Review of Funny Ha Ha (2003) by Alexander A — 03 Oct 2009

Apparently this is the cinematic representation movement called "mumblecore" (the least annoying name to this uh... sort of school of realism and laziness). This is pretty much the equivalent of Noddzzz, Vivian Girls, Times New Viking, My Ass Hurts, etc etc in movie form. Only not as annoying.

Oh faithful facebook fans. I know you long for these reviews.

The best thing about watching this was that it was really really really nice not to watch an indie movie with quippy stylized dialogue. I guess the only problem with this is that, uh, this is nothing new.

Like the music scene mumblecore is sort of associated with, it's just redoing 90's indie aesthetic. Only the film version has decided it was to be Jarmusch without the weirdness, Waters without the grossness, and Slacker without the pop culture references.

But what this really is is the lazy man's cinema.

It looks like total shit. I sort of like that about this movie. The lighting is awful, and I'm pretty sure there were some muppets used in shots actors couldn't appear in. I mean. 16mm camera, lighting using what I guess is a fisher prices flashlight, all make this movie look like it came from the 70's or 80's! It looks so awful it went back in time! I find that endearing. Not everyone does. Mostly because when I was a film student I did the same thing. Only my movies were funnier. And looked even shittier.

Scratch all that. There are two cow references in this movie. Any movie with cow references can't be bad.

Here's a blurb comparing this to another movie you haven't seen. It's like a Kicking and Screaming without any of the pretentiousness.

Don't get me wrong, this movie is really good per say, but it was enjoyable. I guess I just keep really hoping someone would push this lazy indie aesthetic into stranger territory. Maybe some of the other mumblycornhole films are good. I dunno.

Oh yeah. This movie is about a chick, whom everyone loves for some reason. Probably because she's somewhat attractive, non too bright, and doesn't talk back!

Ha-Ha!

Hey! That's where the title comes from!