:14 PM on August 18, 2015 [4 favorites]
There's a documentary I'd like to see - One bold filmmaker chronicling the attempts of three filmmakers, each trying to make a documentary about the same roller derby team.
TM
posted by Joey Michaels at 1:14 PM on August 18, 2015 [4 favorites]
There's a documentary I'd like to see - One bold filmmaker chronicling the attempts of three filmmakers, each trying to make a documentary about the same roller derby team.
If that one bold filmmaker is Werner Herzog, then you've got something.
posted by rocket88 at 1:20 PM on August 18, 2015 [4 favorites]
If that one bold filmmaker is Werner Herzog, then you've got something.
posted by rocket88 at 1:20 PM on August 18, 2015 [4 favorites]
I'd go for a musical or opera about that one bold filmmaker!
posted by sammyo at 1:35 PM on August 18, 2015
posted by sammyo at 1:35 PM on August 18, 2015
If some slap-dash mockumentary (albeit with decent in-jokes, DN/DN?) is what it takes to save us from the general conception that glossy 10-15 minute tripe is actually documentary, simply by pissing in the pool, I'm all for it.
This ep generally felt like a first-draft, first-take, first-cut.
posted by Jack Karaoke at 1:55 PM on August 18, 2015
This ep generally felt like a first-draft, first-take, first-cut.
posted by Jack Karaoke at 1:55 PM on August 18, 2015
I thought this was great. And Haders gonna Hade.
posted by ColdChef at 2:28 PM on August 18, 2015 [6 favorites]
posted by ColdChef at 2:28 PM on August 18, 2015 [6 favorites]
I thought it was funny enough, and the graphics, promo, and wraparound stuff is really well done. I'll keep watching.
posted by Room 641-A at 2:45 PM on August 18, 2015
posted by Room 641-A at 2:45 PM on August 18, 2015
Oh, oh, it's Gomey! Four stars.
posted by Room 641-A at 2:58 PM on August 18, 2015
posted by Room 641-A at 2:58 PM on August 18, 2015
If that one bold filmmaker is Werner Herzog, then you've got something.
"I believe the common denominator of the roller derby is not harmony, but chaos, hostility, and murder."
posted by Flashman at 3:30 PM on August 18, 2015 [12 favorites]
"I believe the common denominator of the roller derby is not harmony, but chaos, hostility, and murder."
posted by Flashman at 3:30 PM on August 18, 2015 [12 favorites]
Did anyone else feel that? I sense that Parody just died.
So soon after satire did, too.
posted by Apocryphon at 4:03 PM on August 18, 2015
So soon after satire did, too.
posted by Apocryphon at 4:03 PM on August 18, 2015
This is just to say
the video you are trying to watch
cannot be viewed from your
current country or location.
posted by Joseph Gurl at 5:22 PM on August 18, 2015 [3 favorites]
the video you are trying to watch
cannot be viewed from your
current country or location.
posted by Joseph Gurl at 5:22 PM on August 18, 2015 [3 favorites]
I want to be excited about this, but after reading accounts of what a jerk Fred Armisen is when it comes to women, nah.
posted by JLovebomb at 6:52 PM on August 18, 2015
posted by JLovebomb at 6:52 PM on August 18, 2015
"I believe the common denominator of the roller derby is not harmony, but chaos, hostility, and murder."
That's.....surprisingly accurate.
Anyway - I need to figure out a way to watch the Sandy Gardens one (don't have cable), as Grey Gardens is one of my favorite movies.
posted by Lucinda at 7:00 PM on August 18, 2015 [1 favorite]
That's.....surprisingly accurate.
Anyway - I need to figure out a way to watch the Sandy Gardens one (don't have cable), as Grey Gardens is one of my favorite movies.
posted by Lucinda at 7:00 PM on August 18, 2015 [1 favorite]
It's been a good month for VICE on HBO parodies. I'm in.
posted by lmfsilva at 3:51 AM on August 19, 2015
posted by lmfsilva at 3:51 AM on August 19, 2015
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posted by Sys Rq at 12:03 PM on August 18, 2015